Mt. Pleasant, IA- The Southeast Conference (SEC) has taken a page out of it’s same-named college conference and will be expanding to seven teams starting in the 2028-29 school year with Oskaloosa joining the fold, pending Oskaloosa School Board approval.

Originally a part of the Little Hawkeye Conference, it was determined by an alignment committee would not be the best long-term fit, but no action was taken. That was before Jamie Jacobs, Oskaloosa Activities Director, arrived and reopened the committee.

“The move is right for Oskaloosa schools based on school sizes,” Jacobs said. “They are all 3A schools, and they are towns and communities that reflect our own.”

The compatibility in terms of competitive balance, student experience, and community relationships were the main reasons in the SEC unanimously voting to invite Oskaloosa to the conference. Additionally, the fine arts departments amongst the SEC proved to be a drawing card,

“I think some of the things that stood out were our fine arts opportunities, the positive experiences we’ve created, and even our media presence,” Jacobs said. “Those are things we can contribute to the conference in a meaningful way.”

Despite the SEC expressing an openness to accelerate Oskaloosa’s timeline, by the Little Hawkeye conference bylaws, there is a two-year timeline departure that Oskaloosa will be respecting. Nevertheless, everyone involved is excited for the opportunity and busy coordinating schedules,

“Right now, it’s a lot of planning to make sure it’s a smooth transition,” Jacobs said.

Des Moines, IA- It was a gorgeous final day at the Blue Oval for the 116^th running of the Drake Relays, the multi-day event saw seven podium finishers from southeast Iowa, including a gold medal for Greyson Hartman of Washington and Kylee Hill of Burlington in their respective shot put events. Hartman nearly finished with another one by Saturday’s end.

Boys’ Discus

An event that was originally supposed to take place on Thursday, instead got moved to Saturday due to a line of storms that moved through central Iowa Thursday evening. The delay did not seem to affect Washington’s Hartman. After a 16^th place toss his first go-around, Hartman earned a spot in the finals on his second throw, clearing 167 feet and 8 inches to sit in 5^th place.

Finishing in the top 9 gave the Demon three more throw and he took advantage with his first one, getting a mark of 173 feet and 4 inches to take over the lead. However, Jackson Rhinart of Kennedy and Daxon Kiesau of Urbandale would pass him by as he scratched his final two throw.

Still, a bronze medal to accompany his victory in the shot put is not a bad way to finish out the Drake Relays for his junior campaign.

Girls’ 4×100 Meter Relay

The Mt. Pleasant squad of Ellie Freeman, Kynlee White, Taylor Williamson, and Delaney Anderson anchored southeast Iowa, as their time of 49.85 seconds was good enough for 30^th place, which was 21spots and nearly a second faster than Washington’s Jaslyn Villa, Jaedyn Moore, Leighton Salazer, and Leighton Messinger.

For the Southeast Iowa Super Conference, Karina Bourha, Adia Scott, Niva Helmuth, and Ryan Scott will compete for Hillcrest Academy cruised to a 35^th place time of 50.11 seconds.

Highland was the next of our local teams to finish, clocking a time of 51.05 seconds to claim 65^th place. In Danville’s only appearance in Des Moines, the Bears had Macie Wagner, Violette Sowell, Alivia Bauer, and Alaina Gourley take 92^nd place with a time of 52.52 seconds.

Boys’ 4×100 Meter Relay

New London’s Class 1A state championship defending squad of Brigham Porter, London Franklin, Cale Westerbeck, and Gavin Strawhacker led our local field with a mark of 43.21 seconds, which was good enough for 27^th place.

In 36^th place was Djamar Exantus, Alex Rees, Domonic Garcia, and Lamar Ceant of Columbus with a time of 43.43 seconds. Keokuk’s team of Kurt Joy, Jackson Bair, Antonio Crockett, and Ryan Bair was not far behind, grabbing 42^nd place with a time of 43.49 seconds.

Aliyas and Alijah Brock along with Riley Smith and Nolan Glick, competing for Pekin, nabbed 45^th place, clocking a time of 43.55 seconds, while West Burlington/Notre Dame’s Maddox Diewold, Kellan Porter, Eli Oleson, and Landry Haberichter took home 53^rd place with a time of 43.71 seconds.

Will Luttenegger, Brock Spears, Kyler Crow, and Henry Luttenegger of Mediapolis finished in 59^th place with a time of 43.80 seconds. Lastly, Fairfield’s Dayson Workman, Voss Richardson, Ethan Bisgard, and Spencer McCready claimed a 79^th place time of 44.25 seconds.

Girls’ 1500-Meter Run

Why not add another event to the freshman’s slate? Fedler will be competing in the 1500-meter run. And to keep the patter, Fedler is one of only three freshmen that will be participating in the event. Fedler will compete at 4:28 pm on Saturday.

Boys’ 400-Meter Hurdles

In his third event at the Blue Oval, Van Buren County’s Lincoln Bainbridge went three-for-three with top ten finishes as he grabbed 8^th place time of 53.27 seconds. The Warrior also took home a silver medal in the 800-meter run.

Girls’ 1500-Meter Run

As just one of three freshmen competing in the event, Mt. Pleasant’s Avery Fedler was slotted as high as 5^th place after the first 300-meters. But the more experience runners took advantage of a slower second lap as the Panther tumbled outside the top 10.

Nevertheless, Fedler kept her pace and even had a fast final 400 meters than her middle two laps to snatch 10^th place with a time of 4 minutes and 39.85 seconds.

