March 29, 2024

2014 Year in Review

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What a year it was.

2014 was a historic year for athletes and teams in the OST coverage area. Area athletes left their mark at the state level during the past year, while some athletes cemented their names in lore for years to come.

Here’s a look back at 2014 with the OST’s top 10 sports stories of the year, as compiled by OST sports editor Scott Vicker.

• 1. Clarke softball wins Class 3A state championship — In many ways, it was a fairy tale season for the Lady Indians. And at the end of the fairy tale, the Lady Indians brought home their second state championship trophy, and first since 1995.

The championship run included its fair share of dramatic moments, none more dramatic than senior Carley Robins’ walkoff home run in the bottom of the seventh inning in the Class 3A state championship game against Bondurant-Farrar.

Clarke took control of the game early with a 6-1 lead over the Lady Jays, who had knocked off the Lady Indians in the 2013 state championship game.

But Bondurant-Farrar battled back to tie the game 6-6 in the top of the seventh inning.

Facing a 2-2 count, Robins smoked a Keely Bycroft pitch over the left field fence, clearing the bleachers, sending the Clarke dugout and cheering section into a frenzy.

The dugout quickly rushed onto the field and awaited a grinning Robins at home plate, as the Lady Indians prevailed 7-6.

It was the fifth home run Robins hit in six career games at the state tournament.

Clarke had plenty of dramatic moments leading up to Robins’ championship-game blast, as well.

The Lady Indians, who won their third-straight South Central Conference championship in 2014, needed a walkoff base hit from freshman Vanessa Bakley just to reach the state tournament for the second straight year.

It was also the second straight year Clarke reached the state tournament thanks to a walkoff base hit in the regional final. In the 2014 regional final, Robins came up big with an outfield assist from left field to Kassidy Spurgin at home plate, throwing out the go-ahead run to end the inning, keeping the game tied.

In the state tournament opener, pitcher Libby Bemis tossed the 13th perfect game in state tournament history, as the Lady Indians quickly dispatched Spirit Lake 13-0 in three innings.

In the state semifinals, the Lady Indians endured several weather delays and didn’t start their game with Greene County until 11:02 p.m. The game concluded at 12:22 a.m., with the state championship game scheduled for that afternoon.

Clarke defeated Greene County 4-1, setting up the rematch with Bondurant-Farrar in the state championship game.

Robins and Bemis were named to the Class 3A All-Tournament Team for the second consecutive year, and were joined by teammates Bakley and Ally Deutsch. Bemis was named the captain of the all-tournament team.

Head coach Lindsay Diehl was a seventh-grader in 1995 when the Lady Indians made their first appearance at the state tournament and won the state championship.

“I’ll never forget being up here and seeing them win,” an emotional Diehl said after the 2014 state championship game. “I wish I could have done it myself as a player. But to do it as a coach is a really special experience. And to do it in my hometown is even more. I’m so proud of these kids and I’m proud to be a Clarke Indian.”

• 2. Central Decatur football makes it to 1A quarterfinal — Heading into week seven of the 2014 season, Central Decatur needed a win against Woodward-Granger in order to keep its playoff hopes alive.

Peyton Gilbert had been out since the first game of the season with a foot injury and wasn’t set to return until the playoffs. But Gilbert knew he could help his team if he returned. And that’s exactly what happened.

Gilbert returned for the Woodward-Granger game, recording 13.5 total tackles on defense, and Trenton Wells had one of his many big games throughout the season as the Cardinals won 38-20, securing a playoff spot.

That win started a run of Central Decatur dominance. The Cardinals dispatched of non-district opponent Clarke 58-20 the following week and then in the final week of the season knocked off district champion Van Meter 32-14.

Central Decatur, seeded third from District 8, led Pella Christian 18-14 at halftime in the playoff opener, eventually pulling away fro a 38-14 win to set up a rematch with District 8 champion Van Meter.

For the second time in just 11 days, the Cardinals routed Van Meter. Central Decatur knocked off the Bulldogs 39-7, improving to 9-2 for the season and advancing to the state quarterfinals for the first time since head coach Jon Pedersen’s first year at the helm in 2004.

