Marion Girls Cross Country

Bachs make running a family affair

You may have to go back to Donnie and Marie Osmond to find a brother-sister act with the 1-2 punch of Marion’s Myles and Maddie Bach.

Members of the Indians’ varsity cross country squads, the sophomore Myles and his senior sister Maddie pulled off an improbable feat last week.

In the teams’ two invitational cross country meets in the span of five days, they each won both of their races and led the Marion boys and girls to team titles both times as well. Back to back, as it were.

And the two long-distance racers will be going for a trifecta Tuesday when the Marion contingent heads to Muscatine for yet another invitational meet.

A repeat might be tough, according to Myles, since he’ll be facing stiff competition with top-notch runners from Mount Pleasant and Pleasant Valley.

But he and diminutive big sister Maddie are on a roll, so anything is possible.

“We definitely don’t train in order to lose,” says 17-year-old Maddie. “We’re both very competitive.”

Indeed, it was her own competitive streak that got her involved in cross country in the first place.

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Madison Bach wins Metro Spotlight Award

Madison Bach of Marion High School is the winner of the Metro Spotlight Award for high school girls this week, the Metro Sports Report announced Sunday.

Bach, a senior, has blossomed into one of the top cross country runners in the state this year and is ranked No. 7 in Class 3A by the Iowa Track Coaches Association. She placed 21st at the state meet last fall, but appears headed for a much higher finish this year.

Bach enjoyed a remarkable week with two major victories in the space of five days.

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Bach family rules at Independence meet

INDEPENDENCE - First Center Point, now Independence.

The Bach siblings have done it again.

Marion High School senior Madison Bach won the 37th Annual Mustang Invitational on Saturday in Independence and led the Indians to the team championship. Then her brother Myles, a sophomore, captured his varsity race and led Marion to the boys title as well.

The Bachs did the same thing Tuesday at the Center Point-Urbana Invitational, winning individual crowns and leading their teams to the championships.

Madison Bach covered the 5K course in 19 minutes, 29 seconds for a 28-second victory over Felicity Traylor of South Winn. Marion won the girls championship with 44 points, with South Winn a distant second at 85.

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VanDraska leads Prairie to title

Tysen VanDraska was sorely disappointed when he finished seventh at the Class 4A state cross country meet last fall.

"I kind of choked a little bit," he claimed Thursday.

He does not plan to let it happen again.

VanDraska captured top honors and led Cedar Rapids Prairie to the team championship Thursday at the annual Cedar Rapids Invitational at Noelridge Park.

VanDraska won the 5K outing in 16 minutes, 7.68 seconds, edging Brandon Cooley of Bettendorf by 1.5 seconds in a tight race throughout. Prairie ran away with the team championship with 31 points with Jake Moore finishing fourth, Chris Oehlert sixth and Cam Steffens seventh.

VanDraska may have been a little harsh on himself by claiming he "choked a little bit" at the state meet, but he's always set high standards for himself as a distance runner.

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