Sports

Lineman Ben Rempe leads the way for Kaleb Roach, the Union RB who ran for 80 yards and 3 TDs vs. Beckman. The Union defense shut out its opponent for the third straight game, giving up no points in Friday's 41-6 Homecoming win vs. Dyersville Beckman. In the past four games, the Knight defense has given up just one TD. The only score Beckman managed was a kick return for a touchdown in the first half.

Isaac Wiley (66) and Cole Overton (50) have been among VS leaders in tackles this season, and led the defense at S. Tama. After a difficult first half of the 2017 football season, the Vinton-Shellsburg Vikings reversed their fortunes on Friday, winning 28-0 at South Tama. QB Blake Bohnsack led the offense, scoring all four TDs while rushing for 181 yards.

Tonight (Week 5) marks the half-way point for the 2016 high school football season in Iowa. For Union, Week 5 means Homecoming, vs. Dyersville Beckman. Union, 3-1, is 2-0 in Class 2A District 4. After losing to Marion, 47-22 in Week 1, the Knights have won big three weeks in a row, outscoring VS, Marion and Monticello by a combined score of 142-14.

Amelia Birker led the varsity girls, finishing in 6th place. Viking varsity runners begin their home race. Seventh grader Austin Kemp was the star of the Vinton-Shellsburg home cross country meet on Tuesday. He won the middle school boys two-mile race, 15 seconds ahead of the second place finisher. Kemp was the only VS athlete in all grades to finish first in his or her race, which included boys and girls varsity, JV and middle school events.

Kaitlyn Goodell, Lizzie Moore, Natalie Tecklenburg ready for their part in the 200 freestyle relay The Vinton-Shellsburg-Union girls swim team took 1st place in a 6-team invitational last night in Williamsburg, winning 8 of 11 events and placing second in two others. Other teams were Tipton, Linn-Mar, Grinnell, Oskaloosa and Williamsburg. "The girls are right on top of their best times, most are starting to drop time, and we're still building to the peak of the season - we're right where we want to be positioned to hit Conferences and Districts in prime condition," says Hesson.

Lizzie Moore, Emily Levis, Natalie Tecklenburg, & Amanda Cardenas cheer on Arabella Shepard as she swims to break the 100 backstroke pool record Lizzie Moore getting off the blocks to a great start of her 200 freestyle race, directly after swimming in the meet-winning medley relay. Arabella Shepard broke a 16-year-old VSU team record in the 500 yard freestyle - a record her coach, Ashley Hesson had actually held until last week , as the Vinton-Shellsurg/Union girls swim team finished second while competing against teams from larger schools.

Kaleb Roach set up a TD run (by him) with this long run early in the first quarter. Troy Hanus compiled a QB rating of 412.8. Koby Alpers compiled 148 receiving yards, scoring on passes of 58 and 43 yards. Juniors Kaleb Roach and Brayden Grosse each rushed for more than 100 yards. The Union offense compiled just under 500 yards on 41 plays, a 12-yard-per play average.

The Vinton-Shellsburg Vikettes hosted Benton Community Thursday in their first match at home this season. Benton won, 25-14, 25-10, 25-19. On Saturday, the Vikettes host a tournament. Other participating teams includeCamanche, Cedar Rapids Jefferson, Hampton-Dumont, Iowa Valley Community, Janesville, Valley Lutheran and West Delaware. See the VS schedule/stat page HERE.

Arabella Shepard won two individual events vs. Linn-Mar, and was on two first-place relay teams. The Vinton-Shellsburg/Union girls swim team won its second meet of the year, remaining undefeated by defeating Linn-Mar, 91-83. Coach Ashley Hesson summed up the success: "VSU won every event, and also took 2nd place in 4 of the 10 events. Again in this meet, every girl on our team scored points.

The Vinton-Shellsburg/Union girls swimming team earned a win for the team in the coaching debut of Ashley Hesson. Competing against Class 4A Waterloo East last Thursday at the Central Pool, the VS/Union team "swam an amazing meet against a team with 50% more swimmers," said Hesson. Despite their larger squad, which includes divers (VSU has none, so East earned all the points for diving events), the VSU girls came out on top, says Hesson.