By Bob Bakken
MaxPreps.com
The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union has named Mike Dick as its new executive director, replacing Troy Dannen, who recently became the athletic director at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls. Dick began his new duties with the IGHSAU at the beginning of August.
The native of Winterset has been an associate director for the Union for the past six years and was selected from a group of five finalists.
Dick has been a teacher and coach for eleven years before moving into school administration at Scranton, Iowa. He’s also been a principal at Prairie Valley High School before starting with the IGHSAU.
Basketball: Des Moines East’s Porter Commits to Northern Iowa
A basketball and track star at Des Moines East High School has announced she plans to play basketball in college at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls. Tiffanie Porter is a 5-foot-6 senior at East who qualified for the state meet in four different track events last spring, including the 100 and 200 meter events as well as two relays.
Porter told the Des Moines Register newspaper she likens her energy on the floor to a commercial icon with long ears and quick feet, "I'm the person who sets the tempo on the floor, I'm the energizer. I'm like the Energizer Bunny out there."
Last season for the Scarlets, Porter averaged seven points and two steals a game.
Baseball: Hermsen Leads Large School East To All-Star Championship
Manchester-West Delaware pitcher B.J. Hermsen threw a three-hit shutout in the championship game of the Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association’s all-star series in Des Moines last weekend. Large School East beat Large School West 3-0, using a run in the first and two more in the fourth for the victory.
Hermsen, a Minnesota Twins’ draft choice, struck out four and did not walk anyone. The East was led by a pair of RBIs from Bettendorf’s Joel Hutter. Burlington’s Kyle Peter also drove in the first run for the East in the first inning.
The consolation game of the series was won by the Small School East, which doubled up the Small School West 6-3.
Baseball: All-State Super Team Announced
The Iowa Baseball Coaches Association has announced its all-state “Super Team,” the best of the best in Iowa high school baseball this summer.
Nine members of the team come from Class 4-A schools, four from Class 3-A, two from Class 2-A, and one from Class 1-A.
Manchester-West Delaware senior pitcher B.J. Hermsen (10-0), a sixth-round draft choice of the Minnesota Twins, was named the Pro-Line/IHSBCA player of the year.
Baseball: Johnston Championship Climaxes Coach’s Career
Johnston baseball coach Randy Wee is stepping away from coaching high school baseball fresh off leading the Class 4-A Dragons to the state baseball championship last month. Wee’s club went through the season unbeaten at 40-0 and defeated Central Iowa Metropolitan League rival Marshalltown in the championship game at Principal Park in Des Moines.
The title was Wee’s first as a high school coach, and barring a return to coaching, it may be his last, as he has resigned to become a part of the Alliance for a Healthier Generation. He finishes his high school coaching career with a record of 252-150.
Johnston’s title marked the first time a large school baseball team in Iowa had gone through the year unbeaten, a record that goes back to the beginning of the four-class system in 1981. The last large school Iowa club to go undefeated was Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson, which went 18-0 as a Class 3-A school in 1962.
The 2005 Wilton team (42-0) is the last squad in any class to go through a season undefeated in the last 35 years.
By the way, Johnston’s biggest threat to the unbeaten mark came in early July, when the same Marshalltown team the Dragons defeated for the title had a 10-3 lead on Johnston, only to have the game rained out.