High School Track

Mt. Pleasant will compete in the Williamsburg Co-Ed invitational tomorrow, April 8th. 

The Fairfield girls’ team will host their relays tomorrow with Central Lee making the trip, while the Trojan boys’ team will participate in the Dennis Anderson relays.  

Mediapolis will host the Dave Aamodt Relays tomorrow with Danville, Wapello, West Burlington/Notre Dame, and Winfield-Mt. Union making the journey.

The WACO relays are scheduled for tomorrow with New London, Van Buren County, and Columbus competing.

High School Tennis

Mt. Pleasant will square off against Keokuk tonight with the girls’ team hosting the Chiefs and the boys’ team hitting the road. 

Fairfield will face off against Burlington on Thursday, April 10th, with the boys on the road and the girls at home.

High School Golf

Central Lee will host Mediapolis today.

Van Buren County will venture to Holy Trinity Catholic for a showdown today. 

Winfield-Mt. Union will travel to WACO today for a duel.

Danville will square off against New London today at home. 

The Mt. Pleasant boys’ team will compete in an SEC meet at Fairfield today, while the girls’ team will travel to Washington for their SEC showdown. 

Burlington Notre Dame will host the Nike Invitational with Danville, Central Lee, and Winfield-Mt. Union competing tomorrow, April 8th. 

Columbus will take on Lone Tree tomorrow at home. 

High School Soccer

Central Lee will travel to Keokuk tonight with the girls’ team playing at 5 pm with the boys’ team to follow at 7 pm.

Burlington Notre Dame will take on Burlington tonight in a road matchup with the girls playing first at 5 pm.

Mt. Pleasant will host Columbus tonight with the girls’ team playing first at 4:15 pm and the boys’ team to follow.

The WACO boys’ team will tangle with Fairfield tonight at home at 5 pm.

The Mediapolis girls’ team will square off against Fairfield tomorrow, April 8th, on the road. 

Wapello will travel to compete against Cedar Valley Christian tomorrow at 7 pm.

The Danville boys’ team will take on Mediapolis on Thursday, April 10th, at home with gametime at 5:30 pm.

Southeastern Community College                                                     

The softball team had their series against St. Louis Community College canceled over the weekend. The Blackhawks will face off against Indian Hills Community College on Wednesday, April 9th, in a doubleheader.

The baseball team continued their winning ways over the weekend with a three-game series sweep of Iowa Lakes Community College. Game one saw the Blackhawks take down the Lakers 18-8 as Caleb Klein destroyed the ball at the plate with a double, a home run, and two RBIs, but it was Connor Gaitens who walloped two home runs and tabbed four RBIs. Andrew Hamlett picked up the win on the mound for game two in a 9-2 final and the squad handled business in game three, winning 18-1. The Blackhawks will host Ellsworth Community College tomorrow, April 8th, at 4 pm.

March Madness

The KILJ bracket challenge, sponsored by The Press Box and Wiley’s Interior Furnishings and Design, is gearing up for a fantastic finish with the championship game slated to start at 7:50 pm tonight. Florida is eyeing their first National Championship since they repeated in 2006 and 2007, while Houston aims to win their program’s first title.

You can find the updated standings here: KILJ Bracket Challenge Standings

This Day in Sports History

1943 – The NFL adopted the free substitution rule; helmets are made mandatory and a 10-game schedule for all teams was approved.

1958 – The Dodgers erect a 42-foot screen in left field at the LA Coliseum to cut down on home runs, since it is only 250 feet down the left field line.

1969 – Dodgers’ Bill Singer was credited with the first official save against the Cincinnati Reds.

Mount Pleasant, IA- Heartbreak City was the destination for most over half of the brackets for KILJ’s challenge after a Final Four that featured all four #1-seeds, a feat that has occurred just twice in March Madness history. An upset might not have happened on the hardcourt, but the hurt was felt in our rankings.

What Happened

This Final Four was one for the ages, which included two comeback victories and record setting moments. For one squad its an opportunity to reclaim glory from nearly two decades ago, while another searches for their first national championship and their first trip since 1984.

For the Florida Gators, halftime provide relief for what was an Auburn Tiger run that put them up nine points at the break. Yet, Walter Clayton Jr. continued his dominating ways, finishing with 34 points and knocking down five threes as the Gators snuck away with the 79-73 victory.

Clayton became the first player since Larry Bird to tally consecutive 30-point games this deep into the tournament. Florida, the SEC champion, is returning to the championship game for the first time since grabbing consecutive titles in 2006 and 2007.

Meeting the Gators will be the Houston Cougars after Duke surrendered a 9-0 run in the final 35 seconds, falling 70-67. The Blue Devils were outscored 28 to 11 in the final 12 minutes of the contest.

L.J. Cryer downed 26 points with six three-pointers in the winning effort for the Cougars. Duke’s Cooper Flagg, the Player of the Year, scored 27 points and grabbed seven rebounds in a run that ended one game short to cap off a spectacular freshman season.

Houston attended the championship game in 1983 and 1984 but will be attempting to nab their first title in program history tonight at 7:50 pm on CBS.

In terms of KILJ’s Bracket Challenge, eight brackets accurately guessed the championship game with seven picking Florida to win the title. Austin Buckert was the only one to pick Houston in the matchup.

Amazingly, 22 brackets still have a champion in play with 16 picking Florida; however, choosing Houston does not guarantee victory or even a top three finish with how well the top 10 has gone about choosing their winners up to this point.

Now, who were the biggest movers? Let’s start with the unfortunate; Wanda Broeker went from unstoppable to unlucky in the matter of a Saturday night. Her 230 points led the rankings, now those 230 points have her sitting in 14^th place and with no chance of advancement after selecting Auburn and Duke to dance.

Her desire to best her husband in the challenge will have to wait until next year.

In positive movement, Allie Liechty-Hultman went from being ranked 40^th after the first two rounds to now sitting in 4^th place. Tim Liechty also moved up the rankings from 31^st to 10^th in this edition. Surprisingly, no one in the top 10 selected Houston as the champion.

The top three will all be rooting for Florida, while those who embrace the whacky will certainly enjoy seeing the Cougars leave San Antonio as the champions. No matter what, the game should be entertaining.

Standings

1. Karen Brimhall: 282 Florida Champion
2. Terry McWilliams: 276 Florida Champion
3. Zoey Freeman: 260 Florida Champion
4. Allie Liechty-Hultman: 254 Florida Champion
5. Lysha Bunnell: 248
6. Brent Broeker: 236
7. Alan Buckert: 236
8. Janae Body: 234
9. Josh Moon: 234 Florida Champion
10. Tim Liechty and Julie Leichty: 232 Florida Champion
11. Tiffany Wilson: 230 Houston Champion