The Mid-Prairie cross country program measured itself against some of the best in the state in the Trojan Early Bird Invitational on Thursday. 

The Pleasant Valley girls, who opened the season ranked second in 4A, were the meet winners with five of the top six finishers. 

Mid-Prairie and Iowa City Liberty were next with 79 points apiece, but the Golden Hawks finished third on the tiebreaker. Mid-Prairie junior Abby Fleming finished seventh individually with a time of 21:06, ahead of all runners from 4A Iowa City West, Liberty, and Bettendorf. 

“I think it was fun to see where I could place compared to all of the big schools,” Fleming said after the race. “I felt happy with my finish time for a starting point… it was a pretty good effort, but I’d like to be better.”

The heat on Thursday kept times down for most runners. Fleming’s race was over three minutes faster than her starting point from the previous season. Despite the heat, she had a strong sprint up an incline to finish a second ahead of West High’s top runner — a finish that the coaching staff attributed to her offseason work in the weight room. 

Spartan sophomore Grace Boleyn won a sprint to the finish line with Golden Hawk junior Danielle Hostetler to take first place by a little over a second. Hostetler finished with a time of 18:43 at the University of Iowa’s Ashton Cross Country Course. 

“Danielle often wins by a large margin, but in a close race like this you really get to see the kind of competitive fire she has,” Mid-Prairie assistant coach Aaron Fleming said. “She's about as gritty and determined as they come, and she loves to run fast.”

Boelyn became the first Iowan to finish ahead of Hostetler at Central College last season, but Hostetler finished five seconds ahead of her two weeks later at Wartburg. 

The boys race also featured a No. 2 ranked team in Iowa City High, and also saw the Golden Hawks competing against an all-4A field. 

Little Hawk senior Ford Washburn led City High to the win with a time of 15:32. Golden Hawk sophomore Emmett Swartzentruber finished 10th with a time of 17:29. 

Aaron Fleming said that Swartzentruber had “a nice time on a course that featured rough footing and deep grass that tends to slow runners down. 

“He's been consistent in practice all summer and brings a dependability to the team that's unusual in a sophomore.”

The Golden Hawk boys had four finishers in the top half of the field and beat Dubuque Senior for fourth place, behind City, Liberty, and Bettendorf.

Senior Blake Creed and sophomore Preston Yutzy finished 17th and 18 for the Golden Hawks in 18:31 and 18:34, respectively.  

Fleming expects Creed to have a breakout season as a senior. 

“Not even in the team's top 10 last year — he was our second runner tonight and consistently pushes his teammates in practice,” Fleming said. “He's a great story of hard work in the offseason paying off, and he also brings a sense of humor that keeps the team in a good mood."

Preston Yutzy continues to rise to the occasion in meets. A week ago at the team time trial he was seventh or eighth, but when it comes to race day he just finds another gear and gets himself up toward the top. He's nearly as fast already at the beginning of the season as he was in a strong showing at state last year.”

Sophomore Jayse Yoder was 23rd and senior Nathan Wallington was 31st to round out the Golden Hawk scoring. Junior Daniel Rodgers finished 34th with a time of 19:26 — over two minutes faster than his starting point from the previous season. Freshman Jesse Stultz was Mid-Prairie’s seventh runner and senior Jordan Stock also finished under 20 minutes. 

“Jordan Stock and Thomas Flynn will be serious contenders for a varsity spot as the season goes along,” Fleming said. 

All five scorers for the Mid-Prairie girls were juniors. Phoebe Shetler finished 21st with a time of 22-flat and Annicka Poll was 26th with a finish of 22:19.

“Greta Sieren made her varsity debut tonight with one of her career best times,” Fleming said. “She's coming off a strong track season and showed lots of promise in summer training and she'll be a key contributor as the season goes along.”

Senior Tabitha Evans was the sixth runner with a time of 23:38 and just a second separated sophomores Ivy Reschly and Dessa Poll in 35th and 36th. Amara Jones finished 37th as she continues to work her way back from an injury. 

“Team depth will be one of our biggest concerns this year, so it's great to have several girls pushing each other to get on varsity,” Fleming said. 

“Freshmen Hannah Rodgers and Alaina Safly and junior Kali Miller all had their first 5k races tonight, and they all pushed hard through the heat and finished strong. They bring great attitudes to practice every day and it will be a lot of fun to see them develop as they get used to running at the high school level.”

Senior Andrew Stultz, who was a team manager for two years, began to run last season and is now a captain for the Golden Hawk JV.

“His huge improvement over last year, and his steady vocal leadership and strong character are a big asset to the team,” Fleming said. “Freshman Luke Brokaw had a nice debut race, and several other JV guys had big improvements over last year. Josh Keaough set a personal record by about two minutes, and fellow juniors Sawyer Hough and Jacob Donaldson ran under 22 minutes for the first time in their careers. 

“These young men put in a lot of effort in the offseason and it’s just a lot of fun to see their times coming along so well.”

Girls Results
2. Danielle Hostetler 18:43
7. Abby Fleming 21:06
21. Phoebe Shetler 22:00
26. Annika Poll 22:19
32. Greta Sieren 23:28
34. Tabitha Evans 23:38
35. Ivy Reschly 23:49
36. Dessa Poll 23:50
37. Amara Jones 24:12
JV
36. Kali Miller 28:41
42. Hannah Rodgers 31:20
43. Alaina Safly 31:21

Boys Results
10. Emmett Swartzentruber 17:29
17. Blake Creed 18:24
18. Preston Yutzy 18:31
23. Jayse Yoder 18:49
31. Nathan Wallington 19:19
34. Daniel Rodgers 19:26
38. Jesse Stultz 19:43
40. Jordan Stock 19:52
42. Thomas Flynn 20:37
45. Andrew Stultz 21:31
JV
26. Luke Brokaw 20:42
32. Jacob Donaldson 21:20
36. Mose Yoder 21:31
37. Sawyer Hough 21:36
70. Josh Keaough 24:35
71. Adrian Sanchez 24:45
86. Alex Castillo 26:60
93. Owen Zirchelbach 28:48
97. Evan Reschly 40:40

Full Results