Seminole Valley makes its high school debut

CEDAR RAPIDS - It's flat. It's a little rough. And Thursday, it makes its debut as a high-school cross country course.

Welcome to Seminole Valley Park.

'I'm looking forward to seeing what it's got,” said Will Harte, boys' coach at Cedar Rapids Washington. 'I'll always be a big fan of Noelridge Park, but I'm willing to give Seminole Valley a chance.”

The park is located in the city's northeast quadrant, along the Cedar River and about a mile south of Xavier High School. It will be the home of a state-qualifying meet for 28 Class 1A schools and nine in Class 4A.

Class 1A girls will run at 3 p.m., 1A boys at 3:30, 4A girls at 4:15 and 4A boys at 4:45.

Cedar Rapids Kennedy is the host school. Athletics director Aaron Stecker could have chosen Noelridge - the traditional home course for the Cedar Rapids public schools - or Tuma Soccer Complex.

He went with Seminole Valley.

'When we were at Noelridge, we had to pay $800 to $1,000 per meet in security guards to manage parking,” Stecker said. 'Once (Mount Mercy University) got the course up and running this fall at Seminole Valley, I was really interested in exploring that as a site to take our meets to.

'I can't speak for (Washington AD Paul James) or (Jefferson AD) Chris (Deam), but I am very interested in developing this to become a permanent home for our meets, like the Cedar Rapids Invitational.”

The main concern, Stecker said, is getting there.

'There's only one route there (west on 42nd Street NE, then south on Seminole Valley Road NE),” he said. 'I anticipate that we'll have enough parking, but I'll be paying close attention.”

Harte sent his team out there twice before state-qualifying sites were determined.

'It's flat as a pancake, and the footing was kind of rough,” he said. 'We haven't had much rain in October, so it could be a fast course.

'Noelridge is such a scenic place, but this place is pretty bucolic, too. It's flat, but it's not like just running on a soccer complex.”

Stecker said, 'It's not as smooth as some would like, but I kind of like that. This isn't track.”

If the actual competition goes as the most recent rankings would project, Cedar Rapids Prairie's boys and Muscatine's girls are the favorites to win the 4A races, with both teams from Iowa City West and Dubuque Hempstead good bets to qualify for state, which is Oct. 31 at Fort Dodge.

'Prairie is a clear favorite,” Harte said. 'Hopefully, we can be in the mix to qualify.”

The top three teams and the top 15 individuals from each site advance.

In the 1A portion, both teams from Elkader Central and Iowa City Regina figure to advance. Bellevue's boys and Starmont's girls also are ranked high.

Other 4A meets with area teams are at Cedar Falls and Pleasant Valley. Ames, Decorah and Fairfield host area teams in 3A, Columbus Junction, Dike and Monticello in 2A, and Ankeny and Cedar Falls in 1A, along with Seminole Valley.

THURSDAY'S STATE-QUALIFYING CROSS COUNTRY MEETS

(Top 3 teams, top 15 individuals from each site advance to the state meet Oct. 31 at Fort Dodge)

Class 4A

At Cedar Falls - Ames, Cedar Falls, Fort Dodge, Linn-Mar, Marshalltown, Mason City, Southeast Polk, Waterloo East, Waterloo West, West Des Moines Valley.

At Cedar Rapids (Seminole Valley) - Burlington, Cedar Rapids Jefferson, Cedar Rapids Kennedy, Cedar Rapids Prairie, Cedar Rapids Washington, Dubuque Hempstead, Iowa City West, Muscatine, Ottumwa.

At Pleasant Valley - Bettendorf, Clinton, Davenport Central, Davenport North, Davenport West, Dubuque Senior, Iowa City High, North Scott, Pleasant Valley, Western Dubuque.

Class 3A

At Ames - Ballard, Bondurant-Farrar, Boone, Carlisle, Gilbert, Grinnell, Iowa Falls-Alden/AGWSR, Knoxville, Madrid, Nevada, Newton, Pella, South Tama.

At Decorah - Benton Community, Center Point-Urbana, Charles City, Crestwood, Decorah, Dubuque Wahlert, Independence, Maquoketa, Mount Vernon-Lisbon, Vinton-Shellsburg, Waverly-Shell Rock, West Delaware.

At Fairfield - Cedar Rapids Xavier, Chariton, Clear Creek Amana, Davenport Assumption, DeWitt Central, Fairfield, Fort Madison, Keokuk, Marion, Mount Pleasant, Oskaloosa, Solon, Washington.

Class 2A

At Columbus Junction - Albia, Centerville, Central Lee, Columbus Community, Danville-New London, Davis County, Louisa-Muscatine, Mediapolis, Mid-Prairie, Monroe PCM, Northeast, West Burlington-Notre Dame, West Liberty, Williamsburg.

At Dike - Aplington-Parkersburg, Baxter CMB, Clarion CGD, Clear Lake, Dike-New Hartford, East Marshall, Grundy Center, Hampton-Dumont, Nashua-Plainfield, Osage, Roland-Story, South Hardin, Union, Waterloo Columbus, West Marshall.

At Monticello - Anamosa, Camanche, Cascade, Dyersville Beckman, Monticello, New Hampton, North Cedar, North Fayette Valley, Oelwein, South Winneshiek, Springville-Central City, Tipton, Waukon, Wilton.

Class 1A

At Ankeny - Ankeny Christian, Belmond-Klemme, BGM, Cardinal, Colfax-Mingo, Colo-Nesco, Eddyville EBF, Fairfield Maharishi (boys only), Lynnville-Sully, Martensdale-St. Marys, Mason City Newman, Montezuma, Moravia, Mormon Trail (boys only), North Mahaska, Ogden, Paton-Churdan, Pekin, Pella Christian, Pleasantville, South Hamilton, Southeast Warren, Twin Cedars, Van Buren, Van Meter, Wayne.

At Cedar Falls - Belle Plaine, Central Springs, Conrad BCLUW, Denver, Don Bosco (boys only), Dunkerton, East Buchanan, Garwin GMG, HLV, Hudson, Jesup, Lake Mills, Lansing Kee, Meskwaki Settlement (boys only), MFL MarMac, North Butler, North-Linn, North Tama, Postville, Rockford, Saint Ansgar, Sumner-Fredericksburg, Tripoli, Valley Lutheran, Wapsie Valley, West Fork.

At Cedar Rapids (Seminole Valley) - Alburnett (boys only), Bellevue, Bellevue Marquette, Calamus-Wheatland, Clayton Ridge, Clinton Prince of Peace, Durant, Easton Valley, Edgewood-Colesburg, Elkader Central, English Valleys, Fort Madison Holy Trinity (boys only), Harmony, Highland, Iowa City Regina, Iowa Mennonite, Keota, Lone Tree, Maquoketa Valley, Midland, Rivermont Collegiate, Scattergood Friends (boys only), Sigourney, Starmont, Tri-County (girls only), WACO, Wapello, Winfield-Mount Union.

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com