Metro Sports Report

Hawkeyes could feast on Hoosiers & Gophers

As we come to homecoming day, the Iowa Hawkeyes have chosen their opponent well. Dear old Indiana.

But as you well know, the Hoosiers have made it difficult for the Hawks the last couple of seasons. I was standing down on the sidelines at Bloomington, Ind., in the last second of the game last year when Indiana's Damarlo Belcher had the ball right in his mitts and dropped it and the Hawks survived. That's how close it was.

I don't expect that sort of close game this year. Iowa in the next two weeks faces two of the poorest teams in college football in IU and Minnesota. The Hawks will be heavily favored in both of them, and those two wins would make them bowl-eligible going into November.

We shall see what Iowa can do in the stretch run, where Kirk Ferentz usually has his team at its best. Yes, there will be two more weeks of development and then the games that will decide the Hawkeyes' season will come along.

If you remember, which I'm sure you don't, I picked Iowa to lose two games during the regular season. And remember my friends, we are still standing on two defeats at this time, and the opportunity is there for Iowa to win out.

Development will be the name of the game against Indiana and Minnesota.

ON THE HIGH SCHOOL front, we come to playoff time. And again I would suggest to the Iowa High School Athletic Association, just as I would suggest to the NCAA basketball committee, they might as well make everybody eligible for the playoffs.

Evans wins title, no strings attached

MARSHALLTOWN - Linn-Mar sophomore Josh Evans is an extraordinary runner, but he needs practice tying his shoes.

Evans won the Class 4A district cross country title Thursday afternoon at Marshalltown Community College even though both of his shoelaces came undone during the race.

Evans won the race by 20 seconds and could have stopped to tie them, but kept running with the loose strings.

Linn-Mar girls race to 4A regional title

MARSHALLTOWN - The Linn-Mar High School girls cross country team flexed its muscles at the Class 4A regional meet at Marshalltown Community College Thursday afternoon.

The Lions placed five runners in the top-11 and won the team championship with 33 points on a chilly, windy day.

Carolyn Newhouse led Linn-Mar in third place in 15 minutes, 17 seconds as the Lions qualified for the state meet in Fort Dodge on Oct. 29. Rachel Perry placed fourth, Morgan Uridil sixth, Maddie Saville ninth and Brooklyn Kascel 11th.

Wash, Marion boys; Kennedy girls to state

It was state meet qualifying time Thursday for cross country teams across Iowa and the Metro teams fared well. Besides the Linn-Mar boys and girls qualifying, the Washington and Marion boys and Kennedy girls also made it, as well as Shannon Gorman for the Washington girls and Ben Schueler for the Xavier boys.

The state meet is Oct. 29 at Fort Dodge. The top three teams and top 10 individuals in each boys district and girls regional qualified for the state meet.

Robert Hogg nipped teammate Etienne Nzoyisaba by one second to win the Class 4A boys district title at Cedar Falls. The Warriors finished second in the team race. Cedar Falls placed five runners in the top nine to win the district title by 11 points over the Warriors. Dubuque Senior was a distant third. Kennedy was fifth and Jefferson seventh.