Washington Girls Cross Country

Wash super soph to join top Metro runners at state

Shannon Gorman is nervous. Mention Saturday’s state cross country meet, where she will be the lone representative from the Washington girls team, and she grimaces with tension.

“I feel sorry for people who have to deal with me the day before a meet,” she says. “I just don’t talk to anyone.”

Her coach, Lisa Nicol, is unconcerned.

“Outwardly, she doesn’t seem confident,” says Nicol, flashing a knowing smile as she describes the sophomore leader on her young team. “But as soon as the gun goes off, it all goes away and the competitor comes out. You can see the look on her face. She knows where to be on the course and what to do, and that’s something that’s difficult to coach.”

Gorman, who lives in Springville, was the only girl on her middle school cross country team. “I ran with the boys,” she says. “I don’t think I could ever walk normally because my legs were always dead. But I think it helped me.”

In ninth grade, she enrolled at Wash – not because of running, she says, but to learn Japanese. Or more Japanese, after she spent half of her eighth-grade year living with relatives in Japan.

“My mom is Japanese, and a big part of my family is Japanese,” she explains. “I could never talk to my grandparents, so I went to Japan to start learning the language.” She’s already taking AP Japanese at Wash.

But the running also mattered. After dominating her competition at middle school meets, she wanted to try Class 4A, she says. “I would rather run faster times but not place as well than place higher with slower times.”

Her times have improved with the competition, but she has hardly fallen off the leaderboard. After running at state her freshman year as part of a deep Wash team that finished 11th, she has notched impressive finishes throughout her sophomore season, claiming 10th place at the power-packed Mississippi Valley Conference Super Meet and fourth at last week’s regional qualifier.

Gorman has been drawn to cross country and track since she ran a timed mile in grade school, she says. “I just can’t stop running. I really want to be fast.” And there are benefits, she adds. “I can eat a lot, and I’m not coordinated enough to do anything else.”

That’s a questionable statement from an athlete who is part of Wash’s running/swimming super-sophomore duo of Gorman and Jackie Hughes. The two athletes have participated in both cross country and swimming this fall, improbably juggling practice and meet times during the overlapping seasons.

While Gorman has paced the cross country team, Hughes has emerged as Wash’s top swimmer and one of the best in the conference. Although conflicting schedules prevented the girls from competing at every meet as the season progressed, they were varsity-caliber on both teams based on their early-season performances.

Characteristically, Gorman downplays her efforts in the pool. “I’m not good at distances,” she says. “I just like all the people on our swim team. It’s fun.”

Nicol says she and swim coach Megan Lewis have encouraged Gorman and Hughes in their dual pursuits.

“Look at what they have both achieved,” she points out. “It was great cross-training. They were both getting great cardio workouts and giving their legs a rest.

"Both girls were so organized about where they needed to be and communicating with me and Coach Lewis. Megan and I joked that we were never concerned if one of the girls wasn’t at practice, because we knew they were at their other practice.

“But all four of us knew that at the end of the season Jackie was going to swim and Shannon was going to run, and that needed to be their focus. It worked out nicely. Coach Lewis and I got to coach them both and we each got to keep one.”

Their roads will diverge this Saturday as Hughes competes in the regional swim meet while Gorman heads to the state cross country meet in Fort Dodge, hoping to break her personal best of 15:14 and possibly surpass the Wash sophomore record of 15:10.

“I’d like to place better than last year, when I finished 43rd, but Kennedy and Linn-Mar have gotten so much better,” she says of the two Metro teams that qualified for state.

Her coach expects Gorman to break the sophomore record and wouldn’t be shocked if she runs under 15 minutes. With two years to go, she says, her sophomore sensation will no doubt eclipse the school record of 14:44 during her Warrior career.

“She will be the best distance runner we’ve ever had come out of here,” Nicol states unequivocally. “She also ran the 1,500 very well in track last year. She will leave quite a legacy behind her at Wash when she graduates.”

Gorman seems less certain of her speed than her durability. “I’m the stereotypical Asian,” she laughs. “I’m short and I don’t get injured.” She also runs with a zen-like intensity that belies her age.

Gorman says she was “really sad” that her team missed qualifying for state by a mere five points. But with four sophomores on the varsity, Nicol has high expectations for a group she describes as “very young, very dedicated and extremely hard-working.

“The Metro area has become quite a battle, and the good thing is that they are all friends and they are all pushing each other. It’s going to be fun to see where the Metro goes in the next few years because of that, and the MVC – oh my gosh – nearly half the teams at state are MVC teams.”

Washington girls 6th at Mississippi Division meet

DUBUQUE - All five Linn-Mar girls finished in the top seven, led by Carolyn Newhouse, Morgan Uridil and Rachel Perry, and the Lions breezed the Mississippi Valley Conference Mississippi Division cross country meet title Thursday at the Dubuque Soccer Complex.

Newhouse, Uridil and Perry finished 1-2-3. Brooklynn Kascel was fifth and Maddie Saville seventh for the Lions. Newhouse ran the 4k course in 14 minutes, 52 seconds and was chased across the line by her teammates. Uridil and Perry both were timed in 15:01, Kascel finished in 15:07 and Saville recorded a 15:16.

