XC State Qualifying Assignments are posted

[SSG T]

Just got posted this morning.

http://www.iahsaa.org/cross-country/state-qualifying-cross-country-assignments/

We, CMB, got a pretty favorable assignment in Pella. Our girls team should be able to get through fairly easily, assuming everyone is healthy and no bonks. Our boys team will have some work to do, but at least they won't have to beat 2-3 ranked teams to get in. I'd guess our girls get 3 auto qual spots, the boys 2.

Anyone else's teams look to be sitting good? Bad?

 

[Bob Sanders Biceps]

Mid-Prairie also at Pella is looking pretty good. The only higher ranked team they have to deal with are the CMB girls.

The Hostetler sisters from MP are absolutely ridiculous. I haven't seen a gap smaller than a 1:20 from 2nd to 3rd this year and the times just keep getting faster. They went 18:08 and 18:11 Monday on a hilly course in Wellman that we believe to be a full 5k.

 

[SSG T]

Mid-Prairie also at Pella is looking pretty good. The only higher ranked team they have to deal with are the CMB girls.

The Hostetler sisters from MP are absolutely ridiculous. I haven't seen a gap smaller than a 1:20 from 2nd to 3rd this year and the times just keep getting faster. They went 18:08 and 18:11 Monday on a hilly course in Wellman that we believe to be a full 5k.

CMB is the opposite, no great runner, but loaded from 1-6. They just got done tonight in Jewell, put 5 in top 12, a spread of around 1:20 between those 5, and #6 was only about :20 further back. It's been that way for all but maybe one meet this year.

I was the boys were the same. Our 1 and two are pretty good and close, then a big gap to 3/4/5.

 

[B-K_Teach]

Anyone else's teams look to be sitting good? Bad?

Hypothetical question. If a team puts all 7 runners in top 15 at a qualifying site, can they sub a runner out for the team, but that runner still gets to compete?

So, at qualifying, they run their #1,2,3,4,5,6, and 8 runners. If that #8 runner finishes 15th, they are an individual qualifier. At state, the coach subs #7 in for #8, can #8 run basically unattached?

 

[SSG T]

Hypothetical question. If a team puts all 7 runners in top 15 at a qualifying site, can they sub a runner out for the team, but that runner still gets to compete?

So, at qualifying, they run their #1,2,3,4,5,6, and 8 runners. If that #8 runner finishes 15th, they are an individual qualifier. At state, the coach subs #7 in for #8, can #8 run basically unattached?

I could be mistaken, but I think a team is only allowed a substitution from their 7 varsity runners at the district meet in case of an injury. So, the 7 who made up the team at districts have to also run at state, unless one is unable. In short, a team can only run 7 at state.

 

[Cross Coach]

A qualifying team can sub runners in for anyone on the team.... for any reason.

A qualified individual cannot be subbed for with another individual.

I don't believe that any team can actually run more than 7 runners under any circumstances.

 

[workerbeee]

Mid-Prairie also at Pella is looking pretty good. The only higher ranked team they have to deal with are the CMB girls.

The Hostetler sisters from MP are absolutely ridiculous. I haven't seen a gap smaller than a 1:20 from 2nd to 3rd this year and the times just keep getting faster. They went 18:08 and 18:11 Monday on a hilly course in Wellman that we believe to be a full 5k.

Well I'll give my predictions for this site. Am I close?

Top 20 girls individuals:
Anna Hostetler (Mid-Prairie)
Marie Hostetler (Mid-Prairie)
Sophia Jungling (Aplington/Parkersburg)
Alayna Kollasch (Dike/New Hartford)
Jordan Winkie (Albia)
Brenna Thompson (CMB)
Melinda Puumala (East Marshall)
Reegan Zinkula (GCGR)
Avril Sinning (West Marshall)
Ashlee Johnson (CMB)
Ellie Foster (Dike/New Hartford)
Megan Johnson (Aplington/Parkersburg)
Heather Jessen (CMB)
Nicole May (Aplington/Parkersburg)
Lily Ehlers (GCGR)
----------------------
Lauren Ratliff (CMB)
Abbagail Evans (Mid-Prairie)
Payton Schut (PCM)
Kirstin Ives (PCM)
Emily Lewis (Centerville)

And Top 4 Teams:
CMB
Mid-Prairie
Aplington/Parkersburg
GCGR

 

[Bob Sanders Biceps]

I'm pretty sure you got the first two individuals right. We'll see on the rest.

