Author: Nathan Bloechl

Prep Cross Country: Area Action Kicks Back Off Today: 

The prep cross country schedule kicks back off today with several area meets.

Several KILJ-area programs will run at Fort Madison today, with the meet beginning at 5:00 p.m.

Burlington, Central Lee, Columbus, Holy Trinity, Mediapolis, Mount Pleasant, Notre Dame, Van Buren County and Winfield-Mount Union are among the area schools running tonight.

Tonight’s course will be a mixture of grass, gravel and cement.

As per usual, the large schools will compete in Class A, while the small schools will race in Class B.

The middle school race will commence at 5:00 p.m. with high school girls’ and boys’ to follow.

The race is being ran on the campus of Fort Madison Middle School.

Prep Volleyball: New London-Notre Dame Meet in Another Clash of the Titans:

The No. 1 ranked Notre Dame Nike volleyball team is back in action tonight as they will host another southeast Iowa power in New London.

The Nikes are coming off a Tuesday night sweep of No. 4 Holy Trinity and are looking to continue their terrific title defense season.

New London comes into tonight’s matchup with a record of 5-5, but are 26-5 against Notre Dame since 2008.

The Nikes’ 2-1 win last year over New London snapped a ten-game losing streak against the Tigers, which dated back to 2016.

Natalie Burden is New London’s top attack threat, while Gabby Deery is enjoying an incredible junior season for the Nikes in the front row.

Tonight’s game is set to fire at 7:30 p.m. at Father Minnett Gymnasium at Notre Dame High School.

Other area matchups:

• Louisa-Muscatine at Mediapolis
• Lone Tree at Pekin
• Holy Trinity at Van Buren County
• Danville at WACO
• Central Lee at West Burlington

College Basketball: Big 12 Announces Conference Schedule:

The Big 12 Conference has released their conference schedules for the upcoming 2021-22 basketball season.

The league made the schedule announcement late Wednesday.

Iowa State will open their season on January 1st, when they take on defending national champion Baylor.

The Cyclone women will begin January 2nd, playing host to West Virginia.

KILJ-FM 98.5 and AM 1130 will be your home for Cyclone basketball all winter long.

College Football: Iowa State Ready to Bounce Back:

Iowa State running back Breece Hall is confident the Cyclones will bounce back with a solid effort at UNLV. The offense struggled last weekend in a 27-17 loss to Iowa.

“Just like last year, we got smacked in the mouth now we can get going. I am excited to see our team bounce back. I think we will be fine” Hall told reporters at his availability Wednesday.

A veteran team, Hall believes the Clones have what it takes to move forward despite the tough loss.

After throwing three picks against Iowa, all eyes will be on senior quarterback Brock Purdy.

Left tackle Sean Foster has no doubts Purdy will come out with something to prove.

“We love Brock. He’s our quarterback. Better watch out, he’s very confident. Nothing but faith in him” Foster says.

Better grab an extra pot of coffee, kickoff Saturday night is set for 9:30 p.m., with air-time set for 7:30 p.m.

You can listen on FM 98.5 and AM 1130.

Prep Volleyball: No. 1 Notre Dame Flexes Muscles, Sweeps Holy Trinity, Mount Pleasant Wins:

Notre Dame 3, Holy Trinity 0 

If the No. 1 (1A) ranked Notre Dame Nikes needed to give a reminder that they were the favorites to win it all again this year, last night might have been just that.

The Nikes swept No. 4 Holy Trinity last night 25-19, 25-19, 25-23 earning a massive South Division win yesterday.

Josie Bentz led the way with 17 kills, while Gabby Derry added 14.

Jenna Bentz had 38 assists.

Natalie Randolph and Kassi Randolph paced Holy Trinity’s attack with 15 and 11 kills respectively.

The win moved Notre Dame to 19-6, while remaining undefeated in Super Conference action.

Holy Trinity fell to 5-2.

Winfield-Mount Union 3, Columbus 0 

Winfield-Mount Union rolled to a sweep win yesterday over Columbus, 25-16, 25-9, 25-10.

Bradie Buffington and Lily Freeman had eight kills, while Keetyn Townsley and Audrie Gipple chipped in with six.

Keely Malone had 27 assists.

Winfield-Mount Union moved to 9-4, while Columbus slipped to 2-12.

Other area finals:

• Mount Pleasant 3, Washington 0
• No. 7 West Burlington 3, Cardinal 0
• Fairfield 3, Keokuk 0
• Wapello 3, Highland 0
• COLLEGE: Waldorf 3, Iowa Wesleyan 0
  • Iowa Wesleyan: 0-10

Prep Cross Country: Danville-New London Boys, Winfield Boys Win: 

The No. 1 Danville-New London got a huge race from Ty Carr, as they rolled to a team championship in Oskaloosa last night.

Carr was the medalist while Alexander Julian placed third.

Rylan Martin placed fifth, Seth Bailey finished eighth.

The Bears took first out of 12 teams.

The girls placed ninth.

Carissa Mackey was the top finisher at 35th overall.

Meanwhile in Donnellson, Winfield-Mount Union’s Gabe Hemsworth went 18:58.28 to lead the Wolves to a boys championship.

The Wolves finished with 45 points while Louisa-Muscatine and Keokuk rounded out the top-three.

Kohlby Newsom finished third for the Wolves.

On the girls side of things, Cardinal was the team champion. Winfield-Mount Union was paced by Olivia Martinez’s 19th place finish. .

College Football: Iowa’s Taylor Named Special Teams POW:

Iowa punter Tory Taylor has been named the Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week, the league announced yesterday.

Taylor was terrific in the Hawkeyes win at Iowa State, averaging 51.1 yards per punt, consistently flipping field position.

Five of his punts were downed inside the 20, while Iowa State had just one punt return.

The returning conference punter of the year, Taylor was also selected to the Ray Guy Award preseason watch list, given annually to the nation’s top punter.

College Basketball: MVC Announces Conference Schedule:

The Missouri Valley Conference has released their upcoming conference basketball slate for the 2021-22 season.

The conference season will begin on December 1st, when Northern Iowa travels to Peoria, Illinois to scrap with Bradley.

Drake opens their season on the road the following night at Valparaiso.

UNI and Drake are both among the clear crop of favorites to take the Missouri Valley crown.

Drake was ousted in the NCAA Tournament first round last year by USC.