Defending-champ Prairie opens on top

Defending state champion Cedar Rapids Prairie opens as the top-ranked Class 4A boys cross country team in the Iowa Association of Track Coaches' first rankings, released Wednesday.

The Hawks return four runners from last year's championship squad, led by juniors Jake Moore and Tysen VanDraska.

Decorah's girls also are ranked No. 1, in Class 3A. The Vikings bring back six runners, all of which are seniors, from a team that beat MOC-Floyd Valley in a tie-breaker for last year's title.

Other No. 1 boys teams are Gilbert (3A), Unity Christian (2A) and West Fork (1A). Ames (4A), Unity (2A) and Pekin (1A) are the other top-rated girls squads.

Defending 2A boys champ Monticello starts at No. 2 this season. So do the Decorah boys in 3A and the Cascade girls in 2A.

IATC CROSS COUNTRY STATE RANKINGS

Class 4A Boys

1. Cedar Rapids Prairie, 2. Pleasant Valley, 3. Johnston, 4. Linn-Mar, 5. Ames, 6. West Des Moines Valley, 7. Cedar Falls, 8. Dubuque Hempstead, 9. Iowa City West, 10. Des Moines Roosevelt, 11. West Des Mones Dowling, 12. Bettendorf, 13. Iowa City High, 14. Waukee, 15. Dubuque Senior.

Class 3A Boys

1. Gilbert, 2. Decorah, 3. Algona, 4. Dubuque Wahlert, 5. Pella, 6. Mount Vernon-Lisbon, 7. Center Point-Urbana, 8. Harlan, 9. Williamsburg, 10. Dallas Center-Grimes, 11. Boone, 12. Charles City, 13. Clear Creek Amana, 14. Creston, 15. Grinnell.

Class 2A Boys

1. Unity Christian, 2. Monticello, 3. East Marshall, 4. Shenandoah, 5. Mid-Prairie, 6. North Polk, 7. Ida Grove OA-BCIG, 8. Northeast, 9. Albia, 10. Osage, 11. Tipton, 12. South Central Calhoun, 13. Western Christian, 14. Dike-New Hartford, 15. Cascade.

Class 1A Boys

1. West Fork, 2. Denver, 3. Oakland Riverside, 4. Bellevue, 5. Council Bluffs St. Albert, 6. Trinity Christian, 7. South Winneshiek, 8. Boyer Valley, 9. Algona Garrigan, 10. Highland, 11. Iowa City Regina, 12. Fort Dodge St. Edmond, 13. Mapleton MVAO, 14. Alta-Aurelia, 15. Pekin.

Class 4A Girls

1. Ames, 2. Johnston, 3. Pleasant Valley, 4. West Des Moines Dowling, 5. Linn-Mar, 6. Waukee, 7. Iowa City West, 8. Ankeny Centennial, 9. Bettendorf, 10. Urbandale, 11. Des Moines Roosevelt, 12. Muscatine, 13. Cedar Rapids Kennedy, 14. Iowa City High, 15. Dubuque Senior.

Class 3A Girls

1. Decorah, 2. Gilbert, 3. Mount Vernon-Lisbon, 4. Davenport Assumption, 5. MOC-Floyd Valley, 6. Pella, 7. Charles City, 8. Humboldt, 9. Vinton-Shellsburg, 10. Williamsburg, 11. Spencer, 12. Winterset, 13. Cedar Rapids Xavier, 14. Grinnell, 15. Dallas Center-Grimes

Class 2A Girls

1. Unity Christian, 2. Cascade, 3. Western Christian, 4. Monticello, 5. South Central Calhoun, 6. North Fayette Valley, 7. Greene County, 8. Davis County, 9. East Marshall, 10. North Polk, 11. Roland-Story, 12. Osage, 13. Mid-Prairie, 14. West Central Valley, 15. Northeast.

Class 1A Girls

1. Pekin, 2. Pocahontas Area, 3. Elkader Central, 4. South Winneshiek, 5. North Linn, 6. Iowa City Regina, 7. Griswold, 8. Lynnville-Sully, 9. Council Bluffs St. Albert, 10. Emmetsburg, 11. South Hamilton, 12. Durant, 13. Panorama, 14. Mason City Newman, 15. North Iowa.

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