Kennedy High School - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Hayden wins Metro Spotlight Award

Sydney Hayden of Cedar Rapids Kennedy is the winner of the Metro Spotlight Award for high school girls this week, the Metro Sports Report announced Sunday.

Hayden, a 5-foot-5 senior, has been a major factor for the Kennedy basketball team this season with her outside shooting, ballhandling and defense. She is averaging 13.9 points and leads Class 5A with 38 3-pointers in 10 games.

The Cougars are ranked No. 4 in the state with a 9-1 record.

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No. 4 Cougars, No. 9 Lions on collision course

If you like girls basketball, you might want to circle Tuesday, Jan. 5 on your calendar as a "must see" game for the New Year.

The Kennedy Cougars will host the Linn-Mar Lions that night at 7:30 in a showdown for early bragging rights in the Metro area. Kennedy is ranked No. 4 in Class 5A with a 9-1 record, while Linn-Mar is ranked No. 9 in Class 5A with a 6-1 mark.

The Cougars feature a strong 1-2 punch with Lela Sellers and sharpshooter Sydney Hayden, while the Lions counter with a strong 1-2 punch of their own with Amanda Ollinger and Kamryn Finley.

All four of those athletes will play Division I sports in college. Sellers has signed with Liberty University for basketball, Hayden is headed to the University of Northern Iowa for soccer, Ollinger has signed with Iowa for basketball and Finley, just a sophomore, already has basketball offers from Northern Iowa and Drake.

Ollinger leads the Metro in scoring and ranks third in rebounding, while Sellers leads the Metro in rebounding and ranks second in scoring.

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No. 4 Cougars roll to 9-1 record

Tony Vis does not need anything else for Christmas.

The Kennedy girls basketball coach already has a team that is ranked No. 4 in the state and boasts a sparkling 9-1 record with a nine-game winning streak.

The Cougars sailed into the holiday break Monday with a 77-34 victory over Fairfield as Sydney Hayden popped in 18 points, Hailey Dolphin netted 15 points and Lela Sellers added 13.

Vis likes what he's seen during the first half of the season.

"I really like the chemistry," he said. "You can see when we walked out, smiles on their faces. They like each other, and they work hard for each other. And it's a fun group to coach."

Sellers is averaging 18.6 points, Hayden follows at 13.9 and Dolphin has raised her mark to 10.2 points, giving Kennedy three players in double figures. Carly Langhurst, Linden Runels, Olivia Hellweg and Ashley Hamilton have combined to average another 16.6 per game.

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Brewster sparks Cougars by Solon

SOLON - Drake Brewster scored 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds Monday night as the Kennedy Cougars topped Solon, 68-44, at Solon.

The Cougars enter the holiday break with a 3-4 record.

Derrick Diggins collected 10 points and six assists for Kennedy. Shaun Beyer scored nine points, Derek Girling eight points and Nic Duehr eight points.

KENNEDY (68): Haynes 3 0-0 7, Brewster 6 1-1 14, Gardner 0 1-3 1, Girling 3 0-0 8, Berst 0 0-0 0, Duehr 3 2-2 8, Olejniczak 0 0-0 0, Krall 1 0-0 2, Jenkins 0 0-0 0, Diggins 4 2-4 10, Foley 0 2-2 2, Bisenius 2 0-0 5, Harris 0 0-0 0, Beyer 4 0-0 9 Wiebel 0 0-0 0, King 0 0-0 0, Wall 1 0-1 2. Totals: 27 8-13 68.

3-point goals - Girling 2, Haynes 1, Brewster 1, Bisenius 1, Beyer 1.

Kennedy swimmers sweep past J-Hawks

The Kennedy boys swimming team won all 11 varsity events Monday night en route to a 119-51 dual meet victory over Jefferson at the Kennedy pool.

Stefan Kitsos, Brady Gibson and Cade Schoenauer led the Cougars. Each won two individual events and were a part of two winning relays.

Kennedy 119, Jefferson 51
EVENT WINNERS

200 medley relay: Kennedy (Stefan Kitsos, Reece Linder, Cade Schoenauer, Dawson Gibbons) 1:45.60
200 free: Brady Gibson (K) 1:55.69
200 IM: Stefan Kitsos (K) 2:07.91
50 free: Cade Schoenauer (K) 23.44
100 fly: Cade Schoenauer (K) 57.21
100 free: Brady Gibson (K) 52.35
500 free: Andrew Waters (K) 5:33.78
200 free relay: Kennedy (Stefan Kitsos, Brady Gibson, Dawson Gibbons, Reece Linder) 1:35.20
100 back: Tre Hayward (K) 1:03.98
100 breast: Stefan Kitsos (K) 1:00.67
400 free relay: Kennedy (Brady Gibson, Cade Schoenauer, Dawson Gibbons, Andrew Waters), 3:36.28

Four Cougars win titles at Fort Madison

The Kennedy wrestling team crowned four individual champions and finished second in the team race Saturday at the Fort Madison Invitational.

