March 29, 2024

Newton’s Coen headlines area runners at state cross country

The annual Iowa High School State Cross Country Championships will take place Saturday at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course in Fort Dodge.

Several area runners will be in a field that includes the top five ranked teams and top five ranked runners in each class in both the girls and boys divisions.

Here is a rundown of the area runners and the field they will compete against.

Class 4A Girls

Start: 11 a.m. 

Grace Coen, Newton

Coen will have a familiar face in starting box 9 with her as she will take off with Marshalltown’s Rachel Blagg. Coen and Blagg ran together for most of the district race in Marshalltown and each plan on being towards the top of the field.

Coen was 27th a year ago and is currently ranked 17th.

Top-ranked Johnston and No. 2 Urbandale are the favorites to win the team title, but third-ranked Iowa City West, fourth-ranked Pleasant Valley and fifth-ranked Ames also are in the field.

The individual favorite is defending champion and top-ranked Mackenzie Yanek of Pleasant Valley. Second-ranked Jordan Klove of Johnston was third a year ago, while third-ranked Megan Schottof Des Moines Roosevelt was fourth.

Class 2A Girls 

Start: 1 p.m.

Rachel Peter, PCM

Peter comes in ranked No. 30 and will start out of box 7. She will be facing a field that includes a talented crop of underclassmen. Osage freshman Ellie Friesen is the individual favorite, while Osage sophomore Megan Mooberry is ranked second. Third-ranked and sophomore Becca McDermott of Osage was second last year and senior and fourth-ranked Kassidy DeJong of Unity Christian was sixth a year ago.

Unity Christian is the favorite in the team race and it will try to lock up its third title in four years. Unity won it all in 2011 and 2012 and finished second to Gilbert last year. Second-ranked Monticello was sixth last year, while fourth-ranked Osage took third.

Class 2A Boys

Start: 1:30 p.m.

Mark Deutsch,Collins-Maxwell/Baxter

Colin Thompson,Collins-Maxwell/Baxter

Blaise Winegardner, Prairie City-Monroe

Both CMB runners will run out box 3 but only Deutsch was at state last year, finishing in 85th. Winegardner will start out of box 16.

In the individual field will be top-ranked Eric Lenz of Tipton. Lenz was fourth a year ago, while second-ranked Matt Manternach of Monticello crossed the line in 16th. Danny Halva of North Fayette Valley is ranked fourth in 2014 and ended up sixth in 2013.

The team favorite is top-ranked and defending champion Monticello. Second-ranked Unity Christian was third a year ago, while fourth-ranked East Marshall finished fourth in 2013.

Class 1A Girls 

Start: 2 p.m.

Colfax-Mingo

Sixth-ranked Dakota Hostetter leads the 14th-ranked Tigerhawks into the state meet. Hostetter, a sophomore, was 13th at state last year as a freshman and will be joined this season by a senior-laden Colfax-Mingo squad that also includes seniors Kennedi Hostetter, Sara Lahart, Iva Moore and Bailey Pease and junior McKinzie Tjaden.

The Tigerhawks, who will begin out of box 7, will be facing a talented group as the top three finishers in 2013 are back in 2014. That includes defending champion and top-ranked Pekin as well as second-ranked Pocahontas Area and third-ranked Central Elkader. Fifth-ranked Griswold, which won the title in 2012, also returns to the field.

The individual favorite is three-time defending champion and second-ranked Rebekah Topham. Top-ranked Gwynne Wright of Pekin was seventh last year, while third-ranked Jasmine Staebler of Clayton Ridge ended up fourth in 2013.

Class 1A Boys

Start: 2:30 p.m.

Canyon Kuhlmann,Lynnville-Sully

Kuhlmann will start out of box 9. He will be joined at state by Bellevue’s Andrew Meyer, who is ranked No. 1 and finished fourth a year ago. Second-ranked Ryan Izer of Turkey Valley was seventh a season ago and fourth-ranked Evan Mahler of Highland Riverside was third.

The favorites in the team race are top-ranked Nodaway Valley, second-ranked Bellevue Marquette and third-ranked Denver. The Cyclones are the defending champions, while fourth-ranked West Fork also is back after taking second last year. Bellevue was fifth in 2013.

Contact Troy Hyde at
641-792-3121 ext. 6536 or thyde@newtondailynews.com.