Metro Sports Report

Stokes performs well in UConn's defeat

DENVER - Kiah Stokes played well in the semifinals of the NCAA women's basketball tournament Sunday, but it wasn't enough to save the Connecticut Huskies.

Notre Dame defeated UConn, 83-75, in overtime before 19,028 fans and a national television audience on ESPN.

Stokes, a 6-foot-3 freshman from Linn-Mar High School, played 16 minutes as a reserve and contributed four points, four rebounds, two blocked shots and an assist. She saw extended playing time because Stefanie Dolson, UConn's starting center, ran into foul problems.

Baylor defeated Stanford, 59-47, in the other semifinal Sunday and will face Notre Dame for the national title Tuesday night.

Connecticut finished the season with a 33-5 record.

Jourdan is Jefferson's man for all seasons

As a four-sport varsity letter winner, Jefferson High School senior Colten Jourdan is used to switching gears (as well as gear) with the change of the seasons.

Take away his freshman season, when a New Year’s Eve skiing accident in Dubuque put him out of action for about six months. With a severely broken leg, he spent three months in a  wheelchair, yet still recovered enough to limp around the baseball diamond that summer.

He came back in his sophomore and junior years to go from golf in the fall, swimming in the winter and tennis in the spring before finishing with baseball in the summer. He dropped swimming this year so he could concentrate on winter training for baseball.

Nick Corbett running away from politics

Nick Corbett will leave running for political office to his father. He just likes to run on an all-weather track, and he's becoming very good at it.

Corbett blazed to victory in the 400 meter dash in 50.78 seconds Saturday at the John Ask Relays and anchored Cedar Rapids Washington to an impressive win in the 4x400 relay.

His father, Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett, was in Mexico on city business Saturday and unable to attend the meet on a cool day at Kingston Stadium, but he was rooting for his son from afar.

Nate Woods cut by Miami Marlins

Nate Woods had a big day for the Miami Marlins in a simulated scrimmage at their minor league complex in Florida last Saturday.

"I went 2-for-3 with two doubles and a broken bat and I was like, 'That's a good day,'" he told the Metro Sports Report on Friday. "The last swing I took, I hit a line drive off the left field fence."

That double was against Arquimedes Caminero, a power pitcher from the Dominican Republic who is on the Marlins' 40-man Major League roster this spring.

Woods' parents and younger brother were in the stands that day, visiting from Cedar Rapids, and the family left the park feeling good. That feeling evaporated the next day when Woods reported to the ballpark.