High School Volleyball

#1 Holy Trinity Catholic hosted their Classic last night with Central Lee, Columbus, Mediapolis, Danville, and Wapello making the trip, here’s some of the highlights. 

Mediapolis finished the night with a 2-2 record, defeating Central Lee (21-12, 21-15) in straight sets and sneaking past Wapello 15-10 in the tiebreaker set before being swept by Columbus (19-21, 20-22) in a hard fought match and Holy Trinity Catholic (8-21, 6-21). Bryn Wright tabbed 57 assists, while Ellah Wagenbach led the attack with 24 kills.

Danville and Holy Trinity Catholic both swept Keokuk last night as that was the first victory for the Bears over the Chiefs this season. 

The Southeast Iowa Super Conference Tournament pool play is scheduled to start on Thursday, September 25th, with Wapello, New London, Burlington Notre Dame, and WACO acting as the hosts.

The Wapello pod will see Pekin, Louisa-Muscatine, and Mediapolis facing off against one another. Over in New London, the Tigers will play host to Danville, Winfield-Mt. Union, and Holy Trinity Catholic. Burlington Notre Dame will be taking on Highland, Columbus, and Central Lee. Lastly, WACO will see Van Buren County, West Burlington, and Hillcrest Academy. 

Mt. Pleasant will host Fairfield tonight at 7:15 pm in their first official conference showdown.

High School Cross Country

Mt. Pleasant will host their invitational tonight with Fairfield, Central Lee, Columbus, Danville, Mediapolis, Holy Trinity Catholic, New London, WACO, and Winfield-Mt. Union participating. 

High School Cross Country Rankings

The Iowa Association of Track Coaches (IATC) released the fifth edition of their team and individual rankings yesterday and last week’s Timm Lamb Invitational caused a bit of a mixup in the rankings.

For the Class 3A girls’ individual rankings, Avery Fedler of Mt. Pleasant moved up the rankings two spots to #3, while Fort Madison’s Avery Rump was placed at #12 to help the Bloodhounds climb the rankings to #7 as a team. 

Mediapolis was anchored by Simon Wendel and Will Schmidgall at the Timm Lamb Invitational, helping the Bulldogs finish in 2nd place as a team, which resulted in Wendel moving up to #5 in the rankings and Schmidgall catapulting to #21. However, the team tumbled a spot to #20.

Joining the boys’ Class 2A individual rankings for the first time was Notre Dame/West Burlington’s Cavin Denney, as the freshman was put at #27.

In the crowded boys’ Class 1A rankings, Columbus’ victory at the Timm Lamb Invitational helped the Wildcats stay put at #5 in the team rankings, but WACO’s performance saw the Warriors leapfrog #12 Van Buren County to #11 in the rankings. Individually, Lincoln Bainbridge for Van Buren County was ranked #6 and WACO’s Jude Dykstra was placed at #11.

On the girls’ side of the rankings, Van Buren County ascended five spots in the rankings to #6 after taking the gold and silver in their two meets last week. Lastly, WACO’s Josie Dykstra clung on to rankings as she fell eight spots to round out the top 30.

High School Football

Mt. Pleasant will look to bounce back against Washington on Friday, September 26th, at home at 7:30 pm for their Homecoming. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 7:15 pm.

West Burlington/Notre Dame and Central Lee will both be looking to get back in the win column at 7 pm on Friday with the Hawks acting as the hosts.

Columbus will host New London on Friday at 7 pm.

Van Buren County will travel to Pekin on Friday at 7 pm.

Winfield-Mt. Union will square off against Iowa Valley on Friday at 7 pm at home. 

Mediapolis will celebrate their Homecoming on Friday at 7 pm against Wilton.

Wapello will host North Cedar on Friday at 7 pm.

WACO will hit the road to take on Belle Plaine on Friday at 7 pm.

Fairfield will host Solon on Friday at 7:30 pm.

High School Girls’ Tennis

Fairfield will square off against Camanche at home tomorrow, September 24th.

Southeastern Community College

The volleyball team will play Indian Hills Community College tonight at 7 pm on the road. 

The men’s soccer team will host Marshalltown Community College tomorrow, September 24th.

The women’s soccer team will travel to Iowa Lakes Community College on Saturday, September 27th.

