CEDAR RAPIDS — This is the time prep tennis coaches are put to the test.
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 …

Cedar Rapids Washington has canceled the Wilkinson Relays boys’ track meet at Kingston Stadium.
It will not be made up.

CEDAR RAPIDS — Sarah Boniface has been on the receiving end of her share of hard tackles this soccer season. That’s the way it is when you’re one of the best players around, an all-state midfielder and the focus of defenses.
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 …

There’s a first time for everything and the Linn-Mar boys’ tennis team proved it Saturday.
None of the current Lions, including fifth-year head coach Chris Wundram, had ever notched a team victory over Cedar Rapids Kennedy. That changed.
Linn-Mar punctuated a solid season with a 6-3 win over the host Cougars, snapping Kennedy’s 23-match Mississippi Valley Conference win streak over the weekend.
“It was really great,” Lions senior T.J. McCann said. “We haven’t beaten them in the four years I’ve been on varsity. It was finally nice to beat that team. I think …

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 …

DES MOINES — Ryan Dusil explained the euphoria of a victory lap at the Drake Relays.
“People you don’t even know, they’re cheering for you,” he said. “Somebody said, ‘Way to bring it back to Cedar Rapids.’ “
Cedar Rapids Kennedy buried the Relays record with a winning 56.09-second effort in the boys’ shuttle hurdle relay Saturday afternoon.
Jake Losch held off Linn-Mar star Kyle Dunn at the end. As it turned out, it didn’t matter — the Lions were disqualified. Linn-Mar’s time would have been 56.17.
“I could feel (Dunn) coming,” Losch said. …

DES MOINES – Matt Stocker’s emotions did a 180-degree turn in one day.
Stocker anchored Cedar Rapids Prairie’s 1,600-meter medley relay to a Drake Relays championship Friday.
The Hawks’ quartet of Andy Erenberger, Tom Frieden, Demetrius Harper and Stocker was clocked in 3 minutes, 30.83 seconds.
Prairie competed in the second of three heats, and won it behind Stocker’s 800-meter anchor of 1:53.4. Then it was a matter of waiting and watching as the teams in the so-called fast heat battled it out.
Nobody was faster than the Hawks.
“It looked like the Indianola kid (Brennan …

These are through April 3 and provided by the Iowa High School Soccer Coaches Association.
B.soccer WE-4.3.10 Rankings

These are provided by the Iowa Girls’ High School Athletic Union
 
Class 2A
1-Ankeny
2-Cedar Rapids Kennedy
3-Urbandale
4-West Des Moines Valley
5-Iowa City West
6-Johnston
7-Pleasant Valley
8-Bettendorf
9-Cedar Rapids Washington
10-Sioux City North
11-Linn-Mar (Marion)
12-Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson
13-Cedar Rapids Jefferson
14-Dowling Catholic
15-Davenport West
 
Class 1A
1-Cedar Rapids Xavier
2-Dallas Center-Grimes
3-Bishop Heelan (Sioux City)
4-Union (LaPorte City)
5-Pella
6-Waverly-Shell Rock
7-Solon
8-Norwalk
9-Columbus Catholic (Waterloo)
10-Glenwood
11-Davenport Assumption
12-Dubuque Wahlert
13-Nevada
14-Lewis Central (Council Bluffs)
15-Grinnell

CEDAR RAPIDS — Cedar Rapids Washington still has its burners.
“It’s good to have guys as good as you in practice,” said Alex Carr. “That helps a lot.”
The Warriors have their stable of sprinters. But Saturday, Cedar Rapids Kennedy had the best team. The best true team.
Kennedy edged Linn-Mar, 302-299, to win the John Ask Relays boys’ track and field meet at Kingston Stadium. The seven-team event was extremely tightly packed at the top.
Washington, the reigning Class 4A state champion, was third with 287 points. Iowa City West was fourth with …