March 23, 2009
- Iowa and the Big Ten Network
- Big Ten Network: Free Hawkeye Video
- 24 Hawkeyes to Watch
- Iowa soccer wallpaper
- Iowasoccer.com
Each Monday for the next nine weeks, hawkeyesports.com will profile a future member of the Iowa Soccer team.
IOWA CITY, IA – When Head Coach Ron Rainey arrived at Iowa in 2006, one of his main recruiting focuses was to lure the state’s best players to Iowa City. That strategy paid off last year, as Rainey lured Iowa natives Suzy Levett (Cedar Rapids) Kelsey Sandon (Urbandale) and Morgan Showalter (Cedar Rapids) to Iowa City.
This year, Rainey and his staff hit the state’s recruiting trail even harder. Combined with Iowa’s continuing success on the soccer field, the Iowa coaching staff secured five more native Iowans to join the team this fall.
Jenny Kahler, a projected midfielder from Ankeny is one of those five. A seasoned competitor, Kahler will provide depth for the Hawkeyes next season. She is currently in her senior season at Ankeny (H.S.) and has already wrapped up numerous individual honors in her first three seasons.
Kahler was Ankeny’s team captain last season as a junior, leading Ankeny to a 13-2 record and a CIML Conference championship. She recorded six goals and five assists on her way to being named an honorable mention all-state.
What drew Rainey to Kahler was her knowledge of the game.
“Jenny is a smart player on the field technically and controls the ball well,” Rainey said. “She has a good understanding of the game’s tempo, which should play to her advantage at the collegiate level.”
Kahler also has shown the ability to be an offensive weapon, leading Ankeny in goals (13) and assists (11) as a sophomore. She has been named to the all-conference team twice.
She has been a member of Iowa’s Olympic Development program in 2003, 2005 and 2008. Kahler was also a Bromby Cup silver medalist in 2006.
Kahler is just as good off the field. She was named to Ankeny’s Honor Roll and was named to the CIML’s all-Academic team during all four years of high school. She plans to major in medicine at Iowa.