High School Track and Field

The Fort Madison girls’ team hosted the Timm Lamb Penn City Relays yesterday and Danville ended up on top with 152.5 points followed by Mt. Pleasant with 142 points and Mediapolis with 134.5 points. Here’s some of the highlights. 

For Mt. Pleasant in Class A, Kynlee White raced to a first place finish in the 200-meter dash with a time of 26.9 seconds. The team of Kiyah Sanders, White, Alex and Andi Scott took first in the 4×100 meter relay with a time of 50.96 seconds. Courtney Raub replaced Sanders for the 4×200 meter relay and helped the team pick up another gold with a time of 1 minute and 47 seconds. Bailey Jalas took first place by nearly a foot in the long jump with a leap of 16 feet and 3 inches. Lastly for first place, Kya Goodrich launched the discus 116 feet and 6 inches to win the event. Savannah Slobodnik took second place with a toss of 107 feet and 8 inches. Another notable finish was Alex and Andi Scott grabbing second and third place, respectively, in the 100-meter dash.

Fort Madison’s Avery Rump dominated the distance events, helping the Bloodhounds win the 1500-meter run, 3000-meter run, and the distance medley. Iris Dahl of Washington was a force in the 800-meter run with a first place finish in the individual event and a team win in the 4×800 meter relay. Lastly, Burlington’s Kylee Hill won the shot put with a heave of 39 feet and 0.5 inches. 

For Class B, Danville won eight events. Alaina Gourley won the 400-meter dash with the only sub-one minute time and the 1500-meter run with a time of 5 minutes and 14 seconds. Kamry Sherwood finished with a time of 12 minutes and 19 seconds in the 3000-meter run. The Bears won the 4×200, 4×400, the 800 sprint medley, and the distance medley relays. Jaeda Molle raced in all four relays, while Kenna Furnald was involved in three of the relays. Lastly, Taegan Frazier threw the shot 33 feet and 10.5 inches to narrowly win the event. 

Mediapolis’ 4×800 meter relay team of Grace Holsteen, Paige Steiner, Avery Dietz, and Bryn Wright took first place with a time of 10 minutes and 37 seconds. Van Buren County took home 103 points with Kayley Snowgren finishing in first in the 800-meter run with a time of 2 minutes and 39 seconds.

Winfield-Mt. Union totaled 57 points as Tessa Huston won the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1 minute and 12 seconds and Quin Smith grabbed the win in the high jump with a leap of 5 feet. The team of Huston, Suttyn Schlee, Aurey Meeker, and Josie Nelson won the 4×100 meter shuttle hurdle. 

The Mt. Pleasant boys’ and girls’ teams will be hosting an invitational tomorrow, April 11th, with Central Lee, Mediapolis, and West Burlington bringing both teams, while the New London, Danville, WACO, and Winfield-Mt. Union boys’ teams also attend. 

The Winfield-Mt. Union girls’ team will host a meet tomorrow with WACO, Van Buren County, and Danville also participating.

The Mediapolis boys’ team captured 172 points to win the meet at Wapello last night. Winfield-Mt. Union finished in second place with 98 points, while Danville grabbed third with 84 points. 

Winfield-Mt. Union’s Cam Buffington won the 100-meter dash with a time of 9.53 seconds and the long jump with a leap of 21 feet and 4 inches. Jake Edwards won the high jump with a leap of 6 feet and 3 inches with Mason Watkins of West Burlington jumping 6 feet and 2 inches. Danville won 4×100 and 4×800 meter relays, while Mediapolis won both the 1600-meter and 3200-meter runs led by Solomon Zaugg and Owen Schmidgall, respectively.

High School Soccer

The WACO boys’ team will host Wapello tomorrow, April 11th. 

The Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union boys’ team fell to Danville last night 4-0. Colin Pealer had two goals and two assists for the Bears. The Wildcats will take on Mediapolis on the road with the girls’ playing first at 5 pm tomorrow.

The Mt. Pleasant girls’ team will face off against Keokuk tomorrow on the road while the boys’ team had their matchup postponed.

The Mediapolis girls’ team lost to Canton High School last night 3-0.

The Central Lee girls’ team lost to Fort Madison last night 8-0. Teagan Snaadt finished with a hat trick for the Bloodhounds in the win. The boys’ team will host Danville tomorrow, while the girls’ team will travel to West Branch on Friday, April 12th. 

