High School Track and Field

Central College held their boys’ indoor meet yesterday with Mt. Pleasant, New London, and West Burlington made the trip and there were multiple top 10 finishers amongst our local teams.

For Mt. Pleasant, Kaden Schadt took home 6th place in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 16.9 seconds. Payton Wilson finished in 10th place in the 800-meter run, while Silas Hulett grabbed 4th place in the 1600-meter. In the high jump, Kayle Brown leapt 1.81 meters to take the bronze medal. Hoang Quang jumped 5.92 meters in the long jump to finish in 9th place. The 4×100, 4×200, and 4×400 meter relay teams each snatched 3rd place. Lastly, Jaymisen Rich tossed the shot put 14.03 meters for 5th place.

New London saw Riley Raines win the 1600-meter run with a time of 4 minutes and 41 seconds and take 6th place in the 800-meter run. London Franklin had a busy day with a 4th place mark in the long jump with a distance of 6.2 meters, a 7th place time in the 200-meter, and 8th place in the 100-meter dash. Gavin Strawhacker grabbed 5th in the 100-meter dash, Dylan Burden leapt to a 5th place finish in the high jump, and Logan Franklin claimed the bronze medal in the long jump with a leap of 6.41 meters.

West Burlington/Notre Dame’s Landry Haberichter snatched the gold medal in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.87 seconds and joined the 4×200 meter relay team to win with a time of 1 minute and 33 seconds. Kellan Porter grabbed 2nd place in the high jump, while Cavin Denney finished 7th in the 800-meter run. 

The Mt. Pleasant, West Burlington, Mediapolis, and Danville girls’ teams will travel to Central College for an indoor meet today.

Columbus will host their Early Bird Invitational on Monday, March 23rd, with Central Lee, Van Buren County, and Winfield-Mt. Union also competing.

Youth Soccer

The Mt. Pleasant Youth Soccer League has been put on pause as the league is still searching for volunteer coaches. This is a perfect opportunity to get involved with the community and support the youth searching for an active lifestyle.

Coaching Needs:

-Kindergarten Soccer: 2 coaches needed for Monday nights from 5:30 to 6:15 pm.

-1st through 3rd Grade Girls’ Soccer: 2 coaches needed.

-1st through 3rd Grade Boys’ Soccer: 5 coaches needed.

Coaches will choose their practice night for 1st through 3rd grade soccer with games on Saturday mornings. The season is slated to begin in April.

If you are interested or want more information then contact them at 319-385-1475 or email them at ashley@citymtpia.com

Southeastern Community College

The baseball team will take on Ellsworth Community College today for a road doubleheader.

The softball team swept Motlow State Community College yesterday, winning game one 2-0 and game two 7-1. Logan Kelley had a busy game #2 two with Logan Kelley notching two doubles and a triple for an RBI, while Kiera Klum knocked home three runs over the two games. The Blackhawks will compete against Jackson State Community College for a road doubleheader today.

March Madness

The KILJ bracket challenge, sponsored by The Press Box, is officially underway with 60 brackets submitted with the top three set to receive prizes. 

Day two proved to not be nearly as exciting as the first day, but the #9-seed managed to go 4-0 for the tournament, yet no seed higher than #12 could advance past the first round.

Standings will be updated at the conclusion of the first two rounds, the Elite 8, Final Four, and the championship game.

College Basketball

The Iowa women’s team will be the #2-seed and will clash with #15 FDU today at 3 pm. 

The Iowa State women’s team claimed the #8 seed and will play #9 Syracuse today at 4:30 pm.

The #2 Iowa State men’s team demolished #15 Tennessee State, 108-74, yesterday but lost Joshua Jefferson due to injury in the process. Killyan Toure cashed in for 25 points in the victory. Jefferson’s status for their game against #7 Kentucky tomorrow, March 22nd, is still unknown.

The #9 Iowa men’s team managed to pull off the upset over #8 Clemson last night, 67-61, for their first victory in the national tournament since 2021. Bennett Stirtz led the team with 16 points. The Hawkeyes will face off against #1 Florida in the second round tomorrow.

This Day in Sports History

1953 – A playoff quadruple overtime finish, an NBA record 106 personal fouls, 12 players fouled out, two were ejected, players fought players, players fought the police. The winning team shot 41% from the floor but sank 37 straight free throws as the Boston Celtics defeated the Syracuse Nationals 111-105.

1955 – Brooklyn Bulletin asks Dodger fans not to call their team “Bums.”

2019 – Ichiro Suzuki finishes his career with a record 4,367 base hits (NPB & MLB) as the Seattle Mariners beat the Oakland A’s, 5-4 in Tokyo, Japan.

