Kennedy's power-hitting southpaw pitcher Austin Christensen has been named the Iowa Gatorade Player of the Year in baseball.

Christensen is batting .684 with 10 home runs and 27 RBIs through 13 games. He also  is 3-0 on the mound.

Christensen is Kennedy's career home run leader with 33. His 24 wins as a pitcher are two shy of the Kennedy career record held by Danny Bales.

Christensen is the fourth Metro athlete to be named a Gatorade Player of the Year this year and the second from Kennedy. Linn-Mar's Kiah Stokes was a two-time winner in girls basketball, Jefferson's Jarrod Uthoff was chosen in boys basketball and Kennedy junior Gabe Christianson was named in boys soccer.

Christensen has signed a national letter of intent to play baseball at Nebraska. He was not chosen in the recent Major League Baseball first-year player draft.