The Heart of Iowa Activities Conference coed cross-country meet is scheduled for today in Ames on the Iowa State University Course. Middle school and high school races for girls and boys are on the schedule with middle school races beginning at 4 p.m. and high school races to follow.

The Greene County high school teams are coached by Kelly Simpson, who summed up how good cross-country is in the HOIAC by saying, “Let’s put it this way. If I was a coach that wasn’t in this conference and didn’t have to go and face all those good teams every year, I wouldn’t want to be in that meet.”

Several HOIAC cross-country programs are in the Iowa Track Coaches Association rankings released Oct. 8. They include the Greene County girls, ranked ninth in 2A, the North Polk (Alleman) girls, ranked fifth in 2A, and the Gilbert girls, ranked fourth in 3A. On the boys’ side, Gilbert is number one ranked in 3A and NP is ranked twelfth in 2A. A number of individuals from HOIAC schools are also ranked, including Thomas Pollard and Grace Gibbons from Gilbert. Pollard is ranked first among 3A boys while Gibbons is ranked second among 3A girls.