High School Tennis

Mt. Pleasant will take on Burlington tomorrow, April 11th, with the boys’ at home and the girls on the road. 

High School Golf

Burlington Notre Dame hosted a tournament yesterday as Van Buren County, Mt. Pleasant, and Winfield-Mt. Union competed for the boys’ and girls’ and Central Lee and Danville competed on the boys’ side. On the boys’ side, Central Lee won the tournament with a team score of 340 as they were led by Bo Herdrich’s 18-hole score of 79. The Nikes finished in second with a score of 350 and the Panthers took third with a team score of 353.

Burlington Notre Dame’s Carter West had the best score of the course with a 76 (+5). TJ Jirak’s 77 led Van Buren County to a team score of 385, while Nate Dismang led the Panthers with a score of 78. Winfield-Mt. Union had Carter Loyd shoot an 87 to help the team finish in fourth with a 360. Lastly, Danville shot a 388 with Henry Bellrichard finishing 16-over par. 

Highland outpaced everyone on the girls’ side with a team score of 384 as Louisa-Muscatine finished in a distant second place with a team score of 424. Fort Madison took third place, Mt. Pleasant finished in fourth place with a team score of 460, while Van Buren County, Winfield-Mt. Union, and Burlington Notre Dame rounded out the pack, respectively.

Kylie Walderbach was the top golfer for the Panthers with an 18-hole score of 100. Van Buren County was led by Sophia Jirak as she shot a 106. Lily Freeman totaled a 109 for Winfield-Mt. Union; lastly, Emersyn Hopkins of Burlington Notre Dame finished with the fifth best score of the course with a 99. 

Winfield-Mt. Union will take on Highland tomorrow, April 11th, on the road. 

The Mt. Pleasant boys’ team will host the SEC tomorrow for an invitational, while the girls’ team will travel to Keokuk for their meet. 

The New London boys’ team will attend a meet at Tipton tomorrow. 

The WACO boys’ and girls’ teams will host a triangular on Friday, April 12th, with Mediapolis and BGM competing. 

Central Lee will face off against Van Buren County tomorrow at home. 

Southeastern Community College

For baseball, SCC will host Kirkwood Community College today.

The SCC softball team will travel to Kirkwood Community College tomorrow, April 11th, for a doubleheader. 

March Madness

The KILJ bracket challenge, sponsored by The Press Box and Wiley’s Interior Furnishings and Design, has our winners with Rick Bunnell taking first place, Lysha Bunnell grabbing second place, and Ellyanna Bunnell finishing in third place. Congratulations to our winners and thank you all for participating. 

Make sure to look out for the challenge next year when March Madness rolls back around. You can find the final top ten here: KILJ Bracket Challenge Final Standings

This Day in Sports History

1947 – Jackie Robinson becomes the first Black player of the 20th century to sign an MLB contract; Brooklyn GM, Branch Rickey announces Dodgers had bought Robinson’s contract from Montreal Royals.

1964 – Demolition begins in Upper Manhattan, New York City on the Polo Grounds sports stadium (home to MLB Giants, 1891-1957, Mets, 1962-63, and NFL Jets, 1960-63) to clear the way for a housing project.

1979 – J. R. Richard of the Houston Astros pitches a complete game but sets an MLB record by throwing six wild pitches in a 2-1 win over the LA Dodgers at the Astrodome.

Wayland, IA- The WACO Relays were originally scheduled to be run last week, but the rain dictated otherwise as it has for most spring events to start the sport season. Nevertheless, WACO hosted Van Buren County and New London girls’ and boys’ teams and the English Valleys boys’ team yesterday.

Van Buren County came out on top on both the girls’ and boys’ sides with the girls’ team putting up 145 points and the boys’ team managing 97 points. The WACO girls’ team scored 85 points and the boys’ team grabbed 80 points, both finished in second place.

Starting on the girls’ side, here’s all the first-place finishers for Van Buren County. Caylin Schmitt took first in the 100-meter dash with a time of 14.16 seconds. Ava Loeffler raced to a time of 30.11 seconds in the 200-meter dash. Rylee Caviness finished first in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1 minute and 12 seconds.

