Linn-Mar High School - Marion, Iowa

Piche finishes a precarious 2nd at Drake Relays

DES MOINES -- Linn-Mar senior Amanda Piche lived dangerously at the 102nd Annual Drake Relays on Thursday.

She was almost disqualified for wearing the wrong number on her uniform (not her fault), then almost failed to qualify for the finals in the discus after winning the event here last year.

"I was kind of freaking out," she said.

The day had a mostly happy ending. Piche overcame the misadventures and finished second in the discus at 137 feet, 9 inches. That was better than her winning toss of 136-9 last year, but not good enough to beat Dakotah Goodell of Williamsburg (140-0).

"I'm a little disappointed, because I won last year," Piche said, "but I'm really excited that I actually made it to the finals. Because, wow, I did terrible in the first round of throws."

Piche threw 112 feet, 8 inches on her first toss, then was stopped before she could return to the ring for her second throw. One of the Drake Relays officials noticed she was wearing entry No. 4184 on her uniform when she was supposed to be No. 4186.

Somehow, Piche and Linn-Mar distance runner Carolyn Newhouse mistakenly had each other's number and for a while it looked like they wouldn't let Piche take her second throw.

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New baseball/softball complex on table

Baseball and softball will be taking a big step up at Linn-Mar High School in the next year or two, with construction of a new complex featuring four diamonds and all the related facilities.

The school board voted Monday night to invite bids for the project, which will include competition and practice fields for both sports at Oak Ridge Middle School on Alburnett Road. There will be two baseball fields and two softball fields.

The competition fields will feature lights, press boxes, concession stands, public address systems and everything needed to make a complete package, all in one spot. At present, the softball and baseball fields are about a third of a mile apart on North 10th Street.

Use of the facilities, estimated to cost in the neighborhood of $2 million, will not be limited to the high school.

"It's going to be for all levels," said Scott Mahmens, Associate Principal/Athletics Director for the school district.

The project is being undertaken partly out of a desire to upgrade and partly out of necessity.

"Softball has to move because of Tower Terrace Road coming through," he said, "and baseball needed updating."

Timing depends upon bidding and weather.

"We're hoping to get ground broken by June," Mahmens said. "We're expecting to be using it in 2013, but if everything goes well, we could be there in 2012."

Paige, Linn-Mar ranked high by MaxPreps

MaxPreps.com thinks Linn-Mar High School had a special boys basketball team this season and a special player.

The national prep sports website has ranked the Lions as the No.8 team in the country in its final ratings and has named Marcus Paige to its 2010-11 Boys Basketball Junior All-American Team.

MaxPreps.com is conducting a national "Tour of Champions" and the company will honor the Linn-Mar team at a special ceremony at the school this Tuesday, April 26 at 3:15 p.m.

"That's pretty cool," Linn-Mar Coach Chris Robertson said Wednesday. "Most people probably don't think of a team from Iowa being in that conversation."

The Lions won the Class 4A state title this year with a spotless 26-0 record.

Paige averaged 17 points and has been named a fourth-team Junior All-American by MaxPreps.com. The 6-foot-1 point guard has committed to North Carolina.

Adam Woodbury, a 7-foot center from Sioux City East, received Honorable Mention on the Junior All-American team

Xavier ruins opening of Lions' stadium

The constant rain couldn't dampen the opening of the new Linn-Mar High School stadium.

Although the boys soccer game didn't go as the Lions wanted, the first game at the new facility was one for the ages as Xavier (No.1 in Class 2A) and Linn-Mar (No.11 in Class 3A) battled to the wire.

Xavier pulled out a 1-1 (3-1) victory on penalty kicks in a tense and highly competitive contest. Logan Buschette, Chad Gilmer and Michael Tessmer made the decisive penalty kicks for the Saints.

"We played a little spoiler here tonight," said Xavier Coach Amir Hadzic. "We knew that they would be pumped up coming to their new field, so those first 10 to 15 minutes were crucial."

The hero of the match for the Saints was senior keeper Nathan Even, who started in goal even though it is his first year playing soccer at Xavier.

"For a keeper, it is really important that he projects confidence," Hadzic said. "For somebody who is in their first time in goal it is amazing. I felt confident on the bench, so you can imagine how his defenders felt."

Even was able to keep up that confidence even after overtime ended in a tie and his defenders were watching from the sideline during the penalty kicks. He made two great saves to push his team to victory.

"We talked a little bit before the PK's (penalty kicks) because that is new to him," Hadzic said. "I just told him not to rush. Read how players do, read their hips, look at them in the eyes, sometimes you can read what they will do."

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