Scheels Prep of the Week: Williams Concludes Strong Kicking Career

Clear Creek Amana senior Tyreke Williams

By Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports

TIFFIN – Standing 6-foot-1 and weighing 220 pounds Tyreke Williams is quickly recognized as a football player.

It is picking the position at which Williams excels that people often struggle.

“People ask me what position I play and when I say kicker they don’t believe because I look more like a lineman,” Williams said. “I’ve gotten used to that, I just laugh about it.”

Williams may look like a lineman but he produces like one of the best kickers in the state.

The senior has handled both the punting and place kicking duties for Clear Creek Amana the past two seasons while double as a defensive lineman and has established himself as one of the top kickers around.

Williams connected on 12-of-17 field goals the past two seasons with a career-long of 47 yards.

“I’ve never been fortunate enough to work with a kicker like Tyreke before,” Clear Creeek Amana coach Matt Hughes said. “Most of the times in high school football you have to go for it on fourth downs or not kick the field goal so having that option is something that we’ve gotten used to and he’s been such a huge asset for our team. He’s been a special player for us.”

Williams grew up playing soccer so when coaches were looking for place kicking volunteers in middle school he threw up his hand.

After three test kicks the kicking job belonged to Williams.

“In middle school coaches came up and asked if I could kick a ball through the up rights,” Williams said. “I kicked one through, they moved it back a little further I kicked it through, moved it back a little further and I kicked it through and they said, ‘alright, you’re our kicker’,”

Since that time Williams became a major asset for the Clippers with both his punting and place kicking.

This fall Williams had the best season of his career helping Clear Creek Amana to a 7-2 record that included the first 6-0 start in program history.

“I think I’ve had a great year but I couldn’t do it without a perfect snap and a perfect hold,” Williams said. “It’s been really fun, last year we had a good year and this year we’ve built on that and had a great season so it’s been really fun to be a part of that.”

As a senior Williams made 6-of-7 field goal attempts and was 24-of-29 on extra points.

Of his 44 kick offs 14 went for touchbacks.

All of those were improvements over 2015 when Williams was 6-of-10 on field goals.

“I feel like I’ve gotten a lot better just going to camps and working at it,” Williams said. “I’ve worked on kicking a lot the past few years.”

Where Williams impressed the most this season was with his punting.

He averaged 42.5 yards per punt o 31 punts, good for fourth best in the state among players with at least 10 punts.

“When you have somebody that can consistently kick 45 plus yard punts and then boom some 60 yard punts in there too it totally changes the field position battle,” Hughes said. “That is something that we got used to having that as a weapon and we will definitely miss that when he’s not around anymore.”

Williams closed his career on Friday by converting all four of his extra points and booming a 56-yarder on his only punt attempt in a 42-6 win over Central DeWitt.

He would like to continue his kicking career in college and is looking at several options.

Hughes believes that Williams, who has made field goals as long as 65 yards in practice, has the potential to enjoy a strong collegiate career.

“I don’t think there is any doubt he can kick at the next level,” Hughes said. “You just don’t see strong legs like that. He has every bit of a leg and that’s without having a kicking coach. If someone brought him on and spent time on teaching him more the fundamentals of kicking he could have a great career.”

Scheels' Prep of the Week: West High's Thomas Has Big Day at MVC Meet

West High junior Alleyna Thomas

By Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports

CORALVILLE – Alleyna Thomas had a simple goal going into the Mississippi Valley Conference swimming meet.

“Going into it I wanted to drop time and see how close I could get to my best times,” Thomas explained.

Thomas did a lot more than that last Saturday at the University of Iowa Campus Recreation and Wellness Center pool.

The West High junior post a career best time to win the 200 freestyle and helped the Women of Troy 400 freestyle relay team to a title in a MVC record time of 3:37.61.

In all, Thomas collected four top three finishes to help West High to a third place team finish.

“I wasn’t expecting that at all,” Thomas said of her performance. “It was really exciting, the whole meet I was super excited to see how well everyone was doing.”

