Author: Nathan Bloechl

By: Nathan Bloechl — sports@kilj.com

Options Being Looked at for Capacities at Jack Trice Stadium:

Iowa State is still considering options when it comes to fans at Jack Trice Stadium.

Cyclone Athletic Director Jamie Pollard outlined the policies being discussed in Ames:

By: Nathan Bloechl — sports@kilj.com 

All-State Softball Teams Announced:

The Iowa Girls Coaches Association has released their 2020 All-State Softball teams and several area players were recognized, per the release.

Winfield-Mount Union pitcher Madie Anderson has been named Class 1A Second Team All-State.

Anderson finished 18th in the state among all classes in strikeouts with 150.

The junior finished 7-5 in 12 starts, working 82 innings to the tune of a 0.51 ERA.

New London senior Layney Loyd was honored as Third-Team All-State selection in 1A.

Loyd finished her season hitting .273 with three doubles, one triple, one home run and 11 runs batted in, helping guide New London to a 9-7 record and one game from the state tournament.

In Class 2A, Louisa-Muscatine stars and University of Northern Iowa recruits Hailey and Kylee Sanders were both named First Team All-State, after leading the Falcons back to the Class 2A State Tournament.

Hailey, the eldest of the Sanders sister, was dynamite in the circle all year and in the State Tournament before falling to eventual state champion Ogden in the semifinals.

Kylee, just a junior, hit .553 with 13 doubles, two triples and 16 runs batted in.

Sophomore McKenna Hohenadel was a Second Team selection after hitting .534 with nine doubles, one triple, three home runs and 31 runs batted in.

NCAA Announces Cancellation of Fall Championships:

The NCAA has announced the cancellation of all Division I fall championships this year.

The announcement impacts men’s and women’s cross country, field hockey, FCS football, men’s and women’s soccer, women’s volleyball and men’s water polo.

Division II and III already announced the cancellation of their fall championships.

The decision does not impact the FBS championship since it is run by the College Football Playoff, so teams in the Big 12, SEC and ACC are still expected to be able to compete for the National Championship.

Former Hawkeye Kittle Earns Record Extension:

Former University of Iowa tight end George Kittle has secured a contract extension with the San Francisco 49ers.

Kittle, a fifth-round pick by the 49ers in 2017, was named a first-team All-Pro in 2019 after helping lead San Francisco to the Super Bowl, where they fell to the Kansas City Chiefs.

He was a second-team choice in 2018.

The deal, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, is a $75 million extension with more than half of it guaranteed, including an $18 million dollar signing bonus.

The Niners will open their season September 13th playing host to the Arizona Cardinals.

MLB Scoreboard (8/13):

New York Mets 8, Washington 2

Baltimore 11, Philadelphia 4

Tampa Bay 17, Boston 8

Pittsburgh 9, Cincinnati 6

Chicago Cubs 4, Milwaukee 2

LA Dodgers 11, San Diego 2

By: Nathan Bloechl — sports@kilj.com 

Big 12 Approves Modified Schedule, Opens With Louisiana:

Iowa State finalized its 2020 football schedule by adding Louisiana on Sept. 12 in Jack Trice Stadium.

The Big 12 announced its revised conference slate this morning and Louisiana will be the lone non-conference game for the Cyclones in 2020.

This will be the first meeting between the two schools.

The Ragin’ Cajuns are picked to finish first in the Sun Belt West after finishing the 2019 season with an 11-3 record, including a win over Miami (OH) in the Lending Tree Bowl.

Iowa State will begin the conference season on Sept. 26 at TCU and close out the slate by hosting West Virginia on Dec. 5. The Cyclones will have three “off weeks” on Sept. 19, Oct. 17 and Nov. 14.

2020 Iowa State Football Schedule

Sept. 12              LOUISIANA
Sept. 26              at TCU
Oct. 3                  OKLAHOMA
Oct. 10                TEXAS TECH
Oct. 24                at Oklahoma State
Oct. 31                at Kansas
Nov. 7                 BAYLOR
Nov. 21               KANSAS STATE
Nov. 28               at Texas
Dec. 5                  WEST VIRGINA
Dec. 12 or 19     *Big 12 Championship

GPAC Remains On-Pace to Play Fall Sports:

The Great Plains Athletic Conference remains steadfast in their commitment to play to football this fall, per league officials.

The NAIA league includes Iowa schools Morningside, Briar Cliff, Northwestern College and Dordt.

GPAC commissioner Corey Westra says they have approved return to play guidelines and is thrilled with the chance to offer fall athletics.

