Top 10 Sports Stories for 2014
#1: Red Oak cross country makes history
It had never been done. For the first time in school history, both Red Oak cross country teams would be going to state together in early November.
Both teams put together strong races at the state qualifying meet in late October at Panora to get to the state meet in Fort Dodge. It was the first time in decades either team had made it to state.
“One thing we can take away from this year is, hard work pays off,” Red Oak Coach Curt Adams said after the state meet. “What you do in the offseason matters. I think they can see that now.”
For the girls, it took three top 10 runners to help them finish second as a team at the muddy Panorama West Golf Course. It would be the girls first time at state since 1983.
One of those three was Kate Walker, a stand-out who had also been tearing up the volleyball court during the season. Walker took third in the meet in her first season of running cross country.
Paige Shirley, a freshman who had been dealing with a back injury at the time, took eighth. And Nikki Graber, a senior who had been part of the cross country team the last few years, finished 10th.
The girls team had been gaining steam prior to their finish at the state qualifying meet. A week prior, they took third at the Hawkeye 10 meet.
As for the boys’ team, they took first, edging out Shenandoah by eight points and finishing with 54.
It was a momentous occasion as the team had come close to qualifying in recent years but came up short.
This year was different as the boys team had five top 20 finishers, including Logan LeRette, who finished third in the race. Weston Rolenc also cracked the top 10 when he finished seventh.
At the state meet Nov. 1 at the Lake Side Municipal Golf Course in Fort Dodge, the boys finished eighth, while the girls took 15th. The top finisher for the boys’ team was Josh Sunberg, who took 18th with a time of 17:15. Logan LeRette, who had qualified a year prior, took 50th with a time of 17:52.
The girls top finisher meanwhile was Walker, who took 31st with a time of 16:24.
With key runners returning for both teams next season, the Red Oak cross country team knows they have what it takes to get to Fort Dodge.
#2: East Mills qualifies for state
The 2014 sports year was a year of firsts for many, including the East Mills boys basketball team, who qualified for state for the first time as a shared group.
The Malvern-Nishna Valley shared school had been together for less than 10 years when they reached state.
East Mills had little difficulty cruising through the 2013-14 season. They won both the regular season and tournament title in the Corner Conference, losing just one game.
They then navigated their way through the district tournament, winning two of the three games by double-digits, including a 48-28 district final win against Sidney.
East Mills then found themselves in a showdown with perennial state power Nodaway Valley. It was close all game in Atlantic, but a Noah Meyer putback at the buzzer forced overtime and eventually led to East Mills winning 66-65.
The Wolverines faced Dunkerton on March 10 in the 1A quarterfinals at the Wells Fargo Arena.
East Mills kept close with Dunkerton, but a big lead late led to Dunkerton getting the 50-38 win.
#3: Tigers reach volleyball semifinals
In 2014, the Red Oak volleyball team’s season once again ended in Cedar Rapids. But unlike previous years, it ended for Red Oak in the state semifinals against the state runner-up.
The Tigers played in the state quarterfinals Nov. 12 and cruised to a 3-0 win against Sioux Center. The Tigers won the first two games 26-24 and then had a bit more cushion in the third game to get a 25-18 win.
It was the first state tournament victory and first semifinal appearance for the Tigers in nearly a decade.
Red Oak found themselves in a tough semifinal battle against a team they hadn’t played in the state tournament since 2010.
Red Oak and Mount Vernon faced each other the next day, Nov. 13, in the US Cellular Center.
Red Oak took the first game 25-23. Mount Vernon, however, won the next three games 25-21, 25-20 and 25-15, denying the Tigers a shot at playing in the championship match.
With the state tournament loss, Red Oak finished the 2014 season with a 34-8 record. Their 9-1 record in conference play led the Tigers to finishing second in the Hawkeye 10.
Red Oak also had two players cross the 1,000 kill milestone: Kate Walker and Grace Blomstedt.
The Tigers cruised through the first two regional rounds with wins over Atlantic and West Central Valley. They had to fight though to hold off Shenandoah late and get a 3-2 win in the regional final Nov. 4.
#4: Strong state tennis finishes for Red Oak
The hardware continued to pile up for the Red Oak girls’ tennis team in 2014. They not only medaled individually in singles and doubles, but once again finished runner-up as a team.
In 1A singles, Kate Walker provided the top finish for the Tigers when she was the runner-up. Walker lost in the championship match to Haley Resnick of Davenport Assumption.
