HOOP DREAMS

SHOW SCHOOL SPIRIT

CARLISLE

STUDENTS

2 0 1 4 S TAT E T O U R N A M E N T

HERZBERGBATTLES BACK

Alexis Conaway2014 Class 3A POY

www.caseys.com

BasketballPG 8

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5 HERZBERG READY TO COMPETEManson-NW Webster’s Ellie Herzberg is back from an injury and ready to defend her state titles on the track.

7 GIRLS BASKETBALL ALL-STATEFirst-team selections, Players of the Year and Coaches of the Year.

12 BOYS BASKETBALL ALL-STATEFirst-team selections, Players of the Year and Coaches of the Year.

4 CARLISLE STUDENTS STEP UPThe Wildcats made a dramatic turnaround and their fans helped make it even more special.

Editor’s Note: In this month’s issue, we look back at the boys and girls state basketball tournaments and get a sneak peek ahead to track and field. Readers can get reviews of both tournaments, as well as feature stories on one of the champions from both weeks. We also have a feature on the Carlisle girls basketball team and the outstanding student and community support they received during their remarkable turnaround. Also read about how Man-son-NW Webster’s Ellie Herzberg is recovering from a severe injury to defend multiple track championships, and how the experience has helped her and her teammates. Correction: On the cover of the March issue, Sports Spotlight incorrectly referred to the high school dance teams that competed at the UDA National Championship in Orlando as cheerleaders. Sports Spotlight regrets the error. C

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4 SportsSpotlight.comVolume 2 Issue 7

HigH ScHool

CARLISLE SCHOOL SPIRIT REACHES A NEW LEVELCarlisle’s strong fan base and community support were driving forces behind an incredible season for girls basketball

It was the perfect Cinderella story. A season that nobody expected. One of the most impressive turnarounds in Iowa high school basketball. The Car-lisle girls basketball team had a season for the books this year, one that made an impact not only on the players, but the entire school.

“It’s one of those things where you get involved with high school athletics to be able to experience, and we were able to experience that this year,” Car-lisle activities director Todd Gordon said. “We feel like the girls just took us along for a great ride and we all benefitted from it.”

Last year, the girls basketball team

ended the season with an 0-21 regular season record and won only one game during regional play. This year, though, the team shocked the state and went 20-7 before falling, 45-42, to No. 1 Harlan in the Class 4A state semifinals. The Wildcats also went 7-4 in the Racoon River Conference, earning them the conference cham-pionship.

“It’s been 12 years since the last state tournament, and 14 years since our last conference championship, so it had been awhile for girls basketball,” Gordon said.

But this year was different. Not only was the team competing at an

unexpectedly high level, but there was a new driving force backing them up along the way. The fans.

The Carlisle school district serves 2,000 students ranging from pre-school to 12th grade. But despite its small size, the Carlisle student body is a force to be reckoned with. The school pride and spirit that Carlisle students exude are second to none, and they’ve proven that this season.

“I think [the school spirit] was good before the girls state tournament and it was outstanding, really beyond anything we could comprehend, during the regional tournament and then the state tournament,” Gordon said. “It was just really, really good.”

Throughout the season, student leaders and avid fans at Carlisl stepped up to make supporting their team a priority. One student took it upon herself to make signs to put up around the school on game days. Other students spoke in front of the school at a pep rally reminding the student body what the student section would be doing at an upcoming game. According to Gordon, the students “were just taking initiative that we haven’t seen before.”

During the state tournament at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, the Wildcats’ fans showed up in full force. On one of the first days of the tournament, the Carlisle student section arranged itself to create a giant yellow ‘C’ for Carlisle based on the color of their T-shirts. According to Dylan Dunn, a student at Carlisle, the coordination took a lot of patience, but they “finally got it.” At halftime, the students switched colors to create a red “C” with a yellow background.

Something so simple and fun as the coordination of colored T-shirts demonstrates the excitement and enthusiasm of the Carlisle fan base.

“I think everyone obviously got behind the girls and the excitement of what the season was kind of turning into after the conference champion-ship and then the excitement for the post season,” Gordon said. “They were just doing more appropriate cheers, they had appropriate enthusiasm, they were doing the things that we were trying to do sportsmanship-wise, and it just worked. And I think they had more fun doing that than some of the other chants and cheers going on. It just made for a more fun, more posi-tive environment at all of our games.”