Linn-Mar had 18 points. Iowa City High finished second with 54 and Kennedy was third with 76. Dubuque Senior (114), Dubuque Wahlert (116), Washington (139) and Waterloo West (210) rounded out the scoring.

Linn-Mar came into the meet ranked second in the state in Class 4A. The Lions won the MVC Super Meet a week earlier.

Jessica Rodman, Alyssa Averhoff and Katie Wampole finished 6-8-10 for Kennedy.

Washington's top finisher was Shannon Gorman in ninth.

MVC MISSISSIPPI DIVISION MEET
At Dubuque Soccer Complex

Teams
1. Linn-Mar 18, 2. Iowa City High 54, 3. Kennedy 76, 4. Dubuque Senior 114, 5. Dubuque Wahlert 116, 6. CR Washington 139, 7. Waterloo West 210

Individuals
1. Carolyn Newhouse (LM)          14:52
2. Morgan Uridil (LM)                  15:01
3. Rachel Perry (LM)                    15:01
4. Courtney Bruns (ICH)              15:04
5. Brooklynn Kascel (LM)             15:07
6. Jessica Rodman (CRK)              15:14
7. Maddie Saville (LM)                  15:16
8. Alyssa Averhoff (CRK)              15:16
9. Shannon Gorman (CRW)          15:20
10. Katie Wampole (CRK)             15:25

LINN-MAR
1. Carolyn Newhouse            14:52
2. Morgan Uridil                    15:01
3. Rachel Perry                     15:01
5. Brooklynn Kascel              15:07
7. Maddie Saville                   15:16
18. Caitlin Novak                   15:50
28. Olivia Miller                     16:20

KENNEDY
6. Jessica Rodman                 15:14
8. Alyssa Averhoff                 15:16
10. Katie Wampole                15:25
25. Tara Mittelberg               16:09
27. Lauren Meyer                  16:16
35. Megan Terukina              16:43
42. Alexis Bernstein               17:25

WASHINGTON
9. Shannon Gorman               15:20
29. Katie Karamitros             16:20
31. Madison Stuckenschneide 16:24
32. Colby Bjornsen                  16:30
38. Morgan Stuckenschneide 16:59
39. Anna Kline                          17:03
45. Joslyn Ross                         17:45

Washington girls 8th at MVC Super Meet

The Linn-Mar High School girls cross country team is No. 2 in the state and No. 1 in the Mississippi Valley Conference.

The Lions captured their first MVC Super Meet title in school history Thursday with a strong performance at Noelridge Park by placing five girls in the top 11.

Linn-Mar finished 4-5-7-8-11 with Brooklyn Kascel, Carolyn Newhouse, Rachel Perry, Morgan Uridil and Maddie Saville tightly bunched within 21 seconds.

Newhouse has been Linn-Mar's top runner all season, but Kascel nudged her by three seconds with a strong finish.

"I honestly didn't think I could beat Carolyn," Kascel said. "But we just feed off each other the whole race, and if I run with her it makes me go faster."

The den of Lions finished with 35 points for a comfortable 16-point margin over Cedar Falls. Iowa City High was third.

"Awesome," Kascel said. "We worked so hard to get to this place."

Cedar Falls runners finished 1-2 with Allison Gregg and Brianna King at the top, but the Tigers didn't have the depth to match the Lions. The next three Cedar Falls runners were 13-17-18.

Linn-Mar is ranked No. 2 in the state in the latest Class 4A poll, trailing Dowling Catholic. The Lions have been ranked high all season, but shot all the way to No. 2 this week.

"We were really surprised, because last year we weren't that high up," Kascel said. "And this year we're working really hard and it's really paid off."

Linn-Mar Coach Todd Goodell thought his team had a chance to win the MVC title, but the Valley has other strong teams with third-ranked Iowa City High, No. 8 Iowa City West, No. 10 Cedar Falls and No. 11 Cedar Rapids Kennedy.

"I thought they performed well. It's the way we were hoping they would perform," said Goodell, in his 14th year as the girls and boys cross country coach at Linn-Mar.

"Brooklyn Kascel popped off a good one today. They ran well as a pack again. We have a couple more big ones to go."

The Mississippi Division meet will be held in Dubuque Oct. 13, followed by the regional meet Oct. 20 and the state meet Oct. 29.

Dowling Catholic beat Linn-Mar at the Heartland Classic Sept. 17, but the Lions appear to be getting stronger. They hope to challenge for the state title in Fort Dodge in three weeks.

"I think we have a chance if we keep working hard and just trust in each other," Kascel said.

"We're hoping we can make it interesting," Goodell said.

Kennedy finished fifth in the MVC team standings. Washington was eighth, Prairie ninth, Xavier 11th and Jefferson 13th.

Shannon Gorman of Washington placed 10th. Bree Gaster of Prairie was 15th.

