High School Track and Field
The Central Lee, Danville, New London, and West Burlington boys’ teams will head to Central College today for an indoor meet.
The Mt. Pleasant, West Burlington, Mediapolis, and Danville girls’ teams will travel to Central College for an indoor meet tomorrow, March 21st. Panther head coach Scot Lamm has a talented senior class and is excited to see them lead the team to more success after snatching the runner-up title at the IATC Indoor Championships,
“… And then just having those seniors, you know, do this for four years and do it successfully you know is a tribute to the amount of work that they put in and you know, it’s amazing to me, you know, they still they still don’t have all the confidence in the world. You know, they want to be perfect all the time but still come with nerves and so just trying to get to them and let them know that you know, you’ve been here, you’ve done this, now it’s just time to enjoy your senior year. It’s a tough year because they’ve got a lot of other things going on as well with graduation, prom, and what are they gonna do after they get out of school. So, it’s a lot for them, but it’s a lot of fun to watch your seniors come out and start their senior year with a lot of success, as well.”
Columbus will host their Early Bird Invitational on Monday, March 23rd, with Central Lee, Van Buren County, and Winfield-Mt. Union also competing.
High School Basketball
Talent from all over the state will be heading to Dallas Center-Grimes High School for the 2026 Pizza Ranch All-Star Games on Saturday, March 28th, with seven local players and two coaches making the trip for the southeast Iowa squad.
On the girls’ side, the Southeast Iowa Super Conference (SEISC) will be represented by Mediapolis’ Grace Holsteen and Madison Kellogg of Winfield-Mt. Union. Holsteen was named SEISC-South Player of the Year, while Kellogg battled through injury to lead her team with 14.9 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. Joining Kellogg will be her Wolves head coach Mendy McCreight.
Joining the pair will be Kendra Boatman of Keokuk and Mylee Stiefel of Burlington. The two have both taken home Conference Player of the Year awards during their high school careers.
On the boys’ side, Washington’s Collin Stark will be patrolling the sideline with three local players running the court. Burlington Notre Dame’s Shay Stephens, the SEISC-South Player of the Year, will be flanked by two-time Southeast Conference Player of the Year in Keokuk’s Jaxon Clark and All-Substate talent Max Griffin of Mediapolis. Clark and Stephens have each tabbed at least one season double-double, which is scoring at least 500 points and securing 250 rebounds.
Southeastern Community College
The baseball team will start their three-game road series against Ellsworth Community College today.
The softball team dropped their matchup to Volunteer State Community College yesterday, 5-4. The Blackhawks will travel to Motlow State Community College today for a doubleheader.
College Wrestling
Southern Illinois University of Edwardsville’s #27 Marcel Lopez fell to #6 Drake Ayala of Iowa in his first-round matchup, 11-1. The New London native advanced to the next round of the consolation bracket due to a medical forfeit. Lopez will take on #12 Evan Mougalian of Penn today.
March Madness
The KILJ bracket challenge, sponsored by The Press Box, is officially underway with 60 brackets submitted with the top three set to receive prizes.
The first day saw multiple upsets with #12 High Point defeating #5 Wisconsin and a pair of #11-seeds in VCU and Texas pulling off dramatic victories over North Carolina and BYU, respectively. The first round continues today.
Standings will be updated at the conclusion of the first two rounds, the Elite 8, Final Four, and the championship game.
College Basketball
The Iowa women’s team will be the #2-seed and will clash with #15 FDU tomorrow, March 21st, at 3 pm.
The Iowa State women’s team claimed the #8 seed and will play #9 Syracuse tomorrow at 4:30 pm.
The Iowa State men’s team will be the #2-seed in the Midwest Region as they will take on #15 Tennessee State today at 1:50 pm.
The Iowa men’s team will look to pull off the upset as the #9-seed for the South Region with a first round matchup against #8 Clemson tonight at 5:50 pm.
This Day in Sports History
1934 – All-around female super athlete Babe Didrikson Zaharias pitches a hitless inning for Philadelphia A’s in their exhibition pre-season baseball game against the Brooklyn Dodgers.
1965 – 27th NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship: UCLA beats Michigan, 91-80, making the Bruins one of seven teams to earn back-to-back titles.
1990 – The LA Lakers retired Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s #33.