The road to the state cross country meet in Fort Dodge will travel through Fairfield for the Washington Demon runners. The Iowa High School Athletic Association and the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union announced state qualifying meet sites recently.

The institutions put the Fairfield Trojans in charge of hosting the Class 3A’s race in Southeast Iowa on Thursday, October 22. Joining Washington and Fairfield in the qualifying race includes runners from: Davenport Assumption, Central Clinton, Chariton, Clear Creek-Amana, Fort Madison, Keokuk, Marion, Mount Pleasant, Oskaloosa, Solon, and Cedar Rapids Xavier.

The race field includes several ranked runners according to the Iowa Association of Track and Field Coaches. Among the ranked runners participating in the boy’s race at Fairfield are Cedar Rapid Xavier’s Stephen Culpepper, the fifth ranked runner in Class 3A, and Johnathan Francois, Clear Creek Amana’s Eric Douglass, Fort Madison’s Brett Schneider, Marion’s Jeremy Fopma, and Mount Pleasant’s Logan Murray, who is ranked second in the state, and Adam Bodenham. The ranked runners in the girls’ field includes: Davenport Assumption’s Julia Schumacher, the number two ranked runner in Class 3A, Joy Ripslinger and Mallory King, Fort Madison’s Sarah Steffensmeier, Marion’s Madison Bach, Osklaoosa’s Sienna DeJong, and Solon’s Trisha Coberly.

The top 15 finishers in both the boys and girls races will advance to the state cross country meet at the Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge on Saturday, October 31.