The Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk cross country teams are back on the course after a long layoff when they travel to Central College in Pella for the Heartland Classic. Mid-Prairie last ran September 5th, in Pella, winning both the boys and girls team championships. The Mid-Prairie girls are ranked No. 1 in class 2A for the fourth straight week entering today’s competition. The defending state champs have three ranked runners in their lineup, including three of the top four in the state led by freshman Danielle Hostetler at No. 1, junior Jaden Yoder No. 2 and junior Sydney Yoder No. 4. The Mid-Prairie boys are ranked No. 3 in class 2A entering this week. The Hawks have three ranked runners in their lineup with Thaddeus Shetler 19th, Jamison Stutzman 21st and Chandler Hershberger 26th. This week, Mid-Prairie head coach Mark Hostetler talked about the level of competition his teams will face Saturday in Pella. “Every year this is the biggest and toughest meet in the state. The lineup on the boys side is like a class 4A state meet. They have the first ranked 4A, second, fourth, fifth, sixth, eighth and 13th along with six of the top 10 individuals in 4A. Of the top 30 runners in 4A, 17 of them are at this meet. In the girls there are also ranked 4A teams along with the first and second ranked teams in 3A and we are ranked 1st in 2A.”
Action starts today at 10a.m. And continues throughout the day on the campus of Central College in Pella.