Metro Sports Report

4 million reasons to give thanks

The Metro Sports Report hit a major milestone last Friday when we passed 4 million page views since the website was launched in 2011, and it got me thinking about the work we do in our community.

Most of the stories we write are about the games and the people who play them at the eight Metro high schools, the three colleges in Cedar Rapids, the Kernels and the RoughRiders, although once in awhile we'll stray beyond those borders and write something about the Iowa Hawkeyes or offer a tribute to the late, great Johnny Orr.

None of us at the MSR knew Danny DeBacker, the former Mount Mercy University basketball player and track athlete who was tragically killed by a drunk driver Sept. 28 in Davenport.

We just began covering Mount Mercy in August, so we never saw him perform for the Mustangs last year, but once we heard about the tragedy we tried our best to tell people what happened and to write something about him. These are difficult stories to write and reminded me of writing about Chris Street's tragic death in 1993 when I was covering the Iowa Hawkeyes for The Gazette.

Greve survives tumor to swim for Lions

A young man with a scientific mind, Linn-Mar senior Calvin Greve measures his life in millimeters and fractions of seconds.

As a swimmer, every fractional time drop gets him that much closer to the ultimate prize of the state swim meet for his Lions team. And in the even bigger race, success in the pool shows he’s beating the tumor that could have killed or paralyzed him just two years ago.

Miraculously detected, a 40-millimeter tumor (about the size of a ping-pong ball) was growing under his inner ear and pushing against his brain stem. It was discovered only after a routine school physical in the spring of his sophomore year showed what he already knew - that he was losing the hearing in his left ear.

“I really didn't notice it. I’d just gotten used to it,” the 17-year-old says matter-of-factly in the manner that befits a student scholar who already has a number of college credits under his belt. “But I felt perfectly fine.”

A subsequent MRI to find a reason for the hearing loss revealed the life-threatening brain tumor on his auditory nerve. Within 48 hours, he underwent surgery at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. Removal of the mass left him permanently deaf in one ear and with a loss in balance that he’s still working on to fully recover.

Coe swimmer got early start in pool

Coe sophomore Kendall Bundy has been swimming since she was four years old. Her prowess in the pool has taken her all the way from Denver, Colo., to Cedar Rapids, where she's enjoying success with the Kohawks.

Bundy was recognized by the Iowa Conference as its swimmer of the week for the week of Nov. 5 in the 100-yard backstrokeand for Coe's fifth-fastest time in the medley relay.

Bundy attributes the success to the way her team trains.

“The positive atmosphere that our team provides is a really good, fast swimming environment,” she said. “Everybody is always behind each other. The coaches are positive and really help us stay positive and help us swim fast.”

Bundy started swimming at the age of four because her parents wanted her to get used to the water and she swam all the way to college.

Balanced Eagles raise mark to 9-0

The Kirkwood Eagles know they won't make nineteen 3-pointers too many times like they did Saturday against Iowa Western, so they had a new plan of attack Tuesday night against the Coe junior varsity.

Take it to the rack.

The Eagles attacked the basket and defeated the Kohawks, 85-55, with five players scoring in double figures.

Kirkwood raised its record to 9-0 heading into a short break for Thanksgiving.

"Driving to the hole was our main focus today," said point guard Ajay Lawton, who finished with 12 points, five steals, three assists and three rebounds. "We wanted to get to the bucket as much as possible."

Lawton and Jordan Ashton made six 3-pointers against Iowa Western and Matt Lassen had five, part of a breathtaking performance that saw the Eagles hit 19 of 32 from behind the arc.