Linn-Mar High School - Marion, Iowa

Linn-Mar celebrates its new $10 million stadium

Linn-Mar High School has been holding events at its new $10 million stadium since April 7, so Saturday's ceremony was more of a giant party than a grand opening.

They invited the Linn-Mar marching band, cheerleaders, poms, members of the spirit squad, and a choral group. There were booths and lots of young kids romping around on the new turf, tossing footballs and kicking soccer balls and having a grand time.

They used a giant scissors to cut a giant red ribbon, with Linn-Mar Superintendent Katie Mulholland, Board of Education President Ann Stark, Marion Mayor Paul Rehn and many others all celebrating the impressive new facility.

Bob Forsyth, the head coach of the Linn-Mar football team, was one of the happiest guys in the stadium. The Lions have moved from flood-prone Armstrong Field to one of the swankiest homes for a high school team in the state.

"This is really a neat thing for the Linn-Mar community and for Linn-Mar families to have a facility like this," he said as young kids frolicked on the field. "Kids will be familiar with this place and will want to grow up and will want to play here. I think it's nothing but a bonus for us."

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Kiah Stokes named Female Athlete of Year by Register

Kiah Stokes has been named the Female Athlete of the Year by the Des Moines Register, the newspaper announced Friday night.

Stokes enjoyed a record-setting career at Linn-Mar High School and led the Lions to the Class 4A state basketball title as a junior in 2010. She also was all-state in volleyball.

Stokes, a 6-foot-4 center, will be a freshman at the University of Connecticut this season. The Huskies have won seven NCAA basketball titles.

Stokes played in four state tournaments and was selected for the McDonald's All-American game this year. She was named the Iowa Player of the Year by Gatorade as a junior and senior.

"Basketball's always been in my life," Stokes told the Register. "I want to play until I'm too old to play anymore, until I can't remember the game anymore."

Her father is former University of Iowa basketball star Greg Stokes. Her mother is Julie Saddler.

Stokes is also a top student and graduated from Linn-Mar with a 4.02 grade point average.

Atwater leads Linn-Mar seniors into special year

Bob Forsyth has 34 good reasons to think Linn-Mar High School will have another strong football team this year.

That's how many seniors he has on the roster.

"This class of seniors is a special class for all of us as coaches," Forsyth said after practice Tuesday morning. "They were the ninth graders when we came in.

"I remember coming down here and seeing those kids and wondering what life would be like here in a couple of years, because I was new and they were, too."

Life has been good for this senior class, especially compared to a few years ago.

Linn-Mar finished 0-9 in 2007 under Bob Read in his final year as head coach, back when these 2011 seniors were eighth graders. Forsyth took over in 2008 and led the Lions to a 3-6 campaign, then went 9-2 in 2009 and 8-3 in 2010 with a pair of playoff teams.

The freshmen Forsyth met in 2008 are seniors now, hoping to put an exclamation point on their prep careers.

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Emily Saville wins Adenhart scholarship

The Cedar Rapids Kernels and Kernels Foundation presented Emily Saville as the winner of the 2011 Nick Adenhart Memorial Scholarship before the Kernels game with Burlington on July 5.

Emily is a 2011 graduate of Linn-Mar HS where she was a four-year participant in soccer, cross country, and track and was the captain of each of those teams. She participated in many school activities and was the president of SODA (Students Opposed to Drugs and Alcohol). She graduated with a 3.89 GPA and will be attending Central College in Pella this fall.

Nick Adenhart was a bright young pitcher who played for the Cedar Rapids Kernels in 2006, and was a rising star in the Los Angeles Angels organization. Only hours after Nick’s 2009 season debut on the mound for the Angels, a drunk driver tragically killed him on April 9, 2009 at age 22.

Nick’s family would like to honor him by awarding a $1,000 scholarship in his memory. The Kernels Foundation is privileged to administer the scholarship on behalf of Nick’s family.

(From a press release provided by the Cedar Rapids Kernels)