Author: Nathan Bloechl

By: Nathan Bloechl — sports@kilj.com 

College Football: Central Favorited for ARC Crown:

The Central College Dutch are the coaches’ choice to win the 2021 American Rivers Conference Football title.

Central was chosen first on eight ballots and earned 64 points to earn the No. 1 ranking.

Two years ago, the last time conference football was played, the Dutch split the title with Wartburg. The Knights garnered 56 points in the poll and received one first-place vote.

Dubuque debuts at No. 3 in the coaches’ poll, earning 47 points, and Coe picked up 43 points to put them at the No. 4 spot.

Simpson tallied 36 points to put them at the No. 5 spot and Loras picked up 31 points to earn sixth.

Nebraska Wesleyan, Luther, and Buena Vista finished seventh, eighth, and ninth, respectively.

Central is entering the season ranked No. 14 while Wartburg is entering ranked No. 18 in D3football.com’s Top 25 Preseason Poll.

The 2021 season kicks off on Saturday, September 4 with all nine members of the American Rivers Conference taking the field.

Prep Cross Country: Revisiting Area Rankings:

The Danville-New London boys’ cross country will enter their 2021 season as the top dogs among the Class 2A pack.

Earlier this week, the Iowa Association of Track Coaches announced their preseason rankings and Danville-New London checks in at No. 1 following a terrific 2020 year.

Now, expectations remain the same.

Joining them in the 2A top-five are Western Christian, Tipton, Williamsburg and Des Moines Christian.

Davis County is the preseason No. 8 in Class 2A boys’.

No area teams are featured in the 2A girls’ poll.

Pekin is in the top-10 in Class 1A boys’ — the Panthers being their season No. 9.

Columbus Junction is No. 14.

The Pekin girls’ are No. 3 to begin the season in Class 1A, as well.

Individual preseason rankings are expected to be released next week.

College Sports: Iowa State Names Soles to Associate AD Role:

Adam Soles, who has 11 years of professional experience at three Power Five institutions, has been selected as Iowa State’s new Associate Athletics Director for Compliance, Cyclone Athletics Director Jamie Pollard announced Friday.

Soles returns to Iowa State after spending the last five years as Pitt’s Associate Athletics Director for Administration.

Prior to leading the Pitt compliance efforts, Soles spent four years as an Assistant Director of Compliance at Iowa State, where he implemented and enhanced the Cyclones monitoring processes and oversaw camps and clinics to ensure compliance with NCAA legislation.

He began his career as an extern/intern at the University of Nebraska before joining the ISU staff.

(Photo Courtesy: John Lovretta / thehawkeye.com)

New London — New London High School will host their annual Meet the Players Night this evening.

The event will begin at 6:00 p.m. in the New London Gym with the introduction of cross country and volleyball participants.

It will then move outside for cheerleading and football intros.

There will also be various fundraising opportunities for Tiger Athletics.

There is no charge to attend.

Mount Pleasant — The Mount Pleasant Athletic Boosters Club hosted their 2021 Meet the Players event yesterday at Mount Pleasant High School, culminating in a volleyball scrimmage.

The community had the chance to meet and greet with Panther football, volleyball and cross country athletes.

Mount Pleasant athletic director Scott Lamm says the always well attended event is great for both the athletes and community alike.

“It’s great to see all the people come out and just to be able to put a face to a name — is great. It’s an opportunity to put all of our athletes in front of the community and we did it for the first time in the gym.” 

The Mount Pleasant Athletic Booster Club was also on hand — the group was serving meals to open the night up.

Cedar Rapids — Coe is the coaches’ choice to win the 2021 American Rivers Conference Volleyball title.

The Kohawks were chosen first on three ballots and earned 58 points to take the No. 1 ranking.

Wartburg, the co-champion of the spring season with the Kohawks, edged out Dubuque for the second spot with 57 votes and four first place votes.

The season’s first serves will fly over the net on Wednesday, September 1st, with seven American Rivers Conference schools in non-conference action.

Dubuque — The University of Dubuque men’s soccer team, who finished the spring season as conference champions, are the coaches’ choice to win the 2021 American Rivers Conference Championship.

The conference preseason poll was announced yesterday.

The Spartans were chosen first on six ballots and earned 62 points.

Spring runner-up, Loras, earned the No. 2 ranking. The Duhawks garnered 51 points.

Luther was picked to finish third, earning 50 points and two first place votes. Simpson and Wartburg were picked to finish fourth and fifth, earning 39 and 38 points. Central earned 28 points to finish in sixth in this year’s poll.

Nebraska Wesleyan followed in seventh with 26 points. Buena Vista (16 points, one first-place vote) and Coe (14 points) finished in eighth and ninth.

All nine of the leagues’ institutions kick off the 2021 season on Wednesday, September 1.