Rebekah Topham led the way for the Griswold Lady Tigers at the Red Oak cross-country meet.  For the second consecutive meet the freshman outdistanced the field for first place and an unofficial course record. Topham crossed the finish line on the rugged course in a time of 15:13. She helped her team to a second place finish behind Shennadoah-Essex.
The Lady Tigers had six runners in the top 25. Jordyn Sindt claimed 6th in a time of 17:34. Freshman Alex Flippin faltered about half-way through the race, but gained her composure to move into 14th place. Bailey Powers took 19th; Larissa Backhaus, 23rd; and Allison Young, 25th.  Molly Sindt also ran varsity for Griswold.
Shenandoah won the meet with 55 points followed by Griswold with 64 and Harlan with 69. 4th place Corning, 99; 5th Atlantic, 122; 6th Glenwood, 128; 7th Clarinda, 204; 8th Bedford, 258th.  For Atlantic, Ali Krogman placed 3rd with a time of 16:39, Alex Hartwig was 17th, Alisha Hinzmann was 32nd, Liz Siggins was 34th, Katie Blake was 36th and Caroline Trewet placed 56th.
On the boys’ side Xavier Olivo medaled for the Tigers. He placed 12th in a time of 19:09. Tyrel Peters placed 37th and Zak Doty finished 39th. Jacob Maass showed remarkable improvement and came in 41st followed by Mason Anstey in 53th. Also completing for the Griswold boys were Logan Potter and Grant Haynes.  For Atlantic, Tian Siggins was 16th with a time of 19:38, Josiah Williams placed 18th at 19:48, Sam Bateman was 23rd, Derek VonSeggern was 28th, Ryan McDermott was 29th, Jake Auerbach was 34th and Preston Hoye was 35th.  Boys teams standings had Shenandoah-Essex first with 40 points, Harlan second with 62 points, Atlantic was third with 114, Red Oak was fourth with 126, followed by Riverside with 128, Clarinda Academy with 179, Griswold at 182, Southwest Iowa with 217 and Clarinda at 248.

    PITTSBURGH (AP) – Pitt coach Todd Graham isn’t in a hurry to switch quarterbacks, yet he knows he needs to get more out of Tino Sunseri if the Panthers want to win Saturday at Iowa.  Sunseri threw a pair of interceptions during Saturday’s 35-29 win over Maine, and all but one of Pitt’s nine touchdowns this season have been scored by running backs.  After Sunseri’s first pick Saturday, freshman Trey Anderson started warming up on the sideline. Then, following Sunseri’s second interception early in the fourth quarter of a two-score game, Anderson stepped in under center.  Although Anderson led the Panthers (2-0) to a touchdown by completing 5 of 7 passes for 33 yards, Graham did his best to quell any budding controversy by insisting that Sunseri was his guy.  He, like many of Pitt’s players, just needs to play better.

     The Top Ten teams in the Associated Press Iowa high school
football polls of the 2011 season with first-place votes in
parentheses and won-loss record, total points and position last
week at right:
 Class 4A                         
                                   Record  Pts  Prv
  1. Cedar Falls (12)              3-0     155  1  
  2. Iowa City High (2)            3-0     136  2  
  3. West Des Moines Valley (2)    4-0     134  3  
  4. Ankeny                        4-0     116  5  
  5. West Des Moines Dowling       3-1     81   7  
  6. Marion Linn-Mar               3-0     62   8  
  T7.Cedar Rapids Xavier           3-0     52   10 
  T7.Davenport Assumption          3-0     52   NR 
  9. Southeast Polk                3-1     31   6  
 10. Eldridge North Scott          3-0     28   NR 
    
     Others receiving votes: 11, Bettendorf 24. 12, Muscatine 7. 13,
Marshalltown 1. 13, Iowa City West 1. 

 Class 3A                     
                               Record  Pts  Prv
  1. Sioux City Heelan (15)    3-0     150  1  
  2. Clear Lake                3-0     112  2  
  3. La Porte City Union       3-0     108  3  
  4. Webster City              3-0     93   5  
  5. Denison-Schleswig         3-0     78   4  
  6. Harlan                    2-1     55   6  
  7. Williamsburg              3-0     42   8  
  8. Solon                     2-1     41   7  
  9. Waverly-Shell Rock        3-0     33   10 
 10. Newton                    3-0     32   9  
    
     Others receiving votes: 11, Adel ADM 31. 12, Carroll 23. 13,
Boyden-Hull-RV 14. 14, Decorah 6. 15, Carlisle 5. 16, Keokuk 2. 
 