College Football

Iowa will look for an upset against #11 Indiana on Saturday, September 27th, at 2:30 pm at home. KILJ 105.5 FM will have the call.

#14 Iowa State will host Arizona on Saturday at 6 pm fresh off a bye week. KILJ 98.5 FM and AM 1130 will be on the call.

This Day in Sports History

1984 – Sparky Anderson is the first manager to win 100 games in both leagues.

1988 – Jose Canseco is baseball’s first to steal 40 bases and hit 40 home runs in a season.

1992 – Manon Rheaume becomes the first woman to play in any of the major North American sports leagues when she plays goalie for the first-year Tampa Bay Lightning in a preseason game against the St. Louis Blues.

Prep Cross County: The Iowa Association of Track Coaches (IATC) released the fifth edition of team and individual rankings and seven of our local teams are still ranked, while three local runners found their way into the top 30 that were previously unranked.

Class 3A

Fort Madison swept the Timm Lamb Invitational, which saw both teams win the meet by nearly 30 points. For the boys’ team, despite Riley Tripp outpacing Washington’s Andrew Rees by four seconds at the meet, resulting in the senior being ranked #28 for the first, the team remained at #18.

Avery Rump’s impressive 1^st place time of 18 minutes and 55 seconds placed the Bloodhound at #12 in the rankings, one spot up from last week. Additionally, with all five runners completing the race in the top 10 for scoring runners, the girls’ team climbed from #11 last week to #7 this week.

Washington’s Iris Dahl’s personal victory over Addison Rump reinserted her into the top 30 at #22 and knocking Rump in a bit of revenge. Additionally, Mt. Pleasant’s Avery Fedler did not run last week and since absence makes the heart grow fonder, she moved back up to #3 in the individual rankings.

Class 2A

Mediapolis’ team loss to Columbus, despite placing two in the top five, did no favors for their team rankings as the Bulldogs clung on to the top 20 at #20. However, the individual performances of silver-medalist Simon Wendel (16 minutes and 17 seconds) and 5^th place finisher Will Schmidgall (16 minutes and 54 seconds) did see both runners move up in the individual rankings.

Wendel move up five spots to #5 and Schmidgall catapulted up seven spots to #21. The individual rankings also saw a newcomer in Notre Dame/West Burlington’s Cavin Denney. The freshman finished in 7^th place at the Timm Lamb Invitational with a time of 17 minutes and 7 seconds, which was less than a minute away from several ranked runners in the area.

Class 1A

The Southeast Iowa Super Conference remains heated on the boys’ side as Columbus showed how teamwork delivers as Ryan Villa was the only runner to finish in the top 10, yet the Wildcats won with a 20-point cushion at the Timm Lamb Invitational. Yet, for the dominant win, the Wildcats remain at #5.

The WACO boys’ team usurped the #11 spot in the rankings, while Van Buren County slid back to #12. Van Buren County’s position most likely saved by their 2^nd place performance at the Lighted Links meet in Ottumwa.

Surprisingly, despite Jude Dykstra besting Lincoln Bainbridge at the Timm Lamb Invitational with a time of 16 minutes and 22 seconds, as Bainbridge’s fastest time of the week was still 17 seconds slower than Dykstra, it is Bainbridge who is now ranked #6 and Dykstra moving back to #11, a fall of four spots.

Lastly, the Van Buren County girls’ team continued to stake their claim as the best in the area, gliding up five spots in the rankings to #6 after winning gold at the Timm Lamb Invitational and snatching silver at the Lighted Links meet, losing to Iowa City West, who is ranked #19 in Class 4A.

The team is consistently led by the trio of Kayley Snowgren, Adalyn Snowgren, and Rylee Philips, who all typically find spots in the top 15 at least.

WACO’s Josie Dykstra hung on to the rankings for another week as the sophomore turned in a time of 20 minutes and 25 seconds at the Timm Lamb Invitational, the third-fastest time of the meet. Dykstra tumbled eight spots to round out the top 30.

Up Next

If the weather cooperates, look for a lot of these runners to cross paths tomorrow, September 23^rd, at the Mt. Pleasant Invitational.

High School Football

Mt. Pleasant will look to bounce back against Washington on Friday, September 26th, at home at 7:30 pm for their Homecoming. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 7:15 pm.

West Burlington/Notre Dame and Central Lee will both be looking to get back in the win column at 7 pm on Friday with the Hawks acting as the hosts.

