The Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk boys and girls cross country teams are back on the course today when they travel to Pella for the Central College Invitational.
The Mid-Prairie girls brought home the team championship at Anamosa a week ago, scoring 22 points to beat second ranked and second place Williamsburg by 37. Danielle Hostetler won the meet with a new Mid-Prairie school record time of 17:36. That time is the sixth fastest time run by a female in that age group in the United States this year. The entire Mid-Prairie girls lineup finished in the top 20 of the meet field.
The Golden Hawk boys were also team champions at Anamosa with 43 points, beating class 4A Muscatine with their 58. Chandler Hershberger was meet runner-up in 16:53. The entire Mid-Prairie lineup placed in the top 30. The Mid-Prairie girls are ranked No. 1 in this week’s class 2A poll from the Iowa High School Track and Field Coaches Association. Every member of Mid-Prairie’s lineup appears in the top 20 of the individual class 2A poll led by Hostetler at No. 1 and followed by Ana Fleming ninth, Jaden Yoder 10th, Sydney Yoder 12th, Mitzi Evans 16th and Abby Fleming 20th. The Mid-Prairie boys enter today’s meet ranked No. 7 in class 2A, up seven spots from 14th a week ago. A pair of Golden Hawk boys appear in this week’s rankings led by Chandler Hershberger 21st and Thaddeus Shetler 29th.
Joining the Golden Hawks at Central will be the No. 12 in 1A AC/GC boys and No. 8 girls, Baxter, Bondurant-Farrar, the No. 11 in 1A Collins-Maxwell girls, the No. 9 in 2A Des Moines Christian boys, Eddyville-Blakesburg, the No. 15 in 3A Gilbert boys, the No.7 in 3A Glenwood girls, Knoxville, Lynnville-Sully, Mt. Pleasant, Nevada, the No. 4 in 3A North Polk boys, Norwalk, Oskaloosa, Prairie City Monroe, the No. 8 in 2A Panorama girls, Pella Christian, Woodward-Granger, and the home-standing No. 5 in 3A Little Dutch boys and No. 15 Little Dutch girls. There are a total of 22 ranked runners in today’s field. Action begins at 10a.m. and continues through the day in Pella.