Metro Sports Report

Freese suspended from Wash baseball team

Dakota Freese, the star pitcher for the Cedar Rapids Washington baseball team, has been suspended for the first seven games of the 2011 season for a violation of school rules.

Paul James, the activities director at Washington, confirmed the suspension Tuesday afternoon.

Freese, a senior, is a 6-foot-4 righthander who made third team all-state last season as a utility player. He had a 6-3 pitching record and 2.69 ERA in 2010, with 91 strikeouts in 57 1/3 innings. He also hit .301 with three homers and 17 RBIs.

Freese has been training with the Washington track team and will serve part of his suspension during the current track season. Otherwise, Freese would have faced a 13-game suspension from the baseball team (one-third of the regular season).

James said Freese had been working out with the track team, although not competing in meets, prior to the school violation.

According to the Washington schedule, barring postponements Freese would be eligible to start playing May 31 when the Warriors play Iowa City High.

Freese has committed to play college baseball at LSU-Eunice, a junior college in Louisiana. Perfect Game USA rates Freese as the third-best senior in Iowa for the 2011 major league draft in June. His fastball has been clocked at 92 mph.

Foreman takes a break, still wins

Just three days after Brooke Foreman placed in three events in the Drake Relays, she was back at it with Washington at the Prairie Relays on Tuesday.

Foreman ran well again, although she didn’t run her usual slate of races.

"After Drake, I am very tired so my coach just wanted to put me in some 100's to see if I could get my time down,” Foreman said.

Foreman picked up two victories, one in the 100 meter dash and one in the 100 hurdles. She also helped the 4x100 relay team to a second place finish.

Last season Foreman placed seventh in the state in the 100 meter dash, but this year, she hasn’t run it much, focusing instead on hurdles.

"My time hasn't been where I've wanted it to be, but I have found other races that I can be much better at this season," she said.

In the 100 meter race at the Prairie Relays, Foreman was credited with the win, running a 12.53, .02 seconds faster than teammate Kadejah Sanders, though Foreman is fairly sure Sanders edged her out in the end.

“I haven't run the 100 since early in the season,” Foreman said. “I got out well, but I think my teammate caught me at the end, Kadejah, but they announced me as first so I was a little confused."

'Pretty good' round gives Askelson title

CORALVILLE - Xavier High School senior Kimmy Askelson tore a muscle in her right calf last spring and had her appendix removed last November.

Just imagine how good she'll be if she stays healthy for an extended period of time.

Askelson fired a 6-over-par 77 Monday to win the Mississippi Valley Conference Super Meet by two strokes on a sunny, breezy day at the Brown Deer Golf Club.

Askelson's calf is not fully healed, but she does stretching exercises to keep it loose and limber for meets. She struggled a little with a 40 on the front-9 Monday, but was a model of consistency with a 2-over 37 on the back-9.

Askelson said she felt "pretty good" about her 77.

"This course isn't easy, especially with the wind out there," she said. "I'll take it."

Amy Ihm of Dubuque Wahlert and Allison Rolinger of Cedar Falls tied for second place with 79s. Megan Furnish of Jefferson tied for sixth place with an 82 and Jehri Wagner of Prairie placed 10th with an 86.

Askelson stands only 5-foot-5 and 105 pounds, but Xavier Coach Julie Kadlec said her star golfer has "bulked up" since last year.

"It doesn't look like it. She's so slight, but she really has," said Kadlec, laughing. "She's gotten stronger."

Askelson said she began serious weight-training last fall, then had to take a break following her appendectomy. "I couldn't lift more than five pounds for a couple of weeks," she said. "I had to take it really easy."

Marion 5th at own invitational

The Marion boys didn't win any events, but they ran well enough to score 71 points and finish fifth out of 14 teams at their home meet on Monday.

"I thought they made some strides, but they still have some work to do,” Coach Chad Zrudsky said. “We are at a point where we have had some injuries and things keeping our kids from running and the weather hasn't helped, so we are trying to get some things figured out here and shuffle some things around with relays and individuals and try to get the best line-up for conference."

DeWitt Central won the meet with a score of 113 followed by Western Dubuque with 103 and Solon with 90.

The Indians' two best events were the 100 meter dash and the distance medley, which both came in second.