FORT DODGE -- No. 1 on paper, wire to wire.

And No. 1 on grass.

Cedar Rapids Prairie snagged the first Metro big-school boys' cross country championship in 88 years, claiming the Class 4A title in convincing fashion Saturday at Lakeside Golf Course.

"We put in so much work, so many miles," said Matt Stocker. "Winning a state title has been our goal all along. We had a big target on our backs, and we had to earn this."

Stocker and twin brother Kyle finished sixth and eighth, leading Prairie to a 65-point total. West Des Moines Dowling was second with 97.

The last time a Metro boys' team won a big-school title? Cedar Rapids High School in 1922.

Prairie was rated No. 1 in the preseason rankings after finishing second last year. They held the top billing all season and backed it up Saturday.

"I thought our kids looked really, really good this week," said Coach Bill Schwarz. "We wanted to get here healthy and focused."

They were healthy, focused and fast.

And determined. Kyle Stocker pushed so hard, he had to be carted off the course afterward.

"He left it all out there," said Matt Stocker, his twin.

Jordan Burns, Justin Burns and Jacob Aune were 22nd, 23rd and 29th.

The primary mission accomplished, the Hawks will turn their attention to the Foot Locker regional meet in two weeks at Sioux Falls, S.D.

Dowling captured its fourth straight girls' title, and did so convincingly. The Maroons tallied 60 points. Iowa City High was second with 109.

Shelby Houlihan of Sioux City East raced to the individual girls' crown in a 13:40, the third fastest time in state history. Katie Flood of Dowling ran in 13:27 in 2007.

Rebecca Rethwisch of City High was third.

"Sometimes, you have painful races, and this was one of those days," Rethwsich said. "I just tried to run my race. I'm happy to go out like this."

Carolyn Newhouse of Linn-Mar was sixth.

Cedar Rapids Washington's boys were sixth; Iowa City West and Linn-Mar finished seventh and eighth in the girls' team race.

Lauren Benzing was content to wait. And pounce.

Benzing completed an undefeated rookie season, coming on in the final mile and a half to claim the Class 2A girls' individual championship at the state cross country meet Saturday at Lakeside Golf Course.

A sophomore at Solon High School, Benzing was clocked in 14:33, seven seconds ahead of Leah Seivert of Sibley-Ocheyedan.

"I didn't want to be in the lead right away," said Benzing, who came out for cross country this season after playing volleyball last fall. "Mentally, it might have been bad if I was in the lead and got passed."

Instead, Benzing played the role of pursuer. And played it well.

She took the lead from Seivert in the second mile and never surrendered it.

Benzing knew precious little about cross country a few months ago. She wasn't even aware of the distance (it's 4,000 meters for girls).

"I was at a cross country camp this summer. They asked me to write down my goals," she said. "I had no idea. I just wrote down 15 minutes."

The team titles went to a pair of familiar area powerhouses.

Union claimed the girls' crown for the fourth straight year while Iowa City Regina grabbed its eighth boys' championship.

The girls' race was a four-team free-for-all. Union won it with 100 points, followed by Unity Christian (107), Regina (112) and Solon (116).

"We've got great kids," said Union Coach Andy McQuillen. "Paige Sears and Ashley Frush have been here four years, and they are four-time champions. They're great leaders.

"We knew this was going to be a tight race, and it would come down to the fourth and fifth runners."

Frush led the Knights by finishing seventh. Arden Betzer of Springville-Central City was fourth; Katerina Althoff of Cascade was sixth.

Coming off an uncharacteristically low seventh-place finish last year, Regina zoomed back to the top Saturday. The Regals accumulated 106 points. Spirit Lake, which had runners place 1-2-4, was second with 125.

"This was meant to happen," said Brennan Bogert, a sophomore and the Regals' top runner, finishing 11th. "We knew we had to run our best, but I felt like this was going to happen."

Conner Smock's strategy was simple.

Stay out front as long as he could.

"The plan was to go with whoever was in first place and stay there the entire time," he said.

He had to settle for staying there most of the time Saturday. The junior from Mount Vernon-Lisbon placed fourth in the Class 3A boys' race at the state cross country meet at Lakeside Golf Course.

"This was a really, really strong class of runners," Smock said. "They could definitely compete with the times of the top guys in 4A."

Johnny Fuller of Glenwood won the race in 15:26. Smock, who led through more than 2 miles, finished in 15:35.

Dubuque Wahlert swept the team titles.

The Golden Eagles edged Knoxville, 118-122, for the boys' championship. The girls outran runner-up Decorah, 79-92.

Moran Lonning highlighted Decorah's effort, placing third in 14:43.

"My arms tightened up a little after the first mile," she said. "That last 800, I couldn't get it to go until I saw the finish line."

Anna Holdiman of Waverly-Shell Rock was the girls' individual champion, in 14:22.

Madison Weekly of Benton Community and Alex Wilson of Mount Vernon-Lisbon were ninth and 10th.

Bill Spencer wasn't hanging back. Promise.

"Actually, I was running too hard," he said. "I just try to keep pace. Everybody was going out way too fast.


Iowa Mennonite's Bill Spencer won his second straight Class 1A boys' state cross country championship Saturday at Lakeside Golf Course, Fort Dodge (SourceMedia Group News)
"You'd think they would learn."

Holding pace early meant an ordinary spot in the pack. Holding pace late meant a second consecutive state championship.

A senior at Iowa Mennonite, Spencer repeated as the Class 1A individual boys' champion at Lakeside Golf Course. He finished in 15:51.

That's remarkable, considering his season was turned upside down about a month ago.

Spencer injured a hip during practice. He missed two weeks of practice, then returned in time for the district meet Oct. 21. He won that meet despite considerable pain.

Saturday, the pain lifted.

"I feel fine," he said.

A half-mile into the race, Spencer was in 30th place. By the mile mark, he was 15th and surging. He led by the 2-mile point, and won by 10 seconds over Taylor Huseman of Manson-Northwest Webster.

Cedar Falls NU High was the boys' team champion with 107 points. Elkader Central was second, with 140. Kyle Wagner led Central's effort with a 12th-place finish.

Pekin romped to its second 1A title in three years (the Panthers were 2A runners-up last year), scoring 45 points. Earlham was second with 87 points.

Emily Franks of Northeast captured the individual girls' title in 14:47.