Washington catcher Sam Short, junior, tags out Linn-Mar's Kortlan Olinger, freshman, at the plate during the 4A Regional softball game between Cedar Rapids Washington and Linn-Mar at Jefferson High School at 1243 20th Street SW in Cedar Rapids on Saturday, July 10, 2010. Linn-Mar won 9-1. (Stephen Mally/Freelance)

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — For anyone, this qualifies as a hot surge at the right time. For the Linn-Mar Lions, it serves as a sign of hope.

The Lions struck for four runs in the bottom of the first, piled on four more in their last plate appearance and took down Cedar Rapids Washington, 9-1, in a Class 4A regional quarterfinal softball game Saturday night at the Jefferson Softball Complex.

After an uncustomary down year in 2009 and a slow start this season, the Lions (12-24) have won nine of their last 12 games.

“We’ve played better defense, we’ve had consistent pitching and we’re getting some timely hits,” said Lions Coach Jon Harms.

They’ll need all of the above Monday when they return to Jefferson to face the fourth-ranked J-Hawks (33-6), who had a first-round bye. No matter what happens in the next round, the Lions can be confident that better days are ahead.

“We’ve got some young, inexperienced girls,” Harms said. “It’s nice to see them continue to work hard.”

Linn-Mar knocked the wind out of the Warriors (2-35) in the first inning, capitalizing on two bunt singles, three walks and RBI singles by Kelsey Duggan and Dionna Jensen to take a 4-0 lead.

Washington threatened repeatedly but couldn’t put together a rally to make the Lions sweat.

Washington got within 4-1 in the second inning on Sharayah Owens’ single but left the bases loaded. The Warriors got the first two runners on base in the third, but a double play foiled that uprising.

The Warriors left 10 runners on base, seven in scoring position.

“I don’t want to say it’s symbolic of the season, but I think it shows how close we are as a program,” said Warriors Coach Fanaye Kifletsadik. “We’re a hit away here, a couple of runs away there. Linn-Mar played a fabulous game. Every time we put some pressure on them, they handled it.”

The Lions blew it open with a run in the fifth and four in the sixth. Leah Beck’s RBI double highlighted the rally in the sixth.

Linn-Mar’s first three hitters — Lindsey Harms, Kristin Gibbs and Beck — collected two hits apiece. Logan Smith and Owens both had two hits for Washington.

Cedar Rapids Washington's Alex Carr runs upfield after scooping up the ball on a punt return during the second half of their Class 4A state football first round playoff game against Cedar Rapids Kennedy last November. (Jim Slosiarek/SourceMedia Group News)

Rivals.com rates Cedar Rapids Washington’s Alex Carr as the nation’s 48th best cornerback.

Here is a link to www.hawkeyereport.com on Carr.

Carr will be a senior this fall at Washington.

With rosters due Monday for Thursday’s Class 1A and 2A district meets, boys’ tennis coaches are challenged to find their best possible lineup.

It turns out that determining lineups for district competition is more complex than filling out a sheet with names. Coaches implore strategy to try to advance as many athletes to the state meet as well as improving the team’s chances to reach team substate.

Coaches and players have to decide whether to compete in singles or doubles play, assessing what is best for both the individual and team.

“It depends on where your individuals finish and how many matches they win and how many points they compile for your team,” Cedar Rapids Washington Coach David Meyer said. “There’s a lot of strategy that goes on.”

The process makes it extremely hard to gauge the meet. It can be a guessing game as to how the field will look. Coaches can get an idea of which direct a player or coach will go, but surprises can occur. Most coaches don’t want to tip their hand, according to Meyer.

“You take six players, but we don’t know where everybody is going to be. That doesn’t come out until the morning of the match,” he said. ”That’s all under lock and key until Thursday morning when we play.”

Meyer, who has coached the Warriors for about five years, recalled a year when the doubles bracket at district was loaded with the teams’ top players. Doubles matches are worth more points to the team score and can be key with the top scoring team advancing to substate and the second- and third-place team moving on to prelim substate.

“It’s a huge strategy thing because you get more points for doubles than singles,” Meyer said. “It’s more advantageous to win doubles matches sometime.”

Washington will vie for state and team substate berths at Veterans Memorial Tennis Complex for district hosted by Cedar Rapids Jefferson. The field also includes Cedar Rapids Kennedy, Cedar Rapids Prairie, Cedar Rapids Washington, Cedar Rapids Xavier and Marshalltown.

“I feel we have a decent chance to finish in the top three, but you have to play well,” Meyer said of the team race. “You still have to step on the court and play your best tennis because we have a really strong district.”

Iowa City High hosts Iowa City West, Burlington, Davenport West, Muscatine and Ottumwa. Linn-Mar heads to Dubuque Senior for a district with the Waterloo/Cedar Falls schools and Dubuque Hempstead.

In class 1A, Marion, Maquoketa and Western Dubuque compete in a district at Davenport Assumption. Decorah, Independence, Oelwein and Union Community are at Waterloo Columbus. South Tama travels to Pella Christian.