Walker took the first game 6-4, but Resnick took the next two 6-0 and 6-4. It was Walker’s best finish in state tennis for singles up to that point.
Resnick also scored a win in the first round against Red Oak’s other singles player, Paige Vannausdle.
That didn’t stop Vannausdle, a senior, as she cruised through the consolation bracket and finished fifth in the state tournament when she defeated Emily Ahlers of LeMars 6-4 and 6-3. It was Vannausdle’s first and only finish at the state tournament.
In 1A doubles, it was the pairing of Erica Sherman and Grace Blomstedt who cruised through the early rounds and finished fourth. The pairing lost in the third place match to Lindsay and Lauren McManus of Waterloo Columbus.
The McManuses took the first set 6-3, but Sherman and Blomstedt forced a third set super tiebreaker by winning 6-3 in the second. The McManuses took the third set super tiebreaker.
It was the first appearance for Sherman in the individual tournament. Blomstedt finished fourth in 2013 with Zoey Baker in doubles.
In the team state tournament held June 7 in Iowa City, Red Oak lost a 5-4 close battle to Waterloo Columbus in the finals.
Red Oak won four of the six singles matches to take a 4-2 lead, needing one doubles match to clinch their first team title.
However, Waterloo Columbus swept all three doubles matches to get the win and retain the team tournament title.
Red Oak started out the day with a 5-1 victory over Camanche to get into the championship.
The Tigers didn’t need to worry about winning in doubles as five of the six wins came in singles. Blomstedt, Vannausdle, Sherman, Micayla Taylor and Sarah Behrens all picked up straight set victories against their Camanche opponents.
Red Oak did have one boys tennis player qualify for state as Jordan Nelson reached the tournament in singles.
Nelson finished eighth at the state tournament May 31 as he fell in three sets to Jamison Roozeboom of Pella.
#5: Berry wins state bowling title
For the first time since 2011, Red Oak bowling had a state champion.
Hayden Berry became the first individual state champion since Taylor Mellott as he won with a score of 504, putting him 14 pins ahead of runner-up Caleb Miller of Cedar Rapids Xavier.
Berry won the state title Feb. 24 at Plaza Lanes in Des Moines.
His 504 series, which included a 269 high game, was a personal high school best for the senior.
The 269 series for Berry put him in the top 10 with the other individuals.
He followed up with a 235, which was more than enough to get him the win.
“Last year I wasn’t super confident going in and this year I had confidence the entire way through,” Berry said after the meet. “As I struck more, I got more confidence.”
Berry had entered state with a 343 series average for the year.
Because of Berry’s win and Dylin Keat’s tied-for seventh place finish with a 453, Red Oak took home second at state.
The Tigers finished second with a team score of 3,091, which was less than 100 pins behind the state champions, Waverly-Shell Rock.
#6: Topham gets fourth XC title
It had never been done before in Iowa girls high school athletics history.
In November, Griswold’s Rebekah Topham became the first female runner in Iowa to win four state cross country titles.
Topham easily won the race, running a time of 14:32.
“Usually I don’t get too nervous. It was kind of different,” Topham said after the race. “I just felt a lot more pressure to be the first one to win four and all that.”
Additionally, Topham is the second runner in Iowa history to win four state cross country titles.
The feat was first accomplished by Mark Johnson of Mason City from 1969-72.
Thanks to Topham’s win, Griswold took home third in the loaded Class 1A field.
The Tigers finished with a team score of 133. Pocahontas Area won the state title with a score of 79.
#7: Stanton returns to playoffs
For the first time since 2011, the Stanton Vikings made it to the state football playoffs.
Stanton got back to the playoffs with a 3-6 record, clinching the fourth place spot in 8-man District 8.
The Vikings got in despite losing four straight games to close out the season.
Thanks to wins against CAM and East Mills in week’s three and four, they were able to get into the playoffs.
The key to success for Stanton was they were one of the few 8-man football teams to utilize the passing game.
Wide receiver Brady Johnson was second in the state for receiving yards with 1,337 and second in touchdowns with 18.
David Sorensen meanwhile passed for 1,905 yards and 23 touchdowns, putting him among the 8-man leaders.
The Vikings faced off against the Lamoni Demons in the opening round of the playoffs Oct. 29.
The game itself turned into a wild back-and-forth battle in the first half as both teams scored at will.
The Vikings trailed early, but rallied thanks to a pair of touchdowns by Alex Becthold, followed by a 12-yard touchdown catch by Johnson to put Stanton in the lead.
Lamoni took the lead back and went into halftime up 34-32.