Thomas claimed her individual title in the 200 free in a time of 1:58.29, more than three seconds better than her previous career-best time.

“Alleyna has grown and matured as an athlete a lot even in just the three years that I’ve known here,” West High coach Byron Butler said. “Her goal was to crack 2:00 and she crushed it, she absolutely crushed it.”

Thomas posted a 2:01.9 early in the season and as her training increased saw her time in the 200 free rise to the 2:04 or 2:05 range according to Butler.

After clocking a 2:06 in the event midway through the season Butler saw Thomas getting frustrated with her times.

He assured her as the season went on the times would lower. On Saturday Thomas proved her coaches right.

“Rob (assistant coach Rob Miecznikowski) told her right before her swim, expect to be out in front, if you are out in front at the 100 that’s not a mistake just keep going,” Butler said. “We were telling her that 2:00 is absolutely going to happen, let’s just see how far under we can get and I think now she really sees that we aren’t insane.”

Thomas added a third place finish in the 500 free in 5:15.46 but her most memorable moments came in the relays.

She joined Lily Ernst, Elaina Martz and Melanie Housenga in finishing second in the 200 free relay in 1:40.59.

The big performance from the Women of Troy came in the 400 free relay as the same foursome set a MVC record with a time of 3:37.61.

The time was nearly a second better than the West High school record of 3:38.5.

“At the beginning of the season we wanted to try to break the school record but we didn’t think we were going to,” Thomas said. “Then we get to conference record and we break not only our school record but the conference record and we were just blown away.”

All four swimmers in the 400 relay had times under 55 seconds as West High finished more than two seconds in front of runner-up Cedar Falls.

“I talked to coach Miecznikowski about the 18 years he has been with the girls team and he said he has never had a relay where every girl went 54 so it was just really cool what they did,” Butler said. “They didn’t exceed our expectations because I know they have more in them but I think they may have surprised themselves a little bit.”

Scheel's Athlete of the Week: Lenoch Continues to Produce for West Branch

West Branch senior Luke Lenoch

By Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports

WEST BRANCH – Luke Lenoch has had better statistical games in his career than what he had last Friday.

The West Branch senior running back has had games with more yards, more touchdowns and a better yard per carry average than he posted in a 35-14 win over North Cedar a week ago.

Lenoch may have never meant more to his team than he did last week.

When the Bears needed him most, Lenoch produced the most, scoring three of his four touchdowns in the second half as West Branch broke a 14-14 tie with 21 unanswered points to keep its playoff destiny in its own hands.

“It’s not about the yards to him, he just wants to go out there and win,” West Branch junior offensive lineman Jacob Barnhart said. “The second half he knew what he had to do to get it done. He was playing hurt and he went out there and he was a leader.”

Lenoch finished with 226 yards and four touchdowns on a career-high 42 carries as West Branch (5-2) improved to 4-1 in Class 1A, District 3 play.

The 5-foot-9, 185-pound Lenoch had touchdowns runs of 13, 2 and 6 yards in the second half as West Branch scored on three consecutive possessions after halftime.

“We were in a position that we knew we didn’t really want to be in, a tie football game with a team that doesn’t have anything to lose,” Lenoch said. “We went into the second half knowing that it was 0-0 and we played the ball game that we knew we could play and executed a lot better.”

With nearly 5,500 career yards and 79 touchdowns it is no surprise West Branch turned to Lenoch late in a tight game with its playoff fate possibly on the line.

It’s even less surprising he produced.

Lenoch has rushed for at least 200 yards in three of the Bears’ last five games and now has seven 200-yard games in his career.

“We are relying on him a lot,” West Branch senior lineman Cole Tisinger said. “With how good of an athlete he is you lean on him. We have to rely on him a little more and he always comes through.”

Lenoch has been producing for the Bears for three seasons.

