Xavier High School - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Cougars make strong run in MVC tourney

After winning  five straight matches Saturday, the Kennedy girls finally ran out of steam and had to settle for second place to Iowa City High in the 14-team Mississippi Valley Conference volleyball tournament.

Along the way, the Cougars got revenge for regular-season losses to Iowa City West and Linn-Mar. And they beat City High in three games in pool play during the morning session.

But in the championship final the Little Hawks found their groove and posted a dominating 25-16 25-16 victory.

“I think the kids were kind of zapped at the end,” said Kennedy Coach Michelle Goodall. “And Iowa City came out on fire.”

Ranked eighth in Class 5A, City High (21-9) came into the tourney as the top seed with the only unblemished MVC record of 6-0. The Class 5A 10th-ranked Cougars (25-11) were seeded eighth based on their 4-2 conference mark.

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6 Metro teams could make playoffs

Three Metro football teams have clinched spots in the football playoffs and three more Metro clubs are still alive heading into the final week of the regular season.

Washington and Linn-Mar have clinched Class 4A district titles and the Xavier Saints can win their Class 3A district crown with a victory over Marion Friday night.

Jefferson, Prairie and Kennedy are still in contention for Class 4A playoff spots heading into decisive contests.

The top-ranked Washington Warriors and sixth-ranked Linn-Mar Lions will be No. 1 seeds for the playoffs and will face a No. 4 seed in the opening round.

The fifth-ranked Xavier Saints are tied for first place in their district with Solon and Western Dubuque, but the Saints own the tiebreaker and will draw a No. 1 seed by topping Marion.

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Cook's little Regals upend Saints

Marv Cook never backed down from a challenge during his All-American career with the Iowa Hawkeyes, and when the Xavier Saints called last winter he gladly accepted their offer to play even though the Saints are a much bigger school with twice as many players.

Cook and his spirited "little" squad from Iowa City Regina showed Friday night they can compete with anybody on a football field - big, small or anywhere in between.

The Regals knocked off the Saints, 21-7, in an All-Catholic showdown that saw the No. 1 club from Class 1A take care of the No. 5 team from Class 3A in a classic David vs. Goliath confrontation at the Saints Field.

The Regals have won four state titles in a row in the small-school category, but Cook relished a chance to play on a bigger stage against a traditional state power.

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Prairie boys dominate MVC race

WATERLOO - Tysen VanDraska led a 1-2-3 finish by Cedar Rapids Prairie Thursday as the Hawks claimed top honors at the Mississippi Division cross country meet at Miriam City Park in Waterloo.

VanDraska won the race in 16 minutes, 37 seconds. Matt Lorenz placed second in 16:38 and Jake Moore finished third in 16:39 as the three Hawks nearly crossed the finish line together.

Prairie won the Mississippi Valley Conference Super Meet last week and had no trouble winning the division title as well, topping Hempstead 25-59.

Chris Oehlert of Prairie placed sixth. Finbar Berry of Washington finished eighth.

Cayla Renwick of Prairie finished third in the girls race, leading the Hawks to third place in the team standings. Sarah Altemeier of Washington ran fifth and Jenny Dickes of Xavier was seventh.

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