Sports : Area student-athletes Tandy, Cornell, Beyer & Ahrenholz sign with college teams

Lyndsey Cornell, joined by family and sister Maddie, will play softball for Taylor University.

Dream School: Sam Ahrenholz will run track for former NCAA champion Florida.

Future Hawkeye: Shaun Beyer with his college coach, Kirk Ferentz.

Lauren Tandy has signed to play golf at Mount Mercy.

Four area student-athletes are finishing their final high school year and making plans to compete in their favorite sports on the college level. The four have signed letters of intent with colleges include:

Lauren Tandy

Lauren, the daughter of Scott and Melissa Tandy of Vinton, will play golf at Mount Mercy in Cedar Rapids. She joined Vinton-Shellsburg girls golf coach Janet Woodhouse and Mt. Mercy Coach Colin Williams on Wednesday for her official signing.

“First of all, she is a great person,” Coach Williams said about Lauren, who finished one place from medaling at the 2015 State Golf Meet. Williams also observed that Lauren’s “not inconsequential” health problems – she had a major surgery to correct a congenital hip problem two years ago, and recently had another surgery to remove screws placed during that operation – have made her tougher.

The coach also observed that she has learned the fundamentals of the game and has a solid golf swing.

Coach Woodhouse also praises Lauren’s leadership.

“She was a leader even as a freshmen,” says Woodhouse. “If she says she will do something, it gets done, and done right.”

Lauren’s father, a former VS golf coach, began teaching Lauren the game when she was young. Her parents say her success is a combination of natural ability and passion for the sport.

Entering her final year as a Vikette golfer, Lauren hopes to lead the Vikettes to the State Meet as a team, and also to earn an individual medal. She has also set a goal of finishing major tournaments with a score in the 30s – something she has done often in practice rounds.

Lyndsey Cornell

Madison Cornell of Vinton is thrilled to welcome her best friend – younger sister Lyndsey – to her Taylor University softball team. Lyndsey and her family recently gathered to celebrate her signing with Vikette Softball Coach Bari Parrott, before a Vikette basketball game.

Maddie is a pitcher for Taylor, one of the oldest evangelical Christian colleges in the U.S. Taylor is named in honor of 19th Century Methodist missionary William Taylor.

But don’t expect there to be any sibling rivalry when the senior pitcher faces her freshman sister in practices next season. Maddie says that when she would return from college to pitch to her former high school teammates, she always hoped Lyndsey would hit well against her.

Maddie and Lyndsey are the daughters of Dave and Kelly Cornell of rural Vinton.

Last year, Lyndsey had a batting average of .439 and totaled 50 base hits for the Vikettes. She is also a starter on the Vikette basketball team and was the leading scorer on last year’s Vikette soccer team.

Two Vinton-area athletes who play for large eastern Iowa high schools have signed with Division 1 colleges.

Shaun Beyer

For Shaun Beyer, the son of Ken and Dawn Beyer of Vinton, and the younger sibling of 2011 VS graduate and UNI track team member Shelby Beyer, his trek to the University of Iowa began with a summer trip to visit relatives in Germany.

"Our relatives had invited our kids since they were little to come and go to school there before high school to learn more about their heritage and learn another language by being absorbed into it,” says Dawn. “After we all went to a family reunion there in 2010 and Shaun met his many cousins, he wanted to experience life there.

So Shaun, at age 14, spent a year in Germany with his relatives.

“When he left that summer he was 5'7" tall and maybe 125 lbs., says Dawn. “Truly none of us had any aspirations of him being a future D1 athlete (also, there are no sports in the schools in Germany.).

Shaun, however, came back that next summer at 6’2’’ and weighing 145 lbs.

He transferred to Kennedy High School because of its strong German curriculum. Shaun, a tight end, led Kennedy to the Class 4A State Championship football game.

After receiving several offers from a variety of college teams, Shaun finally received the offer he was hoping for: He will play for the Iowa Hawkeyes in the fall.

“He continued to grow and work hard in the weight room to develop into what he is today,” his mom says. “He was blessed with the brave path he chose – spending that much time a really long way from home at age 14 – by landing in a great situation academically and athletically at CR Kennedy. I have nothing but praise for that school and staff for his experiences there.”

Beyer, recently named the Cedar Rapids Gazette Player of the Year, is also a wrestler and high jumper. Recruited by the Hawkeyes as an athlete, he expects to start at his current position, but may be moved to a different spot.

Sam Ahrenholz

Sam Ahrenholz lives part of the year in rural Vinton with his parents, Kevin and April Ahrenholz, and is the step brother of current Vinton-Shellsubrg Viking starting point guard Sean Noeller. Sam attended school in Cedar Falls where he ran track.

Sam was a member of the Cedar Falls State Champion (Class 4A) 4 x 400 relay team at the 2014 State Track Meet. His team also won that event at the Drake Relays.

His personal bests are 49.65 (400 meters) and 1:52.7 (800 meters.)

He has signed with the University of Florida track team.

“Chase your dreams and trust God,” sam wrote on his Twitter page, under two photos that show him holding a Florida Gator duffle bag this year and a few years ago.

“I am happy to announce I've accepted a scholarship to my lifelong dream school,” Sam wrote.

The Gators won the 2012 NCAA Championship (held at Drake University) and were co-champions in 2013 with Texas A & M.

Sam had received other offers, including one from Iowa State.