Metro Sports Report

Coe coach began swimming in Lake Erie

Brian Ruffles has been a swimmer his whole life and gets to continue that passion as head coach for the Coe swimming and diving teams.

Ruffles has coached swimming for six years and this year he was promoted to head coach for both the men’s and women’s squads.

Ruffles is from Buffalo, N.Y., which is where he gained his love of swimming.

“I took swimming lessons at a very young age,” he said. “My parents’ house was just off Lake Erie, so we would go down to the lake. My mom and dad got us involved in swimming.”

But it wasn’t until high school when he started to swim for competition.

Derlein rescued Jenks at state swim

There was a remarkable piece of coaching at the girls state swimming meet Saturday in Marshalltown and a remarkable performance by a young high school athlete.

Maybe you know the story by now, but it bears repeating.

Linn-Mar sophomore Jenn Jenks was all set to compete in the 200-yard freestyle when Shawn Thomsen, one of the meet officials who is also the boys swimming coach at Kennedy, walked over just before the race and told Jenks her swimsuit was in violation of IGHSAU rules because it had two visible company logos on it instead of only one.

Amanda Sahm wins Metro Spotlight Award

Marion senior Amanda Sahm is the winner of the Metro Spotlight Award for high school girls this week, the Metro Sports Report announced Sunday.

Sahm, 5-foot-7, is one of the top volleyball players in the state and a key member of the Marion High School team that will face Charles City in the opening round of the Class 4A state tournament at the U.S. Cellular Center on Tuesday at 4 p.m.

Sahm has accepted a scholarship to play Division I college volleyball at Gardner-Webb University in North Carolina.

Sahm has been a "do-it-all" player for Coach Roxanne Paulsen and the Indians during her career. She ranks eighth in the state in Class 4A with 729 assists and has played all 99 sets for Marion.

Phillips cleared for state volleyball

Marion High School senior Abby Phillips has permission to take the splint off her right hand now, so that will make it a lot easier for her to sign her national letter-of-intent with the Iowa State Cyclones on Wednesday.

Of more immediate importance, it also means she has been cleared to play in the Class 4A state volleyball tournament that begins Tuesday with an opening-round match against Charles City at 4 p.m. at the U.S. Cellular Center.

Her doctor gave her permission to play following a medical exam Monday afternoon, even though the broken bone near the base of the ring finger on her right hand is not 100 percent. It's strong enough, however, so Phillips will slide the splint off her hand Tuesday afternoon and take the court with soft-foam padding to protect the injury.

"It's not completely healed," Phillips said Monday night after a team dinner. "It's like 60 percent healed, but it's pretty good.

"The doctor said it's gotten a lot better, so I heal pretty fast. And he said I'm cleared to play."