Metro Sports Report

Vander Poel, Nickelson star for Mustangs

Kathryn Vander Poel and Luke Nickelson were double-champions for Mount Mercy at the Mustang Open track meet Saturday at the Plaster Athletic Complex.

Vander Poel captured the 800 and 1500 meter runs for Mount Mercy. Nickelson claimed the high jump and long jump for the Mustangs.

Vanessa Cortes won the 5000 meter run, McKenna Johnson took the 3000 meter steeplechase and Jon Anderson won the 5000 meter walk.

The Mount Mercy women's track team finished a tight second in the team standings behind Gustavus Adolphus, 114 to 107. The Mount Mercy men placed fourth. Fourteen teams competed in both divisions.

Petersen named National Coach of Year again

Bryan Petersen was only 25 years old when he was named the interim  head coach of the Kirkwood men's basketball team in March of 2013.

He quickly shed the "interim" tag after running the program for a year  and the awards have been rolling in ever since.

Petersen, 31, was named the 2019 Spalding D-II Men's Basketball Coach  of the Year Friday for the second time in his career after leading the  Eagles to the junior college national title last month.

Petersen also was saluted as the Spalding Coach of the Year after  guiding Kirkwood to the 2016 national crown, giving him two national  titles and two Coach of the Year awards in four years.

"I am honored to receive the coach of the year award," Petersen  remarked. "There are many great coaches out there and to receive the  award is very humbling.

"All the credit goes to my staff of excellent coaches and also our  great athletes," he said. "We were lucky as a coaching staff to have  such a great group of kids that really cared about each other and  bought into improving every day as a team.

"We challenged our group to compete every day and give their best, and  they did. I am very thankful to them for buying into that message."

KCC baseball headed for tripleheader

The Kirkwood baseball team is headed for a tripleheader on Monday.

The Eagles defeated DMACC, 5-3, in the first game of their doubleheader Saturday at Kirkwood, but the second game was suspended in the bottom of the 10th inning with the score knotted at 11-11.

Kirkwood and DMACC will finish the suspended game on Monday, prior to their next  ICCAC conference twinbill in Cedar Rapids.

Kirkwood scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning of the opener to erase a 3-2 deficit and held on for the 5-3 victory. Carter Lawler (3-3) pitched five innings for the win, allowing three runs on seven hits. Austin Krobe got the final four outs for his second save.

Jamarion Loston scored twice for Kirkwood in the triumph. Taylor Jackson and Brennan Brister had RBIs.

No. 6 Eagles split with No. 4 Bears

BOONE - Bradee Bouman tossed a complete game and got lots of support from her offense Saturday as sixth-ranked Kirkwood topped No. 4 DMACC, 8-3, in the second game of their ICCAC doubleheader in Boone.

DMACC nipped the Eagles in the opener, 2-1.

The DMACC Bears lead the conference standings at 11-1. NIACC, which is ranked seventh in the country, sits in second place at 10-3. Kirkwood is in third place at 9-3 in the tight race among three top-10 ballclubs.

Bouman (13-3) allowed two earned runs on six hits in the 8-3 victory in the nightcap. Lauren Kuch went 3-for-5 and scored twice. London Jackson was 2-for-4 with two runs, two RBIs and her 13th home run. Lauren Klaahsen, Jayme Finn and Autum Barthelman had two hits in a 16-hit attack.