High School Track and Field

The first day of the 2024 State Track and Field championships is in the books with today and tomorrow, May 18th, still yielding opportunities for our local athletes. First, here’s the highlights from yesterday’s slate of events.

Girls’ Class 3A discus got the day rolling yesterday and Mt. Pleasant’s Kya Goodrich snuck into the finals and then improved her position to 7th place with a throw of 119 feet and 6 inches, giving the Panthers two points for their team total.

The boys’ Class 3A high jump yielded a state champion in Eli Zillman, a sophomore from Fairfield. After almost slipping up early in the competition, Zillman hit a season best mark of 6 feet and 9 inches to win the gold. Additionally, Fairfield’s Ryan Giberson added two more points for the Trojans with a leap of 6 feet and 3 inches, claiming 7th place. Fort Madison’s Kenden Bowie cleared 6 feet and 7 inches to finish in 5th place.

Shifting towards the early running events, Fort Madison’s Avery Rump took 5th place in the Class 3A 3000-meter run with a time of 10 minutes and 27 seconds.

Solomon Zaugg’s last lap heroics captured the crown in the 3200-meter run with a time of 9 minutes and 19 seconds, earning ten points for Mediapolis. Moreover, Noah Schmidgall advanced to the Class 2A 200-meter finals tomorrow with the 3rd best run of the heat.

The Bulldogs kept up that pace in the 4×800 meter relay as they captured 2nd place with a time of 7 minutes and 51 seconds and eight more points. 

Mt. Pleasant’s Alex Scott advanced to the girls’ Class 3A 100-meter dash with a time of 12.41 seconds, the sixth fastest time. West Burlington’s Landry Haberichter qualified on the boys’ side for Class 2A with the fastest run of the heat: 10.89 seconds.

The Columbus boys’ team in the shuttle hurdle relay kicked off the second half of the meet with the fourth fastest time of 1 minute and 2 seconds, qualifying the Wildcats for the finals.

The Danville boys’ team captured 6th place in the 4×800 meter relay with a time of 8 minutes and 12 seconds.

Hillcrest Academy’s Rya Scott culminated her busy day with the sixth fastest time of the girls’ Class 1A 100-meter dash with a time of 12.69 seconds, qualifying for tomorrow’s finals. Burlington’s Mylee Stiefel qualified for the girls’ Class 4A 100-meter dash finals with a time of 12.2 seconds, the second best time of the field.

For the field events, Owen Scott of Hillcrest Academy took 3rd place in the boys’ Class 1A long jump with a leap of 21 feet and 7.75 inches. 

Kenna Furnald of Danville finished in 7th place in the girls’ Class 1A long jump with a leap of 16 feet and 3.75 inches. Lastly, Russell Coil of Columbus claimed the bronze in the boys’ Class 1A shot put with a heave of 51 feet and 10.25 inches. 

Today’s events are all about relays and hurdles as the Winfield-Mt. Union boys’ team gets into the action today and the Mt. Pleasant boys’ team will have their lone competitor, Avin Truong, compete in the boys’ Class 3A long jump.

If you would like to watch the meet, the Iowa High School Sports Network (IHSSN) will live stream and broadcast the coed State Track Championship today through Saturday. It will air on the IHSSN Cable Network and be streamed for free at IHSSN.com or the WatchIHSSN app. You can access the stream through the IHSAA or IGHSAU websites. KILJ will bring updates throughout the three day event.

High School Soccer

The Central Lee girls’ team will take on Assumption, the #1-seed, on Tuesday, May 21st, at 7 pm in the Class 1A Region 1 semifinals. 

In the boys’ Class 1A Substate 6 postseason bracket, Central Lee will have their hands full when they travel to #1 West Branch on Monday, May 20th, at 7 pm. 

In the bottom half of the bracket, Danville will face off against Mediapolis in the semifinal on Monday at Mediapolis. 

In the boys’ Class 2A Substate 5 bracket, Keokuk will take on Williamsburg on the road on Monday at 7 pm. 

Burlington Notre Dame will compete against Assumption on Monday at 7 pm on the road. 

The Burlington Notre Dame girls’ team will travel to Mt. Pleasant tonight for the Class 2A Region 8 quarterfinal at 5:30 pm.

