VanDraska leads dominant Prairie performance

CEDAR RAPIDS - He wasn't talking literally, of course.

'I think we're finally starting to get our feet under us,” Cedar Rapids Prairie's Tysen VanDraska said.

VanDraska won the individual championship as the Class 4A second-ranked Hawks dominated the boys' competition of the Cedar Rapids Invitational cross country meet Thursday afternoon at Noelridge Park.

The senior broke from a pack of four and captured the crown in 16:07.

Prairie placed four runners in the top 13 and won the team title decisively. The Hawks registered 31 points; Iowa City West was second with 84.

'We expected to be right up there,” VanDraska said. 'It went well for us today.”

Prairie entered the season at No. 1, then surrendered the top spot after getting outrun by Cedar Falls at the Prairie Invitational on Aug. 29.

No worries, VanDraska said.

'We're looking at the state meet,” he said. 'We weren't looking at the Prairie Invite.”

VanDraska and teammate Jake Moore ran with Brandon Cooley of Bettendorf and Michael Mather of Linn-Mar for much of the race before VanDraska surged to the front to stay.

'I wanted to stick with the pack for the first mile, then make a move,” VanDraska said. 'They kept pushing me. I couldn't let up.”

Cooley was second in 16:09, followed by Mather (16:13) and Moore (16:20). Iowa City West freshman Kolby Greiner was fifth, then Chris Oehlert and Cam Steffens gave Prairie a 1-4-6-7 front four.

Mather had been battling a sore left Achilles, but appeared to be close to full strength Thursday.

'It feels fine,” he said. 'It's good be be running. Those guys at the front - Tysen and Jake, and Cooley - they're phenomenal.”

The girls' competition was a MAC-fest. Led by senior McKenzie Yanek, who repeated as the individual champ, Pleasant Valley (81 points) edged Mississippi Athletic Conference rivals Muscatine (84) and Bettendorf (85) for top team honors.

Yanek broke to the front immediately and completed the course in 18:23. Bettendorf's Haley Humphrey was second in 18:46.

Mary Arch of Iowa City High was the top area individual, placing fourth in 18:55. Madison Bach of Marion and Hannah Fusselman of Cedar Rapids Kennedy were fifth and sixth.

CEDAR RAPIDS INVITATIONAL CROSS COUNTRY MEET

At Noelridge Park

Girls Results

Teams - 1. Pleasant Valley 81, 2. Muscatine 84, 3. Bettendorf 85, 4. Iowa City West 114, 5. Iowa City High 147, 6. Ames 169, 7. Linn-Mar 210, 8. Marion 264, 9. C.R. Prairie 269, 10. Dubuque Wahlert 287, 11. C.R. Jefferson 289, 12. C.R. Kennedy 295, 13. North Scott 310, 14. C.R. Washington 342, 15. C.R. Xavier 416, 16. Mount Vernon-Lisbon 431, 17. Davenport Central 457, 18. Davenport West 513, 19. Waterloo West 530.

Individuals - 1. McKenzie Yanek (PV), 18:23; 2. Haley Humphrey (Bett), 18:46; 3. Brina Kraft (Musc), 18:50; 4. Mary Arch (ICH), 18:55; 5. Madison Bach (Marion), 19:00; 6. Hannah Fusselman (CRK), 19:06; 7. Mallory Lafever (PV), 19:12; 8. Gabby Skopec (ICW), 19:14; 9. Isabella Blackman (Bett), 19:15; 10. Reagan Gorman (CRW), 19:17.

I.C. West - 8. Skopec, 12. Tia Saunders, 19:24; 29. Amani Ali, 20:05; 30. Olivia Moore, 20:09; 35. Claire Ronnebaum, 20:18.

City High - 4. Mary Arch, 18. Emily Bywater, 19:46; 22. Anna Lindower, 19:50; 51. Clare Muckler, 52. Amelia Morrow, 20:51.

Linn-Mar - 31. Morgan Garcia, 20:12; 32. Maddie Mann, 20:13; 40. Deanna Newhouse, 20:25; 43. Amber Decker, 20:29; 64. Abby Van Rheenen, 21:06.

