Prairie High School - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Mougin will play ball at Kirkwood

Nic Mougin of Cedar Rapids Prairie plans to continue his baseball career at Kirkwood Community College.

Mougin, an all-state first baseman, hit .409 with two home runs and 30 RBIs last season as a junior. He also compiled a 2-2 record and 4.20 ERA on the mound.

Mougin helped Prairie finish 31-8 and win the first Mississippi Valley Conference title in school history.

Prairie baseball coach Todd Rima is also the head coach at Kirkwood.

No. 7 Prairie edged by No. 12 IC West

The seventh-ranked Cedar Rapids Prairie volleyball team was nudged by No. 12 Iowa City West, 25-22, 17-25, 25-16, 18-25, 15-12, in a Mississippi Valley Conference match Tuesday night at Prairie.

Kate Busswitz led Prairie with 17 kills and Megan Oldenburger had nine. Busswitz blocked four shots and Maddie Bell had three blocks. Kendra Gaskill rolled up 40 assists for the Hawks.

Taylor Fisher finished with 27 digs for Prairie. Haley Stecklein and Gaskill led the serving.

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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Prairie Hawks zoom by Muscatine

The outlook did not look bright for the Prairie Hawks when they trailed Muscatine, 41-21, at halftime Friday night at John Wall Field, but the Hawks were just getting warmed up.

Prairie scored 35 straight points in the second half and belted the Muskies, 56-41, in a wild Class 4A District 6 game.

Prairie climbed into a tie for third place in the district with Muscatine with 2-2 records. The Hawks are 3-5 overall heading into the final game of the regular season and the Muskies are 6-2.

Jalen Rima returned from a knee injury and had a big game for Prairie. He carried the ball six times for 172 yards, caught one pass for 70 yards and scored three touchdowns. His scoring plays covered 70, 55 and 94 yards.

Rima, who won the 200 and 400 meter dashes at the Class 4A state track meet last May, has scored 12 touchdowns this season.

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