A dozen key area football games for Week 1:IOWA CITY WEST at LINN-MARTime and site: 7:15 p.m. Friday, at Linn-Mar StadiumRecords and rankings: Both teams are 0-0. West is ranked fifth in Class 4A by The Gazette/KCRG; Linn-Mar is unranked. West was 9-3 last season; ...

Area girls cross country teams to watch for the 2012 season:DECORAHCoach -- Cristy Nimrod2011 state finish -- 5th in Class 3AReturning state participants (6) -- Shana Kelly, sr., 10th; Amanda Taylor, soph., 22nd; Gara Lonning, soph., 32nd; Shelby Varney, sr., 64th; Alica Gullekson, sr., 85th; ...

Next week's Mississippi Valley Conference volleyball opener has gained some serious sizzle.Iowa City High is No. 1 and Cedar Rapids Kennedy No. 2 in the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union's preseason Class 5A rankings, released Monday afternoon."That's a lot to live up to," Kennedy ...

Area volleyball teams to watch for the 2012 season:CEDAR RAPIDS KENNEDYCoach -- Michelle Goodall (14th year at Kennedy, 322-171)2011 record -- 30-102011 postseason -- Class 4A state semifinalist. Lost to eventual champion Iowa City West in five games.Returning starters (4) -- MB Jordan Calef (sr.), ...

SOLON -- The Solon Community School District announced the hiring of Peter Gustin as interim head varsity volleyball coach Monday, pending school board approval.Gustin is a 2010 graduate of the University of Iowa and 2006 graduate of Frankfort (Ill.) Lincoln-Way East High School.He was a ...

SOLON -- The first day of practice was the last day at Solon High School for Kurt Trout.Saying he did not want to be a distraction to the school's sky's-the-limit volleyball team, Trout gave his resignation Monday."I had a meeting with the principal (Nathan Wear) and ...

FORT DODGE -- The nickname fits.Ninth-ranked Ballard put the "bomb" in Bombers on Friday, hitting three home runs -- including a three-run, go-ahead blast by Kenzie Ihle in the bottom of the sixth inning -- and fought past No. 1 Solon, 5-4, to win the ...

FORT DODGE -- Talk about a moving experience.Arran Weeces scattered three hits, and top-ranked Solon made a first-inning run stand up in a 1-0 win over No. 5 Estherville-Lincoln Central in a Class 3A semifinal at the state softball tournament Thursday afternoon at the Rogers Sports ...

FORT DODGE -- When the Washington Demons look in the mirror, they don't see Cinderella."I think other people do," Coach Angie Shrader said Wednesday as the seventh-ranked Demons (32-8) prepared for a Class 4A semifinal against No. 2 Dallas Center-Grimes (34-5) at the state softball ...

 SOLON — Quite frankly, it was probably going to happen soon anyway. The Marion Indians just officially assured it last night.Solon’s run of state baseball championships has come to an end. At least this run.Marion scored nine times in the first three innings to topple ...