Prairie blisters the field

CEDAR RAPIDS - Checkmate? How about 'Checkermate?”

Cedar Rapids Prairie's boys dominated Thursday's Class 4A state-qualifying cross country meet at Seminole Valley Park. Tysen VanDraska, Cam Steffens and Jake Moore ran 1-2-3, and the other two scorers finished in the top 10 as the Hawks blew the doors off the competition.

The Hawks were state champions in 2013, runners-up in 2014 and appear to be in position to challenge for the crown again.

'It's going to take a great day for us to win it,” VanDraska said. 'But at the end of the day, I think we're going to be proud of what we did.”

The Hawks literally ran away from the field, scoring 22 points. Dubuque Hempstead (69) and Iowa City West (74) gained the other two state slots.

Prairie's foursome of VanDraska, Steffens, Moore and Chris Oehlert ran to the front of the pack in their familiar white and orange checker-board singlets. A fan viewed them through binoculars behind the lead cart and yelled, to whoever was listening, 'Here come the checkers!”

Here they came, and there they went. VanDraska finished in 15:39, Steffens in 15:52, Moore in 15:57. Oehlert was sixth, Colton Lagrange 10th.

'I guess I was in charge of keeping the pace,” VanDraska said. 'Coach (Bill Schwarz) told us to go out together, then see what we had at the end.”

The state meet is Oct. 31 at Kennedy Park, Fort Dodge. The top three teams and top 15 individuals from each site Thursday advanced.

Muscatine edged Iowa City West, 49-55, for the girls' title. Dubuque Hempstead (92) earned the third spot.

Freshman Reagan Gorman of Cedar Rapids Washington took individual honors among the girls, pulling away from the pack in the second mile and crossing the finish line in 18:58. Hannah Fusselman of Cedar Rapids Kennedy was second in 19:03.

'I wanted to maintain a good pace,” Gorman said. 'I wanted to keep going fast, so I took the lead. I was comfortable, so if anybody caught me, I was going to be able to run with them.”

Gorman was generously measured at 5-foot-2 for her physical - 'I'm a little skeptical about that,” she said - and 90 pounds. But she is making a big impact in her rookie season.

'My first year, I'd like to finish in the top 10,” she said.

Bailey Nock and Tia Saunders ran 3-4 for West. Cedar Rapids Jefferson's Meredith Koenigsfeld and Sarah Hanna were sixth and ninth.

West's Patrick Karanja and Kolby Greiner were fourth and seventh in the boys' race. Samuel Eck of Washington was eighth.

CLASS 4A STATE-QUALIFYING CROSS COUNTRY MEET

At Seminole Valley Park

Girls Results

Teams (top 3 qualify for state) - 1. Muscatine 49, 2. Iowa City West 55, 3. Dubuque Hempstead 92, 4. C.R. Jefferson 110, 5. C.R. Washington 137, 6. C.R. Prairie 145, 7. C.R. Kennedy 164, 8. Ottumwa 205, 9. Burlington 208.

Individual state qualifiers - 1. Reagan Gorman (CRW), 18:58; 2. Hannah Fusselman (CRK), 19:03; 3. Bailey Nock (ICW), 19:05; 4. Tia Saunders (ICW), 19:10; 5. Brina Kraft (Musc), 19:16; 6. Meredith Koenigsfeld (CRJ), 19:19; 7. Kristan Brown (DH), 19:21; 8. Regan France (Musc), 19:24; 9. Sarah Hanna (CRJ), 19:28; 10. Kylie Latham (Ott), 19:30; 11. Moriah Morter (Musc), 19:33; 12. Danielle Roos (Musc), 19:36; 13. Larkin Chapman (Musc), 19:37; 14. Sarah Altemeier (CRW), 19:44; 15. Amani Ali (ICW), 19:47.

I.C. West - 3. Nock, 4. Saunder, 15. Ali, 16. Claire Ronnebaum, 19:49; 17. Ellie Gretter, 19:52.

Jefferson - 6. Koenigsfeld, 9. Hanna, 26. Megan Ely, 20:42; 31. Adriana Hargrove, 20:56; 38. Caleigh Meyer, 21:28.

Washington - 1. Gorman, 14. Altemeier, 36. Serena Eck, 21:13; 39. Anne Visser, 21:31; 47. Mekela Spence, 22:31.

Prairie - 23. Cayla Renwick, 20:23; 25. Alissa Neubauer, 20:33; 29. Victoria Enyart, 20:48; 33. Avery Henderson, 21:02; 35. Eady Forrest, 21:06.

Kennedy - 2. Fusselman, 34. Ali Meyer, 21:04; 41. Hannah Ratzer, 21:44; 42. Courtney Wampole, 22:01; 45. Emily Manders, 22:22.

Boys Results

Teams (top 3 qualify for state) - 1. C.R. Prairie 22, 2. Dubuque Hempstead 69, 3. Iowa City West 74, 4. C.R. Washington 108, 5. Muscatine 119, 6. Burlington 172, 7. C.R. Jefferson 190, 8. C.R. Kennedy 212, 9. Ottumwa 240.

Individual state qualifiers - 1. Tysen VanDraska (CRP), 15:39; 2. Cam Steffens (CRP), 15:52; 3. Jake Moore (CRP), 15:57; 4. Patrick Karanja (ICW), 15:59; 5. Cole Schroeder (Burl), 16:03; 6. Chris Oehlert (CRP), 16:04; 7. Kolby Greiner (ICW), 16:10; 8. Samuel Eck (CRW), 16:12; 9. Alex Bautista (Musc), 16:14; 10. Colton Lagrange (CRP), 16:15; 11. Adam Mueller (DH), 16:18; 12. Isaac Slagel (DH), 16:18; 13. Tyler Olson (Musc), 16:19; 14. Joey Schultz (DH), 16:20; 15. Addison Kalb (DH), 16:23.

Prairie - 1. VanDraska, 2. Steffens, 3. Moore, 6. Oehlert, 10. Lagrange.

I.C. West - 4. Karanja, 7. Greiner, 17. Austin Pfiffner, 16:34; 21. Matthew Schneider, 16:40; 24. Ali Ali, 16:48.

Washington - 8. Eck, 22. Finbar Berry, 16:41; 25. Paul Schneiderman, 16:53; 26. Patrick Gorman, 16:56; 27. Khory Nobles, 16:57.

Jefferson - 32. Sri Sheshashai, 17:14; 35. Barrett Wise, 17:19; 38. Mac Karr, 17:21; 39. Robert Larson, 17:23; 46. Nathan Prochnow, 17:49.

Kennedy - 34. Derek Girling, 17:17; 40. Jackson Foley, 17:31; 41. Jacob Ciabatti, 17:32; 47. Jackson Middlekauff, 17:49; 50. Riley Patton, 17:58.

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com