On Oct. 1, West’s boys cross country team competed at their home meet, hosted at the Ashton Cross Country Course. They won both the varsity and junior varsity races. This victory included winning against Cedar Rapids Kennedy, a team ranked 17th in the state. Their coach, Josh Kidman, is happy to see the team beating state-ranked teams.

“It was great. We won both races and we beat a pretty good team in Cedar Rapids Kennedy on the Varsity side. We were [also] 10 of the 10 on the JV race, so that’s pretty awesome,” Kidman said.

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Gianna Liu

The Iowa City West Invitational at Ashton Cross Country Course begins with Varisty Oct. 1.

In the Varsity race, Moustafa Tiea ’25 took first with a time of 16:11.8, while Michael Hanna ’28 and Colin Wherle ’27 ran seventh and eighth with times of 17:14.1 and 17:14.2, respectively. Runners Evan Merrill ’27 and Maxwell Bruss ’25 took 10th and 11th with times 17:19.4 and 17:24.8. Sam Showers ’25 took 13th with a time of 17:25.7 and Jake Wieler ’28 took 16th with a time of 17:28.4. Overall, West took first, seventh, eighth, 10th, 11th, 13th and 16th for a winning score of 37, beating the second-place team by 3. Winning runner Moustafa Tiea is happy to see the team succeeding at meets.

“Well, we beat a really high-ranked team. We made the calculations and we had a 1.5% chance of winning and knowing that we were able to put it all together makes [the team] super happy and proud,” Tiea said.

This race is the team’s only home meet after their last planned home meet was canceled due to heat. With only four meets left until the state qualifier, Kidman thinks the team has a real shot at qualifying for state this year.

“I think they’ve got a lot of momentum going into October, which is the postseason. [I’m] feeling a little more confident in their ability to qualify for the state meet,” Kidman said. “We’ve got a lot of depth as shown in that JV race and a pretty tight pack in the varsity race as well. So, there’s no telling any one individual that’s going to step up for us, but I like our young group of guys between the freshmen and the sophomores that are really stepping up.”

What’s that smell in the chilly October air? Maybe… the crisp, clean smell of victory.
As the trees turn into hues of red and orange, the Cedar Rapids Kennedy Cougars make their way to the Trojan’s home court, where the Cougars fall like autumn leaves.

A West volleyball tradition, the seniors celebrated their last season by recognizing a teacher who has significantly impacted their lives. Prior to the game, the seniors and their chosen teacher walked onto the court as the announcer read out an appreciation statement written by the player.

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Colin Wehrle

Audrey Small '28 tips against Cedar Rapids Kennedy Oct. 1.

The Trojans have a well-rounded roster for the night, with outside hitter Sophia Austen ’27, ranked number one in the state for her age group, and exceptional defense players: defensive specialist Elle Barnett ’25, Libero Emma Fish ’25 and setter Lila Eastvold ’27.

The game started off strong, with Ava Bruxvoort ’25 tipping short to the center of the court and a monster block by Sophia Bodin ’25, starting a 2-0 lead. The Trojans were up the entire game; Eastvold, who worked with West High Coach Ben Bahr to sharpen her offensive plays, threw her first dump over the next, surprising the Cougars 21-16. However, during the set, the Trojans’ self-made errors hindered them from gaining a huge lead. The first set ended 25-22, a win for the Trojans.

After the first set, the Trojans were ready to dominate another. Because the Cougars were inconsistent with their swings, Coach Bahr directed the Trojans to focus inside the center of the court and act quickly for tips and pushes. One key element Coach Bahr has implemented since the start of the season is speed and pace. Audrey Small ’28 executed just that: a quick, sharp middle swing made it 3-3. The front row gets creative in the second set: Austen rotates her hard swings with deep tips to corner one, throwing Cedar Rapids off their game. Eastvold continues her second touch dumps over, scoring 16-6. After Austen’s phenomenal 10-foot-line kill from an overpass, the Cougars picked up their offense 19-12. However, the Trojans pushed through and ended the set 25-14 with a big block from right-side hitter Gracie Liu ’27 and a hard cross swing from Austen. Quick and easy setdown for the Trojans.

The Trojans struggled in their third set, with long rallies against the scrappy Kennedy team. However, they had more tricks to pull out; The Trojans took advantage of Austen’s back row attacks, allowing Eastvold to run four offensive players instead of three. Behind Kennedy by two points, Fish and Bruxvoort both fall onto the floor, attempting to pick up a dirty tip by the Cougars. Liu swings cross sharp to make it 13-14. After a quick time-out from Bahr, the Trojans returned to court encouraged to keep fighting. After two big blocks by Bodin, the Trojans lead 15-14. Eastvold gave two balls to Liu and Austen back-to-back and took the last set: 25-18.

West sends Cedar Rapids Kennedy home after a quick game 3-0 (25- 22, 25- 14, 25-18). The Trojans will return to West on Thursday, Oct. 4, for Senior Night, playing ranked rival City High School.

Coming off of September undefeated, West/Liberty’s combined swim team, commonly known as the Trojan Bolts, came into their senior night ready to win. And win they did. 

The Trojan Bolts have a strong legacy as one of the best swimming and diving teams in the state, sending athletes to the state championships every year and boasting dominant records with each season. 

The strong Trojan Bolt legacy extends to their shared cross-town rival, City High; in the rivalry’s past four dual meets, the Trojan Bolts have defeated the Little Hawks by about 100 points each year. This year was no different. 

Before taking to the pool, the Trojan Bolts hosted their senior night, recognizing 10 seniors from both West and Liberty. For their recognition ceremony, seniors received flowers and decorated photo boards from teammates. 

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Marie Stier

Hannah Geng '27 swims the backstroke during the 200Y Individual Medley. Geng placed first with a time of 2:13.66

Kicking off the meet, the Trojan Bolt 200Y Medley Relay team of Megan O’Neill ’25, Averie Bilskemper ’25, Hannah Geng ’27 and Erin Chen ’27 won in a time of 1:57.39, almost ten seconds faster than competition. After the relay team’s strong win, Maggie Nguyen ’28, Gretchen Gerke ’26 and Gabby Cwiertney ’28 swept the podium of the 200Y Freestyle. Next, Geng and Megan O’Neill returned to the pool to compete in the 200Y Individual Medley, accompanied by teammate Emma O’Neill ’28. To conclude the first half of swimming events, Isabella Friessen ’26, Emelia Grueter ’27 and Chen competed in the 50Y Freestyle.

After the completion of the 50Y Freestyle, athletes set up the diving board and cleared the lane for diving to begin. Kamila Swanson ’25, who is ranked second in the state, won the meet with a final score of 275.65, with Rowan Russel, ranked twenty-seventh in the state, placing second at 202.75 points. Divers completed six unique dives in their last home meet, but they weren’t done yet.

After completing the diving portion of the meet, Trojan Bolt swimmers and, at this meet, divers warmed up in the pool for their races. In the 100Y Butterfly, Bilskemper, Gerke and Grueter placed first, second and third, respectively, securing 13 points for the Trojan Bolts. Then, in the 100Y Freestyle, Friessen swam her PR in 57.37. After, Geng, Nguyen and Emily Liu ’27 dominated in the 500Y Freestyle. Next came the 200Y Freestyle Relay, which included divers Russel, Swanson, Jaimie Johnson ’27 and June Clark ’28 racing in the JV heat for the annual diver relay team. The Trojan Bolts secured 15 points in the 200Y Freestyle Relay and 100Y Backstroke. Through the rest of the meet, the Trojan Bolts continued showing their strength with wins from Megan O’Neill in the 100Y Breastroke and the 400Y Freestyle Relay.