5A Power Back in Championship Game

Waukee NW rolls past Ankeny Centennial

Waukee Northwest's Aunya Van Zetten and the Wolves are headed back to the Class 5A Iowa high school state championship. | Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK

For the first time since winning it all in 2022, Waukee Northwest will play for a state title.

The Wolves dominated Ankeny Centennial in the Class 5A semifinals, 11-3 in five innings. They will now take on Linn-Mar in the championship game at Rogers Park in Fort Dodge on Thursday night at 7:30 p.m.

Sophia Schlader, one of the top freshmen players in the country, added to her strikeout total for the week with five more. She allowed just four hits, helping her own cause with an RBI.

Aunya Van Zetten was 4-for-4 with four RBI and two runs, blasting a home run and a double for Waukee Northwest, who has reached state each year but failed to make it to out of the quarterfinals. Maggie Allen and Alayna Schulte both had two RBI while Claire Martins scored three times.

For Ankeny Centennial, Jordyn Kennedy hit a home run, driving in all three Jaguar runs with two hits. She is the school’s career leader in homers and is headed to the University of Minnesota. 

Linn-Mar Makes Quick Work of Cedar Falls

In terms of rankings and seeding, the Top 2 teams in 5A will meet for the title, as Linn-Mar handled Cedar Falls, 8-0 in six.

The Lions (35-6) will get No. 1 Waukee Northwest on Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. at Rogers Park in Fort Dodge for the championship.

Two runs in the second and three more in the third provided the offensive spark needed by Linn-Mar, who qualified for the first time since 2022. Emily Koranda and Lexus Krug each drove in two runs while Annie Cassidy had three hits with a pair of runs scored.

Emily Koranda pitched a one-hitter, striking out five with two walks.