Kennedy High School - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Rima claims state title in 400

DES MOINES - Jalen Rima scrunched his face and shook his head when former Cedar Rapids Prairie football coach Mike Morrissey told him to join the track team two years ago.

Rima did not want to run around in circles, but Morrissey made it perfectly clear: No track, no football.

"I wasn't going to go out my freshman year, but because of him I went out," Rima said Thursday, all smiles. "Thank god he made me."

Rima blazed to victory in the 400 meter dash in 48.85 seconds at the Class 4A state track meet in Des Moines and is now perfectly happy to run track instead of just running pass patterns.

In fact, the faster he runs in track, the more attention he gets from Division I college football teams. Iowa, Iowa State, Northern Iowa and others called Morrissey a few days after Rima ran an incredibly fast 400 meter split in a relay at the Drake Relays this year.

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Kennedy wins meet at Gardner

Kennedy's Siedrra Hargens shot a 5-over par 41 to take medalist honors and lead the Cougars to a narrow two-shot victory over Washington in a five-team meet Thursday at Gardner.

Prairie was a close third with a 197. The Hawks' Emily Machula took second with a 43.

Kandis O'Donnell and Grace Claassen each shot 47s to lead the way for Washington.

TEAM SCORING: Kennedy 194, Washington 196, Prairie 197, Linn-Mar 216, Marion 238.

KENNEDY: Sierra Hargens 41, Val Davidson 48, Nicole DeCoste 51, Avery Haefner 54, Annette Marsalli 55, Abbie Haller 57.

LINN-MAR: Kristen Harding 50, Alexa Mindrup 52, Hannah Westfall 57, Danielle Gerlach 57, Allie Cahill 62, Megan Murphy 63.

MARION: Carly Eichelberger 54, Skylar Dede 54, Anna Martinson 64, Erin Thomason 66, Isabelle Webber 71.

PRAIRIE: Emily Machula 43, Hannah Stebral 49, Peyton Staab 51, Lexi Poundstone 54, Amanda Happel 57, Milayla Winter 57.

WASHINGTON: Kandis O'Donnell 47, Grace Claassen 47, Mady Goodwin 49, Brett Visser 53, Devon O'Donnell 55, Riley DeWolf 55, Anna Rhode 57.

Kennedy girls blast Waterloo East

WATERLOO - Emily Sass, Jessica Wagner, Alissa Waterhouse and Ramona Parragues Luer each scored two goals as Kennedy rolled past Waterloo East, 11-0, in Mississippi Valley Conference girls soccer action on Thursday.

McKenna Schares, Kenadee Dekko and Carlee Ellsworth also scored for the Cougars.

Sass also had two assists. Hannah Mundell, Wagner, Waterhouse, Jordan Vaske, and Schares also had assists.

Kennedy girls top Jefferson, 7-2

Shelby Cook defeated Kiley Jonas, 10-4, at No. 1 singles Tuesday as Kennedy topped Jefferson 7-2 in a Mississippi Valley Conference tennis meet at Kennedy.

Veena Venkatesh, Gabby Olejniczak, Lauren Gifford and Aubree Langhurst also won their singles matches for the Cougars.

KENNEDY 7, JEFFERSON 2

Singles

1. Shelby Cook (K) def. Kiley Jonas, 10-4
2. Veena Venkatesh (K) def. Mary Korch, 10-1
3. Gabby Olejniczak (K) def. Ashley Davidson, 10-0
4. Maddie Slagle (J) def. Lydia Yang, 10-3
5. Lauren Gifford (K) def. Alexis Johnson, 10-6
6. Aubree Langhurst (K) def. Cameron Cox, 10-2

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Hayden sparks No.3 Kennedy girls

CEDAR FALLS - Sydney Hayden fired in two goals Tuesday as the third-ranked Kennedy girls soccer team blanked Cedar Falls, 3-0, in a Mississippi Valley Conference match in Cedar Falls.