While the fans were feeding off the excitement from the girls team on the court, the players were also benefitting from the extreme level of support coming from the students. Positive interactions between the coaches, players and student body led to a new level of pride at Carlisle. The school camaraderie and tight-knit community allowed a strong fan base and strong girls basketball program to come together.

“In our case it’s been this team was exciting and they were doing some very positive things, but they also have great relationships with our students and our student leaders, and that just helped the momentum,” Gordon said. “It just creates a whole new force of momentum for the team, because our team fed off of that. It was amazing.

“It was really cool to see our school become a closer community through-out the whole thing.”

Elizabeth Robinson | Managing Editor

Members of Carlisle’s student section showed their school spirit at Wells Fargo Arena during the girls state tournament. Carlisle had an unex-pected standout season going 20-7 and advancing to the state semifinals before losing 45-43 against Harlan. (Photo courtesy of Dylan Dunn)

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5SportsSpotlight.com Volume 2 Issue 7

HigH ScHool

HERZBERG, TEAMMATES GROW FOLLOWING INJURYManson-NW Webster’s Ellie Herzberg was sidelined from the hardwood following an elbow fracture in January. The experience helped her and her teammates grow, and now she’s ready to defend her titles on the trackTork Mason | Editor-in-Chief

Manson-NW Webster had been off to a promising start during basketball season, jumping out to a 7-1 record and a No. 3 ranking, before the Cougars were struck with adversity. That’s when Ellie Herzberg, an all-state guard and Northern Iowa signee, was sidelined with a fractured elbow, which forced her to watch and do what she could from the bench as her teammates played their way into the state tournament.

Cougars head girls basketball coach Bret Larson remembers getting the news in early January.

“It was pretty devastating to hear, coming from a girl like that, who has invested so much time into the game of basketball and was accomplishing so much in her senior season,” Larson said. “It was devastating to hear and heartbreaking to see that happen to a kid like that.”

But the injury provided both Herzberg and her teammates an opportunity to grow. Everyone took full advantage of that chance and it could pay big dividends as they enter track season.

For Herzberg, it offered a chance to take a step forward as a leader. Larson said Herzberg was a quiet player who preferred to lead by example when he arrived at Manson-NW Webster three years ago, but when Herzberg was out, she became almost a fourth coach for the team. She sat next to the coaches and was always ready with encouragement or advice for her teammates during games, and helped run drills during practices.

“We had a lot of young players and that was really big for us, as a

team, because she was a girl everyone looked up to,” Larson said. “So her leadership was huge for us as we made our state tournament run and she impacted our whole team in a positive way.”

Not all players are comfortable being a vocal leader, but Herzberg said she didn’t have much trouble finding a role within the team while she was injured.

“The last couple of years, I’ve kind of stepped out of being the leader by example and tried to be more of a vocal leader,” she said. “So it wasn’t quite as big of a jump; it was a little bit different, but not too much.”

The experience of making the state tournament without one of the state’s best players also helped her teammates grow into themselves and find out just what they were capable of.

“It really helped them a lot,” Herzberg said. “At first, it was tough, but they grew into new roles that they had to play and different people had to step up. It improved their confidence a lot, realizing that they can do good things [without me].”

That improved confidence wasn’t just limited to the hardwood, though. Kayla Jacobson, the head girls track and field coach at Manson-NW Webster, said she’s seen it in early season track practices, too.

“I think they showed themselves, and everybody else, that they’re more than just a one-person show,” Jacobson said. “So a lot of them have been really motivated going into track season. They ended their [basketball] season down at state, which was a

big goal they set for themselves, so a lot of them have been really pushing themselves at practice and trying to keep that momentum going.”

That could spell big things for a young Cougar track team that finished fifth at last year’s state track meet in Class 1A as they compete in Class 2A this season. And, naturally, Herzberg will be an important piece of the puzzle after becoming just the fourth girl to win the 100-, 200- and 400-meter dashes in the same state meet last year.

Herzberg might adjust her stance in the blocks and use a three-point stance in the early portion of the season to keep stress off of her elbow, but she said she doesn’t foresee it being a long-term adjustment. Jacobson said the biggest hurdle facing Herzberg will be catching up in terms of strength.

