The Drake Relays has announced that it will include the boys shuttle hurdle race to this year's meet in the high school division. It's the first event added to the boys prep program since 1978.
Iowa boys have been competing in the shuttle hurdles since 2007, becoming the second state to sanction the race after West Virginia.
Drake Relays director Brian Brown told the Des Moines Register that the quality of competition improved to where it was worthy of being on one of America's top track stages.
The Drake Relays is run on the same track where the state meet is contested at Drake Stadium in Des Moines.
Rose Hired As Valley AD
Overseeing one of Iowa's top high school athletic programs will be the responsibility of Brad Rose, who has been hired to replace the retiring Steve Duncan. Rose will take over the program on July first.
The job is being restructured to give Rose the responsibility of scheduling all extra-curricular activities at the suburban Des Moines school, not simply athletics.
He comes to West Des Moines from Fairfield, where he is currently that school's activities director. Prior to Fairfield, Rose was a teacher and baseball coach in Ankeny and his resume includes a five-state regional baseball coaching award and a national finalist of the year by the American Baseball Coaches Association.
Rose has also taught classes for the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association.
Soccer: Initial Soccer Ratings Announced
The Iowa Soccer Coaches Association has announced its first boys soccer ratings for the 2009 season.
Defending Class 1-A state boys champion Dubuque Wahlert leads the pre-season Class 2-A ratings, while last year's Class 2-A winners from West Des Moines Dowling leads the Class 3-A list.
Both schools moved up one class this year as the state now has three classes of competition in boys soccer, after having two classes prior to this year. Iowa City Regina is the number one boys team in Class 1-A, according to the pre-season poll from the IHSCA.
This year's state tournament begins June 4th at the Cownie Soccer Complex in Des Moines.
In girls soccer, where two classes remain, West Des Moines Valley is the leader in the large school pre-season poll of the Iowa High School Girls Athletic Union, while Cedar Rapids Xavier is the top-ranked team in Class 1-A.
West Des Moines Valley was an easy choice for No. 1 as the Tigers have won 75 straight matches and four state championships prior to the start of the season.
This year's state tournament in girls soccer will be played June 11th through the 13th in Muscatine.
Girls Basketball: Sioux City Heelan's Tritz 3-A Player of the Year
Sioux City Heelan junior basketball standout Carli Tritz has been named the state Class 3-A Player of the Year by the Iowa Basketball Coaches Association. The 5-10 junior point guard already has three straight state tournament appearances and a state championship from last season with the Crusaders.
The talented athlete is also all-state in volleyball and soccer.
During the recently completed basketball season, Carli averaged 19 points a game. Her shooting average was over 57 percent for the season and she was named a first-team all stater by the Iowa Newspaper Association.
Although Ballard of Huxley defeated the Crusaders in this year's state championship game, Tritz still led the all-tournament team.
Amanda Zimmerman, a 6-2 senior from Ballard of Huxley was tabbed as Ms. Basketball for the year. She has committed to play for Iowa State University.
Katie Eiben of Springville was named the IBCA Class 1-A player of the year, while IKM-Manning's Katie Schechinger was named the Class 2-A winner. Marion Linn-Mar's Jamie Printy was tabbed as the IBCA's top player in Class 4-A.
Schechinger is heading to play collegiately at Drake, while Printy will stay in eastern Iowa and play at the University of Iowa.
Boys Basketball: IBCA Names Top Players
University of Iowa recruit Brennan Cougill of Sioux City Heelan has been named Mr. Basketball by the Iowa Basketball Coaches Association, which also dished out honors in boys basketball in addition to the above-mentioned girls awards.
He was also tabbed as a "Mr. Basketball" by the Iowa Newspaper Association at the conclusion of the season.
Cougill led the Crusaders to the state Class 3-A championship, after finishing second last season.
The other winners include Dubuque Wahlert's Eric May in Class 3-A, Ames' Harrison Barnes in Class 4-A, Solon's Matt Morrison in Class 2-A, and Jordon Dykstra of Rock Valley in Class 1-A.
Rock Valley, Ames and Solon each won state championships in their respective divisions this winter.