Breaking Down the Class 1A State Cross Country Meet
Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports
The state cross country meet opens on Friday at Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge.
For the third consecutive season the meet will be split into two days with Classes 1A and 2A starting the action on Friday morning and Classes 3A and 4A concluding the meet on Saturday.
In a change from previous years it is the smaller schools that start the action on Friday.
The Class 1A races are set for Friday morning with 2A races in the afternoon.
Before the gun fires to start the first of what will be eight races over the course of two days we take a closer look at the state meet fields and the Your Prep Sports area teams and individuals that will be competing in Fort Dodge.
Class 1A
Girls Race
Where: Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge
When: Friday, 10:30 a.m.
Qualifying teams: *South Winneshiek; Cascade; *Fort Dodge St. Edmond; North Iowa; *Sibley-Ocheyedan; Alta-Aurelia; *Logan-Magnolia; Woodbine; *Earlham; IKM-Manning; *Pekin; Madrid; *Hudson; Regina; *North Linn; North Tama
*-State qualifying meet champions
Individual state qualifying meet champions: Noelle Steines, Soph., Calamus-Wheatland; Alyssa Richman, Soph., Manson Northwest Webster; Nora Peterson, Soph., Alta-Aurelia; Maddy Childs, Sr., Grandview Christian; Mackenzie Harger, Fr., Earlham; Greenlee Smock, Sr., Lynnville-Sully; Desi Lang, Fr., Hudson; Meghan Wheatley, Jr., North Linn
2021 team top five: 1. South Winneshiek 104; 2. Logan-Magnolia 121; 3. Fort Dodge St. Edmond 167; 4. Hudson 170; 5. Pekin 177
Last five team champions: 2021 – South Winneshiek; 2020 – Hudson; 2019 – Logan-Magnolia; 2018 – Logan-Magnolia; 2017 – Hudson
Returning state placewinners: 1. Noelle Steines, Soph., Calamus-Wheatland; 3. Nora Peterson, Soph., Alta-Aurelia; 4. Billie Wagner, Sr., South Winneshiek; 5. Madison Sporrer, Soph., Logan-Magnolia; 6. Meghan Wheatley, Jr., North Linn; 10. Grace Lidgett, Sr., North Tama; 12. Rylee Dunkin, Sr., Twin Cedars; 13. Greenlee Smock, Sr., Lynnville-Sully; 15. Jolee Mesz, Sr., Lawton-Bronson
Top ranked teams: 1. Logan-Magnolia; 2. Earlham; 3. South Winneshiek; 4. Hudson; 5. Sibley-Ocheydan
Ranked area teams: No. 10 Regina
Top ranked individuals: 1. Noelle Steines, Soph., Calamus-Wheatland; 2. Nora Peterson, Soph., Alta-Aurelia; 3. Madison Brouwer, Sr., Sibley-Ocheyedan; 4. Maddy Childs, Sr., Grandview Christian; 5. Alyssa Richman, Soph., Manson Northwest Webster.
Ranked area individuals: None.
Team title race: It is a list of familiar names at the top of the team title list in 2022.
Third-ranked South Winneshiek is the defending champion after edging perennial power Logan-Magnolia by 17 points for the team title a year ago.
Logan-Magnolia enters top-ranked, with three runners ranked in the top 15 and is seeking a third title in the past five seasons and first since 2019.
Earlham was 11th last season but is poised to make a big jump into title contention this year behind ninth-ranked freshman Mackenzie Harger.
Don’t count out 2020 champion Hudson which won the Iowa City state qualifying meet in impressive fashion last week behind freshman standout Desi Lang.
Individual title tracker: It was a pair of freshmen that stole the show in 1A last season with Calamus-Wheatland rooking Noelle Steines claiming the individual title by more than 15 seconds in her state meet debut.
Alta-Aurelia freshman Nora Peterson was third a year ago as three freshmen finished in the top five in 2021.
Steines is back to defend her title with Peterson among the top challengers.
Logan-Magnolia sophomore Madison Sporrer finished fifth a year ago and returns and should be in the lead pack along with freshmen teammate Allysen Johnsen.
South Winneshiek senior Billie Wagner is a state meet veteran seeking a fourth consecutive top-five finish after placing fourth a year ago.
Sibley-Ocheyedan senior Madison Bouwer is ranked third and Grandview Christian senior Maddy Childs is ranked fourth and could factor into the battle at the front.
Area breakdown: Regina is making its sixth consecutive trip to the state meet and has finished in the top seven in each of its previous five appearances.
Since placing seventh at the 2A state meet in 2017 the Regals have finished second, fifth, third and sixth in Class 1A over the last four seasons.
Regina has an almost entirely new lineup this season but has shown the ability to push for another top-six state meet finish this season.
The stalwart for the Regals is senior Mya Whitaker who became the second runner in Regina history to qualify for the state meet four times.
Whitaker has improved in each of her previous three state meet appearances going from 35th as a freshman to 31st as a sophomore before placing 29th last season.
