Kennedy Boys Track

Cougars, Lions roar at IC track

IOWA CITY - Dalles Jacobus of Cedar Rapids Kennedy won the shot put and the discus at the Hollingsworth Relays in Iowa City Saturday.

Jacobus captured the shot put with a toss of 51 feet. He claimed the discus with a fling of 154 feet, 11 inches.

Willie Rhoads of Kennedy won the high jump at 6 feet, 4 inches. Shaun Beyer also cleared 6-4 for the Cougars, but Rhoads won the title with fewer misses.

The Linn-Mar Lions set a meet record in the 4x200 relay with Austin Flieder, Tristan Freese, Griffin Freese and Daniel Gorsich timed in 1:29.58. It was the only meet record for the day.

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Willie Rhoads wins Metro Spotlight Award

Willie Rhoads of Cedar Rapids Kennedy is the winner of the Metro Spotlight Award for high school boys this week, the Metro Sports Report announced Sunday.

Rhoads, a senior, is one of the top high jumpers and long jumpers in the state for the Kennedy track team. He ranks second in the state in the high school with a leap of 6 feet, 6 inches and ranks seventh in the long jump at 20 feet, 11 1/4 inches.

Rhoads placed sixth in the high jump at the state meet last year and is looking to move up this season.

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Bokoyo wins sprints for J-Hawks

Merje' Bokoyo has arrived at Cedar Rapids Jefferson this year with speed.

Bokoyo, a transfer student from Galesburg, Ill., captured the 100 and 200 meter dashes at the John Ask Relays Saturday on a cool, sunny day at Kingston Stadium.

Bokoyo claimed the 100 meter dash in a hand-held time of 10.92 seconds, which Jefferson Coach Ron Tower said would translate to about a 11.15 electronic clocking.

"That's a good time. No question, this early, in the cold," said Tower.

Bokoyo helped Galesburg finished third in the 4x100 relay and sixth in the 4x200 relay at the Class 2A state meet in Illinois last year. Tower said Bokoyo is originally from the Congo in Africa.

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Rhoads loves jumping high for Cougars

CEDAR FALLS - Willie Rhoads loves dunking basketballs.

"If you search on YouTube, I swear to god there are like 100 videos," he said Monday. "It's kind of ridiculous."

The odd thing is, Rhoads does not play basketball for Kennedy. He's a high jumper, and a darn good one. Dunking is part of his off-season training for track and field.

"At Kennedy, the 'Y,' every court in town," he said.

Rhoads jumped 6-foot-6 at the Dickinson Relays last week in his first meet of the season. He didn't go quite that high Monday, but his top jump of 6-foot-4 was good enough to capture top honors at the Mississippi Valley Conference indoor meet in the UNI-Dome.

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