Sports

Merv Chandler (right) of Vinton raced to both the Mach-1 Sport Compact championship at Benton County Speedway and the Allstar Performance Iowa State title in 2011. The winner of nine feature events at five different tracks this season, Chandler is pictured with IMCA Vice President of Operations Brett Root during the sanctioning organization's national awards banquet in Lincoln, Neb.

  Vinton Parks and Recreation Department 2011-12 Adult Volleyball Standings December 3, 2011   This Week's Results   Coed Division Fareway / Tharp Design 17--1 Ron-Da-Voo 15--6 PHHF 11--7 Dominant Dingoes 10--8 Diggers 9--9 Hummel's / Iron Shed 8--7 Team Truax 8--10 Coots Materials 3--15 Meet The Robinsons 0--18   Sunday, November 27   No Games Scheduled Thanksgiving Weekend     Men's Division Ron-Da-Voo 15--3 Blockheads 10--8 Neve's PFC 8--10 Terry's Gutter Service 3--15   Monday, November 28   Blockheads 21--21--25 vs Terry's Gutter Service 25--25--17 Neve's P.

  Vinton Aquatic Club members made an impressive showing at the recent Cedar Rapids Aquatic Association Harvest Invitational Swim Meet.  Club members competed against twelve other teams from around the state.  The 46 VAC athletes racked up an impressive list of wins, including two swimmers in the 8 and under categories who finished first in individual scores for their age group.

  The Vinton-Shellsburg men’s swim team team kicked off the 2011/12 season with a number of new faces Tuesday night at CoeCollegeas they battled large, talented squads from Linn-Mar and Cedar Rapids Kennedy.  While the Vikings have a relatively robust squad of 17 swimmers this year, injuries and illness left the team with only eleven competitors Tuesday night.

       After an All-Conference season in which she led the Vinton-Shellsburg volleyball team in kills, 2011 Vikette volleyball MVP Ashley Strong has accepted an offer to become a Spartan.       Strong, the daughter of Scott and Teresa Strong of Vinton, signed a National Letter of Intent to play volleyball for Southwest Community College.

       Wes Burnside of Union has been named the captain of the Iowa Newspaper Association's Class 3A All-State Football Team.      Joining Burnside on the Class 3A All-State First Team are Union teammates Trev Hadachek (defensive back) and Josh Clark (offensive lineman).      Benton Community offensive lineman Robert Rathje, a senior, was also named to the First Team.

  Vinton Parks and Recreation Department 2011-12 Adult Volleyball Standings November 25, 2011   This Week's Results     Coed Division Fareway / Tharp Design 17--1 Ron-Da-Voo 15--6 PHHF 11--7 Dominant Dingoes 10--8 Diggers 9--9 Hummel's / Iron Shed 8--7 Team Truax 8--10 Coots Materials 3--15 Meet The Robinsons 0--18   Sunday, November 20 Coots Materials 23--8--23 vs Team Truax 25--25--25 Ron-Da-Voo 25--25--25 vs Meet The Robinson's 6--14--12 Diggers 18--19--21 vs Fareway / Tharp Design 25--25--25 Hummel's / Iron Shed 25--25--18 vs Dominant Dingoes 14--18--25   Bye Week:  PHHF     Men's Division Ron-Da-Voo 12--3 Neve's PFC 8--7 Blockheads 9--6 Terry's Gutter Service 1--14   Monday, November 21   Neve's P.

    The Union Knights brought home their first State Championship trophy Saturday evening, winning the class 3A title with a 21-14 defeat of Decorah.        Senior Wes Burnside led the Union offense, running for 142 yards, including a 33-yard-touchdown.        Down by a point at the beginning of the third quarter, the Knights went to the air to take the lead and the title of State Champion.

  Vinton Parks and Recreation Department 2011-12 Adult Volleyball Standings November 18, 2011 This Week's Results   Coed Division Fareway / Tharp Design 14--1 Ron-Da-Voo 12--6 PHHF 11--7 Diggers 9--6 Dominant Dingoes 9--6 Iron Shed / Hummel's 6--6 Team Truax 5--10 Coots Materials 3--12 Meet The Robinsons 0--15   Sunday, November 13 Ron-Da-Voo 25--25--25 vs Team Truax 10--16--9 PHHF 25--16--22 vs Dominant Dingoes 18--25--25 Coots Materials 11--14--14 vs Fareway / Tharp Design 25--25--25 Hummel's / Iron Shed 25--25--25 vs Meet The Robinson's 5--5--10   Bye Week:  Diggers     Men's Division Ron-Da-Voo 9--3 Neve's PFC 7--5 Blockheads 7--5 Terry's Gutter Service 1--22   Monday, November 14   Ron-Da-Voo 22--25--27 vs Blockheads 26--15--18 Neve's P.

     The Union Knights will end their 2011 football season this Saturday against the team they defeated when the season began.      But this game against Decorah will have much more at stake: The Class 3A Championship.      Union earned its first-ever berth in the State Championship Game by defeating previously unbeaten ADM-Adel, 42-28.