Four area XC teams ranked in preseason

The 2019 preseason cross-country rankings were released last week by IowaRunJumpThrow, and there seems to be a lot to be excited about for fans of running in the Union Area.

Four area teams are ranked in the website's top-15 poll, three on the girls' side and one on the boys' side. The area also has a handful of individuals in the top-30.

The area has two ranked teams in Class 2A, especially on the girls side. Mid-Prairie comes in as No. 3 and Danville-New London sits No. 6.

There are five ranked Union area runners on the 2A girls side, led by defending state champion Marie Hostetler of Mid-Prairie, who chimes in at No. 1. She is joined by Danville-New London's Addison Parrot, at No. 5, Van Buren's Faith Neely, at 10, and M-P teammates Mitzy Evans (13th) and Ana Fleming (14th).

There aren't any teams ranked in the 2A boys' race, but D-NL does come in as the first 'Team to Watch” in the class. They are anchored by Julian Alexander, who comes into the year ranked No. 27 individually.

Pekin shows a lot of promise in Class 1A. The Panthers are ranked No. 8 in both the boys and girls side.There are two ranked Pekin boys, Brady Millikin (7th) and Colten Glosser (15th).

No teams are ranked in Class 3A, but Mt. Pleasant has one ranked individual. Abby Ryon represents the big schools in the area, coming into the year ranked 15th.

Below are the full preseason cross-country rankings as well as lists of Union area runners in the top 30 individually.

CLASS 1A BOYS

1. Madrid 2. Calamus Wheatland 3. Maquoketa Valley 4. Earlham 5. Nodaway Valley 6. South Winneshiek 7. St. Albert Council Bluffs 8. Pekin 9. BCLUW 10. Woodward Academy 11. Newman Mason City 12. Denver 13. Cascade 14. Ogden 15. Trinity Christian

AREA RANKED INDIVIDUALS: 7. Brady Millikin (10), Pekin; 15. Colten Glosser (11), Pekin;

CLASS 1A GIRLS

1. Logan-Magniolia 2. Iowa City Regina 3. Hudson 4. Kee Lansing 5. Aplington-Parkersburg 6. Cascade 7. Denver 8. Pekin 9. Earlham 10. Marquette 11. North Linn 12. East Marshall 13. South Winneshiek 14. Tri-Center 15. Ridgeview

CLASS 2A BOYS

1. Tipton 2. Monticello 3. South Hardin 4. Albia 5. Davis County 6. Des Moines Christian 7. Camanche 8. Okoboji 9. GC/G-R 10. GLR/CL 11. Williamsburg 12. Unity Christian 13. Red Oak 14. Bellevue 15. Western Christian (Danville-New London in 'Teams to Watch”)

AREA RANKED INDIVIDUALS: 27. Julian Alexander (10), Danville-New London

CLASS 2A GIRLS

1. Williamsburg 2. Wc-Kp 3. Mid-Prairie 4. Jesup 5. Panaroma 6. Danville-New London 7. Starmont 8. Waukon 9. Unity Christian 10. Dike-New Hartford 11. Albia 12. Cherokee 13. ACGC 14. Shenandoah 15. Cresco

AREA RANKED INDIVIDUALS: 1. Marie Hostetler (12), Mid-Prairie; 5. Addison Parrott (11), Danville-New London; 10. Faith Neely (10), Van Buren; 13. Mitzy Evans (10), Mid-Prairie; 14. Ana Fleming (11), Mid-Prairie;

CLASS 3A BOYS

1. Clear Creek-Amana 2. Gilbert 3. Carlisle 4. Pella 5. Marion 6. Dallas Center Grimes 7. Decorah 8. Wahlert 9. Humboldt 10. MOC-Floyd Valley 11. Glenwood 12. Atlantic 13. Grinnell 14. Sergeant Bluff-Luton 15. Mt. Vernon-Lisbon

CLASS 3A GIRLS

1. Dubuque Wahlert 2. Dallas Center-Grimes 3. Ballard 4. Glenwood 5. Pella 6. Heelan 7. Atlantic 8. Harlan 9. Grinnell 10. Solon 11. North Polk 12. Charles City 13. Decorah 14. Norwalk 15. Spencer

AREA RANKED INDIVIDUALS: 15. Abby Ryon (12), Mt. Pleasant

CLASS 4A BOYS

1. Dowling Catholic 2. Dubuque Hempstead 3. Pleasant Valley 4. Cedar Rapids Prairie 5. Cedar Rapids Washington 6. Cedar Rapids Kennedy 7. Cedar Falls 8. Johnston 9. Southeast Polk 10. Ames 11. Iowa City West 12. Valley 13. Ankeny Centennial 14. Waukee 15. Urbandale

CLASS 4A GIRLS

1. Johnston 2. Southeast Polk 3. Waukee 4. Valley 5. Dubuque Senior 6. Dubuque Hempstead 7. Cedar Rapids Prairie 8. Urbandale 9. Linn-Mar 10. Des Moines Roosevelt 11. Ankeny Centennial 12. Iowa City West 13. Pleasant Valley 14. Cedar Rapids Kennedy 15. Dowling Catholic