After Van Meter took an early 7-0 lead, Central Decatur scored 39 unanswered points to end the game.

The Cardinals then had to travel 187 miles to take on top-ranked and four-time defending state champion Iowa City Regina in the quarterfinals.

A 43-yard touchdown run by sophomore Rayden Boswell tied the game at 14-14 in the second quarter. But the CD offense ran out of gas against the high-powered Regals, as the Cardinals eventually fell 56-14.

“Every year, after the season is over you think ‘Could we have done this?’ We don’t have that feeling this year,” Pedersen said after the game. “Our kids did everything we could. We fought through a lot of injury adversity this year. Once we got people back, our district champion we beat twice handily.

“We fought through that and I’m very, very proud of our team. We played an extremely good team for a quarter and a half and then just ran out of gas. Are you disappointed you lost? Sure, but also very, very blessed to coach a team that played as well as they did.”

Central Decatur was rewarded for its impressive postseason run by having four players named to the INA’s all-state football teams.

Wells, who led the state in total yardage and ranked third in touchdowns, was named to the Class 1A’s first-team offense at a utility position. He was joined on the first team by senior defensive back Noah Bishop.

Gilbert earned a second-team nod at linebacker and junior wide receiver Peyton Pedersen, who ranked fifth in Class 1A in receiving yards, also received second-team honors.

• 3. Libby Bemis — Three-sport standout Libby Bemis left a lasting legacy at Clarke, and in the process, won the 2014 South Central Iowa Female Athlete of the Year Award presented by the Creston News Advertiser and Osceola Sentinel-Tribune.

She joined former teammate Sarah Pate as a winner of the award, in just its second year of existence.

Bemis broke Clarke school records in basketball and tennis and was a central part of the team’s softball success over recent years.

She put up all-state caliber numbers in basketball as a senior, averaging 16.0 points per game and pulling down a school-record 8.2 rebounds per game while playing the point guard position.

Bemis was a part of three straight South Central Conference championships in basketball from her freshman through junior seasons.

On the tennis court, Bemis broke Clarke’s school record for career wins, besting the mark of her former doubles partner Kylar McCann. She finished her career with an overall record of 114-16, including a 50-5 record in singles matches and a 64-11 record in doubles matches.

She qualified for the 2013 State Tennis Meet in doubles competition with McCann.

Bemis was a part of four straight South Central Conference championship teams in tennis, one of which posted a perfect score at the conference tournament.

Combining conference team championships across her three sports, Bemis won a total of 10 South Central Conference team championships — four in tennis and three each in basketball and softball.

But it was on the softball diamond where Bemis saw her greatest success.

Bemis hit .396 during her senior campaign with a team-leading six home runs and 24 RBI. In the pitching circle, she finished 24-3 with an earned run average of 1.15.

She pitched just the 13th perfect game in state tournament history during the opening-round 13-0 victory over Spirit Lake.

She was named to the Class 3A All-Tournament Team at state softball in both 2013 and 2014 and was named the captain of the 2014 all-tournament team. In addition, she received first-team all-state honors in both 2013 and 2014.

Bemis signed a National Letter of Intent and now plays softball at Minnesota State University in Mankato, Minn.

• 4. Kate Patton — Another top contender for the 2014 South Central Iowa Female Athlete of the Year Award, former Murray standout Kate Patton excelled in every sports season.

Patton capped off her volleyball career in 2013 by breaking school records for most assists in a season (666) and assists per game (7.84).

During the 2013-14 basketball season, she led the Lady Mustangs with 18.7 points per game, 99 assists and 139 steals. Her 99 assists ranked 11th in Class 1A and her 139 steals ranked third.

She was named unanimous first-team all-conference in the Bluegrass Conference, named to the all-district team and received second-team all-state honors in Class 1A by the INA.

Patton broke Murray school records for most points in a game (31), most points in a season (429), most points in a career (1,340) and most steals in a career (442).

Throughout her career, Patton had her most success at the state level in track and field.

During her senior year, she won Bluegrass Conference championships in the 100 meters, 200 meters and 400 meters, while also placing fourth in the long jump.