“We can create a safe enviroment to play amidst the Coronavirus. Not everyone is going to agree with every step we take, but generally speaking the outpouring of support has been very good.” Westra said.

The biggest change in NAIA was the Council of Presidents decision to move the fall National Championship to Spring of 2021.

IATC Releases First Rankings for 2020:

The Iowa Association of Track Coaches has released their preseason cross country rankings and a couple area schools are represented.

In boys’ Class 2A, Danville-New London is the No. 2 ranked program in the state.

Last year the Bears finished 3rd in their Class 2A state qualifying meet to punch their tickets to Fort Dodge, marking the first trip to state for Danville-New London since 2004.

This year’s group boasts almost everyone from that squad last year, including juniors Ty Carr, Alexander Julian and Seth Bailey as well as senior Oliver Sowell.

Davis County is the top boys’ program in Class 2A.

Danville-London’s girls’ program is unranked, but is considered a “team to watch” in Class 2A, as well.

NCAA Extends Recruiting Dead Period:

The NCAA Division I Council announced several new decisions on Wednesday, including another extension of the recruiting dead period.

The dead period for all sports has now been extended through the end of September and has been in place since March when the COVID-19 pandemic began.

The rule says there will be no in-person recruiting or evaluations permitted.

In addition, the Council recommended the board provide fall sport student-athletes that opt out of participation or have their season cut short due to the pandemic an extension of their eligibility and an additional season of competition if they participate in 50% or less of competitions.

MLB Scoreboard (8/13):

Chicago White Sox 7, Detroit 5

Arizona 13, Colorado 7

Oakland 8, Los Angeles Angels 4

Chicago Cubs 7, Cleveland 2

Miami 14, Toronto 11 — 10 innings

Kansas City 5, Cincinnati 4

New York Yankees 6, Atlanta 3

Baltimore 5, Philadelphia 4

Houston 5, San Francisco 1

Minnesota 12, Milwaukee 2

New York Mets 11, Washington 6

Tampa Bay 9, Boston 5

Texas 7, Seattle 4

Los Angeles Dodgers 6, San Diego 0

By: Nathan Bloechl — sports@kilj.com 

Big Ten Conference Postpones 2020 Season:

The Big Ten Conference announced the postponement of the 2020-21 fall sports season, including all regular-season contests and Big Ten Championships and Tournaments, due to ongoing health and safety concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In making its decision, which was based on multiple factors, the Big Ten Conference relied on the medical advice and counsel of the Big Ten Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases and the Big Ten Sports Medicine Committee.

The fall sports included in this announcement are men’s and women’s cross country, field hockey, football, men’s and women’s soccer, and women’s volleyball.

The Big Ten Conference will continue to evaluate a number of options regarding these sports, including the possibility of competition in the spring.

Decisions regarding winter and spring sports will also continue to be evaluated.

American Rivers Conference Postpones Four Fall Sports:

The American Rivers Conference Presidents Council has announced the postponement of four sports from the fall to the spring semester.

Those sports are football, women’s and men’s soccer, and volleyball.

The conference intends to go forward with fall competition in women’s and men’s cross country, women’s golf, and women’s tennis.

The conference now will focus on its plans for movement of the previously mentioned sports to the spring semester along with full conference competition in cross country, women’s golf, and women’s tennis.

Last Friday, the NCAA Board of Governors put new mandates in its fall plan, the most concerning of which was the requirement to test frequently with short windows for test results in several sports.

Prior to Friday’s announcement, the NCAA’s member schools had the latitude to use local and state guidelines in their approach to safely practice and competition for the fall.

The discussion of winter sports also will take high priority in the coming weeks, per conference officials.

The conference sponsors women’s and men’s basketball, women’s and men’s indoor track and field, and wrestling in the winter.

Big 12 Plans to Move Forward:

While the Big Ten and PAC-12 cancelled up shop yesterday, officials from the Big 12 remain steadfast in having a fall sports season this year.

Several reports have indicated that a revised conference schedule could be released by the Big 12 as early as today, with first conference games being played by September 26th.

The same could be said for the ACC and SEC who remain in lock step with the Big 12 in playing football this fall among Power Five conferences.

Iowa State was picked to finish fourth in the Big 12 preseason poll after finishing last year 7-6, earning a berth to the Camping World Bowl.