High School Tennis

Jana Isanta of Mt. Pleasant will participate in the girls’ Class 1A State Singles tournament on May 24th in Iowa City. 

High School Golf. 

 The girls’ Class 1A state meet will take place at the American Legion Golf Course in Marshalltown on May 23rd, continuing into May 24th, with New London eyeing a team title. 

The Class 2A state meet will take place at Cedar Pointe Golf Course in Boone on May 23rd with Olivia Hines of Mediapolis competing as an individual and Mid-Prairie participating as a team. 

The boys’ state meet is set to begin on May 20th in Ames with Washington competing as a team for Class 3A at Veenker Memorial Golf Course and Winfield-Mt. Union for Class 1A at Ames Golf and Country Club.

High School Baseball

Mt. Pleasant swept their first week of competition with an 8-4 win over Cardinal last night on the road. The Panthers jumped on the Comets early, scoring five runs in the first half-inning of the contest. Zach Newton did most of the damage with a double and five RBIs, while Carson Andreasen smacked his own double and tallied two RBIs of his own. J.C. Sitar grabbed a triple in his lone hit of the game. Payton Hagans was electric on the mound, going 4.2 innings and striking out 10 Comets to earn the win. The Panthers will host Clear Creek Amana on Wednesday, May 22nd, at 7 pm.

Burlington Notre Dame will travel to Don Bosco tomorrow, May 18th, for an invitational. 

West Burlington will host Keokuk on Monday, May 20th, at 7:30 pm. 

Central Lee will start their season on Monday on the road against Fort Madison at 7 pm.

Winfield-Mt. Union will take on New London on Tuesday, May 21st, at 5:30 pm.

Mediapolis will square off against Lone Tree on Tuesday at 5:30 pm at home. 

Van Buren County will face off against Hillcrest Academy on Tuesday at 5:30 pm at home.

High School Softball

Central Lee will travel to Fort Madison on Monday, May 20th, at 7 pm.

Winfield-Mt. Union will hit the road to face off against New London at 7 pm on Tuesday, May 21st.

Mt. Pleasant will scrimmage Winfield-Mt. Union on Monday at 6 pm. 

Mediapolis will square off against Lone Tree on Tuesday at 7 pm at home.

Van Buren County will travel to take on Fairfield at 7:30 pm on Monday.

West Burlington will face off against Keokuk at home on Monday at 7 pm.

This Day in Sports History

1875 – The first Kentucky Derby: Oliver Lewis aboard Aristides wins in 2:37.75.

1915 – Cubs George “Zip” Zabel relieves with 2 outs in the first and winds up with a 4-3 19-inning win over Brooklyn in the longest relief job ever.

1964 – The first Tim Horton’s coffee and donut shop opens in Hamilton, Ontario by NHL player Tim Horton.

Des Moines, IA- The 2024 Iowa State Track championships are one day down as Class 1A and Class 4A have finished up their first days’ worth of events. Here’s a look at how our local athletes fared.

Running Events

The first event was the boys’ shuttle hurdle relay as Class 1A featured two local teams and Burlington fielded a team in Class 4A.

WACO’s squad of Louden Huisenga, Gage Samo, Casey Coakley, and Clayton Miller finished in 18^th place with a time on 1 minute and 5 seconds, while Columbus qualified with the 4^th best time of 1 minute and 2 seconds with the team of Johnathan Miranda, Riley Kaalberg, Alexander Rees, and Lamar Ceant.

Braxton Carlson, CJ Owens, John Phillips, and Salomon Cordero grabbed 23^rd place with a time of 1 minute and 5 seconds.

Marie Yoder of Hillcrest Academy took 16^th place in the Class 1A 3000-meter run with a time of 11 minutes and 30 seconds.

The 200-meter dash preliminary did not see anyone advance to the finals. The girls’ Class 1A dash saw Rya Scott of Hillcrest Academy finished in 19^th place with a time of 26.8 seconds.

In the boys’ Class 1A 200-meter dash, Ayden Doyle of Danville grabbed 12^th place while Kaiden Amigon of Columbus took 10^th place with a time of 22.55 seconds. Lastly, Burlington’s Ladarrius Shealey finished in 15^th place (22.54 seconds).

The Danville boys’ team of Jackson Shacklett, Nick Powell, Carter Fesler, and Noah Horn grabbed three points with a 6^th place finish in the 4×800 meter relay with a time of 8 minutes and 12 seconds.

