Metro Sports Report

Young Lions answer season's first test

It was a battle, a battle with not only their opponent other but also the rough weather.

“It was a hard match. They played very hard,” Linn-Mar Coach Steve Dickinson said of his Lions. “The weather conditions didn’t make it ideal but both teams worked hard.”

With a chilly rain throughout the cool, breezy night Linn-Mar’s youthful team was able to clip 2A 12th-ranked Prairie, 1-0, Thursday night at John Wall Field.

Kamin bursts onto Metro golf scene

MJ Kamin got some funny looks from golfers on the other teams last spring when she competed in junior varsity meets for Cedar Rapids Washington as a freshman.

"It took about five holes before they said, 'Why aren't you playing varsity?,' and then I'd have to tell them the story," she related Wednesday at Airport National.

Kamin lives in the Kennedy school district and open-rolled at Washington, which meant she was not eligible for varsity competition as a ninth grader due to Cedar Rapids district rules.

"It was frustrating at first, but I kind of got used to playing JV," she said.

Kamin showed Wednesday that she's one of the top high school golfers in the Metro area by firing a 74 and finishing second at the CRANDIC tournament.

Christensen, Freese sit and wait

Austin Christensen and Dakota Freese had high hopes when they joined their college baseball teams last summer, but it's turned out to be a season of disappointment for both of the talented ballplayers from Cedar Rapids.

Christensen, the Iowa Gatorade Player of the Year at Cedar Rapids Kennedy in 2011, hurt his left elbow this winter and probably will be redshirted at the University of Nebraska, which is competing for the Big Ten title this season.

Freese, who was picked in the 34th round of the 2011 major league draft after playing at Cedar Rapids Washington, is academically ineligible at LSU Eunice, which is the top-ranked junior college team in the country with a 38-3 record.

Their new clubs are successful, but neither player has been able to contribute as a freshman.

Ophoff shatters Hawkins Relays records

Linn-Mar senior Brandon Ophoff claimed he got a little lucky at the 47th Annual Hawkins Relays at Prairie High School on Tuesday.

It's funny how lucky a guy gets when he combines talent, hard work and determination into great success.

Ophoff shattered meet records in the 110 meter high hurdles and 400 low hurdles, grabbed the state lead in both events, set personal bests in both races and broke Kyle Dunn's school record in the 110 highs.

"I got a little bit of a breeze at my back, a little bit of luck," Ophoff said after his remarkable performance. "I think God was looking over me tonight, that's for sure, because those were some good times. I'm glad today went the way it did."

Ophoff zoomed to victory in the 110 high hurdles in 13.9 seconds, smashing the meet record of 14.42 and breaking Dunn's school mark of 13.96 set just a year ago.