Prep Cross Country- The Iowa Association of Track Coaches (IATC) released their latest team and individual rankings of the 2026 season and a familiar face reemerges, while the Nikes make their presence known for both the boys’ and girls’ teams.
Class 3A
The Washington boys’ team and their leading runner, Parker Tschantz, remained put in their spots from last week with the Demons ranked at #19 and Tschantz clinging onto the top 30 at #30. Tschantz helped the Demons win the “Ron Hunderdosse” Invite in Fairfield last week with a first place time of 17 minutes and 3 seconds.
On the girls’ side, Mt. Pleasant’s Avery Fedler popped back into the top 30 after taking 2nd place at the Fairfield Invite with her time of 20 minutes and 21 seconds slotting her in at #20. Panther head coach Lyle Murray expects the entire team to take a big step forward after a busy week of activities at Old Threshers.
Class 2A
Notre Dame/West Burlington is gaining traction after several well put together meets by the boys’ team and individuals on the girls’ team. The week started with the Nike boys’ team snatching 2nd place at the Fairfield Invite with Cavin Denney turning in the 2nd fastest time amongst the small school teams.
On the girls’ side, Hannah Ritter and Kaitlyn Kipp claimed 2nd and 3rd place, respectively, at the meet with times of 21 minutes and 14 seconds and 21 minutes and 25 seconds.
Then at a competitive Monticello Meet the ND/WB boys’ team collected 4th place with Denney taking 7th place with a time of 17 minutes and 10 seconds. The result put Denney at 24th in the polls with the Nikes climbing from #17 to #11 this week.
Ritter and Kipp also finished inside the top 15, resulting in Ritter being ranked at #15 and Kipp sneaking in at #29 in the rankings.
Additionally, a gold medal finish by Will Schmidgall of Mediapolis at the Van Buren County Invite resulted in the senior being placed at #17 in the individual rankings, while Drake Newton of Central Lee slotted in at #30.
Moreover, a strong performance by the Central Lee girls’ team had them move up to #18 in the polls.
Class 1A
The Columbus boys’ team has tested themselves early in the season with a 3rd place mark at the Tipton Meet, then competing at the All-American Invitational at Luther College where the Wildcats grabbed 14th place. Altogether, Columbus is still a team to fear at #3 in the rankings.
The Van Buren County girls’ team added another trophy to the collection after winning their home invite this past week. The team continues to work as one unit even at the tougher meet in Fairfield, as the team grabbed 2nd place and had three runners finish within the top 15. The Warriors sit at #5 in the polls.
On the individual side, WACO’s Josie Dykstra sprinted up the ladder five spots to #5 after she took home a time of 20 minutes, which was the second fastest time of the Fairfield Invite and the fastest of the smaller schools.
Up Next
Most of these schools will travel to Rodeo Park Trail for the Timm Lamb Invitational on Thursday, September 17th. The next round of rankings will be released on Monday, September 21st.