Kirkwood Community College - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Kirkwood lands big man from Sweden

Kirkwood Coach Bryan Petersen has not had a chance to watch Martin Hyberg play basketball in person, but he's studied film of the 6-foot-10 center from Sweden and likes what he's seen.

Hyberg comes highly recommended from a friend of Petersen's in the coaching business and has good credentials, having played for the U20 Sweden National Team.

"We've watched film on him, but we haven't seen him in person," Petersen said Friday. "So you don't really know until they get here, but we're expecting him to come over and impact our team right away."

Petersen has landed a big recruiting class with 11 new players, including nine scholarship players and two walk-ons. He needed a big class, because only five players will be returning from the unit that went 21-10 this season.

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KCC's Sneed picked for all-star games

Ariel Sneed of Kirkwood Community College has been selected to play in the 2014 NJCAA Women's Basketball All-Star Games in Niceville, Fla., July 24-27.

Sneed, a 6-foot post player, was named a third team All-American this season after averaging 10.8 points and 6.2 rebounds for the Eagles. She will be a sophomore at Kirkwood next season.

Forty players have been selected for the all-star games, which will be played at Northwest Florida State College.

Olson brothers pick UNI, Kirkwood

It's been a good week for the Olson brothers of Cedar Rapids and their college basketball careers.

Taylor Olson has accepted an offer to join the University of Northern Iowa basketball team as an invited walk-on and his younger brother Jacob has accepted an offer to play at Kirkwood.

The Olson brothers starred at Jefferson High School, where they were all-state selections. Taylor Olson played at Kirkwood the past two years and now Jacob Olson will be following in his footsteps.

Both brothers are point guards who can handle the ball and score.

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2 KCC softball players named All-American

Chasney Jenkins and Shy Saladino from the Kirkwood softball team have been named All-Americans by the National Junior College Athletic Association.

Jenkins, a freshman outfielder, led the Eagles with a .446 batting average and had 37 stolen bases.

Saladino, a sophomore pitcher, led Kirkwood in strikeouts, averaging 8.27 per game. She will continue her career at Missouri Western University.

The Eagles finished 52-8 this season.

Chilcott climbs at JUCO golf tourney

PLYMOUTH, Ind. - Nathan Chilcott of Kirkwood fired a 1-under-par 71 at the NJCAA Division II National Tournament Wednesday and jumped from 27th place into a tie for 10th after 36 holes at the Swan Lake Resort Black Course.

Chilcott stands at 76-71=147 at the halfway point of the 72-hole tournament.

Tanner McKinney of Mineral (Mo.) Area College leads the tournament at 70-71=141. There are 128 players in the event.

KCC nips Ellsworth at Region XI meet

WATERLOO - Cale Henke pitched effectively into the eighth inning and Randy Perez provided the relief Thursday as Kirkwood trimmed Ellsworth, 6-5, in the opening round of the NJCAA Region XI baseball tournament at Riverfront Stadium in Waterloo.

Kirkwood (30-17) will face DMACC in the winners bracket semifinals Friday at 4 p.m.

Henke (5-2) allowed three earned runs in 7.2 innings. Perez struck out three batters in the final 1.1 innings for his fourth save.

Eric Schenck-Joblinske went 3-for-4 for the Eagles. Zach Patterson, Nick Jones and Perez all had two hits. Shawn Hagarty drove in two runs.

Perez began the game at third base, then came into pitch.

KCC women sign 6-foot-5 center

The Kirkwood women's basketball team will have one of the tallest players in school history on the roster next season when 6-foot-5 center Kaycee Kallenberger joins the squad.

Kallenberger spent this past season at Eastern Illinois University, where she played sparingly and scored seven points in 11 games.

Kallenberger was an all-conference player in the Mississippi Athletic Conference (MAC) in high school. She set the career record for blocked shots at North Scott, then transferred to Pleasant Valley for her senior year.

Kirkwood has signed seven new players for the 2014-15 campaign, Coach Kim Muhl announced Wednesday.

The other new players are Cyerra Hutchins of Cedar Rapids Prairie, Casey Miles from Hudson High School, Addie Obermann from Northeast Goose Lake, Madison Wood from Cedar Falls, A.J. Downs from Merillville (Ind.) and Caitlin Sudduth from Tinley Park (Ill.).

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Eagles face Ellsworth in juco tourney

WATERLOO - The Kirkwood Eagles have been seeded No.4 and will face Ellsworth in the opening round of the NJCAA Region XI baseball tournament at Riverfront Stadium in Waterloo Thursday morning.

The game is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m.

Kirkwood enters the tournament with a 29-17 record. The Eagles finished 13-11 in the ICCAC conference to earn the No.4 seed. Ellsworth (22-28) is seeded fifth.

The other opening-round games feature No.1 DMACC vs. No.8 Southwestern at 1 p.m., No.2 Southeastern vs. No.7 Iowa Lakes at 4 p.m., and No.3 Iowa Central vs. No.6 NIACC at 7 p.m.

The double-elimination tournament continues Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday (if necessary).

Kirkwood hit .320 as a team during the regular season and features Sulliam Rios Reyes (.373), Matt Paciello (.372) and Angel Merced (.365). Merced leads the Eagles with five home runs and 43 RBIs.

Cale Henke, Will Ross, Keaton Blackford and Shawn Simmons have all won four games for the KCC pitching staff.

Kirkwood softball team falls short

FORT DODGE - The Kirkwood softball team enjoyed a terrific regular season with a 25-game winning streak and a No.4 national ranking, but the year had an unhappy ending for the Eagles Sunday at the NJCAA Region XI tournament in Fort Dodge.

DMACC defeated Kirkwood for the second straight day, this time 7-1 in the championship round to win the regional title.

DMACC topped the Eagles Saturday in the winner's bracket final, 5-1.

Kirkwood defeated Marshalltown, 8-0, in the loser's bracket final Sunday to gain another shot at DMACC, but the Eagles could not mount enough of an offense to stay alive.

Kirkwood won the conference title and finished the season with a 52-8 record.