FORT DODGE - Flying into last year's state meet under the radar, Union Community's girls' cross country team used a relaxed approach to stun the Class 2A field and capture a title.

As they prepared to defend their championship, the Knights anticipated plenty of pressure this season. In order to help offset the nerves, Union took some advice from a movie - and, no, it wasn't the track and field cult classic "Prefontaine." Disney's "Lion King" and its Swahili phrase of 'Hakuna matata' (no worries) was just what the team needed.

Relaxed and in control, Union's black jerseys congregated at the front of the pack as the Knights ran away with the team race to capture back-to-back Class 2A state championships by nearly 100 points Saturday at Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge. Union finished with 45 points, while Hudson edged three strong teams for second place with 144.

"We all knew that we just had to stay relaxed and we just kept telling ourselves, 'hakuna matata,'" Union sophomore Paige Sears said. "That's been our saying all year.

The Knights have strong family ties. Paige Sears finished third and was followed by her sister Erin Sears, who placed fourth in the team standings. The duo was ninth and 10th individually. Sisters Brittany Frush and Ashley Frush placed fifth and seventh, respectively, giving Union plenty of margin for error.

PEP RALLY SUNDAY: There will be a welcome home assembly for Union's cross country runners at 3 p.m. Sunday at Union Community High School in La Porte City.

Contact Nick Petaros at (319) 291-1428 or nick.petaros@wcfcourier.com

Class 1A

North Tama's Sara Stoakes now has an unlikely combination of state championships. The state's defending 100-meter champion became a cross country champion on Saturday. She passed Clinton Prince of Peace freshman Audrey Griffin midway through the race and cruised to victory in 14:35. "I knew by the second mile I needed to kick it in a little more," Stoakes said. "(Griffin) was way out in front so I figured I better kick it in sooner. I did it a little sooner than I should have, but I just tried to maintain my kick. It hurt a lot, but I did it." Wapsie Valley's Katy Moen was third in 14:46, two seconds back of Griffin. East Buchanan's Shelbie Beatty was ninth in 15:21. NU High's Christine McKenna was 24th in 15:50.

TEAM STANDINGS - 1. Pekin 54; 2. Nodaway Valley 89; 3. Valley Community 140; 4. Central Elkader 167; 5. West Sioux 195; 6. Council Bluffs St. Albert 197; 7. Earlham 208; 8. Mason City Newman 211; 9. Galva-Holstein 244; 10. St. Edmond 226; 11. Griswold 227; 12. BCLUW 243; 13. Bellevue Maquette 262; 14. Durant 276; 15. Prince of Peace 335.

TOP 10 - 1. Sara Stoakes (North Tama) 14:35; 2. Audrey Griffin (Prince of Peace) 14:44; 3. Katy Moen (Wapsie Valley) 14:46; 4. Tabitha Shepherd (Corning) 14:53; 5. Celsey Conger (Pekin) 14:59; 6. Grace Moore (Mason City Newman) 15:00; 7. Ashley Corrin (Tri-Center) 15:01; 8. Haddie Vawter (15:20); 9. Shelbie Beatty (East Buchanan) 15:21; 10. Olivia Diggs (Ogden) 15:22.

AREA INDIVIDUALS - 1. Stoakes (North Tama) 14:35; 3. Moen (Wapsie Valley) 14:46; 9. Beatty (East Buchanan) 15:21; 24. Christine McKenna (NU High) 15:50; 25. Adrianne Alexia (Grundy Center) 15:51; 34. Jenny Kuennen (Turkey Valley) 16:03.

Class 3A

Denver-Tripoli's Haley Stevens just missed a top 10 finish last season. On Saturday she closed strong and placed eighth overall in 15:09. Her team finished sixth. "Coming back and getting eighth was really nice,' Stevens said. "I was going to regret it if I did not sprint (at the finish). I just killed myself trying to get that spot and I did it." Some members of Decorah's team were feeling a little under the weather as they were unable to defend last year's state title. The Vikings finished fourth with a score of 127.

TEAM STANDINGS - 1. Mount Vernon-Lisbon 70; 2. Williamsburg 74; 3. Dubuque Wahlert 109; 4. Decorah 127; 5. Huxley Ballard 181; 6. Denver-Tripoli 196; 7. Harlan 202; 8. Atlantic 217; 9. Estherville-Lincoln Central 217; 10. Pella 233; 11. ADM 258; 12. Marion 271; 13. Benton Community 279.