Junior Cate Klitgaard is the other returning runner with state meet experience for the Regals after placing 95th a year ago.
Freshman Ruby Eastman, Ruby Greving and Ellie Johnson will make their state meet debuts on Saturday along with senior Grace Gaarde who is in her first season in the program.
Greving was ninth and Eastman finished 12th at the state qualifying meet at Regina last week.
Boys Race
Where: Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge
When: Friday, 11:15 a.m.
Qualifying teams: *ACGC; IKM-Manning; *Cascade; Clayton Ridge; *North Mahaska; Madrid; *Fort Dodge St. Edmond; Lake Mills; *Regina; Bellevue; *Ogden; Sioux Central; *East Marshall; North Linn; *Council Bluffs St. Albert; Woodbine
*-State qualifying meet champions
Individual state qualifying meet champions: Caden Keller, Sr., IKM-Manning; Marcus Blount, Sr., Prince of Peace; Ethan Loutzenheiser, Jr., Madrid; Ryan Kelly, Sr., Mason City Newman; Peyton Griebel, Jr., Bellevue; Carson Van Sickle, Jr., Ogden; Joe Terrones, Sr., East Marshall; Landon Bendgen, Jr., Woodbine
2021 team top five: 1. ACGC 75; 2. Maquoketa Valley 112; 3. Earlham 134; 4. Valley Lutheran 161; 5. Pella Christian 178
Last five team champions: 2021 – ACGC; 2020 – Hudson; 2019 – Logan-Magnolia; 2018 – Logan-Magnolia; 2017 – Hudson
Returning state placewinners: 5. Payton Griebel, Jr., Bellevue; 7. Ethan Loutzenheiser, Jr., Madrid; 8. Colin Lillie, Sr., Council Bluffs St. Albert; 10. Patrick Heffernan, Sr., Boyer Valley; 14. Aidan O’Neil, Jr., Regina; 15. Noah Valenzuela, Jr., East Buchanan
Top ranked teams: 1. ACGC; 2. Regina; 3. Council Bluffs St. Albert; 4. Woodbine; 5. Fort Dodge St. Edmond
Ranked area teams: No. 2 Regina
Top ranked individuals: 1. Landon Bendgen, Jr., Woodbine; 2. Ethan Loutzenheiser, Jr., Madrid; 3. Payton Griebel, Jr., Bellevue; 4. Aidan O’Neil, Jr., Regina; 5. Caden Keller, Sr., IKM-Manning
Ranked area individuals: 4. Aidan O’Neil, Jr., Regina
Team title race: A year after returning to the state meet for the first time since 2015 Regina is back in Fort Dodge seeking its first state title since 2010.
Five of the runners from the Regina team that finished eighth at the 1A meet last season return led by O’Neil who finished 14th in his state meet debut a year ago.
Regina is deep behind O’Neil and now experienced with three seniors in Dan and Joe Maly and Henry Bottorf.
Colin Olney, Riordan Smith and Samuel Welter all return with state meet experience for Regina.
For Regina to return to the top of Class 1A for the first time in more than a decade the Regals will have to dethrone defending champion and top-ranked ACGC.
ACGC returns five of seven runners from last year’s team that finished 37 points clear of runner-up Maquoketa Valley.
Keep an eye on third-ranked Council Bluffs St. Albert and fifth-ranked Fort Dodge St. Edmond in what should be a tight team race.
Individual title tracker: With the top four 1A finishers from last year gone to graduation the individual race in 1A should be among the most interesting of the weekend.
While Regina expects to be the race for a team title junior Aidan O’Neil should be right in the mix for individual gold on Friday.
O’Neil finished 14th in his state meet debut a season ago and enters his return trip to Lakeside Golf Course ranked fourth in the 1A individual rankings.
One spot in front of O’Neil in the 1A rankings is Bellevue junior Payton Griebel who is the top returning placer after finishing fifth a year ago.
Griebel finished just less than five seconds in front of O’Neil at the state qualifying meet in Iowa City last week.
Woodbine junior Landon Bendgen enters the state meet top-ranked in 1A while Madrid junior Ethan Loutzenheiser is ranked second and coming off a seventh-place finish last season.
Area breakdown: Last season was the return of Regina to the state meet as the Regals qualified for the first time since 2015.
The Regals are hoping Friday concludes a breakthrough season.
Second-ranked Regina should be a contender for a top-three finish and a spot on the Lakeside Golf Course balcony on Friday afternoon and has the ability to push for a 1A title.
O’Neil is the leader for the Regals and has emerged as a state title contender during a stellar junior season but the Regals improved depth this season makes them a real title threat.
Seniors Joe and Dan Maley finished fifth and eighth respectively at the state qualifying meet while fellow senior Henry Bottorff was ninth at the state qualifying meet.
Sophomore Sam Welter and juniors Riordan Smith and Colin Olney all return after competing at the state meet last season.
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