Sports Trcka represents Xavier girls’ bowling at State for fourth year in a row, Guge leads boys’ team February 21, 2013
Accomplished is the only word that adequately describes how the Xavier boys’ and girls’ bowling teams feel about this season. Both teams qualified for State which will be held in Des Moines on Thursday, February 21 at 1 p.m. at Plaza Lanes. Seniors Tara Trcka and Kirby Guge also qualified for individuals at State. “The bowling teams worked so hard this season to get to where we are, so it feels good to know our hard work paid off,” Trcka said. It all started to look promising for the girls’ team at their home meet against Dubuque Wahlert on Friday, February 8, when Trcka led the team to a 26642565 victory after she tied the school record with a series of 514. The girls lost the following meet against Cedar Rapids Prairie 2600-2499 on Tuesday, February 12 at Lancer Lanes. The loss did not affect the girls’ standing in the State Qualifying Meet in
Dubuque on Thursday, February 14. Trcka’s series of 425 and the five other bowlers’ scores were high enough for them to advance to State. Her series of 425 was also the third highest qualifying score in the Class 1A meet. Xavier finished in third place in the team standings behind first place Dubuque Wahlert and second place Camanche. The girls’ team concluded the regular season with a 7-3 record. “I will never forget the four years I had here at Xavier bowling for Coach Camacho. It was such a great experience and a fun time,” Trcka said. The boys’ team lost to Wahlert by a score of 3039-2935 on Friday, February 8. Junior Zach Schnoebelen rolled a 417 series. The boys bowled again on Tuesday, February 2, against Prairie. The team won 3277-2954 at Lancer Lanes. Sophomore Caleb Miller bowled a 504 series,
Girls’ basketball makes a run in playoffs The Saints began to wrap up their regular season with high hopes of advancing to the State Tournament. On Tuesday, February 4, the Xavier girl’s basketball team competed against Cedar Rapids Jefferson at Jefferson High School. Senior captain Kayla Armstrong lead the team with 14 points along with senior Ashley Stulken who put up 10 points. The Saints pulled out a win with a score of 64-54. The Saints played Iowa City West in their last regular season game on Friday, February 8. Armstrong scored 16 points which helped to bring the game to a tight 53-50; Trojans ahead, with a minute left to go in the game. The Saints were unable to continue their comeback and Iowa City West won with a score of 55-52. “Our regular season was a great learning experience for all of us, our conference was strong as always and we played a challenging non conference schedule,” Stulken said. Going into the postseason, the Saints were ranked fifth with
a record of 12-9. They had a bye in the first regional game that was held on Wednesday, February 13. Xavier played in the regional semifinal at Xavier High School on Saturday, February 16 against Solon. Senior captain Sarah Dickes had 13 points for the team. At halftime, the Saints were only ahead by six points, but they held Solon to zero points in the fourth quarter helping them to come out with a victory of 50-27. “To experience State last year was amazing and we have all worked extremely hard to try and get back there,” Stulken said. On Tuesday, February 19, the Saints played the Washington Demons who were 14-7 on their season. The game was held at Cedar Rapids Kennedy High School and the winner advanced to the Class 4A State Tournament. Lizzy McWhinney Sports Writer
and junior Zach Klimesh had a 482 series. The momentum from this win was reflected at the State Qualifying Meet when the boys finished third out of six teams. Xavier’s score of 3114 was the fourth highest qualifying total in the state. Senior Kirby Guge shot a 456 and finished fifth in the meet, advancing him to qualify for the individual competition at State. “I could not have asked for a better team of boys to help me get to State as well as make this year the best bowling year for Coach Camacho. We have one more goal and that is to try our best at state and bring home the team and individual championship for both the boys and girls,” Guge said. Throughout this season and especially going into State, Coach Russ Camacho has emphasized believing in yourself and in your team because with that, great things happen. He is extremely proud of every bowler
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and said he cannot put into words how proud he is of those athletes. As far as Trcka and Guge, who both qualified for individuals, he said, “Tara once again proved that she is one of the mentally toughest athletes that I have ever coached. I am continually impressed by her toughness and leadership of this team. The work that Kirby did in the late part of this season truly changed him as a bowler. Both are great examples of what you can accomplish by hard work and dedication.” The boys’ and girls’ teams will bowl in the Class 1A State Meet on Thursday, February 21 at 1 p.m. in Plaza Lanes in Des Moines.
Shannon Mulcahey Sports Writer
Boys’ senior ball players, not done yet The Saints boys’ basketball team took on undefeated Iowa City West on February 5 at West looking to gain momentum with sub-state play nearing. Despite playing without senior star Dondre Alexander, the Trojans were able to win handily 76-31. Junior Matt Nelson led the Saints with 13 points. The team then traveled to Waterloo East on February 12 looking to bounce back after the tough loss. Xavier held off a late game run by the Trojans and won 62-53. The Saints were led by sophomores Adam McDermott and Calvin Winker, who scored 17 and 14 points respectively. Xavier then went on to play Iowa City High at home February 15 on Senior Night. Xavier honored all six seniors (Trey Sampson, Reggie Schulte, Greg Foxhoven, Corbin Woods, Robbie Thinnes, and Patrick Mullin) with a recognition ceremony before the game. Xavier fell to the Little Hawks 55-50. Sampson knocked down three 3-pointers and scored 15 points to pace the Saints. Matt
Nelson chipped in with 12 points. “It was cool how supportive everyone was on senior night, and it was a special moment for us, even though we couldn’t pull off the win,” Sampson said. With a 10-11 record, the Saints were paired up against 7-14 Clinton in the first round of sub-state. The Saints started the game on a 19-0 run, and went on to win 73-38. McDermott led the Saints with 21 points, 14 of which came in the 1st quarter. The game featured two dunks, one by Nelson and the other by Sampson. “If we keep playing well who knows what could happen during sub-state. Our obvious goal now is to make it to State,” Foxhoven said. With the win, the Saints will take on second-ranked Dubuque Senior at Senior tomorrow night. The game is set to start at 7 p.m. Alex Fox Sports Writer