About the Program
North High School is proud to offer cross country. The Iowa High School Athletic Union sanctions our high school sports for boys. Our teams compete in the Missouri River Conference. Through involvement in athletics, students learn valuable life skills, including teamwork, leadership, and commitment.
Meet the Coach
Head Coach: Abdier Marrero
Coach Marrero has coached the Stars since 2007. Throughout his coaching career, he has led the Stars to many notable achievements including:
- Four Boys City Championship teams
- Five Individual City Champions
- One girls MRAC Conference Championship team
- Three boys MRAC Conference Championship teams
- 64 All-MRAC Performances
- Six Individual MRAC Champions
- Nine MRAC Individual Runner-up Performance
- 20 All-District Performances (Individual State Qualifiers)
- One Individual District Champion
- One boys Team District Championship
- Three State Qualifying Boys Teams and Three All-State Cross Country Performances
- One Top-5 Boys Team Finish, along with one Individual 3rd Team All-Region Performance at Nike Heartland Regionals.
Coach Marrero was also named At-Large Boys Cross Country Coach of the Year in 2019 by IATC.
Since Coach Marrero began his coaching career at North High, the Stars have seen 118 Academic All-Conference Runners as well as 11 Academic All-State Runners. 20 Stars have made their way to Collegiate Cross Country Programs, including the NJCAA, the NAIA’s Great Plains Athletic Conference, NCAA D-II’s Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, as well as the NCAA D-I’s Summit League, the Big East, and the Big XII Conference!
Coach Marrero began his running career at Sioux City West High School in 1996. He received his first Varsity Letter in Track in 1997 while attending Montclair High School in California. He returned to Sioux City West where he competed in Cross Country for the first time under Coach David Nash and graduated from Sioux City West High School in 1999. He continued his running at Morningside College in the NCAA Division II North Central Conference, garnering All-NCC Honors during the 2002 Indoor Track and Field Season. Coach Marrero enlisted into the US Army Reserves and served from September of 2000 to June of 2018, holding the rank of Sergeant First Class, and has two deployments under Operation Iraqi Freedom. Coach Marrero obtained his Bachelor’s Degree from Morningside College, Master’s Degree from Buena Vista University, and currently works as a Professional School Counselor at Sioux City North High School.
Coach Marrero holds his Coaching Authorization from the Iowa Department of Education, and holds certification from the US Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, and is USA Track and Field Level I Certified.
Meet the Team
Student-athletes give their all, both on and off the course. Countless hours go into strength, conditioning, and practice to build strong athletes that are prepared to compete. Likewise, our athletes fulfill academic requirements in order to participate in sports.
Students in Action
Stats & Highlights
Our students are gracious in victory and defeat. While we compete to win, our athletes know, it’s how you play the game that matters.
Varsity Boys Cross Country Stats
Win/Loss Record
Notable Individual Achievements
Stars All-Time Top 10 State Qualifiers
- Abbabiya Simbassa 15:36:00, 2010
- Merga Gemeda 15:47:00, 2017
- Jaysen Bouwers 15:54:00, 2019
- Will Lohr 16:19:00, 2019
- Merga Gemeda 16:27:00, 2016
- Beshanena Gutema 16:30:00, 2019
- Derik Simenson 16:36, 2006
- Colin Greenwell 16:37:00, 2019
- Deven Pace 16:45, 2017
- Gabe Nash 16:45:00, 2019
Fundraising
To help cover gear/equipment costs, the North High cross country team partners with Jolly Time Popcorn in Sioux City to participate in the Koated Kernels Popcorn fundraiser. Fundraising encourages creativity and teamwork and teaches the importance of charity and community.
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For more information about the North High cross country team visit https://www.northstarsxc.com/.