Class 2A                             
                                       Record  Pts  Prv
  1. Iowa City Regina (11)             3-0     146  1  
  2. State Center West Marshall (4)    3-0     137  2  
  3. South Central Calhoun             3-0     85   5  
  4. Fort Dodge St. Edmond             3-0     72   7  
  5. Spirit Lake                       4-0     70   8  
  6. Mediapolis                        3-0     62   6  
  7. Osage                             3-0     54   9  
  7. Sheldon                           4-0     54   10 
  9. West Union North Fayette          2-1     37   NR 
 10. Monroe PCM                        3-0     30   NR 
    
     Others receiving votes: 11, Dyersville Beckman 25. 12, Alleman
North Polk 13. 12, West Liberty 13. 14, Carroll Kuemper 6. 15,
Roland-Story 5. 16, Calmar South Winneshiek 4. 16, O-A/BCIG 4. 18,
Wellman Mid-Prairie 3. 18, Central Lyon-GLR 3. 20, Sioux Center 2.

 Class 1A                            
                                      Record  Pts  Prv
  1. Council Bluffs St. Albert (6)    3-0     137  2  
  2. Emmetsburg (9)                   3-0     135  1  
  3. Woodward-Granger                 3-0     111  3  
  4. Dike-New Hartford                3-0     105  4  
  5. Logan-Magnolia                   3-0     79   5  
  6. Aplington-Parkersburg            2-1     58   6  
  7. Stanwood North Cedar             3-0     39   7  
  8. Inwood West Lyon                 2-1     34   8  
  8. Lawton-Bronson                   3-0     34   9  
 10. Fairbank Wapsie Valley           3-0     21   10 
    
     Others receiving votes: 11, Panora Panorama 19. 12, Arlington
Starmont 16. 13, Des Moines Christian 14. 14, Nashua-Plainfield 7.
14, Gladbrook-Reinbeck 7. 16, St. Ansgar 4. 17, Alburnett 2. 17,
Garner-Hayfield 2. 19, IKM/Manning 1. 

 Class A                            
                                     Record  Pts  Prv
  1. Le Mars Gehlen Catholic (10)    3-0     140  2  
  2. Traer North Tama (4)            3-0     131  3  
  3. Lisbon (1)                      3-0     120  4  
  4. Postville                       3-0     86   6  
  5. Britt West Hancock              2-1     83   1  
  6. Lone Tree                       3-0     73   9  
  7. Bedford                         4-0     72   7  
  8. Mason City Newman               3-1     55   8  
  9. Brooklyn BGM                    2-1     25   10 
 10. Algona Garrigan                 2-1     12   NR 
    
     Others receiving votes: 11, Danville 10. 12, Marcus MMC 7. 13,
Akron-Westfield 5. 14, Rockford 4. 15, Lynnville-Sully 1. 15,
Madrid 1. 

 Class 8-Man                   
                                Record  Pts  Prv
  1. Armstrong-Ringsted (15)    4-0     150  1  
  2. Blairsburg NE Hamilton     3-0     131  2  
  3. Tabor Fremont-Mills        3-0     108  3  
  4. West Bend-Mallard          4-0     86   7  
  5. East Mills                 3-0     70   6  
  6. Janesville                 3-0     46   NR 
  7. Riceville                  3-0     45   10 
  8. Newell-Fonda               3-0     43   NR 
  9. Kingsley-Pierson           3-0     38   NR 
 10. Preston                    3-1     26   4  
    
     Others receiving votes: 11, Lansing Kee 21. 12, Moravia 14. 13,
Stanton 13. 14, Tripoli 11. 14, Clarksville 11. 16, Remsen-Union 7.
17, Wyoming Midland 3. 18, Dunlap Boyer Valley 1. 18, North Sentral
Kossuth 1.

