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Gorman excels as member of 'Team Jenks'

WATERL00 - Pound for pound, inch for inch, year for year, Reagan Gorman of Cedar Rapids Washington is the best distance runner in the Mississippi Valley Conference and perhaps the best in the state.

The petite freshman finished a resounding second at the Mississippi Valley Conference Super Meet on Thursday at Byrnes Park in Waterloo by a scant six seconds behind Iowa City High junior Mary Arch.

Gorman, who measures 5-foot-2 and about 85 pounds, might have caught Arch if the 5K race had been a little longer. She was getting closer and closer as the race wound around the Irv Warren Golf Course.

It's hard to believe a 14-year-old girl who is that small could have so much strength and energy, but Gorman has been running since was about 7 years old and excels in triathlons, a grueling event that combines running, swimming and biking.

Gorman trains for the triathlon with "Team Jenks," a group of outstanding young athletes that features Linn-Mar senior Stephanie Jenks and is operated by the Jenks family. Gorman placed 31st at the national triathlon meet in Westchester, Ohio, this August in the youth elite 13-to-15 age group and is the second-highest ranked triathlete in the state in her division.

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VanDraska gets revenge at MVC meet

WATERLOO - Tysen VanDraska was not happy when he lost to a pair of runners from Cedar Falls at the Cedar Rapids Prairie Invitational back in August at the start of the cross country season.

He did something about it Thursday.

VanDraska used a blistering kick to conquer those same two runners from Cedar Falls and take top honors at the Mississippi Valley Conference Super Meet at Byrnes Park in Waterloo.

Sam Schillinger and Isaac Smith of Cedar Falls pulled away from VanDraska in the final stages of the Prairie Invitational to finish first and second in that race, but this time the Prairie senior was ready for them.

VanDraska sprinted away from the Tigers in the home stretch and won the race in 15 minutes, 46 seconds. He beat Schillinger by four seconds and topped Smith by six seconds.

The three premier distance runners ran neck-and-neck for most of the 5K race before VanDraska took control. It was two-against-one for much of the day in terms of strategy, but VanDraska handled the challenge.

"I knew they were going to try and pick on me the whole race and eventually beat me down, so I just tried my best to stay on them as much as I could," he said. "And I knew I could finish with them."

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No. 5 Prairie Hawks sweep Waterloo West

The fifth-ranked Prairie volleyball team swept Waterloo West, 25-16, 25-12, 25-11, in a Mississippi Valley Conference volleyball match Tuesday night at Prairie.

Kate Busswitz led a balanced attack with 11 kills. Kenzie Soeken had 10 kills, Megan Oldenburger six kills and Maddie Bell five kills.

Kendra Gaskill rolled up 33 assists. Taylor Fisher contributed 14 digs and Rylee Blood had nine digs.

Blood, Oldenburger, Gaskill and Haley Stecklein led the serving.

Neighbors leads Wash to district title

Connor Neighbors will be one of the youngest golfers at the state tournament this weekend at Elmcrest Country Club, but that's perfectly OK with him.

The freshman from Cedar Rapids Washington is accustomed to being one of the youngest kids on the course.

"I probably started when I was 3," the soft-spoken ninth grader said Tuesday, "and I probably took it seriously when I was about 8. I started playing in tournaments at that age.

"It took me awhile to get going," he said, "but I enjoy it a lot now."

Neighbors fired a 2-over-par 73 and led Washington to the district title Tuesday at the Finkbine Golf Course in Iowa City. The next step for Neighbors and the Warriors will be the state tournament on their "home" course at Elmcrest on Friday and Saturday.

Five of the six golfers on the Washington team -- including Neighbors -- are members of Elmcrest and know all the nooks and crannies.

"That's my home course. I play there a lot," Neighbors said. "It's a good course.

"I'm sure the greens are going to be very fast. They will be really tough. It's not super-long, so that will be good for me because I'm not a huge hitter."

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