TOP 10 - 1. Sara Dickinson (Oskaloosa) 14:10; 2. Trisha Miller (Maquoketa) 14:48; 3. Mary Menster (Assumption) 14:56; 4. Scotti Schon (Waukon) 15:02; 5. Ali Krogman (Atlantic) 15:03; 6. April Davidshofer (West Dubuque) 15:07; 7. Alex Wilson (Mount Vernon) 15:08; 8. Haley Stevens (Denver-Tripoli) 15:09; 9. Shelby Curtis (Carlisle) 15:12; 10, Steph Markey (Nevada) 15:12.

DECORAH - 4. Molly O'Reagan 15:25; 7. Kaia Miller 15:35; 31. Kelsie Larson 16:04; 42. Kelsey Strand 16:23; 43. Emma Blanchard 16:24.

DENVER-TRIPOLI - 3. Stevens 15:09; 33. Lauren Lemert 16:09; 47. Lydia Sparkman 16:30; 55. Chelsea Matlack 16:41; 58. Megan Borrett 16:45.

AREA INDIVIDUALS - 32. Brooke Ameling (New Hampton) 15:49; 46. Amber Wood (Charles City) 16:02.

Class 4A

Waterloo West sophomore Morgan Gerdes closed out her breakthrough season with a 55th place time of 15:45.

TEAM STANDINGS - 1. Dowling Catholic 69; 2. Iowa City High 91; 3. Iowa City West 111; 4. Johnston 148; 5. Pleasant Valley 178; 6. Ames 192; 7. Urbandale 192; 8. Waukee 201; 9. Ankeny 250; 10. West Des Moines Valley 254; 11. Linn-Mar 263; 12. Cedar Rapids Washington 266; 13. Mason City 283; 14. Marshalltown 284; 15. Dubuque Senior 306.

Top 10 - 1. Ashlie Decker (Dowling) 13:37; 2. Katie Flood (Dowling) 14:12; 3. Shelby Houlihan (Sioux City East) 14:27; 4. Madie Hubbell (Des Moines Roosevelt) 14:32; 5. Kelsey Regan (Davenport North) 14:36; 6. Kate Maxcy (Valley) 14:36; 7. Maddy Becker (Cedar Rapids Washington) 14:44; 8. Anne Martin (Pleasant Valley) 14:49; 9. Rebecca Rethwisch (City High) 15:51; 10. Colette Gnade (Waukee) 14:54.

AREA INDIVIDUALS - 55. Morgan Gerdes (Waterloo West) 15:45.

Class 2A

Hudson improved on its third-place finish from last year by fighting off Wilton, Spirit Lake and Iowa City Regina for second place. The Pirates were led by Holly Halstead's eight-place team finish (16th overall). Iowa Falls-Alden's Katelyn Price finished third in 15:03, while Jodi Miller of Sumner-Fredericksburg was fourth in 15:04 and Jaisa Miller placed eighth in 15:12.

TEAM STANDINGS - 1. Union 45; 2. Hudson 144; 3. Wilton 152; 4. Spirit Lake 155; 5. Iowa City Regina 156; 6. Solon 165; 7. Unity Christian 178; 8. Cascade 199; 9. North Polk 208; 10. Humbolt 233; 11. South Hamilton 234; 12. Dike-New Hartford 243; 13. Sioux Center 280; 14. Gilbert 198; 15. Pella Christian 325.

TOP 10 - 1. Morgan Casey (Goose Lake) 14:29; 2. Missy Miller (Tipton) 15:01; 3. Katelyn Price (Iowa Falls-Alden) 15:03; 4. Jodi Miller (Sumner-Fredericksburg) 15:04; 5. Katerina Althoff (Cascade) 15:09; 6. Becca Ellis (George-Little Rock) 15:09; 7. Steph Wibben (George-Little Rock) 15:10; 8. Jaisa Miller (Solon) 15:12; 9. Paige Sears (Union) 15:19; 10: Erin Sears (Union) 15:20.

UNION - 3. P. Sears 15:19; 4. E. Sears 15:20; 5. Brittany Frush 15:23; 7. Ashley Frush 15:27.

HUDSON - 8. Holly Halstead 15:28; 22. Claire Hawkins 16:13; 27. Jenna Brandhorst 16:19; 41. Hannah Garvey 16:33: 46. Lauren Oltmann 16:41.

SOLON - 2. Jaisa Miller 15:12; 12. Leah Adams 15:48; 19. Hannah Rundell 16:08; 57. Mackenzie Wise 16:57; 75. Anna Kosek 17:18.

DIKE-NEW HARTFORD - 34. Nicole Hensley 16:26; 35. Elli Parker 16:28; 43. Stephanie Luhring 16:34; 59. Kaity Sharp 16:58; 72. Sarah Dieken 17:15.

AREA INDIVIDUALS - 4. Miller (Sumner-Fredericksburg) 15:04; 13. Ashley Ameling (Sumner-Fredericksburg) 15:24.