Linn-Mar High School - Marion, Iowa

Linn-Mar boys run 3rd at district meet

CEDAR FALLS - The Linn-Mar boys cross country team placed third at the Class 4A district meet Thursday at Birdsall Park in Cedar Falls and qualified for the state meet in Fort Dodge.

Ryan Murphy led the Lions with a fourth-place finish in 15 minutes, 57 seconds. Michael Mather finished seventh, Dalton Gosch 10th, Johnny Clymer 13th and Colin Johnston 26th for the Lions.

Cedar Falls won the team championship with 26 points. West Des Moines Valley placed second with 56 points, edging Linn-Mar by four points.

The top three teams and top 15 individuals qualified for the state meet Oct. 31.

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Stephanie Jenks will run for Cal Bears

Stephanie Jenks could have accepted a college scholarship from just about any of the elite track and cross country programs in the country, but she decided to pick a school where she can help the team improve and get a great education.

Jenks, a senior at Linn-Mar High School, said Thursday that she's accepted a full athletic scholarship from the University of California at Berkeley to become a distance runner for the Golden Bears.

She called Shayla Houlihan, the distance coach at Cal, with the good news Thursday afternoon after going for a run after school.

"I'm excited. My heart is racing!," Jenks said while attending the district cross country meet at Seminole Valley Park in Cedar Rapids, about 30 minutes after calling Houlihan.

"I don't want to go to a college that is already good," she explained. "I want to go to a college where I am not going to be No. 1 and where I'm going to go in and contribute to a team in some way, shape or form and eventually get up there. I want to help other people get up there.

"I think in a couple of years, especially with Shayla's workouts and everything else they have going on, it's going to work out well."

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No. 11 Lions sweep Saints in volleyball

The Linn-Mar volleyball team swept Xavier, 25-15, 25-23, 25-16, Tuesday in a Mississippi Valley Conference match at Xavier.

Amanda Ollinger had 13 kills for the 11th-ranked Lions. Carly Spies had eight kills, Ellie Anderson had 23 assists and 12 digs, and Megan Renner had three blocks.

Linn-Mar finished the regular season 28-7. Xavier is 13-21.

Prairie takes flight at MVC volleyball

DUBUQUE – This is the state's proving ground of whether a team is playoff ready. History's proven if you win at the Mississippi Valley Conference volleyball tournament, you can win anywhere, even under the bright high-pressure lights of the U.S. Cellular Center at the state meet.

“This is the end of a battle of attrition,” said Iowa City High coach Craig Pitcher. “The conference has been rock, paper, scissors all year.”

“It's a long, trying day,” Linn-Mar all-state outside hitter Amanda Ollinger said. “You know going into every game it's going to be a battle, especially since you're playing the teams you face all year.”

“It's the longest day of the year,” Kennedy setter Anna Fluent said.

And after the way they dug, set, spiked and weaved their way to the title match of Saturday's rigorous and taxing nine-hour MVC Tournament, the surging Prairie Hawks – who've already captured their first MVC divisional crown since 2008 – look ready for anything the road to the Class 5A state tournament may bring their way.

“I told them if this doesn't help your confidence beating all these ranked teams, I don't know what will,” a thrilled Hawks Coach Lynnette Stecklein said. “It was a great day.

“This team got better today.”

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