09/01/2026
It was a great Saturday morning at Iowa-Grant for the 7th Annual Iowa-Grant Invitational! Nine high school teams competed on a cool, drizzly morning, and there were some outstanding performances across the board.
One of the highlights of the morning was debuting our new 1960s throwback-inspired jerseys, which pay tribute to the history and tradition of Iowa-Grant Cross Country. It was a fitting way to celebrate where our program has been while continuing to build its future.
The Panther girls were led by senior Abby Droessler, who ran 24:45 to finish 21st in a field of 82 runners. The girls finished 5th out of 7 complete teams with 137 points. Even more exciting, we had 16 girls finish the race, with half of them competing in their first-ever high school cross country race! There’s a lot of potential in this group, and we’re excited to see how they continue to grow throughout the season.
On the boys’ side, our “Bartolo cousins” came out strong, with Jason finishing 6th, Angel 7th, and Ubaldo 11th, all earning medals. The boys team finished 2nd out of 9 complete teams. With a lot of new runners on both the boys and girls teams, we’re excited about the depth and potential we have this year.
We also got to watch some incredible performances from our visiting teams, including Ruah Franzman-Simmert of Tri-State Homeschool setting a course and meet record in an incredible 18:19, while fellow Falcon Isaac Harkness set a meet record with 17:05. Both middle school races also saw meet records!
A huge THANK YOU to all of the teams, coaches, athletes, parents, workers, and everyone who helped make the Iowa-Grant Invitational such a great event.
We love getting to host everyone here at Iowa-Grant and kick off our season at home! 🖤❤️
