Linn-Mar High School - Marion, Iowa

J-Hawks clip Lions in regional opener

Fueled by three dozen spirited Jefferson male athletes who gave the Linn-Mar gym a homecourt feel, the J-Hawk volleyball girls steamrolled past the Lions, 3-1, Monday night in the first round of the Class 5A regional tournament.

They claimed the first two games 25-21, 25-19, lost a third-set squeaker, 25-23, and finished with a 26-24 nail-biter.

The resurgent Jefferson team (18-21) will go to Iowa City West (26-9) Thursday night for a semifinal contest against a squad that won two earlier matches this season.

“We stayed with them both times,” first-year J-Hawk Coach Mary Kay Van Oort noted. “It won't be an easy rematch, but our girls are playing with a lot of confidence right now.”

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Miller sets records as Saints top Lions

Xavier High School tailback Brendan Miller fumbled the football the first time he touched it Friday, but it was the only thing the 5-foot-9, 175-pound senior did wrong all night.

Miller broke one school record and tied another as the eighth-ranked Saints rolled into the Class 4A playoffs with a 44-14 conquest of the Linn-Mar Lions on a chilly night at Linn-Mar Stadium.

Xavier (8-1) will host Clinton (4-5) in the first round of the playoffs Wednesday at 7 p.m.

Miller carried the ball 27 times for 268 yards and scored four touchdowns on gallops of 48, 43, 8 and 6 yards as Xavier gabbed a share of the Valley Division title in the Mississippi Valley Conference.

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Gutsy Lions race to state meet

MARSHALLTOWN - The Linn-Mar girls cross country team wrote its own version of "Profiles In Courage" Thursday afternoon at the Class 4A state qualifier in Marshalltown.

Amber Decker passed two runners with a terrific kick to win the race, draining herself to the point of exhaustion, and a little later Maddie Saville crossed the finish line and dissolved in tears after running the 4K course with stabbing pain in her left foot.

"It really hurts," said Saville, "but I don't know ... Sometimes you have to suck it up."

Saville is normally one of Linn-Mar's top runners, but she finished 20th overall with the foot injury and did not count in the team standings. Nonetheless, she wanted to race and try to help the Lions make the state meet.

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Ceremony for Linn-Mar pool is Nov. 14

A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Linn-Mar Aquatic Center will be held on Thursday, Nov. 14 at 5:30 p.m. at the pool, which is located behind the Linn-Mar football stadium.

Doors will open at 5:15 p.m. for the ceremony. Guided tours will take place after the ceremony from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.