Kennedy Girls Cross Country

Gorman makes 'presidential' run to title

Reagan Gorman lived up to her first name Thursday and made a presidential run at the Class 4A district country meet at Seminole Valley Park.

Gorman, a talented freshman at Cedar Rapids Washington, was partially named after Ronald Reagan because her parents are fans of the former president.

"Yup. That's exactly it," she said.

Gorman's first name is pronounced Ree-gan, not Ray-gan like the president, but her parents confirmed it's a true story. Joe Gorman, her father, said he's "Celtic Irish" and that Reagan (or Regan) is a good Celtic Irish name, so naming her Reagan was partly because of Pres. Reagan and partly because of his ancestry.

Gorman's mother, Mitsue, is originally from Japan, and the Gormans have given all of their children good Irish names.

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Fusselman wears Valley Division crown

Hannah Fusselman of Kennedy finished first at the Valley Division cross country meet Thursday at the Tuma Soccer Complex.

Fusselman, a sophomore, ran the 5K layout in 18 minutes, 50 seconds. She defeated Tia Saunders of Iowa City West by nine seconds.

Maddie Mann of Linn-Mar placed third. Meredith Koenigsfeld of Jefferson finished fifth. Morgan Garcia and Amber Decker of Linn-Mar placed seventh and eighth.

Iowa City West won the title with 34 points. Linn-Mar placed second with 54.

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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 wins top prize at Muscatine

MUSCATINE - Tysen VanDraska claimed first place at the Muscatine Invitational cross country meet Tuesday and nearly led Cedar Rapids Prairie to the title.

Pleasant Valley and Prairie both finished with 40 points for their top-five runners, but Pleasant Valley won the tiebreaker on the basis of its sixth-place finisher.

VanDraska won the 5K race in 15 minutes, 56.5 seconds. Karson Sommer of Pleasant Valley placed second in 16:02.

Prairie had four runners in the top seven. Jake Moore was fifth, Cam Steffens sixth and Chris Oehlert seventh.

Reagan Gorman of Cedar Rapids Washington finished fourth in the girls race in 18:59.2. Maddie Bach of Marion placed fifth in 19:14.2.

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