English Valleys returns one of the best in Class 1A

The reigning conference champ and one of the best runners in all of Class 1A returns for the Bears this season in Gage Heyne.

Heyne finished ninth at State last season in a blistering time of 16:25.6 and is also coming off a strong track season.

On paper, Heyne is the fourth fastest returning runner from the State meet and has the potential to be in the individual title mix.

The Bears hope to have a few more runners out this season to fill a complete team around Heyne. That team will potentially include the top two finishers from last year’s conference junior high meet, Isaac Frazier and Evan Koehn.

Williamsburg

The Raiders boys have qualified for State during eight of the last 13 seasons. Last year only two individuals, Nile Busch & Wes Hulseburg, qualified.

Busch, a junior, returns for the Raiders this season along with Tyler McMullin, who earned WaMaC recognition honors, and four other varsity letterwinners.

Some talented freshmen make for a blend of younger guys to go along with the juniors that can provide the Raiders with some depth as they make the move up to Class 3A.

The team has no seniors this season.

“Moving up to Class 3A is going to be a big challenge for us, but we compete against a tough schedule every year,” Williamsburg head coach Nick Nordheim said.

“Competing in the WaMaC will prepare us well.

“The boys are led by a strong group of juniors, … and we do have some good experience back from guys who ran in big spots last year. With the mix of the younger guys, we could have some good depth and keep building a contender in the next couple of seasons,” Nordheim said.

Belle Plaine

The Plainsmen return their top three finishers — Luke Eichhorn, Maddox Purk and Hunter Henry — from last year’s SICL conference meet. The team placed 11th at its State qualifier meet.

Eichhorn finished individually 11th in the qualifying meet and was one spot short of making it to State as an individual.

Eichhorn is in good shape to qualify this year and be again one of the top runners in the conference.

“I'm looking forward to this season,” Belle Plaine head coach Matthew Mengler said. “Eichhorn was one place away from going to state last year, and I know he's going to want to make it in his senior season.

“Maddox Purk was an all-conference runner last season, and I'm looking for big things from him this year too,” Mengler said.

HLV

The Warriors are the defending conference champs and finished fourth at their state qualifying meet last season.

From their top-six last season, the Warriors lost four runners, so they’ll have a lot scoring to replace this coming season.

Payton Roth and Drew Thys return as all-conference runners.

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Roth finished eighth and Thys 14th.

With the merger with Tri-County and some newcomers, the Warriors should have enough athletes to yield a scoring team. Head coach Chase Sternhagen is excited to see what the team can do this season.

“We’re excited to see the team grow and build on past successes. We have a great group of kids who are always willing to work hard and I’m excited to see what they will accomplish this year,” Sternhagen said.

Iowa Valley

The Tigers had two competitors last season in the conference meet in Derek Bral and Elijah Pritchard and also had two eight graders in at the junior high level — Ayden Wagner and Ethan Busch.

This season the Tigers will have a scoring team with three new faces to add with Wagner and Busch.

With a scoring team, the Tigers can see where they stand in the conference.

Look for the Tigers to improve as the season goes as young team with new faces.

“I am excited and looking forward to the increased numbers for cross-country at the high school and junior levels,” Iowa Valley head cross-country coach Tiffany Thiessen.