High School Prep Cross Country Rankings Released

First initial set of Iowa high school cross country rankings revealed

DCG’s Piper Messerly celebrates as finishing her 4A girls 3000-meter run in the Iowa High School co-ed state Track and field at Drake Stadium on May 22, 2025, in Des Moines, Iowa. / Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Iowa Association of Track Coaches provides cross country fans in Iowa with an in-depth weekly series of team and individual rankings.

Along with helping give you an idea of who the top runners are in the state, it gives you a glance into who will be challenging for team gold when the state championships arrive in Fort Dodge in late October and early November.

The state cross country championships begin Friday, October 31 and conclude on Saturday, November 1 from Lakeside Golf Course and Kennedy Park.

Read More: Top returning Iowa high school boys cross country runners

Who Are The No. 1 Ranked Runners, Teams in Iowa High School Cross Country?

Earning the preseason No. 1 individual rankings are a number of returning state champions including Western Dubuque’s Quentin Nauman. An Oregon commit, Nauman holds the top spot in Class 3A alongside returning girls state champion Marissa Ferebee of Pella.

Jaden Merrick from Cedar Falls and Piper Messerly of Dallas Center-Grimes are the top-ranked runners in 4A, Emerson Vokes of Grundy Center and Laura Streck from Van Meter hold No. 1 rankings in 2A, and Hayden Thompson of Lake Mills and Lili Denton of Council Bluffs St. Albert are at the top of the charts in 1A.

Read More: Top returning Iowa high school girls cross country runners

Vokes, Messerly and Denton are both defending state champions while Merrick and Streck were a runners-up.

As for the team rankings, the No. 1 boys teams are Cedar Falls (4A), Gilbert (3A), Chariton (2A) and Lake Mills (1A), as Johnston (4A), Pella (3A), Mid-Prairie (2A) and Madrid (1A) are the No. 1s for the girls.

Complete rankings can be found on the Iowa Association of Track Coaches website.

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