Cedar Rapids Washington freshman Reagan Gorman wins two titles at MVC Mississippi meet

CEDAR RAPIDS — Reagan Gorman recalled her older sister, Shannon, trying different sports as a youth until finding her niche in running.

The process helped the younger sibling identify her strength a little earlier.

'She experimented with a lot of sports,' Gorman said of her older sister. 'By the time we were able to race, we knew what sports to do.'

They made a good choice. The Cedar Rapids Washington freshman captured titles in the 3,000 and 1,500 races at the Mississippi Valley Conference Mississippi Division meet last night at Cedar Rapids Xavier. Iowa City High claimed the team crown for the third straight year, tallying 134 ½ points, which was 24 ½ more than runner-up Cedar Rapids Prairie.

'She is pretty soft-spoken but what a competitor,' Washington Coach Frank Scherrman said. 'Hopefully, she knew she had a great chance to win two races (Thursday) and got after it.'

Scherrman tweeted a photo of a spent Gorman sprawled on the Xavier infield after her first championship, finishing the 3,000 in 10:46 and winning by about seven seconds. She said she wasn't as happy with the longer race because she added time, but she did persevere for the victory.

Face of a MVC Champion! May 5, 2016

Face of a MVC Champion! #WarriorEffort #WarriorPride. pic.twitter.com/VC63Y1cmnH

— WarriorTrack&Field (@CRWTrack)

'It was the warmest 3,000 we have had this year and her breathing was affected,' Scherrman said. 'She just overcame it.

'You want that out of a champion, giving everything she has. To come back and do it again in the 1,500 was phenomenal.'

Near the end of the evening, Gorman took the track and posted a 4:55.28.

'I tried to run with the pack the first couple laps and then taking off at the end,' Gorman said. 'That's how I learned when I was younger. Start out with a pace and finish faster than you started.'

City High had its sights set on a three-peat and, more importantly, helping the school get in position to win an all-sports title. The Little Hawks captured three event titles, but used strong depth to pull away from the field. City High co-head coach Joe Graf said he relied on the Little Hawks to run in three or four events, even though they weren't accustomed to that workload.

'I thought the girls had an outstanding effort,' Graf said. 'We had some injuries. We had some people who had to step in to different spots. I think they all stepped up and really came through for us.'

Rose Gamamou leapt to victory in the high jump with a height of 5-foot-4. Graf praised the field events and distance runners for achieving personal-best performances and a strong start to the meet.

The Little Hawks also won the 3,200 relay. Addy Smith, Izzy Jones, Aly Hecker and Aminata Traore recorded a time of 10:06.63.

Maddie DePrenger raced to the title in the 400 hurdles, coming in at 1:10.10.

'Maddie is a great leader,' Graf said. 'Having her go out and lead the way for some of our freshmen is a good way to step it up and see what others can do.'

Cedar Rapids Xavier won a meet best five events. Theresa Lampe won the 110 hurdles and teamed with Jenna Schwach, Brie Baldus and Maddix Stovie for the shuttle hurdle relay title.

Xavier's Jennifer Dickes won the 800, anchoring the Saints distance medley relay with Grace Miller, Kiana Stanek and Anna Parr. Meghan Joens won the discus.

Cedar Rapids Prairie's team of Raenie Hilderbrand, Jenna Ross, Morgan Lewis and Kirstin Skriver won the sprint medley in 1:53.27.

Waterloo East freshman Kerris Roberts won MVC Mississippi Athlete of the Year. Roberts claimed individual titles in the 100 (12.17) and 200 (25.95) and ran on the Trojans winning 400 and 800 relays.

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