The top two district finishers in both doubles and singles move on to the state tournament May 28-29. The 2A state meet is at Veterans Memorial Tennis Complex in Cedar Rapids. Byrne’s Park Tennis Complex in Waterloo will hold the 1A state meet.

B Soccer_WE-5 1 10_Rankings

It will not be made up.

But the Cedar Rapids Washington senior has learned to shrug off getting knocked to the ground.

“I think I’ve gotten a lot stronger mentally,” Boniface said, thanking head coach Sean McCoy. “Sean always says that when you get knocked down, you’ve got to (get up) and smile. I’ll be so mad when I’m on the ground. But I’ll get up and just smile. Make them mad. That’s the point of it.”

Boniface and the Warriors hope to be able to smile a lot this spring. Not to mention make their opponents mad.

Washington entered last night’s game against Linn-Mar with a 4-1 record and No. 4 ranking in Class 2A. All 11 starters returned from last season’s 18-3 team that lost to state champ Cedar Rapids Kennedy in a regional final.

That’s right, every one. Talented freshmen have been added to the mix, and first-year coach McCoy won his fair share of games in a coaching stint at Kennedy.

So don’t worry, ladies. Be happy and smile.

“These kids, we’re going to be Butler,” McCoy said. “We’re not going to be Duke with all these star players. We’re not Linn-Mar or Xavier or Iowa City West or Kennedy. We’re going to beat teams with teamwork.

“It’s a different role for Washington this season. Before, they would always thrive on being the underdog. It’s different to have a target on your back.”

But McCoy said the girls have handled it pretty well. They rallied from a 2-0 hole to beat Cedar Falls in the season opener, then beat West in a shootout.

Boniface is the most well-known player, but there are other good ones. Goalkeeper Molly James was honorable mention all-state last season, as were strikers Madison Hines and Ashley Piper. Defenders Morgan Bjornsen and Katie Hammond were all-Mississippi Valley Conference.

“I think it’s been really good,” Boniface said. “We’re reflecting off last year … We still have to prove ourselves.

“It helped a lot having everybody returning. I think last year we bonded a lot more because we didn’t lose that many girls two years ago. We’re really closer, we’re getting closer.

“And we have some good freshmen.”

Cedar Rapids Jefferson hosts a district with Cedar Rapids Kennedy, Cedar Rapids Prairie, Cedar Rapids Washington, Cedar Rapids Xavier and Marshalltown. Iowa City High also hosts a district with Iowa City West, Burlington, Davenport West, Muscatine and Ottumwa. Linn-Mar heads to Dubuque with Senior and Hempstead as well as the Cedar Falls/Waterloo schools.

2010 2a District Assignmnets

Iowa City West's Jessica Gehrke reacts after crossing the finish line in the girls' 400-meter relay Saturday at the Drake Relays. West won in an all-time Iowa best of 48.10 seconds. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

DES MOINES — Forty-eight years, girls’ track has been a sanctioned sport in Iowa. Forty-eight years, the girls’ 400-meter relay has been contested at the Drake Relays.

All those years. And nobody has run it as fast as these four Women of Troy ran it Saturday afternoon.

Iowa City West set an all-time Iowa best of 48.10 seconds in blazing to the Drake title. 

“It felt fast,” said anchor Jessica Gehrke. 

It was the fastest ever. West’s effort eclipsed Waukee’s time of 49.15, set last year. 

Fast. But, according to the Women of Troy, they can go faster. 

“To be honest, we wanted to break 48-flat,” said Chloe Hoagland. “With better starts and handoffs, we can do it.” 

West led from the time the gun sounded and McKennan Cronbaugh burst out of the blocks. She was followed by Hoagland, Shahana Williams and Gehrke. 

Cronbaugh is a freshman. 

“It’s so amazing, running with these three,” Cronbaugh said. “They are so funny, and we’ve connected so well.” 

Cedar Rapids Xavier’s Hannah Breitbach, Erin Lynch, Tyler Sampson and Kate Steingreaber were  was second in 48.72 seconds. 

“We’re very happy,” Steingreaber said. “The West girls are very fast. We love to run with them.”

Mount Vernon-Lisbon, the defending team champion in Class 3A, proved that it can more than hold its own with the big schools. The self-named Zebras finished second in the 3,200- and 1,600-meter relays.

“We’re just ecstatic, particularly in the 4-by-8,” said Karly Cochrane. “We ran better than we thought we could.

“In the 4-by-4, we’re happy with second, because we knew how tough (Sioux City) East was going to be.”

The 3,200-meter relay evolved into a back-and-forth three-team race. West Des Moines Dowling ace Katie Flood outdueled Mount Vernon-Lisbon’s Alex Wilson in the final 200 meters to give the Maroons a record-setting win in 9:11.01. 

