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Washington Evening Journal
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Raiders return 5 of 7 State runners
Area teams prepare for cross-county season
Williamsburg
The Raiders have quite the tradition of qualifying for State, making it 23 of the last 25 years.
Last year, they placed 10th in Class 2A, and they return five of seven who ran at State this season.
Edie Axmear, Ashlyn Hoffman and Makenna Capper all earned All-WaMaC recognition last season.
To go along with returning experience, the Raiders bring in an exciting group of freshmen who contributed to a State runner-up finish at the Junior High State meet last season.
“The girls will be a young team, so we’re hoping to continue to develop throughout the year,” Williamsburg head coach Nick Nordheim said.
“We have some tough competitors, and I think we have a chance to have a great season.,”
Belle Plaine
The Plainsmen did not yield a full cross-country team last season and had two competitors in the conference meet last year.
Of those two, Elle Jacobi is set to return this season and will look to improve on last year’s results.
The team is expected to have two on the roster and is waiting for official practice to see if numbers will increase.
“I'm excited to see how the runners grow and improve throughout the season,” Belle Plaine head coach Matthew Mengler said.
English Valleys
The Bears took home the team conference title last year, beating its competition by 31 points, and finished third, and one spot shy in qualifying as a team for State.
The Achenbach twins (Addison and Audrey) qualified as individuals for State and placed 59th and 76th.
Kailor Lown and Mallory Koehn finished in the top 15 at the conference meet last season, and Anna Luers won the junior high race.
Luers finished second at the junior high State meet in a time of 12:14.1 and will contribute to the Bears’ team in her freshman year.
The young Bears return all of their top five from last season and will be the favorites to repeat as conference champs and make a push at qualifying for State as a team.
HLV
The Warriors did not have a varsity runner last season, but they did have four girls run in junior high competition.
Paisley Allee was the lone eighth grader and could run with the high schoolers season. How many runners the Warriors girls’ team will have remains to be seen, but interest from other athletes suggests that the roster may increase when school starts.
“I hope we can have enough kids for scoring teams on both the boys and girls side, and it will be exciting to be a part of the team every day this year,” HLV head coach Chase Sternhagen said.
Sternhagen helped out when he could last year and has been named head coach for the 2024 season.
Iowa Valley
The Tigers finished fifth at conference last season and seventh at their State qualifying meet.
Of their five varsity runners, three have graduated. That makes Kathryn Kilgard and Hannah Smolik the top returners.
Kilgard finished 18th at the conference meet last season and will look to push for a top 15 finish this season.
Joining them this season is newcomer Alannah McKibben.
“Our runners have been putting in miles throughout the summer to ensure that they are ready for the fall season,” Iowa Valley head coach Tiffany Thiessen said.