Marion - 5. Madison Bach, 19:00; 39. Hallie Kephart, 20:24; 46. Andrea Ertz, 20:35; 81. Avery Manderscheid, 21:49; 93. Kelsi Huhndorf, 22:10.

Prairie - 14. Hannah Frazee, 19:36; 54. Cayla Renwick, 20:56; 61. Morgan Erickson, 21:05; 63. Alissa Neubauer, 21:06; 77. Victoria Enyart, 21:46.

Jefferson - 17. Meredith Koenigsfeld, 19:43; 56. Megan Ely, 20:57; 62. Sarah Hanna, 21:06; 74. Adriana Hargrove, 21:37; 80. Caleigh Meyer, 21:48.

Kennedy - 6. Fusselman, 13. Grace Walker, 19:27; 85. Ali Meyer, 21:55; 94. Hannah Peterson, 22:11; 97. Emily Manders, 22:16.

Washington - 10. Gorman, 37. Sarah Altemeier, 20:23; 71. Brett Visser, 21:27; 105. Serena Eck, 22:45; 119. Ashley Hageman, 24:09.

Xavier - 50. Jenny Dickes, 20:50; 82. Kiana Stanek, 21:49; 88. Lydia Brown, 22:01; 92. Megan Lenss, 22:09; 104. Abigail Tanko, 22:38.

Boys Results

Teams - 1. C.R. Prairie 31, 2. Iowa City West 84, 3. Iowa City High 136, 4. Mount Vernon-Lisbon 169, 5. Ames 169, 6. Waterloo West 107, 7. C.R. Washington 187, 8. Linn-Mar 192, 9. Bettendorf 251, 10. C.R. Kennedy 294, 11. Muscatine 299, 12. Dubuque Wahlert 322, 13. Pleasant Valley 344, 14. C.R. Xavier 362, 15. Marion 383, 16. North Scott 386, 17. Davenport West 401, 18. Davenport Central 424, 19. C.R. Jefferson 465.

Individuals - 1. Tysen VanDraska (CRP), 16:07; 2. Brandon Cooley (Bett), 16:09; 3. Michael Mather (LM), 16:13; 4. Jake Moore (CRP), 16:20; 5. Kolby Greiner (ICW), 16:26; 6. Chris Oehlert (CRP), 16:28; 7. Cam Steffens (CRP), 16:30; 8. Matthew Dodge (ICH), 16:33; 9. Myles Bach (Marion), 16:35; 10. Samuel Eck (CRW), 16:38.

Prairie - 1. VanDraska, 4. Moore, 6. Oehlert, 7. Steffens, 13. Levi Lefebure, 16:45.

I.C. West - 5. Greiner, 15. Matthew Schneider, 16:46; 17. Nick Feeley, 16:47; 18. Patrick Karanja, 16:48; 29. Ali Ali, 17:01.

City High - 8. Dodge, 25. Russel Martin, 16:59; 26. Tom McDowell, 16:59; 36. Grant Meardon, 17:09; 41. Ry Threkeld-Wiegand, 17:17.

Washington - 10. Eck, 35. Finbar Berry, 17:09; 39. Ian Hoover-Grinde, 17:16; 46. Patrick Gorman, 17:22; 57. Sam McDermott, 17:36.

Linn-Mar - 3. Mather, 19. Grant Chlystun, 16:51; 24. Johnny Clymer, 16:57; 53. Colin Johnston, 17:32; 93. Carter Lorenz, 18:10.

Kennedy - 33. Reece Linder, 17:05; 48. Andrew Solsrud, 17:23; 66. Derek Girling, 17:44; 73. Jackson Foley, 17:52; 74. Jacob Ciabatti, 17:52.

Xavier - 23. Steven Culpepper, 16:57; 47. Jonathan Francois, 17:23; 82. John Pape, 18:03; 94. Nick Lyon, 18:11; 116. Grayson Walther, 18:59.

Marion - 9. Bach, 79. Nick Ward, 17:59; 81. Jacob Manderscheid, 18:02; 106. Jeremy Fopma, 18:32; 108. Salem Snoop, 18:44.

Jefferson - 83. Robert Larson, 18:04; 88. Nate Homan, 18:08; 95. Barrett Wise, 18:11; 99. Nathan Prochnow, 18:23; 100. Mac Karr, 18:25.

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