The freshman collected a 5^th place finish in the 800-meter run, an 11^th place mark in the 400-meter dash, and helped the Panther sprint medley team claim 8^th place.

More

KILJ would like to thank all of our sponsors for allowing us to cover the 116^th Drake Relays. The 2026 Track and Field State Championships will be held May 21^st through the 23^rd with KILJ bringing results and recaps throughout the three-day event!

High School Track and Field

The 116th Drake Relays wrapped up competition for our local athletes over the weekend and southeast Iowa finished the multi-day event with seven podium finishes, including a pair of gold medals. Here’s how the weekend slate played out.

Washington’s Greyson Hartman added a bronze medal to his collection in the boys’ discus after unfurling a throw of 173 feet and 4 inches in his first throw of the finals. 

In the girls’ 4×100 meter relay, Mt. Pleasant led the charge for our local teams as Ellie Freeman, Kynlee White, Taylor Williamson, and Delaney Anderson grabbed 30th place with a time of 49.85 seconds. Washington took 51st and Danville finished in 92nd place. 

On the boys’ side, the team of Brigham Porter, London Franklin, Cale Westerbeck, and Gavin Strawhacker snatched 27th place with a time of 43.21 seconds for New London, while Columbus claimed 36th place. Mediapolis clocked 59th and Fairfield was back in 79th place.

Van Buren County’s Lincoln Bainbridge concluded his busy couple of days with an 8th place time of 53.27 seconds in the 400-meter hurdles. 

Lastly, Mt. Pleasant’s Avery Fedler paced her way to a mark of 4 minutes and 39 seconds in the 1500-meter run, which was good enough for 10th place. 

The Van Buren County girls’ meet scheduled for tonight has been canceled.

Mt. Pleasant and Central Lee will participate in the Keosippi Relays tomorrow, April 28th.

WACO, Winfield-Mt. Union, Van Buren County, and Columbus will compete in the Sigourney Co-Ed meet tomorrow.

New London will host the Chris Selby Co-Ed Invitational tomorrow with Danville, Mediapolis, Wapello, and West Burlington/Notre Dame making the trip.

High School Soccer

The Mt. Pleasant boys’ team split their weekend triangular in Muscatine, falling to the hosts 3-1 and pulverizing Central DeWitt, 9-2. Dylan White finished the weekend with four goals and three assists, including a hat track against the Sabers. 

Mt. Pleasant will compete against Keokuk tonight with the girls’ team hitting the road at 5 pm, while the boys’ team will host the Chiefs at 4:30 pm. 

The Washington versus Fort Madison girls’ game has been canceled for tonight. The boys’ game is still set to play at 5 pm.

Fairfield’s matchup against Burlington has been canceled for tonight.

Central Lee will take on Albia at home tonight with the girls’ team leading off the night at 5 pm.

The Wapello boys’ team will compete at home against Sigourney-Keota tonight at 5 pm, while the girls’ team will travel to Monmouth-Roseville tomorrow, April 28th, at 5 pm.

The Burlington Notre Dame girls’ team will host Macomb at 5 pm, while the boys’ team will take on Danville at 7 pm tomorrow.

The Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union boys’ team will face off against Hillcrest Academy tomorrow at 5 pm on the road.

The WACO boys’ team will hit the road to play Mediapolis tomorrow at 5 pm.

The Mediapolis girls’ team will play Burlington tomorrow at 4:30 pm on the road. 

High School Golf

The Southeast Conference meets scheduled for today have been postponed. 

Van Buren County will host Mediapolis today. 

Columbus’s meet against Highland today has been postponed.

The Winfield-Mt. Union boys’ team will participate in the West Liberty Invitational tomorrow, April 28th.

Wapello will host WACO tomorrow in a triangular.

The Burlington Notre Dame girls’ team will compete in an invite tomorrow at Cedar Creek Golf Course in Ottumwa.

High School Boys’ Tennis

Mt. Pleasant will host Fort Madison tonight.

Fairfield’s meet with Burlington has been postponed to tomorrow, April 28th.

Southeastern Community College

The baseball team picked up a series victory over Northeast Community College this weekend after sweeping them in a doubleheader, 8-2 and 12-2, on Saturday but lost a 14-11 slugfest yesterday. Kam Francois clobbered a home run and gathered seven RBIs in the two wins. The Blackhawks will host Black Hawk College tomorrow. 

The softball team clobbered Marshalltown Community College in their weekend doubleheader, 17-0 and 6-2. Kiera Klum and Jeliane Stewart each hit a home run and collected four RBIs in game one, while Savannah Hauger swatted two home runs for three RBIs in game two. The Blackhawks will continue their home stand on Wednesday, April 29th, against Indian Hills Community College in a doubleheader. 

College Baseball and Softball

The Iowa baseball team swept Indiana with a pair of one-sided victories over the weekend, 9-2 and 7-4. The Hawkeyes will look to continue their five-game winning streak against Illinois State tomorrow, April 28th, at 6 pm at home.

The Iowa softball team fell to #3 Nebraska 13-0 over the weekend. The Hawkeyes will host Northern Illinois on Wednesday, April 29th, at 5 pm.

The Iowa State softball team lost the rubber match to Kansas, 4-2, over the weekend. The Cyclones will take on St. Thomas in a home doubleheader tomorrow.

This Day in Sports History

1938 – A yellow baseball was used for the first time in any baseball game between Columbia and Fordham Universities in New York City.

1956 – Undefeated world heavyweight boxing champion Rocky Marciano, retires from the ring.

1961 – The NFL officially recognizes the Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.