Columbus will host New London on Friday at 7 pm.

Van Buren County will travel to Pekin on Friday at 7 pm.

Winfield-Mt. Union will square off against Iowa Valley on Friday at 7 pm at home. 

Mediapolis will celebrate their Homecoming on Friday at 7 pm against Wilton.

Wapello will host North Cedar on Friday at 7 pm.

WACO will hit the road to take on Belle Plaine on Friday at 7 pm.

Fairfield will host Solon on Friday at 7:30 pm.

High School Cross Country

Mt. Pleasant will host their invitational tomorrow, September 23rd, with Fairfield, Central Lee, Columbus, Danville, Mediapolis, Holy Trinity Catholic, New London, WACO, and Winfield-Mt. Union participating. 

High School Volleyball

Mediapolis and #1 Holy Trinity Catholic traveled to Lisbon for a tournament over the weekend and the Bulldogs finished with a 4-2 record, while the Crusaders handled business. 

Mediapolis swept Midland, Davenport West, Iowa Valley, and West Branch before being swept by Lisbon and Holy Trinity Catholic. Bryn Wright collected 70 assists and five aces, while Josie Hutcheson tabbed 30 kills for the weekend. 

The Crusaders swept Lisbon (21-15, 21-14) in the only loss for the Lions over the span of the tournament. 

Holy Trinity Catholic will host their Classic tonight with Danville, Central Lee, Columbus, Mediapolis, and Wapello making the trip.

Danville finished the West Liberty tournament winless, falling in straight sets to Cedar Rapids Kennedy, West Liberty, and Washington, while losing to Muscatine in the tiebreaker set, 15-9. Alivia Bauer notched 21 kills through the four matches. 

Mt. Pleasant and Fairfield competed in the Ottumwa Invitational over the weekend and the Panthers collected three wins but was swept by the Trojans in a rematch from earlier in the season (21-19, 21-19). Mt. Pleasant swept Albia, Davis County, and Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont in the process. Addison Clark led the offense with 40 kills and two aces.

Fairfield finished the weekend with a 3-2 record with victories over Davis County and Albia but losses to Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont and Ottumwa, each in the tiebreaker set by a score of 15-13. Natalie Steele had a big match against the Panthers with six kills and three aces.

Mt. Pleasant will host Fairfield tomorrow, September 23rd, at 7:15 pm in their first official conference showdown.

Van Buren County will host Washington tonight.

High School Girls’ Tennis

Mt. Pleasant traveled to Central DeWitt for the first round of the Team Regionals Tournament and fell to the Sabers 5-0. #3 Bella Dodds was the sole Panther to win a game. The Panthers finished the season with a 4-7 record. 

Fairfield shut out Fort Madison to start their Team Regionals Tournament as the Bloodhounds won just six total games for the day. The Trojans will square off against Camanche at home on Wednesday, September 24th, at home.

Southeastern Community College

The volleyball team swept John Wood Community College (25-19, 25-18, 25-11) and Rend Lake College (25-23, 25-14, 25-19) for their weekend slate. The Blackhawks will play Indian Hills Community College tomorrow, September 23rd, at 7 pm on the road. 

The men’s soccer team blew out Northwest Iowa Community College over the weekend, 8-0. Angel Frias and Gregory Zuniga each netted two goals in the mauling. The Blackhawks will host Marshalltown Community College on Wednesday, September 24th.

The women’s soccer team snuck out with their third victory in their last four games, defeating Northwest Iowa Community College 4-3. Hunter Pender nabbed a hattrick in the effort. The Blackhawks will travel to Iowa Lakes Community College on Saturday, September 27th.

College Football

Iowa will look for an upset against #11 Indiana on Saturday, September 27th, at 2:30 pm at home. KILJ 105.5 FM will be on the call.

#14 Iowa State will host Arizona on Saturday at 6 pm fresh off a bye week. KILJ 98.5 FM and AM 1130 will have the call.

This Day in Sports History

1912 – Philadelphia second baseman Eddie Collins becomes only player in MLB history to steal 6 bases in one game for a second time as A’s beat St. Louis Browns, 8-2.

1969 – San Francisco Giant Willie Mays, becomes second player to hit 600 home runs.

1991 – Miami Dolphins coach Don Shula records his 300th career NFL victory.