High School Track

The State Track and Field meet is scheduled to start tomorrow, May 22nd, and run through Saturday, May 24th, in Des Moines. KILJ will be keeping track of 16 local teams, providing updates and results throughout the three-day event. For a full list of our local state qualifiers’ heat assignments and times, follow this link: Heat Assignments and Times

High School Tennis

The Fairfield boys’ team will square off against Pella today on the road. 

The Fairfield girls’ team finished as the Regional Runner-up after narrowly defeating Central DeWitt 5-4, but then getting shutout against Xavier 5-0 in the Regional championship. The Trojans concluded the season with a 16-2 record.

High School Golf

The girls’ Region 5 final will take place at Little Bear Country Club in Midland today with Wapello, Columbus, and New London competing as teams and Elizabeth Griffin of Holy Trinity Catholic and Kellee Milks of Winfield-Mt. Union participating as individuals.

The Mt. Pleasant and Fairfield girls’ teams will compete in the Class 3A Regional today at Edmundson Golf Course. 

The Class 1A state golf meet will take place at South Hills Golf Course in Waterloo on Tuesday, May 27th, and Wednesday, May 28th.

Central Lee will contend for the boys’ Class 2A state championship starting Tuesday at Gates Park Golf Course in Waterloo.

Washington’s Drew Conrad will tee off on Tuesday at Pheasant Ridge Golf Course in Cedar Falls for the boys’ Class 3A state meet.

High School Soccer

In the boys’ Class 1A Substate 5 bracket, Danville’s Colin Pealer put two goals in the back of the net to secure a 3-1 win against WACO last night. Aiden Konig was nearly lights out for the Bears, saving 17 of the 18 shots he faced. Danville will take on (14-1) West Liberty on Tuesday, May 27th, at 7 pm in a road showdown.

The Central Lee boys team advanced to the substate semifinals after handling Sigourney Keota last night 6-2. Zach Estrada nabbed a hat-trick in the winning effort. The Hawks will travel to Mediapolis on Tuesday at 7 pm.

In the boys’ Class 2A Substate 5 bracket, The Wapello boys’ team was eliminated from the postseason after getting thumped by Central DeWitt 11-0. 

On the top half of the bracket, #6 Burlington Notre Dame will take on Assumption on Tuesday at 7 pm at home.

It will be a Southeast Conference battle in the boys’ Class 2A Substate 6 semifinals after Fairfield defeated Centerville last night 1-0. Mt. Pleasant will get to host the contest against the Trojans on Tuesday at 5 pm. 

In the girls’ Class 1A Region 3 bracket, The Wapello girls’ team was knocked out of postseason play last night in an 8-0 shutout at the hands of Mid-Prairie. Mt. Pleasant will face off against the Golden Hawks tonight at 5:30 pm at home.

Fairfield will travel to Assumption tonight at 7 pm. 

The Mediapolis girls’ team will face off against Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union tonight at 7 pm at home for postseason play.

The Burlington Notre Dame girls’ team will start their postseason journey on Friday, May 23rd, on the road against Clear Creek Amana at 7 pm.

High School Baseball

Mediapolis put on a scoring clinic against Fort Madison last night, winning 12-3 in their season opener. The Bulldogs will face off against New London on the road at 5:30 pm on Tuesday, May 27th.

Central Lee had their contest against Burlington canceled last night. The Hawks will compete against Fairfield on Wednesday, May 28th, at 7:30 pm on the road.

Fairfield scored the first run of the game, but Oskaloosa sent the Trojans back home with a 12-2 loss after scoring seven runs between the first two innings. Luke Konczal nabbed an RBI-double at the plate. The Trojans will look to win their home opener tonight against Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont with first pitch at 7:30 pm.

Wapello will tangle with BGM tonight at 5:30 pm on the road.

Mt. Pleasant will make the trip to Grinnell tonight at 7:30 pm. Panther head coach Brent Broeker talked about how these first two weeks will be used as an opportunity to answer some questions from the off-season,

“We’re going to go into it, as you know, just kind of almost like a scrimmage. We’re going to see how many guys we can get on the mound, see what they can do. Our big thing is, you know, we’ve got these first two weeks, that’s how we’re going to use those. You know, obviously, we’re trying to win, but we want to put guys in positions, see how they perform. The big thing is, you know, in two weeks, on that Monday, we get Fairfield, so we got to be ready to go by then.”

Van Buren County will travel to Keokuk tomorrow, May 22nd, at 7:30 pm.

West Burlington will stay at home for their matchup against Hillcrest Academy on Friday, May 23rd, at 5:30 pm.

College Signing

Holy Trinity Catholic’s star basketball player Luke Hellige signed his National Letter of Intent yesterday to continue his career at Cornell College. The senior collected 1,792 points, 706 rebounds, and 238 three-pointers to finish his career as the all-time leader in each of those categories. Additionally, he was named to the All-Substate team three times, two 1st Team All-State nods, and invited to the 2025 Pizza Ranch All-Star Games.

Southeastern Community College

The baseball team is heading back to Enid, Oklahoma for the third straight season after nabbing the #7-seed as an at-large bid in the NJCAA DII World Series. The Blackhawks will start their postseason journey on Saturday, May 24th, at 10 am against the #10-seed Kellogg Community College, who is on a 17-game win streak after winning the Great Lakes District Championship. 

This Day in Sports History

1819 – The first bicycles (swift walkers) in the US were introduced in New York City.

1943 – Fastest 9 inning American League baseball game. The Chicago White Sox beat the visiting Washington Senators, 1-0, in 89 minutes.

2006 – The Swedish ice hockey team Tre Kronor takes gold in the World Championship, becoming the first nation to hold both the World and Olympic titles in the same year.

