Xavier hires Samek, Sodawasser

CEDAR RAPIDS - Beth Samek has been named the head varsity girls soccer coach at Xavier High School.

Samek is a 2006 graduate of Xavier, where she participated in basketball and soccer. She was recently hired in January as a theology teacher at Xavier and has been serving as the assistant coach for Xavier's sophomore girls basketball team for the past two seasons.

She will be replacing Bailey Winter, who has resigned due to a career change that will not allow her the necessary time to coach.

Kayla Sodawasser has been named the new head coach for girls' track at Xavier. Sodawasser served as an assistant coach for the Xavier track program during the 2014 season.

'We will miss Coach Winter and are thankful for all that she and her staff have done for the Xavier girls soccer program these past three years,” sais Xavier AD Mike Winker. 'We are excited to have both Beth and Kayla serve as head coaches in our athletic program. They are outstanding role models for our students and will bring a high level of excitement and energy to their respective sports.”

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com