Runners try to shoot like Caitlin Clark in Wayland

WAYLAND — Can you shoot like Caitlin Clark?

Players from WACO High School’s basketball team asked RAGBRAI riders to shoot from the logo — Clark’s signature move — to raise money for their basketball and football programs. The sixth day of the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa took riders 85 miles from Ottumwa to Mount Pleasant, with eight towns in between.

Strong headwinds from the southeast battered riders on the longest day of the week. But the wind didn’t dampen the fun in Wayland. Riders who opted to ride the optional 15-mile century loop were able to ride through the city twice.

Clark is an Iowa basketball legend. Her memorabilia and signs feature prominently at RAGBRAI, with several runners and city residents wearing her Iowa Hawkeyes or Indiana Fever jerseys.

Chayse Roth, coach of the WACO High basketball team, said the goal was to have fun supporting RAGBRAI and hope the riders would support them. Riders who made a shot off the logo could win a T-shirt.

“I thought we could do an activity and see if we could find people who wanted to donate and have fun with it,” Roth said.

Philip Joens is riding his 19th RAGBRAI. He has completed the river-to-river trip seven times. He writes about retail and real estate for the Des Moines Register and can be reached at 515-284-8184, [email protected] or on Twitter @Philip_Joens.