Jeff Linder, CR Gazette –
Defending Class 2A state champion Monticello and 2011 3A runner-up Decorah are ranked No. 1 in their respective classes in the Iowa Association of Track Coaches preseason cross country rankings.
Monticello returns all of its top five runners from last year’s title team — all five of them broke 17 minutes. Juniors Michael Melchert and Ben Ahlrichs were fifth and 12th, respectively.
Other scorers returning are seniors J.J. Frawley, Tiler Streets and Dallas Lumpa.
Monticello is ranked No. 1 nationally in schools with enrollments of less than 500 by XCnation.com.
Decorah was second to Pella last year. The Vikings return their top four runners; Patrick Larson, Thomas Knobbe, Kyle Hosting and Ethan Pankow all are seniors.
Defending champions West Des Moines Dowling and Council Bluffs St. Albert are No. 1 in 4A and 1A, respectively.
Linn-Mar, Cedar Rapids Washington and Cedar Rapids Prairie are third, fourth and sixth in 4A. Iowa City Regina is No. 2 in 2A.
The top-rated girls teams are Dowling (4A), Pella (3A), Unity Christian (2A) and Griswold (1A). All are defending champions except Pella, which was third last year.
Linn-Mar’s girls are fourth in 4A. Regina is No. 3 in 2A; North Linn is third in 1A.
IOWA ASSOCIATION OF TRACK COACHES CROSS COUNTRY RANKINGS
BOYS
Class 4A — 1. West Des Moines Dowling, 2. Pleasant Valley, 3. Linn-Mar, 4. Cedar Rapids Washington, 5. West Des Moines Valley, 6. Cedar Rapids Prairie, 7. Iowa City High, 8. Iowa City West, 9. Waukee, 10. Burlington.
Class 3A — 1. Decorah, 2. Pella, 3. Sioux City Heelan, 4. Dubuque Wahlert, 5. Boone, 6. Grinnell, 7. Knoxville, 8. Glenwood, 9. Charles City, 10. Fort Madison.
Class 2A — 1. Monticello, 2. Iowa City Regina, 3. Fort Dodge St. Edmond, 4. Spirit Lake, 5. Northeast, 6. North Polk, 7. South Winneshiek, 8. Gilbert, 9. Tipton, 10. Okoboji.
Class 1A — 1. Council Bluffs St. Albert, 2. West Lyon, 3. Denver, 4. Trinity Christian, 5. Guthrie Center, 6. Alta-Aurelia, 7. Conrad BCLUW, 8. Dike-New Hartford, 9. Highland, 10. Nashua-Plainfield.
GIRLS
Class 4A — 1. West Des Moines Dowling, 2. Pleasant Valley, 3. West Des Moines Valley, 4. Linn-Mar, 5. Cedar Falls, 6. Iowa City High, 7. Iowa City West, 8. Johnston, 9. Cedar Rapids Kennedy, 10. Bettendorf.
Class 3A — 1. Pella, 2. Davenport Assumption, 3. Dubuque Wahlert, 4. Solon, 5. Decorah, 6. MOC-Floyd Valley, 7. Dallas Center-Grimes, 8. Mount Vernon-Lisbon, 9. Sioux City Heelan, 10. Harlan.
Class 2A — 1. Unity Christian, 2. Northeast, 3. Iowa City Regina, 4. Sioux Center, 5. North Fayette, 6. Western Christian, 7. Roland-Story, 8. Gilbert, 9. North Polk, 10. South Winneshiek.
Class 1A — 1. Griswold, 2. Earlham, 3. North Linn, 4. Eagle Grove, 5. Pekin, 6. Denver, 7. Algona Garrigan, 8. Tri-Center, 9. Corning, 10. Nashua-Plainfield.
