Jefferson High School - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Ollinger nets 22 as J-Hawks fall

PLEASANT HILL - Sophomore Amanda Ollinger scored 22 points and grabbed seven rebounds Friday night as the Jefferson girls basketball team lost to Southeast Polk, 83-51, in its first game of the season.

Ollinger also had four assists, three blocked shots and a steal for the J-Hawks.

Freshman Kennedy Dighton finished with nine points and 11 rebounds in her first game with the Jefferson varsity. Kieley Brathwaite scored eight points.

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J-Hawks top Indians in girls jamboree

As part of a full night of season-opening exhibition games Friday in the Kennedy Jamboree, the Jefferson girls may have set a dubious record.

In their abbreviated 16-minute 34-28 win over Marion, the J-Hawks committed 18 fouls with 11 of them coming in the first quarter.

One of their players, Kieley Brathwaite, even managed to foul out despite a format in which coaches used their whole roster to get the kinks out.

“Obviously, we have to quit fouling so much,” said Jefferson Coach Jason Edwards. “The girls got a little too itchy and a little too grabby out there tonight.”

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Ollinger, Torson make all-state volleyball

Amanda Ollinger of Cedar Rapids Jefferson and Kayla Torson of Xavier have been named to the Des Moines Register all-state volleyball teams.

Ollinger, a sophomore, made second team all-state in Class 5A as an outside hitter. She led Class 5A in kills with 654 and helped the J-Hawks finish 19-22 and reach the regional finals.

Torson, a junior, made second team all-state in Class 4A as an outside hitter. She finished seventh in Class 4A in kills with 379 and helped the Saints finish 28-11 and reach the regional finals.

Ollinger fills many roles for J-Hawks

Amanda Ollinger is a 6-foot-2 center who can do just about anything you need on a basketball floor and do it well.

She handles the ball well enough to be a point guard, she shoots well enough to be an off-guard, she runs the floor like a small forward and she can post herself near the basket and bang around like a power forward.

"She can literally play any spot on the floor," Jefferson Coach Jason Edwards said Tuesday at practice. "If they want to guard her big, she can step out on the perimeter. If they want to guard her small, she can take them down low and put it in the basket.

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Drake nets 2 silver medals at state

MARSHALLTOWN - Judging strictly by her frowns, you might have thought Kelsey Drake had an awful day at the 48th annual state swimming meet in Marshalltown Saturday.

But that wasn't it. She simply wanted to swim faster, especially in the 100 butterfly, even though she submitted the best time of her life by a few tenths of a second.

Drake placed second in both the 200 individual medley and the 100 butterfly, both times to girls who are two or three years older than the Jefferson ninth grader. Her times in both events were good enough to earn her all-American consideration.

The frowns gave way to smiles after the meet as she realized what she had just accomplished in the crowded, noisy pool at the Marshalltown YMCA as just a freshman.

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Wodstrchill enters swim Hall of Fame

MARSHALLTOWN - Former Cedar Rapids Jefferson state champion Whitney Wodstrchill was inducted into the Iowa High High School Swim Coaches Association Hall of Fame Saturday during the state meet in Marshalltown.

Wodstrchill won three state titles for the J-Hawks during her career from 2000 to 2003 and owns (or is a part of) six school records. She won state titles in the 200 individual medley and 100 backstroke as a freshman and won the 100 backstroke title again as a senior.

Wodstrchill swam at Truman State University and helped her team win an NCAA Division II title in 2005. She placed second in the 200 backstroke at the Division II national meet and was a member of the national championship 800 freestyle relay in 2006.

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J-Hawks fall to PV in regional finals

DAVENPORT - One by one, Amanda Ollinger hugged all of her teammates in the Jefferson locker room Tuesday night after the J-Hawks lost to fifth-ranked Pleasant Valley in the regional finals of the Class 5A volleyball tournament at Davenport Central.

There were plenty of tears, but also an underlying sense of accomplishment for a team that made it within one step of the state tournament after winning only four matches a year ago.

Pleasant Valley kept the hard-hitting Ollinger under wraps most of the night and swept Jefferson, 25-23, 25-16, 25-16 to earn a spot at the state tournament next week at the U.S. Cellular Center in downtown Cedar Rapids.

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Drake qualifies 2nd in fly

Cedar Rapids Kennedy and Jennifer Jenks were the big winners at the regional swimming meets on Saturday.

Kennedy trimmed Iowa City West, 432.5 to 424, for the team championship at the regional in Iowa City and qualified for the state meet in nine events.

Michele Wasta of Kennedy won the regional title in the 100 butterfly. The Cougars also claimed regional crowns in the 200 medley relay and 200 freestyle relay.

Jenks, a freshman at Linn-Mar, captured the 50 freestyle and the 100 freestyle at the regional meet in Cedar Falls. Her time of 51.30 seconds in the 100 freestyle leads all qualifiers for the state meet.

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Ollinger powers J-Hawks by IC West

IOWA CITY - Cedar Rapids Jefferson's Amanda Ollinger does not need a hockey mask or chainsaw to be scary.

The powerful 6-foot-1 sophomore piled up 45 kills on Halloween and helped lead the J-Hawks to a 25-23, 16-25, 19-25, 27-25, 15-13 thriller over Iowa City West on Thursday in a Class 5A Regional semifinal at West High.

"Every time she hits, she's able to do anything from anywhere," Jefferson setter Kaylie Zitek said.

And Ollinger was everywhere Thursday, scoring the last two points to secure Game 4 and the last three to deliver Game 5. Her final spike sent her team and Jefferson students into a frenzied celebration on the court.

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