State News

Cougars hold No. 2 spot in baseball poll

Cedar Rapids Kennedy stayed in the No. 2 spot behind Ankeny in the new Class 4A baseball rankings Tuesday.

The Cougars (24-4) have been ranked No. 1 or No. 2 all season by the Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association.

The Linn-Mar Lions (22-8) stayed in the No. 8 spot in the 4A rankings this week. Linn-Mar leads the Mississippi Division standings in the MVC with a 17-3 record, with Kennedy a half-game behind with a 17-4 mark.

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Kennedy falls to No. 2 in baseball poll

Cedar Rapids Kennedy has won 13 of its last 14 games and has a 22-3 record overall, but a 7-6 setback to Linn-Mar has cost the Cougars the No. 1 spot in the IHSBCA rankings for the first time this season.

Ankeny moved into the No. 1 spot in the poll Monday with Kennedy now second. Linn-Mar (20-8) climbed from 10th to eighth in the Class 4A rankings.

Ankeny had a 24-2 record and was riding a nine-game winning streak heading into Monday night's home doubleheader with Johnston.

The Marion Indians (21-9) are eighth in the Class 3A rankings.

IHSBCA RANKINGS

Class 4A

1. Ankeny
2. Cedar Rapids Kennedy
3. Dowling Catholic
4. Fort Dodge
5. West Des Moines Valley
6. Waukee
7. Iowa City West
8. Linn-Mar
9. Iowa City High
10. North Scott

Class 3A
1. Dallas Center-Grimes
2. Sioux City Heelan
3. Grinnell
4. Clear Lake
5. Benton Community
6. Western Dubuque
7. Harlan
8. Marion
9. Sergeant Bluff-Luton
10. LeMars

Class 2A

1. Davis County
2. Dyersville Beckman
3. North Polk
4. Saint Edmond, Fort Dodge
5. Iowa City Regina
6. Waterloo Columbus
7. Van Buren
8. Wilton
9. PCM
10. Hudson

Class 1A

1. Mason City Newman
2. Lawton-Bronson
3. Council Bluffs St. Albert
4. Martensdale-St. Mary’s
5. Algona Garrigan
6. Preston
7. Lisbon
8. BGM (Brooklyn)
9. Van Meter
10. Treynor

J-Hawks up to No. 4 in softball poll

Cedar Rapids Jefferson moved up three spots to No. 4 in this week's IGHSAU Class 5A softball poll.

The J-Hawks (27-3) have won 18 straight Mississippi Valley Conference games and taken over the top spot in the Valley Division. Iowa City West dropped from second to No. 8 in this week's poll.

Jefferson plays Class 4A No. 5 Creston on Saturday in the Jefferson Classic at 2:30 p.m.

Ankeny took over the top spot in Class 5A. Des Moines East fell to No. 7.

Clear Creek Amana and Solon are ranked No. 1 in Class 4A and 3A, respectively.

IGHSAU SOFTBALL POLLS

CLASS 5A
1. Ankeny (23-3), 2. Muscatine (24-2), 3. WDM Valley (19-4), 4. CR Jefferson (27-3), 5. Pleasant Valley (20-5), 6. Ottumwa (21-2), 7. DM East (21-3, 8. Iowa City West (26-4), 9. Waukee (21-6), 10. Davenport West (16-7)

CLASS 4A
1. Clear Creek Amana (29-1), 2. Dallas Center-Grimes (21-4), 3. Indianola (20-6), 4. SC Heelan (23-1), 5. Creston (19-6), 6. Carlisle (22-5), 7. Winterset (19-9), 8. North Scott (19-9), 9. Glenwood (19-6), 10. Washington (19-5), 11. Keokuk (15-8), 12. West Delaware (23-6), 13. Charles City (19-6), 14. Harlan (20-6), 15. Sergeant Bluff-Luton (18-8)

CLASS 3A
1. Solon (24-3), 2. West Burlington Notre Dame (22-4), 3. Bondurant-Farrar (20-6), 4. Mid-Prairie (19-9), 5. East Marshall (21-1), 6. Estherville-LC (18-4), 7. Monticello (25-3), 8. MOC-Floyd Valley (17-3), 9. Ballard (20-7), 10. Center Point-Urbana (16-6), 11. Clarke (21-5), 12. Crestwood (17-5), 13. Wilton (15-8), 14. George-Little Rock/Central Lyon (16-5), 15. Iowa Falls-Alden (16-5)

CLASS 2A
1. Durant (22-2), 2. NSK-AR (23-2), 3. Wayne (20-2), 4. Van Meter (24-5), 5. Sumner-Fredericksburg (22-5), 6. Jesup (23-4), 7. DM Christian (19-5), 8. Tri-Center (17-3), 9. Treynor (19-4), 10. Emmetsburg (18-8), 11. North Mahaska (17-3), 12. Central Springs (18-4), 13. BCLUW (18-8), 14. Iowa City Regina (11-13), 15. Eddyville-Blakesburg (18-7)

CLASS 1A
1. Akron-Westfield (25-0), 2. Earlham (25-3), 3. Martensdale-St. Marys (23-2), 4. Newell-Fonda (20-5), 5. Lisbon (21-6), 6. Don Bosco (18-4), 7. Charter Oak-Ute (19-7), 8. Lynnville-Sully (18-5), 9. Mason City Newman (16-7), 10. MMC (12-4), 11. Remsen St. Mary's (22-6), 12. Coon Rapids-Bayard (17-6), 13. Sigourney (18-5), 14. Corning (15-7), 15. Remsen Union (13-7)

Girls state soccer moving to Des Moines

The Xavier Saints and Kennedy Cougars will not get a chance to defend their girls state soccer titles in Muscatine next year.

The tournament is moving to Des Moines for the next three years.

The Board of Directors of the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union selected the James W. Cownie Soccer Park in Des Moines as the new home of the state tournament on Wednesday. The IGHSAU also reviewed proposals from the City of Muscatine and the Cedar Valley Sports Commission in Waterloo/Cedar Falls.

"We are pleased to bring the girls state soccer tournament to Des Moines," said Mike Dick, Executive Director of the IGHSAU. "This was an extremely difficult decision. Muscatine and Cedar Valley both have outstanding soccer venues.

"However, I have been impressed with the many improvements that have been made at the Cownie Soccer Park. It is a top-notch soccer facility and will
be a great venue for state tournament teams and their fans."

Muscatine has served as the home of the girls state soccer tournament since the IGHSAU sanctioned girls soccer in 1998.

"This has been a bittersweet day. We are excited to bring state soccer to Des Moines, but we can't thank the city of Muscatine, Muscatine High School and the Muscatine Parks and Recreation staff enough for the outstanding job they have done hosting the state soccer tournament," said Dick. "We have built some great relationships with some terrific people over the last 15 years."

The James W. Cownie Soccer Park has 12 soccer fields. The four fields that will be utilized during the state soccer tournament have lights and the championship field has bleacher seating for 2,000 people along with a press box. Another field seats 750 people.

The park has undergone $1.8 million in renovations that include 12 completely rebuilt fields, new drainage, irrigation and sports turf sod. The park serves as the home venue for the Drake and Grand View University soccer teams. Cownie Park has also hosted the Missouri Valley Conference Women's Soccer Championships, along with NAIA men's and women's soccer championships.