Author: Nathan Bloechl

Prep Track: Drake Relays Finals

The Drake Relays closed up on Saturday from the Blue Oval in Des Moines and it was a great showing for southeast Iowa.

New London junior Kade Benjamin finished 4th in the high jump, Friday.

The bouncy Tiger cleared 6’7′ as his sights get set on a 1A state field that could be his for the taking.

His teammate Carter Allen ended his trip with a 10th place finish in the shot put.

Allen’s best throw Friday was 50 feet, 9.5 inches.

On Saturday, New London’s 4×100 relay team of Boden Pickle, Joel Lacy, Reean Seberg and Josh Catala finished 57th.

That team went 44.68.

Mount Pleasant finished 48th in the same event, running 44.50.

Comprising Mount Pleasant’s group was Colton Huston, Will Davidson, Morgan Van Nyhuis and Avin Truong.

WACO junior Simeon Reichenbach ended his Drake Relays trip with a 28th place finish in the 110m hurdles.

The all-state running back, who led WACO to the state quarterfinals, ran 15.92.

In relay action from Mediapolis, the distance medley team of Cole Lipper, Kadin Salek, Anthony Isley and Logan Rosas finished 20th.

The Bulldog quartet ran 3:38.24.

That same group placed 11th in the 4×400, as well.

They ran a huge seasons best of 3:25.88

Prep Wrestling: Postseason Changes Headline New Look Wrestling

In a major shakeup this year, Iowa High School wrestling will drop sectional tournaments in Classes 1 and 2A and move the annual State Dual Team tournament to that previously occupied date.

As a result of those changes, all three classes will now compete solely in district tournaments to determine individual qualifiers to the state tournament.

Eight additional wrestlers will be added to each field, bringing the number of qualifiers up to 24 per weight class.

A new facility for the state dual team tournament has not yet been determined.

The traditional individual state tournament will continue to run over four days on its previously scheduled week.

College Golf: CAC Championships Begin

The Continental Athletic Conference men’s and women’s golf tournament will begin today at Burlington Golf Club in Burlington.

The event is being hosted by Iowa Wesleyan.

The Wesleyan men are led by former Mount Pleasant standout Trace White, while the women are paced by Karli Kirchner.

The two day tournament will feature two, 18-hole rounds per day.

Houston-Victoria was last year’s champion.

College Baseball: Tournament Field Set for CAC Baseball

The season will continue for teams from four states selected to compete in the Continental Athletic Conference’s inaugural baseball championship tournament, scheduled May 7-9 at Georgia Gwinnett College’s Grizzly Baseball Complex in Lawrenceville, Georgia.

Joining the host Grizzlies will be Edward Waters University (Florida), Fisher College (Massachusetts) and Iowa Wesleyan University in the double-elimination tournament.

Seeds and opening-round matchups will be announced later by conference officials.

The 2022 CAC baseball tournament begins Saturday, May 7, with games scheduled at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. Three games are scheduled Sunday, May 8, with the final two teams playing Monday, May 9, for the championship.

The tournament champion and runner-up will receive automatic bids to represent the CAC in the NAIA Opening Round.

NFL Draft: Three Clones, One Hawk Hear Names on Draft’s Final Day

Three Iowa State Cyclones and one Iowa Hawkeye heard their names called on the NFL Draft’s final day.

Defensive tackle Eyioma Uwazurike went in the fourth round to Denver, All-American tight end Charlie Kolar was selected in the fourth round by Baltimore, while decorated quarterback Brock Purdy was the final pick in the draft selected by San Francisco.

Iowa safety Dane Belton was a fourth round choice by the New York Giants.

The Green Bay Packers inked All-Big Ten running back Tyler Goodson to an undrafted free agent deal.

Other Hawkeyes who signed undrafted deals include Zach VanValkenburg with Las Vegas, cornerback Matt Hankins with Atlanta, Jack Koerner with New Orleans and kicker Caleb Shudak with Tennessee.

 

Drake Relays: Brumbaugh Wins Again, Other Results

Jadan Brumbaugh is now a two-time Drake Relays champion.

Brumbaugh clinched yet another gold medal yesterday when she rolled through the shot put field.