The 100-meter dash presented eight total local athletes competing. In the girls’ Class 1A race, Aurey Meeker of Winfield-Mt. Union grabbed 24^th place and Scott qualified for the Saturday finals with a time of 12.69 seconds, which was good enough for 6^th place.

For the girls’ Class 4A dash, Burlington’s Mylee Stiefel advanced to the finals with the second-best time of the field with a time of 12.2 seconds, while Shariah Hart grabbed 15^th place with a time of 12.66 seconds.

The boys’ Class 1A 100-meter dash had Doyle finish in 9^th place with a time of 11.06 seconds. Amigon took 11^th place with a time of 11.1 seconds. Kaalberg finished in 18^th place, while New London’s Brigham Porter grabbed 23^rd place.

The girls’ Class 1A 400-meter dash featured Rya Scott in her third of four events of the day, she took 15^th place with a time of 1 minute and 2 seconds. Burlington’s Joey Jolin grabbed 23^rd place for the boys’ Class 4A dash.

In the final event of the day, WACO and Winfield-Mt. Union each fielded teams in the girls’ shuttle hurdle relay.

The Wolves finished one spot in front of the Warriors in 13^th place with a time of 1 minute and 12.13 seconds with the team of Tessa Huston, Suttyn Schlee, Meeker, and Josie Nelson. The Warriors finished the race in 1 minute and 12.33 seconds with the team of Brenna Graber, Madelyn Farmer, Ally Rinner, and Zoey Dennler.

Field Events

At 2 pm, the boys’ Class 1A long jump had three participants from the Southeast Iowa Super Conference competing and one garnering points.

Clayton Miller of WACO finished in 19^th place with a distance of 19 feet and 1.25 inches. New London’s London Franklin grabbed 12^th place after leaping 20 feet and 0.25 inches. Lastly, Owen Scott of Hillcrest Academy took 3^rd place after jumping 21 feet and 7.25 inches, getting six points for the Ravens.

Burlington’s freshman sensation, Kylee Hill, tossed the discus 137 feet and 10 inches, which was good enough for 4^th place, totaling five points for the Grayhounds.

To finish out the field events at 4:30 pm, Danville’s Kenna Furnald finished in 7^th place with a leap of 16 feet and 3.75 inches, which gave Danville two points, and Rya Scott grabbed 24^th place with a leap of 14 feet and 0.25 inches.

Russell Coil of Columbus ripped a throw 51 feet and 10.25 inches to take the bronze in the boys’ Class 1A shot put.

Team Standings

Boys’ Class 1A: Wapsie Valley (19), Woodbine (17), Lisbon (12)

Girls’ Class 1A: AGWSR and St. Edmond (14), Pekin (12), Wayne (10)

Boys’ Class 4A: Ankeny (37), Dowling Catholic (25), Davenport West and Cedar Falls (18)

Girls’ Class 4A: Pleasant Valley (24), Johnston (19), Valley (18)

How to Watch

The Iowa High School Sports Network (IHSSN) will live stream and broadcast the entire coed State Track Championship. It will air on the IHSSN Cable Network and be streamed for free at IHSSN.com or the WatchIHSSN app. You can access the stream through the IHSAA or IGHSAU websites.

KILJ will continue providing updates throughout the state track championships.

Des Moines, IA- The 2024 Iowa State Track championships is rolling right along as Class 2A and Class 3A have finished up their first days’ worth of events. Here’s a look at how our local athletes fared.

Running Events

The girls’ shuttle hurdle started the day as for Class 3A, Washington’s squad of Ryen Pepper, Leighton Salazar, Kendall Hinrichsen, and Leighton Messinger grabbed 14^th place with a time of 1 minute and 9 seconds.

Moreover, Fairfield’s team of Maya Lane, Lilly Bergren, Isabel McCready, and Hayley Reinier finished in 23^rd place with a time of 1 minute and 12 seconds.

Fort Madison’s Avery Rump grabbed four points for the Bloodhounds after finishing in fifth place in the 3000-meter run with a time of 10 minutes and 27 seconds. Carley Seeley of Fairfield took 19^th place with a time of 11 minutes and 24 seconds.