In the 1500-meter run, Rylee Philips took gold with a time of 5 minutes and 48 seconds. Ashley Fennel grabbed first in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 13 minutes and 59 seconds. Libby Bainbridge took first in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1 minute and 21 seconds. Van Buren County finished in first place in five of the seven relays: 4×100, 4×200, 4×800, Distance Medley, and the 4×100 meter shuttle hurdle.

Marlee Mertens leapt 4 feet and 10 inches in the high jump for the gold. Caylin Schmitt also won the shot put with a heave of 30 feet and 1 inch. In the discus, Lexie Wiley won with a throw of 85 feet and 2 inches.

WACO finished first in five events as the Warriors won the 4×400 meter relay and the 800-sprint medley. Carlee Lunsford took first in 800-meter run with a time of 2 minutes and 36 seconds. Zoey Dennler won the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 18.84 seconds. Lastly, Natalie Wagler jumped 14 feet and 1 inch to win the long jump.

New London’s top finisher Marlianna Woodsmall with a third-place finish in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1 minute and 23 seconds. The Tigers finished with 28 points.

On the boys’ side, Van Buren County won seven events with Bryce Moquin sprinting to a first-place finish in the 100-meter dash. Lincoln Bainbridge grabbed first place in the 1600 meter run with a time of 4 minutes and 52 seconds, which defeated Riley Raines of New London by 0.6 seconds. Landry Loeffler took first in the 3200-meter run with a time of 11 minutes and 24 seconds. Tyler Stoltz won the high jump with a leap of 6 feet and 2 inches. Lastly, Cameron Stoltz heaved the shot 36 feet and 10 inches to take the gold in the shot put.

Van Buren County won the 4×100, 4×200, and the 4×800-meter relays.

WACO’s Chase Waterhouse won the discus with a throw of 123 feet and 5 inches. Louden Huisenga had a nice meet with a first-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1 minute and 6 seconds, while taking second in the high jump with a leap of six feet. He also helped the team of Gage Samo, Clayton Miller, and Bryson Waterhouse take first in the 4×110 meter shuttle hurdle.

WACO also took the 800 spring medley with a time of 1 minute and 48 seconds.

New London’s Brigham Porter dominated the sprinting events with first place finishes in the 200-meter dash and the 400-meter dash. Riley Raines grabbed first place in the 800-meter run. London Franklin won the long jump with a leap of 21 feet, nearly two feet better than second place. The Tigers eclipsed 62 points, finishing right behind English Valleys with 64.

KILJ Bracket Challenge- After 25 days, the 2024 men’s basketball tournament has ended, and UConn has taken home their sixth National Championship after defeating Purdue last night 75-60. The Huskies are the first team since 2007 to repeat as National Champions as well.

UConn dominated their competition with each of their tournament wins coming by at least 14 points. In the same way that UConn dominated, the Bunnell’s dominated the KILJ Bracket Challenge.

Rick Bunnell, with 294 points, has won this year’s KILJ Bracket Challenge, sponsored by The Press Box Grill and Bar and Wiley’s Interior Furnishings and Design. His best rounds were the first round and the Sweet 16. He guessed 25 of 32 games right in round one and five of eight correct in the Sweet 16.

In second place was Lysha Bunnell with 290 points. Her key was consistency, never guessing less than 50% of the games in the round correctly. Her second round was her strongest round with 13 correct guesses, which tied for second most in the round.

Lastly, grabbing third place was Ellyanna Bunnell with 286 points. Her strong finish helped elevate her pass the competition after a lackluster first round. She also guessed 13 games correctly in the second round to help her cause.

After a spectacular run for Julie Liechty, UConn played spoiler as she had guessed the last six games correctly, including a perfect four for four in the Elite Eight. The loss sent her back to 6^th place, which was still impressive after starting in 25^th place after the first two rounds.

The KILJ Bracket Challenge saw 16 brackets correctly pick UConn as the National Champion and if the KILJ staff was involved in the challenge everyone would have finished in 28^th place or lower—fun fact.

Thank you all for participating, congratulations to our prize winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors The Press Box Grill and Bar and Wiley’s Interior Furnishings and Design for allowing us to put this together. The Bracket Challenge will be back again next year!

Top 10

1. Rick Bunnell
2. Lysha Bunnell
3. Ellyanna Bunnell
4. Sharon Menke
5. Allie Liecthy-Hultman
6. Julie Liecthy
7. Alan Buckert
8. Jeff Broeg
9. Mat Wilson
10. Karen Drury