Metro Sports Report

Evans snaps own mark in Drake 1600

DES MOINES - Josh Evans ran four grueling races at the Drake Relays in three days, broke three records and won two titles.

The Linn-Mar senior will reward himself by taking a day off.

That's it. One day.

"I've got tomorrow completely off, so it will be nice just to rest and sleep and just kind of recover from all of this," he said Saturday. "I'll probably use an ice pack."

He's earned the rest. And the ice.

Evans ran a smart race Saturday and captured the 1600 meter run against an elite field in 4 minutes, 10.76 seconds, snapping his own meet record by one-tenth of a second.

Slegers stars as Kernels belt Clinton

CLINTON - Aaron Slegers pitched a strong game and the Cedar Rapids Kernels erupted for their most runs of the season Sunday in a 12-1 victory over Clinton before 4,745 fans at Ashford University Field.

Slegers (2-0, 3.14 ERA) struck out eight batters in seven innings and did not walk anyone. He allowed one run on six hits and retired the final 13 batters he faced.

Chad Christensen and Zack Larson led the Kernels' 15-hit attack with three hits apiece. Ivory Thomas hit his first home run for Cedar Rapids and drove in three runs.

The Kernels swept the weekend series, 3-0.

No.4 Eagles clinch softball title

The fourth-ranked Kirkwood softball team split a doubleheader with Iowa Central Saturday and clinched the ICCAC conference title.

Iowa Central won the first game, 6-3, and the Eagles rolled in the nightcap, 18-0.

The split left Kirkwood with a 22-2 record in the conference and made it impossible for DMACC (22-6) to catch the Eagles in the standings. Kirkwood was supposed to play a doubleheader against Ellsworth Sunday, but those games were rained out.

Even if the twinbill against Ellsworth is made up this week, the worst Kirkwood could finish in the league is 22-4 because a previously postponed doubleheader against NIACC will not be played this season.

Jenna Schulte went 3-for-4 with a home run, drove in four runs and scored three times for Kirkwood in the second game against Iowa Central. Chasney Jenkins went 3-for-4 with three RBIs and four runs. Brianna Farley was 3-for-4 and scored three times.

Drake stars share Metro Spotlight Award

The Metro Sports Report has been selecting the winners of the Metro Spotlight Award since last August, with one high school girl and one high school boy honored each week Not this week, however.

There were too many extraordinary performances at the Drake Relays to select just two winners this week, so we're honoring everybody who placed in the top-5 in any of their events.

It's a long list.

We'll start with Linn-Mar's remarkable duo of Josh Evans and Stephanie Jenks, who already have been two-time winners of the Metro Spotlight Award. This makes three times.

Evans broke three major records, won two events and finished second in two others. Jenks established an all-time best in Iowa in the 3000, captured the 1500 and placed second in the 800.

Tristan Freese, Daniel Gorsich and Dalton Gosch joined Evans on the sprint medley, which broke the meet record. Tanner Rathje, Greyson Dolezal and Daniel Murphy joined Evans on the 4x800 relay, which placed second.