The Mid-Prairie boys and girls cross country teams took the first step toward state championships Thursday with their state qualifier meet performances at the Williamsburg Rec Center.

The Golden Hawk girls stole the show, running away with the team meet championship with their score of 21 points. Williamsburg was second on their home course with 49. The Golden Hawks were led by meet champion Danielle Hostetler who took the title in a blistering time of 18:47. She spoke after the meet about her night. “The goal was to go out, run an even pace and try to win. There is so much relief and happiness that I could be there for my team. Amazing, they were all amazing and worked so hard. I’m glad that we were able to accomplish this. My personal goal for a long time has been to win state individually and I hope our team can also.”

Other Mid-Prairie runners on the girls side included Sydney Yoder third, Jaden Yoder fourth, Mitzi Evans sixth, Abby Fleming seventh, Phoebe Shetler 12th, and Ana Fleming 15th. With their performance the girls set two school records including the first time in program history that all seven varsity runners were individual qualifiers and their team score of 21 is a state meet qualifying record for the program. It’s the Mid-Prairie girls fourth straight trip to state as a team.

The Mid-Prairie boys moved on to state after a team runner-up finish with their score of 59 points. No. 1 ranked Danville-New London won the title with 36 points. The Golden Hawks were led by Jamison Stutzman with his individual runner-up finish in a time of 16:46. He spoke after the meet about his night. “Gameplan was to not go out too hard and pace well. That was easier to do because the pack around me paced well. Make sure I have enough for the end. My goal was to win, came close, got second to Ty Carr from Danville. We’ll have a rematch at state. Knowing that most likely my teammates had qualified as well and I wasn’t going to state alone like I did last year was a great feeling. This is so much better with my teammates there. Last year was bittersweet. Our team made it. That was our goal.”

Other Mid-Prairie runners included Nathan Wallington eighth, Lucas Bontrager ninth, Chandler Hershberger 10th, Mose Yoder 32nd, Daniel Rodgers 45th, and Sam Yoder 69th. This is Mid-Prairie’s first trip to state as a team since 2018. The class 2A state cross country meet will be held on Saturday, October 31st at the Lakeside Municipal Golf Course in Fort Dodge.