Metro Sports Report

J-Hawks take down No. 1 Xavier in OT

No, it was not a repeat. But Thursday's game against Xavier did feel very familiar to Tuesday night's contest at Kennedy.

Jefferson’s Eric Jones, who scored the game winner in double-overtime against Kennedy, slipped a goal in to the net off a nicely played through ball from Stefan Krohn and the J-Hawks won an overtime thriller, 1-0, at Xavier.

“Right now it is surreal,” Jones said. “I am just happy I am in the right spot at the right time to put them away.”

Burke gets a dose of life's hurdles

It was the first time in her life she’d run the grueling 400-meter hurdles, and when Washington sophomore Elena Burke came to the next to last hurdle at Tuesday’s Warrior Invitational meet she stopped.

Putting her right hand on the crossbar, she wearily lifted herself over a barricade nearly chest high on her petite frame.  And while the spunky sprinter had led the junior varsity race from the start, she ended up in second on a photo finish.

C.R. schools told to cut $105,000 in salaries

The Cedar Rapids Community School District plans to cut $105,000 in salaries for coaches and others involved in co-curricular activities at Jefferson, Kennedy and Washington high schools and the six middle schools.

Each of the three high schools has been told to slash $25,000 in salaries from its budget for the 2012-13 school year and each of the six middle schools has been told to trim $5,000. Added together, it comes to $105,000 in proposed reductions.

Jill Cirivello, the executive director for human resources for the school district, sent a memo Wednesday to the high school principals, high school athletic directors and middle school principals announcing the expected cuts. The Metro Sports Report obtained a copy of the memo Wednesday afternoon.

Scott Kibby, the activities director at Jefferson, estimated his school might have to eliminate five to seven positions in order to meet the $25,000 reduction.

The latest coaching tree

Over the years sports fans have read countless articles about "Coaching Trees." A "Coaching Tree" occurs when several assistant coaches from a highly successful program are hired themselves to be head coaches. Whether it be in college or professional athletics, this phenomenon happens quite often and each are very unique in their own separate way.

I was reminded about another unique "Tree" close to home last Saturday morning on our Coaches Corner Show, heard 9 am Saturdays, on KGYM AM-FM.

Washington boys track coach Bill Pinckney was one of my guests and during our conversation we talked about the recent announcement of Jason Edwards being named girls basketball coach at Jefferson.

Edwards was a former athlete at Washington and coached alongside Pinckney on the Washington football staff under then head coach Paul James, now the athletic director for the Warriors. Edwards is in his third year as a counselor at Jefferson, but had remained an assistant coach in the Washington girls basketball program for head coach Frank Howell.