Author: Nathan Bloechl

Prep Cross Country: Danville/New London Atop 2A Boys’ Rankings:

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

Yesterday 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 later this week.

Babe Ruth Baseball: Ottumwa Hosting Babe Ruth World Series:

Some of the top 14-year-old baseball players in the country are in Ottumwa this week.

The Babe Ruth Baseball 14-year-old World Series got underway Saturday and will continue this week — culminating with the championship game being played Saturday afternoon.

Ottumwa has already seen thousands of visitors to the area.

Teams from New Jersey, Arkansas, North Dakota, Oregon, New Hampshire, California, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Florida are competing for the World Series crown.

Ottumwa is competing in the World Series themselves.

The 14-year old Bulldogs will take on the Babe Ruth All-Stars from Eau Claire, Wisconsin tonight at 7:00 p.m.

Men’s College Soccer: Iowa Wesleyan Opens Season Tonight:

The Iowa Wesleyan men’s soccer team — who finished the spring 6-2-2 — will open their exhibition season tonight on the road when they take on Southeastern Community College in a nonconference affair.

Southeastern was the top junior college in the country last year, winning the Junior College Division II National Championship defeating The Community College of Baltimore County 3-2 in Wichita, Kansas.

The Blackhawks finished their season 17-2-1.

Tonight’s game — again an exhibition contest — will be played at 4:00 p.m. on the campus of Southeastern Community College.

Women’s College Soccer: Wartburg Tabbed to Win American Rivers:

The Wartburg women’s soccer team are the coaches’ choice to win the 2021 American Rivers Conference Women’s Soccer title.

The preseason poll was announced yesterday.

Wartburg was chosen first on seven ballots and earned 63 points to take the No. 1 ranking in the Coaches preseason poll.

The Knights feature former Danville standout Kate Luers.

Luers started all seven spring games for the Knights and was named the ARC Offensive Player of the Week for the week of April, 19th.

Loras College was picked second and earned 57 points, taking two first-place votes.

Dubuque garnered 48 points to earn third in the poll while Luther tallied 42 points as the coaches’ pick for fourth-place.

The season will get underway for conference clubs on Saturday, August 28th.

NBA Basketball: Pistons, Iowa’s Garza Agree to Two-Way Deal: 

Former Iowa standout Luka Garza and the Detroit Pistons have come to an agreement on a two-way contract.

Garza, the No. 52 overall pick in this year’s draft, has been terrific in Summer League action in Las Vegas, averaging 13.5 points and eight board in 20 minutes in just four games.

The two-way deal allows Garza to spend 45 days in the NBA with the Pistons, while playing the rest of his season with the Motor City Cruise — Detroit’s G-League affiliate.

Detroit finished their year 20-52 last year.

College Football: Iowa State Preseason No. 7 in AP:

The Iowa State football team will begin the season ranked in the Associated Press’ preseason poll for the third-straight season.

The Cyclones are rated No. 7 in the debut poll of 2021, extending their school-record streak to 14 consecutive weeks as a member of the AP Top-25. It’s the highest ranking by a Cyclone team in the AP poll in school history.

It also marks the fifth-straight season ISU has appeared in the AP Top-25.

The Cyclones ended the 2020 campaign ranked No. 9 in the final AP poll, only the third time in school history ISU ended the season in the poll (1976, 2000) and the first time in the top-10.

Iowa State returns 19 starters from last year’s team that set a school record for league victories (8) and tied a school mark in overall wins (9).

Iowa State opens the 2021 season playing host to UNI on Sept. 4 at 3:30 p.m. CT.

You can listen to that game on FM 105.5.

Major League Baseball: Field of Dreams Game Set for 2022:

The Cincinnati Reds and Chicago Cubs will play in the second Field of Dreams game next season.

Reports surfaced last night that the Reds and Cubs would meet up — the game will be played on August 11th, 2022 back in Dyersville.

Major League Baseball reported a massive TV turnout with this year’s edition, breaking the previous ratings record for a regular season game.

Prep Sports: New London Meet the Players on Friday:

New London High School will host their annual Meet the Players Night on Friday.

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.