Washington Girls Cross Country

Fusselman stars for Kennedy runners

CEDAR FALLS - Cedar Rapids Kennedy sophomore Hannah Fusselman finished a strong second at the Rich Engle Classic cross country meet Thursday in Cedar Falls.

Fusselman battled Brina Kraft of Muscatine to the tape and lost the 5K race by just one second. Kraft was timed in 19 minutes, 22 seconds and Fusselman finished in 19:23.

Metro girls made a good showing in the 19-school race. Washington freshman Reagan Gorman placed fourth, Kennedy freshman Grace Walker was sixth and Jefferson senior Meredith Koenigsfeld was eighth.

Ankeny Centennial nipped Muscatine for the girls title, 76-77. Jefferson finished seventh, Kennedy 12th and Washington 13th.

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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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Gorman wins Metro Spotlight Award

Reagan Gorman of Washington is the winner of the Metro Spotlight Award for high school girls this week, the Metro Sports Report announced Sunday.

Gorman, a freshman, finished in second place at the 31st Prairie Invitational cross country meet Saturday morning. She covered the 5 kilometer course in 19 minutes, 38 seconds in her first varsity race for the Warriors. She trailed Iowa City West junior Gabby Skopec by 12 seconds.

Gorman stands only 5-foot-2 and weighs about 85 pounds, but she proved that size does not matter in distance running. She dominated her middle school races and has already stamped herself as one of the top runners in the state.

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Tiny Gorman makes big splash

Reagan Gorman stands out in a crowd of runners, but not because of her physical stature.

It's her talent, not her size.

"I'm 5-2," the Cedar Rapids Washington freshman said Saturday morning with a shy smile, "and I weigh about 85 or 90."

Good things come in small packages.

Gorman made a quick name for herself Saturday by finishing in second place out of 127 runners at the 31st Prairie Invitational cross country meet.

Iowa City West junior Gabby Skopec won the 5K race in 19 minutes, 26 seconds. Gorman placed second in 19:38 and Marion senior Maddie Bach took third in 19:43.

Iowa high school girls are running five kilometers for cross country races this year instead of the traditional 4K, making their events the same length as the boys.

"I like it," said Gorman. "I'm not very good at sprints, so it's nice."

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