The Eagle Grove boys cross country team saw a rise in status in the 2020 season, as the Eagles finished 3rd at the Top of Iowa Western Conference meet and saw sophomore Drake Weland qualify for the 2A State Cross Country Meet. Weland placed 85th out of 139 runners at the meet.
As a junior, Weland will look to build upon his state qualifying year, while also raising the profile and the level of competition with his Eagle Grove teammates. Coach Ben Demuth, while returning his top runner, also returns varsity competitors in sophomore Noah Thul and seniors Justin Agtun-Gomez, Jensen Cooper and Alex Frakes. The Eagles do lose DerrickLee Harms and Cael Wesselink to graduation.
The Eagle Grove girls cross country team find themselves in a similar scenario to their boy counterparts, but they do not return their leading runner from 2020 in Lea Fridel. Friedel finished 3rd in the Top of Iowa Western Conference meet, and followed that up by placing 41st in the Class 2A State Cross Country Meet, but has moved on due to graduation.
However, for coach Mike Harrington’s squad, they return 3 of their 4 varsity runners from 2020, including sophomore Maddie Axtell, who finished 10th at the conference meet, junior Fatima Galvin and senior Alejandra Lopez. The first action for Eagle Grove boys will be at the Iowa State Invitational in Ames on Thursday, August 26th. The first action for the Eagle Grove girls will be at the Iowa Falls-Alden invitational, also on Thursday, August 26th.
