Linn-Mar High School - Marion, Iowa

Mistake-prone Lions fall to 0-2

One step forward, two steps back.

Linn-Mar’s young football team is experiencing growing pains and it was evident in Friday night’s 28-13 loss to Dubuque Senior at Linn-Mar Stadium.

The Lions had their share of good plays, but for every good play, there was a miscue that would put them in a deep hole.

“We just made too many mistakes tonight,” lamented Linn-Mar Coach Bob Forsyth. “We’re a young team and we’re working hard trying to get them to grow up, but we are going through a tough time right now.

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Torson helps Saints 'kill' Lions

Cedar Rapids Xavier's 3-0 home court volleyball win over Linn-Mar on Tuesday night can be summed up in two words.

“Kill, Torson.”

Saints junior jumping-jack Kayla Torson scored kills at the net, from the back line and spaces in between to lead her squad to a 25-18, 25-19, 25-18 sweep.

When she wasn't slamming spikes, the lanky all-stater was diving on the floor for digs to keep rallies alive.

“She just lays it out there on defense,” said Xavier Coach Krista Johnson, who notched her first victory as a head coach after serving the past two years as an assistant at Northern State University in South Dakota. “And she's tough from both the front row and back row.”

In all, Torson recorded 17 kills. Many came in crucial situations.

Her first put the Saints up 2-1 in the opening game, and they never trailed after that. She closed it out with two kills out of the final three points.

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Freshmen star for Cougars, Lions in pool

Brooke Timmerman, a talented freshman, drives 20 miles every day from Atkins to Cedar Rapids so she can attend Kennedy High School and swim for the Cougars.

Jennifer Jenks, another freshman, has been known as "Stephanie's Little Sister" much of her life, but she's another talented member of the family and a top-notch swimmer for the Linn-Mar Lions.

The two ninth graders grabbed the headlines Tuesday night as Kennedy trimmed Linn-Mar, 110-76, in a Mississippi Valley Conference meet at the Kennedy pool.

Timmerman lives in the Benton Community school district, but the Bobcats do not have a swimming team. She has a school driver's permit and happily commutes to northeast Cedar Rapids every day, although she's still getting accustomed to a bigger school.

"It's scary," she said. "There are so many people and it's hard to get through the halls. I avoid crowds of people and take the back route."

Timmerman took the front route in the pool Tuesday and captured the 200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke. She also swam on the triumphant 200 medley relay.

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Linn-Mar blasted by IC West, 67-28

IOWA CITY – Bob Forsyth wants his Linn-Mar football team to be an up-tempo unit on offense this year.

The Lions got a first-hand look at how such an attack can be run Friday night.

Iowa City West scored on six of its seven first-half possessions with a variety of weapons and ripped Linn-Mar, 67-28, in the opener at steamy Trojan Field.

West simply had too much size and speed for the Lions. Linn-Mar had some impressive moments on both sides of the ball, but wasn’t able to match the Trojans’ firepower.

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