Ankeny senior Abel Squires will be taking his talents to Sioux Center.
The boys’ cross country and track standout announced his commitment to Dordt University on Monday.
“I’ve been thinking and praying a lot about this decision and Dordt is where I feel God is leading me for the next step of my academic, spiritual and athletic journey,” Squires tweeted on X.
Squires said he looked at a couple other schools before choosing the Defenders.
“It was a pretty tough decision,” Squires said. “I looked seriously at Dordt, Northwestern College and Creighton.”
Squires helped Ankeny to a second consecutive third-place finish in the Class 4A state cross country meet this fall. He placed 86th for the Hawks after finishing 44th as a junior.
Squires also helped Ankeny to a runner-up finish in the Class 4A state track meet last spring. He placed 12th in the 800 with a time of 1:56.86 and also ran on the ninth-place 4×800 relay, where he ran the third leg in 1:57.9.
Squires said he thought Dordt checked all the boxes that he was looking for.
“I felt like that’s where I belonged,” he said.