A narrow miss to the state cross country meet last year stung the MId-Prairie boys cross country team. They quickly got to work trying to fix that. Coach Mark Hostetler said collectively this team …
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A narrow miss to the state cross country meet last year stung the MId-Prairie boys cross country team. They quickly got to work trying to fix that.
Coach Mark Hostetler said collectively this team may have been the hardest offseason workers he has had as a coach. Now they’ll try and prove their toughness on a tough stage at Williamsburg this Thursday.
The Golden Hawks are one of four ranked teams to run at Williamsburg along with No. 5 Williamsburg, No. 7 Danville-New London and No. 12 Davis County. One of those three teams will have their season end on Thursday.
“We preach that at the state-qualifying meet anything can happen, and it usually does,” Mid-Prairie assistant coach Aaron Fleming said. “Every year there are unexpected qualifiers, and teams that everyone thought were a sure thing that go home disappointed instead.”
The Golden Hawk lineup will consist of Jamison Stutzman, Chandler Hershberger, Lucas Bontrager, Nathan Wallington, Mose Yoder, Robert Nagy and Jordan Stock.
The Golden Hawks have been without one of their top runners, Thaddeus Shetler, for the last five weeks. Fleming said he has “an outside chance of being healthy enough to run” on Thursday. Alternates include Levi Stultz and Micah Hostetler.
If Shetler is available, it would be a big boost for the Golden Hawks. Shetler ran 17:31 at both Pella and Monticello earlier this season. If he isn’t available, Stock ran his first varsity contest at the River Valley Conference meet in 21:08.
“They get 17 to 22 minutes with no timeouts to call a new play or tie their shoe or catch their breath,” Fleming said. “They simply have to keep focused the whole way and give everything they have for themselves, their team, and their community.”
Williamsburg has defeated Mid-Prairie all three times they have raced this season, including once earlier on their home course. The Golden Hawks raced Danville-New London once at the Hillcrest Academy meet, losing by 35 places. Mid-Prairie has not raced Davis County this season, but were knocked out by the Mustangs at last year’s state-qualifying meet.
Racing is set for 4 p.m. on Thursday at the Williamsburg Recreation Complex.
