Talking goats and GOATs with 3-time state cross country champion Danielle Hostetler

PARNELL — There is love on this farm. Faith, for sure.

Hard work? You bet.

And there is something else. There’s a distance-running dynasty.

Seven straight years, the Class 2A girls’ state cross country race has been won by a member of the Hostetler family.

The chain started in 2016, when Anna Hostetler (then a junior) and Marie (then a freshman) finished 1-2.

“Anna, her first year, she tried to please the coaches,” said Mark Hostetler, the girls’ father, and their coach at Mid-Prairie High School.

“By her second year, she decided she was tired of being mediocre. And Marie followed that example.”

The sisters swapped spots in 2017, with Marie winning and Anna placing second. It was the first of three titles for Marie.

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Anna graduated in 2018, Marie in 2020.

And along came Danielle.

“When I ran, I ran my hardest, and happened to win,” said Marie, who now competes at Liberty University. “With Danielle, she runs her race, determined to win.”

The master of a tactical race who gets stronger as the competition continues, Danielle earned 2A titles in 2020, 2021 and 2022.

Last year, she won by 20 seconds, finishing in 18:41.

“She’s fearless,” Mark said. “It doesn’t matter the situation, she’s just fearless.”

As she enters her senior season, Danielle knows the short list of four-time champions.

“Rebekah Topham,” she said, referring to the 2011-14 1A champion from Griswold.

And that, as they say, is the list. At least for now.

“I’m been dreaming about (winning four) since I was 10 years old,” Danielle said. “I’ve been focusing on it the last five years. But there are a lot of girls out there that are really good. This state meet will be tough.”

Yet, Danielle has aged and matured, and the possibility of a fourth title has drawn closer, she has found other goals for her final season.

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“I do hate to lose. I’m pretty competitive,” she said. “I’ll do whatever it takes to win.”

But ...

“My main goal is to be a leader to my teammates, to help the younger ones learn what it’s all about,” she said. “I still picture myself as that freshman underdog. Each year is so different.

“When I was a freshman, I didn’t really celebrate. I just looked to the next year. Now I try to celebrate each race I run.”

And she celebrates much more than the race.

“Cross country has taught be how to glorify God,” she said. “If your identity is running, then winning’s a big deal. But if your identity is in Christ, you have a firm foundation and there’s not as much pressure.”

That’s how all three of the girls have rolled. Anna and Marie continued their interscholastic careers at Liberty, and Danielle might go that route as well, though “there are some other (college programs) I need to contact yet.”

Located in Lynchburg, Va., Liberty is one of the world’s largest Christian universities.

“The Bible says (Colossians 3:23), ‘Whatsoever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord,’” said Anna, who will be a student-teacher in the English department at Mid-Prairie this fall. “I think we realize how fitting that is.”

What Danielle does, she does it heartily. That includes her studies (all of the Hostetler kids have been home-schooled by their mother, Gwen).

And that includes farm chores.

The Hostetlers have a herd of 350 dairy goats at their place on a gravel road between small towns like Parnell, Holbrook and Kinross, and Danielle calls herself “the main milker, once a day.”

Due to complications following sinus surgery, Mark is taking a medical leave from coaching this fall. Jeremy Myers will serve as interim coach.

Danielle, meanwhile, is as healthy as she has been heading into a season. Her career has been marked by a hip injury and a stress fracture, but she has always been at her best at the end of a season.

“This was her first summer of solid training,” Mark said. “She has had the most adversity of the three girls. She has recognized what she needs to do to take care of her body ... to sleep, to eat.

“This could be the year she really maximizes her potential.”

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com