Metro Sports Report

Curley, Lansing win 1A district title

Ben Curley and Jon Lansing of Xavier High School won the doubles title at the Class 1A district tennis tournament at Xavier High School Friday.

Curley and Lansing defeated Tom Auge and Jack Lucy of Dubuque Wahlert, 6-1, 6-2, in the championship match and qualified for the state tournament.

Charlie Esker and Jack VonKampen of Xavier defeated Will McDonald and John Ott of Wahlert in the consolation match for third place in a tiebreaker, 2-6, 6-2, 1-0.

Cam Long of Wahlert defeated teammate Jackson Takes, 6-2, 6-4, for the district singles title. Alex Hinrichs of Xavier topped Peter Ward of Marion, 6-0, 6-1, for third place.

Linn-Mar girls go dancing in the rain

Linn-Mar junior Stephanie Jenks is accustomed to getting wet in sports events from her training as a swimmer and triathlete, but running long distances in a downpour is not her cup of tea.

"Sure! I love it," Jenks said sarcastically Thursday night. "I love being wet and heavy and not being able to see. All that fun stuff."

It didn't seem to bother her, however.

Jenks captured the 800, 1500 and 3000 meter runs at the Class 4A district track meet as the Lions won the title and qualified a large contingent of athletes for the state meet next week.

Jenks also finished a strong second in the 400 hurdles, her new event, and undoubtedly qualified for that race at the state meet as well.

Linn-Mar freshman Payton Wensel, a budding star for the Lions, claimed the 400 hurdles and ran impressive anchor legs on the triumphant 4x800 relay and 4x400 relay. She dealt with the inclement weather by simply trying to ignore it.

"Honestly, I like being able to challenge myself mentally and just focus on my race," she said. "All the other teams are complaining about how it's wet and the track is slippery. I just want to be able to focus on my race and not whether the track is slippery or not."

Kohawks hang on to edge Ripon

LA CROSSE, Wis. - Jack Hoffmann picked up his fourth save in as many games as Coe survived three home runs from Ripon's Michael Polcyn to win, 5-4, in second-round NCAA Division III regional play here Thursday at Copeland Park.

The Kohawks (33-12) play in the winner's bracket final at 7:45 p.m. Friday against the winner of a game between Washington-St. Louis and Wisconsin-LaCrosse that was suspended by rain Thursday night with Washington leading, 6-5 in the third inning. That contest will be continued at 10 a.m. Friday

If Coach Steve Cook's Kohawks win Friday, they will have two chances to win the regional championship.

Ripon (24-15) drops into the loser's bracket at 1:15 p.m. Friday against Concordia-Chicago.

Polcyn almost single-handedly pushed the Red Hawks, which downed defending national champion Wisconsin-Whitewater, 15-7, in their opener, to their second-straight upset. He hit solo homers in first, sixth and eighth. He has hit 12 homers in the last 13 games.

Rima, VanDraska star for Prairie

DUBUQUE - Jalen Rima of Prairie strengthened his position as one of the fastest runners in the state Thursday night at the Class 4A district track meet in Dubuque.

Rima, a junior, captured the 200 meter dash in 22.07 seconds and claimed the 400 meter dash in 48.54 seconds. Both times are the fastest in the state this year. He took over the lead in the 200 and lowered his own state-best time in the 400.

Tysen VanDraska of Prairie also was a double-champion in the district meet. He won the 800 in 1:59.40 and took the 1600 in 4:29.30.

Hannah Frazee of Prairie won the girls 3000-meter run in 10:39.70.