Metro Sports Report

Freshmen star for Cougars, Lions in pool

Brooke Timmerman, a talented freshman, drives 20 miles every day from Atkins to Cedar Rapids so she can attend Kennedy High School and swim for the Cougars.

Jennifer Jenks, another freshman, has been known as "Stephanie's Little Sister" much of her life, but she's another talented member of the family and a top-notch swimmer for the Linn-Mar Lions.

The two ninth graders grabbed the headlines Tuesday night as Kennedy trimmed Linn-Mar, 110-76, in a Mississippi Valley Conference meet at the Kennedy pool.

Timmerman lives in the Benton Community school district, but the Bobcats do not have a swimming team. She has a school driver's permit and happily commutes to northeast Cedar Rapids every day, although she's still getting accustomed to a bigger school.

"It's scary," she said. "There are so many people and it's hard to get through the halls. I avoid crowds of people and take the back route."

Timmerman took the front route in the pool Tuesday and captured the 200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke. She also swam on the triumphant 200 medley relay.

Kernels aiming for back-to-back titles

In baseball's postseason, “Every single pitch is so important. Every at-bat, no matter what inning.”

That was Cedar Rapids Kernels third baseman Travis Harrison talking about the playoffs, which start Wednesday night in Davenport against the Quad Cities River Bandits.

Harrison knows what he’s talking about. He was a member of the rookie-level Elizabethton Twins team that won the Appalachian League title a year ago.

Elizabethton won two “best-of-three games” series to claim the league crown, but Harrison and his teammates will need to equal that this year just to earn a berth in the Midwest League championship series as the representative of the league’s Western Division.

If they can best the River Bandits in the first best-of-three series, they’ll take on the survivor of a similar series between Clinton and Beloit in another best-of-three challenge. The championship series between the Eastern and Western Division finalists is a best-of-five series that will decide who wears the Midwest League crown for 2013.

Cedar Rapids has not worn that crown since 1994 and has not qualified for the league championship series since 1997.

Zach clinches Presidents Cup berth

Just when it appeared Steve Stricker might burst Zach Johnson’ bubble to make the United States Presidents Cup golf team, Johnson took it upon himself to secure a spot on the squad Monday.

Johnson, 37-year-old Cedar Rapids product, drained a 26-foot birdie on his last hole at the Deutsche Bank Championship to qualify for his third Presidents Cup team. The Deutsche Bank was the final event in the qualifying process.

Ten players automatically qualify for the Presidents Cup, which will be played Oct. 3-6 at the Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio. Johnson entered the Deutsche Bank in 10th place, just behind Webb Simpson and just ahead of Steve Stricker.

MSR offers all-time Metro records section

Xavier’s Reggie Schulte set three Metro football records last season.

Or so we think.

Metro Sports Report has begun an effort to compile all-time football records for individual game, season and career performances. We eventually intend to come up with definitive listings, but undoubtedly there are some holes at this point in the process.