Spencer, Ia (KICD) – There isn’t a conference or District in the KICD nine-county area with more high-level teams than the Siouxland Conference in Cross Country.

At the State Cross Country meet last season, the Siouxland had 4 girls’ teams at compete, including 2 in the top 8 with Sioux Center and Unity Christian. The Boys Qualified 5 teams last season with Unity Christian and Okoboji each in the top 8.

The Okoboji Boys were State Runners-Up last season. Head Coach Jacob Evenson talks about what comes back for the Pioneers.

The Okoboji Girls were 12th in the Class 2A State Meet, and bring back a solid corps, but will need some runners to step up into the top 5.

Okoboji has shown some very sustained success the last few years in Cross Country. Coach Evenson talked about why the program has seen so much success.

The Sibley-Ocheyedan Boys took 15th at last season’s State Cross Country Meet in Class 1A. The Generals have a good group of Senior leaders pacing the scorers this season.

That is Sibley-Ocheyedan Cross Country Coach Ryan Wiersma who says the early season takes some balance between growing the new runners, and ramping the experienced athletes back into a competitive season.

Wiersma is looking forward to seeing his team compete at their home meet, but also at Ridge View, a meet that is toward the top in the State when it comes to runner count.

Sioux Center won the Siouxland Conference title last season and bring back a lot of production, as does Unity Christian, who placed 2nd last year.

MOC-Floyd Valley was the Boys Conference Champ in 2023 and bring back their entire top 7, so should be the favorite again. Okoboji and Unity Christian had some great battles last season, with Unity edging them out for 2nd at Conference, winning the Tiebreaker at the State Qualifier, and then Okoboji topping them at the State Meet. Both teams bring back the majority of their lineup for the 2024 season.

Sheldon and Sibley-Ocheyedan went 5-6 respectively. The Orabs will be a Darkhorse as they bring back a ton of production after a strong year last season, and Sibley-Ocheyedan will be right in the heat of the pack again.

Follow along with Siouxland Conference Cross Country all season long on NorthwestIowaNow.com. KICD will have social media coverage of various meets with Siouxland Conference teams competing. You can follow along with my twitter account @cutler4steven and @KICDSports.