Ryan earns another major award -- the Cooley

MOUNT VERNON -- First, the Heisman. Now, the Cooley.Mount Vernon senior Sarah Ryan is the 2011 recipient of the E. Wayne Cooley Scholarship Award, worth $15,000 over four years."I'm very honored," Ryan said. "This wouldn't have been possible without my amazing teammates, coaches and teachers."Ryan has been in the middle of Mount Vernon's spectacular run of success in girls' sports through the last four years. She was the starting setter for two state-championship teams in volleyball, a role-playing guard for the 2010 state-championship basketball team, a member of last year's state-championship track and field squad and a starter for a softball program that advanced to state twice."It's been amazing to have played on so many state-championship teams," she said. "My teammates are my best friends, and it's been a lot of fun playing together."Ryan averages 4.2 points per game for a team that is 17-1, ranked No. 2 in Class 3A and on its way to the Wamac Conference East Division title.She sports a perfect grade point average (4.0), and scored 31 on her ACT. She will study actuarial science and play softball at Drake University.Ryan is the student body president at MVHS and a youth minister at St. John's Catholic Church in Mount Vernon. She's a bell ringer for the Salvation Army and involved in Kids Against Hunger."She's a great kid. Obviously, she's a hard worker," said Mustangs girls basketball coach Bob Kintzel. "She doesn't carry us as a basketball team, but she plays a key role. She knows what she's capable of doing and what she's not capable of doing."The Cooley award was established in 1993 as a tribute to the man who served as executive director of the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union from 1954 through 2002.According to the Union, the Cooley recipient "is recognized as being representative of the most elite of the superlative Iowa Girl, not only on the playing field, but also in the classroom, in her school and in her community. Her profile will reflect discipline, perseverance, character, citizenship and leadership."Ryan was selected as Iowa's Wendy's High School Heisman Award in November.

Tracking Roloff's pursuit of 300If this is Dennis Roloff's final season of coaching at Cedar Rapids Kennedy, he has five opportunities to snag two wins and reach a milestone.Roloff holds a 298-152 record in a 20-year career at Kennedy that has featured five state-tournament appearances -- the Cougars were Class 4A semifinalists in 2009 and 2010 -- and a string of 13 consecutive winning seasons that will end this year unless the Cougars catch fire.Kennedy (6-11) has regular-season games remaining against Cedar Rapids Washington, Iowa City West, Cedar Rapids Jefferson and Marion. The Cougars face Cedar Rapids Prairie in a 4A regional quarterfinal Feb. 16 at Prairie.Roloff has submitted his papers for retirement from teaching at Kennedy, effective at the end of the school year, and is strongly considering retirement from coaching as well.He coaches boys' track in addition to girls' basketball.