Prairie High School - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Jessica Heims takes 5th at world meet

DOHA, Qatar - Jessica Heims of Cedar Rapids Prairie finished fifth in the discus throw at the 2015 International Paralympic World Championships in Qatar on Sunday.

Heims had a best toss of 25.26 meters in a field of nine contestants. Juan Yao of China won the discus at 43.39 meters.

Heims, a junior at Prairie, had the lower part of her right leg amputated within 12 months of being born due to a birth defect. She has different artificial legs that she uses for running, throwing and everyday use.

Her toss Sunday of 25.26 meters converts to 82 feet, 9 inches. That topped her personal all-time best by four inches.

Heims, who is a member of the Prairie girls track team, will compete in the 400 meter run at the World Championships on Wednesday.

Athletes from 97 countries are competing at the meet, including 84 athletes from the United States. The Paralympic Games have been held since 1952.

Football playoff pairings set by IHSAA

It took until 2 a.m. Saturday morning, but the first round of the high school football playoffs were finally announced by the IHSAA.

Six Metro teams have qualified for the playoffs for the second straight year. Four of them are set to play home games in the opening round Wednesday night, although Jefferson's "home" game will be in Mount Vernon due to overcrowding at Kingston Stadium.

Cedar Rapids Kennedy and Cedar Rapids Washington both claimed Class 4A district championships and will play in a doubleheader at Kingston.

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Nunemaker leads Prairie into playoffs

OTTUMWA - Tyler Nunemaker had a whole bunch of plays and formations to learn this year when coach Mark Bliss arrived at Cedar Rapids Prairie with his concoction of offensive formations from the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries that include everything from the single wing to the spread.

Based on Nunemaker's performance Friday night, you'd have to give the Prairie quarterback an A-plus in Advanced Football.

Nunemaker hit 11 of 14 passes for 256 yards and two touchdowns as the Hawks belted Ottumwa, 45-20, at Schafer Field to earn a No. 3 seed in the Class 4A playoffs that start Wednesday.

Prairie rolled up 524 yards of total offense with its unique attack that featured direct snaps to four different players when you count the quarterback, two different running backs and wide receiver Jalen Rima.

Nunemaker, a senior, had to learn a completely new playbook when Bliss replaced Mike Morrissey as head coach. Nunemaker took a cram-course during the summer and was ready when practice began in August.

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Prairie runs away with district title

For awhile Thursday afternoon, it looked like the Cedar Rapids Prairie boys cross country team was holding an intrasquad scrimmage at Seminole Valley Park with all those orange checkerboard jerseys at the front of the pack.

It pretty much ended that way, too.

Tysen VanDraska led a 1-2-3 finish by the Prairie Hawks as they ran away with top honors at the Class 4A district meet.

"That was the goal," said VanDraska, who covered the 5K layout in a swift 15 minutes, 39.34 seconds. "We came out and executed it as best we could. And it worked out."

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