(KMAland) -- The Martin Blog Fall Sports Preview series continues with a look at Corner Conference Cross Country.
PREVIOUS FALL SPORTS PREVIEWS
7/24: Class 2A District 8 Football
7/25: Rolling Valley Conference Volleyball
7/26: Class 4A District 1 Football
7/27: Class 2A District 7 Football
2023 CORNER CONFERENCE CROSS COUNTRY PREVIEW
The first cross country preview out of the gate is the Corner Conference. As you may or may not know, the Corner Conference does not hold a conference meet, which is what these previews are usually based around. However, we will have a team-by-team look below.
COACHES
•East Mills: Joe Wortman
•Essex: Kurt Sloop
•Fremont-Mills: Owen Pitt
•Griswold: Matthew Spunaugle
•Hamburg: Mike Wells
•Sidney: Steve Meyer
•Stanton: Lacey Stephens
East Mills Wolverines
Who’s Gone (Girls): None
Who’s Gone (Boys): Andrew Laramy, Anthony Obermiller and Thoren Wade all graduate from a pretty healthy East Mills team last year.
Who’s Back (Girls): None
Who’s Back (Boys): There were five underclassmen listed on their roster last year, including seniors Steven Barrett and Camryn Johnson and juniors Cooper Stearns and Walter Seipold. All four of them ran at the state qualifying meet at Southwest Valley with Barrett and Johnson both scoring among the top 27. Another junior Jordan Williams was listed on last year’s roster.
Essex Trojanettes/Trojans
Who’s Gone (Girls): Tori Sample has graduated and plans to run at the next level after putting together several solid runs for the Trojanettes.
Who’s Gone (Boys): Just one of the five runners that ran for the Trojans last year was a senior — Johnathan Staley.
Who’s Back (Girls): Sophomore Riley King returns. She had the fastest time among Essex girls last season and was 25th at the SQM.
Who’s Back (Boys): They will return four of their top five runners from last season, including senior Tony Racine, juniors Keaton Anderson and Noah Vandermark and sophomore Ashon Kline. Racine was 24th at the SQM last season while Anderson and Kline also competed.
Fremont-Mills Knights
Who’s Gone (Girls): None
Who’s Gone (Boys): None
Who’s Back (Girls): Junior Hannah Wilson is back after a big year in cross country and on the track. She qualified for the state cross country meet and was 78th in Class 1A. A very strong sophomore season.
Who’s Back (Boys): A trio of sophomores ran last year for the Knights with Ethan Dines, Anderson Carter and Cade Harris all competing as freshmen. Dines and Carter both ran at the SQM and were among the top 64 runners.
Griswold Tigers
Who’s Gone (Girls): None
Who’s Gone (Boys): Tosh Feltner ran at the SQM for the Tigers last season.
Who’s Back (Girls): Just one girl ran last year for Griswold, and it was then-freshman Josie Millikan, who enters her sophomore season in 2023. Millikan closed out the season with a top 50 finish at the SQM.
Who’s Back (Boys): It is a big group. Griswold juniors Cody Dorscher, Holden Jensen and Bode Wyman and sophomores Nollan Smith and Brayden Lockwood all ran for the Tigers last season. Along with East Mills, they were able to post a team score at the SQM, although Dorscher was out at the end of the season due to health issues. Smith, Lockwood, Wyman and Jensen all gained experience and all scored within the top 52 at the SQM.
Hamburg Wildcats
Hamburg did not have any cross country runners last season. We will see if they do this season.
Sidney Cowgirls/Cowboys
Who’s Gone (Girls): None
Who’s Gone (Boys): None
Who’s Back (Girls): Sidney did not have any underclassmen runners last season on the girl’s side.
Who’s Back (Boys): The boys, however, did have four runners last season. Junior Andreas Buttry had the top time, edging past sophomore Flynt Bell. Senior Will Bryant and sophomore Mavryc Morgan also ran for the Cowboys. Bell was the only runner for Sidney at the SQM, placing 42nd.
Stanton Viqueens/Vikings
Who’s Gone (Girls): Top runner Addison Olson has graduated for the Viqueens.
Who’s Gone (Boys): Kyle Pastore is the only senior that ran — among four — last season for Stanton.
Who’s Back (Girls): Juniors Hannah Olson, Ella Peterson and Riley Burke all could be back for Stanton this year. All three of them gained the experience of running in a SQM, too, and all placed within the top 60.
Who’s Back (Boys): Three of the top four runners are back in juniors Logan McQueen and Zooey Allen and sophomore Eric Kutzli. Allen led the way for the Vikings with a 66th-place finish at the 1A SQM.
FINAL TAKE
East Mills and Griswold could again post a team score at the boys state qualifying meet while Fremont-Mills’ Hannah Wilson and Essex standout runner Riley King could conceivably find their way to Fort Dodge. For Wilson, it would be a second straight year. This looks like it could be a solid year of running among some of these Corner Conference teams.
Send any questions, comments and/or concerns to dmartin@kmamail.com.
