Metro Sports Report

Cougars 6th, Saints 10th in golf poll

Kennedy is ranked No. 6 and Xavier No. 10 in this week's Class 4A boys golf poll released Sunday by the Iowa High School Golf Coaches Association.

Kennedy is the top-ranked team in the Mississippi Valley Conference. Cedar Falls is No. 7 and Xavier No. 10.

Other ranked Metro teams are Linn-Mar (15), Prairie (19), Washington (22) and Jefferson (27). Rankings are based on a team's nine-hole scoring average in its meets.

Kennedy senior Cody Bell is the top-ranked player in the Metro in the individual rankings. He is No. 9 in the state with a 37.76 stroke average per nine holes. Tyler McCann is 15th and Kennedy's Brigham Stewart 22nd.

Knee injuries in high school football

The knee is the second most common site of injury that occurs in all high school athletes, and the most common site of injury to high school football players.

Research has shown that 20 percent of all high school football injuries occur at or around the knee. The most common types of knee injuries in high school football are: incomplete ligament tears, complete ligament tears, torn cartilage, fracture/dislocations, tendon tears, and contusions.

Up to 40 percent of knee injuries in high school football may require surgery at some point. From a medical and a purely athletic standpoint, knees are clearly the most valuable body part of the high school football player.

Let’s take a look at the key internal parts of the knee most vulnerable to football injury (see diagram):

Ligaments: There are four main ligaments of the knee: two on the sides of the joint (medial (inner) and lateral (outer) collateral ligaments) and two on the inside of the joint (anterior (front) and posterior (rear) cruciate ligaments).

Cartilage: There are two half-moon shaped cartilage (medial and lateral meniscus) on the inside of the joint and a thin layer of cartilage that covers the bones on the inside of the knee joint (articular cartilage).

Another good tourney run for Marion

The way Marion volleyball coach Roxanne Paulsen figures it, going up against tough competition early in the season will only make her team stronger in the end.

And while the Indians' 8-5 record may not show it, she says they're getting better and better.

"We've been playing some good quality teams," Paulsen said late Saturday afternoon. "The kids are learning some things they need to do before we get into the regionals.

"But we still have a young team, and we're improving."

On Saturday at the Linn-Mar Invitational, the Indians got whomped 25-10, 25-10 by 4A powerhouse Pleasant Valley in the championship semifinals.

Pleasant Valley proceeded to win the title by beating Dubuque Hempstead in a barnburner of a three-game finale and finished the day with six straight victories.

The 18th Street Boxing Club: Memories of a Marion boyhood

(Fourth in a series)

The “Joe Palooka” comic strip in the Cedar Rapids Gazette inspired me, at the age of 10, to become a boxer. My dreams of glory in the ring distressed my father. Although he was a sports fan himself, he was wary of his son’s interest in an activity that punished even the best in the business.

I had boxed once. On a rainy day at Camp Wapsie Y, the counselors matched willing boys of similar ages against one another in short bouts. There were four boys in my category. In the first match, a very strong boy—who looked as if he had experience—mercilessly pounded his opponent.