We now continue our look at the best KICD 9-County Area teams of the 2025-2026 sports year with Girls Cross Country.

It was a very successful year in 2024 for the Sioux Central Girls Cross Country team, ultimately taking 6th at the State Meet. The Rebels graduated Linnea Bloom, their top runner from that group, but that was the only part of their top 5 that Sioux Central lost, setting some more high expectations for the 2025 season.

The Rebels started off the season at the Iowa Great Lakes Invitational, taking 2nd in Class B. That charge was led by Marley Madsen and Nora Christian, who took 2nd and 3rd, running 20:49.2 and 22:15.24 respectively.

Sioux Central came back with another 2nd place finish at the ELC Meet, only finishing behind a 3A Humboldt group. Madsen was once again in the top 10 with a 7th place finish, but this time, Sage Weber was the #2 for the Rebels, running 22:13.13 to take 9th. The Rebels also had Christian and Allie Chambers in the top 15 that day.

The Tim Thomas Cross Country Classic, hosted by Ridge View is always a big meet for not just Northwest Iowa schools, but Western Iowa in general. Out of 14 Class B teams, Sioux Central took 5th.

The Rebels performed very well at their home meet, finishing 1st out of 5 teams. That was a field that included both Sibley-Ocheyedan and Alta-Aurelia, two teams that had finished in front of Sioux Central earlier in the year. The Rebels packed the top 5, with Madsen, Weber, and Christian finishing 2nd, 4th, and 5th, all separated by less than 60 seconds.

Sioux Central would also win at the HMS Cross Country Invite a few days later, with Madsen, Weber, and Christian all once again in the top 5.

A 3rd Meet title in a row was won by Sioux Central at the PAC XC Meet. This was a big statement as Sioux Central was able to beat 4 other Twin Lakes Conference foes, scoring 58 team points, 2 under Newell-Fonda.

The Regular season wrapped up for Sioux Central at the Bob Saunders XC Classic, hosted by OABCIG. This meet provided a nice early peak at the Twin Lakes Conference Championships, with 3 of the top 4 teams competing. The Rebels finished 4th out of 12, and 3rd amongst those Twin Lakes Conference teams. This was the first meet of the season Sioux Central didn’t have a runner finish in the top 10.

Despite a disappointing performance at the Bob Saunders XC Classic, Sioux Central came back in a big way for the Twin Lakes Conference Championship, which the Rebels hosted at Little Sioux Golf and Country Club. Sage Weber took 2nd with a time of 21:03.3 and Marley Madsen joined her in the top 5, finishing 4th at 21:19.7. Nora Christian also finished in the top 10 with a time of 22:14.8, good for 7th overall. Allie Chambers and Violet Sangwin were the 4th and 5th runners, both getting in the top 20 out of 59 runners. The final team score was dominated by the Rebels, scoring 33 points, undercutting 2nd place Manson-Northwest Webster by 40 points.

It would be a short trip for the Class 1A State Qualifying meet, which was hosted by Sioux Central’s Twin Lakes Conference foe Emmetsburg at the Iowa Lakes Community College Disc Golf Course. Sage Weber led the charge with a time of 20:05.7, taking 3rd and punching her individual ticket to the State Meet. Also securing an auto bid for the state meet was Marley Madsen with a 5th place time of 20:34.7. Those two had their individual qualifying spots, but the ultimate goal was to qualify as a team, which Sioux Central did by winning the State Qualifying meet with 38 points, 12 points in front of Sibley-Ocheyedan in 2nd.

At the IGHSAU State Cross Country Championships in Fort Dodge’s Lakeside Municipal Golf Course, Sage Weber took 26th with a time of 20:06, followed by Marley Madsen in 31st with 20:20.4. Nora Christian finished 99th, clocking 22:05.4, Karina Bloom was 115th at 22:30.5, and Violet Sangwin rounded out the Rebels top 5 with a 131st finish, running a time of 23:02.8. Sioux Central would end up 10th out of 16 team scores at the State Championships.

3 of those 5 scorers at the State meet return for the 2026 season, including Weber, who in her sophomore season led many of the Rebels finishes along with that 26th place finish at the State Meet.

The next team we will look at will be Boys Cross Country. This has been another look at the KICD 9-County area Best Teams of the 2025-2026 Year.