MVC SUPER MEET
Girls Results
Noelridge Park
4K

Team Standings

1. Linn-Mar 35, 2. Cedar Falls 51, 3. Iowa City High 74, 4. Iowa City West 116, 5. Kennedy 141, 6. Dubuque Senior 156, 7. Wahlert 162, 8. Washington 197, 9. Prairie 246, 10. Hempstead 261, 11. Xavier 314, 12. Waterloo West 371, 13. Jefferson 381, 14. Waterloo East 450.

Top 15 Individuals

1. Allison Gregg, Cedar Falls        14:38
2. Brianna King, Cedar Falls         14:45
3. Meg Richardson, City High      14:56
4. Brooklynn Kascel, Linn-Mar      14:57
5. Carolyn Newhouse, Linn-Mar     15:00
6. Pombie Silverman, IC West      15:02
7. Rachel Perry, Linn-Mar             15:04
8. Morgan Uridil, Linn-Mar            15:06
9. Molly Leveille, IC West            15:09
10. Shannon Gorman, Washington    15:14
11. Maddie Saville, Linn-Mar         15:18
12. Harper Beasley, City High       15:22
13. Cassy Herkelman, Cedar Falls  15:22
14. Lindsey Bruns, City High        15:25
15. Bree Gaster, Prairie              15:25

LINN-MAR: 4. Brooklynn Kascel 14:57, 5. Carolyn Newhouse 15:00, 7. Rachel Perry 15:04, 8. Morgan Uridil 15:06, 11. Maddie Saville 15:18, 30. Caitlin Novak 16:00, 45. Olivia Miller 16:26.

KENNEDY: 19. Alyssa Averhoff 15:37, 21. Katie Wampole 15:41, 31. Jessica Rodman 16:01, 34. Lauren Meyer 16:09, 36. Tara Mittelberg 16:15, 46. Megan Terukina 16:27.

WASHINGTON: 10. Shannon Gorman 15:14, 40. Colby Bjornsen 16:17, 44. Katie Karamitros 16:23, 47. Morgan Stuckenschneider 16:28, 56. Madison Stuckenschneider 16:38, 66. Joslyn Ross 17:06, 70. Anna Kline 17:15.

PRAIRIE: 15. Bree Gaster 15:25, 39. Beth Heims 16:16, 53. Maddie Rainey 16:34, 60. Anastasia Jordan 16:55, 79. Holly Wisnousky 17:53, 83. Ashley Hawkins 18:16.

XAVIER: 52. Marinna Schroud 16:33, 61. Ann Glavan 16:58, 64. Allison Pitz 17:03, 68. Sarah Chicchelly 17:08, 69. Rachel Sigmon 17:12, 75. Katy Ropp 17:34, 82. Lauren Smith 18:10.

JEFFERSON: 59. Rachel Sedlacek 16:49, 67. Michelle Zikes 17:07, 84. Carson Burgart 18:24, 85. Bethany Polansky 18:51, 86. Rachel Broghammer 18:57, 87. Jennifer McDowell 19:07.

Wash girls run 13th at Clinton meet

CLINTON - Robert Hogg and the Cedar Rapids Washington Warriors were the grand champions at the Clinton Invitational cross country meet Saturday.

Hogg won the individual title in 15 minutes, 54.9 seconds and the Warriors captured the team championship for the second straight year.

Washington placed five runners in the top-15 with Etienne Nzoyisaba third (16:03.1), Laurent Hakizimana 10th (16:39.3), Joe Berry 12th (16:47.8) and Jon Rockwell 14th (16:49.9).

The Warriors won the title with 40 points, beating Indianola by 21 points. Xavier finished 10th out 15 teams with Ben Schueler running 26th in 17:15.5.

The Xavier girls team placed seventh out of 16 teams in their competition with Marinna Schroud finishing in 34th place in 16:28.3.

Washington placed 13th in the varsity girls competition with Colby Bjornsen 37th in 16:31.7. The Warriors used a modified varsity lineup because four of their varsity runners, who are all sophomores, elected to run in the frosh/soph race. They finished 1-2-3-4 in the frosh/soph race and led Washington to the title.

Kate Kasper of Clinton won the girls race in 14:38.6.

CLINTON INVITATIONAL

Boys Standings

1. Washington 40, 2. Indianola 61, 3. Pleasant Valley 74, 4. Bettendorf 136, 5. Urbandale 165, 6. Fort Madison 194, 7. Muscatine 203, 8. Iowa City Regina 227, 9. DeWitt Central 234, 10. Xavier 241, 11. Clinton 288, 12. Moline 329, 13. Durant-Bennett 331, 14. Prince of Peace 485, 15. North Scott 511.

Girls Standings

1. Pleasant Valley 57, 2. Bettendorf 62, 3. Urbandale 71, 4. Indianola 119, 5. Moline 127, 6. Iowa City Regina 211, 7. Xavier 235, 8. North Scott 295, 9. Prince of Peace 298, 10. Muscatine 333, 11. Fort Madison 334, 12. DeWitt Central 337, 13. Washington 347, 14. Clinton 393, 15. Bennett-Durant 557, 16. Davenport North (incomplete team).