Xavier High School - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Filer named Xavier volleyball coach

Xavier High School has hired Austin Filer as its new varsity volleyball coach.

Filer brings a variety of volleyball coaching and leadership experience to the Xavier program, having served most recently as a head coach/sand coordinator at Cedar Rapids' Adrenaline Volleyball Academy (2014-present) and as an assistant volleyball coach at Mount Mercy University (2012-2015).

At Adrenaline, Filer qualified three teams for beach nationals and led his team to a national ranking. During his time at Mount Mercy, Filer played a major role on head coach Deb Marlin's staff in helping to turn the program around as the Mustangs qualified for the National Tournament for the first time in program history in the 2015 season.

"We are excited to bring in a coach of Austin’s caliber," said Tom Keating, Xavier High School principal. "He has a wealth of knowledge and experience and we look forward to the energy and competitive level he will bring to our program."

"I want to thank Activities Director Mike Winker and Principal Tom Keating for this amazing opportunity and the tremendous faith that they have shown in me leading this program," said Filer. "Xavier High School has a tradition of academic and athletic excellence in the Midwest that is second to none.

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Price is right for Xavier softball

Nikki Price must have an abundance of energy and patience.

She's the proud mother of an active 10-month-old baby boy, she teaches sixth and seventh graders at Oak Ridge Middle School and she coaches high school girls on the Xavier softball team.

That's a busy day for anyone.

Price welcomed her son, Braxton Michael, into the new world last July, just a few days after the Saints finished the 2015 season with a 24-16 record.

"We've been blessed," Price said before practice Wednesday. "He's super-fun and happy and crawling and talking and on the move all the time.

"He's a fun little guy and loves being outside, so he'll enjoy the summer, that's for sure. I'm ready for him to start sleeping through the night, but it's been good so far."

Price, entering her fourth official season as head coach, expects to enjoy the spring and summer with the Saints, despite the loss of Erin Drahozal and Morgan Breitbach to graduation. Drahozal hit .402 with nine homers and 32 RBIs and compiled a 9-7 record and 1.68 ERA as a pitcher, while Breitbach hit .358 and patrolled center field like a sponge.

"The energy level has been good, the workouts have been good," said Price. "They're working hard and getting better every day."

Maria Steffen, who went 9-5 with a 2.47 ERA last season as a freshman, tops the pitching staff. "She's gotten mentally tougher over the winter," said Price, who expects Steffen to be a leader as a sophomore.

Ellie Malecek (2-0, 1.45) enters the season as the No. 2 starter as the Saints prepare for the opener at Iowa City West on Tuesday.

Price is confident the left side of the infield will be in good shape again with senior Jamie Feltes (.275) at third base and junior Hannah Helms (.331) at shortstop. Price likes their leadership and communication skills.

Other top returning players are outfielder Charlotte Richards (.414), second baseman/outfielder Kailee Becker (.263), Cassie Himmelsbach (.260), catcher Steph Wehr (.228), second baseman/outfielder Keera Ball (.533 in limited duty), Maddie Morgan and Hannah Williams. Price expects a few younger players to enter the mix as well.

Cataldo takes reins of Xavier baseball team

New coach. New uniforms. New dugout.

There's definitely something new in the air at Xavier High School, where Bob Cataldo has succeeded Dave Schemmel as the head baseball coach heading into the 2016 campaign.

Schemmel had been the only head coach in school history, starting when Xavier opened its doors in 1998, but he retired after the 2015 season with a record of 431-234 in 17 years, including a state title in 2006 and two other trips to the state finals.

Cataldo, 46, served as a volunteer assistant with the Xavier varsity the last three years and is the president of the Xavier booster club. Now he's the main man in the dugout and is excited about working with a bunch of "blue collar, lunch box" players who he said are dedicated to the game and have a high baseball IQ.

"I think the attitude, first and foremost, is tremendous," he said Tuesday. "The kids are buying into the program.

"These kids have been taught well coming through the Saints program. They're sponges. They want to learn new things, they want to learn new ways of drilling."

Cataldo said he valued his time in the dugout with Schemmel the last three years.

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MSR will offer extensive coverage of Xavier

It's been a long two months since we scaled back our operation, but the Metro Sports Report will be returning to its roots this week with in-depth coverage of high school sports.

Specifically, we'll be offering extensive coverage of Xavier High School as part of our new business model as we move forward.

We announced earlier this month that from now on, we'll only be covering the schools, leagues and teams in the Metro area that have strong advertising support in the community. We tried covering everybody, regardless of financial support, but we went broke back in March and needed to devise a new model.

We set a threshold of $10,000 annually in targeted advertising support for us to cover any of the eight high schools in the Metro. Xavier has met that threshold, thanks to its many business friends, but so far the Saints are the only ones.

We're working on all the other schools, but quite frankly there's a long way to go with all of them. Please let me know if you'd like to pitch in and help support your favorite school.

I confess that we're breaking new ground with our revised business model, but we had two choices: Do it this way or go out of business. And if you know me at all, you know I'm too stubborn to quit.

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