Kennedy High School - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Jeff girls defend crown in 4x200 relay

DES MOINES - The Cedar Rapids Jefferson girls were disappointed in themselves when they finished second in the 4x200 relay at the Drake Relays last month.

They got mad, and Friday they returned to Drake Stadium and got the gold.

Abbie Ranschau, Jasmine Blue, Morgan Meese and Lucy Schneekloth sped to victory in their favorite event in 1 minute, 41.12 seconds for a convincing victory over Dowling Catholic.

Blue and Schneekloth helped the J-Hawks set the all-time state mark in 4x200 relay at the Class 4A state meet last year in 1:40.94. Meese and Schneekloth joined the quartet this year and they produced the third-fastest time ever, just 18-hundredths of a second behind last year's group.

Ranschau, Blue, Meese and Schneekloth are all underclassmen. They plan to be back in 2015 and take another shot at the all-time mark.

"We all want it," said Blue. "We'll get it next year."

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McCrary soars away from trouble to state crown

DES MOINES - Curtis McCrary grew up on the mean streets of Detroit, where trouble was a constant and evil companion.

Compared to what he knew, Iowa is paradise for the Linn-Mar senior and new state champion.

McCrary sailed 23 feet, 1 inch to claim the state title in the Class 4A long jump Friday in his first and only year of competition in high school track.

"It feels great," he said. "First time here, last time here for high school. So it feels pretty good."

McCrary, 19, moved to Marion several years ago to live with an uncle and his uncle's wife. He left his mother and problems behind in Detroit for a better life in Iowa.

"I love it," he said. "I love it.

"Good school systems. And it pretty much keeps me out of trouble."

McCrary helped Linn-Mar climb into a tie for first place in the Class 4A team standings after Day 2 of the three-day meet with 42 points. Waukee also has 42, with eight events left Saturday.

Kennedy is sitting in third place with 35.5 points. Prairie is sixth with 22 points. Washington is 20th and Jefferson 23rd.

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No. 6 Cougars kick Cedar Falls, 4-0

CEDAR FALLS - Andrew Sheeley, Nathan Waterhouse, Killian Magee and Ryan Walker scored goals Thursday night as sixth-ranked Kennedy shut out Cedar Falls, 4-0, in a Mississippi Valley Conference match at the Cedar Valley Soccer Complex.

JJ Reinhart, Sameeullah Jung, Walker and Waterhouse collected assists for the Cougars.

Kennedy raised its records to 13-4 overall and 8-4 in the MVC.

Hayden nets hat track for Cougars

Sydney Hayden scored three goals Thursday night as Kennedy kicked Cedar Falls, 7-0, in a Mississippi Valley Conference girls soccer match at Kennedy.

Alyssa Drewelow collected two goals for the Cougars. Marcie Christianson and Jordan Holmes also found the net for Kennedy.

Kaela Dickerman rolled up three assists. Kasey Dekko and Morgan Petsche also had assists.

Pederson wins title; Caro sisters 2nd

BETTENDORF - Jessica Pedersen of Kennedy defeated Haley Bankson of Bettendorf, 6-2, 6-0, in the championship match of the Class 2A girls regional tennis tournament in Bettendorf Thursday.

Vale Caro and Magui Caro of Prairie reached the finals in doubles before losing a hard-fought match to Dana Waterman and Emilia Porbcin of Bettendorf, 6-2, 1-6, 7-6.

Pedersen and the Caro sisters advance to the state tournament June 5-6 in Ames.

Pedersen drew an opening-round bye as the No. 1 seed before winning a pair of 6-0, 6-0 verdicts in the quarterfinals and semifinals. She lost only two games all day while compiling a 36-2 mark.

The Caro sisters, also seeded No. 1, drew an opening-round bye and sailed in the quarterfinals and semifinals.

Lauren O'Brian and Karleigh Schilling of Prairie placed third in doubles with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Lolly Telleen/Stephanie Moore of Bettendorf. Evann Martin of Kennedy finished fourth in singles after losing to Hannah Borgh of Bettendorf, 6-2, 6-1, in the consolation match for third place.

Only the champion and runnerup in singles and doubles advance to the state tournament.

Evans, Hawks, Cougars shine at state meet

DES MOINES - Josh Evans made a mad dash for immortality Thursday, but he fell just a tad short of cracking 9 minutes in the 3200 meter run at the Class 4A state track meet.

Unhappy? Sad?

Neither.

Evans clocked the second-fastest time in state history in the 3200 in 9:00.97, successfully defending his state title and breaking the meet record of 9:05.25 set by Kevin Lewis of Ottumwa in 2011.

Evans ran a 9:01.55 at the Drake Relays last month in his first bid for a sub-9 minute performance, but he had to play second fiddle that day when Albert Meier of Boone won in 8:58.46 to become the first Iowa prep under the magic mark.