She qualified for the Drake Relays in the 100 meter dash for the second straight year, where she finished 14th out of 24 in 12.87 seconds, improving from her 24th seed place.

At the 2014 Co-ed State Track Meet, Patton finished fourth in the Class 1A 100 meter dash, running 12.86 seconds. She placed third in the 200 meter dash in 26.32 seconds and finished 16th in the 400 meter dash in 1:02.93.

She owns Murray school records in the long jump, 100 meters, 200 meters, 400 meters and is part of the school record 4x400 relay team.

In softball, Patton hit .422 with a team-leading five home runs and four triples to go with 29 RBI. She was perfect in stolen bases, going 21-for-21. Patton finished the season with a 24-3 record in the pitching circle with an ERA of 1.61.

She helped Murray win back-to-back Bluegrass Conference championships in softball and was named a first-team all-stater in Class 1A.

She is currently continuing her track and field career at Central College.

• 5. Keith Shields resigns as Murray football coach — After leading Murray to five playoff appearances in 15 years at the helm, Keith Shields resigned as head coach of the Murray football team in March.

Shields coached the Mustangs for 15 seasons, succeeding Dennis Shaw. He had five playoff teams in 2000, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013. His team in 2011 was state runner-up, and the 2012 team returned to the UNI-Dome in the semifinals.

His overall record with the Mustangs was 95-52.

“It was a tough decision,” Shields said at the time. “Part of it is personal family reasons. My oldest daughter will be a freshman and she’ll run cross country for Clarke. I want to spend some time supporting her. I don’t want to walk away from football completely, but I need to be a little more flexible with my time to be a dad.”

Murray had a winning record under Shields in 11 of 15 seasons, including 10 of the last 11. He was the Iowa Football Coaches Association 8-player Coach of the Year after the 12-2 season in 2011, when the Mustangs captured their first-ever playoff wins en route to the championship game against Fremont-Mills.

During his tenure, Shields passed current staff member and elementary principal, Danny Jensen, in football coaching victories at Murray.

Shields said he has a long list of memories from his 15 years as head coach, but none top the run of games in the second half of the 2011 season.

“After losing at Adair-Casey by 40 points midway through the season, we went on a winning streak that took us to the state championship game,” Shields said. “After getting a huge win in an exciting week nine game at CAM (to get a home playoff game), we attained our number one goal of 2011 by winning the first playoff game in Murray history against Twin Cedars. We then carried that momentum to a dominating home victory over longtime nemeses Lenox. The quarterfinal road win at A-C to get to the UNI-Dome is probably at the top of my list, and then to defeat Clarksville in the semis will be a stretch of games that is hard to top.”

Former Lamoni head coach Taylor Fulton succeeded Shields as head coach and went 1-8 in his first season.

• 6. Heilman medals at state wrestling — Interstate 35's Bobby Heilman opened the 2014 Iowa High School State Wrestling Tournament with a loss to eventual runner-up Mario Pena of Hampton-Dumont by fall in 3:25.

The then-senior heavyweight then needed to win two matches or be eliminated from his first-ever appearance at the state tournament.

Heilman responded with a run that included three straight pins, guaranteeing himself at least sixth place, and giving himself a shot at third place on the last day of the tournament.

Heilman pinned Atlantic’s Jezidiah Phippen in 3:37 and then decked North Fayette Valley’s Dalton Lape in 1:33. That’s when he got a familiar opponent in Benton Community’s Quintin Taylor, who Heilman pinned in just 58 seconds.

“It’s my sister’s boyfriend, so that made it interesting,” Heilman said with a smile after the match. “I came out, I wanted to be tough right off the whistle. I got my foot stuck in the mat and he pushed me back and I kind of bailed out. I built my base, and I felt his weight wasn’t on me and was pushing into me, so I went for the roll and I stuck him.”

That gave Heilman two matches on Saturday to determine where he’d place, from third to sixth.

Heilman lost to Monticello’s Daniel Pike by fall in 2:45 and then was pinned by Solon’s Logan Linderbaum in 2:25 in the fifth-place match.

