Sports

Four of the top six runners in the girls Middle School race, and six of the top 10 boys in Tuesday's cross country meet were from Vinton-Shellsburg Middle School. Cole Tharp led the boys with a time of 5:10. Tharp's time was 26 seconds faster than the second-place finisher. He has won two of the three races this year. "His time on Tuesday was almost 20 seconds faster than anyone has run in the 10 years I've been coaching," said Coach Nathaniel Brandt.

Kylie Miracle (5th) Sara Jorgensen (8th place) and Olivia Oltrogge (11th place) led the Vinton-Shellsburg JV girls to second place in team standings in their home meet on Tuesday at Rodgers Park.  In the boys race, all but one of the first nine finishers were from Vinton-Shellsburg, which finished first in team standings. Scott Wirth led all runners with a time of 18:56.

The Vinton-Shellsburg freshman football team recovered from its first setback, a 23-14 loss at Western Dubuque.  The 9th grade Vikings defeated Independence, 50-8. The Vinton-Shellsburg freshman football team moved to 4-1 on the season with a dominating 50-8 win over the Independence Mustangs Monday night.   Jared Thompson passed for three touchdowns,  two to Dylan Wagner and one to Nate Struve in the victory.

Lily Horst finished the girls cross country course at Rodgers Park in her familiar first place again on Tuesday. This time she was nearly a minute faster than everyone else. Horst's time of 15:17 was 58 seconds ahead of the second-place runner, Lily's long-time running partner and VS teammate Bristi Gerber.  Four of the top ten finishers in the girls race were Vikettes (Horst, Gerber, Casie Kenney and Hannah Haisman).

Holschlag, Driscol carry Knights past Osage, 33-6 Union defense dominate once again By Cheyne Reiter   The Union Knights 4-0 (2-0) remained unbeaten Friday night in Osage with a convincing 33-6 win over the Green Devils 0-4 (0-1). Union RB Jacob Holschlag’s legs and WR/CB Brady Driscol’s hands – both on offense and defense – lifted the Knights to their fourth victory in as many weeks.

After seeing a "district" football game, they gathered at the Vinton Country Club where someone had burned a DVD to use with a laptop computer so they could watch 6-on-6 basketball.  The changes in school athletics and technology were on display when the Vinton-Shellsburg Hall of Fame inductees gathered for their reception after the Homecoming football game on Friday.

Even before the ball arrived in Vinton from Western Dubuque High School in Epworth, VS cross country parents heard about the impressive way that WDHS personnel handled the VS tradition of carrying the Homecoming game ball from the opposing team's school to Vinton for the game. The parents heard the VS seniors describe the classy, sportsmanlike way that the WD community welcomed them.

Vinton-Shellsburg took an 18-13 lead into the final quarter of its Homecoming football game vs. Western Dubuque on Friday. But the Vikings, playing without running back Nick Hyland, gave up 22 points in the final quarter. The Bobcats won, 35-18. "I feel like this is a game we could have won," said coach Jim Womochil.  Yet, he said, the Vikings are a young team, and when a player like Hyland sits out with an injury (Hyland injured his knee in the third quarter), the Vikings feel the impact of the loss.

The Red Cedar Chapter of the Izaak Walton League of America, in conjunction with the Prairie Creek Chapter of Pheasants Forever, will be hosting it's 2nd Annual "Intro to Trap Shooting" event for interested trap shooters ages 12 and up on Saturday, October 12th from 1-5 p.m. at the Ikes Club on Hwy 150. "We've had a lot of people drive by the Ikes Club when the Vinton-Shellsburg Red Cedar Shooters have been practicing or hosting home meets in the spring, or seeing the activities taking place on Thursday evenings during the Ikes weekly open trap shoots, and have shown interest in learning how to trap shoot.

The Vinton Parks and Recreation announces some upcoming deadlines:   Adult Volleyball League - Final Call! Registrations are currently being accepted for the 2013-14 Adult Volleyball League with four divisions available: Mens, Coed, Women's Upper, Women's Lower.  The deposit required is $20 and must be included with a registration form no later than Thursday, September 19th.