Metro Sports Report

Rima excited about new club at Kirkwood

Todd Rima compiled an excellent record during his 11 years as the baseball coach at NIACC, with 358 victories and three finishes in the top-15 in the national polls.

Now he hopes to build on that success as the new coach at Kirkwood Community College.

The Eagles open the 2013 season Monday with a doubleheader against the College of DuPage (Ill.) in the Metrodome in Minneapolis at 7:30 p.m.

Hughes nabs 500 crown at state

MARSHALLTOWN – In his final meet after four years on the Cedar Rapids Washington varsity, Josh Hughes was not to be denied his first appearance on the top step of the awards platform at the state swimming championships.

Coming into Saturday’s competition at the Marshalltown YMCA, he was seeded second in both the 200 and 500-yard freestyle to freshman Aidan Keen of Iowa City West.

In last week’s blistering-fast district meet in Iowa City, Keen had beaten Hughes in each race with a couple of seconds to spare.

Lions roar at district wrestling meet

Linn-Mar wrestling coach Doug Streicher never panicked when the Lions kept losing to Cedar Rapids Prairie during the season.

He knew he had a potent lineup that could accomplish great things this season once it was healthy and fully assembled.

They proved it Saturday.

Linn-Mar topped Prairie for the Class 3A district title with an impressive performance Saturday and qualified a school-record 12 grapplers for the state meet.

Kennedy girls smoke Marion in finale

The Kennedy girls basketball team came out smoking Saturday night at home against Marion for a non-conference season finale, put the game away early and rolled to a 74-42 victory.

“We wanted to play well and make this a dress rehearsal for our first round tournament game against Jefferson,” said Kennedy Coach Tony Vis. The Cougars host Jefferson on Wednesday in a 5A regional tournament game. “Marion has a good team and we played with excellent offensive efficiency especially in the first half.”

Kennedy (14-7) had three players in double figures. Stephanie Botkin led all scorers with 15 points. Jordan Holmes and Paige Hendrickson added 12 and 11 points, respectively.