Sports

The Lil Racer Car Club will be OPEN for business each Sunday night but will not be holding any big events ourselves for the next three weeks, as other track events have been scheduled. This Sunday night, the Hoker Trucking Late Model Series will invade the high-banked speedway and the club anticipates adding a few new members from drivers’ families who wouldn’t normally attend the weekly shows at the track.

The Cedar Valley Nature Trail will experience intermittent closures between Center Point and Urbana starting June 1 for trail improvements, including hard surfacing. This six-mile segment, between Ash Lane just north of Center Point and Highway 150 west of Urbana, will undergo improvements to the trail grade and drainage, as well as an eventual asphalt overlay on the trail surface.

"Don't cry because it's over...smile because it happened..."It was Ethan Rollinger, the quiet, steady defensive leader of the Vinton-Shellsburg boys' soccer team, who rallied his teammates one final time, but we'll get back to that.The amazing ride this scrappy group of young men took us all on this spring ended abruptly Wednesday on the pitch of the Karr Athletic Complex as the previously unbeaten Vikes fell 4-1 to an excellent group from Waverly-Shell Rock.

The Lil Racer Car Club held a memorable night for the fans at the Benton County Speedway Bullring last Sunday night. The weather turned out perfect as the club signed in 70 Lil Racers, making them eligible for our door prize drawings and our “Lil Racer of the Week”. We held our second, “Pay it Forward Night” and the lucky number this time was #65, meaning the 65th person through the gate AND the 65th driver to sign in at the pit shack BOTH received white envelopes where the club paid for their respective admission fee for the night.

Ryan Moore scored a late pair of goals and the defense pitched another shutout Monday night as the 2nd-ranked Vinton-Shellsburg Vikings drilled Center Point-Urbana, 5-0 to advance to the Substate soccer finals.The Vikings (15-0) hit the Stormin' Pointers for a pair of early goals in the first half. David Lapan-Islas knocked one in in the fourth minute and Damon Swenson added another in the fifth minute and the Vikes were quickly up 2-0.

Photo by Jim WittkeHis nickname is the Game Changer, but the only thing changing lately is Dallon Murty’s win total.Murty scored his fourth consecutive feature win to open the season in the IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars presented by Albert Auto at the Benton County Speedway Bullring.He picked up $1,800 for his efforts in the draw/redraw event and earned a qualifying berth for the inaugural B&B Chassis All-Star event at this year’s IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s.

The Benton County Speedway Bullring Lil Racer Car Club will be holding its second “Pay it Forward” night of the season this Sunday night. One lucky driver AND one lucky fan will be getting their admission into the Bullring covered by the club. ONE number is chosen randomly by Lil Racer Car Club crew members and the driver who registers at the pit shack on the registration sheet on that number line gets handed an envelope with their 30 dollar pit pass money inside.

Want to improve your swim skillzzz?! Here's your chance!! You'll have some great coaching.Open to any 4th-8th Graders, Tuesday-Friday, June 1st-4th at the Braille School Pool. Call 319-472-4300 to register. The deadline to register is May 21st.Oh, did we mention that this is FREE AND participants get a FREE t-shirt!Learn how to improve your technique, develop starts and turns, and learn about competitive swimming.

For many coaches and athletes, feelings of uncertainty, confusion, loss, and disappointment can seem like an undeniable reality. However, the truth is that our identity in Christ is greater than our identity in sports. It’s our confidence in Christ that wipes away any uncertainty of this world. Much like we pursue our goals in sports, God does the same with us.

By SAGE HOLMESINDEPENDENCE – The Vinton-Shellsburg Viking and Vikette varsity track and field teams took to Lyle Leinbaugh Field in Independence Thursday for the 2021 State Qualifying Meet.Vikette senior Kayla Griffith won the girls' high jump with a leap of 5-1, and sophomore discus thrower Brylee Bruce took gold with a throw of 124-2. In addition, junior shot putter Abby Bartz threw 37'2", good enough for a wild card berth in Des Moines.