Fort Dodge, IA- The 2025 Iowa High School State Cross Country meet at Fort Dodge ran over the weekend and a pair of our local runners found a spot in the top 10 for their respective races and a local team finished in the top 6.
Class 2A Girls
The first race of the two-day event saw two of our local runners participate in freshman Hannah Ritter of Notre Dame/West Burlington and senior Aubree Bunnell of Central Lee, both making their first appearance at the state level.
Ritter finished just inside the top 10 with a 39th place time of 20 minutes and 47 seconds, while Bunnell was just behind with a time of 20 minutes and 52 seconds, which was good enough for 42nd place.
Treynor ended up upsetting #1 West Marshall by 30 points to finish with the team title. Albia’s McKenna Montgomery traded in last year’s bronze for this year’s gold medal time of 18 minutes and 20 seconds. A battle that will look to heat over the years is between Monticello’s Mary Grace Lyons, freshman, and Kambrie Dekkers of Unity Christian (sophomore) as they finished in 2nd and 4th place, respectively.
Class 2A Boys
Last year, Mediapolis brought a trio of state qualifiers, but this year the Bulldogs brough the entire pack and went from no finishing inside the top 30 to two placing within the top 20 at this year’s meet.
Simon Wendel subtracted 32 seconds off his time from last year to post a mark of 16 minutes and 36 seconds, which slotted him in 7th place. The senior jumped up 25 spots from last year.
Will Schmidgall’s leap up the rankings was even steeper as the junior went from taking 85th place last year to turning in a sub-17-minute time of 16 minutes and 52 seconds and claiming 17th place overall.
The team finished in 13th place with Logan Frank, Shawn Griffis, Kyle Luna, and Mason Lindeen taking 124th, 126th, 128th, and 132nd place, respectively.
Another freshman running for Notre Dame/West Burlington was Cavin Denney. Throughout his impressive rookie season, the freshman has seen time in the rankings and managed a time of 17 minutes and 48 seconds, which was good enough for 66th place.
Grundy Center’s Emerson Vokes successfully defended his title from a year with a time of 15 minutes and 42 seconds, which 36 seconds faster than 2nd place Denver’s Jesse Gomez. Reigning in the team title was Chariton, posting only 42 points.
Class 3A Girls
The Southeast Conference (SEC) had a quartet competing this season and just like last season Washington’s Iris Dahl came from out of nowhere to lead the pack as her final stretch place her in 20th with a final mark of 19 minutes and 16 seconds. Emma Horak finished in 95th place for the Demons.
Mt. Pleasant’s freshman phenom Avery Fedler stated earlier in the season that sometimes she exits the gate too fast and that caught up with her in Fort Dodge. Her opening mile ranked around the same time as some of the top finishers, but a belabored finish put the Panther in 24th place with a time of 19 minutes and 22 seconds.
Avery Rump of Fort Madison, much like the entire season, was stride-for-stride with Fedler down the stretch, but the results were the same for the senior with Rump finishing a step behind in 25th place with a time that was one-tenth of a second slower than her SEC counterpart.
Pella continues to rule the trails as the Dutch wrapped up their fourth consecutive state championship behind Marissa Ferebee’s individual title time of 17 minutes and 47 seconds. Ferebee wraps up her high school career with three state individual and team titles.
Class 3A Boys
The SEC is a fan of the number four as another quartet of runners made the pilgrimage north to run at the state meet. Similarly, Washington led the pack with senior Andrew Rees posting a time of 16 minutes and 22 seconds for 18th place. The Demon took 13th place last season with a time that was two seconds faster.
Mt. Pleasant’s Silas Hulett, two years after trying the sport for the first time, made his first ever trip to the state meet and turned in a 53rd place time of 17 minutes and 3 seconds. Fort Madison’s pair of Riley Tripp and Hunter Wiegand took 68th and 97th place, respectively.
Quentin Nauman of Western Dubuque, an Oregon commit, has dazzled crowds for the past couple of seasons, including a record-setting day back in the spring for the 2025 Iowa State Track and Field meet. The senior saved his best performance for his last as the senior shattered the state record with a time of 14 minutes and 48 seconds to wrap up his second state title.
Gilbert continued their dominant team showing by taking home their third consecutive team trophy by 30 points.
Class 4A Girls
Class 4A kicked off the Saturday slate of events with Dallas Center-Grimes’ Piper Messerly notching a 1st place time of 17 minutes and 41 seconds to take her second consecutive state championship. Waukee Northwest usurped Pleasant Valley’s place atop the class, reigning in 67 points for the trophy.
Class 4A Boys
Cedar Falls’ Jaden Merrick vied his time and replaced his silver medal from last year with the gold medal this season with a time of 14 minutes and 54 seconds to put an exclamation point on his senior season.
However, the effort was not enough to produce another team championship, as Indianola shocked everyone by turning in top 35 performances from all five of their scoring runners to win the title by two points.
Class 1A Girls
WACO’s Josie Dykstra will be a name to keep an eye on over the next two seasons, as the sophomore turned in a 21st place performance with a time of 19 minutes and 54 seconds. Teammate, and freshman, Macie Carter finished in 59th place with a mark of 20 minutes and 56 seconds.
Iris Garza put together a nice individual effort for Columbus with a 29th place time of 20 minutes and 19 seconds. Danville’s Alaina Gourley chopped a second off her time last year and finished seven spots higher at 44th.
Van Buren County, who has performed well as a team all season, claimed 7th place with Kayley Snowgren (20:54) and Rylee Philips (20:56) leading the pack in 57th and 60th place, respectively. Rory Philips, Adalyn Snowgren, and Gabby Titus claimed 72nd, 100th, and 110th, respectively, to round out the scoring.
South Winneshiek took home the team title, while Lili Denton of St. Albert defended her individual state championship with the only sub-18-minute time.
Class 1A Boys
In the penultimate event of the day, Van Buren County’s Lincoln Bainbridge ripped off a time of 16 minutes and 36 seconds to claim 7th place overall. An improvement of 37 seconds and 20 spots from last year’s performance. His top ten finish helped the Warriors finish in 12th place as a team.
Gavin Noll, Landry Loeffler, Leo Jirak, and Reid Kite finished in 59th, 85th, 109th, and 120th positions, respectively, for the Warriors.
The Columbus boys’ team has been one of the most cohesive teams, consistently running similar times and staying together as a group. That pack mentality led to the Wildcats taking 6th place as a team with 227 points.
Ryan Villa with a time of 17 minutes and 34 seconds and Cade Storm with a mark of 17 minutes and 46 seconds led the team with finishes of 50th and 56th place. Victor Tovar, Kevin Villa, and Drake Marin all finished within 40 seconds of Ryan Villa to place in 64th, 70th, and 82nd, respectively.
Lastly, WACO’s Locken Henderson took 89th place with a time of 18 minutes and 12 seconds, while Isaac Shinn of Danville grabbed 90th place with a time of 18 minutes and 13 seconds.
South Winneshiek’s Hugh Conway will be looking to rule the class for the next several years as the sophomore won the individual title with a time of 15 minutes and 50 seconds, which was 12 seconds faster than 2nd place and 21 seconds faster than the next runner that returns next season.
Riverside edged past Lake Mills for the team championship with 54 points.
Class 1A Boys Wheelchair
Eli Johnson of Bedford was the only participant in the event as he finished with a time of 20 minutes and 25 seconds.