Sports

On a very windy, cold Saturday morning, the V-S girls golf team began an 18-hole meet at South Tama. The Vikettes finished a close third, just 4 strokes behind first-place Nevada. Coach's summary: South Tama Invitational Tama-Toledo Country Club, par 70 Sat. May 14, 2016 Weather:  Very cold! Started in the 30s with Northwest wind   Team Results: Nevada                        397 Newton                       399 Vinton-Shellsburg       401 Benton Comm.

The VS Viking golfers advanced to district play by winning their sectional tourney Friday carding a season best 298 edging Mount Vernon by 1 stroke as they came in with a 299.  Benton Community also advances to districts with Mount Vernon and the Vikings as they turned in a 313 for third place.  Other scores were: 4th Center Point-Urbana 321, 5th Marion 323, 6th Central Dewitt 328, 7th Anamosa 337, 8th Maquoketa 346.

The Vinton-Shellsburg Vikette track team will send athletes to compete in five events at the State Track meet next week. Lily Horst will run in the 3000, Bristi Gerber in the 800, Gracie Horst in the 1500, and Amanda Dedrick will compete in discus. The 4 x 800 team (Annika Schmidt, Lily and Grace Horst, and Bristi Gerber) also qualified. In team scoring, VS was 5th, with 79 points.

Vinton-Shellsburg dominated the field in Thursday's Class 3A State Qualifying Meet in Charles City. The Vikings won in team scoring, with 156.5 points, 28 more than second-place Decorah. Vikings advancing to state next week include:   100 - Nick Hyland 400 - Joel Barnes, Tyler Bartz Long Jump - Tyler Bartz Shot Put - Blake Patterson, Tanner Bird 1600 - Cole Tharp 4x100 - Cole Garwood, Joel Barnes, Jordan Womochil, Nick Hyland 4x200 - Cole Garwood, Jordan Womochil, Conner Miracle, Nick Hyland 4x400 - Nick Hyland, Tyler Bartz, Blake Bohnsack, Joel Barnes 4x800 - Cole Smith, Nolan Haisman, Nolan Hendrickson, Cole Tharp Medley - Cole Garwood, Tyler Bartz, Jordan Womochil, Cole Tharp Shuttle Hurdle Relay - Will Edwards, Wes Edwards, Tanner Davis, Will Dudley   Events won by Viking athletes on Thursday in Charles City include: Nick Hyland, 100M, 11.

A knee injury at the beginning of the season and a concussion – along with five stitches – at the end of the season could not keep 8th grader Chelsee Tharp out of the Vinton-Shellsburg Middle School record books. Chelsee had to sit out the shuttle hurdle last Friday’s Wamac meet because of a concussion and stitches in her face she suffered when she bumped heads with a classmate during a game of Capture the Flag.

The Vinton-Shellsburg girls golf team set a new nine-hole team record score of 155 and beat every school in its class size Wednesday at the Prairie Invitational in Cedar Rapids. The team also reached its "4 in the 40s" goal on both the front and back nine of the 18-hole tournament. Coach's summary:  May 11, 2016 Prairie Invitational Airport National Golf Course, par 63 Weather: 60s, overcast   Team results: Iowa City West           305 Linn Mar                     318 CR Prairie                   338 Vinton-Shells.

Rachel Tandy led the VS girls golf team to third place at the Wamac Super Meet on Tuesday.  Coach's report: Super Meet Timberline Golf Course, Peosta  par 72 May 10, 2016 Weather:  57 degrees, overcast, some drizzle   Team Scores: Western Dubuque                   402 Anamosa                                 425 Vinton-Shellsburg                   427 Solon                                       427 Williamsburg                           429 Independence                         436 Benton Comm.

It was a tough day to score for many Monday at Pin Oak Golf Course as the winds and course conditions made the golfers really focus on managing the course.  The Vikings placed third carding 328 using a fifth score to beat Williamsburg who finished fourth also with 328.  West Delaware won the meet in Manchester carding a 320 led by the medalist Clayton Larson who shot a 2 over 73.

The Vikings were at South Tama this weekend and carded a 314 to win the Invitational at Tama-Toledo Country Club. Benton Community was second coming in with a 320. Columbus Catholic was third with 327 while Grinnell carded a 336 to take fourth place. South Tama placed fifth shooting 385 and HLV finished sixth coming in with a 410. Ankeny Christian Academy was also there but did not field enough golfers for a team score.

As they celebrate last week’s win at the Wamac Conference meet (and the Wamac Coach of the Year Award for coach Aric Chvala), the Vinton-Shellsburg boys track team is preparing for this week’s state qualifying meet in Charles City. Already, this year has seen many new records set by Viking athletes – some of them as old as the Great Depression.