Fort Madison, IA- The Holy Trinity Catholic boys’ basketball team has enjoyed a renaissance after eight consecutive seasons of 0.500 basketball or worse, as the Crusaders have gone a collective 38-11 the last two years and knocked on the door of a state tournament appearance in both seasons.

A big reason for that is Luke Hellige, who signed his National Letter of Intent at his Senior Awards Ceremony on Tuesday afternoon to continue his basketball career at Cornell College.

The Crusaders had a complete turn of fortune in Hellige’s junior season, going from 9 wins the year previous to a 19-6 record, which included a 10-4 conference record against the SEISC-South division.

The year culminated into a thrilling 70-66 victory for Holy Trinity Catholic over North Mahaska to claim the District Championship. Hellige produced his usual stat line of 24 points, knocking down three three-pointers, collecting eight rebounds, and notching three steals.

However, that game was not his most dominant showing of the season. A road game against Highland on February 6^th gets that honor. The then-junior broke the single-game record for points when he cashed in for 45 points on 18 of 27 shooting, while gathering a double-double with 12 rebounds.

Entering his senior season having already reset the career scoring record at Holy Trinity Catholic, Hellige continued his reign over southeast Iowa as he averaged a career high 26.6 points per game to go along with his 8.2 rebounds.

The Crusaders’ last five wins displayed the senior’s long-range skill as he knocked down 30 threes on 59% shooting, including games where he scored 42 and 43 points, respectively, on a combined 18 of 25 shooting from three-point land.

Hellige finished his career with 1,792 points, 706 rebounds, and 238 three-pointers made to finish as the all-time leader in each of those categories. Additionally, he was named to the All-Substate team three times, two 1^st Team All-State nods, and invited to the 2025 Pizza Ranch All-Star Games.

Cornell College is coming off a winning season with a 15-10 record overall and a 9-7 record in the Midwest Conference, which was not good enough for the fourth and final spot in the conference tournament.

Prep Boys’ Golf- The conditions on the golf course across the state of Iowa on Monday were not optimal for personal bests, but they were the conditions shuffled out to the teams and individuals that were looking to advance to the boys’ State Golf Meet.

For Hillcrest Academy and Central Lee, it was not enough to send them back home empty handed even if by the smallest of margins.

Heritage Oaks

Wapello had the opportunity to host the District Meet for Class 1A, but it was North Linn that owned the course with a team score of 335 followed by Easton Valley with a card of 344. Liam Schrock’s first place score of 75 lifted Hillcrest Academy to the final state berth spot with a team score of 346.

Rowan Miller aided the Ravens with a 4^th place score of 79 with the next member of the team finishing in 40^th place with a 95 as Lawson Schrock’s 97 was the final score added to their total.

Winfield-Mt. Union was one spot away from sending one member of the team to the state meet, but it just proved to be one of those seasons for the Wolves as the team finished in 5^th place with a 357. Max Edwards shot an 82, which was the third-best individual score for a non-qualifying player. Cody Milks finished with a 91 followed directly by Justin Knipfer with a 92.

The hosts shot a 383, placing them in 10^th place, with Holy Trinity Catholic finishing right behind in 11^th place with a score of 391. Wyatt Marlette gave Wapello a 17^th place score of 87 with Kaleb Grimm shooting a 90.

Luke Hellige was the top finisher for the Crusaders with a 36^th place score of 94. Also contributing to the team score was Blake Mohrfeld’s 97, Brock Scheetz and Max Kruse each shot a 100.

Danville sent two individuals, including a freshman, to the District Meet. Junior Alex Holtkamp collected a 105 for 69^th place, while Graylon Walker took home 79^th place with a 115.

Bos Landen Golf Course

Pella Christian was the host of the Class 2A District Meet and finished on top of the leaderboard with a 319 as the podium featured only Eagles with Eliot Menninga taking home the medal with a 76.

PCM finished in 2^nd place with a 343, but the 3^rd place and final spot to advance to the state meet ended in a three-way tie between Tipton, Beckman Catholic, and Central Lee. The Hawks were led by Mylan Lowenberg’s 8^th place score of 84, while Caleb Larson and Carson Morrison finished within the top 20 with scores of 87 and 88, respectively. Bo Herdrich was the final score to go towards the team total with a 92.

However, the tiebreaker came down to each team’s fifth golfer and who turned in the lowest score. That privilege went to sophomore Carter Jones of Central Lee as he shot a 94, the 29^th best score on the course.

This punched Central Lee’s ticket to the State Golf Meet for the first time since 2018.

Mediapolis was led by Jonathan Ford’s 88, which tied for 16^th place individually. Brock Spears’ 89 and Kohen Stotlar’s and Max Griffin’s 92 added up to a team score of 361, which gave the Bulldogs 9^th place.

Pin Oak Pub & Links

Washington was aiming for their third consecutive trip to the State Golf Meet as a team, but a tough field sent the Demons home with a 6^th place score of 342, 15 strokes away from third place West Liberty’s final score.

Nevertheless, a Demon will be attending the State Meet as Drew Conrad turned in the 3^rd best score on the course of a 79. Washington then had a three-person log jam from 21^st to 23^rd place with Rajan Roth, Carson Brown, and Cole Vetter turning in scores of 87, 88, and 88, respectively.

Up Next

The Class 1A State Golf Meet will take place at South Hills Golf Course in Waterloo. Class 2A will also travel up to Waterloo but to the Gates Park Golf Course. Lastly, Pheasant Ridge Golf Course will house the Class 3A State Golf Meet. All meets will start Tuesday, May 27^th, and finish up on Wednesday, May 28^th.