The boys’ Class 2A 3200-meter run saw Solomon Zaugg of Mediapolis grab the gold with a time of 9 minutes and 19 seconds, earning ten points for the Bulldogs.

For the boys’ Class 3A 3200-meter run, Washington had two runners in Micah Rees and Andrew Rees. Micah finished in 9^th place with a time of 9 minutes and 35 seconds, while Andrew grabbed 22^nd place with a time of 10 minutes and 34 seconds.

The 200-meter dash preliminary finished with two qualifiers for the finals on Saturday. Kynlee White of Mt. Pleasant finished in 19th place for the girls’ Class 3A race with a time of 26.37 seconds.

In the boys’ Class 2A 200-meter dash, Mediapolis’ Noah Schmidgall took 3^rd place with a time of 22.33 seconds. Schmidgall will race on Saturday in the 200-meter finals.

Julian Dear of Fort Madison and Ryan Bair of Keokuk competed in the boys’ Class 3A 200-meter dash. Dear finished in 13^th place with a time of 22.32 seconds and Bair took 17^th place with a time of 22.45 seconds.

Mediapolis, Fort Madison, and Washington each had a boys’ team and a girls’ team compete in the 4×800 meter relay. The girls’ team of Grace Holsteen, Paige Steiner, Avery Dietz, and Bryn Wright took 23^rd place with a time of 10 minutes and 23 seconds.

The boys’ team of Owen and Will Schmidgall, Zaugg, and Logan Rosas took home the silver with a time of 7 minutes and 51 seconds, earning eight more points for the Bulldogs.

In Class 3A, the Fort Madison girls’ team of McKayla Schinstock, Mara Smith, Avery Rump, and Addison Rump took 10^th place with a time of 9 minutes and 56 seconds. The Washington girls’ team of Lauren Horak, Abigail Kleese, Hinrichsen, and Iris Dahl finished in 17^th place with a time of 10 minutes and 5 seconds.

The boys’ team of Fort Madison of Peyton Lambert, Riley Tripp, Mason McLey, and Nolan Guzman grabbed 18^th place and Washington’s team of Logan McDole, Tyler Alderton, Sawyer Tschantz, and Micah Rees finished in 16^th.

Alex Scott of Mt. Pleasant raced her way to the Class 3A 100-meter dash finals on Saturday after finishing with a 6^th place time of 12.41 seconds.

In the boys’ Class 2A dash, Landry Haberichter punched his ticket to the finals as he raced to a time of 10.89 seconds, the best time of the field.

In Class 3A, Dear finished in 10^th with a time of 11.02 seconds and Drew Campbell of Keokuk took 20^th place with a time of 11.2 seconds.

The boys’ Class 2A race for the 400-meter dash presented a Southeast Iowa Super Conference rivalry with Nathan Schmidgall of Mediapolis facing off against Grant Myhre of Central Lee.

Lee finished one spot ahead of Schmidgall in 22^nd place with a time of 52.40 seconds.

For the boys’ Class 3A 400-meter dash, McLey of Keokuk finished in 21^st place with a time of 53.43 seconds and Seth Shepard of Washington took 24^th place. For the girls’ Class 3A, Camryn Atterberg of Keokuk grabbed 24^th place.

To round out the running events for Class 2A and Class 3A, the boys’ shuttle hurdle relay preliminary competed and in Class 2A Mediapolis’ squad of Aedin Nelson, Noah Schmidgall, Reese Campbell, and Rosas finished in 17^th place.

In Class 3A, Fort Madison’s team of Adam Sobczak, Gavin Callahan, Kiawante Smith, and Henry Wiseman thought they had qualified for the finals on Saturday, but the Bloodhounds were disqualified after the race.

Field Events

At 9 am, the girls’ Class 3A discus saw four members of the Southeast Conference competing and one of them finished with points.

Elyse Setterstrom of Fairfield finished in 20^th place, Savannah Slobodnik of Mt. Pleasant grabbed 18^th place, and Fort Madison’s Brylie Lorence took 17th place with a throw of 107 feet and 1 inch.

Mt. Pleasant’s Kya Goodrich led the first heat with a throw of 113 feet and 11 inches, which claimed the last spot for finals. Goodrich would improve on her fifth throw of the meet, landing at 119 feet and 6 inches. Goodrich finished in 7^th place and grabbed two points for the Panthers.

