Jefferson High School - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Murphy takes 2nd at Valley race

Ryan Murphy of Linn-Mar placed second in the Valley Division cross country meet at the Tuma Soccer Complex on Thursday.

Isaac Smith of Cedar Falls won the Mississippi Valley Conference race in 15 minutes, 38 seconds, edging Murphy by three seconds. Michael Mather of Linn-Mar finished third in 15:45 and Dalton Gosch of Linn-Mar was fifth in 16:05.

Cedar Falls won the championship with 30 points. Linn-Mar placed second with 42 points.

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Jefferson sweeps Dubuque Senior

Maddy Baxter rolled up 36 assists Tuesday night as the Jefferson J-Hawks swept Dubuque Senior, 25-20, 25-22, 25-13, in a Mississippi Valley Conference volleyball meet at Jefferson.

Maddie Slagle slammed 16 kills for the J-Hawks. Sydney Kloubec had 12 kills, Abbie Ranschau six and Kristen Naber six.

Sam Kitterman, Lexi Moorer and Slagle all finished with 11 digs.

McChesney, Thompson lead Jeff swimmers

Mika McChesney and Josie Thompson were double-winners for the Jefferson J-Hawks in a 107-79 loss to Dubuque Senior on Tuesday night in a Mississippi Valley Conference swimming meet at Jefferson.

McChesney captured the 50 freestyle, Thompson won the 100 butterfly and they both swam on the triumphant 200 medley relay.

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Roeder will play ball at Southeastern

Tyler Roeder of Cedar Rapids Jefferson plans to continue his baseball career at Southeastern Community College in West Burlington.

Roeder, a second baseman, hit .381 with one home run and 24 RBIs this past season as a junior.

Jefferson finished with a 29-8 record and won its first division title in the Mississippi Valley Conference in 10 years.

Cougars fall in Westside semifinals

Perhaps they just plain pooped out.

The last of the six Metro teams still standing Saturday in the 24-team Westside Volleyball Invitational, Cedar Rapids Kennedy advanced to the semifinals of the championship bracket but was upended at the end by Class 4A top-ranked West Delaware.

West Delaware lost in the finals to Class 5A seventh-ranked Ankeny Centennial.

The Cougars’ first match in the star-studded tournament started at 9:30 Saturday morning, and the fifth and final one of the day began eight hours later.

“It was a long day in a big tournament with a lot of tough competition,” noted Kennedy middle hitter Brinley Milbrath. “I think we lost a little energy. We seemed to kind of peter out there at the end.”

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J-Hawks surge past Waterloo West

WATERLOO - The Jefferson J-Hawks exploded for 21 points in the fourth quarter Friday night and topped Waterloo West, 44-15, to strengthen their hopes of making the Class 4A playoffs.

The J-Hawks were clinging to a 23-15 lead at Memorial Stadium in Waterloo before putting the game away in the fourth stanza on touchdowns by Valentino Green, Jared Eivins and Myles Glassberg.

Jefferson raised its records to 4-3 overall and 1-2 in District 5. The J-Hawks can clinch a winning record for the regular season and square their district mark at 2-2 with a victory against Waterloo East next week.

Jefferson quarterback Jared Eivins, who has been bothered by a sore left shoulder, completed 16 of 24 passes for 205 yards and three touchdowns. He hit Manny Olutunde with an 18-yard TD pass, found Green for an 11-yard score and hooked up with Oluntunde again for a 66-yard pass.

All three touchdown passes came in the first half as the J-Hawks took a 23-0 lead at intermission.

Waterloo West (3-4, 1-2) rallied for two touchdowns in the third quarter and pulled within 23-15 with a two-point conversion, but Jefferson dominated the fourth quarter for the victory.

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Gorman excels as member of 'Team Jenks'

WATERL00 - Pound for pound, inch for inch, year for year, Reagan Gorman of Cedar Rapids Washington is the best distance runner in the Mississippi Valley Conference and perhaps the best in the state.

The petite freshman finished a resounding second at the Mississippi Valley Conference Super Meet on Thursday at Byrnes Park in Waterloo by a scant six seconds behind Iowa City High junior Mary Arch.

Gorman, who measures 5-foot-2 and about 85 pounds, might have caught Arch if the 5K race had been a little longer. She was getting closer and closer as the race wound around the Irv Warren Golf Course.

It's hard to believe a 14-year-old girl who is that small could have so much strength and energy, but Gorman has been running since was about 7 years old and excels in triathlons, a grueling event that combines running, swimming and biking.

Gorman trains for the triathlon with "Team Jenks," a group of outstanding young athletes that features Linn-Mar senior Stephanie Jenks and is operated by the Jenks family. Gorman placed 31st at the national triathlon meet in Westchester, Ohio, this August in the youth elite 13-to-15 age group and is the second-highest ranked triathlete in the state in her division.

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VanDraska gets revenge at MVC meet

WATERLOO - Tysen VanDraska was not happy when he lost to a pair of runners from Cedar Falls at the Cedar Rapids Prairie Invitational back in August at the start of the cross country season.

He did something about it Thursday.

VanDraska used a blistering kick to conquer those same two runners from Cedar Falls and take top honors at the Mississippi Valley Conference Super Meet at Byrnes Park in Waterloo.

Sam Schillinger and Isaac Smith of Cedar Falls pulled away from VanDraska in the final stages of the Prairie Invitational to finish first and second in that race, but this time the Prairie senior was ready for them.

VanDraska sprinted away from the Tigers in the home stretch and won the race in 15 minutes, 46 seconds. He beat Schillinger by four seconds and topped Smith by six seconds.

The three premier distance runners ran neck-and-neck for most of the 5K race before VanDraska took control. It was two-against-one for much of the day in terms of strategy, but VanDraska handled the challenge.

"I knew they were going to try and pick on me the whole race and eventually beat me down, so I just tried my best to stay on them as much as I could," he said. "And I knew I could finish with them."

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Young J-Hawks play for 'Mom & Dad'

The Jefferson volleyball players call their coaches Mom and Dad. Which seems to fit just fine.

Married first-year co-coaches Amy and Will Norton, both 32, are like new parents raising a young family.

There are only two seniors on the 15-girl roster. Three freshmen are starters and all six ninth graders play prominent roles in the rotation.

The team leaders in kills, assists and digs are all in their first or second year on the varsity.

Yet even with a decidedly baby-faced lineup, the J-Hawks have more than held their own this year against arguably some of the best teams in the state.

An 11-13 record hardly reflects their overall consistent play.

“We’ve only lost to one unranked team,” says Will Norton. “The others have all been ranked in the top 15 in their class.”

Moreover, notes Amy, “We’ve pushed a lot of really good teams. Our record may not show it, but I think we’ve proven that we can play with anybody.”

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