Metro Sports Report

Selecting top athletes not always easy

Sun - 24 Jun Written by Mark Dukes

Summertime for many media outlets often signals the time for them to select Athletes of the Year in their circulation or listenership area. Sometimes it’s clear cut, sometimes it’s very difficult.

For the 30th year, The Gazette showcased its Athletes of the Year last weekend. The winners, emerging from a deep pool, were Marcus Paige of Linn-Mar and Shelly Stumpff of Iowa City West. Both were very deserving.

You will find no criticism here of the selections made by my former colleagues that work for my former employer. The Gazette circulation area covers nearly half of Eastern Iowa, in which numerous talented boys and girls abound.

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Linn-Mar catcher Austin Banks (white) tags out Waterloo East's Bryce Frost at the plate in the first inning of Monday's nightcap at Linn-Mar. The Lions blanked the Trojans, 10-0, and also won the opener, 13-2, to sweep the twinbill. (Photo by Ken Gilchrist)

No. 8 Lions smack Waterloo East

Mon - 25 Jun Written by Don Taylor

The Linn-Mar Lions, the No. 8 team in the state according to the latest poll, did nothing to hurt their ranking Monday night as they hosted Waterloo East in a Mississippi Valley Conference doubleheader.

The Lions put together 23 runs on 22 hits to go with quality pitching to defeat Waterloo East, 13-2 and 10-0, in a pair of five-inning games.

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Jourdan and J-Hawks bounce West twice

Mon - 25 Jun Written by Mike Koolbeck

There are a lot of players in high school baseball playing both games of a doubleheader.

Not many can bounce back from pitching a complete game in the opener and catch all seven innings of the nightcap.

Jefferson's Colten Jourdan is one such player.

Jourdan scattered six hits and struck out seven in the first game of Monday's twinbill against Waterloo West at Jefferson. The J-Hawks won, 8-1. He caught the nightcap and had a squeeze bunt that plated the go-ahead run in the nightcap and the J-Hawks won, 9-4.

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Former Metro preps in pro baseball

Mon - 25 Jun Written by Metro Sports Report

RYAN SWEENEY (Xavier, Boston Red Sox) -- Placed on 15-day disabled list June 17 with broken bone in foot. Year to date -- BA - .292, AB - 171, R - 19, H - 50, RBI - 13, 2B - 17, 3B - 1, HR - 0, SB - 0.

SCOTT SCHEBLER (Prairie, Great Lakes Loons (Dodgers), MWL) -- Started in left field Monday and was 0-for-4 in the Loons' 8-2 win at South Bend. Scott is 14-for-35 with nine RBIs, five doubles and a home run in his last nine games. Scott is tied for the Midwest League lead in triples (6) and is fifth in RBI (45). Year to date -- BA - .275, AB - 284, R - 39, H - 78, RBI - 45, 2B - 21, 3B - 6, HR - 5, SB - 11.

KELLEN SWEENEY (Jefferson, Vancouver Canadians (Blue Jays), NWL) -- Started at third base Monday and was 0-for-3 with a walk and a run scored in Vancouver's 13-2 loss at Everett. Vancouver totals -- BA - .118, AB - 34, R - 6, H - 4, RBI - 2, 2B - 2, 3B - 0, HR - 0, SB - 0.

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Former Washington swimmer Ryan Phelan takes a break from his workout at the University of Iowa pool last week. Phelan and two other former Cedar Rapids preps - BJ Kolsrud and Katie Anton - will compete at this week's Olympic Swimming Trials in Omaha. (Photo by Becki Eyman)

Three locals living Olympic Trials dream

Sun - 24 Jun Written by Sher Jasperse

Brede (BJ) Kolsrud will never forget the day, the moment, the feeling.

His storied swimming career at Washington High School and Stanford University was at its end. He had completed his Master’s degree in mechanical engineering at Stanford and was days from beginning his job as a combustion engineer at Siemens Energy in Charlotte, N.C.

Just over a year ago, with the start of his new job delayed a few days from June until July, he decided to compete in one last swim meet.

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