“I knew I was going to have tough kids,” Heilman said. “It’s top eight. That’s all you can expect is tough matches. You’ve got to come out prepared, and I felt like I was prepared, but I didn’t wrestle to my full potential. Sixth place, starting as a freshman never wrestling before — I’m never satisfied, but I’m happy.”

Then-head coach Randy Calvert said the key to Heilman’s success at the state tournament was how much he had improved in just the two weeks leading up to state.

“Some of the things he used up here at the state tournament, he couldn’t use three weeks ago, because technique-wise, he didn’t use them right,” Calvert said. “But he worked on it and worked on it, and he executed them really well up here. That’s the part that we’re really proud of, is how he made himself the best wrestler he could in the short amount of time he had.”

• 7. Interstate 35 girls track — Back-to-back Pride of Iowa championships and season best after season best at state track.

By the end of the season, Interstate 35 girls track was running on all cylinders.

The Roadrunners won their second straight POI girls track championship and third out of the past four years.

Then-senior Holly McKinney led the way, winning four gold medals at the conference meet for the Roadrunners. As a team, I-35 won seven events.

McKinney swept the individual distance events, winning the 3,000 meters, the 1,500 meters and the 800 meters for Interstate 35.

McKinney ran 11:52.70 in the 3,000 meters, 5:24.59 in the 1,500 meters and 2:32.76 in the 800 meters.

She also teamed up with Rachel Flickinger, Miranda Hahn and Cheyenne Hiatt to win the distance medley relay in 4:40.71.

The quartet of Jenna Sandquist, Flickinger, Natalie Johnson and Maddie Albers teamed up to win the sprint medley relay and the 4x100 relay.

The Roadrunners posted times of 1:57.44 in the sprint medley to edge out Lenox in 1:57.98, and 53.42 in the 4x100 relay.

Albers won an individual gold medal of her own, winning the 100 meters in 13.17 seconds. It was a tight race, as Demi Austin of Wayne ran 13.21 and Caitlyn Saxton of Central Decatur finished third in 13.29.

McKinney won a pair of medals at the 2014 Co-ed State Track Meet in May. She finished eighth in the Class 2A 3,000 meters, running a 17-second personal best time of 11:00.96, breaking the Interstate 35 school record in the event.

She ran another personal best in the 800 meters, finishing 13th overall in 2:25.94. She capped her weekend with perhaps her best race of the meet, running a 15-second personal best in the 1,500 meters to finish fifth in 4:56.45.

Albers finished 15th in the Class 2A 100 meter dash at the state meet. The Roadrunners finished 22nd in the distance medley relay and 21st in the 4x100 relay.

The quartet of Sandquist, Flickinger, Johnson and Albers finished 13th in the sprint medley relay. Johnson placed 22nd in the long jump.

• 8. Simon third at state golf — Central Decatur's Noah Simon, a junior at the time, finished in a three-way tie for third place at the Class 1A Boys State Golf Meet at the American Legion Memorial Golf Course in Marshalltown in June.

Simon recorded a 36-hole score of 150, finishing just three strokes back of leaders Chris Cooksley of East Buchanan and Josh McCormick of Alta-Aurelia.

Cooksley, a freshman, won on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff between the two golfers who were tied at 147.

Simon tied for third with Bishop Garrigan’s Josh Marlow and Grundy Center’s Lane Bangasser.

The Central Decatur junior entered Saturday’s play in second place with his round of 73, three strokes back of first-day leader McCormick.

Simon made the turn after his first nine holes in first place at 1-under par.

He was unable to keep that pace going, but still found himself in a favorable position entering day two of the tournament.

After carding a round of 77 on Saturday, however, Simon dropped back into third place, as Cooksley recorded a second-day score of 72 to charge up the leaderboard.

“Well it didn’t end quite how I wanted, but I guess third isn’t too bad,” Simon said via twitter after the tournament. “Dumb decisions at times, but a great learning experience for sure.”

Of the top five placewinners, only one was a senior. In fact, there were only three seniors among the top 12 finishers.