     NEW YORK (AP) – A person familiar with the negotiations says pitcher Chris Carpenter and the St. Louis Cardinals are closing in on a $21 million, two-year contract.       The person spoke to The Associated Press on Monday on condition of anonymity because negotiations are not yet complete.  St. Louis has a $15 million option for next season as part of a $63.5 million, five-year contract agreed to in December 2006. That deal carries a $1 million buyout.  Carpenter is 9-9 with a 3.75 ERA in 30 starts this year. The
36-year-old right-hander won the 2005 NL Cy Young Award, then missed most of the followed two seasons due to elbow and shoulder injuries.  His talks for a new deal were first reported by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

     IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – Iowa State University would have to pay a $3.85 million penalty this year if anyone successfully appeals a company’s no-bid contract to manage its sports marketing rights through 2023.  Documents show Iowa State last year signed a 13-year contract with Learfield Communications guaranteeing the school $53 million
in payments. In exchange, ISU gave Learfield the exclusive rights to broadcast its athletic events, produce coaches’ shows and sell advertising related to Cyclones’ athletics.
     The school also promised Learfield termination payments should the university administration, the Iowa Board of Regents or courts decide the contract should have been competitively bid or was too long.  The University of Iowa and the University of Northern Iowa also have long-term sports marketing deals with Learfield, but neither
school has agreed to pay similar penalties.

The Big 12 is 14-1 through two weeks of non-conference play.  That gaudy mark will be tested this weekend, with four Big 12 school hitting the road for matchups against BCS opponents.  Top-ranked Oklahoma (1-0) travels to face No. 5 Florida State on Saturday in a game that could have a major impact on the BCS race.       No. 24 Texas (2-0) plays at UCLA, facing a Bruins team that embarrassed the Longhorns in Austin a year ago. Iowa State (2-0) plays at Connecticut (1-1) on Friday night in a rare national TV
appearance for the Cyclones, and Kansas (2-0) plays at Georgia Tech (2-0).

     A person with knowledge of the situation says Texas and Oklahoma officials met over the weekend amid speculation that the Sooners are considering leaving the Big 12.
     Texas President William Powers Jr., athletic director DeLoss Dodds and women’s athletic director Chris Plonsky were among a group of Texas officials who went to Oklahoma on Sunday, according to a person at a Big 12 school who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the
meeting.  The person also said Oklahoma president David Boren was present.  Oklahoma officials are reportedly considering leaving the Big 12 after Texas A&M’s recent decision to leave the conference with hopes of joining the Southeastern Conference.  The meeting was first reported by the Austin American-Statesman.

     AMES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa State’s stunning victory over Iowa has added to the task facing the Cyclones as they prepare for Friday night’s game at Connecticut.  Now they have to try to build off a marquee win and that hasn’t been easy the last couple of years.   After winning at Nebraska two years ago, Iowa State was routed by Texas A&M and Oklahoma State in its next two games. Last year, after the Cyclones beat Texas for the first time ever, they came out flat against a struggling Kansas team and trailed 9-7 at
halftime before rallying for a 28-16 victory.  After beating Iowa 44-41 in three overtimes on Saturday, coach Paul Rhoads says refocusing mentally is just as important as what happens on the practice field this week.

     KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – A person familiar with the situation says Chiefs safety Eric Berry has a torn ACL in his left knee and is done for the year.  Berry was hurt in the first quarter of Sunday’s loss to Buffalo during a block by Bills receiver Steve Johnson, according to the person who spoke on condition of anonymity because the Chiefs have
not disclosed details of the injury.  The second-year strong safety made the Pro Bowl last year and was being counted on heavily by the defending AFC West champions,
who were hammered 41-7 at home by Buffalo in the opener.  Berry, a former Tennessee star, made 72 tackles and four interceptions last season, returning one of them for a touchdown.  He was the fifth overall pick in the 2010 draft and he started every game his rookie season.

     SAN DIEGO (AP) – Chargers coach Norv Turner says kicker Nate Kaeding is out for the year after injuring his left knee during the season’s opening kickoff.  Kaeding, a former Iowa Hawkeye star, entered the season as the most accurate kicker in NFL history, having made 86.5 percent of his field goal attempts in the previous seven seasons.  Minnesota’s Percy Harvin returned the opening kickoff 103 yards for a touchdown. The Chargers rallied to beat the Vikings 24-17.  Punter Mike Scifres took over placekicking duties and made his
first NFL field goal, a 40-yarder.  Turner says the Chargers have a list of possible replacements for Kaeding.