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Preseason cross-country rankings
Mid-Prairie girls ranked No. 1 in Class 2A, Washington girls No. 4 in 3A
Iowarunjumpthrow.com released its 2023 preseason cross-country rankings on Tuesday and the Union area represents well.
Between the four boys and girls classes, seven area teams find themselves inside the top 20 rankings.
Those teams are both the Washington boys and girls. Mid-Prairie girls and boys. Danville-New London boys, Columbus boys and Pekin girls.
The Mid-Prairie girls lead the Union area with the highest ranking coming into the new season.
The Golden Hawks, who are coming off a fifth-place finish at state a year ago, come in at No. 1 in the girls Class 2A rankings.
Coming in, the biggest story line is senior Danielle Hostetler.
Hostetler has the chance to make history by becoming just the second-ever four-time state champion in Iowa girls cross-country history.
In addition, the Golden Hawks bring back runners Abby Fleming, who was 16th a year ago, Phoebe Shetler, 44th; Dessa Poll, 82nd; Greta Sieren, 87th.
The Golden Hawks boys come in at No. 7 in the preseason rankings.
Headlining the boys in 2022 will be junior’s Emmett Swartzentruber and Preston Yutzy.
Swartzentruber was the highest finisher from a year ago.
Swartzentruber placed 20th in the Class 2A race.
As for Yutzy, he ran to a 41st place finish.
Along with the two 12 runners will be back from last season, which includes state meet participants sophomore Jesse Stultz and senior Daniel Rodgers.
The Washington girls are set up for a very good season as they come in at No. 4 in Class 3A.
The Demons put three runners in the Top-4 of last year’s conference meet and capped that off with a sixth overall finish at state.
Washington highest returning is Iris Dahl, a will-be sophomore who finished Top-10 at state after taking second in the conference.
Junior Alyvia Anderson returns after a third-place finish, and junior Quincy Griffis returns after finishing fourth.
Also eligible return are juniors Kendall Hinrichsen, Loran Horak and Angeline Anderson, all of whom finished in the Top-10 in the conference. Alyvia Anderson and Isabella Lujan were also a part of the state meet squad.
Southeast Conference champion Micah Rees leads the Demon boys coming into 2023. He was a 13th-place finisher at state a year ago.
Other Top-10 conference returners for the Demons include Tyler Alderton, a junior who went to state along with Rees last year, and senior Lane Schrock.
As for the Danville-New London boys’ squad, they come in at No. 7 in 1A.
The Bears lose some powerhouse talent in 2023, as state top-five placer AJ Bonnesen graduated along with state qualifier Rylan Martin.
Despite the loses, the Bears look to be just fine as they will try to defend their SEISC championship after dominating the field last season.
D-NL will look to Carter Fesler and Jackson Shacklett, who finished seventh and eighth in the SEISC last year.
The Pekin girls come in at No. 8 in the early rankings.
The girls, who are brimmed with young talent come in as one of the favorites in the SEISC once again. The Panthers rolled to victory in the SEISC championship meet in 2022.
Pekin put five runners into the Top-10 at he SEISC meet, including four returners. Chloe Glosser won the SEISC title as a freshman.
Now-junior Lauren Steigleder finished third. Now-senior Audrey Fariss was seventh, and now-Junior Brooke Sylvester finished 10th.
Pekin parlayed that momentum into a state qualification, finishing ninth.
The Columbus Community, Columbus Junction boys team rounds out the area with a 20th ranking in 1A.
The Wildcats bring back nearly their entire roster this season with Damian Vergara being the leading runner, finishing 11th in the SEISC meet in 2022.
In the SEISC, the Wildcats finished third.