• 9. Morris and Jamison qualify for state tennis — The Clarke doubles team of seniors Colin Morris and Jared Jamison came up one win short of earning a medal here last weekend at the Class 1A Boys State Tennis Meet at Byrne's Park Tennis Center.

Morris and Jamison were eliminated from the tournament in the consolation second round in a 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 loss to the third-seeded Pella team of Palmer and Van Maanen.

It ended the Clarke doubles team’s season with a record of 23-3.

Morris and Jamison entered the state meet with a record of 22-1 and won a hard-fought match in the first round against the Pella team of Dykestra and Jones 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-5).

The Clarke seniors ran into a tough task in the second round, however, going up against the top-seeded team from Maharishi.

The Maharishi duo of Nite and Sawhney defeated Morris and Jamison 6-1, 6-1, eventually going on to win the Class 1A doubles championship.

That sent Morris and Jamison into the consolation bracket, where they lost to Palmer and Van Maanen, who went on to place fourth. The Pella team of Dykestra and Jones finished seventh.

It was a tough-luck end to the season for Morris and Jamison, having beaten the team that finished seventh, but not earning a medal themselves.

The Clarke tennis teams also continued their dominance of the South Central Conference.

The Clarke boys won their 15th conference title in 18 years, while the Lady Indians won their sixth title in 18 years and fifth title in a row.

The Clarke boys scored 22 points, edging out Centerville’s 20 and Albia’s 19. Meanwhile, the Clarke girls scored 28 points, running away with the team title, as Davis County finished second with 16 points.

The doubles team of Colin Morris and Jared Jamison rolled to the conference championship, not playing a match closer than 10-2. Yahia Aly and Jacob Redman took third place.

Senior Libby Bemis won the girls singles title, winning matches of 10-2 and 10-1 on her way to the finals. Bemis defeated Davis County freshman Jordyn Thompson 10-6 in the finals.

The doubles team of Tracy Morgan and Cassidy Bierbrodt rolled to the doubles title. Morgan and Bierbrodt won 10-1 in the quarterfinals and 10-3 in the semifinals. They picked up a 10-1 win over the Albia team of Mackenzie Billings and Brooke Betts in the finals.

• 10. Raising the 'Barr' at state track — A group of young Clarke track and field athletes gained valuable experience at the 2014 Co-ed State Track Meet, and in the process, raised the bar for 2015 expectations.

Leading the way for Clarke was sophomore Alexis Barr in the high jump.

Barr cleared 5-0 and took three solid attempts at 5-2, easily having cleared the bar on each attempt, but just clipping the bar with her heels on the way down on all three attempts.

The Clarke school record holder in the event finished in a five-way tie for eighth place, having not missed an attempt until 5-2.

Freshman Bailey Zimmerman finished 12th overall in the 100 hurdles with her time of 16.55.

The Zimmerman twins (Bailey and Solanna), along with Allyssa May and Bronwyn Miller teamed to take 17th place in the Class 2A shuttle hurdle relay.

That group also improved on their seeding and ran a season’s best time of 1:10.84.

For the Clarke boys, sophomores Kooper Brimm and Rich Wilkins gained valuable experience in their first appearances at the state meet.

Brimm finished 21st in the discus with a throw of 125-1, while Wilkins tied for 23rd in the high jump with a clearance of 5-8.

Honorable mention

February — Interstate 35 freshman Gracey Griglione and Central Decatur junior Hallie Linhart earn all-state honors in basketball.

April — Central Decatur junior Hallie Linhart finishes 15th at Drake Relays in high jump competition.

June — Murray’s Seth Nerness commits to Iowa State University to play football.

July — Interstate 35 softball wins Pride of Iowa Conference championship. Murray softball wins share of Bluegrass Conference championship.

October — Interstate 35 girls repeat as Pride of Iowa Conference champions in cross country. I-35 foreign exchange student Marie Reitingerova comes up one spot short of qualifying for state cross country.

November — Murray senior Hannah Barber earns all-state volleyball honors for second year in a row. Former Murray standout Seth Nerness wins state football championship in North Carolina with Southlake Christian Academy, earns first-team all-state honors.