In the boys’ Class 2A long jump, Henry Luttenegger of Mediapolis grabbed 11^th place with a leap of 20 feet and 5.5 inches.

Lastly, a trio of SEC foes competed in the boys’ Class 3A high jump. In a highly competitive field, Fairfield’s Ryan Giberson leapt 6 feet and 3 inches, earning 7^th place.

Kenden Bowie of Fort Madison was rushing towards the gold when he cleared 6 feet and 7 inches on his final attempt; however, he was unable to clear 6 feet and 9 inches, which earned him 5^th place.

In fact, only one person cleared 6 feet and 9 inches, Eli Zillman, a sophomore from Fairfield, claimed the crown and ten points for the Trojans after he cleared the height of his first try.

In the second round of field events, Mt. Pleasant’s Josie Gilmore finished in 22nd place with a leap of 4 feet and 10 inches for the girls’ Class 3A high jump.

Team Standings

Boys’ Class 2A: Mediapolis (18), Underwood (16), South Hamilton (14)

Girls’ Class 2A: Tipton (17), Van Meter (15), Estherville-Lincoln Central and Albia (14)

Boys’ Class 3A: Pella (21), Solon (20), Williamsburg (17)

Girls’ Class 3A: Mt. Vernon (20), Gilbert (18), Pella (16)

How to Watch

The Iowa High School Sports Network (IHSSN) will live stream and broadcast the entire coed State Track Championship. It will air on the IHSSN Cable Network and be streamed for free at IHSSN.com or the WatchIHSSN app. You can access the stream through the IHSAA or IGHSAU websites.

KILJ will continue providing updates throughout the state track championships.

High School Track and Field

The State Track and Field meet starts today and runs through Saturday, May 18th, in Des Moines. KILJ will bring updates throughout the three day event.

Classes 2A and 3A will start off the day with the girls shuttle hurdle relay preliminary. The girls’ Class 3A discus, one of the first field events, will feature Kya Goodrich and Savannah Slobodnik of Mt. Pleasant along with Brylie Lorence of Fort Madison.

If you would like to watch the meet, the Iowa High School Sports Network (IHSSN) will live stream and broadcast the coed State Track Championship today through Saturday. It will air on the IHSSN Cable Network and be streamed for free at IHSSN.com or the WatchIHSSN app. You can access the stream through the IHSAA or IGHSAU websites.

High School Soccer

In a defensive battle, the Central Lee girls’ team pulled off the upset against Mediapolis last night 1-0. The Bulldogs finished the season with a 9-6 record. The Hawks advance to the Class 1A Region 1 semifinals to take on Assumption, the #1-seed, on Tuesday, May 21st, at 7 pm. 

In other girls’ postseason action, Washington fell to Center Point-Urbana last night 6-1. The Demons finished the season with a 7-9 record. 

In the boys’ Class 1A Substate 6 postseason bracket, Central Lee will have their hands full when they travel to #1 West Branch on Monday, May 20th, at 7 pm. 

In the bottom half of the bracket, Danville will face off against Mediapolis in the semifinal on May 20th at Mediapolis. 

In the boys’ Class 2A Substate 5 bracket, Keokuk will take on Williamsburg on the road on May 20th at 7 pm. 

Burlington Notre Dame will compete against Assumption on May 20th at 7 pm on the road. 

The Burlington Notre Dame girls’ team will travel to Mt. Pleasant tomorrow, May 17th, for the Class 2A Region 8 quarterfinal at 5:30 pm.

High School Tennis

Jana Isanta of Mt. Pleasant will participate in the girls’ Class 1A State Singles tournament on May 24th in Iowa City. 

The Fairfield boys’ team fell to Xavier yesterday 5-0 in the Class 1A Substate 5 championship match. Austin Loria and Ethan Cass both won a couple of games in their singles matches. The Trojans end the season with an 11-1 record. 

High School Golf. 

The girls’ Class 1A Region 5 Final took place at Honey Creek Resort in Moravia yesterday and New London continued their annual tradition of qualifying for state with a second place finish behind Highland. 

The Tigers finished with a team score of 363 with Taylor Phillips and Sophie Malott leading the pack with scores of 77 and 79, respectively. Emma Busby carded the 8th best score of the course, shooting a 94. Wapello finished with a team score of 504 with Emma Gerhardt leading the team with a 103, which placed her in 17th. 