“The unfortunate part about her injury is the fact that she hasn’t been able to lift in the weight room for most of basketball season and so far during track season,” Jacobson said. “She’s been doing physical therapy stuff to keep up her mobility, but she’s probably going to be a little behind on the strength.”

But Jacobson went on to say that Herzberg is one of the most motivated girls she’s ever worked with, when it comes to doing whatever it takes to get better. And Herzberg said she’s not worried about being able to compete at a high level right away.

“[I’ll] probably feel a lot of nerves [the first time in the blocks],” she said. “Just being back in competition again, it’ll be a little different, but I’ll be ready for it, for sure.”

Manson-NW Webster’s Ellie Herzberg won Class 1A titles in the 100-, 200- and 400-meter dashes last season and will compete in Class 2A this year. She is just the fourth female athlete to win all three events in the same state track meet. Herzberg is coming off of a fractured elbow suffered in early January that sidelined her for the remainder of the basketball season. (Photo courtesy of Eric Pratt/Fort Dodge Messenger)

SportsSpotlight.com6 Volume 2 Issue 7

CLASS 1A G - Renee Maneman, Sr. Newell-Fonda

G - Paige Danner, Sr. Ar-We-Va - Westside

F - Taylor Hickey, Jr. Burlington-Notre Dame

F - Carmen Subbert, Sr. Stanton

F - London Vais, Sr. Adair-Casey

C - Shelby Hembera, Jr. Cedar Valley Christian

Coach of the Year: Kenny Weed, Bedford

CLASS 2A G - Nicole Miller, Jr. North Linn

G - Alissa Pollema, Sr. Western Christian

F - Jamie Gesink, Jr. Western Christian

F - Jenna Lehman, Sr. Iowa City Regina

F - Alissa Brown, Sr. Jesup

C - Ellen Gallagher, Sr. Woodbury Central

Coach of the Year: Matt Jenness, Woodbury Central

CLASS 3A

CLASS 4A

CLASS 5A

G - Paige Greiner, Sr. Williamsburg

G - Miranda Murphy, Sr. North Polk

F - Kassidy De Jong, Jr. Unity Christian

F - Alexis Conaway, Sr. MOC-Floyd Valley

F - Arika Wooldridge, So. Center Point-Urbana

C - Andrea Larson, Jr. Mediapolis

Coach of the Year: Todd Rogers, Mediapolis

G - Dani Heritage, Sr. Dallas Center-Grimes

G - Jenna Bork, Sr. Bishop Heelan

G - Morgan Neuendorf, Sr. Waverly-Shell Rock

F - Mariah Criswell, Jr. Winterset

F - Claire Marburger, Jr. Perry

C - Jess Schaben, Jr. Harlan

Coach of the Year: Bryan White, Carlisle

G - Roichelle Marble, Sr. Des Moines East

G - Grace Vander Weide, Jr. Valley

F - Audrey Faber, Jr. Dowling Catholic

F - Danielle Franklin, Sr. Cedar Rapids Washington

C - Haley Lorenzen, Sr. Iowa City High

F- Blaire Thomas, Sr. Waterloo West

Coach of the Year: Tracy Dailey, Southeast Polk

ALL-STATEGIRLS

- Player of the Year

Photo by Tork Mason

Photo by Tork Mason

Photo by Tork Mason

Photo by Tork MasonPhoto by Tork Mason

- Player of the Year

- Player of the Year

- Player of the Year

- Player of the Year

BASKETBALL

Harlan might have rolled undefeated through a regular season and regional schedule that didn’t provide many tests, but the Cyclones showed at the girls state basketball tournament that they still had a flair for the dramatic on their way to a state championship.

The Cyclones won their three tournament games by a combined 9 points, hitting a buzzer beater to win in the quarterfinals and surviving second half rallies in both the semifinal and championship games.

“The community in Harlan talked about making games more exciting, and they got what they wanted [this week],” Harlan head coach Zach Klaassen said. “All three of these games were exciting; there were no dull moments. Just when we thought we were going to make a move and make the spread large enough to where we’d feel comfortable, things would happen where teams would make a run on us. You know, every team down here is a good team, so you expect that.”