Already the school’s all-time leader in rushing yards and touchdowns, Lenoch has rushed for at least 100 yards 28 times in 30 games the past three seasons and has scored a touchdown in 27 games during that stretch.

Season-ending injuries to its top two quarterbacks this season has caused West Branch to ask even more of Lenoch this season.

“It’s been tough, especially with the injuries and that’s no excuse but we have had some adversity,” Lenoch said. “We still haven’t played the football that we know we can play and we are hoping to get there and I know that we will.”

With two games remaining in the regular season Lenoch is 28 carries away from his career high.

He has three games with more than 30 carries for the first time in a season and has twice logged 40 carries in a game this season.

“He has so much durability that he never really gets tired,” West Branch coach Butch Pedersen said of Lenoch. “Then when the opponents get a little tired he is still running fresh so I think he gets better as the game goes on.”

The heavy work load hasn’t slowed Lenoch.

He ranks eighth in the state with 1,307 yards this season and is tied for fifth with 22 touchdowns while averaging 6.3 yards per carry.

Lenoch has been at his best in district play.

Since rushing for a season-low 78 yards in a wee- two loss to West Burlington/Notre Dame, Lenoch is averaging 32 carries for 210 yards and four touchdowns in five district games.

“I would say after West Burlington it was more of just a gut check,” Lenoch said. “We knew that we needed to be more physical and just overall we knew we had to get a lot better and I think we have played a lot better.”

Scheel's Athlete of the Week: Spence Earns Medalist Honors at MVC Divisional Meet

West High sophomore Kyle Spence

By Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – Few golfers would consider cool and windy conditions a perfect day to play golf.

Some golfers wouldn’t even bring out their clubs on a cool and windy day.

Those conditions seem to bring out the best in Kyle Spence.

So when the West High sophomore saw the weather forecast for last Thursday’s final Mississippi Valley Conference Valley Divisional meet calling for windy conditions he got a little boost of confidence.

Spence showed by he was so confident, firing a six-over-par 78 to earn individual medalist honors at the final regular season meet of the season for the Trojans at Finkbine Golf Course in Iowa City.

“I always feel confident going into meets but certainly with all the factors I had a feeling about that day in general,” Spence said. “We were on our home course and I was very familiar with the conditions as far as the cool weather and the wind so I was definitely confident going in.”

Spence had a reason to be confident.

He had plenty of experience playing in difficult conditions after living in Northern Ireland for a year where he played golf on a nearly daily basis.

“I played golf in Northern Ireland for a year because my parents are from there so playing along the coast line there really helped give me lots of experience with that,” Spence said. “Knowing how to flight the ball differently and keep it out of the wind really was helpful on days like that.”

Spence put that experience to good use at the MVC Divisional meet.

The sophomore opened play last Thursday in a tie for 11th place in the overall MVC standings that uses the combined scores from the MVC Super Meet and two divisional meets.

Spence shot an 82 at the Super Meet and an 81 at the first divisional meet.

On Thursday he turned in the low round of the day despite conditions that kept only two golfers from breaking 80.

“My mindset was all positive because it was a windy day and watching even the guys out on tour they get flustered by high winds,” Spence said. “The golf course was playing super tight so I figured because of the home course advantage if I hit the ball well and kept it out of the wind then I’d have a good chance to catch some of the other guys and it turns out that’s what happened.”

The 78 by Spence on Thursday helped him pass six golfers to finish fifth in the overall standings to earn first team all-conference honors.

“He’s confident because he plays all the time,” West High coach Don Bristow said. “He practices in the winter and plays a year. For a sophomore he has a lot of poise.”

Spence opened his round on the 18th hole and was one over par after 10 holes.

His 78 was one stroke better than Brad Karpick of Cedar Rapids Xavier who carded his third consecutive round in the 70’s to earn the overall title.

“It was great that I started on the 18th because I had the first nine at the beginning of my round and we play the front nine quite frequently in practice,” Spence said. “I instantly walked on to a place where I was very comfortable and I hit good shots on before so that certainly played a role.”