Danielle Hostetler made it look easy, again.
The Golden Hawk junior captured her third individual 2A state cross country championship, extending her lead to over 20 seconds as she reached the finish line.
But it wasn’t easy.
“I definitely didn’t feel as confident this season,” Hostetler said after catching her breath at the finish. “I didn’t have as good of training and I was pretty discouraged this summer. So I’m so happy that I could end it on a good note.”
With a first-place finish of 18:41, Hostetler became just the eighth athlete to win three individual IGHSAU state cross country titles.
“It’s pretty special, especially because one of them is my sister,” Hostetler said. “To be able to follow in her footsteps is just amazing.”
Marie Hostetler won three straight titles from 2017-19. Anna and Marie Hostetler finished first and second at the 2016 state cross country meet to begin a streak of seven straight individual titles for the sisters.
“I remember just being super nervous for her,” said Danielle, who was in fifth grade when Anna’s title started the streak. “I would always say, ‘I just want to give you all of my energy right now, so you can run faster.’”
Danielle needed all of that energy on Friday. She was just a second ahead of Osage senior Katelyn Johnson at the one mile mark, and two seconds ahead of Van Meter senior Clare Kelly, who defeated Hostetler in the 1500-meter run at the state track meet in May.
Her lead grew by 10 seconds over the second mile, but she wasn’t assured until the final step.
“I never felt that,” she said. “I was told 11 seconds, 15 seconds — and I just wanted to lengthen that, because at no point are you safe until you cross the finish line.”
Mid-Prairie coach Mark Hostetler said that his daughter dealt with some frustration in the offseason and wasn’t able to train the way that she wanted to.
“She struggled with a few injuries here and there… so her training hasn’t been that hard,” he said, ‘because if she does try to go too hard, then it seems like she starts hurting again. We’ve had to back off. So, I was just relieved that she was able to finish pretty well, timewise.”
While she wasn’t at her best physically this season, she was able to rely on her previous state meet experience on Friday.
“I just told her, ‘you’ve done this before,’” Mark said. “‘You know what to do — you know how much to make it hurt.
“I think she focused on the fact that she’s been there before she can do this again. She had a really smart race, she didn’t take off too hard. Danielle’s one… unless she’s out of shape or hurting, she’s going to do everything she can.”
The Golden Hawks finished fifth as a team, led by its juniors Hostetler, Abby Fleming, and Phoebe Shetler. Fleming took 20 seconds off of her time from the previous season and finished 16th with a time of 19:51. Shetler was 44th out of 140 runners with a finish of 20:53.
Sophomore Dessa Poll was the lone Mid-Prairie girl to set a new personal best at the state meet, finishing 87th with a time of 21:27. It was her first time running in the state meet, but coach Mark Hostetler had her prepared for the experience.
“We had talked about going out at the right pace, because Mark said a lot of people go out way too hard,” she said. “After the mile we were supposed to start picking it up and passing people. It was actually really fun, there was always someone ahead of me to catch, and I never ran out of people to pass.”
Junior Greta Sieren was the final scorer, finishing 87th with a time of 21:41.
Golden Hawk seniors Tabitha Evans and Amara Jones finished their cross country careers in the state championship race, recording times of 22:29 and 22:44, respectively.
Evans was a member of a sprint medley that finished fifth at the Drake Relays in April, and competed in three events at the state track meet in May.
“In the past I didn’t enjoy cross country, but I think this year it really changed, mostly because of the team,” said Evans. “They really were encouraging and supportive, and made cross country fun.”
Van Meter edged Williamsburg 111-113 for the 2A girls championship. The next four teams came from the River Valley Conference. Monticello took third (145) followed by Beckman Catholic (154), Mid-Prairie (157), and Tipton (179). Van Meter’s title snapped a string of five straight titles for the Golden Hawks, which tied with City High and Dowling Catholic for the all-time record.
“It is hard,” Mark Hostetler said about winning championships. “They just score five, and so you have to have five individuals that are willing to work super hard. This year, we had some younger ones coming up that didn’t have the time to do a lot of that.
“Not winning one makes you hungry for the next year, more than if you would have won.”
Fleming will contend for her first medal next year after missing the final spot by less than a second on Friday. Hostetler will try to become just the second four-time girls cross country state champion as a senior.
Goals will be set, many miles will be run, and rewards will come — with or without medals and trophies.
“The thing that’s most important is that each one of the kids that are on the team improved,” Mark Hostetler said, “and got something out of the season more than winning and losing.”
