It was a rare sight on Saturday in Monticello.

Another runner alongside Mid-Prairie sophomore Danielle Hostetler, chasing the UTV with less than a mile left in the race. 

Calamus-Wheatland freshman Noelle Steines matched the defending 2A state champion step for step for nearly three miles, but in the end Hostetler pulled away to win by four seconds. 

Hostetler’s time of 17:56 was a new career best, tying her sister Marie’s Monticello course and meet record. 

“I really like this course, I was just trying to keep my pace even and go for the gold,” Hostetler said after the race. 

With 60 points, the Golden Hawks finished first in a field that included seven ranked teams, including four of the top six teams in class 2A.

2A No. 6 Monticello was second with 74 points, while No. 3 Tipton and No. 4 Jesup finished third and fourth. 

Mid-Prairie head coach Mark Hostetler was glad to see Steines and his daughter Danielle push each other to new personal records. 

“For both of them, their times were right around 19 minutes coming in,” he said. “And so without each other, they wouldn't have done what they did. I think that's what cross country is all about. 

“Yeah, we want to beat them, everybody wants to win. But the main thing is, if it wasn't for the other teams, you would not run the times you run. You know, we're here competing against each other — but in reality, we're making each other faster. And that’s what I love about cross country.”

The Golden Hawk boys finished fifth out of 14 teams, eight of which appeared in the 1A, 2A and 3A rankings. 

Thaddeus Shetler led Mid-Prairie with a third-place finish individually and a time of 16:41. His fellow senior Chandler Hershberger was 21st with a time of 18:08.

“My goal was to go out pretty hard,” Hershberger said. “I just wanted to have a good position for the first few miles. I've been kind of struggling with a mental wall lately in races and that kind of came up again, but I know I can run a lot harder, a lot faster.”

Mark Hostetler said that both the boys and girls teams were tired from a hard workout on Thursday.
“They were supposed to do just stride-outs after the long run. And they ended up doing 10 sprints, and they weren't quite used to that.

"Coming up here, Danielle said, ‘I don't ever want to feel this tired coming into a race again.’ And still she ran her best time. So it showed a lot of guts and determination on our girls' part to finish with the times they had.”

Sydney Yoder earned a medal with a seventh-place finish of 19:53. Phoebe Shetler and Jaden Yoder both finished inside the top 15 with times of 20:19 and 20:34. 

It was an outstanding performance for the No. 1 ranked Golden Hawks with one of their top three runners, Mitzi Evans, out for the day. 

Hostetler said that Abby Fleming really stepped up as Mid-Prairie’s fifth runner on Saturday. 

“Without her moving up the way she did throughout the race, we would have had a hard time beating Monticello,” he said. “Last week, she ran 21:56 and today she ran 21:21. And you know, that's over half a minute. So Abby did a good job, and they all did. They all moved up a little bit.”

Emmett Swartzentruber was 32nd for the Mid-Prairie boys with a time of 18:34.

“Thaddeus ran really well and Emmett Swartzentruber ran an outstanding race as a freshmen,” Hostetler said. The hard Thursday practice affected the more inexperienced boys team a little more than it did the girls, Hostetler observed. 

“There are some things we have to work on,” he said. “We just need to be more like Thaddeus and push ourselves and be consistent.”

The Golden Hawks will have another big test on Saturday at the Heartland Cross Country Classic at Central College in Pella. The Mid-Prairie girls finished eighth out of a field of 18, which included the top 4A teams from the Des Moines area. 

The Mid-Prairie girls have finished first in all three meets so far this season. 

“It was a tough field and they ran tired,” Hostetler said. “I know that when they run fresh, they're going to feel better again, but we still have good competition. And we're going to have to keep our nose to the grindstone and also rest when we need to.”

Results (Girls)
1 Danielle Hostetler 17:56
7. Sydney Yoder 19:53
14. Phoebe Shetler 20:19
15. Jaden Yoder 20:34
27. Abby Fleming 21:21
39. Annika Poll 22:15
54. Amara Jones 23:17
JV Results
6. Ivy Reschly 22:53
8. Dessa Poll 22:54
16. Anna Flynn 23:46
17. Charlotte Sieren 23:48
32. Lilou Beachy 25:35
44. Grace Conway 26:19
54. Paityn Jennings 27:20
64. Anna Nafziger 28:34
69. Ema Miller 29:01
72. Aliza Parks 29:24
76. Vanessa Kimani 29:53
78. Annette Witthofft 30:05

Results (Boys)
3. Thaddeus Shetler 16:41
21. Chandler Hershberger 18:08
32. Emmett Swartzentruber 18:34
46. Jayse Yoder 19:10
47. Preston Yutzy 19:12
52. Robert Nagy 19:17
62. Sam Yoder 19:42
JV Results
3. Nathan Wallington 18:41
5. Blake Creed 19:27
14. Jordan Stock 20:13
21. Mose Yoder 20:34
39. Thomas Flynn 21:31
56. Andrew Stultz 22:28
63. Jacob Donaldson 23:12
73. Noah Freeman 25:32
82. Irman Ganibegovic 27:01
89. Sawyer Hough 28:36
91. Josh Keaough 33:17