Ankeny junior Ethan Zuber has been named Iowa’s Gatorade cross country runner of the year.
Zuber won the Class 4A state title last fall, posting a time of 15 minutes 7.7 seconds on the 5k course at Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge. He pulled away from Jaden Merrick of Cedar Falls in the final mile to win the race by about 6 seconds.
Zuber had lost to Natnael Kifle of Sioux City North in the district meet one week earlier. In that race, Kifle outkicked Zuber in a 300-meter sprint to the finish line.
At the state meet, Zuber pushed the pace to make sure that Kifle couldn’t track him down again. He went on to become Ankeny’s third individual champion in the last seven years.
Current Iowa State runner Tim Sindt won back-to-back crowns in 2017-18. Zuber will have a chance to match Sindt’s accomplishment next fall.