Taking a Quick Look at the the Mississippi Valley Conference Divisional Meets
Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports
Championship season for area cross country teams is here.
The championship season official got under way early for Mississippi Valley Conference teams last week with the annual MVC Super Meet and continues on Thursday with divisional meets.
Next week spots at the state meet will be up for grabs at state qualifiers and the season concludes with the state meet on October 29 and 30 at Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge.
First, we take a quick look at what to watch at the MVC Divisional meets set for Thursday afternoon.
Mississippi Valley Conference Valley Divisional
Girls Race
When: Thursday, 3:55 p.m.
Where: Kickers Soccer Complex in Iowa City
Teams: West High; Cedar Rapids Jefferson; Cedar Rapids Kennedy; Cedar Rapids Xavier; Dubuque Hempstead; Dubuque Senior; Waterloo East; Waterloo West
Ranked teams: Class 4A No. 3 Dubuque Hempstead; Class 4A No. 12 Dubuque Senior; Class 4A No. 15 West High
Ranked individuals: Class 4A No. 10 Julia Gehl, Soph., Dubuque Hempstead; Class 4A No. 13 Keelee Leitzen, Soph., Dubuque Hempstead; Class 4A No. 14. Brooke O’Brien, Jr., Dubuque Hempstead; Class 4A No. 16 Leah Klapatauskas, Soph., Dubuque Senior;
Team title chase: Third-ranked Dubuque Hempstead is a heavy favorite to claim the Valley Division title after winning the Super Meet by 29 points over Cedar Rapids Prairie last week.
Dubuque Senior and West High figure to battle for the runner-up spot behind the Mustangs.
Senior was fourth at the Super Meet last week while West High was sixth finishing 20 points behind the Rams.
Athlete to watch: It has been a breakthrough season for West High sophomore Cindy Wang who spent her freshman year running on the Trojans junior varsity team.
Wang has emerged as a front of the pack runner for West High along with fellow sophomore Gabby Moniza and is coming off a 17th place finish at the Super Meet last week.
Wang and Moniza give West High a solid duo capable of competing for top-five finishes on Thursday.
Breakdown: Dubuque Hempstead is a heavy favorite in the team race and the Mustang sophomore duo of Julia Gehl and Keelee Leitzen are expected to battle for the individual title along with teammate Brooke O’Brien.
West High and Dubuque Senior will battle for the runner-up spot with Cedar Rapids Kennedy, Cedar Rapids Jefferson and Cedar Rapids Xavier fighting it out for the next three slots.
Boys Race
When: Thursday, 4:25 p.m.
Where: Kickers Soccer Complex in Iowa City
Teams: West High; Cedar Rapids Jefferson; Cedar Rapids Kennedy; Cedar Rapids Xavier; Dubuque Hempstead; Dubuque Senior; Waterloo East; Waterloo West
Ranked teams: Class 4A No. 4 Dubuque Hempstead; Class 4A No. 15 West High; Class 4A No. 16 Cedar Rapids Kennedy
Ranked individuals: Class 4A No. 1 Alex McKane, Sr., West High; Class 4A No. 3 Derek Leicht, Sr., Dubuque Hempstead; Class 4A No. 8 Miles Wilson, Jr., Cedar Rapids Kennedy; Class 4A No. 18 John Maloney, Soph., Dubuque Hempstead; Class 4A No. 21 Jonathan O’Brien, Sr., Dubuque Hempstead; Class 4A No. 28 Caleb Kass, Jr., Dubuque Hempstead
Team title chase: Dubuque Hempstead is the favorite to claim the team title after finishing one point behind City High at the Super Meet last week.
The Mustangs have four ranked runners and all four finished in the top 14 at the Super Meet last week.
West High and Cedar Rapids Kennedy should battle for the runner-up spot.
The Trojans finished sixth at the Super Meet last week one spot and 10 points in front of Cedar Rapids Kennedy.
Athlete to watch: West High senior Alex McKane has emerged as the state title favorite in Class 4A seemingly getting better with each race this season.
McKane pulled away from a strong field at the Super Meet last week to win the individual crown in an eye-popping 15:14.8 and will look to add a divisional meet title to his resume.
Dubuque Hempstead senior Derek Leicht is ranked third in 4A and was third at the Super Meet and should provide a challenge for McKane along with Cedar Rapids Kennedy junior Miles Wilson.
Breakdown: Led by McKane West High has been solid all season but the Trojans will look to take things to another level in the postseason beginning on Thursday.
Junior Seth Cheney was 10th at the Super Meet last week and should push for a top spot on Thursday and the Trojans will look for strong performances from sophomore Robert Stong and senior Caden Noeller.
Mississippi Valley Conference Mississippi Divisional
Girls Race
When: Thursday, 4:20 p.m.
