Messenger photo by Britt Kudla: St. Edmond senior Anthony Valles and his Gael teammates will run at a Class 1A state cross country qualifier on Thursday in Jewell.

The trail to Kennedy Park and the state cross country championships begins on Wednesday.

Classes 3A and 4A will hold state-qualifying meets, while 1A and 2A do the same on Thursday. All events begin at 4 p.m. both days.

The 2A and 3A state championship races take place Friday, Oct. 31, at Lakeside Golf Course, with 1A and 4A seeing action on Saturday, Nov. 1.

Fort Dodge will compete at Marshalltown Community College alongside Ankeny, Cedar Falls, Dubuque Hempstead, the host Bobcats, Mason City, Waterloo East, Waterloo West, Waukee and Waukee Northwest.

The other 4A qualifying sites are hosted by Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln, Iowa City High, Johnston and Pleasant Valley.

St. Edmond, meanwhile, will compete in Jewell in 1A with Manson Northwest Webster, Alta-Aurelia, Ankeny Christian, Ar-We-Va, Baxter, BCLUW, Colfax-Mingo, Colo-Nesco, East Marshall, GMG, Madrid, Melcher-Dallas, Meskwaki Settlement, North Butler, Panorama, the host Hawks, Southeast Warren and Woodward Academy.

Qualifiers will come from the first-, second- and third-place teams at each site, along with the first 15 individual placewinners in 2A, 3A and 4A. The first- and second-place teams are joined by the Top-10 individuals in 1A.

In 3A, Algona and Humboldt are at Spencer. Webster City, meanwhile, travels to Gilbert.

Eagle Grove welcomes in Belmond-Klemme/Clarion-Goldfield/Dows, Pocahontas Area, South Central Calhoun and Southeast Valley for a 2A qualifier.

Newell-Fonda competes as a site hosted by ACGC in 1A. Emmetsburg will host the likes of East Sac County, North Union and West Bend-Mallard, while Bishop Garrigan runs in Mason City.