FORT DODGE

The cold weather of a late October morning in northern Iowa froze Mid-Prairie’s Danielle Hostetler.

Bad timing.

“My legs were completely numb the whole time,” she said. “I couldn’t feel them. I couldn’t make them go faster. They were just frozen.”

So, in her final high school cross country race Oct. 28, Hostetler’s chase after history didn’t go exactly the way she had hoped. After winning the Class 2A state individual championship three consecutive years, she finished fifth, even after making a late-race charge after Sumner-Fredericksburg senior Hillary Trainor.

The history was a chase after a rare four-peat.

It has only happened once on the girls side. Rebekah Topham of Griswold won four consecutive state titles, from 2011 to 2014. That was in Class 1A and it came in a 4,000-meter race, not the 5,000 meters run today. A four-peat has never happened in any other class, but Danielle and older sister Marie Hostetler are among eight to capture three state championships.

That is the legacy and tradition that not only Danielle leaves with Mid-Prairie cross country, but also sisters Anna and Marie Hostetler. Together, the trio won seven state individual championships over seven years, beginning with Anna’s win in 2016, and continuing with Marie’s wins in 2017, 2018, and 2019, and then Danielle in 2020, 2021 and 2022.

“It’s been a journey, for sure,” Danielle said.

Among those watching Danielle race Saturday at Kennedy Park in Fort Dodge were Anna, and their mom and dad.

“It means a lot,” Danielle said. “My sisters have given me so much advice over the years.”

“It’s really awesome,” said Anna, who is now a student teacher in language arts at Mid-Prairie Middle School in Kalona and who was an All-Atlantic Sun Conference runner at Liberty University in Virginia after beginning her collegiate career at the University of Iowa. “So proud of Danielle and her hard work. Especially just her determination. She has a lot of grit and has a lot of competitiveness. I’m also really proud of her heart for Jesus and the way that she doesn’t let her sport define her, but she just uses it to glorify Him.”

That sense of spirituality has always been strong with Danielle since she began with the Golden Hawks as a 14-year-old in August 2020.

And that’s refreshing in these athletic days of me, me, me.

After every race over those four years, Danielle first offers praise to God and then she’ll talk to you about the heat or the cold or the course or whatever else is the topic of the day.

“Really thankful to God for just helping me stay mentally tough and stay in the race and not checking out,” Danielle said after Saturday’s race.

“When Marie and I were running together,” Anna Hostetler said, “as we ran in college together, too, our goal is to do everything heartily as to the Lord. Just setting our mind to do our best, whatever that is for that day, and leaving the rest up to God.”

That faith is never hidden. It is a driving force with Danielle and her sisters.

Even in the cold and in the midst of all that state championship chaos which always surfaces at the one-lap layout at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course.

It was the kind of day when spectators remained in their cars with the heat cranked up until it was time to hit the course. And even then, the first stop was a food truck serving up hot coffee and hot chocolate.

The day began with snow flurries and that led to somewhat slippery footing when one is attempting to catch up to the leader in a race.

Trainor finished fifth in last year’s race won by Hostetler, but she darted out to a quick lead and stayed well ahead of the other runners for the entire race. She cut more than a minute off her time from last year.

“I was pretty much on pace and that’s kind of always been my strategy,” Hostetler said.

Tears flowed as Hostetler joined four senior teammates and a pair of freshmen for one final time in the finishing area. A sixth team state championship in seven seasons did not happen, but the Golden Hawks did finish fourth for their eighth straight Top 5 placing.

“We need to be proud of what we’ve done,” Mid-Prairie coach Jeremy Meyers said. “We ran well. They beat us. They were faster than us.”

That’s the finish.

But not the legacy.

And track is still to come.

News columnist Paul Bowker can be reached at bowkerpaul1@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter: @bowkerpaul