IOWA CITY
Mid-Prairie’s girls cross country nailed perfection on Monday at the Iowa City Kickers Soccer Park.
Plus one.
Led by sophomore Danielle Hostetler’s dominant win in hot …
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IOWA CITY
Mid-Prairie’s girls cross country nailed perfection on Monday at the Iowa City Kickers Soccer Park.
Plus one.
Led by sophomore Danielle Hostetler’s dominant win in hot weather conditions hitting the upper 80s, the Golden Hawks swept the first six finishes in the girls varsity race at the Clipper Cross Country Classic hosted by Clear Creek Amana on September 27. Head coach Mark Hostetler said that in 40 years of coaching he’d never had a team take the first six spots.
The first five spots clinch a perfect score of 15.
“I’ve had kids do one-two-three-four-five, but to get the sixth runner up there. Abby (Fleming), she really worked hard to get up there,” Mark Hostetler said.
Thaddeus Shetler, a Mid-Prairie senior, won the boys race with a time of 17:35.1. It was the first win by a Mid-Prairie boy at the Clipper Classic since 2017. The Golden Hawks finished second to Clear Creek Amana in the team competition.
And in the middle school girls race, Marie Yoder of Mid-Prairie set the stage for a big Golden Hawk day by finishing second in the first race of the event.
It all led to an incredible show by the Mid-Prairie girls, who are seeking their fifth consecutive state title this year. Danielle Hostetler, under instructions from her coach and dad, Mark, to start slow and then go faster, burst ahead as a sea of yellow Mid-Prairie jerseys followed her.
“She pushed herself,” Mark Hostetler said. “I told her to take it easier on the first mile, then try to push. She tends to push the first mile really hard and then lets up on the second mile. I told her to switch that around and she did. So she accomplished what she needed to.”
Danielle Hostetler won the race with a time of 19:33.72, which was 12 seconds faster than the win she had in the same event last year. Following her 1:18 later was runner-up teammate Sydney Yoder.
Hostetler took advantage of a Mid-Prairie supporter handing out wet towels along the course, but the heat burned deep.
“My lungs were the main thing that hurt,” Danielle said. “They were burning, probably the worst they ever have.”
She led a historic Golden Hawk assault on the Kickers course. Behind Hostetler and Sydney Yoder, a Mid-Prairie trio of Jaden Yoder, Phoebe Shetler and Mitzi Evans ran one right after another virtually the entire race for third, fourth and fifth places.
“It was exciting to see my whole team finish so well,” Danielle Hostetler said. “I’m proud of all of them. Everyone did so good.”
Mid-Prairie assistant coach Aaron Fleming said the top-five sweep earned the Golden Hawks their second perfect score in school history.
But there was more.
Abby Fleming, a sophomore who last year raced alongside older sister Ana, put on a strong kick at the end to capture sixth place ahead of Clear Creek Amana sisters Haidyn and Kira Barker. Fleming finished in 22:03.75, beating out Haidyn Barker by less than a second.
“She fought off those girls. And those girls, they’re really good runners,” Mark Hostetler said. “The two girls from Clear Creek, they’re good runners, the Barker girls. And for Abby to beat those two, that was a phenomenal effort by her and the rest of the girls.”
Haidyn Barker, a junior, finished third in last year’s race.
Mark Hostetler was happy not only with the Golden Hawks’ dominance, but their times.
“Usually when they come to this meet, they let up a little bit because they think they can,” he said. “But today, they didn’t. That was a very mature thing to see. Even though they didn’t have anybody with them in the top five, at least. At the end, even though there wasn’t anybody from other teams, they still pushed hard. They learned a lot and improved a lot in their racing.”
Annika Poll, a Mid-Prairie sophomore, finished 13th. Also finishing among the top 20 were Dessa Poll and Amara Jones, placing 19th and 20th, respectively.
Thaddeus Shetler led a parade of three Golden Hawks finishing among the top 10 in the boys race.
“He ran very even, a smart race,” Mark Hostetler said. “He kept pushing even through the heat and there wasn’t anybody there to push him. He pushed himself really well.
“I feel really good about how Thaddeus ran. He went out and did what he needed to. It was good for him.”
Chandler Hershberger finished sixth with a time of 18:55.42 and Emmet Swartzentruber was ninth in 19:19.12. Mid-Prairie freshman Preston Yutzy was 13th and senior Sam Yoder was 16th. Nathan Wallington, a junior, was 22nd and Robert Nagy, a senior, finished 25th.
But with six finishers among the top 11, Clear Creek Amana edged Mid-Prairie for the team title, 33 points to 45.
The Golden Hawks' next race is Saturday at Anamosa, a meet that will feature not only top teams from other states but a No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown in the girls race between top-ranked Mid-Prairie and No. 2 Denver.
CLIPPER CLASSIC
GIRLS TEAM: 1, Mid-Prairie, 15; 2, Clear Creek Amana, 52; 3, Montezuma, 98; 4, Stc Trojans, 114; 5, Xavier, 135; 6, Vinton Shellsburg, 144.
TOP THREE: 1, Danielle Hostetler, Mid-Prairie, 19:33.72; 2, Sydney Yoder, Mid-Prairie, 20:51.55; 3, Jaden Yoder, Mid-Prairie, 21:27.62.
MID-PRAIRIE: 4, Phoebe Shetler, 21:42.75; 5, Mitzi Evans, 21:47.93; 6, Abby Fleming, 22:03.75; 13, Annika Poll, 22:46.23; 19, Dessa Poll, 24:22.92; 20, Amara Jones, 24:27.96; 31, Anna Flynn, 25:50.87; 32, Greta Sieren, 26:02.88; 36, Tabitha Evans, 26:35.22; 39, Ivy Reschly, 26:48.47; 41, Lilou Beachy, 26:51.20; 43, Grace Conway, 27:17.03; 44, Charlotte Sieren, 27:22.94; 52, Paityn Jennings, 28:29.95; 59, Anna Nafziger, 29:24.69; 67, Aliza Parks, 31:41.03; 73, Annette Wittholf, 33:47.28; 74, Ema Miller, 33:55.58.
BOYS TEAM: 1, Clear Creek Amana, 33; 2, Mid-Prairie, 45; 3, Stc Trojans, 84; 4, Cedar Rapids Xavier, 89; 5, Vinton Shellsburg, 141; 6, Winfield-Mt. Union, 172; 7, Louisa Muscatine, 218; 8, Montezuma, 230, 9, WACO, 252.
TOP THREE: 1, Thaddeus Shetler, Mid-Prairie, 17:35.31; 2, Tommy Tyynismaa, Stc Trojans, 17:56.95; 3, Gavin Zillyette, Clear Creek Amana, 18:10.49.
MID-PRAIRIE: 6, Chandler Hershberger, 18:55.42; 9, Emmet Swartzentruber, 19:19.12; 13, Preston Yutzy, 19:35.59; 16, Sam Yoder, 19:47.45; 22, Nathan Wallington, 19:57.69; 25, Robert Nagy, 20:19.07; 41, Mose Yoder, 21:16.92; 42, Jordan Stock, 21:33.45; 53, Kaden Meader, 22:14.26; 59, Blake Creed, 22:37.45; 62, Daniel Rodgers, 22:39.24; 67, Thomas Flynn, 22:57.17; 73, Andrew Stultz, 23:24.17; 96, Sawyer Hough, 26:06.64; 102, Noah Freeman, 28:04.77.