MLB Scoreboard (8/12):

Toronto 5, Miami 4 — 10 innings

Cincinnati 6, Kansas City 5 — 10 innings

New York Yankees 9, Atlanta 6

Chicago Cubs 7, Cleveland 1

Chicago White Sox 8, Detroit 4

Washington 2, New York Mets 1

Tampa Bay 8, Boston 2

Baltimore 10, Philadelphia 9 — 10 inn

Milwaukee 6, Minnesota 4

Colorado 8, Arizona 7

Texas 4, Seattle 2

San Francisco 7, Houston 6 — 10 innings

Los Angeles Angels 6, Oakland 0

San Diego 6, Los Angeles Dodgers 2

By: Nathan Bloechl — sports@kilj.com 

Pioneer, Missouri Valley, MAC Shut Down Football, Power Five Conferences Looming?

The Pioneer Football League, the conference that houses Drake, the Missouri Valley Football Conference, whom UNI is a part of and the Division I-FBS Mid-American Conference have all cancelled fall football and the fear among reports is the Big Ten and several high-profile conferences are expected to do the same.

Yesterday, Power 5 Conference commissioners held an “emergency meeting” with the prevailing thought that cancelling football is now no longer suggested, but mandatory, nearly.

Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby said no decisions on the season have been made, but conceded the outlook has not improved.

The final call on whether major college football will played this season rests in the hands of the university presidents who oversee the largest conferences.

Reports have suggested that the landscape of college football should be known by Tuesday of this week.

Iowa and Iowa State are still steadfast in their preparations for their week one contests.

Former Iowa City Standout and Hawkeye Back to Transfer Portal:

Former Iowa City West standout, Michigan Wolverine and now current Iowa Hawkeye wide receiver Oliver Martin has entered the transfer portal, once again.

Last year was Martin’s first in Hawkeye black and gold after transferring from Jim Harbaugh’s Michigan Wolverine program.

Martin applied for — and was granted — immediate eligibility, but struggled to find snaps for the Hawkeyes last year.

The former four-star recruit had just five catches for 28 yards and one score last season.

His transfer plans are unknown as of this time.

Hawkeye Baseball Picks Up In-State Recruit:

The Iowa Hawkeye baseball team got a lift yesterday when Forest City prep Reese Moore announced his commitment to Rick Heller’s group in Iowa City.

Moore, who finished his sophomore season this year, hit an absurd .585 with nine doubles, eight long balls and 35 runs batted in.

He also starred on the mound, logging 26.1 innings of 2.92 ERA ball.

The Iowa baseball team finished this past spring 10-5, after COVID-19 shortened their year.

Cardinals-Pirates Series Postponed:

(Via Associated Press) 

The entire three-game series between the Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis that was set to begin Monday night at Busch Stadium has been postponed while the Cardinals deal with a COVID-19 outbreak.

There have now been 27 games postponed by Major League Baseball because of coronavirus concerns. The Cardinals have not played since July 30 and have had 13 games scrapped.

Miami and Philadelphia each had seven games postponed earlier and have returned to the field since the disruptions.

Major League Baseball has said the Cardinals will attempt to play Thursday, when they start a series with the Detroit Tigers.

MLB Scoreboard (8/9):

Atlanta 5, Philadelphia 2 — 7 innings

New York Mets 4, Miami 2

Tampa Bay 4, New York Yankees 3

Boston 5, Toronto 3

Detroit 2, Pittsburgh 1

Kansas City 4, Minnesota 2

Milwaukee 9, Cincinnati 3

Texas 7, Los Angeles Angels 3

Los Angeles Dodgers 6, San Francisco 2

Seattle 5, Colorado 3

Oakland 7, Houston 2

San Diego 9, Arizona 5

Atlanta 8, Philadelphia 0 — 7 innings

Cleveland 5, Chicago White Sox 4 — 10 innings

By: Nathan Bloechl — sports@kilj.com 

Drake Football Moved to Spring:

As fall sports continue spiraling downward, another domino fell yesterday as the Drake Bulldog football team was told their season would not go on as scheduled.

The move was announced Friday evening by the Pioneer Football League, Drake’s conference, citing challenges related to team travel, as well as difficulties meeting applicable state, local and institutional health requirements and COVID-19 mitigation strategies as reasoning for the decision.

Recognizing competition is an integral part of the student-athlete’s educational experience, the Pioneer Football League is committed to exploring meaningful opportunities and experiences for football student-athletes this academic year, if this can be done reasonably and safely.

The season, delayed from the outset, was going to begin on October 3rd for Drake versus Marist.

UNI Football Also Headed to Spring:

The Missouri Valley Football Conference Presidents Council has announced the league’s schools will not conduct conference competition this fall.