Junior point guard Taylor Wagner, after holding off Western Dubuque (Epworth) in the Class 4A title game, said she wasn’t surprised that the Bobcats made a rally to close what had been a 13-point fourth quarter Harlan lead and tied the game at 50-50 with just 1:22 remaining in the game. And she wasn’t surprised that her team weathered the run and came through when it mattered.

“We knew they were going to battle back,” Wagner said. “We knew there was never going to be a dull moment. We obviously didn’t want them to come back, we would have wanted to take that run [away], but we’ve been in these situations. Maybe not throughout the season, but in these last few games, we’ve really been able to pull through in these situations.”

Junior center Jess Schaben agreed and said it might not always have looked pretty, but the team finished, “and that’s what matters.” It all came down to not getting rattled and not giving up.

“Our big theme this year is to be relentless, and we were relentless [in this tournament],” she said.

Schaben played a big role for the team all season, but she was perhaps never bigger than when the game was gridlocked in the final minutes. The Cyclones were inbounding the ball in front of their own bench when Elle Kloewer threw a lob pass to Schaben in the paint, which the 6-4 Schaben caught and laid in to take a late 2-point lead that the Cyclones wouldn’t relinquish.

Wagner said having a player like Schaben, who has great size and is very reliable in the paint, makes the rest of the team’s job a bit easier.

“Jess is obviously tall,” Wagner said. “She’s got long arms; we utilize her for that and she spoils us, for that reason. When the game is tied like that, we just have to get it up to her. We knew that she’d be able to get that because she’s such a great player and she’ll give every single effort to get that ball into her hands and make that basket.”

Wagner said that play reinforced the Cyclones’ resolve and showed them exactly what they needed to do to finish out the game. They needed to be the aggressor and dictate the game, rather than let the Bobcats dictate to them.

But Schaben’s big basket — and 24 total points — in the championship game was just one of several clutch performances the Cyclones displayed during the tournament. Jordyn Moser hit a buzzer-beater against North Scott (Eldridge) to give her team a 2-point victory. Taylor Frederick, despite a shaky shooting performance, seemed to come up with every big rebound or basket to stop runs by Carlisle in the semifinals.

That kind of diversity was a weapon for Harlan throughout the tournament, and Klaassen said he preached to the players about being ready for their opportunity when it came.

“We talked about how, in big games, somebody’s going to have to step up,” Klaassen said. “You don’t know when it’s your time, but when you get out there, you’ve just got to take advantage of the situation and seize the moment.”

GIRLS STATE2014

Harlan rides roller Coaster To State title

Tork Mason | Editor-in-Chief

BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

The 2014 girls state basketball tournament provided many thrills for fans and casual observers alike. The most dramatic storylines came out of Class 4A, where the “Cardiac Cyclones” of Harlan saw all three tournament games go to the wire on their way to a championship, and where Carlisle capped a stunning turnaround from 1-22 in 2012-13 to a state semifinal appearance before falling to Harlan this season.

In Class 1A, No. 2 Burlington-Notre Dame downed top-ranked Newell-Fonda in a nail-biter to bring home the hardware. The Nikes were led by Taylor Hickey and Riley Kilbride, who combined to average 30.6 points per game in the tournament.

Class 2A saw Western Christian (Hull) dominate all comers and capture its third-straight title. Jamie Gesink led all Class 2A

players with 19.7 points per game, while Alissa Pollema led the class in assists and steals.

Class 3A Player of the Year Alexis Conaway led MOC-Floyd Valley to its second championship this school year. She set a state tournament record with 46 points in the Lady Dutch’s semifinal win over Mediapolis and was named the All-Tournament team captain. She was also awarded the Iowa Newspaper Association Miss Basketball Award.

And in Class 5A, Becca Hittner and Audrey Faber led Dowling Catholic to the crown. The duo tallied 32.7 points per game as the Maroons took down Waukee, top-ranked Iowa City High and Southeast Polk. Faber was named to the All-Tournament team, while Hittner — a sophomore — was named the team captain.

BASKETBALL

Almost nobody is surprised to see West Lyon (Inwood) raise a championship banner, but until this season, it was always for dominating opponents on the gridiron. Seeing the Wildcats playing for a basketball championship, however, was something new.

The Wildcats had never reached the state tournament before and only received the eighth seed in this year’s bracket, but they made the most of their opportunity and steamrolled the Class 1A field to claim a state title on the hardwood. Senior point guard Brandon Snyder said he and his teammates felt undervalued when they received the lowest seed in the field.