The Demons never looked back as they were able to maintain the lead as Stanton scored once more during the game.
Lamoni won the game 56-38.
Johnson had 250 receiving yards in the game for Stanton on 14 catches.
With many of their top players back next season, Stanton has an opportunity to get back to the state playoffs and possibly make a run.
#8: Southwest Valley’s Schmelzer claims runner-up at state
While several wrestlers from the area qualified for the state tournament, only one medaled.
That honor belongs to Kal Schmelzer, who finished second at 160 lbs. in the Class 1A field in the state tournament in February.
Schmelzer is the first Southwest Valley wrestler to medal in the Villisca-Corning shared-school’s first season.
Schmelzer lost the 160 lbs. championship match by a 14-3 major decision to Tyler Foubert of Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont.
Schmelzer started out the tournament with a first round pinfall over Steve Huber. He then won an 8-6 decision win against Schuyler Rilling.
In the semifinals, Schmelzer defeated Kegen Fingalsen by a 5-4 decision.
Schmelzer was joined at the state tournament by teammate Zach Barton, who wrestled in the 182 lbs. weight class.
Barton lost both of his tournament matches at state.
#9: Topham’s four golds among the key state track and field highlights
The 2014 calendar year was undoubtedly a great one for Rebekah Topham. In addition to the state cross country title she won in the fall, she scored four state titles for the first time in her career earlier in the spring at the state track and field meet in Des Moines.
Thanks to Topham’s four wins in the state track meet, Griswold was able to finish as the state runner-up.
Topham won her four state titles in the 3,000, 1,500, 800 and 400-meter hurdles. The latter was the key race for Topham as the 400-hurdles was the only state title up to that point in her high school career that she hadn’t won.
The final win for Topham was the 1,500, which was an exclamation point to her weekend as she won with a time of 4:35.87, more than 20 seconds ahead of runner-up Gwynne Wright.
Topham also nearly broke the 1A state record during her 3,000 win. Topham ran a 9:56.73, .19 seconds behind the record holder Leah Seivert of Sibley-Ocheyedan.
Topham scored the bulk of the points for Griswold. However, teammate Alyx Flippin took sixth in the 1,500, giving the Tigers enough points to finish ahead of third place Central Elkader.
The second place finish snapped a three-year state title streak for Griswold.
Other area athletes had success in track for the 2014 season. Red Oak’s Kate Walker took sixth in the 2A girls race with a time of 4:56.67.
Stanton’s Carmen Subbert meanwhile took home seventh at state in the 1A 100-meter hurdles race, running a time of 16.23 seconds.
East Mills also had success when Sam Rew took fourth in the high jump with a jump of 6’4”.
Travis Tupper was eighth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 23.38 seconds.
The 4x100 team featuring Tupper, Colton Story, Colby Jennings and Cavin Darnold finished sixth with a time of 44.55.
#10: Red Oak and Stanton end girls basketball season in regional finals
The 2014 year came close to having two area girls basketball teams reach the state tournament for a second straight year.
However, the Red Oak and Stanton girls’ basketball teams had both of their seasons end at the regional final.
The Tigers made it to the 3A regional final, holding off both Atlantic and Shenandoah in the earlier rounds.
Red Oak reached the regional final despite season-ending injuries to both Blake Bergren and Sabrina Guerra.
Red Oak faced the tough task of playing MOC-Floyd Valley Feb. 22 in the regional final for a state berth.
The Tigers trailed by two points, 12-10, after the first quarter.
However, MOC-Floyd Valley picked up the pace in the second quarter and pulled away, giving them the state berth.
MOC-Floyd Valley would cruise through the 3A state tournament bracket and win the state title, defeating Unity Christian 63-57.
The Viqueens meanwhile had one of their best seasons in recent memory, losing one game during the regular season, a close one in the Corner Conference championship game versus Fremont-Mills.
With senior Carmen Subbert leading the charge, Stanton plowed through the early rounds of the regional tournament.
Stanton had a regional final showdown with Bedford at Clarinda High School Feb. 24.
The Viqueens jumped ahead early and took a 22-12 lead into halftime.
Bedford stormed back in the second half, thanks in part to Bedford’s Fallyn Beemer, who sank six three-pointers in the game, eventually finishing with 22 points.
The Bulldogs erased the deficit and forced the game into overtime.
In overtime, Stanton was outscored 11-6 as Bedford secured the state tournament berth.
Bedford’s run in the state tournament didn’t last long as they lost in the opening round 73-37 to Newell-Fonda.