Sports

  The final Frostbuster feature of the week for IMCA Modifieds was also the fastest, as J.D. Auringer led flag-to-flag in Sunday’s caution-free show at Benton County Speed­way.    Auringer started on the pole, ran ahead of Richie Gustin most of the 25-lapper and took the $1,000 checkers a car length ahead of Dan Ratajczak.

  The top Solon shooters defeated the top Vinton-Shellsburg shooters during the first meet of the season Saturday. The VS team, called the Red Cedar Shooters,  did outscore the Solon squad overall.    Individual Squad Results:    V-S Red Cedar Black Squad 189 (2nd), Solon Spartans Black Squad 206 (1st)   V-S Red Cedar Gold Squad 168 (3rd), Solon Spartans Orange Squad 151 (4th)   V-S Red Cedar Red Squad 141 (5th), Solon Spartans White Squad 89 (6th)   Overall results:   The Red Cedar Shooters 3 full squads scored a total of 498 broken targets, with the Solon Spartans scoring a total of 446 broken targets.

Last week, the Vinton-Shellsburg boys track team won two meets it had never won before, says their coach. They followed their first place finish at Williamsburg with another one at Hudson. First place finishers for the Vikings at Hudson included Nolan Edwards in the 110 M high hurdles, Kelyn Rickels in the high jump; and Wyatt Lyons, 1600M. "We just seem to keep getting big contributions from all over the place," says Coach Aric Chvala.

Erin Randall led the VS Vikettes to victory in their first golf meet of the season. The girls defeated CPU, 204-233, at the Vinton Country Club. Here is the summary of the contest: Thursday, April 5 Dual Meet with CPU @ Vinton Country Club   Team Scores:             V-S                    204             CPU                   233   (Count low four scores of six) V-S Erin Randall                  48 Cara Hach                    48 Natalie Ketchen            54 Liz Moen                      54 Mara Jessen and Katie Lovell both had 55   CPU Mallory Thurm              49 Amelia Smith                            59 Marrisa Brandt             62 Kamryn Haynes                        63 Noncounters: Katie Walters and Dannielle Wenger   Neither team had enough for a JV score, but Colleen Finch and Samantha Jorgensen  (V-S)also played, as did Sara Davis, Hanna Ellis and Sam Morris for CPU.

The Vinton-Shellsburg boys track team edged out Solon, winning the Williamsburg meet with 140 points on Tuesday. "I was very happy with they way that we competed," said Coach Aric Chvala. " We didn't win a lot of races but we fought hard for every spot and in the end if we would have given up any spot in any race it would have come out different in the end.

An early season special brings NASCAR favorite Ken Schrader to Ben­ton County Speedway for the April 8 Frostbuster.  Schrader will race an IMCA Modified in the Sunday show at Vinton, joining BCS regulars and a host of Frostbuster visitors in pursuit of a $1,000 top prize. The winner becomes a candidate for the 2012 Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational.

  Welcome to another views from the grandstands.  The first racing event of the season took place tonight at the Benton County Speedway.  Dvorak Construction sponsored the night’s activities and before I start, I want to tip my hat to Janice with the Lil Racer Car Club.  For those of you that do not know, the Lil Racer Car Club was founded a few years ago by Mitch Swinton of Lone Tree, and was formed to help get the kids involved in racing.

  The 8th Grade AAU Volleyball Team from Vinton finished their 2012 season with a trip to State in Des Moines this past weekend. The girls took first place in the Apgar 8th Grade AAU Volleyball Tournament in Marshalltown to advance to State. They placed third in their pool at state, splitting matches with the first and second place teams.

  Led by gold medalists Kelyn Rickels (high jump) and Darrin Charlier (long jump), the Vinton-Shellsburg Vikings finished fifth in team scoring at Tipton Tuesday evening. Other top finishers for the Vikings included: Second place: 4x 800 relay (Max Griffith, Nolan Sagan, Tanner Spies, Wyatt Lyons) Third place: Wyatt Lyons 1600 M Third Place: Nolan Sagan, 800 M "You never know what to expect from the first full meet of the year," said coach Aric Chvala.

  The first official practice of the Viking Alumni Football team will be held this Sunday, April 1, at 6 p.m. at the practice field just north of the high school football field. We will take Easter Sunday off (April 8) before resuming regular practices every Sunday at 6pm until the game. We may also add in a second practice each week with a day and time to be determined.