“We played with a chip on our shoulder, we played angry,” Snyder said. “We came out like we had something to prove every night, that we’re not an 8-seed. We put in the hard work and maybe we should have been a 1-seed. But seeds don’t mean anything; we just wanted a chance at these teams, and that’s what we got.”

That angry style of play led to commanding victories in every round of the tournament. They started off with a 15-point win over top-seeded and undefeated Newell-Fonda, and followed up that performance by taking down Keota, 61-40, in the semifinals. And in the championship game against Dunkerton, they held a 4-point lead with just over six minutes left in the second quarter before going on a 20-4 run to put the game away early and cruise to a 60-32 victory.

During that run, Dunkerton struggled to even get the ball across half court, as West Lyon stole inbound passes and forced a pair of 5-second calls. Snyder said once the team found a spark, it knew what to do with it.

“We just took over,” he said. “There was blood in the water and we didn’t let off the gas pedal, we just kept on it and played our style of basketball, which is uptempo. We started to run, get-ting some steals. Our defense creates our offense, which led to some easy baskets, and the next thing you know, we’re up 15, 20 points and never looked back from there.”

Fellow senior Kaleb Heyer said the team’s willingness to make hustle plays — getting on the floor and diving to save loose balls out of bounds — was key, and that it’s difficult for opponents to recover from a blitz like that.

“All year long, we’ve been making plays like that,” Heyer said. “We’ve talked about getting on runs and how other teams are going to get on runs—it’s going to happen, that’s just the game of basketball. You’ve just got to respond to those runs, and it’s how you respond that’s going to decide how the game turns out.”

The Wildcats’ poise was remarkable for a team making its first state tournament appearance in school history, perhaps due to their time at the UNI-Dome in November. Heyer said that ex-perience was helpful in preparing the team to deal with the atmosphere and the perks that come with playing on such a big stage.

“In a way, it helped us quite a bit,” he said. “You know how to handle the cool busses you get to ride, the hotels you get to stay in, all the places you get to go eat. You know how to handle the atmosphere and the noise. It keeps you a little more calm inside.”

Head coach Aaron Johnson said he could tell, just by watching his players in their down time at the hotel, that they were locked in and ready compete. And after going 13-10 and 15-8 in the previous two seasons, he said that mental edge made all the difference for this group.

“The difference is all between the ears,” Johnson said. “Last year’s loss to Rock Valley at the buzzer in the district semifinals, that really stung. We made a pact, Brandon [Snyder] and I, that we were going to do everything that we could to get back down here.”

For all the glory that might come with being the first to achieve something, Snyder said one of the most satisfying aspects of the team’s run was being able to represent and reward the community that backs them so fiercely. And for him, it helps make his senior year even more special.

“It’s indescribable; just to be the first team to make it to state is a big thing, but then to go win a state championship,” Snyder said. “We did it for each other, but we also did it for our com-munity. Our community support, our fanbase is incredible. It means a lot to give back to them, after however many years of not making it to state.

There’s only one team that has a great season. And in football and basketball, we were that one team that had a great season. To go out like that in my senior year, I couldn’t ask for any-thing more.”

BOYS STATE2014

West Lyon Dominates in Tourney DebutTork Mason | Editor-in-Chief

BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

The final results at the 2014 boys state basketball tournament weren’t all that suprising, but the journey saw its share of shockers.

In Class 1A, West Lyon (Inwood) rolled through the field despite being the eighth seed to grab a second championship banner this year. The Wildcats won all three games by at least 15 points, including a thoroughly dominating 60-32 victory over Dunkerton in the title game. Brandon Snyder finished with just over 13 points and 9 assists per game to lead the way for the Wildcats.

Western Christian (Hull) entered the tournament as the favorite to win its seventh championship, and the Wolfpack looked the part all week. They easily dispatched Albia in the quarterfinals and kept their composure in wins over Cascade (Western Dubuque) and West Fork (Sheffield). After losing their leading scorer, Kyle Fopma, to a knee injury in the semifinals, Taylor Feenstra and Josh Van Lingen carried the team offensively. They averaged 20 and 16 points per game,

respectively, and both made the All-Tournament team.Dubuque Wahlert looked as if they were in a class all their own

for two games at Wells Fargo Arena, but they were put to the test by Central Clinton (DeWitt) in the Class 3A title game. The Sabers refused to go away, but the Golden Eagles stayed focused and earned a 67-57 victory to win their first title since 2008. Cordell Pemsl, Josh Carter and Jared Walker combined to average nearly 42 points per game during the tournament.

