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Mid-Prairie’s Hostetler captains all-union girls cross-country
Pekin head coach Eidahl earns coach’s honor
It was yet another stellar year for the Union area’s girls cross-country teams as a plethora of talent found its way to the 2023 state cross-country meet.
Washington, Fairfield, Mid-Prairie, Pekin and Columbus all had representatives at this year state meet.
This year in particular was a special one as a slew of teams and individuals hit historic milestones.
Many of those individuals are represented here in the 2023 All-Union girls cross-country list.
COACH, Davis Eidahl, Pekin
Not many head coaches have been as successful as Pekin’s Davis Eidahl. The 60-year head coache took the Panthers to an unprecedented 20th-straight state cross-country appearance this past season.
Both the girls and the boys entered the Class 1A state meet ranked. The Pekin girls are ranked No. 6, and the boys come in at No. 11.
Davis has led the Panthers to eight total state championships between the Pekin boys and girls. Two of those are individual champions on the boys’ side, with Don Greiner winning in 1964, and Steve Greiner winning in 1978.
On the girls’ side, Pekin has been to the state meet an mind boggling 56 times.
CAPTAIN, Danielle Hostetler, senior, Mid-Prairie
Danielle Hostetler has been one of the premiere cross-country athletes in the area.
This season, the Golden Hawks senior was searching for a historic fourth straight 2A state championship. Hostetler just missed that accolade, but the three time champion notched her fourth Top-5 finish, finishing fifth overall. Hostetler crossed the tape in 18:55.3.
Hostetler helped Mid-Prairie to a fourth-place finish as a team as well. The Golden Hawks scored 122 points for fourth, just three points out of the Top-3.
Iris Dahl, sophomore, Washington
Washington sophomore Iris Dahl took great strides last season as a freshman, but in 2023 Dahl made even more noise in her early career.
Dahl took seventh a year ago in the Class 3A state meet and topped that finish this time around, crossing the tape in fifth after a time of 18:57.5. She finished fifth overall in the state qualifier in Pella as well, but cut 30 seconds off that time in the state championship race in Fort Dodge.
Dahl was the lone Demon to make state on the girls’ side as they just narrowly missed out on the third-place at the state qualifier.
Carley Seeley, senior, Fairfield
Fairfield’s Carley Seeley was one of the most improved runners this past season, taking a giant leap from 2022.
Seeley put together a fantastic state qualifier to punch her first ever ticket to the 3A state tournament. In Fort Dodge, Seeley was 99th place at the first mile, but passed 33 runners over the next two-thirds of the race to cross the tape in 20:31.0, for 66th place.
The senior Trojans ended her high school career on the biggest stage.
Marie Yoder, freshman, Hillcrest Academy
One of three freshman on this year’s list, Marie Yoder has already cemented herself as one of the top runners in the Union area.
Yoder notched a second-overall finish in the Southeast Iowa Super Conference meet and made the trip to state after running away with the victory at the 1A state qualifiers in Iowa City.
At the state meet, Yoder led the 1A area runners with a record of 19:41.3, making it into the Top-15 by almost eight seconds.
Chloe Glosser, sophomore, Pekin
Chloe Glosser has been one of the top performers for Pekin the last two years and she is a big reason why the Panthers are heading back to the Class 1A state cross-country meet.
Glosser entered the state meet ranked No. 11 in the class. She led the Panthers with a 17th overall finish at state.
Next season, Glosser will once again be a top runner in the Union area.
Iris Garza, freshman, Columbus
The second of three freshman on the 2023 list is Columbus’ Iris Garza.
Garza put together a valiant first cross-country season for the Wildcats and punched her first ever ticket to the state tournament in her first varsity season.
At the 1A state meet, the freshman made it three Union area runners in the Top-25, crossing in 20:11.2, for 23rd.
Brooklyn Stutzman, freshman, Mid-Prairie
Rounding out the freshman on the 2023 list is Mid-Prairie’s Brooklyn Stutzman.
Stutzman continues the trend of fantastic young running talent coming out of Mid-Prairie.
In her first 2A state meet, Stutzman followed Hostetler with a 37th overall finish in 20:25.
