Metro Sports Report

Warriors, J-Hawks collide in Round 2

The Washington Warriors and Jefferson J-Hawks began the 2015 high school football season back in August when they collided in the season-opener at Kingston Stadium.

Now one of them -- either the Warriors (9-1) or the J-Hawks (7-3) -- will see their season come to an end when they collide again in the second round of the Class 4A playoffs at 8 p.m. Monday at Kingston.

Washington topped Jefferson, 27-14, on Aug. 29 in the opener. The game was tied in the fourth quarter before the Warriors scored twice to claim the victory.

Both clubs won their playoff openers Wednesday night, with the Warriors skinning Cedar Falls 28-21 and the J-Hawks rolling to a 61-43 victory over Dubuque Senior after a slow start in Mount Vernon.

Heims takes 5th at World meet again

DOHA, Qatar - The big smile in the picture tells the story.

Jessica Heims of Cedar Rapids Prairie raced to a fifth-place finish in the 400-meter run at the 2015 International Paralympic World Championships in Qatar Wednesday afternoon.

She also placed fifth in the discus at the World Games on Sunday.

Heims was timed in 1 minute, 12.48 seconds in the 400, chopping nearly three seconds off her previous best. Marie-Amelie Le Fur of France won the race in 59.3 seconds. Grace Norman of the United States finished third in 1:03.83.

There are various categories for athletes at the World Championships, depending on the nature of their disability. Heims competed in the T44 category in the 400 dash.

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 been active in a variety of sports, including the triathlon, and competes with the Prairie girls track team.

Kintzel aims to shed 'interim' tag

Bob Kintzel is already a member of the Mount Mercy University Hall of Fame for his exploits as a star basketball player with the Mustangs 30 years ago.

Now he'd like to leave his mark on the university as the new women's basketball coach at his alma mater.

Kintzel was promoted to "interim" head coach last week when Aaron Jennings, his former boss with the women's basketball program, accepted a new assignment as head coach of the men's basketball squad at Mount Mercy.

Kintzel has the type of job he's wanted ever since he left Mount Vernon High School three years ago after a successful stint with the girls basketball team there. He fully intends to succeed at Mount Mercy and keep the job on a long-term basis.

"They tagged it interim, so we'll see what happens," Kintzel said Monday. "It's my full intention to keep this job. This is where I want to be.

"Obviously I love Mount Mercy," he said. "This place means a lot to me. So it's my full intention to keep this job and hopefully I will."

Muhl has normal worries at Kirkwood

Kim Muhl has a few complaints about his women's basketball team at Kirkwood Community College on the eve of the 2015-16 campaign, but it's probably nothing to get too concerned about.

He always worries about his team this time of year. More often than not, everything turns out OK.

Muhl thinks the Eagles need to get tougher, play better defense, communicate better, play harder and listen more to the coaches.

"I think we have a little ways to go," he said Monday. "We have some nice kids and we could be pretty good, but I think it's going to be awhile."

Defense. Toughness. Intensity.

"It's got to be important to them," Muhl said. "Execution to me is important. Guarding somebody is important. We should be able to guard, but it's not important to them yet. What's important to them is scoring.

"It's just Basketball 101, sometimes, and buying into how we want it done."