Metro Sports Report

Final Four leaves Stokes hungry for more

From the Iowa state basketball tournament one year to the NCAA Final Four the next.

Not many college freshmen get to make that journey, and former Linn-Mar All-American Kiah Stokes struggled to find words to describe the experience.

It was “amazing” and “exciting” to be part of the University of Connecticut Huskies squad that reached the summit of women’s basketball in Denver last weekend, joining the tournament’s three other top seeds at the Final Four. It was “heartbreaking” to come within minutes of reaching the final game, only to lose the semifinal contest to Notre Dame in overtime.

Ryan Sweeney enjoys fresh start with Red Sox

DETROIT - The first five batters in the Boston Red Sox lineup have a chance to be all-stars again this season and lead Boston to the playoffs.

The sixth hitter in the lineup is Ryan Sweeney, and he could turn out to be just as important as Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia, Adrian Gonzalez, David Ortiz and Kevin Youkilis.

Sweeney, the pride of Cedar Rapids, is surprised to be hitting sixth for the powerful Red Sox -- surprised and happy.

Edwards finds a home at Jefferson

For the past three years, Jason Edwards said he has felt like a man without a home.

Edwards is a counselor at Jefferson and during the fall he has been an assistant football coach for the J-Hawks. But during the winter he has been an assistant girls basketball coach at Washington.

"I kind of felt like the Washington people hated me in the fall and the Jefferson people hated me in the winter," he said.

He won't have to leave the southwest side campus anymore. Edwards was named the J-Hawks head girls basketball coach Friday. He replaces Larry Niemeyer, who resigned last month after 34 years at the school.

Lions race to Jeff Invitational record

The weather was not ideal for a big track meet Saturday afternoon at Kingston Stadium, but that didn’t slow some of the Metro athletes.

The Linn Mar Lions had a thrilling moment as they beat the rain and the field on their way to setting a Jefferson Invitational meet record in the distance medley. The Lions relay of Halley Morgan, Courtney Major, Audra Schmeinke, and Rachel Perry shocked powerhouses Iowa City West and Cedar Falls by running their way in to the records with a time of 4:21.26.

The time broke the previous record of 4:22.07 set by a foursome from Iowa City West in 2001.