Mediapolis boys cross country enters the top 20 in Class 2A for the first time
MEDIAPOLIS -- September 13, 2022 is a day that will forever live on in the minds of the Mediapolis High School boys cross country team members.
The Bulldogs awoke to the news that they were ranked in the top 20 in Class 2A in the fourth weekly rankings by the Iowa Association of Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches.
It is the first time Mediapolis has been ranked as a team on the boys side
The Bulldogs are starting to see their hard work pay of with some statewide recognition.
"It feels awesome. It's been a big goal for us and we put in a lot of work in the summer," senior Jeff Campbell said. "Last year with the devastating district meet, that was a haunting meet for us and we just try to push ourselves and get ourselves back into it."
"Last year we weren't really on the radar and this year we are ranked in 2A. We've made big improvements since last year," said junior Owen Schmidgall, who is ranked 22nd individually in Class 2A. "It was disappointing last year that no one made it to state, but we worked hard over the summer. We know we have a really good chance to make it to state as a team. If not, we have a bunch of individuals who will make it to state."
"It's really nice having a team that can run really fast," said junior Solomon Zaugg, who is ranked 11th individually. "That helps each one of us get faster in turn. Iron sharpens iron type of thing."
For head coach Mitch Timmerman, it all boiled down to finding solid fourth and fifth runners who could close the gap on the top three and make the Bulldogs competitive.
They found them in the forms of junior Logan Rosas, a football player who helped the Bulldogs finish third in the 4x800-meter relay in Class 2A at the state track meet last spring, and junior Tyler Bratkowski, a foreign exchange student from Munich, Germany, whose first love is basketball.
A lot of talking and a little arm twisting gave Mediapolis the other two runners it needed to compete as a team.
"Earlier this summer we started looking at it and thinking if we could pull a couple more guys together, we might have a solid boys team this year that will compete," Timmerman said. "Things have come together. Our top three are back from last year and they are real strong. For and five are working hard. Now we'll see if we can keep everybody healthy and keep moving up."
"Logan has been working hard at it. He's a great kid. He's one of those kids you can't stop him. He's going to go for it," Campbell said. "It took an act of God, honestly, to get those two. Tyler is from Germany. We were worried when we didn't have a No. 5 runner. All of a sudden Tyler showed up and he was keeping up with us. He's got endurance and he's an athlete. I'm excited to see what we can do this season."
"Logan was in track and he was a big part of our 4x800 team at state. Me and Jeff and Solomon convinced him to come out for cross country. We had a lot of success in track and we wanted to carry that over to cross country," Schmidgall said. "I met Tyler at Town and Country Days. I asked him if he wanted to do cross country. I found out he was running five miles some days. I kept talking to him and finally we got hi. He's been a big part of our team as a five runner who can be not way far behind."
Last year was a nightmare for the Bulldogs. They placed eighth at a Class 2A state qualifying meet. Schmidgall and Zaugg finished 16th and 17th, respectively. The top 15 advanced to state. Schmidgall missed it by one second.
With another year of hard work under their belts and Rosas and Bratkowski on board to help, the Bulldogs are making this a dream season. And people across the state are taking notice.
"They are new to the sport, but they have a lot of raw, natural talent. We're glad to have them," Zaugg said. "Our goals are to get to state and do well there."
"This could be a really good year where we win some meets or it could be a really special year," Timmerman said. "We'll see how it turns out, but right now it's headed in the right direction."
Matt Levins is a sports reporter for the USA Today Network in Burlington, Iowa, who has covered local sports for 32 years at The Hawk Eye. Reach him at mlevins@thehawkeye.com.
This article originally appeared on The Hawk Eye: Mediapolis is ranked 20th in Class 2A in the latest cross country rankings
