Washington Boys Cross Country

Fusselman stars for Kennedy runners

CEDAR FALLS - Cedar Rapids Kennedy sophomore Hannah Fusselman finished a strong second at the Rich Engle Classic cross country meet Thursday in Cedar Falls.

Fusselman battled Brina Kraft of Muscatine to the tape and lost the 5K race by just one second. Kraft was timed in 19 minutes, 22 seconds and Fusselman finished in 19:23.

Metro girls made a good showing in the 19-school race. Washington freshman Reagan Gorman placed fourth, Kennedy freshman Grace Walker was sixth and Jefferson senior Meredith Koenigsfeld was eighth.

Ankeny Centennial nipped Muscatine for the girls title, 76-77. Jefferson finished seventh, Kennedy 12th and Washington 13th.

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VanDraska leads Prairie to title

Tysen VanDraska was sorely disappointed when he finished seventh at the Class 4A state cross country meet last fall.

"I kind of choked a little bit," he claimed Thursday.

He does not plan to let it happen again.

VanDraska captured top honors and led Cedar Rapids Prairie to the team championship Thursday at the annual Cedar Rapids Invitational at Noelridge Park.

VanDraska won the 5K outing in 16 minutes, 7.68 seconds, edging Brandon Cooley of Bettendorf by 1.5 seconds in a tight race throughout. Prairie ran away with the team championship with 31 points with Jake Moore finishing fourth, Chris Oehlert sixth and Cam Steffens seventh.

VanDraska may have been a little harsh on himself by claiming he "choked a little bit" at the state meet, but he's always set high standards for himself as a distance runner.

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Altemeier, Eck run to state meet

CEDAR FALLS - Sarah Altemeier and Sam Eck of Cedar Rapids Washington placed in the top 10 at the district cross country meet in Cedar Falls Thursday and qualified for the Class 4A state meet in Fort Dodge Nov. 1.

Altemeier finished fifth in the girls 4K race in 15 minutes, 38 seconds. Eck placed 10th in the boys 5K event in 16 minutes, 46 seconds.

The top three teams and top 10 individuals advance to state. Washington, Jefferson and Kennedy did not qualify their boys teams or girls teams for state.

CLASS 4A DISTRICT MEET
Birdsall Park, Cedar Falls

BOYS RESULTS

Team Standings

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Prairie boys dominate MVC race

WATERLOO - Tysen VanDraska led a 1-2-3 finish by Cedar Rapids Prairie Thursday as the Hawks claimed top honors at the Mississippi Division cross country meet at Miriam City Park in Waterloo.

VanDraska won the race in 16 minutes, 37 seconds. Matt Lorenz placed second in 16:38 and Jake Moore finished third in 16:39 as the three Hawks nearly crossed the finish line together.

Prairie won the Mississippi Valley Conference Super Meet last week and had no trouble winning the division title as well, topping Hempstead 25-59.

Chris Oehlert of Prairie placed sixth. Finbar Berry of Washington finished eighth.

Cayla Renwick of Prairie finished third in the girls race, leading the Hawks to third place in the team standings. Sarah Altemeier of Washington ran fifth and Jenny Dickes of Xavier was seventh.

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