Nolan Hromidko (132), Logen Rodriguez (152), Ben Sarasin (160) and Garrett Kubovec (182) all took individual championships for the Cougars. Kennedy finished with 188.5 team points, second to champion Clinton (242.5).

Sam Pape was a runner-up finisher at 195 for Kennedy.

Sellers, Hayden spark No. 4 Cougars

DUBUQUE - Lela Sellers scored 26 points and Sydney Hayden popped in 20 Friday night as the fourth-ranked Kennedy Cougars topped Dubuque Hempstead, 65-57, in a Mississippi Valley Conference game in Dubuque.

Sellers grabbed 10 rebounds to finish with a double-double. She also had four assists and four steals.

Hayden canned six 3-pointers.

Kennedy won its eighth straight game and raised its record to 8-1.

KENNEDY (65): Langhurst 0 1-3 1, Hamilton 0 0-0 0, Hayden 6 2-2 20, Sellers 10 5-10 26, Hellweg 1 0-0 2, Dolphin 3 0-1 6, Runels 3 0-1 7, Meier 1 0-0 3. Totals 24 8-17 65.

Halftime - Kennedy 32, Hempstead 30. 3-point goals - Kennedy 9 (Hayden 6, Sellers 1, Runels 1, Meier 1).

Kennedy boys dunked by Hempstead

The Kennedy boys basketball trailed Dubuque Hempstead 34-19 and couldn’t come back in the second half, losing 57-44 to the Mustangs on Friday at Kennedy.

Derrick Diggins had 12 points and was the only player to score in double digits for the Cougars (2-4).

Connor Duax had 20 points for the Mustangs (3-2), Ryan McDonough had 15 and Lucas Duax added 10.

DUBUQUE HEMPSTEAD (59): L.Duax 4 0-0 10, C.Duax 6 5-7 20, McDonough 4 4-5 15, Crowder 2 0-0 4, Johnson 4 0-1 8, Sindberg 0 0-0 0, Cooksley 1 0-0 2. Totals 21 9-13 59.

KENNEDY (44): Haynes 1 0-0 3, Brewster 2 1-2 5, Gardner 0 0-0 0, Girling 1 0-0 2, Berst 3 0-0 8, Duehr 0 0-0 0, Diggins 4 2-4 12, Bisenius 2 0-0 5, Beyer 2 1-2 5, Wall 2 0-2 4. Totals 17 4-10 44.

Halftime – Dubuque Hempstead 34, Kennedy 19. 3-point goals – Dubuque Hempstead 8 (C.Duax 3, McDonough 3, L.Duax 2), Kennedy 6 (Berst 2, Diggins 2, Haynes, Bisenius).

Kennedy wrestlers knock off Warriors

The Kennedy wrestling team had three pins in a 57-22 win over Washington on Thursday at Kennedy.

Cam Shaver (113 pounds), Nolan Hromidko (132) and Logan Rodriguez (152) posted the pins for the Cougars.

Ronnie Arenas (120), Will Foreman (126) and Billy Faulkner (220) had pins for the Warriors.

KENNEDY 57, WASHINGTON 22
113 – Cam Shaver (K) pinned Jason Techau :51.
120 – Ronnie Arenas (W) pinned Gavin White 1:26.
126 – Will Foreman (W) pinned Cole Curfman 3:56.
132 – Nolan Hromidko (K) pinned Chris Karamitros :51.
138 – Dylan Ironside (K) dec. Logan Sears 3-2.
145 – Logan Black-Marchard (W) major dec. Noah Cunningham 12-2.
152 – Logen Rodriguez (K) pinned Tyonchi Johnson 2:19.
160 – Ben Sarasin (K) won by forfeit.
170 – Todd Gusta (K) won by forfeit.
182 – Garrett Kubovec (K) won by forfeit.
195 – Sam Pape (K) won by forfeit.
220 – Billy Faulkner (W) pinned Justin Johnson 3:10.
285 – Dalles Jacobus (K) won by forfeit.
106 – Eli Benion (K) won by forfeit.