Prairie poised to end Metro big-school XC drought

CEDAR RAPIDS -- Saturday couldn't come fast enough for Bill Schwarz."This has been the longest week of my life," Schwarz said -- and that was Wednesday. "I want to get there already. I'm pretty anxious."Anxious as in excited? Anxious as in nervous?"Both," he said.Schwarz's team is favored to do something a boys' cross country squad from the Metro hasn't done in 88 years: Be the best of the biggest.Cedar Rapids High School won the one-class state title in 1922.Roosevelt High won a pair of titles in 1948 and 1951, Marion won 10 between 1945 and 1958 and Xavier won back-t0-back crowns in 2006 and 2007. But none of those came in the big-school class.So 1922 it is."Wow, that's a long time," Schwarz said. "Gee, golly."Saturday, the Hawks take their shot at Lakeside Golf Course near Fort Dodge. Prairie is the Class 4A favorite after finishing second last year."This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," said Kyle Stocker. "This is our goal. Everyone will remember what happens (with this team) from here on out."But that's not the only thing the Hawks will remember."The camaraderie this team has had, it's been special," Stocker said. "We stick together. At lunch, we'll go down to the locker room and talk about race strategy or watch part of a movie."To call this team family-like would not be a stretch. The seven state runners feature two sets of senior twins -- Matt and Kyle Stocker finished 1-2 at the district meet last week while Jordan and Justin Burns have been near the head of the pack all season.Jacob Aune, Scott Titler and freshman Isaiah Vlasek will round out the squad Saturday.The Hawks set the table for a big season by a surprising runner-up finish in 2009. They came into the season in good condition, and hit the ground running, so to speak.Prairie won the Heartland Open at Pella -- "That was huge," Schwarz said -- and claimed the Cedar Rapids Invite, won the Mississippi Valley Conference championship and rolled up an impressive 19-point score at districts.One week, in which the Hawks were scheduled for two meets, Schwarz sent his top five runners to one meet and his 6 through 10 boys to another. They won both."The way we've won our meets, it has surprised me," Schwarz said.And still, he's nervous. But he has belief in his team."I'm confident in our ability. If we run within ourselves and don't try to go out and run with the front kids ... if we run our race and have a good day, I like our chances," he said.In those locker-room conversations, surely the teams from Cedar Falls, West Des Moines Dowling and West Des Moines Valley have been identified as worthy competition."They provide motivation," Stocker said. "Cedar Falls ... we know they'll have a pack right next to us."We can do this, but we have to run even faster than we have."