Sports

VS seniors pose for one more photo with Coach Frazier and Coach Mangold after their last race of the season. Photo from VS mom Tammy Karr. Senior Cole Tharp and Junior Libbie Timmerman led the Vinton-Shellsburg Cross Country teams at the Oct. 19 state qualifying cross country meet hosted by West Delaware in Manchester. Tharp finished 13th with a time of 17:13 to lead the Vikings.

Kaitlyn Goodell swimming her 500 Freestyle at Williamsburg. Geordyn Webster swimming her 100 Butterfly. By Ashley Hesson, VSU swim coach Last night was a great night for VSU swimming!!! 1st out of 5 teams at the Williamsburg Invite... --won every event --also took second in 2 events --5 different girls took home individual 1st place finishes, all 8 girls contributed to winning theirrelay events --every VSU swimmer score points in every event they swam --won the team totals by 50 points Senior swimmer Kaitlyn Goodell had great night: dropped 5 seconds off her personal best to win the 200 Freestyle, and cut over a second off her personal best in the 500 Freestyle to bring home the points for 4th place.

Seth Lazenby races to the end zone at the end of this long TD pass play Friday vs. Charles City. For most of three quarters during Friday's varsity Homecoming Game, the Vinton-Shellsburg Vikings had victory within reach. A long TD pass from QB Blake Bohnsack to Seth Lazenby and kickoff return for a TD by Jose Wilson kept the Vikings close. They were down to Charles City by just two, 15-13, with three minutes remaining in the third quarter.

Clarissa Carolan Natalie Tecklenburg The VSU swimmers lost in a double dual last week against Grinnell & Boone. Final team scores were: VSU 88 vs Grinnell 93; and VSU 76 vs Boone 93. "It was our numbers (or lack thereof) that did us in last night," says Coach Ashley Hesson. "The girls all swam really well, but when we only have 1 or 2 entries in each event, where the other team has 3, it's nearly impossible to keep up with them.

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.