Skopec leads West girls to Prairie crown

CEDAR RAPIDS - Gabby Skopec believes the new and improved, longer cross country courses will play into her favor.

'I consider myself a long-distance runner,” said the junior from Iowa City West. 'I'm not scared of the 5K at all. I've been looking forward to it.”

Skopec captured top honors in the girls' race at the Cedar Rapids Prairie Invitational cross country meet Saturday, boosting the Women of Troy to the team championship.

West topped the 18-team field with 63 points. Waukee was second with 76.

Sophomore Bailey Nock didn't compete; last year's third-place state finisher was out with a minor leg injury. Skopec filled the void, running to the front of the pack early in the race, and finishing in 19 minutes, 26 seconds.

'I told myself, I can run with anybody in the state,” Skopec said. 'I don't have to fear anybody.”

For the majority of the girls' competitors, Saturday marked their 5,000-meter cross country debut. Girls in Iowa had run 4,000 meters in the past, then the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union voted in the offseason to lengthen the race to 5K, effective this fall.

Five girls broke 20 minutes. Freshman Reagan Gorman of Cedar Rapids Washington was second in 19:38. Marion's Madison Bach (19:43) was third.

'I made sure not to start out too fast,” said Gorman, who was running fifth at the midway point. 'I tried to run with some of my triathlon teammates (early in the race). I felt pretty good, and started to pick some people off.”

In the boys' race, Class 4A second-rated Cedar Falls toppled No. 1 Prairie by a 36-45 count. The Tigers had three of the top four runners, led by individual champion Sam Schillinger, who ran in 16:08.

Teammate Isaac Smith was second in 16:15. Tysen VanDraska led Prairie's charge with a third-place effort of 16:28.

'It was a good start for us,” VanDraska said. 'Obviously, we'd have liked to have gotten first, but you can't be too upset about it.

'It's a good start, and we'll be ready for the rest of the season.”

Prairie's Jake Moore, Matt Lorenz and Chris Oehlert were sixth, eighth and 10th.

Hannah Fusselman of Cedar Rapids Kennedy was fifth in the girls' race.

CEDAR RAPIDS PRAIRIE CROSS COUNTRY INVITATIONAL

Girls Results

Teams - 1. Iowa City West 63, 2. Waukee 76, 3. Linn-Mar 140, 4. Fort Madison 156, 5. Cedar Falls 170, 6. Monticello 175, 7. Marion 240, 8. Pella 247, 9. C.R. Kennedy 249, 10. Southeast Polk 271, 11. C.R. Washington 302, 12. Mount Vernon-Lisbon 310, 13. Cascade 310, 14. C.R. Prairie 321, 15. C.R. Xavier 367, 16. Solon 381, 17. Anamosa 422, 18. Davenport West 462.

Individuals - 1. Gabby Skopec (ICW), 19:26; 2. Reagan Gorman (CRW), 19:38; 3. Madison Bach (Mar), 19:43; 4. Rachel Brush (Waukee), 19:55; 5. Hannah Fusselman (CRK), 19:58; 6. Tia Saunders (ICW), 20:02; 7. Sierra Mitchell (SEP), 20:07; 8. Sierra Howardson (FM), 20:16; 9. Morgan Garcia (LM), 20:17; 10. Lily Campbell (Waukee), 20:18.

I.C. West - 1. G. Skopec, 6. Saunders, 13. Jessie Skopec, 20:24; 18. Claire Ronnebaum, 20:45; 25. Ellie Gretter, 20:56.

Linn-Mar - 9. Garcia, 22. Amber Decker, 20:54; 32. Deanna Newhouse, 21:03; 34. Maddie Mann, 21:05; 43. Rachel Bohnenkamp, 21:30.

Marion - 3. Bach, 42. Andrea Ertz, 21:29; 45. Hallie Kephart, 21:31; 70. Avery Manderscheid, 22:32; 80. Ellie Conzett, 23:05.

Kennedy - 5. Fusselman, 11. Grace Walker, 20:22; 72. Alli Meyer, 22:36; 75. Hannah Peterson, 22:52; 86. Emily Manders, 23:26.

Washington - 2. Gorman, 52. Sarah Altemeier, 21:48; 59. Brett Visser, 22:03; 81. Serena Eck, 23:08; 108. Ashley Hageman, 24:49.

Prairie - 16. Hannah Frazee, 20:34; 53. Cayla Renwick 21:50; 62. Victoria Enyart, 22:09; 88. Vale Caro, 23:39; 102. Meghan Brune, 24:16.

Xavier - 36. Jenny Dickes, 21:17; 77. Megan Lenss, 22:54; 79. Lydia Brown, 23:01; 83. Kiana Stanek, 23:10; 92. Annie Sigmon, 23:47.

Boys Results

Teams - 1. Cedar Falls 36, 2. C.R. Prairie 45, 3. Waukee 68, 4. Iowa City West 152, 5. Mount Vernon-Lisbon 177, 6. Pella 198, 7. Linn-Mar 218, 8. C.R. Washington 221, 9. Monticello 224, 10. Marion 278, 11. C.R. Kennedy 279, 12. C.R. Xavier 318, 13. Mason City 322, 14. Davenport West 384, 15. Fort Madison 391, 16. Anamosa 434, 17. Cascade 475, 18. Solon 484.

Individuals - 1. Sam Schillinger (CF), 16:08; 2. Isaac Smith (CF), 16:15; 3. Tysen VanDraska (CRP), 16:28; 4. Ethan Smith (CF), 16:33; 5. Kevin Kato (Waukee), 16:43; 6. Jake Moore (CRP), 16:43; 7. Nick Feeley (ICW), 16:43; 8. Matt Lorenz (CRP), 16:47; 9. Jake Hartman (CF), 16:51; 10. Chris Oehlert (CRP), 16:52.

Prairie - 3. VanDraska, 6. Moore, 8. Lorenz, 10. Oehlert, 18. Cam Steffens, 17:09.

I.C. West - 7. Feeley, 32. Ali Ali, 17:46; Matthew Schneider, 17:54; 37. Nathan Abramoff, 17:55; 40. Andrew Murley, 17:59.

Linn-Mar - 25. Grant Chlystun, 17:36; 41. Johnny Clymer, 18:03; 44. Kyle Gansen, 18:13; 47. Carter Lorenz, 18:14; 61. Chase Fisher, 18:28.

Washington - 26. Finbar Berry, 17:41; 33. Samuel Eck, 17:48; 38. Ian Hoover-Grinde, 17:55; 57. Sam McDermott, 18:24; 67. Patrick Gorman, 18:41.

Marion - 12. Jeremy Fopma, 16:56; 21. Myles Bach, 17:25; 69. Bryce Valvoda, 18:49; 85. Nate Schmidt, 19:18; 91. Jacob Manderscheid, 19:34.

Kennedy - 29. Reece Linder, 17:44; 43. Andrew Solsrud, 18:10; 58. Derek Girling, 18:24; 74. Jackson Middlekauff, 18:57; 75. Riley Patton, 18:57.

Xavier - 23. Steven Culpepper, 17:34; 27. Jonathan Francois, 17:43; 82. Nicholas Lyon, 19:12; 89. Jonah Scallon, 19:24; 97. Mahlon Steepleton, 19:44.

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