Kennedy High School - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Neighbors leads Wash to district title

Connor Neighbors will be one of the youngest golfers at the state tournament this weekend at Elmcrest Country Club, but that's perfectly OK with him.

The freshman from Cedar Rapids Washington is accustomed to being one of the youngest kids on the course.

"I probably started when I was 3," the soft-spoken ninth grader said Tuesday, "and I probably took it seriously when I was about 8. I started playing in tournaments at that age.

"It took me awhile to get going," he said, "but I enjoy it a lot now."

Neighbors fired a 2-over-par 73 and led Washington to the district title Tuesday at the Finkbine Golf Course in Iowa City. The next step for Neighbors and the Warriors will be the state tournament on their "home" course at Elmcrest on Friday and Saturday.

Five of the six golfers on the Washington team -- including Neighbors -- are members of Elmcrest and know all the nooks and crannies.

"That's my home course. I play there a lot," Neighbors said. "It's a good course.

"I'm sure the greens are going to be very fast. They will be really tough. It's not super-long, so that will be good for me because I'm not a huge hitter."

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Macho wins Metro Spotlight Award

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

Macho, a sophomore, is one of the top swimmers for Kennedy, which is ranked No. 5 in the state power rankings by the IGHSAU.

Macho had a big day Saturday when she helped the Cougars win the MarcussenInvitational in Cedar Falls. She won the 100 breaststroke in 1:08.94, which is the third-best time in the state this year, and she captured the 200 individual medley in 2:13.82, which is the 10th-best time in the state.

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Kennedy swimmers prevail in Cedar Falls

CEDAR FALLS - The Cedar Rapids Kennedy girls swimming team won five events Saturday and captured top honors at the Marcussen Invitational in Cedar Falls.

The fifth-ranked Cougars edged No. 6 Cedar Falls for the title, 516.5 to 482. The Washington Warriors finished third out of 10 teams.

Kennedy finished the meet with a flourish by winning the last four events.

Mackinzee Macho won two individual titles for the Cougars in the 200 IM and 100 breaststroke. Darby Manternach, Maddie Bagby and Kassidy Lovig swam on two victorious relays.

Kirsten Siebenga, Jessica Williams and Lydia Yang also collected gold medals for Kennedy. Williams won the 100 backstroke.

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Dralle tops 1,000 as Cougars bop L-M

Exactly one year ago, Kennedy walked off the field at Kingston Stadium with an 0-6 record after a 29-14 loss to a senior-laden Linn-Mar team.

Friday night, the Cougars amazing turnaround continued against those same Lions at Linn-Mar Stadium. Led by a physical offensive line and workhorse running back Tyler Dralle, Kennedy ruined the Lions' homecoming with a convincing 31-6 victory before an overflow crowd of about 5,000 fans.

The Cougars all but locked up a Class 4A playoff berth with the win. Kennedy (6-0, 2-0 District 5), ranked No. 5 by Des Moines Register, can make it official with a victory next week over winless Waterloo East. The six wins to start a season is believed to be the best start in school history.

"We have a little conflicting information on that," Kennedy coach Brian White said. "I know for sure that six straight at least is tied for the best start in school history.

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Franck commits to Iowa volleyball

Cedar Rapids Kennedy junior Paige Franck plans to continue her volleyball career at the University of Iowa, The Gazette reported Friday morning on its website.

Franck is an outside hitter for the sixth-ranked Cougars, who have already clinched at least a tie for the Valley Division title in the Mississippi Valley Conference.

Franck has collected 125 digs, 120 kills, 18 aces, 13 blocks and 10 assists for Kennedy.

Kennedy wins MVC triangular meet

Jordan Weiss claimed medalist honors with a 4-over-par 40 Thursday to help the Kennedy Cougars win a Mississippi Valley Conference triangular golf meet at Ellis Park.

Ian Johnston of Prairie, Cameron Stump of Kennedy and Jonah Beman of Kennedy tied for second with 41's.

Team standings

1. Kennedy 165, 2. Prairie 169, 3. Iowa City High 181.

Kennedy - Jordan Weiss 40, Jonah Beman 41, Cameron Stump 41, Luke Martin 43, Parker Kalb 47, Bill Wilding 47.

Prairie - Ian Johnston 41, Cal Clark 42, Matt Lorenz 43, Sam Lockhart 43, Cooper Reittinger 48, Griffen Clark 48.

Metro teams jockey in volleyball poll

You could probably throw a blanket over the volleyball teams at Prairie, Kennedy and Linn-Mar and pick a different winner every day.

The new Class 5A rankings were released Thursday by the IGHSAU and it showed Prairie at No. 5, Kennedy at No. 6 and Linn-Mar at No. 7 heading into the final weeks of the regular season.

Marion continued to be ranked No. 2 in Class 4A.

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VanDraska wins top prize at Muscatine

MUSCATINE - Tysen VanDraska claimed first place at the Muscatine Invitational cross country meet Tuesday and nearly led Cedar Rapids Prairie to the title.

Pleasant Valley and Prairie both finished with 40 points for their top-five runners, but Pleasant Valley won the tiebreaker on the basis of its sixth-place finisher.

VanDraska won the 5K race in 15 minutes, 56.5 seconds. Karson Sommer of Pleasant Valley placed second in 16:02.

Prairie had four runners in the top seven. Jake Moore was fifth, Cam Steffens sixth and Chris Oehlert seventh.

Reagan Gorman of Cedar Rapids Washington finished fourth in the girls race in 18:59.2. Maddie Bach of Marion placed fifth in 19:14.2.

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Cougars clinch title without Goodall

Cedar Rapids Kennedy volleyball coach Michelle Goodall was halfway around the world Tuesday at a special event in the Philippines, but that did not stop her talented and well-coached team from having a successful night back home.

The fifth-ranked Cougars topped Jefferson, 25-16, 25-12, 25-21, at the Kennedy gym to clinch at least a tie for just the second Mississippi Valley Conference title in school history.

Kennedy can win an outright Valley Division crown with a victory at Dubuque Senior Tuesday night with Goodball back in the USA.

Kennedy has been a state volleyball power for many years under Goodall, but conference titles have been hard to come by in a tough league. The Cougars are 5-0 in the Valley Division and want to finish 6-0 with an unblemished flag.

"That would be amazing," senior Macy Anderson said. "That's huge for our program."

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