Kennedy High School - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Wasta helps Cougars sink J-Hawks

Kennedy senior Michele Wasta loves to swim and is excited about joining the team at Western Illinois University next year, so she's willing to deal with a little pain.

Wasta has been bothered by sore muscles in her back since she was 13, a problem that may be caused by a minor case of scoliosis at the top of her back. Nobody seems to know for sure.

"There's no permanent solution that we can find yet," Wasta said Tuesday. "I've been going to doctors and chiropractors and anyone we can think of.

"They think it's just sore muscles, tight muscles, a lot of overworked muscles."

Wasta conquered the pain Tuesday with three victories as the Cougars dunked Jefferson, 130-53, in a Mississippi Valley Conference meet at the Jefferson pool.

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Cougars win MVC title by 70 shots

DUBUQUE - The Kennedy Cougars could have returned to The Meadows Golf Course Monday night after it got dark and kicked the ball around the course for a few hours and still won the Mississippi Division title this year.

The Cougars won the division title by a whopping 70 strokes Monday with a 54-hole total of 860. The Jefferson J-Hawks finished a distant second at 930.

Kennedy junior Davis Sutton claimed medalist honors with a 54-hole score of 203, topping teammate Conner Koberg by 12 shots.

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No.1 Saints blank Cougars again, 24-0

Maybe they should change the name of that stretch of 42nd Street that runs between Xavier and Kennedy on the northeast side of town, because it tilts heavily to Xavier's end of the block these days.

During the high school football season, they could call it "The Avenue of the Saints" because all of signs point in Xavier's direction.

The stingy top-ranked Saints blanked Kennedy for the third straight year Friday night, 24-0, for their sixth straight regular-season victory over the Cougars since 2008.

Xavier (5-0) held Kennedy (3-2) to just 76 yards of total offense. The Cougars punted the ball 10 times out of 11 possessions, collected only four first downs and crossed midfield only once.

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Cougars bracing for top-ranked Saints

The stretch of 42nd Street NE that runs between Kennedy High School and Xavier High School used to be nice and flat when their football teams knocked heads.

During the first eight games of the rivalry from 1998 through 2007, the Cougars won four times and the Saints won four times. That led to bragging rights on both sides and made it fun.

Lately, however, Xavier has gained the upper hand. The Saints have whipped the Cougars five straight times in regular-season contests in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 by at least 18 points each time, and the last two meetings resulted in lopsided shutouts by the tune of 28-0 and 35-0.

Xavier also beat Kennedy in the 2008 playoffs, but the Cougars returned the favor with an 11-7 victory against the Saints in the 2010 playoffs.

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Comeback Cougars rally past Warriors

Kennedy sparkplug and eternal optimist Maddy Meier said the match was never in doubt.

Not even when the Washington girls were up two sets to none and had all-stater Dani Franklin serving with a 25-24 lead for match point.

“I knew we weren't going to lose,” said Meier, the heart and soul of a scrappy Cougar squad that pulled out an improbable 3-2 comeback victory at home Tuesday night.

“We haven't lost to Washington in I don't know how long. We weren't going to be the team that lost to them.

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Aldrich wins 4, Kennedy swamps Raiders

Larkyn Aldrich won four events and Kennedy swamped Williamsburg, 143-39, Tuesday nigh in girls swimming at the Kennedy pool.

Aldrich won the 50 and 100 freestyles. She also swam on the winning medley and 200 free relays.

Kennedy won 10 of 12 events. Molly Neubauer was a double winner for Williamsburg.

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Cougars take 3rd at IC swim meet

IOWA CITY - The Kennedy Cougars finished third out of eight teams at the power-packed Little Hawk Invitational swim meet Saturday at the Mercer Park Pool.

The meet featured five of the top-10 teams in the state.

Cedar Falls, ranked No.4, won the title with 349 points. Iowa City West, ranked No.6, placed second. Kennedy, ranked No.7, finished third ahead of No.21 Bettendorf, No.11 Muscatine, No.3 West Des Moines Valley, No.10 Ankeny and No.18 Iowa City High.

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Kennedy tops Xavier at CF golf

DIKE - Conner Koberg, Cole Murdock and Davis Sutton placed 1-2-3 at the Cedar Falls Invitational boys golf tournament Friday and led Kennedy to the team title.

The Cougars beat Xavier by 11 strokes. Jefferson was fifth, Linn-Mar seventh and Prairie eighth.

Kennedy placed four golfers in the top 10, Xavier had three.

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Old-fashioned Cougars stuff Rams

Amos Alonzo Stagg and Knute Rockne would have loved the old-fashioned offense being run by Cedar Rapids Kennedy these days.

And on this particular stormy night at Kingston Stadium, those ancient Hall of Fame coaches would have loved Kennedy's defense and special teams as well.

The Cougars parlayed their unique brand of football into a 19-9 victory over Dubuque Senior Thursday in a Mississippi Valley Conference game that began more than an hour late due to lightning and dangerous weather.

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