The Iowa State recruit lead the 24-person group with a toss of 47 feet, 7 inches.

Sydney Eggena placed second with a throw five feet short of Brumbaugh.

Brumbaugh will now set her sights on another state championship, which would give Mount Pleasant their third straight state champion in the event — going back to Lexie Magnani.

Winfield-Mount Union senior Jobey Malone also competed in the shot put. Malone finished 19th with a throw of 36 feet, 1 inch.

Mount Pleasant senior Will Davidson placed 13th in the long jump. Davidson’s best jump was 20 feet, 11.75 inches.

Southeast Polk junior Abu Sama was the champion. Sama soared 23 feet, 11 inches.

Former Mount Pleasant youth Kole Becker — now of Lisbon — placed second in the event. Becker went 23 feet, 3.25 inches.

In the discus, New London senior Carter Allen finished 15th.

Allen, who was a state medalist in the shot and discus in Class 1A last year, went 151 feet for the Tigers.

Allen scratched on his first two throws before hitting the 15th best mark.

Indianola senior Walker Whalen finished 1st with a toss of 191 feet, 5 inches.

Prep Track: Panther Boys Fifth at Tulip Time Relays; Girls Runner Up

The Mount Pleasant boys’ track team scored 94 points good for a 5th place finish at the Tulip Time Coed Relays yesterday in Pella.

Pella won the event with Pella Christina and Southeast Polk rounding out the top three.

Panther freshman Avin Truong has continued his ascent into stardom, winning the long jump with a spring of 21 feet, 1 inch.

Isaac Jerrell scored well for Mount Pleasant, finishing 6th in the discus (121 feet, 11 inches) and 4th in the shot put (47 feet, 6 inches).

Morgan Van Nyhuis went 18.31 in the 110m hurdles, for fourth. Bowen Davis placed 6th in the hurdles.

On the girls’ side, Scott Lamm’s group poured in 150 team points good for a runner up finish.

Pella won the meet with 221.5 points. Newton was third.

Abby Blint won the 3000m run, clocking in with a time of 11:33.23. She also won the 400m hurdles, going 1:11.05.

Sophomore Elsie Lange finished second in the 400m dash, crossing the finish line in 1:04.23.

Alyssa Dascher placed second in the discus with a throw of 104 feet, 5 inches while also winning the shot put with a meet best of 34 feet, 9 inches.

Prep Track: Danville Wins Class B Team Title at WACO

Danville’s Ty Carr won three events as the Bears won the Class B team title at WACO’s Ekstrand Relays last night.

Carr won the 800m and 1600m runs while also leading the sprint medley team to a victory anchoring the quartet.

New London won four events in Class B.

The Tigers picked up wins from Josh Catala in the 200m and Rylan Martin in the open 400m.

Seth Bailey won the 3200m in 9:57.38 as New London tied with Winfield-Mount Union for third.

Winfield ace Cam Buffington won two events himself. The Iowa football recruit won the 100m dash in 11.62 and coupled that with a leap of 19 feet, 2 inches in the long jump.

On the girls’ side Danville won five events in Class B including three relays.

WACO earned three wins on their home track with Ellah Kissell taking home gold in the open 200m while also helping guide two relay teams to victory.

Keetyn Townsley won the 100m hurdles for Winfield-Mount Union in 17.12 seconds.

Boys’ Tennis: Mount Pleasant Rips Fairfield

Owen Vansickel rolled again in No. 1 singles, starting the afternoon hot for Tyler Rodgers Mount Pleasant boys’ tennis team as the Panthers earned an 8-1 win over Fairfield.

Levi Graber picked up a win for the Panthers at No. 3 singles as well.

Mount Pleasant then swept all three doubles matches.

The win improved the squad to 8-1 overall.

Girls’ Tennis: Panthers Win Second Straight

Mount Pleasant won their second straight tennis dual, topping Fairfield 7-2 last night.

Savana Walls picked up an 8-4 win in No. 1 singles while Melanie Olivas came behind that with a big 8-6 win in No. 2 doubles.

Mount Pleasant won two of three doubles matches, as well.

The win moved Mount Pleasant to 2-7.