Metro Sports Report

Heying wins Metro Spotlight Award

Xavier senior Halle Heying is the winner of the Metro Spotlight Award for high school girls this week, the Metro Sports Report announced Sunday.

Heying is the libero for the fifth-ranked Xavier volleyball team, which will face No.3 West Delaware in the Class 4A regional finals Tuesday night in Dyersville.

Heying ranks second in Class 4A with 616 digs. She also has collected 44 aces for the Saints (28-10).

Prairie, Evans run to state titles

FORT DODGE - The Cedar Rapids Prairie cross country team chased the Linn-Mar Lions all over Eastern Iowa this year, often settling for second place along the way.

Not this time.

The Hawks caught the Lions - and everyone else - in the biggest meet of the season Saturday and claimed their second Class 4A state title in four years at the Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge.

"It feels incredible. This is great," said Prairie sophomore Jake Moore, who led the hungry Hawks by finishing fourth overall.

"It feels like all the work we put in this season and all the practices, it's all worth it," said Isaiah Vlasek, who placed seventh. "This is amazing."

Linn-Mar senior Josh Evans claimed the individual title over the 5K course in 15:19.4, but he was one of the saddest state champs you'll ever see. That's because Daniel Murphy, one of Linn-Mar's top runners, ran into severe problems on the course, fell several times, walked to the finish line and finished last out of 115 runners - nearly two minutes after everyone else was done.

Steph Jenks forfeits eligibility in X-C

FORT DODGE - Linn-Mar sophomore Stephanie Jenks will not be eligible to compete in high school cross country meets in Iowa for the rest of her prep career because she ran in open college events this year, IGHSAU Executive Director Mike Dick said Saturday at the state meet in Fort Dodge.

Jenks won the Class 4A state cross country title in 2012 as a freshman, but elected not to run for Linn-Mar this year. Instead, she competed against college runners at races in North Carolina, Wisconsin and Oregon and fared very well.

Dick said the Jenks family knew beforehand that Jenks would forfeit her future cross country eligibility in Iowa if she competed against college runners.

Turner helps pave way for Saints

Colton Turner has been a tower of strength for the Xavier Saints on the offensive line this year.

He tips the scales at a rock-solid 275 pounds, without an ounce of flab.

"Yeah, we call him Moose," said Xavier tailback Brendan Miller. "He's a big boy. He got that nickname and it stuck."

Turner did not turn into a block of granite for the Saints by lifting pretzels and chips.