Metro Sports Report

Washington quarterback Reid Snitker (red) leaves a trio of Wahlert defenders in his wake after running for his second touchdown Thursday at Kingston Stadium. The Warriors won their sixth straight game, 31-13, clinched a tie for the MVC Valley title and a first-round home playoff date. (Photo by Ed Montgomery)

Surging Warriors clinch Valley title

Fri - 25 Oct Written by Ryan Suchomel

Cedar Rapids Washington did 6-3 the hard way, winning its sixth straight in Week 9 after starting the season 0-3.

The Warriors beat Dubuque Wahlert, 31-13, Thursday at Kingston Stadium to clinch at least a share of the Valley Division crown in the Mississippi Valley Conference and a home playoff game on Wednesday.

Their opponent will be decided after Friday night's games.

"I couldn't see this at 0-3," junior linebacker Connor Vincent said. "Unbelievable. We just put the work in. Everyone started doing their job."

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Prairie sophomore Jake Moore was the surprise winner at the Class 4A state qualifying cross country meet Thursday at Tuma soccer complex in Cedar Rapids. Moore led the Hawks to the boys team title. (Photo by Margaret O'Banion)

Prairie boys on stride for state meet

Thu - 24 Oct Written by Tom Fruehling

Led by its four horsemen in the orange checkerboard jerseys, the Cedar Rapids Prairie boys cross country team set sights on a state championship by running away from the field in the regional qualifying meet Thursday afternoon at the Tuma Soccer Complex.

The Kennedy girls, meanwhile, punched their own ticket to next week's state meet in Fort Dodge with a runnerup finish behind Iowa City West in team competition.

And though she didn't come close to winning, Washington's future U.S. Naval Academy cadet Shannon Gorman made waves for herself by coming in second to West's indefatigable Ashlynn Yokom.

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Linn-Mar's Amber Decker (right) sprints past Elyse Prescott from Urbandale to take first place Thursday in the Class 4A state qualifying cross country meet at Marshalltown. Linn-Mar finished second in the team race to quaify for next week's state cross country meet. (Photo by Ken Gilchrist)

Gutsy Lions race to state meet

Thu - 24 Oct Written by Jim Ecker

MARSHALLTOWN - The Linn-Mar girls cross country team wrote its own version of "Profiles In Courage" Thursday afternoon at the Class 4A state qualifier in Marshalltown.

Amber Decker passed two runners with a terrific kick to win the race, draining herself to the point of exhaustion, and a little later Maddie Saville crossed the finish line and dissolved in tears after running the 4K course with stabbing pain in her left foot.

"It really hurts," said Saville, "but I don't know ... Sometimes you have to suck it up."

Saville is normally one of Linn-Mar's top runners, but she finished 20th overall with the foot injury and did not count in the team standings. Nonetheless, she wanted to race and try to help the Lions make the state meet.

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Xavier girls lead 3A runners to state

Thu - 24 Oct Written by Metro Sports Report

SOLON - The Xavier girls cross country team placed third at the Class 3A race in Solon Thursday to qualify for the state meet in Fort Dodge Nov. 2.

Jenny Dickes finished fourth for the Saints and Emiko Coffey was sixth. Marinna Schroud (14th), Addy Hoffman (17th) and Sydney Oakley (31st) helped Xavier score 72 points to finish behind Davenport Assumption and Mount Vernon/Lisbon to grab the third and final spot at state.

Madison Bach of Marion placed fifth to qualify for the state meet as the top-10 individuals also advanced to Fort Dodge. The Marion Indians finished sixth in the team standings.

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Football prevues - Oct. 24-25

Wed - 23 Oct Written by Metro Sports Report

The final two nights of the regular season kickoff Thursday with most of the spots already decided for the football playoffs.

Xavier, Kennedy, Prairie and Washington all have wrapped up playoff berths.

Marion has a shot at making the playoffs, but needs some help.

Linn-Mar, Jefferson and Cedar Valley Christian will stay at home.

That's the simplified version. The rest of the story involves math and as I told the blackjack dealer in Vegas last week, "Too much math gives me a headache."

At the risk of temporary blindness, here we go with the rest of the story.

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