first on decorahnews.com: Decorah native to compete in American College Cricket Championships

Cricket is one of the most popular sports in the world.  In the United States cricket has taken a back seat to baseball, but its popularity is growing, according to one Decorah native.

Darren Stortz is a student at the University of Iowa and is on the University of Iowa Cricket Team.  The team left Sunday Ft. Lauderdale, Florida to compete in the American College Cricket Nationals, where it is in the same bracket as teams from the University of Southern California, Penn State, University of Minnesota, Boston University and others.

The tournament began in 2009 with five teams.  This year there will be 31 teams.

Darren Stortz got hooked on cricket when he attended a cricket clinic put on in December of 2009 at the University.  He says club cricket has over 60 members at the University of Iowa, but the Iowa cricket team consists of 11 to 17 people.

The game of cricket gives player just one at-bat, so Stortz says your personal performance is important.  Then there's defense—which often consists of trying to track down a cricket ball traveling at 100 miles an hour.

The University of Iowa cricket team is fairly young, but it is guaranteed of playing at least four games this week in Florida.  Stortz says he hoping the Iowa team will qualify for the championship round and get to play more than four games.