Meier is competing at the Class 3A state meet, leaving Evans to dominate the 4A competition from wire to wire Thursday. He led a 1-2-3 showing by Metro runners with Mitch Pritts of Prairie second in 9:12:07 and Daniel Murphy of Linn-Mar third in 9:12.46.

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Jenks snaps own state mark in 3000

DES MOINES - Linn-Mar sophomore Stephanie Jenks gets a big kick out of breaking records.

The bigger, the better.

Jenks struck again Thursday morning, snapping her own state record in the 3000 meter run by more than two seconds at the Class 4A state track meet in Des Moines.

Jenks was clocked in 9 minutes, 24.67 seconds as she ran away with the race and won by more than 31 seconds, similar to her dominating performance at the Drake Relays last month.

Jenks broke her own all-time state mark of 9:26.87 and topped the meet record of 9:27.25 set by Katie Flood of Dowling Catholic in 2010.

Her next target could be the all-time national record in the 3000 of 9:08.6.

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5 Metro teams ranked in boys soccer

Linn-Mar, Washington and Kennedy are still neck-and-neck in the Class 3A boys soccer rankings.

The Lions are ranked No. 4, Washington No. 5 and Kennedy No. 6 in the Week 7 rankings released Wednesday by the IAHSSCA. Linn-Mar fell one spot this week.

The Xavier Saints are ranked No.4 and Marion is No. 14 in Class 2A. Marion slipped one spot from last week.

Prairie dropped out of the Class 3A rankings.

CLASS 3A

1. Johnston (13-0), 2. Iowa City High (16-0), 3. Iowa City West (14-1), 4. Linn-Mar (14-2), 5. Washington (10-4), 6. Kennedy (11-4), 7. Pleasant Valley (12-2), 8. Waukee (13-3), 9. West Des Moines Valley (12-3), 10. Bettendorf (13-4), 11. Ankeny Centennial (12-3), 12. Sioux City West (16-1), 13. Muscatine (11-4), 14. Ames (10-4), 15. Southeast Polk (12-5-1), 16. Dubuque Hempstead (9-4).

CLASS 2A

1. (tie) Norwalk (9-5), Waverly-Shell Rock (12-1), 3. Spencer (15-1), 4. Xavier (6-8), 5. Pella (11-4-1), 6. Glenwood (11-3), 7. Dallas Center-Grimes (7-4), 8. ADM (10-5-1), 9. Perry (10-3), 10. DeWitt Central (10-3), 11. Clear Creek-Amana (9-4-2), 12. Creston (11-3), 13. Webster City (13-3), 14. Marion (9-2), 15. Davenport Assumption (8-7), 16. Sioux City Heelan (8-3).

Metro players net MVC tennis honors

Brady Anderson of Linn-Mar and Vale Caro of Prairie have been named Athletes of the Year on the Mississippi Valley Conference all-star tennis teams in the Valley Division.

Jackson Hoyt (Washington), Tim Paulson (Linn-Mar), Kyle D'mello (Xavier) and Jacob Donald (Jefferson) joined Anderson as first-team selections on the boys first-team honor squad.

Magui Caro (Prairie), Lilly Hartman (Washington), Hannah Sherman (Washington) and Jessica Pedersen (Kennedy) joined Vale Caro on the girls first-team honor squad.

Chris Wundram of Linn-Mar was named the Valley Division Coach of the Year for the boys. Scott Leggat of Prairie was named the Valley Division Coach of the Year for the girls.

SECOND TEAM

Metro Only

BOYS: Ian Schweiger (Washington), Trevor McCann (Linn-Mar), Parker Muller (Washington), Quinn Jamrock (Kennedy).

GIRLS: Ellie Anderson (Linn-Mar), Rina Moore (Washington), Allison Jasper (Xavier), Claire Bouchard (Xavier).

HONORABLE MENTION

Metro Only

BOYS: Connor Anthony (Prairie), Blake Larsson (Prairie), Oliver Hammond (Washington), Dane Van Antwerp (Washington), Ben Curley (Xavier), Christopher Schirm (Xavier), Ben Myers (Linn-Mar), Kyle Brendes (Linn-Mar), Zach Denny (Jefferson), Nate Weger (Jefferson), Jimmy Cunningham (Kennedy), Kyle Butler (Kennedy).

GIRLS: Bri Kalous (Prairie), Michelle Grenn (Prairie), Jennifer Greif (Washington), Kelly King (Washington), Kylie DeWees (Xavier), Jeanne Bouchard (Xavier), Jamie Wantock (Linn-Mar), Anna Schlueter (Linn-Mar), Kylie Jonas (Jefferson), Mary Korch (Jefferson), Hanna Krivit (Kennedy), Evann Martin (Kennedy).