Kasey Dekko collected a goal and an assist for the Cougars. Alyssa Drewelow had two assists.

Hargens shares 4th at Kennedy golf

Sierra Hargens of Kennedy tied for fourth place Monday with an 89 at the Kennedy Invitational golf meet at Ellis Park.

Sarah Overton of Iowa City West took medalist honors with an 83. Avery Kout led Iowa City West to the title with an 84.

Emily Machula of Prairie tied for sixth with a 90.

TEAM STANDINGS

1. Iowa City West 357, 2. Western Dubuque 378, 3. Kennedy 380, 4. Prairie 395, 5. Xavier 397, 6. Iowa City High 407, 7. Linn-Mar 414, 8. Jefferson 531.

TOP 5 INDIVIDUALS

1. Sarah Overton, Iowa City High   83
2. Avery Kout, Iowa City West      84
3. Quinn Herbst, Western Dubuque   86
4. Sierra Hargens, Kennedy         89
Jordan Amelon, Iowa City West   89

KENNEDY: Sierra Hargens 89, Val Davidson 96, Nicole DeCoste 96, Abbie Haller 99, Katie Choate 104, Avery Haefner 115.

PRAIRIE: Emily Machula 90, Lexi Poundstone 100, Kennedy Fisher 100, Hannah Stebral 105, Peyton Staab 108, Grace Lindgren 121.

XAVIER: Amy Olberding 96, Melanie Wertzberger 96, Catie Lochner 102, Madi Ries 103, Emily Schuff 105, Shelby Olson 116.

LINN-MAR: Kristen Harding 101, Megan Murphy 102, Alexa Mindrup 102, Danielle Gerlach 109, Hannah Westfall 119, Isabel Schminke 119.

JEFFERSON: Reagan Grekoff 117, Emily Smith 121, Jordan Henderson 146, Tayler Rajtora 147.

Mark Schulz wins Metro Spotlight Award

Mark Schulz of Cedar Rapids Kennedy is the winner of the Metro Spotlight Award for high school boys this week, the Metro Sports Report announced Sunday.

Schulz, a senior, has been a busy two-sport athlete this spring for the Cougars in track and soccer, excelling in both sports.

Schulz turned in a pair of impressive performances in a 24-hour period last week. On Thursday, he won the 800 meter run in 1:59.77 at the Class 4A district track meet at Linn-Mar Stadium on a wet track. And on Friday, he scored two goals as the 11th-ranked Kennedy soccer team defeated Dubuque Wahlert, 5-0.

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Kennedy boys fall in regional tennis

The Kennedy boys tennis team lost to Dubuque Senior, 5-0, in the opening round of the Class 2A regional tournament at Kennedy Saturday.

Gus Zuccaro of Dubuque Senior defeated Rami Hemaidan at No. 1 singles by injury default.

DUBUQUE SENIOR 5, KENNEDY 0

Singles

1. Gus Zuccaro (DS) def. Rami Hemaidan, 6-4, injury default
2. Corey Duncan (K) vs Jacob Mozena, 6-7, 6-4, 0-1 (did not finish)
3. Nick Woodward (DS) def. Kyle Butler, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
4. Matt Jontz (K) vs Jack Sampson-Brown, 6-3, 4-6, 1-1 (did not finish)
5. Drake Oswald (DS) def. Connor Crippes, 7-5, 7-6
6. Ryan Fair (DS) def. Cody Heaton, 6-0, 6-3

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Xavier boys net substate opener

The Xavier Saints blanked Grinnell, 5-0, in the opening round of the boys Class 1A substate tennis tournament at Xavier Saturday.

Ben Curley cruised to a 6-1, 6-0 victory at No. 1 singles against Edward Lopatto.

Jon Lansing, Charlie Esker, Alex Hinrichs and Blake Magill also won their singles matches in straight sets for the Saints.

Xavier advances to the next round of the substate tournament May 23.

XAVIER 5, GRINNELL 0

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