Wildcat teams are filled with letter-winners

     The Maquoketa Valley Wildcat cross country teams consist of 11 boys and 7 girls as the fall season begins.

     The boys return five letter-winners from last year’s team that placed second in the Tri-Rivers Conference and seventh at the State Meet in Class 1A. Returning letter-winners are seniors Chance Downs, Mason Lubben and Derek Mensen, along with  junior Ethan Doyl and sophomore Nolan Ries. Chance Downs also returns as an individual state qualifier. Sophomores Preston Roling, Michael Schaul and Cy Huber, are pushing the letter-winners for a spot on the varsity squad. Their improvement from last season is very noticeable and most encouraging. Remaining athletes for the boys are sophomore Brock Trenkamp and freshman Landin Frasher. Time will tell if this year’s team will remain focused on the “Wildcat Goal” – to use their talents everyday to become the best they can be. Good things will happen if they do.

     The Wildcat girls’ team features seven runners – seniors Ci’Ann Richardson and Jaiden Porter, juniors Reece Mensen and Annie Trenkamp, and sophomores Emma Doyl, Kriya Atwell and Jordan Hogan.

     There are no returning letter-winners, but Jaiden Porter and Emma Doyl have been the front-runners in practice. The remaining girls have cross country experience which should give them confidence in focusing on becoming competitive cross country runners. They all have shown improvement this year. The hope this year is to have a solid varsity team to compete in the conference meet. This group of girls can achieve that if they will remain confident and work every day to improve.

     The teams are coached by Pat Meehan and Sara Dever. Coach Dever is an avid runner who brings firsthand experience to the team.  Her knowledge of distance running contributes greatly to our success.  She is an assistant on the boys track and field team in the spring, coaching the distance runners.

     The favorites in the conference for the boys would be Calamus-Wheatland and Maquoketa Valley. The preseason cross country poll has Calamus-Wheatland rated second and Maquoketa Valley third. The girls conference race is wide open. North Linn is a traditional power and Springville/Central  City has been strong in recent years. Bellevue Marquette and Starmont field good teams some years.

– Pat Meehan, head coach