Mt. Pleasant, IA- The Mt. Pleasant Boys’ and Girls’ Cross Country teams are ready to get out and running for the 2026 season after a summer of running four days a week and a weeklong camp back in mid-August at Oakland Mills. With their first meet scheduled for tomorrow, September 1st, here’s a look at the teams.
Girls’ Team
Mt. Pleasant has slowly been getting better and better as the years have progressed, resulting in two girls punching their ticket to state last year. The best part? Quintrie Lee is a junior and Avery Fedler is just a sophomore, which means plenty of time for the two runners to keep progressing.
Panther girls’ head coach Lyle Murray knows the competition is appreciated amongst the teammates,
“Yeah, you know, and I think they feed off each other a little bit. You know, there’s always somebody to work out with, which is good on both sides. Yeah, you know, we’ve got a freshman who’s coming up. She’s got some promise. And then our returners, you know, and we’ve got Monroe James who’s coming back for her senior year. So, yeah, we should have a very solid team.”
Lee did not turn in a time at the state meet, opting to go the National FFA Conventions, but did have a season best time of 20 minutes and 7 seconds, while Fedler took 24th place with a time of 19 minutes and 22 seconds. A great finish for a freshman, but with personal record of 18 minutes and 49 seconds, left something to be desired for the young Panther,
“You know, she did not end the cross-country season the way she wanted to, but she did a great job in track. And I’ve seen her training change a little bit, and I think it’s going to be for the better. You know, I think she’s recovering more, and I think that’s hard when you’re a younger runner or newer runners. You just always want to go hard. And, you know, she’s a fantastic runner. I’m really looking forward to seeing how well she does this year.”
For that, Fedler was slotted at #16 in the Iowa Association of Track Coaches’ preseason rankings.
Along with these two staples for Mt. Pleasant, the Panthers will also be returning Molly Baker, who continued to progress throughout the season. Add in that numbers are down throughout the Southeast Conference (SEC) and coach Murray is anticipating a run at the banner,
“Our goal, as always, is to compete for the conference title. You know, it doesn’t matter who we have on our team. I tell them that’s our goal, and we always try to do our best. But I think this year is, you know, we definitely have a better chance than we have in the last couple years.”
Boys’ Team
Excitement is to a boiling point for Panther boys’ head coach Mitch Anderson surrounding his team. Especially with senior Silas Hulett returning to the fold. Hulett enters the year with the third-fastest conference time, though his personal best time of 16 minutes and 44 seconds would have claimed the silver medal at the SEC meet this past season by nearly 30 seconds. Moreover, his 53rd place finish at the state meet and qualifications for the long-distance events for the state track and field meet has him positioned as one of the favorites,
“We’re so excited about how his career’s progressed. He had a solid sophomore campaign with some outside shots at state, but didn’t get that achieved. But then his junior year, as you mentioned, qualified for cross country for state and just like an avalanche, every season’s gotten better for him, and he carried that momentum from the fall into the spring for track. He was one of our best two milers of all time and was just a few spots out of meddling in the two miles. So really excited how that momentum can now head into the fall.”
He’s not the only Panther that is expected to make a jump in the conference standings though, as Ben Leishman, who had a sub-19 minutes personal best time, will look to make some noise.
“He had an excellent season as well. He was our number two runner last year, so always great to have your one-two back. And both of those boys are in the top six of the conference as far as from the varsity conference meet returners. He would be the number six, the runner in the conference coming back. So yeah, really looking forward to having a little bit of a one-two punch.”
All while Mt. Pleasant will be an early adopter of House File-2591 with an 8th grader eager to make his first appearance at the varsity level,
“And we have a newcomer as well that we’re gonna be adding. We’re gonna be running eighth grader, Logan Fedler, the varsity level, and he has been working out really well for us.”
With the team MVP, the Most Improved runner on the team, and a litany of new runners, coach Anderson is confident that Mt. Pleasant will be competing for the conference banner come October 13th.
“You know, I was extremely pleased with where we finished last year. We finished third in the conference ahead of Fairfield, Keokuk, and Burlington. And we were behind Washington and Fort Madison, who have been at the top the last several years. They lost some key elements. And again, we’re bringing back our one, too. So, we’re very excited to see where we can fall into that mix and like to make a run at that conference title.”
Up Next
Mt. Pleasant starts off with a gauntlet of early races, as the Panthers will travel to Williamsburg tomorrow and to Central College in Pella on Saturday, September 5th, with state level talent permeating throughout both contests. Coach Anderson is looking forward to getting out and running,
“I would say just consistency and patience. You know, it’s a sport where it doesn’t come in in August. You know, we’re gonna hopefully have our best races in October, you know, and kids are teenagers, and we don’t ask them to be professional athletes. So, if you’re not running a huge foundation in the summer, it’s gonna take some meets to race into shape. And so, I think, again, just having that confidence and that patience knowing that just every week we wanna be a little bit better.”
Mt. Pleasant’s home meet will take place on September 22nd with the girls’ teams running first at 5:10 pm.