Champ leads Mid-Prairie to title

FORT DODGE - Marie Hostetler had a special birthday message for her father Saturday.

The Mid-Prairie junior used a card to sketch an outline of the cross-country course at Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge, site of the Class 2A Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union state championships.

She highlighted the drawing with a simple message to Mark Hostetler, her father and Mid-Prairie head coach.

'Meet me at the end,” the message stated. 'I have a birthday present for you.”

The 'gift” was a second individual state title in a row for Marie, whose time of 18 minutes, 02.1 seconds outpaced defending 1A state champion Emily Staal of Springville-Central City by more than five seconds.

'She doesn't usually say much,” said Mark Hostetler, who turned 58 on Saturday. 'But when she told me, ‘I have a present for you at the end,' and I saw her face at the beginning of the race, she just looked really like, ‘I am going to do this.'”

For Marie Hostetler, the victory avenged a loss to Staal at the Oct. 18 state-qualifying meet.

'Emily ran hard, but I was definitely more rested,” Marie Hostetler said. 'She shares a lot of the same values that I do, so it's encouraging running against her. I'm very happy that I came out on top. I knew I had it in me, but I just had to keep it up. At one point, I was just repeating to myself that, ‘I can. I can.' That's something (her sister) Anna cheers for me. I just had it in my head that I could stay with her, and I tried to run smart against her. I just knew that I couldn't let myself get out of reach of her. That was my goal, to stay within reach of her until the top of the hill, because I knew I could have a kick. She definitely ran very hard though.”

Hostetler now owns two of the four fastest girls' running times regardless of class since the race became a 5K four years ago.

With another championship effort from Marie, plus top-22 performances from teammates Mitzy Evans and Ana Fleming, Mid-Prairie claimed the 2A girls' team title for the second year in a row with 89 points.

'It means so much,” Marie Hostetler said. 'They are amazing and they run so hard. I know they ran their hearts out today.”

Williamsburg placed four runners - junior Grace Schaefer, freshmen Ruth Jennings and Taylor Winegarden, plus sophomore Charlotte Wetjen - in the top 44 overall, which helped the Raiders place second as a team (118 points). After getting within eight points of Mid-Prairie at the state-qualifying meet, Williamsburg Coach Nick Nordheim expected another close battle that did not materialize.

'Honestly, we didn't run as well as I thought we would have,” Nordheim said. 'When we came through, I didn't think we were second because we weren't where I expected us to be. But it does show that we have strong depth.”

Cascade senior Madison Kelchen finished sixth overall (19:45.7), which mirrored the team standing for the Cougars. Staal's older sister Janelle was seventh in 19:48.1.

Reece Smith of Garner-Hayfield-Ventura won the boys race in 16:00.7. Mid-Prairie had Quinn Schmidt placed 32nd in 17:36.2.

GIRLS Teams - 1. Mid-Prairie 89; 2. Williamsburg 118; 3. Woodbury Central-Kingsley Pierson 131; 4. Jesup 145; 5. New London-Danville 155; 6. Cascade 180; 7. Panorama 180; 8. Unity Christian 185; 9. Crestwood 191; 10. Aplington-Parkersburg 211; 11. Waukon 238; 12. Dike-New Hartford 246; 13. Shenandoah 318; 14. Albia 348; 15. Cherokee 353

MID-PRAIRIE: 1. Hostetler 18:02.10; 14. Mitzy Evans 20:32.50; 15. Ana Fleming 20:32.80; 23. Moriah Brase 21:00.30; 36. Kate Cavanagh 21:24.80