Metro Sports Report

Christensen hits homer as Kernels split

GENEVA, Ill. - Chad Christensen socked a two-run homer and drove in three runs Sunday as the Cedar Rapids Kernels blanked Kane County, 5-0, in the first game of a Midwest League doubleheader before 6,698 fans at Fifth Third Bank Ballpark.

Kane County rallied for two runs in the bottom of the seventh and won the nightcap, 3-2.

Christensen hit a two-run homer in the seventh inning of the opener to give the Kernels (32-42) some insurance runs. He went 2-for-2 in the game with two runs and two walks.

3 Cougars plan reunion at Mount Mercy

Jimmy Lizarraga, Alex Hayden and Cody Bell went their separate ways after they graduated from Kennedy High School in 2012.

Lizarraga joined the baseball team at Mount Mercy University, Hayden joined the ballclub at Iowa Central Community College and Bell decided to play golf at the University of Northern Iowa, but now the three all-state ballplayers will be holding a reunion right here in Cedar Rapids.

Hayden and Bell have decided to join Lizarraga at Mount Mercy and will play for new coach Jack Dahm, the former head coach at the University of Iowa.

"I'm pretty excited for it," said Hayden. "It's close to home, it's close to all my friends and Cody is coming back. It will be nice playing with Cody and Jimmy again."

Kirkwood lands big man from Sweden

Kirkwood Coach Bryan Petersen has not had a chance to watch Martin Hyberg play basketball in person, but he's studied film of the 6-foot-10 center from Sweden and likes what he's seen.

Hyberg comes highly recommended from a friend of Petersen's in the coaching business and has good credentials, having played for the U20 Sweden National Team.

"We've watched film on him, but we haven't seen him in person," Petersen said Friday. "So you don't really know until they get here, but we're expecting him to come over and impact our team right away."

Petersen has landed a big recruiting class with 11 new players, including nine scholarship players and two walk-ons. He needed a big class, because only five players will be returning from the unit that went 21-10 this season.

C.R. high schools cut $60,000 in salaries

Jefferson, Kennedy and Washington have been forced to cut $20,000 apiece for salaries in extracurricular activities for the 2014-2015 school year, as mandated by the Cedar Rapids Community School District.

Each of the six middle schools in Cedar Rapids have been told to cut $10,000 in salaries for the coming year, making for a total reduction of $120,000 in what are called "Schedule C" contracts at the middle school and high school levels.

No programs have been cut at the high schools, but some salaries have been reduced and fewer people will be involved as coaches and instructors for the new school year.

Mary Ellen Maske, the deputy superintendent for the school district, said the total budget for Schedule C contracts at the high school level during the 2013-14 school year was approximately $1.5 million or roughly $500,000 per school. A cut of $20,000 per school represents a reduction of approximately 4 percent at each school.