Saturday was a big day for the Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk cross country teams at the Cedar Rapids Prairie Invitational.

The Golden Hawk girls were team champions of the orange division with an overall score of 40 points. Solon was second with 73 points. The Hawks were led by individual race champion Marie Hostetler with her time of 18:53. After the race Hostetler talked about the day. “I felt a little rough, the first meet is always a little rough, because you have to get your body used to racing again. It was also hot and muddy. It was a little nerve racking during the race not knowing if someone was going to catch me, I could hear them breathing behind me. It feels good to cross the finish line and know you’ve done it. My teammates ran really tough and I’m proud of them.”

Other finishes for the Golden Hawks included Mitzi Evans in third, Moriah Brase seventh, Ana Fleming 12th, Kate Cavanagh 23rd and Angelina Evans 25th. The Mid-Prairie boys were sixth in the orange division with an overall score of 166 points. Clear Creek Amana won the title with 25 points. Top finish for the Hawks came from Miles Burrows in 26th with a time of 19:54.3. He talked after the meet about his run. “It felt hot, pretty good. I didn’t know where I would end up. I just went out and gave it my all. So much competition today it was insane. The 3A and 4A schools are huge and they have a lot of studs. Being a leader on this team is a lot of pressure but I’m up to it. It’s a lot of fun being able to take care of the younger kids and mentor them a little bit. They are good kids and it’s fun to be around them.”

Other top finishes for the Hawks included Quinn Schmidt 29th, Samson Kimani 35th, Lucas Bontrager 37th, and Thaddeus Shetler 41st. The Golden Hawks will next be on the course Saturday when they travel to Pella.