Metro Sports Report

Frosh Breitbach stars for Saints girls

Freshman Molly Breitbach was the bright spot for host Xavier in an otherwise poor showing for the Saints at the Xavier Invitational.

Breitbach won the 100 meter dash, was a part of the winning 4x200 relay, and was on the sprint medley that took second Friday at Xavier.

“She’s a hard worker, she will do whatever she is asked,” Xavier Coach Russ Camacho said. “There is not much more you can ask from her.”

As a team, the Saints struggled as their guests were more than willing to beat up on them all night. The Saints finished tied with Kennedy for last with 54 points.

“There were some highlights tonight and some things we need to work on,” Camacho said.

Kennedy joined the Saints to represent the Metro area at the invitational. The Cougars also struggled to keep up with the competition.

Kristin Huebsch got the Cougars their only first place finish by winning the high jump with a mark of 4-feet-10.

Cedar Falls won with 171.5 points and Benton placed second with 106 points.

Xavier girls soccer ranked No. 1, too

The Xavier girls soccer team is ranked No. 1 in Class 2A in the preseason rankings released Friday by the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union.

The Saints' boys soccer team also is ranked No. 1 to start the season.

Xavier won the last five Class 1A titles, but has been moved up to 2A this season as the IGHSAU expands from two to three classes.

Four Metro teams are ranked in the top 15 in Class 3A. Linn-Mar is No. 4, Kennedy No. 8, Jefferson No. 11 and Washington No. 14.

West Des Moines Valley, which won the Class 2A title last season, is ranked No. 1 in Class 3A. Iowa City West is No. 2.

LaPorte City Union, which was beaten in last year's 1A final by Xavier, is ranked No. 1 in Class 1A. Dubuque Wahlert is No. 2.

The girls soccer season opens April 4. The Metro Jamboree is April 5 at Kingston Stadium.

Top boys soccer teams on exhibition

The boys soccer season has not officially begun, but Kingston Stadium played host to the Metro Jamboree at Kingston Stadium that featured exhibition matchups of many teams that expect to run into each other in June at the state tournament.

Included in the field were the preseason No. 1 ranked teams in all three classes: Iowa City Regina (1A), Xavier (2A) and Iowa City West (3A). The field also boasted teams ranked second, third, fourth, sixth and 15th in their respective classes.

Montague to Maryville, in Star game tonight

Josh Montague will be one of the happiest guys in the Linn-Mar gym for the 2011 Eastern Iowa All-Star Games tonight.

He helped Linn-Mar win the Class 4A state title a few weeks ago, his injured right knee feels much better and now he knows where he'll play college basketball next season.

Montague, a 6-foot-6 forward, committed to Maryville University of St. Louis on Tuesday, picking Maryville over Truman State (Mo.) and Northern State (S.D.).

"I've been down there twice," he said Thursday night. "I've watched a game down there, and then I took an official visit. I really feel like I fit in with the team."

Montague said he's excited about attending college in St. Louis.

"I think it's really kind of nice, because you're in a big city, but the campus is a smaller school and it's in a little community right there, so you kind of have the best of both," he said.

Linn-Mar graduate Zach Bohannon, now at the Air Force Academy, helped Montague find a spot at Maryville. Kevin Carroll, the head coach at Maryville, was an assistant at Air Force when Bohannon enrolled at the service academy, and Bohannon recommended Carroll return to Linn-Mar and look at Montague.

"Zach got recruited by the same guy," he said. "Zach told him I'd be a guy he'd be looking for himself."

This was Carroll's first season at Maryville, an NCAA Division II school that finished 7-19 overall and 3-15 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference.

Montague averaged 10.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.6 blocked shots for the Lions this season. He missed four games late in the year after tearing the MCL in his right knee, but he returned for the state tournament and helped Linn-Mar win the title.