Valley (West Des Moines) was the Cinderella story in Class 4A, as the unranked Tigers knocked off No. 1 Dubuque Senior and No. 8 Sioux City North to reach the state championship game. But No. 2 Iowa City West was too much, as the Trojans went on to win their third-straight championship, led by Wyatt Lohaus and David DiLeo. The duo averaged 17 and 12 points per game, respectively, to lead the way for yet another title and cap a brilliant career for Lohaus.

SportsSpotlight.com12 Volume 2 Issue 7

CLASS 1AG - TJ Bower, Sr. Nodaway Valley

G - Brandon Snyder, Sr. West Lyon

G - Chase Zaruba, Sr. Easton Valley

F - Jeremy Deemer, Sr. Lamoni

F - Elias Nissen, Sr. Springville

C - Kory Kuenstling, Sr. Dunkerton

Coach of the Year: Ryan Olson, Lamoni

CLASS 2AG - Kyle Fopma, Sr. Western Christian

G - Haris Takes, Sr. Cascade

G - Andrew Van Ginkel, Sr. Rock Valley

F - Casey Schlatter, Sr. Iowa Falls-Alden

F - Reed Tellinghuisen, Sr. East Sac County

C - Sam Amsbaugh, Sr. West Fork

Coach of the Year: Todd Arends, Sioux Center

G - Kyle Bauer, Sr. Central Clinton

G - Nick Drucker, Sr. Dallas Center-Grimes

G - Spencer Haldeman, Jr. Western Dubuque

F - TJ Hockenson, So. Chariton

F - Miles Wentzien, Jr. Fort Madison

C - Cordell Pemsl, So. Dubuque Wahlert

Coach of the Year: Kevin Kahler, Clear Lake

CLASS 3A CLASS 4AG - Teyontae Jenkins, Sr. Des Moines North

G - Wyatt Lohaus, Sr. Iowa City West

G - Kyle Haber, Sr. Dubuque Senior

F - Jay Knuth, Sr. Johnston

F - Daniel Tillo, Jr. Sioux City North

C - Nicholas Baer, Sr. Bettendorf

Coach of the Year: Gary Belger, Southeast Polk

- Player of the Year

- Player of the Year

- Player of the Year

BOYSALL-STATE

- Player of the Year

Photo by Tork Mason Photo by Tork Mason

Photo by Tork MasonPhoto by Tork Mason

Senior | Woodbury Central

Senior | Des M

oines North

Junior | Sioux City North

Senior | MO

C-Floyd Valley

Senior | Waterloo W

est

Alexis Conaway

Marcus Harrington Teyontae Jenkins

Ellen GallagherPhoto by Tork MasonPhoto by Tork Mason

Photo courtesy of Impact Imagery Photo by Tork Mason

Carlisle Wildcats

Photo courtesy of Impact Imagery

Jenkins was the Polar Bears’ go-to star in a special season, and he gave his best effort in the substate semifinals against Southeast Polk. Jenkins dropped 42 points and hit 6 3-pointers in a 74-64 loss to the Rams.

Tillo finished the year as Class 4A’s second-best scorer at 21.6 points per game. He also shot 51 percent overall and 44 percent from behind the arc as he led the Stars to a fourth place finish at the State Tournament.

The Wildcats were the turnaround story of the year and nearly went from 1-22 in 2012-13 to the state championship game this season. They lost a thrilling 45-42 contest to eventual Class 4A champion Harlan in the state semifinals.

Conaway capped her senior season with a bang. She led the Lady Dutch to the Class 3A title and set a state tournament record with 46 points in their semifinal win over Mediapolis, and was named Iowa Miss Basketball by the Iowa Newspaper Association.

Harrington tallied a pair of pins in his march to a second state wrestling championship in as many years at 195 pounds. He finished the season with a 52-0 record and will wrestle at Iowa State next year.

