The Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk girls and boys cross country teams went to Thursday’s Class 2A State Qualifier meet at Williamsburg with one goal in mind, State in Fort Dodge. The Golden Hawks weren’t going to be denied. The top ranked in 2A Mid-Prairie girls clinched their return trip to state with a team title, scoring 29 points to beat second place Van Meter’s 43. All seven in the Mid-Prairie lineup placed in the top 18. Danielle Hostetler was the individual winner in 19:09, completing a career sweep of state qualifier meet championships. Other Golden Hawk runners included Brooklyn Stutzman fourth, Greta Sieren fifth, Kendal Landstrum 10th, Abby Fleming 13th, Phoebe Shetler 14th and Annika Poll 18th. The champion Golden Hawks talked after the race about how the day unfolded and winning the team title.

Poll said, “It’s important to not go out too hard. Settle in, work hard the last two miles.”

Shetler added, “If you see a girl in front of you, go catch her. Be patient the first mile and you just start picking people off after that.”

Hostetler continued, “It’s really exciting to finish. Then watch everyone else finish. Everyone is just hugging each other and super excited. We worked all year for this. I just truly love all of these girls and I’m so proud of each and every one of them.”

Landstrum finished, “Awesome! As a freshman, it’s so cool. I’ve always wanted to be up there (on the awards podium), especially with these girls. I’ve been watching them since I was younger. Running with them and getting to know them has been really fun.”

For the No. 10 Mid-Prairie boys they finished third as a team to qualify as a group with a score of 74 points. Mediapolis won the meet with 49 and Oelwein also qualified, placing second with 65 points. Junior Emmett Swartzentruber outran the opposition, winning the individual title in 16:12. Other Golden Hawk runners included Preston Yutzy seventh, Max Swartzentruber 19th, Jayse Yoder 20th, Jesse Stultz 27th, Daniel Rodgers 29th and Jacob Donaldson 32nd. After the meet the happy group of Hawks talked about the race and qualifying for state.

Swartzentruber said, “This just feels awesome! Just goes to show all the work we put in, determination, things we do to have the success we have pay off.”

Yutzy added, “We know we can trust our training, our teammates, and we can trust God in our race.”

This is the ninth straight season the Golden Hawk girls have sent a team to state and the fourth consecutive fall for the Golden Hawk boys. The Mid-Prairie girls and boys cross country teams will next be on the course Saturday, October 28th in Fort Dodge for the 2023 Class 2A State Championship meet. Catch interviews with the full boys and girls teams on this week’s KCII PM Sports Page programs Wednesday and Thursday. You can hear live updates from state at the top of every hour on AM and FM KCII and find updated live results on our website at KCIIradio.com.