High School Girls’ Tennis
Mt. Pleasant will stay at home to play Keokuk tonight at 4:30 pm.
Fairfield will host Burlington tonight at 4:30 pm.
Burlington Notre Dame will travel to Muscatine today at 9 am.
High School Volleyball
Washington will scrimmage West Liberty tomorrow, August 21st, on the road at 4:30 pm.
WACO will be hosting a quad on Monday, August 24th, with New London making the trip at 5 pm.
Winfield-Mt. Union will hold a triangular on Monday with Danville and Keokuk competing at 5 pm.
Mt. Pleasant, Holy Trinity Catholic, and Columbus will head to Mediapolis on Tuesday, August 25th, for a scrimmage at 4:30 pm.
High School Volleyball Rankings
The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union (IGHSAU) released their preseason rankings for the 2026 season yesterday and three local teams broke into the top 15 for their respective classes, including two top 10 teams from the Southeast Iowa Super Conference (SEISC).
In Class 4A, Burlington was ranked at #14 to start the season as they look to build off of a 31-13 record last year that saw the Grayhounds reclaim the Southeast Conference title and advance to the Regional Semifinals. Burlington had five players tab over 140 kills last year and return three of those players, while also returning both of their setters in Lauren Schrader and Sela Rascon. They start the season on the road against Galesburg on Monday, August 24th.
The SEISC always provides formidable competition for the rest of the state and this year is no different as the Class 1A rankings slotted Wapello in at #7 and Holy Trinity Catholic at #3. The two teams have met in the postseason each of the last two years with the Arrows nearly coming back to knock off the Crusaders in five sets last year.
Mila Jordan is set to return as Wapello’s top attacker, as she tabbed over 300 kills and 70 aces for the season. The Arrows will also bring back both setters in Taeya Wagner and Annaka Greiner, who combined for 768 assists and 54 aces. Wapello will compete in a quad at Burlington on August 27th to begin the season.
Holy Trinity Catholic fell one game short of the state tournament a year ago, snapping a four-year streak. The Crusaders will have to replace Presley Myers, but Adalyn Kruse, with nearly 400 kills last season, is considered one of the best hitters in the state as she shared SEISC-S Player of the Year honors with Myers. Additionally, for a team that always dominates from the service line, they return 81% of their total aces from last year. The Crusaders ring in the new year with an outdoor match against Burlington on August 31st at Bracewell Stadium.
High School Football
Fairfield will host a scrimmage against Sigourney-Keota tomorrow, August 21st, at 7 pm.
Washington will scrimmage Muscatine tomorrow at 5:30 pm on the road.
Mediapolis will face off against Fort Madison tomorrow at 6:30 pm for a scrimmage at home.
West Burlington/Notre Dame will square off against Burlington at Bracewell Stadium at 5 pm for their Fall Fest Scrimmage tomorrow.
Central Lee will host Wapello for a scrimmage tomorrow at 6 pm.
Columbus will scrimmage Cardinal at 7 pm at home tomorrow.
Van Buren County will travel to Albia for a Powerade Scrimmage tomorrow at 6 pm.
Meet the Players Night
Meet the Panthers will be held tomorrow, August 21st, at the Mapleleaf Athletic Complex starting at 6:30 pm with a Booster Club Announcement. Teams will be introduced after the update with cross country leading the pack followed by girls’ tennis, football, volleyball, and cheerleading. The cheerleaders will perform at 6:50 pm and the football team will scrimmage Danville at 7 pm.
Panther football head coach John Bowlin is ready for the opportunity to show the community an early preview of Mt. Pleasant football,
“Oh, I’m extremely excited. You know, obviously, you know, the stress level and the energy in these first few weeks here, it’s, you know, both are very high. And just the ability to go out and finally get these guys a chance to play is really, really what’s exciting. I want to see what our kids are capable of doing out there and, you know, letting them go out and show their talents and have fun doing it. And really, we’re the support system that hopefully can help them improve every week, every day. And, you know, I’m extremely excited. It’s going to be a difficult, tough year. Weeks one through nine is going to be a fight every week. So I’m excited for that opportunity. And, you know, there’s really nothing much better than being able to go out Friday nights and play football. And just, you know, I think it’s one of the best sports in the world, teaching life lessons and, you know, learning along the way. So as long as our kids and coaches are enjoying it, I think we’re doing the right things. And, you know, success will come where it comes.”
8th Grade Participation
Back in mid-June, the Iowa State Board of Education approved the Emergency Rules written by the Department of Education to implement House File 2591, which changed the transfer and open enrollment eligibility period from 90 school days to 140 calendar days and allowed for 8th grade students to participate in high school athletics. Though legislation may continue to change, Mt. Pleasant Athletic Director Scot Lamm discussed how they will be handling 8th grade participation,
“When kids go in for their sports physical, they need to fill out a supplemental form, basically just their health care provider signing off saying that they are mentally and physically able to participate against high school aged athletes. Once that’s done, the way we are handling this right now, if we don’t currently offer that sport at the middle school level, then those kids will have an opportunity to participate in our high school team. If we do offer that sport at the middle school level, and we have a need for a kid to come up and play at the high school level, then we’ll evaluate that on a case by case basis. And that’s kind of the way we’re going to operate at least here through the fall. And then if we get different guidance as the Department of Ed[ucation] met on Tuesday of this last week, and they have to present at a later meeting with the State Board of Education, and they will come up with what will be our guidelines moving forward.”
Southeastern Community College
The men’s and women’s soccer teams will compete against Heartland Community College today on the road with the men playing first at 2 pm.
The volleyball team will compete in the Opening Weekend Tournament in Rockford starting today with game one against Elgin Community College at 2:30 pm.
This Day in Sports History
1900 – Great Britain beats France by 158 runs in Paris; cricket’s only appearance at an Olympic Games.
1919 – Wichita outfielder Joe Wilhoit (Western League) fails to get a hit, ending a 69-game streak (155 hits in 299 at bats for .505 average). The longest in minor league history.
1920 – The American Professional Football Association forms with Jim Thorpe as president; later becomes the National Football League (NFL).