Metro Sports Report

Cortes wins twice for Mount Mercy

FAYETTE, Mo. - Vanessa Cortes of Mount Mercy was the undisputed queen  of the distance races at the Heart of America Conference track meet  this weekend.

Cortes captured the 10,000 meter run on Friday and claimed the 5,000-meter race on Saturday in 18 minutes, 39.08 seconds.

Cortes helped the Mustangs finish fourth out of 12 teams in the standings.

Jasmine Wardell of Mount Mercy won the shot put (13.01 meters) and  Kathryn Vander Poel claimed the 1500 (4:46.21). Vander Poel also  finished second in the 800 (2:19.37). Andrea Ertz placed third in the  1500 (4:54.35) and Alexa Zamora was third in the 5000 (19:19.08).

Colton Forster won the 10,000 meter run in 31:54.27 for the Mount  Mercy men's track team. Jon Anderson, James Lindstrom and Forster also  collected second-place showings.

Nigut helps Eagles split with No. 16 SCC

Will Nigut allowed only one earned run in six innings Friday to help  the Kirkwood Eagles trim 16th-ranked Southeastern, 5-4, in the second  game of their ICCAC doubleheader at Kirkwood.

Southeastern claimed the first game, 8-2.

The split left Kirkwood at 30-17 overall and 14-12 in the league.  Southeastern is 37-16 overall and 15-11 in the conference. Kirkwood  finishes the regular season with a twinbill at Southeastern Saturday  in West Burlington.

Nigut (3-1) was touched for four runs, but only one of those tallies  was earned due to a Kirkwood error. Jackson Bennett tossed three  scoreless innings in relief with five strikeouts for his fourth save.

Mustangs ousted from Heart softball

The Mount Mercy Mustangs lost to Benedictine, 4-1, in the losers  bracket of the Heart of America Conference softball tournament Friday at Busse Field and were ousted from the postseason event.

Mount Mercy compiled a 2-2 record in the tournament and finished in fourth place. The Mustangs ended their season with a 32-22 record.

Benedictine lost to Grand View in the losers bracket finals Friday after topping Mount Mercy. Grand View will face Baker in the  championship round Saturday of the double-elimination tournament.

Baker and Grand View have both clinched spots in the NAIA national  tournament, regardless of who wins the conference title.

Cortes wins 10,000 for Mount Mercy

FAYETTE, Mo. - Vanessa Cortes of Mount Mercy captured the 10,000 meter  run at the Heart of America Conference track meet Friday.

Cortes was clocked in 38 minutes, 56.67 seconds. She dominated the  race and won by 29.05 seconds.

The Mustangs placed second in the women's 4x800 relay in 9:38.58.  Kathryn Vander Poel, Andrea Ertz, McKenna Johnson and Mady Roth shared  the baton.