Prairie Girls Cross Country

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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VanDraska leads Prairie at PV meet

BETTENDORF - Tysen VanDraska finished fourth in the individual standings Saturday to lead the Cedar Rapids Prairie cross country team at the Pleasant Valley Invitational in Bettendorf.

The Hawks placed third in the team standings behind Edina and Pleasant Valley in the 15-team field. Patrick Bose of Johnston set a meet record in 15 minutes, 58 seconds for the 5K course. VanDraska was clocked in 16:16.

The Prairie girls finished 11th out of 15 teams in their race. Hannah Frazee led the Hawks in 21st place.

Naperville North won the girls title behind a record performance by Judy Pendergast.

SPARTAN INVITATIONAL

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Prairie boys dominate MVC race

WATERLOO - Tysen VanDraska led a 1-2-3 finish by Cedar Rapids Prairie Thursday as the Hawks claimed top honors at the Mississippi Division cross country meet at Miriam City Park in Waterloo.

VanDraska won the race in 16 minutes, 37 seconds. Matt Lorenz placed second in 16:38 and Jake Moore finished third in 16:39 as the three Hawks nearly crossed the finish line together.

Prairie won the Mississippi Valley Conference Super Meet last week and had no trouble winning the division title as well, topping Hempstead 25-59.

Chris Oehlert of Prairie placed sixth. Finbar Berry of Washington finished eighth.

Cayla Renwick of Prairie finished third in the girls race, leading the Hawks to third place in the team standings. Sarah Altemeier of Washington ran fifth and Jenny Dickes of Xavier was seventh.

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Prairie boys second at W. Dubuque

EPWORTH - The Prairie boys cross country team came up a bit short Thursday at the Western Dubuque Invitational, finished second just five points behind champion Bellevue.

Monticello's Matt Manternach won the individual title in 16:26. Cam Steffens was the top Prairie finisher, coming home seventh in 17:04.

Decorah won the team title with 42 points. Prairie finished with 128. Cascade's Becca McDermott won the event in 15.52. Prairie's top finisher was Sarah Meyers, who came home 20th in 16.57.

WESTERN DUBUQUE INVITATIONAL

BOYS
TEAM STANDINGS

1. Bellevue 65, 2. Prairie  70, 3. Decorah   81, 4. Monticello 105, 5. Western Dubuque 121, 6. Cascade 184, 7. Bellevue Marquette 213,  8. North Fayette Valley 227, 9. Maquoketa 239, 10. West Delaware 251, 11. Durant 306, 12. Anamosa 325, 13. Dyersville Beckman  337,  14. Calamus-Wheatland 376, 15. MFL MarMac 465

PRAIRIE: 7. Cam Steffens, 17:04; 12. Levi Lefebure, 17:28; 16. Luke Huedepol, 17:33; 17. Hunter Gearhart, 17:36; 18. Max Laue, 17:40

GIRLS

TEAM STANDINGS

1. Decorah 42, 2. Monticello 66, 3. Cascade 102, 4. Western Dubuque 124, 5. Prairie 128,  6. West Delaware 191, 7. Anamosa 220,  8. North Fayette Valley 225, 9. Durant 247, 10. Clayton Ridge  253, 11. Bellevue Marquette 286, 12. Calamus-Wheatland 328, 13. Springville/Central City 340,  14. MFL MarMac 379, 15. Easton Valley 403, 16. Dyersville Beckman 450.

PRAIRIE: 20. Sarah Meyers, 16:57; 23. Eilish Stanek, 17:00; 24. Hannah Frazee, 17:00; 30. Kirstin  Skriver, 17:23; 31. Victoria Enyart,  17:25