Marie Hostetler joined elite company on Saturday by winning a third consecutive Class 2A individual title at the state cross country meet.
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Marie Hostetler joined elite company on Saturday by winning a third consecutive Class 2A individual title at the state cross country meet.
“I think it’s really cool that I’m only the seventh girl to do that,” Hostetler said. “I’m so blessed to have been able to do that and I’m glad to go out with a bang.”
Coming into Saturday’s race, only five had previously achieved that feat. Both Hostetler and Center Point-Urbana’s Adriana Katcher won a third individual titles last weekend.
Hostetler, a senior at Mid-Prairie, ran a time of 17:58 was the best in the field by 41 seconds and by far the largest margin of victory for Hostetler in her three titles. Her margin of victory was five seconds in 2018 and 15 seconds in 2017.
In past seasons, the lead pack would linger with Hostetler before she would take off near the end of the race. This time that wasn’t the case as she built a lead early and held on the entire way.
“I didn’t think I’d get out to a lead that soon,” she said. “I wanted to keep in mind that she could come back at any time and I used that to push me.”
The state-meet win leaves Hostetler undefeated throughout the season, winning every race Mid-Prairie ran.
The 17:58 that Marie Hostetler ran was her second fastest at the Lakeside Municipal Golf Course in her career, but wasn’t aided with winds north of 10 miles per hour and a chilly day in the lower 40s.
“The wind probably hurts the time some, but I know I gave my all no matter the weather,” she said. “Plus, the cold beats hot and humid for sure.”
With her high school cross country career in the books, Hostetler holds the third fastest girls time ran on the 5k course in Fort Dodge. Her previous course record of 17:51 set in 2017 was broken this year by Ames’ Camille Jackson in 17:23.
The Class 2A individual title has now belonged to a Hostetler for four consecutive years with Anna Hostetler winning in 2016 and Marie Hostetler winning the 2017-2019 state titles.
Hostetler was also crucial to the team race, giving Mid-Prairie an immediate leg up over the the competition on the way to a third straight team title.
“As always I just want to give God the glory,” Hostetler said.
Marie will now turn her sights toward track season and eventually heading off to Liberty University, where she committed to run cross country and track last month.