 The girls’ Class 1A state meet will take place at the American Legion Golf Course in Marshalltown on May 23rd, continuing into May 24th. 

The West Liberty Country Club hosted the girls’ Class 2A Region 5 final yesterday as Madi Davidson’s 89 led Mid-Prairie to a second-place finish and a spot at the state meet. Clinching a spot as an individual was Mediapolis’ Olivia Hines, who has become a regular at the state meet, as she carded an 81, the second best score of the course. 

The Class 2A state meet will take place at Cedar Pointe Golf Course in Boone on May 23rd. 

Lastly, Solon hosted five Southeast Conference (SEC) teams in the Class 3A Region 4 final yesterday, but kept the glory for themselves as the Spartans claimed second place with a score of 338, 17 strokes behind Xavier.

Keokuk finished in sixth place with a team score of 388 followed by Fort Madison with a team score of 390. Fairfield shot a 413, Washington finished with a 418, and Mt. Pleasant rounded out the field with a 419. 

Keokuk’s Heidi Rose led the SEC, finishing in 18th place with a score of 91. Mt. Pleasant’s Kylie Walderbach carded a 95, which was good enough for 26th place. 

The boys’ state meet is set to begin on May 20th in Ames with Washington competing as a team for Class 3A at Veenker Memorial Golf Course and Winfield-Mt. Union for Class 1A at Ames Golf and Country Club.

High School Baseball

Mt. Pleasant has now made it back-to-back mercy victories, clobbering West Burlington last night 11-1 after five innings. J.C. Sitar continued his slugging at the plate, adding two doubles and two RBIs to his season total. Payton Hagans also cranked two doubles as Cooper Coleman also slapped a double with each tallying an RBI. Zach Newton pitched a complete game, allowing only two hits and striking out six batters.

Brock Thuleen totaled the only RBI for the Falcons as Levi Fletcher-Bates notched the only extra-base hit. 

The Panthers will travel to Cardinal tonight with first pitch scheduled for 7:30 pm. 

West Burlington will host Keokuk on Monday, May 20th, at 7:30 pm. 

Van Buren County will attempt to get their first win of the season against Keokuk tonight at home at 7:30 pm. 

Burlington Notre Dame will travel to Don Bosco on Saturday, May 18th, for an invitational. 

Central Lee will start their season on May 20th on the road against Fort Madison at 7 pm.

Winfield-Mt. Union will take on New London on May 21st at 5:30 pm.

Mediapolis will square off against Lone Tree on May 21st at 5:30 pm at home. 

High School Softball

Central Lee will travel to Fort Madison on May 20th at 7 pm.

Winfield-Mt. Union will hit the road to face off against New London at 7 pm on May 21st.

Mt. Pleasant will scrimmage Holy Trinity Catholic today at home at 6:15 pm.

Mediapolis will square off against Lone Tree on May 21st at 7 pm at home.

Van Buren County will travel to take on Fairfield at 7:30 pm on May 20th.

West Burlington will face off against Keokuk at home on May 20th at 7 pm.

WNBA

Caitlin Clark’s debut may not have gotten off to the best start statistically, as the former Hawkeye scored 20 points but coughed the ball up 10 times, but it provided what the league wanted: viewers. In the Indiana Fever’s 92-71 loss to the Connecticut Sun, viewership peaked at 2.3 million viewers according to ESPN, which was the most watched WNBA game since the Los Angeles Sparks faced off against the Houston Comets back in 2001 for a Memorial Day contest on NBC. 

The Fever will look for their first win tonight at home against the New York Liberty at 6 pm. 

This Day in Sports History

1957 – NY Yankee players including Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, and Hank Bauer are involved in a brawl at the Copacabana nightclub while watching Sammy Davis Jr. perform, leads to the Billy Martin trade.

1984 – Harvey Mackay pays $218,718 for 44,166 tickets to keep the Twins in Minnesota. The Twins sell 51,863 tickets but only 6,346 fans show up for the game.

2019 – Brooks Koepka ties the tournament record and breaks the course record when he shoots a 63 (-7) to lead the PGA Championship by one stroke after the 1st round at Bethpage Black, New York.