Mt. Pleasant, IA- The Mt. Pleasant Youth Soccer League has been put on pause as the league is still searching for volunteer coaches. This is a perfect opportunity to get involved with the community and support the youth searching for an active lifestyle.

Coaching Needs

Kindergarten Soccer: 2 coaches needed for Monday nights from 5:30 to 6:15 pm.

1st through 3rd Grade Girls’ Soccer: 2 coaches needed.

1st through 3rd Grade Boys’ Soccer: 5 coaches needed.

Coaches will choose their practice night for 1st through 3rd grade soccer with games on Saturday mornings. The season is slated to begin in April.

If you are interested or want more information then contact them at 319-385-1475 or email them at ashley@citymtpia.com

Mt. Pleasant, IA- The spring sport season is upon us, ushering everyone back outside and for the girls’ and boys’ soccer teams back on the pitch. The Southeast Conference (SEC) is ready to clash again with the Burlington girls’ team and Mt. Pleasant boys’ team looking to defend their conference crowns. Here’s part two of an early preview of the SEC.

Mt. Pleasant

The Panthers will look to defend their first SEC Championship since 2013 after going 8-1-1 against the conference. Mt. Pleasant was able to win in multiple ways last year, with four games of four or more goals and 10 games of allowing one goal or less.

The best part about it, Mt. Pleasant returns All-SEC First Teamers Dylan White, who has led the team in points the past three seasons, Xachary LeBlanc, who led the league in saver percentage, and Abraham Cass, who played a big role in helping the Panthers just 1.4 goals per game.

The Panthers will still have to figure out how to replace key pieces like Samuel Schaapen, Jonah Zimmer, and Kohen Cass but for a team that was one game away from their first trip to the state tournament since 2013 expectations remain high.

Fort Madison

The Bloodhounds was the only team to beat Mt. Pleasant last year, taking down the Panthers 4-2 late in the season, resulting in an 8-2 mark against the conference. Outside of SEC play, Fort Madison struggled going 2-5-1, which included four loses by three goals or more.

Fort Madison depended upon their big three for offense in First Teamers Connor Horn, who led the league in goals with 18, Henry Graham, and Jacob Shottenkirk, who led the SEC with 18 assists for the season. Altogether, the Bloodhounds averaged three goals per game.

Fort Madison will have to improve their defense if they would like a better shot outside of conference play with Keelynd Ross touting a save percentage of 75.5% but needed to produce 83 saves to get there. Nonetheless, the Bloodhounds have continued to find a way to hang out on the top of the conference leaderboard over the past several seasons.

Fairfield

The Trojans had Mt. Pleasant on the ropes twice, each time allowing the Panthers to score a late goal to either steal the victory or enact a tie. It was a sour note for a team that finished 10-6-2 overall and 5-3-2 in the SEC for their first winning record since 2021.

Now, Fairfield will have to figure it out after Binh Truong, the SEC Player of the Year, graduated after leading the team in assists and finishing the year with 26 points. Nevertheless, this team was incredibly young with Ian Richards carving out a spot on top of the team’s point totals as a freshman.

Throw in a returning goaltender in Henry Swan, who was a freshman last year, and Fairfield may prove more difficult than most. Offense will need to be increased with eight games last year where Fairfield was held to one goal or less.

Burlington

After back-to-back years hanging out around the top of the conference standings, the Grayhounds crashed to a 4-5-1 record in SEC play and just a 1-6-1 record outside of conference play.

Adding in some more strain to a lackluster season was graduating their two top playmakers in Mateo Weir and Alexander Schroeder, who contributed half of the team’s goals for the season. Moreover, Sheltyn Anderson, who stopped 80.2% of shots he’s faced, and Will Steamer, who notched 27 saves in relief, both graduated from between the pipes.

For a team that averaged only 1.6 goals per game, the loss of their two stars on offense does not make things any easier and with their one strength graduating the Grayhounds will have an entirely new look to their team this season.

Washington

It was a tough year for the Demons after winning the conference the season before and collecting 11 total wins in the 2023 season. Last year, Washington went 3-7 in the SEC with a victory over Burlington and just 4-13 for the season.

The Demons were a young, inexperienced team last season that saw Edwin Cortes shine as a junior with nine of the team’s 15 goals. Unfortunately, that inexperience was felt on defense with Kaden Read getting peppered with 253 shots on goal and amazingly coming away with 200 saves for the year.

Unfortunately, Washington will have to find a new goalie after Read graduated last season. This team could be looking at a similar result this year.

Keokuk

The Chiefs opted to forfeit the season after a multitude of red cards against Central Lee in the third game of the season would keep them out of postseason play. A senior led squad last season will now lead to an inexperienced squad this season.

Mason Baker is the only underclassmen who produced any points for the Chiefs last year. Someone will have to step up both on offense and defense for a program that has not produced a winning record since the 2017 season.