Gallagher was one of Class 2A’s top scorers this season and finished fourth at 23.6 points per game (min. 200 attempts). She also led the state with a 61.8 percent shooting percentage and was among state leaders with 10.4 boards per game.

Senior | Iowa City W

estSophom

ore | Dow

ling Catholic

Becca Hittner

Wyatt Lohaus

Photo by Tork Mason

Photo by Tork Mason

Lohaus was the lone starter returning from the Trojans’ state championship squads of the past two seasons, but that didn’t stop him from leading West to a third-straight title while averaging 19.5 points and 4.2 assists per game.

Hittner was a key cog in the Maroons’ march to the Class 5A championship. She scored 24 and 19 points in tournament wins over Waukee and Iowa City High and shot 67 percent from the floor in three games at Wells Fargo Arena.

Daniel Tillo

AthleteMONTHStudent

Presented by the Governor’s Traffic Safet y Bureau- IowaGTSB.org

SportsSpotlight.com

Alissa PollemaWestern Christian (Hull), Class of 2014 - 3.78 GPA

Sports: Volleyball, Basketball, Track and Field, Softball

Athletic Achievements/Honors: Basketball - 1st Team All-State (2014), 3rd Team All-State (2013), All-District (2x), 2014 All-Tournament Team, 1st All-Conference (3x); Softball - All-Conference (2x); Volleyball - 1st Team All-State (2013), 2nd Team All-State (2012), All-Conference (3x); Track and Field - All-State (2011, 4x400), All-Conference (2x)

Academic Achievements/Honors: A-Honor Roll (4x), National Honor Society

College or post-high school plans: Attend Dordt College to pursue a degree in nursing and to play basketball.

CLICK IT OR TICKET

What’s your favorite sport to play? Why?Basketball, because I’ve had a passion for it ever since I started watching the game. I love playing because it’s a team sport and it involves many different people. Learning to work as a team and learning people’s abilities and strengths is what I enjoy.

Do you have any fun pre-game “rituals” that prepare you for an event?In basketball, my friend and I need to sing to each other and dance to what we classify as our song before every game to loosen up any nerves. It’s a pre-game ritual that I wear my game day green hat for every basketball and volleyball game; it doesn’t feel right if I don’t put it on before every game.

Who inspires you? Why?[My coaches] push me to my limits, which makes me a better athlete. But they don’t just stop at teaching me the game; they teach me about life and make me a better person. My coaches have never given up on me and they’ve made me into the athlete and young lady I am today. I love to work hard in everything I do, because my coaches have taught me that’s what God wants us to do, never give less than our best in everything we do. My brother has also been a huge inspiration to work my hardest. He’s been my workout buddy for as long as I can remember. He’d be the one to persuade me to get up on those early mornings and in those tough workouts, and I couldn’t be more thankful for that today.

What is your dream job?My dream job is to be a pediatrics nurse in a children’s hospital because the medical field interests me and working with kids is something I enjoy.

Achievements

Photo by Tork Mason

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HealtH & FitneSS

ACL TEARS IN FEMALE ATHLETESThe anterior cruciate ligament

(ACL) is the most important liga-mentous stabilizer in the knee. An increased number of ACL tears has accompanied the recent increased female sports participation. Two-thirds of ACL tears are a result of non-contact injuries. A non-contact injury often is a result of landing from a jump, cutting or pivoting motion. It has been shown that female athletes are 4-10 times more likely to sustain an ACL tear than male athletes. Some theories center around differences in

anatomy, muscle strength, and neuro-muscular factors that regulate the way the muscles around the knee work to protect the knee.

When males and females play similar sports, the twisting forces across the knee joint is nearly the same, but the muscular strength in proportion to bone size for females is less. Therefore, females tend to rely more on the strength of the ACL than the surrounding muscles for stability. Males tend to land and cut in more of a flexed position whereas females tend

to land in a higher-risk, upright and knock-kneed position.

Fortunately, there are preventative exercise programs that can teach proper landing and jumping positions that also work on strengthening, en-durance, and balance that have been shown to reduce the relative risk of ACL injuries.

Information provided by Dr. Ian Lin, Des Moines Orthopaedic Sur-geons (DMOS), 1301 Penn Ave Suite 213, Des Moines, (515) 299-6361.

By Dr. Ian Lin

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