The Ankeny Centennial girls’ cross country team has enjoyed a remarkable run of success under coach Eric Cogdill, qualifying for the state meet 12 times in the 13-year history of the program.
The Jaguars have earned nine top-10 finishes, including each of the last six years. They have earned four top-five finishes since 2020.
Last year, Centennial placed fifth in Class 4A with 136 points, setting a school record for the best team score at the state meet. The Jaguars scored five fewer points than they did in 2020, when they placed third for the highest finish in school history.
Now, with six of the team’s top seven runners returning this fall, Centennial could contend for its second podium finish ever. The Jaguars are No. 2 in Class 4A in the preseason rankings from the Iowa Association of Track Coaches.
“Since year one in the Centennial program, we’ve encouraged our team to set big scary goals; the kinds of goals that you have to grow into in order to reach them,” said Cogdill. “So, last November I encouraged our returners to train like they were chasing a state title because it’s going to take an incredible day to finish on the podium for a top-three spot. I know they have set their team goal to bring home a state trophy.”
Kylee Patterson was the only runner who competed at state that graduated last spring. Senior Ellie Blevins is back along with junior Trinity Klingensmith and sophomores Natalie Cogdill, Rebecca Flick, Sammi Maile and Piper Klingner.
Senior Ella Campbell is also back after competing in several varsity meets. She helped the Jaguars to a runner-up finish in a state qualifying meet.
“Ultimately, bringing back all seven who ran at the state qualifier a year ago lent itself to some very committed training over the past nine months,” Cogdill said. “In addition to that strong core, sophomore Cate Benning ran three varsity races a year ago and has had an outstanding (offseason), including competing at the state qualifier for track. We also welcome two freshmen who, like Cate, will likely see some varsity opportunities as well–Madi Hames and Zoey Bogseth.”
Despite having a young team in 2025, Centennial placed fourth or higher at every meet prior to the state meet. The Jaguars defended their title in the Cedar Rapids Invitational at Seminole Valley Park and also won the Tom Karpan Invitational at Valley for the fourth straight year.
Blevins and Flick formed a potent duo for Centennial all season, combining for three individual victories and 14 top-five finishes. At the state meet, they both earned a spot on the awards podium by placing among the top-15 finishers–marking the second year in a row that the Jaguars had a pair of placewinners.
Blevins will try to become a four-time state qualifier. She placed 59th as a freshman and 43rd as a sophomore before taking eighth a year ago in a time of 18:02.6, giving Centennial a top-10 finisher for the fifth consecutive year.
Blevins earned her first cross country victory at the Karpan Invitational, where she crossed the finish line in 19:11. She later placed seventh in the CIML Conference meet, helping the Jaguars to a third-place finish.
Flick, meanwhile, enjoyed a spectacular freshman season. She made her varsity debut by winning the 9/10 race at the Jaguar Invitational, then later raced to another win at the Indianola Invitational.
After placing third at both the conference meet and the state qualifying meet, Flick raced to a 14th-place finish at the state meet. She posted a time of 18:13.5.
“Our girls have been so focused on seeing the whole team improve as well as growing as leaders and forming bonds that individual goals have not been a point of discussion yet,” Cogdill said. “I think rather than seeing one girl stand atop the podium, the girls would find more joy from shared success for the whole team while working together in races toward being the best team possible.”
Cogdill’s daughter became the team’s No. 3 runner as the season progressed. She placed ninth at the state qualifying meet before finishing 31st at the state meet in 19:04.9.
Cogdill was followed closely by Maile, who placed 35th in 19:09.4. Klingensmith was the team’s fifth scoring runner, taking 71st in 19:50.3.
Klingner is also back for the Jaguars after placing 80th at the state meet in 19:58.5. She is among the 62 girls on the squad.
“As usual there is a lot of excitement, routine teaching, team-building, and doing our best while Mother Nature throws us curveballs,” Cogdill said. “Organized chaos is a colorful way to put it! We did get in our time trial on a muggy morning and had our fastest ever No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6 finishers as well as our best top-seven and top-10 averages. So, the offseason work definitely paid off. Across all of our six training groups this fall we have seen a leap in fitness and commitment. We had more girls under 6, 7 and 8 minutes than ever before despite a smaller squad. We are very fortunate to have the offseason commitment and buy-in from the vast majority of our athletes.”
Blevins is seventh in the Class 4A preseason individual rankings. Flick (No. 10), Cogdill (No. 22) and Maile (No. 26) are also ranked in the top 30.
Centennial will open the season on Aug. 25 by hosting the Jaguar Invitational at DMACC. The Jaguars placed second at last year’s meet behind Waukee Northwest, which went on to capture its first state title and is ranked No. 1 heading into 2026.
Cogdill said the competition at the top of Class 4A will be fierce.
“Northwest has all seven girls back plus a Drake Relays champion who missed last fall with an injury, so they have eight girls capable of finishing in the top 45 and are a clear favorite to defend (their title),” he said. “The defending runner-up, Pleasant Valley, has their top three back plus the eighth grade champion coming in. Johnston is coming off a third-place finish and is led by four seniors with state meet experience, and they are maybe better than what the 2025 results would suggest.
“Honestly, any of the top eight teams from a year ago could be a contender; and I have a lot of respect for all the programs we will see this year,” he added.