Hillcrest Academy will have a runner on the course for Saturday’s class 1A girls championship cross country race in Fort Dodge. Leah Bontrager, a sophomore, will run for the Ravens in her second straight state meet appearance. Bontrager qualified for the meet by finishing sixth at the state qualifier at the Iowa City Kickers Complex last week. As a freshman she finished in 72nd place in Fort Dodge a year ago. This week, Hillcrest Academy head cross country coach Marty Gingerich talked about their focus going into Saturday. “It’s a chance to do better than we have done before against excellent competition. She finished 72nd last year and is looking for a better standing this year. Right now she is running about a minute faster than she was a year ago at this time.”

You can hear live updates and results from Fort Dodge throughout the day on AM and FM KCII. The one to count on for today’s local sports coverage is AM and FM KCII.