Spencer, Ia (KICD) – The War Eagle Conference will have their Conference Cross Country Championship in Marcus this year. Of the three teams that ran for the girls, all three lose quite a big out of their top 5. Hinton are the defending champs and graduated 3 of their top 5. The Blackhawks also qualified for the State Meet after taking 2nd at the Spencer site and ultimately finished 13th in Fort Dodge.

Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn claimed the Boys Title in 2023. They graduate State Qualifier George Vargas but bring back their other 4 scorers after a 4th place finish at last year’s State Qualifying meet. Head Coach Nathan Hoaglund talked about some of the key athletes for the Hawks.

HMS had a pretty active summer despite Hoaglund getting the job pretty late in the Spring.

Hoaglund is looking forward to their first meet because of how much Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn will learn.

Some young runners will try to electrify the South O’Brien Cross Country team. Head Coach Jeremy Lansink talked about what the Wolverines will roll out on to the course.

Northwest Iowa brings a lot of tough competition for War Eagle Conference teams to compete against.

Lansink says South O’Brien’s home meet is a well scheduled event for the Wolverines.

MMCRU were 4th on the boy’s side and took 7th in a loaded State qualifying meet. State Qualifier Lucas Braun is back along with 3 sophomores who scored at last year’s State Qualifier, making the Royals one of the top competitors for the League Title.

Akron-Westfield will roll out a strong, senior driven group, with all five of their scorers from last year going into their final season.

I will be bringing coverage of several Cross Country meets throughout the fall. You can follow @cutler4steven and @KICDSports on Twitter for Updates as well as Northwest Iowa Now for stories on area Cross Country teams.