Anna ran 17:42 on Thursday at Kickers Park in Iowa City, she ran 18:18 in ideal conditions on the same course on Sept 26th.

 

[SSG T]

I'd more group them together then try to figure out exact order. Here are the top 20 grouped together, they're in the order I'd think, but overall I'm just guessing there. I'd expect some movement within each individual group (ex. I could see Thomson moving up a spot or two within her group, I could see Puumala moving up a spot or two within her group) but each group staying (kind of) together. Make sense?

Top 2
Anna Hostetler (Mid-Prairie)
Marie Hostetler (Mid-Prairie)

Next 4
Jungling (Aplington/Parkersburg)
Kollasch (Dike/New Hartford)
Winkie (Albia)
Thomson (CMB)

Next 4
Jessen (CMB)
Johnson (CMB)
Puumala (East Marshall)
Zinkula (GCGR)

11-15
Sinning (West Marshall)
Ratliff (CMB)
Foster (Dike/New Hartford)
Johnson (Aplington/Parkersburg)
May (Aplington/Parkersburg)

Next 3 (with a chance to auto qualify)
Shasta Moody (CMB)
Ehlers (GCGR)
Evans (Mid-Prairie)

Team Qualifiers
CMB
Mid-Prairie
A-P

 

[B-K_Teach]

I'd more group them together then try to figure out exact order. Here are the top 20 grouped together, they're in the order I'd think, but overall I'm just guessing there.

Good luck at qualifying Thursday. How does the division of CMB affect the squad next year?

 

[SSG T]

The Baxter side will be fine, the top 5 returning runners plus 1 of the top 2 8th graders go to Baxter. With the drop to 1A, I'd guess they'll be a top 2 team. The only loss will be Heather Jessen. Thomson, Johnson, Ratliff, Moody and Holly Jessen will all be back. I'd guess Thomson and Johnson would be ranked in 1A, somewhere in the upper teens, around 20.

The boys team will split. Their Top 2, Thomson and Berg, go to Baxter, the next two, Fricke and Van Maanen, go to CM. Then it pretty much alternates. For Baxter, Thomson and Berg should both be Top 15 or so individually in 1A next year, the team likely won't be ranked.

 

[SSG T]

Oh, and something I forgot to mention...the coach works at CM. I feel horrible for him, he's a good coach and a great guy, the kids love him, and he's essentially losing his team, particularly the girls side. We're taking them up to run at the Nike Cross meet in SD in 3 weeks, the whole girls team and the top two boys. A big part is kind of a last hurrah kind of thing for him and the team.

 

[SSG T]

I don't know all of the individuals, team qualifiers from Pella for the girls...

Mid Prairie - 61
CMB -62
AP -108

The Hostetler sisters finished 1-2.

 

[workerbeee]

I don't know all of the individuals, team qualifiers from Pella for the girls...

Mid Prairie - 61
CMB -62
AP -108

The Hostetler sisters finished 1-2.

I'll still never understand how they can have anybody ranked between those two sisters.

Top 20:

1 Anna Hostetler 17:57.6 Mid-Prairie
2 Marie Hostetler 17:58.9 Mid-Prairie
3 Jordan Winke 18:53.9 Albia
4 Sophia Jungling 19:25.1 Aplington-Parkersburg
5 Alayna Kollasch 19:53.5 Dike-New Hartford
6 Brenna Thomson 20:29.3 CMB
7 Heather Jessen 20:41.3 CMB
8 Ellie Foster 20:48.1 Dike-New Hartford
9 Megan Johnson 20:50.7 Aplington-Parkersburg
10 Lily Ehlers 20:52.1 GCGR
11 Melinda Puumala 20:54.2 East Marshall
12 Reegan Zinkula 20:54.9 GCGR
13 Avril Sinning 20:55.5 West Marshall
14 Lauren Ratliff 21:01.3 CMB
15 Nicole May 21:04.7 Aplington-Parkersburg
16 Greta Schmidt 21:14.4 Mid-Prairie
17 Ashlee Johnson 21:16.1 CMB
18 Shasta Moody 21:29.2 CMB
19 Kessa Jones 21:35.2 Mid-Prairie
20 Sherryl Rowe 21:36.1 Albia

