6 straight state cross country titles for the Hostetlers, 5 straight for Mid-Prairie girls

FORT DODGE — We’ve seen this script before.

That’s six in a row for the Hostetlers, five straight for the Golden Hawks.

As expected, Mid-Prairie extended its dominance of the Class 2A girls’ cross country landscape Saturday morning. Led by repeat individual champion Danielle Hostetler, the Golden Hawks won the team title, going away.

Again.

“This means so much,” senior Sydney Yoder said. “This team works so, so hard. Early mornings every day in the summer to beat the humidity ... I’m just really happy.”

Mid-Prairie had all five scorers in the top 21 and tallied 50 points. Denver (111), Monticello (146), Jesup (153) and Cherokee (192) rounded out the top five.

The Golden Hawks joined elite company — Iowa City High (1989-93) and West Des Moines Dowling (2007-11) — as five-time winners.

What’s more, Hostetler continued the sister string. Anna Hostetler won the title in 2016, Marie Hostetler took three in a row (2017-19) and Danielle has captured the last two. She has two seasons left.

“I wanted to go a little slower, then maintain the lead and open a gap,” said Hostetler, who took the lead around the 1-mile mark and finished 22 seconds ahead of the nearest challenger, in 18:27. “I had a lot of confidence, trusting God, knowing He will help me through the toughest parts of the race.

“I’m so proud of everybody. We love each other, like a family.”

Sydney Yoder was seventh, Jaden Yoder 13th, Mitzi Evans 16th. Each of those three are seniors.

“Everybody had their obstacles this season,” said Evans, who missed about 10 days with COVID-19 after the first meet. “This is a miracle for all of us.”

As is custom, the Golden Hawks moved up in the pack as the race progressed.

“We know a lot of people start fast,” Sydney Yoder said. “It’s nerves, then they (fade) after the first mile. We like speeding up instead of slowing down.”

Nine days after topping defending-champion Danville-New London at the district meet, the Tipton boys did it again — emphatically.

The Tigers reclaimed the title (they won it 2019), scoring 60 points. Danville-New London settled for second with 101, then it was Western Christian (144), Oelwein (171) and Des Moines Christian (171) completing the top five.

“Even though we beat them last week, we still thought the pressure was on Danville,” said freshman Clay Bohlmann, who led the Tigers’ charge with a ninth-place finish.

“We came here and took care of business.”

Troy Butler was 10th, and the other three scoring Tigers finished in the top 30.

“Clay did great at the front, Maxson (Fogg) did what he was told to do at No. 5, and everybody in between did what they were supposed to do,” Butler said. “We didn’t change anything from last week.

“It’s going to be a fun ride home.”

Des Moines Christian’s Aaron Fynaardt was the individual boys’ champion, in 15:56. Nolan Evans of Jesup was a somewhat surprising runner-up, in 16:09.

“My legs felt amazing,” said Evans, a senior. “I kind of projected myself as fourth before the race, and I blew that away.”

Charlie Sieck of Starmont-West Central was sixth. Ray Gearhart led Oelwein’s fourth-place charge, placing 12th.

Mid-Prairie’s boys were sixth, Waukon seventh, Williamsburg 10th, Monticello 14th, Jesup 15th.

Tipton’s girls were sixth, Dyersville Beckman ninth, Williamsburg 11th.

Jesup’s duo of Mackenzie Wilson and Amanda Treptow placed sixth and ninth.

CLASS 2A STATE CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS

At Fort Dodge (Lakeside Golf Course)

GIRLS RESULTS

Teams — 1. Mid-Prairie 50, 2. Denver 111, 3. Monticello 146, 4. Jesup 153, 5. Cherokee 192, 6. Tipton 200, 7. Van Meter 210, 8. Clarinda 221, 9. Dyersville Beckman 221, 10. Sibley-Ocheyedan 223, 11. Williamsburg 225, 12. Unity Christian 238, 13. Albia 269, 14. Des Moines Christian 306, 15. Roland-Story 318.

Individuals — 1. Danielle Hostetler (Mid-Prairie), 18:27; 2. Madison Brouwer (Sibley-Och), 18:49; 3. Katelyn Johnston (Osage), 18:51; 4. Addison Doughan (Clear Lake), 19:04; 5. Reeve Ristau (Denver), 19:05; 6. Mackenzie Wilson (Jesup), 19:20; 7. Sydney Yoder (Mid-Prairie), 19:22; 8. Kyrstin Agnitsch (Cherokee), 19:25; 9. Amanda Treptow (Jesup), 19:34; 10. Clare Kelly (Van Meter), 19:39; 11. Mayson Hartley (Clarinda), 19:41; 12. Madison Marco (Sibley-Och), 19:41; 13. Jaden Yoder (Mid-Prairie), 19:41; 14. Amaya Van Essen (Unity), 19:52; 15. Mary Kelly (Van Meter), 19:57; 16. Mitzi Evans (Mid-Prairie), 19:59; 17. Emma Althoff (Monticello), 20:03; 18. Amber Homan (Denver), 20:07; 19. Clare Wright (Jesup), 20:09; 20. Ava Capron (Monticello), 20:09.

BOYS RESULTS

Teams — 1. Tipton 60, 2. Danville-New London 101, 3. Western Christian 144, 4. Oelwein 171, 5. Des Moines Christian 171, 6. Mid-Prairie 174, 7. Waukon 185, 8. East Marshall 199, 9. Okoboji 213, 10. Williamsburg 215, 11. Grundy Center/Gladbrook-Reinbeck 238, 12. Clear Lake 242, 13. Unity Christian 275, 14. Monticello 275, 15. Jesup 286.

Individuals — 1. Aaron Fynaardt (DMC), 15:56; 2. Nolan Evans (Jesup), 16:09; 3. Tage Hulstein (Western), 16:26; 4. Carson Houg (DMC), 16:32; 5. Ty Carr (Dan-NL), 16:34; 6. Charlie Sieck (Starmont-West Central), 16:35; 7. Joey Hovinga (Forest City), 16:39; 8. Carson Shively (Davis County), 16:42; 9. Clay Bohlmann (Tipton), 16:48; 10. Troy Butler (Tipton), 16:50; 11. Evan Osler (Okoboji) 16:52; 12. Ray Gearhart (Oelwein), 16:53; 13. Nicolas Thompson (West Marshall), 16:54; 14. Thaddeus Shetler (Mid-Prairie), 16:55; 15. Alexander Julian (Dan-NL), 17:03; 16. Damon VandenBerg (Spirit Lake), 17:05; 17. Alejandro Bernel (Sibley-Ocheyedan), 17:05; 18. Joe Terrones (East Marshall), 17:08; 19. Mason Maiers (Interstate 35), 17:09; 20. Dylan Usher (New Hampton), 17:09.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com