Two Ankeny Teams. One Survives Tuesday.

For only the second time in history, Ankeny and Ankeny Centennial will meet in the soccer postseason — and the loser's season ends tomorrow afternoon in Ames. Both girls' teams won their way to the Class 3A state tournament last week, landed in the same quarterfinal bracket, and now there's no avoiding it: one Ankeny program goes to the semifinals Thursday, the other goes home. Let's roll. 🚲

Here's how we got the rivalry no one wanted to draw. Thursday, the sixth-ranked Ankeny Hawks (11-5-1) beat No. 11 Cedar Rapids Kennedy 3-1 in their regional final, senior Avery Taylor sealing it with a goal in the 70th minute — Ankeny's ninth straight trip to state. Friday, the third-ranked Centennial Jaguars (15-2-1) shut out No. 12 Cedar Rapids Prairie 3-0 (a game pushed from Thursday by rain and lightning), with goals from freshman Rebecca Flick, a diving header from sophomore Jaeden Jackson, and one more from Grace Poskevich. That's Centennial's 11th state appearance in the program's 12 years.

Two crosstown teams, both rolling, both drawn into the same Class 3A quarterfinal. Kickoff is Tuesday at 2:45 p.m. on Field 2 at the Lied Recreation Fields in Ames.

The history favors the Jaguars: Centennial leads the all-time series 10-2-1 and won the most recent meeting 1-0 on April 23 (Mady Postma, 54th minute). But the teams have met in the postseason exactly once before — the 2018 Class 3A title game, which Centennial took 3-2. "It's the battle of Ankeny and we're both going to want it in the state tournament," said Jaguars junior captain McKenna Gray. "Whoever gets it will be the lucky one here."

The winner advances to a semifinal Thursday at 5:15 p.m. (Field 2) against No. 2 West Des Moines Valley or No. 7 Linn-Mar. One more note for anyone driving up to Ames: it's going to be a scorcher — more on that below.

📍 Source: Ankeny Fanatic — Jaguars earn trip to state, get rematch vs. Ankeny · Ankeny Fanatic — Ankeny girls advance to state

Twenty-five minutes. That's all that stood between the top-ranked Centennial boys and an undefeated season with the first state title in program history. Friday at Mediacom Stadium, the No. 1 Jaguars led No. 2 Waukee Northwest 1-0 on a Garrett Christensen goal in the 49th minute (assist Tate Duax) — then the Wolves scored three times in the final 25 minutes to win 3-1 and claim their own first boys' soccer crown. It was Centennial's only loss of the year, two days after they'd stunned Des Moines Roosevelt 4-3 in overtime to reach the final.

📍 Source: Ankeny Fanatic — Jaguars fall short in 4A title game

No City Council tonight — the next regular meeting is Monday, June 15 at 5:30 p.m. at the Kirkendall Public Library. The bigger date on the calendar is Sunday, June 14, when DART's redesigned bus network goes live across the metro: 11 routes replace the old system all at once, and every bus is free to ride June 14–30 while riders learn the new map. (Ankeny's DART On Demand microtransit keeps running as it does now until late September.) If you or someone you know rides the bus, this week is the time to look up the new route.

📍 Source: Reimagine DART — Final Network

Today (Monday)

Tuesday

Wednesday

A wet start, then it dries out — and heats up fast for game day.

📍 NWS Des Moines forecast for Ankeny

Most of the recovery tools people chase are scattered across a half-dozen specialty studios. Unwind Wellness puts them in one Ankeny building — and keeps the doors open around the clock. Alongside 24/7 gym access, the NE Otter View center stacks up a self-guided recovery menu: cryotherapy (a quick blast of whole-body cold for sore muscles), infrared sauna, LED light therapy, PEMF, hyperbaric oxygen therapy (breathing oxygen inside a pressurized chamber), body sculpting, and hybrid tanning.

The model is built to be low-commitment — no long-term contracts, with memberships for fitness only, recovery only, or both, all bookable in the app. Owner Raegan Scheib runs it on a "your wellness, your pace" philosophy. And if the name Built By PRTCHT rings a bell from a past issue, trainer Cale Pritchett works with clients out of this location too.

The basics:

There's no neutral seat in Ankeny tomorrow: the Hawks and Jaguars play to stay alive in the 3A state tournament, and only one crosses the street to the semifinals. Centennial owns the rivalry on paper — but state soccer rarely reads the script.

Tomorrow: the result from Ames — who advances to Thursday's semifinal, who's done — plus what's on tap for next Monday's City Council meeting.

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