West Des Moines Dowling's Katie Flood (right) leads Mount Vernon-Lisbon's Alex Wilson down the final stretch in the girls' 3,200-meter relay at the Drake Relays on Saturday. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Mount Vernon-Lisbon finished in 9:15.68, West Des Moines Valley was third. Dowling, MV-L and Valley traded the lead throughout the race. 

“I didn’t know (Flood) could go that fast at the end,” Wilson said. “I couldn’t go any faster at the end.” 

Holly Salzbrenner, Cochrane and Kristin Canning ran the first three legs as MV-L set a school record.

The same foursome, in a different order, finished the 1,600-meter relay in 3:59.07. East was clocked in 3:54.39.

Cedar Rapids Washington’s Mary Kate Schmitt, Brooke Foreman, Manesha Buress and Layloni Beard were second to Urbandale in the shuttle hurdle relay. 

“It was awesome to make the finals, especially with this being Mary Kate’s senior year,” Beard said. 

Urbandale won it in 1:04.54, a Relays record. Washington finished in 1:05.74. 

Flood set an all-time Iowa best of 4:28.30 in a remarkably fast 1,500-meter race, capturing her third title of the weekend. Sioux City East’s Shelby Houlihan (4:31.21) and Northeast’s Morgan Casey (4:31.77) also broke the old Relays record. 

A University of Washington recruit, Flood won eight Drake titles in her career. 

Logan-Magnolia’s Alex Gochenour completed a hurdles sweep by capturing the 400-meter event in 1:01.63. Salzbrenner was third.

He was there to watch and support his daughter, Kimmy.

“I come to as many (meets) as I can,” Askelson said. “Yeah, it was a good choice to come today.”

A real good choice.

Kimmy Askelson did her dad proud with a two-over-par 74 that earned her medalist honors at the nine-school CRANDIC tournament. The Cedar Rapids Xavier junior flirted with even-par until finding water and taking a double-bogey on the par-4 18th hole.

That didn’t dampen, no pun intended, a terrific round of golf.

“Kimmy, you were a beast today,” a Xavier teammate told Askelson.

“Yeah, I know,” she replied.

That wasn’t meant to sound arrogant. Askelson was as pleased and surprised as anyone that she was able to post an eagle and three birdies.

“I felt good on the putting green. My stroke was good,” said Askelson, who is able to hit the ball long despite having diminutive physical features. ”My short game, I got up and down every time. I was straight off the driver, solid ball contact. I was hitting greens. That’s about it.”

That’s about enough.

Then there was that eagle on the sixth hole. She used a wedge to hole out from what she and her father estimated was 89 yards.

“Two bounces, and it dropped in the hole. Unbelievable,” she said. “(It felt) almost like a hole in one. Pretty sweet.”

Iowa City West won the team title with a 347, 20 shots fewer than runner-up Xavier. West’s Brooklyn Klemesrud and Madison Goodfellow finished second and third invidually with rounds of 79 and 81, respectively.

Cedar Rapids Jefferson sophomore Megan Furnish actually tied Goodfellow for third. Iowa City High’s Karley Boardman was fifth with an 86.

City High placed third, followed by Linn-Mar, Cedar Rapids Washington, Jefferson, Cedar Rapids Kennedy, Cedar Rapids Prairie and Marion.

Here is video of Marion’s Heather McGuire (red shirt), City High’s Rachel Stewart (pink), West’s Megan Wiechert (yellow) and Washington’s Lauren Manninen (blue) putting out on their final hole of the competition (the 9th hole):

It’s the eighth offer for the 6-foot-8 junior: Indiana, Indiana State, Northern Iowa, Iowa State, Creighton, Albany, Northern Colorado and Arizona State. Uthoff also met with new Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery on Saturday, but was not offered a scholarship.

“Very exciting,” Uthoff said of the Indiana offer. “It’s the Big 10. It’s an awesome opportunity.”

Uthoff said he has no timetable to make a college decision. He is scheduled to play in “open gyms” for coaches from Iowa, Creighton, Butler, Boston College and Notre Dame this week.

The NCAA allows coaches to go to high schools to watch talent play, as long as it is not organized.

He has visits scheduled the following week to Iowa State, UNI, Creighton and Indiana. There is no favorite, he said, adding he has “always rooted for all the state schools.”

“It’s going to come down to my relationship with the (prospective) coaches and my teammates,” Uthoff said.

Both Uthoff and Cedar Rapids Washington junior shooter Josh Oglesby have seen their recruiting profiles pick up significantly in the past month, with the beginning of the AAU season. Their Iowa Barnstormers team won a tournament over the weekend at the University of Iowa.

Oglesby also met with McCaffery on Saturday but was not offered a scholarship. He has offers from Northern Iowa, Arizona State, Albany, Indiana State, Creighton and South Dakota State.

“He’s a nice guy,” Oglesby said of the new Hawkeye head man. “His wife was there, too. He had a lot of stories.”

“He seemed like a good guy,” Uthoff agreed. “It seems like he’s got a good philosophy to get Iowa basketball back on the map.”

Cedar Rapids Jefferson's Jarrod Uthoff