Saturday, November 23, 2024
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Metro Sports Report

Strapped to a chair and feeling lucky

IOWA CITY -- Linn-Mar sophomore Jordan Houdeshell set a personal record in the shot put at the Forwald Relays Thursday, but there wasn't much time to celebrate.

He had to climb off the special chair he uses in the shot put, scamper into his wheelchair, roll himself through the grass to a paved lane and get to the track.

Once there, he had to switch wheelchairs -- from his regular chair to his racing chair or "bike" -- strap himself in, adjust his helmet and wheel himself to the starting line.

He did it all successfully, with determination and self-reliance. Houdeshell is an athlete; wheelchair is merely the adjective that precedes it.

Houdeshell is a full-fledged member of the Linn-Mar boys track team, even though he cannot walk or run.

"He does exactly what the other guys do in practice," Linn-Mar Coach Ken Hopkins said. "He just uses his arms instead of his legs. He's a great competitor, a great kid."

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5-sport Schebler focuses on baseball

Scott Schebler played five sports at Cedar Rapids Prairie and was all-state in three of them, so he squeezed as much out of his high school years as possible.

He believes his hyper-active schedule may have slowed his development as a pro baseball player, but he has great memories from his years at Prairie and no regrets. He played football, basketball, baseball, soccer and ran track.

"I'm glad I did all five," he told the Metro Sports Report this week. "If I would have narrowed it down, yes, I could have taken away a little bit of the learning curve I'm facing now, but I wouldn't change my mind today. If I could go back and do it again, I wouldn't change anything."

Schebler, 20, is a rookie outfielder with the Los Angeles Dodgers after signing a pro contract for $300,000 last August. He's currently assigned to extended spring training in Glendale, Ariz., where he practices and plays every day.

Schebler hit a robust .561 with seven home runs and 55 RBIs as a senior at Prairie in 2009, then hit .446 with 20 homers and 82 RBIs at Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) last season. He signed with Wichita State and was leaning that way, but the Dodgers convinced him to turn pro after taking him in the 26th round of the 2010 draft.

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Linn-Mar wins 9 titles at PV boys tennis invite

PLEASANT VALLEY -- Linn-Mar won every match and rolled to the championship Saturday at the Pleasant Valley Invitational.

"We had one of our best days of tennis so far this season," Linn-Mar Coach Chris Wundram said. "Everyone played at a high level and we had some great results."

Linn-Mar was first with 27 points and Pleasant Valley second with 16. Pleasant Valley finished second in eight of the nine championship matches.

Pleasant Valley Invitational

Team Scores
1. Linn-Mar 27; 2. Pleasant Valley 16; 3. Geneseo 11; 4. Camanche 7; 5. Pleasant Valley JV 2; 6. Davenport West 1; 7. North Scott 0; 7. Western Dubuque 0.

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J-Hawks finally get their kicks

It was an offensive explosion for Jefferson at lower Kingston on Thursday as the J-Hawks topped Iowa City High, 4-0, n a Mississippi Valley Conference girls soccer game.

Jefferson took control of the game right out of the gates and put the pressure on the Little Hawks for the entire first half.  The J-Hawks (3-4, 2-2 MVC) were finally able to break through in the 13th minute when sophomore Katie Dierks found the back of the net.

“We did a give and go,” Dierks said. “I passed it to Trina (Gallagher) and she passed it back to me after I had gotten around a girl, then I think I took a touch in and just shot.”

The shot was a beauty as Dierks was able to chip it over the keeper from inside the 18-yard box and into the upper 90 over the keepers outstretched hands.

That goal opened up the flood gates for the J-Hawks as Dierks scored again four minutes later and Gallagher piled on another less than 40 seconds later to put Jefferson up 3-0.

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Linn-Mar girls win West Delaware Invite

MANCHESTER - Carolyn Newhouse and Amanda Piche collected impressive victories Thursday as Linn-Mar won the West Delaware Invitational girls track meet.

Newhouse captured the 1500-meter run in 5:00.39, beating the runnerup by more than seven seconds. Piche took the discus at 140 feet, 8 inches, topping the second-place finisher by 26 feet.

Linn-Mar also won the 4x400 relay and the 4x800 relay.

The Lions finished with 112 points in the 11-team field to beat Western Dubuque by 13.5 points. Marion finished last with 18.5 points. The Indians placed second behind Linn-Mar in the 4x800 relay.

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