A look at Thursday’s conference cross country meets

The conference cross country season began last Thursday with the Mississippi Valley Conference Super meet at Waterloo, and continued Tuesday with the River Valley Conference meet at Iowa City.

The MVC will host its divisional meets Thursday. Also that day are the Wamac and Tri-Rivers conference meets.

A look:

MVC Mississippi Division

Time & place: 4 p.m., at Cedar Falls (Birdsall Park)

Scouting the girls: Iowa City Liberty senior Ashlyn Keeney was the individual champion at the Super meet, and is a significant favorite to lead the field. Cedar Rapids Prairie is the team to beat, particularly after Gabby Cortez, Lourdes Mason and Keirra Hess paced them to second place at the Super competition. Linn-Mar and Iowa City High are the top challengers.

Scouting the boys: Junior-laden Iowa City High is the team to beat. The Little Hawks were Super champions, led by individual runner-up Ford Washburn, who is the guy to beat Thursday. Cedar Falls is the Little Hawks’ chief competition, with Western Dubuque’s Eli Naumann the most likely candidate to push Washburn, with Cedar Falls’ Brayden Burnett and Linn-Mar’s Hayden Kuhn in the mix.

MVC Valley Division

Time & place: 4 p.m., at Iowa City (Kickers Soccer Complex)

Scouting the girls: Super meet champion Dubuque Hempstead is a solid favorite, with Julia Gehl, Keelee Leitzen and Brooke O’Brien exhibiting potential to run 1-2-3. Dubuque Senior and Iowa City West should battle for second place.

Scouting the boys: Iowa City West’s Alex McKane might be the favorite in every race he runs the rest of the way, including the state meet. He ran an eye-popping 15:14 at the Super meet and won by 15 seconds. McKane will get a challenge from Hempstead’s Derek Leicht and Cedar Rapids Kennedy’s Miles Wilson. Hempstead is an overwhelming favorite in the team race.

Wamac Conference

Time & place: 4 p.m., at Solon High School

Scouting the girls: Depth makes Class 3A top-ranked Solon an overwhelming favorite. The trio of Kayla Young, Gracie Federspiel and Emma Bock should be right at the front, and don’t be surprised if the Spartans place five in the top 10. Center Point-Urbana’s Kora Katcher is rated third in 3A individually, and Marion’s Peyton Steffen and Madison Prier should be in the hunt.

Scouting the boys: Expect a quality three-man race here. Eli Larson of Center Point-Urbana is rated third in 3A but will be pushed hard by Marion’s duo of Jedidiah Osgood and Shane Erb. Marion and Solon are ranked second and fifth in 3A, and the Wolves prevailed convincingly at the North Linn Invitational on Saturday. Mount Vernon-Lisbon should be the next best team.

Tri-Rivers Conference

Time & place: 4 p.m., at Bellevue (Bellevue Golf Club)

Scouting the girls: Noelle Steines, a freshman from Calamus-Wheatland, has stormed onto the scene and appears to be the top female runner in Class 1A. She is the favorite, with North Linn’s Meghan Wheatley and Bellevue Marquette’s Holly Beauchamp the favorites for second place. North Linn is the team favorite.

Scouting the boys: Led by individual contenders Cy Huber and Nolan Ries, Maquoketa Valley is a fairly substantial favorite in the boys team race. Clinton Prince of Peace’s Marcus Blount is the most highly ranked individual at No. 14 in Class 1A.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com