Here are key dates for the 2010 cross country season:
Sept. 9 — Cedar Rapids Invitational, at Noelridge Park
Oct. 7 — Mississippi Valley Conference Super Meet
Oct. 9 — North Linn Invitational, at Troy Mills
Oct. 14 — MVC Mississippi Division meet, at Linn-Mar
Oct. 14 — MVC Valley Division meet, at Noelridge Park
Oct. 14 — Wamac Conference meet, at Anamosa
Oct. 14 — Tri-Rivers Conference meet, at Arlington
Oct. 21 — District/regional meets
Oct. 30 — State meet, at Fort Dodge
Girls individuals to watch
The top 10 returning area girls, based on time from the 2009 state …

Cedar Rapids Prairie opens the season as the top-ranked boys’ cross country team in Class 4A, released Wednesday by the Iowa Association of Track Coaches.
The Hawks finished second at the state meet last year and return six runners from their varsity squad.
Cedar Rapids Washington is No. 4.
Iowa City West is top-ranked in 4A girls. The Women of Troy were third last year. Iowa City High opens at No. 4, Linn-Mar at No. 6.
Other area No. 1 teams are the Union girls in Class 2A and the Elkader …

Iowa High School Athletic Association Executive Director Rick Wulkow was kind enough to sit down for a short chat during last week’s state baseball tournament in Des Moines.
Wulkow has been with the IHSAA since 1980, including five years as executive director. A Lytton native, Wulkow was recently appointed president-elect of the National Federation of High School Associations.
Here’s the interview with Wulkow in its entirety.
Q: Tell me about the national appointment and how you feel about it?
A: It’s one of those things that you kind of dream …

Here are the final women’s all-sports standings in both the Mississippi and Valley Divisions of the Mississippi Valley Conference for 2009-10.
Iowa City West won the Mississippi Division by a wide margin, while Linn-Mar won the Valley title in a very close race.
This was Iowa City West’s 4th consecutive MVC Mississippi Division women’s all-sports title.  Linn-Mar dethroned Cedar Rapids Washington, who won the Valley title in 2008-09.
West captured championships in volleyball, bowling, track, golf and softball and finished no lower than a tie for second in any of the 10 sports to …

Linn-Mar’s Kyle Dunn has been named the 2009-10 Gatorade Iowa Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year.
Dunn, a junior, won the 400-meter dash and 400-meter hurdles, and finished second in the 110-meter high hurdles, at the Class 4A State Meet this spring, helping to lead the Lions to a third-place finish. His winning time of 51.41 seconds in the 400 hurdles ranked as the nation’s fastest among prep competitors under all conditions at the time of his selection.
Dunn also earned double gold at the Drake …

The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union’s board a directors has approved the charging of spectators at the state cross country meet, an event that has historically been free.
If the IHSAA approves it as well, it will mean a $10-per-vehicle fee at Fort Dodge’s Kennedy Park.

Benton Community High School girls track and field and boys and girls cross country head coach Marty Thomae has been named the Wartburg College athletic department’s 2009 Alumni Coach of the Year.
Thomae has guided the Bobcats to seven top three finishes at the girls state track and field meet including state championships in 1997, 2007 and 2008 and three state cross country championships in girls competition (1998, 1999 and 2000). His girls’ track teams have claimed seven WaMac conference titles, while his girls cross country teams’ have done so 12 …

FORT DODGE — Bill Spencer had no intention of running away from the competition.
“My strategy was to pull away with 800 meters left,” said the junior from Iowa Mennonite. “But nobody else was going fast enough, so I took off.”
Spencer left the pack behind a mile into the race and comfortably won the Class 1A boys’ championship at the state cross country meet Saturday at Lakeside Golf Course.
“A little after a mile, I felt great,” he said. “I took (the lead) and just kept going.”
That propelled IMS to the team …

FORT DODGE — The Union Knights felt no heat to three-peat.
“There was no pressure on us,” said Ashley Frush. “The pressure was on the other teams to beat us.”
It didn’t happen. Almost, but not quite.
Union captured its third consecutive Class 2A girls’ championship at the state cross country meet Saturday at Lakeside Golf Course.
The Knights edged 2008 1A champion Pekin by a 57-60 margin.
“I knew it was close. I didn’t think we had it,” said Union Coach Andy McQuillen. “It’s pretty amazing. This group overachieved, overachieved and overachieved.
“I couldn’t be …

FORT DODGE — It took two years and a lot of convincing, but Moran Lonning finally realized that cross country was the fall sport for her.
“Cross country is really strong (at Decorah High School), and volleyball isn’t,” said Lonning, who had played volleyball for two years before making the switch.
“Some of the girls said, ‘Moran, you have to come out.’ My dad finally talked me into it.”
Lonning was rewarded with a second-place finish in the Class 3A girls’ race at the state meet Saturday at Lakeside Golf Course.
She was timed …