 

[Cross Coach]

I'll still never understand how they can have anybody ranked between those two sisters.

Top 20:

1 Anna Hostetler 17:57.6 Mid-Prairie
2 Marie Hostetler 17:58.9 Mid-Prairie
3 Jordan Winke 18:53.9 Albia

Yeah - they are crazy good. Winke is legit top 5 at state - The Hostetler girls were 30 seconds closer to qualifying top 15 in the boys race than Winke was to catching them. They are almost a full minute better than whoever the #3 2A runner in the state is.

 

[SSG T]

I'll give Winke credit, she was close for the first mile or so, then they just started to pull away.

 

[Bob Sanders Biceps]

Yeah - they are crazy good. Winke is legit top 5 at state - The Hostetler girls were 30 seconds closer to qualifying top 15 in the boys race than Winke was to catching them. They are almost a full minute better than whoever the #3 2A runner in the state is.

Paige Holub has been 43 seconds behind Marie at North Linn and 46 seconds behind Marie at the River Valley Conference meet, the last two races before this. It seems like she has been working her way into shape, and is probably 1:30 or so better than she was at the start of the season. At this point I think she is in similar shape to her state championship and is right there with Winke for #3.

As to Winke's ranking going in, she ran 17:59 at a Pekin meet in Ottumwa on September 1st. My recollection is that Pekin's course is notoriously short and have been for years. Based on the rest of her results, I think her time yesterday was probably right where it should have been expected to be.

As to the Hostetler sisters, I've run out of superlatives. I've been to every race they have run this year, and they keep just shocking me. Marie running a 6 second PR on a relatively hilly course like Pella a week after setting her previous PR on a mostly flat, fast course at Kickers in Iowa City is just crazy. Both sisters have both made massive leaps over the last 3 weeks or so.

 

[HookEmHaren]

Oh, and something I forgot to mention...the coach works at CM. I feel horrible for him, he's a good coach and a great guy, the kids love him, and he's essentially losing his team, particularly the girls side. We're taking them up to run at the Nike Cross meet in SD in 3 weeks, the whole girls team and the top two boys. A big part is kind of a last hurrah kind of thing for him and the team.

What will CMB do for the upcoming track season. Staying together (2A) or breaking up into two 1A teams?

 

[SSG T]

What will CMB do for the upcoming track season. Staying together (2A) or breaking up into two 1A teams?

The sports sharing won't end until after baseball/softball season. So they'll have one more track season as CMB.

I'm not completely sure what next year will look like. Both schools have been accepted into the Iowa Star, but Baxter is waiting on approval/denial from the SICL before moving on that. Not sure if CM is going that route for sure or not. I know Baxter has requested to play 8 man JV only next year, with full implementation when they redo the districts for 2018-19 school year, which will probably be their last step athletically.

Looking at rosters and returning athletes in all sports, for the near future Baxter will be far better off. But who knows after the first couple of years.

For example, the likely starting lineup for basketball this year all go to Baxter and will all be back next season (it sounds like a few Sr aren't playing this season). That goes kind of goes along with the XC thing I mentioned above. This year for football they had a grand total of 11 FR and So on the roster. Those two classes will be the backbone of the first split team in 2 years. I think the Baxter/CM split is 8/3 with those 11.

And, unfortunately, it's harder than it looks. The kids don't want the split, this is all about ego and pride of the adults.

 

[St Folk]

I'm glad that the assignments are published. It will be very useful for those who are preparing to do them. And it could be a capstone project help for me. And I can finally finish the project.