In its unwavering commitment to providing meaningful and safe competitive opportunities for the Conference’s student-athletes, the Missouri Valley Football Conference will play a full eight-game spring league schedule with the expectation to culminate the season with the FCS Playoffs.

The Council also voted that competition in Fall 2020 be conducted at institutional discretion.

The non-conference games that UNI football was scheduled to participate in were impacted when the Big Ten decided to go to a conference only schedule and the Big Sky pushed fall sports competition to the spring.

UNI will not be participating in non-conference games this fall and will look to reschedule those games in future years.

The Panthers were the preseason No. 3 team in Division I-FCS.

Woods Goes +2, Makes Cut:

Tiger Woods shot two over par in Friday’s second round of the PGA Championship — good enough for 44th — but still made the cut at San Francisco’s TPC Harding Park.

Woods, even for the tournament, was one of the last qualifiers to make the weekend cut.

China’s Li Haotong is the current leader after shooting a blistering five under par yesterday, taking him to eight under through two days.

Jason Day and Brooks Koepka are among those tied for second through Day Two at six under par.

Round Three will get underway from San Francisco this afternoon.

MLB Scoreboard (8/7):

Baltimore 11, Washington 0

Tampa Bay 1, New York Yankees 0

Detroit 17, Pittsburgh 13 — 11 inn

Miami 4, New York Mets 3

Boston 5, Toronto 3

Kansas City 3, Minnesota 2

Chicago White Sox 2, Cleveland 0

Cincinnati 8, Milwaukee 3

San Diego 3, Arizona 0

Texas 4, Los Angeles Angels 3

Oakland 3, Houston 2

Los Angeles Dodgers 7,  San Francisco 2

Colorado 8, Seattle 4

By: Nathan Bloechl — sports@kilj.com 

Iowa AD Barta Pens Letter Detailing 2020 Protocols:

Iowa Athletic Director Gary Barta released a letter yesterday detailing guidelines, protocols and rules for the upcoming 2020 Iowa Hawkeye football season.

Barta wrote in the letter to Iowa fans that if the Hawkeyes “play and fans are permitted to attend, the five home Big Ten Conference games will be sold as single tickets and not as a season ticket.”

He also explained that main stand and premium seating inside Kinnick Stadium will follow six-feet social distancing guidelines.

Capacity will be reduced to approximately 10-15,000 seats per game and fans will be required to wear face coverings and additional mitigation strategies have been implemented.

University of Iowa students will have access to single-game tickets in the student section. The capacity will be limited and distribution plans are still being finalized.

Parking lots will be restricted to 50 percent capacity and open four hours before kickoff.

Iowa is scheduled to open up at home against Maryland on September 5th.

Preseason Football Poll Sees Iowa and Iowa State Among Top-25:

Iowa and Iowa State are among the preseason Top-25 Coaches Poll.

Iowa checks in at #23 while the Cyclones begin the year at #25.

Clemson is the preseason number one, led by Heisman hopeful Trevor Lawrence.

The Tigers are ahead of Ohio State and Alabama, who split first-place votes with the defending champions.

The full Top 25 is here:

1. Clemson (38)

2. Ohio State (17) 

3. Alabama (4)

4. Georgia

5. LSU

6. Oklahoma

7. Penn State 

8. Florida

9. Oregon

10. Notre Dame

11. Auburn

12. Wisconsin 

13. Texas A&M

14. Texas

15. Michigan 

16. Oklahoma State

17. USC

18. Minnesota 

19. North Carolina

20. Utah

21. UCF

22. Cincinnati

23. Iowa

24. Virginia Tech

25. Iowa State

Iowa State, UNLV Modify Football Contract:

Iowa State and UNLV have mutually agreed to delay their football game scheduled for Sept. 19, 2020 to Sept. 14, 2030 in Ames, as a result of scheduling modifications by the Big 12 and Mountain West related to COVID-19.

The Cyclones will continue to play at UNLV’s Allegiant Stadium, also home of the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders, on Sept. 18, 2021 as initially contracted.

Iowa State last played in Las Vegas in 2008.

The schools have met five times previously on the gridiron and the Cyclones hold a 4-1 advantage.

MLB Scoreboard (8/7):

Pittsburgh 6, Minnesota 5

Colorado 6, San Francisco 4

Oakland 6, Texas 4

Los Angeles Angels 6, Seattle 1

Philadelphia 5, New York Yankees 4

Cleveland 13, Cincinnati 0

Atlanta 4, Toronto 3

Arizona 5, Houston 4

Kansas City 13, Chicago Cubs 2

Miami 8, Baltimore 7

Milwaukee 8. Chicago White Sox 3