Emmett Swartzentruber is Mid-Prairie’s newest state cross country champion

FORT DODGE — Mid-Prairie’s cross country championship run continued Saturday.

But in a manner nobody expected.

Shortly after Danielle Hostetler was denied a fourth consecutive Class 2A girls’ state title, Emmett Swartzentruber struck gold in the boys’ race at Lakeside Golf Course.

Who would have guessed?

“I can’t believe where I’m at right now,” said Swartzentruber, a junior. “It’s absolutely insane. Maybe senior year, I could see this, but not yet.

“All the glory to God, and credit to my coaches.”

Swartzentruber moved to the front shortly before the 2-mile mark, then made it stick. His finishing effort of 15:51 was nearly 3 seconds ahead of Denver’s Neal Pinter.

“I got out a little slow,” Swartzentruber said. “I looked ahead and thought, ‘I’ve got to make up some ground.’

“Then I got to the top five and figured I had to go for it.”

Hostetler was bidding to become the fourth girl in Iowa history to win four individual titles (Griswold’s Rebekah Topham won four 1A races between 2011 and 2014), but settled for fifth place.

Sumner-Fredericksburg’s Hillary Trainor got away from the pack about a mile in, and ran away with it in 18:09, 26 seconds in front of runner-up Albia’s McKenna Montgomery.

Jesup’s duo of Mackenzie Wilson (18:38) and Clare Wright (18:46) were third and fourth, then it was Hostetler in 18:55.

Hostetler was anything but sulky afterward.

“I ran as hard as I could,” she said. “It was good to run against good competition. I’m thankful that I was able to stay mentally tough instead of checking out.”

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The Hostetler sisters — Anna (2016), Marie (2017-19) and Danielle (2020-22) — won the last seven 2A titles.

“I’m very thankful,” Danielle said. “Sometimes, other people are faster than you.”

Wilson and Wright ran together for most of the race before the former pulled away somewhat in the final stretch.

“We always run together in practice,” Wilson said. “We’re used to it.”

Wright said, “She’s always right there. I know I can lean on her.”

Lauren Krogmann of Starmont-West Central finished sixth.

Des Moines Christian swept the 2A team titles.

The Lions girls were somewhat of a surprise, emerging from a relatively close top pack of four teams. DMC scored 101 points and was followed by Van Meter (110), Monticello (119) and Mid-Prairie (122).

Marisa Kehoe paced Monticello with a 16th-place finish.

The boys’ race wasn’t nearly as close. DMC had three runners in the top 10 and ran away with the title, scoring 63 points. Okoboji edged Unity Christian, 129-130, for second, with Waukon (149) finishing fourth.

Alex Torres of Vinton-Shellsburg finished sixth in 16:12, pacing the Vikings to a seventh-place finish.

Class 2A Iowa high school state cross country

At Fort Dodge (Lakeside Golf Course)

Girls Results

TEAMS

1. Des Moines Christian 101, 2. Van Meter 110, 3. Monticello 119, 4. Mid-Prairie 122, 5. Forest City 152, 6. Unity Christian 176, 7. Jesup 186, 8. Denver 202, 9. Albia 211, 10. Williamsburg 225, 11. Tipton 231, 12. Okoboji 261, 13. Hudson 324, 14. Clarinda 324, GLR-Central Lyon 345.

INDIVIDUALS

1. Hillary Trainor (Sumner-Fredericksburg), 18:09; 2. McKenna Montgomery (Albia), 18:35; 3. Mackenzie Wilson (Jesup), 18:38; 4. Clare Wright (Jesup), 18:46; 5. Danielle Hostetler (Mid-Prairie), 18:55; 6. Lauren Krogmann (Starmont-West Central), 18:57; 7. Raenna Henke (Clarinda), 19:00; 8. Hailey Egbert (Shenandoah), 19:05; 9. Kinze Shea (Crestwood), 19:07; 10. Scarlett Byrnes (Osage), 19:08; 11. Amilia Condon (Union Community), 19:19; 12. Katie Young (Unity Christian), 19:24; 13. Laura Streck (Van Meter), 19:31; 14. Bethany Warren (Forest City), 19:35; 15. Mary Schriever (GLR-CL), 19:39; 16. Marisa Kehoe (Monticello), 19:43; 17. Stella Pothoven (D.M. Christian), 19:44; 18. Emma McCoy (Van Meter), 19:45; 19. Izzy Houts (Dike-New Hartford), 19:46; 20. Meryl Casady (D.M. Christian), 19:51.

Boys Results

TEAMS

1. Des Moines Christian 63, 2. Okoboji 129, 3. Unity Christian 130, 4. Waukon 149, 5. Chariton 156, 6. Mediapolis 167, 7. Vinton-Shellsburg 189, 8. Forest City 221, 9. East Sac County 229, 10. Mid-Prairie 231, 11. Spirit Lake 258, 12. Garner GHV 258, 13. Oelwein 262, 14. Pella Christian 293, 15. Anamosa 320.

INDIVIDUALS

1. Emmett Swartzentruber (Mid-Prairie), 15:51; 2. Neal Pinter (Denver), 15:53; 3. Evan Osler (Okoboji), 15:55; 4. Collin Houg (D.M. Christian), 15:58; 5. Kyle Waggoner (Clarinda), 15:59; 6. Alex Torres (Vinton-Shellsburg), 16:12; 7. Caleb Ten Pas (D.M. Christian), 16:16; 8. Brandon Hughes (Spirit Lake), 16:19; 9. Owen Schmidgall (Mediapolis), 16:22; 10. Jack McPartland (D.M. Christian), 16:25; 11. Austin Vander Werf (Interstate 35), 16:31; 12. Clay Bohlmann (Tipton), 16:35; 13. Zach Flatebo (GHV), 16:35; 14. Nathan Pint (Jesup), 16:36; 15. Conall Sauser (Oelwein), 16:39; 16. Nathan Ahern (Crestwood), 16:40; 17. Akron Jostand (Okoboji). 16:40; 18. Isaiah Aragon (East Sac County), 16:41; 19. Eli Page (Vinton-Shellsburg), 16:44; 20. Parker Engel (East Sac County), 16:44.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com