Area high school cross country teams have received their assignments for the 2025 Iowa High School Cross Country State Qualifying Meets, with three local schools competing across two classes on Wednesday, October 22nd, and Thursday, October 23rd.
The qualifying meets are the final hurdle before the State Meet, which is split across two days in Fort Dodge to accommodate regional volleyball schedules. The Class 3A State Meet will be held on Friday, October 31st, while the Class 1A State Meet follows on Saturday, November 1st.
Class 3A: Fairfield Faces Top-Ranked Competition in Pella
The Fairfield Trojans will travel to Pella for their State Qualifying Meet on Wednesday, October 22nd, at 4:00 PM.
Fairfield is set to face a challenging field that includes several ranked teams, most notably the meet host. Pella enters the meet ranked highly with the #2 Boys’ team and the #1 Girls’ team in Class 3A. Other ranked programs include ADM (#7 Boys, #13 Girls), Boone (#11 Girls), and Clear Creek-Amana (#6 Boys). The field also includes Carlisle, Clarke, Creston, Knoxville, Newton, Oskaloosa, Saydel, and Cedar Rapids Xavier.
Fairfield Head Coach Jerrod Belzer acknowledged the tough draw but expressed confidence in his team’s familiarity with the venue. “It’s certainly a tough assignment but most sites are equally tough,” Belzer said. “We fully expected to go to Pella. It is a course we like and have had some really good performances there in the past.”
Class 1A: Van Buren County and Pekin Compete Separately
Class 1A teams will run their qualifying meets on Thursday, October 23rd, at 4:00 PM, with Van Buren County and Pekin assigned to two separate sites.
Van Buren County Heads to Central Decatur
The Van Buren County Warriors (ranked #12 Boys, #7 Girls) will travel to Central Decatur for their qualifier. They face stiff competition from two ranked teams in the field: Earlham is ranked #4 Boys and #6 Girls. The field includes 19 schools in total: Bedford, Central Decatur, Diagonal, Earlham, East Union, Essex, Fremont Mills, Griswold, Hamburg, Lamoni, Lenox, Mormon Trail, Mount Ayr, Pleasantville, Sidney, Southwest Valley, Stanton, Wayne, and Van Buren County.
Pekin Stays Home at Wildwood Park
The Pekin Panthers will benefit from a home course advantage at Wildwood Park in Ottumwa, hosting a large 19-team qualifier. The field features several ranked opponents, promising a highly competitive meet. WACO is ranked #7 Boys, Louisa-Muscatine is ranked #10 Boys, English Valleys is ranked #10 Girls, and Martensdale-St. Marys is ranked #5 Girls. The field also includes Danville, Highland, Hillcrest Academy, Holy Trinity Catholic (boys only), Keota, Montezuma, Moravia, Moulton-Udell, New London, North Mahaska, Sigourney, Twin Cedars, Wapello, and Winfield-Mt. Union.
Edited for Corrections