Where: Birdsall Park in Cedar Falls
Teams: City High; Liberty High; Cedar Falls; Cedar Rapids Washington; Cedar Rapids Prairie; Linn-Mar; Dubuque Wahlert; Western Dubuque
Ranked teams: Class 4A No. 6 Cedar Rapids Prairie; Class 4A No. 11 Linn-Mar; Class 4A No. 13 City High; Class 4A No. 18 Liberty High; Class 3A No. 2 Western Dubuque; Class 3A No. 13 Dubuque Wahlert
Ranked individuals: Class 4A No. 5 Ashlyn Keeney, Sr., Liberty High; Class 4A No. 11 Gabby Cortez, Sr., Cedar Rapids Prairie; Class 4A No. 17 Lourdes Mason, Jr., Cedar Rapids Prairie; Class 4A No. 28 Cori Mac, Soph., Liberty High; Class 3A No. 7 Alyssa Klein, Soph., Western Dubuque; Class 3A No. 14 Ellie Meyer, Sr., Dubuque Wahlert; Class 3A No. 23 Ellen Kirby, Sr., Dubuque Wahlert; Class 3A No. 24 Audrey Biermann, Sr., Western Dubuque
Team title chase: Cedar Rapids Prairie was the surprise of the Super Meet last week with a runner-up finish and jumped to sixth in the latest Class 4A rankings this week.
Led by top-20 ranked runners Gabby Cortez and Lourdes Mason the Hawks are the favorites in a deep and talented field that features six ranked teams.
Linn-Mar was third at the Super Meet last week but was 30 points behind Cedar Rapids Prairie while City High was fifth and Liberty High seventh.
Those three teams along with ranked 3A teams Western Dubuque and Dubuque Wahlert will battle for the top five spots.
Athlete to watch: Liberty High senior Ashlyn Keeney is putting the finishing touches on what has been an incredible prep career.
Keeney won her third MVC Super Meet title last Thursday and will look to add a third divisional crown to her career resume this week before chasing a third state meet medal later this month.
The fifth-ranked runner in Class 4A, Keeney won the Super Meet title by more than seven seconds last week in Waterloo and was more than 30 seconds faster than Prairie senior Gabby Cortez who will be one of her top competitors on Thursday.
Breakdown: The Mississippi Divisional features an absolutely loaded field that features six ranked teams and six of the top nine finishers from last week’s super meet.
City High and Liberty High are each capable of pushing Prairie and Linn-Mar for the top two spots.
City High junior Iris Wedemeyer will look to continue her late-season charge following an eighth-place finish at the Super Meet while Liberty High sophomore Cori Mac is coming off a top-10 finish of her own at the Super Meet last week.
Boys Race
When: Thursday, 4:45 p.m.
Where: Birdsall Park in Cedar Falls
Teams: City High; Liberty High; Cedar Falls; Cedar Rapids Washington; Cedar Rapids Prairie; Linn-Mar; Dubuque Wahlert; Western Dubuque
Ranked teams: Class 4A No. 3 City High; Class 4A No. 6 Cedar Falls; Class 4A No. 10 Cedar Rapids Prairie; Class 4A No. 14 Liberty High; Class 4A No. 17 Linn-Mar; Class 3A No. 4 Western Dubque
Ranked individuals: Class 4A No. 7 Ford Washburn, Jr., City High; Class 4A No. 9 Brayden Burnett, Sr., Cedar Falls; Class 4A No. 13 Hayden Kuhn, Sr., Linn-Mar; Class 4A No. 23 Alex Horstman, Sr., Cedar Falls; Class 4A No. 27 Christian Montover, Sr., Liberty High; Class 4A No. 30 Anthony Lee, Sr., Cedar Rapids Prairie; Class 3A No. 2 Eli Naumann, Sr., Western Dubuque; Class 3A No. 29 Carter Hancock, Sr., Dubuque Wahlert
Team title chase: This has all the makings of a great one with third-ranked City High the favorite after winning the Super Meet title by one point over Dubuque Hempstead last week.
Sixth-ranked Cedar Falls and No. 10 Cedar Rapids Prairie are more than capable of pushing the Little Hawks.
Cedar Falls was third and Prairie fourth at the Super Meet last week.
Liberty High was fifth at the Super Meet last week but has shown the ability this season to be right in the mix with Cedar Falls and Cedar Rapids Prairie for the runner-up spot behind City High.
Athlete to watch: Ford Washburn was sixth at the state meet last season and has had a junior season to date that has the City High standout wanting an even better finish at the state meet this season.
Washburn has been impressive all fall and is coming off a runner-up finish to West High’s Alex McKane at the Super Meet last week.
The top competition for Washburn should come from Cedar Falls senior Brayden Burnett who was sixth at the Super Meet last week and Linn-Mar senior Hayden Kuhn who was seventh.
Both Burnett and Kuhn enter the divisional meet ranked in the top 13 in Class 4A.
Breakdown: City High and Liberty High both would like to go into the postseason fresh off strong performances on Thursday.
City High has the depth and talent with Washburn and juniors Noah Carey, Truman Thompson and Ammon Smith to pull away from the pack on Thursday while Liberty High will look to make a climb following its fifth-place Super Meet finish.
Watch for Liberty High senior Christian Montover. He was 27th at the Super Meet last week but has shown the talent to run with the top guys at this divisional.
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