Jefferson High School - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

J-Hawks look to take next big step

The Jefferson J-Hawks snapped a couple of serious losing streaks last week when they defeated Kennedy in overtime at friendly Kingston Stadium, but now comes an even bigger challenge for the J-Hawks.

Jefferson will try to beat the Cedar Falls Tigers in the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls Thursday night, giving the J-Hawks a tougher opponent in an environment that can be imposing for visiting teams.

The late kickoff is scheduled for 7:45 p.m.

In other Metro games Thursday night, Linn-Mar visits Kennedy at Kingston Stadium and Prairie plays winless Iowa City High at Bates Field in Iowa City.

Jefferson is 3-2 overall and 1-0 in Class 4A District 5. Cedar Falls is 4-1 overall and 1-0 in the same district.

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Kennedy tops Jeff in volleyball

The Kennedy Cougars defeated the Jefferson J-Hawks, 25-23, 19-25, 25-22, 25-16, in a Mississippi Valley Conference volleyball match at Jefferson Tuesday night.

Amanda Ollinger led Jefferson with 18 kills, 15 digs and five blocks. Makenzie Tomkins had 12 kills and three blocks for the J-Hawks. Avery Guy finished with 20 assists and 10 digs.

Havertape helps Warriors sink J-Hawks

Lauren Havertape was a triple-winner Tuesday night as Washington defeated Jefferson, 100-65, in a Mississippi Valley Conference swim meet at Jefferson.

Havertape captured the 100 freestyle and 100 backstroke and swam on the victorious 200 medley relay.

Kaitlyn Nemickas, Caitlin Sievers, Rhiannon Smeby, Emily Nelson and Logan Eckhardt were double-winners for the Warriors. Nelson captured the 200 IM and 100 butterfly.

Katelyn Canby won the diving for Jefferson. The J-Hawks also won the 400 freestyle relay.

WASHINGTON 100, JEFFERSON 65

200 medley relay - Washington (Kaitlyn Nemickas, Caitlin Sievers, Lauren Havertape, Lucy Ernst) 2:01.11

200 free - Rhiannon Smeby, Washington, 2:14.94

200 IM - Emily Nelson, Washington, 2:30.72

50 free - Logan Eckhardt, Washington, 26.81

Diving - Katelyn Canby, Jefferson, 204.85

100 fly - Emily Nelson, Washington, 1:08.35

100 free - Lauren Havertape, Washington, 59.01

500 free - Alyssa Harris, Washington, 5:51.15

200 free relay - Washington (Hannah Williams, Kaitlyn Nemickas, Rhiannon Smeby, Logan Eckhardt) 1:51.16

100 back - Lauren Havertape, Washington, 1:07.83

100 breast - Caitlin Sievers, Washington, 1:13.94

400 free relay - Jefferson (Josie Thompson, Taylor Langel, Hannah Eckley, Mika McChesney) 4:07.06

Cougars eye state title in final shot

The old gang of Kennedy golfers are all seniors now, heading down their final fairway together as high school athletes.

There are six of them - Davis Sutton, Conner Koberg, Cole Murdock, Tanner Stewart, Ross Grekoff and Seth Nutt - and they've accomplished some impressive things during their prep careers with major championships, conference titles and a pair of second-place showings at the state tournament the last two years.

The Cougars added another Mississippi Valley Conference title to their resume Monday, winning the Valley Division crown by a whopping 52 shots in the final round of the 54-hole event at Ellis Golf Course.

Sutton won the overall Valley championship with a 54-hole score of 217 with rounds of 65, 77 and 75 on three different courses. Koberg took medalist honors Monday with an even-par 72 and placed second overall at 225. Murdock placed third at 227, giving Kennedy a 1-2-3 sweep of the top honors.

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J-Hawks win 2 matches in Dubuque

DUBUQUE - The Jefferson J-Hawks finished with a 2-3 record at the Dubuque Senior volleyball tournament Saturday.

The J-Hawks dropped all three of their matches in pool play to Kennedy (21-12, 21-9), Hempstead (22-20, 19-21, 15-7) and Western Dubuque (21-19, 24-22).

Jefferson rallied for two victories in the consolation bracket with verdicts over Davenport West (21-12, 21-17) and Dubuque Senior (21-19, 21-18).

Homan, Hargrove pace J-Hawk runners

ANAMOSA - Nate Homan and Adriana Hargrove led the Jefferson cross country teams at the Anamosa Invitational Saturday. Homan placed 15th in the boys race to help the J-Hawks finish fourth out of 13 teams.

Hargrove placed 16th in the girls trace as the J-Hawks finished sixth out of 12 squads.

BOYS RESULTS

Team Standings

1. Mount Vernon/Lisbon 33, 2. Monticello 94, 3. Fort Madison 131, 4. Jefferson 144, 5. Tipton 153, 6. Solon 172, 7. Louisa-Muscatine 183, 8. Cascade 190, 9. Assumption 200, 10. DeWitt Central 207, 11. Springville/Central City 241, 12. Anamosa 313, 13. Midland 402.

Top 5 Individuals

1. Eric Lenz, Tipton                 16:53
2. Matt Manternach, Monticello       17:16
3. Preston Kauder, Cascade           17:24
4. Nolan Teubel, Mt Vernon/Lisbon    17:39
5. Ben Gilbert, Mt Vernon/Lisbon     17:42

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Revived J-Hawks top Cougars in OT

The hugs never felt so sweet. The band never sounded so good. The cheerleaders never looked prettier.

After too many years of misery and misfortune, the Jefferson J-Hawks finally had a great reason to celebrate at Kingston Field Thursday night.

Jesse Furrow hit Valentino Green with a 2-yard touchdown pass on a gutsy call on fourth down in overtime as the revived J-Hawks topped Kennedy, 27-24, to snap all sorts of negative streaks.

Jefferson had lost 25 straight games to Metro opponents and had not beaten Kennedy in 12 years, but all that negativity was washed away on a balmy night at Kingston.

The J-Hawks trailed, 24-21, in overtime with the ball resting on the 2-yard line. It was fourth down and a field goal would have tied the game and forced a second overtime, but Coach Brian Webb wanted nothing to do with that.

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J-Hawks hope to snap 25-game Metro skid

The Jefferson J-Hawks have lost 25 straight games to Metro opponents the last six years, but Brian Webb's club hopes to end that negative streak Thursday night when it faces the winless Kennedy Cougars at Kingston Stadium.

The kickoff is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. (KGYM 1600 AM/107.5 FM).

Jefferson (2-2) has not whipped a Metro opponent since topping Linn-Mar, 27-19, on Oct. 17, 2008. The J-Hawks lost to five Metro teams in 2009, five more in 2010, five more in 2011, four more in 2012, four more in 2013 and two this year.

Jefferson has given top-ranked Washington and Prairie good battles this season and appears primed to knock off Kennedy, which has struggled this year with an 0-4 record.

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Renner helps Lions sweep J-Hawks

Sarah Renner was playing for her club volleyball team at a tournament in Omaha last winter when Sally Polhamus, the new head coach at Georgia State, stopped and took a serious look at the 5-foot-11 outside hitter from Linn-Mar.

Polhamus liked what she saw.

"She was walking down the court and saw me playing and decided that she was interested," Renner related Tuesday night. "I went on a visit. And that was that, I guess."

Renner toured the Georgia State campus in Atlanta last March, was offered a scholarship while she was there and accepted a few days later on St. Patrick's Day.

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