Jefferson High School - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Deam sees better days ahead for J-Hawks

There have been some big changes at Cedar Rapids Jefferson in the past eight months. Seismic changes, almost.

Jim Womochil, saddled with a 22-game losing streak, quit as the football coach last January.

Larry Niemeyer, battling health issues, stepped aside as the girls basketball coach, then wasn't rehired as the softball coach.

Scott Kibby, a J-Hawk since his own days as a student-athlete at Jefferson, quit as the athletic director to take a similar job at Iowa City West.

Mike Kuba, wanting to spend more time with his daughters, resigned as the head baseball coach to become an assistant softball coach instead.

That's a lot of changes in less than one year at one school, and Chris Deam is the man in charge of putting all the new pieces together.

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'The Combo' lifts Prairie by J-Hawks, 28-7

Cedar Rapids Prairie seniors Jace Hanna and Jarred Edmonds have been tossing a football around since they were in middle school.

It paid off handsomely Friday night.

Hanna connected with his buddy for three touchdown passes as Prairie clipped Jefferson, 28-7, in the season opener at John Wall Field.

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McCann paces Lions to triangular golf win

Trevor McCann shot an even-par 36 Thursday to claim medalist honors and led Linn-Mar to first place in a Mississippi Valley Conference triangular meet at Hunters Ridge.

Linn-Mar finished with a four-man total of 159, followed by Jefferson (169) and Dubuque Hempstead (173).

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Kuba leaves baseball program for softball

Mike Kuba said his gut was aching all day Wednesday after he finally made his decision to step down as Jefferson's baseball coach.

"I still have a gut ache," Kuba said Wednesday night.

But that pain is expected to be eased by the time next spring rolls around and Kuba gets the chance to work with his daughter, Erin, and the Jefferson softball team.

Kuba resigned his post as baseball coach to become an assistant coach on new Jefferson softball coach Brian Erbe's staff.

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West swimmers rout J-Hawks

Iowa City West swept the top spots in all but one event and routed Jefferson, 152-31, Tuesday in girls swimming at the J-Hawk pool.

West swept the top three places in all but one individual event. Jefferson's Emily Ritchie finished third in the 100 breaststroke.

West took the top three places in two of three relays, but the J-Hawks were credited with third-place points in all three events.

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Willie Guy excited about helping J-Hawks

Willie Guy made Hayden Fry quiver with excitement in the early 1990's.

"We've got to have him. Got to have him!," Fry would tell reporters as Guy battled to become eligible with the Iowa Hawkeyes.

This was more than 20 years ago, when Guy was a USA Today prep All-American from Memphis, Tenn., and Fry was the head football coach in Iowa City.

It took Guy more than two years to become eligible with the Hawkeyes, but Fry finally got his man. He had a modest career at Iowa -- 26 catches for 381 yards and two touchdowns, along with five punt returns for 27 yards -- but for awhile he was the object of desire for Iowa's head coach and Hawkeye fans everywhere.

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Erbe named softball coach at Jefferson

Brian Erbe is the new softball coach at Cedar Rapids Jefferson, it was announced Tuesday.

Erbe had been the softball coach at Cedar Rapids Xavier. He succeeds Larry Niemeyer, whose contract was not renewed following the 2012 season.

Erbe, a 1972 Jefferson grad, is an at-risk facilitator at Jefferson, where he has coached football and basketball. He also was a softball assistant for Niemeyer before taking the Xavier job 10 years ago.

Jefferson was 36-6 but lost in the regional finals for the third straight season. The J-Hawks graduated six players from that club.

Xavier was 24-18. Erbe, 58, did not coach the team because of a heart attack he suffered in May. He told Iowa Prep Sports that he has been given a clean bill of health to resume coaching.

Jefferson begins Webb era in football

Brian Webb's first practice with the Jefferson High School football team began precisely at 7 a.m. Monday with the moon still visible over Kingston Stadium.

Not 7:01 a.m. and certainly not 7:03 a.m. The whistle blew at exactly 7 o'clock and the J-Hawks surrounded their new coach for instructions.

Nobody was late.

"We're holding people accountable," Webb said after practice. "This is real life. That's why I love the game of football. It's teaching these kids the skills they need."

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Champion cyclist urges Jeff runners to reach a higher gear

Jefferson High School assistant girls track coach Emily Thomson loves to climb hills – on her bike, and in life.

“I’m okay if the world is uphill,” she says.

It’s an attitude that has propelled her to the mountaintop – literally, as the women’s amateur champion at this year’s Mount Evans Hill Climb in Colorado, one of the toughest bicycle races in America.

It has also shaped her coaching philosophy, as she helps her athletes climb methodically to their personal heights.

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