Sports

A few weeks ago, a stranger walked up to an Iowa military veteran (so identified by the cap he was wearing) and handed him a note from a Vinton-Shellsburg High School student. The unsigned note thanked the anonymous vet for his service to our country years ago. It moved him to tears. Many Iowa veterans have received such notes – all unsigned – from Vikette golfer Lauren Tandy this year.

Caleb Svoboda shot well enough in practice to earn a spot on the Black Squad, among the top five shooters on Vinton-Shellsburg Red Cedar Shooters trap team. Svoboda then earned top shooter honors with a 46/50 during Saturday's home meet against Sigourney.  The Black Squad won the meet with a 208/250 score. Drake Tilson and Tim Haerther finished second with a 44; Sara Jorgensen was again the top female shooter with a 40.

The wind was a huge factor for everyone at Van Horne this weekend as the second round scores came in a little higher as the winds picked up Saturday. The Vikings were among seven teams battling the winds at the Benton Invitational. The tournament was won by West Delaware with a 316 in the 18-hole event. Benton was second with 328 followed by Williamsburg with 329.

The V-S Red Cedar Shooters hosted C.R. Xavier in their first home meet of the season on Saturday, April 12.  Overall squad finishes: 1st           Xavier #2 with 217/250 2nd          Red Cedar Black Squad (Drake Tilson, Nick Stein, Sara Jorgensen, Wyatt Lebeda and John Betterton) with 199/250 3rd           Red Cedar Gold Squad (Hunter Martin, Caleb Svoboda, Jake Reisch, Cole Garwood and Jacob Patrilla) with 182/250 4th           Red Cedar “Cedar” Squad (Dalton Nelson, Kyle Jorgensen, Shane Monaghan, Jay Lovell and Alex Dick) with 179/250 5th           Xavier #3 with 169/250 6th           Red Cedar “Red” Squad (Ben Wood, Cole Emrich, Tim Haerther, John Eden and Logan Salger) with 169/250 7th           Xavier #4 with 163/250 8th           Red Cedar “Orange” Squad (Chris Ahlemeyer, Bastian Primmer, Hannah Hoepner, Kyle Henkle and Garrett Paustian) with 133/250 9th           Xavier #1 with 127/250 10th         Red Cedar “Blue” Squad (Emily Howe, Clark Robertson, Josh Shafar, Logan Holst and Ashley Venneman) with 112/250 Top Shot for the day was Xavier’s Jason Stock with 47/50.

The Vinton Parks & Recreation Department is hosting its annual Adult Softball League and the deadline to get your team registered will soon be here. Captains wishing to field and men’s or women’s league team may complete a registration form by Friday, April 25th by either accessing it online at vprdzone.com or picking one up at the Vinton Recreation Center.

While several Vinton-Shellsburg United Special Olympics athletes earned the right to compete in the state event in Ames in next month, the entire team will be making the trip to the event, said Mike Kramer, the father of Zach, who advanced in several events. "Of course we are a team and no one stays behind," said Mike. "All our athletes will be attending as there are plenty of good times to be had at state.

The Vinton-Shellsburg Early Bird boys track meet, which had already been rescheduled from April 4 until today, has again been postponed due to cold, wet weather. With a high of around 40 predicted, VS officials have decided to delay the event, and are trying to reschedule the event. 

Despite the delay of the racing season by the late spring, and the cancellation of Sunday's "Frostbuster" event in Vinton due to rain, local dirt race track veteran Scott Hogan already has made two trips to Victory Lane. Hogan won Friday at the Lee County Speedway, then led from the green flag to the checkered flag in the 23-car Modified feature at Speedway 34 in Burlington on Saturday evening.

Mara Jessen led all golfers, shooting a 47 at the Wildcat on Thursday, April 10, in the Vinton-Shellsburg girls golf team home opener.  Benton Community edged the Vikettes, 203-207, but two of the top three scorers were Vikettes. Lauren Tandy and Bobcat Sidney Volz were tied at 48.  "It was good to get our first meet in after two were postponed due to weather and course conditions," said Coach Janet Woodhouse.

The Viking Boys Golf team started the year with a good round of golf Monday. The Vikings placed second at the meet shooting 161. Mount Vernon won the meet by 7 strokes with 154. Western Dubuque was third with 171. Mount Vernon had both the medalist and runner-up on their team. Tommy Hook and Andy DeKamp both shot 37 for the Mustangs. Senior Dylan Rippel who started his year with a round of 38 led the Vikings.