High School Track and Field

Mt. Pleasant boys’ team will compete at Central College on Friday, March 15th, while the girls’ team will run on Saturday, March 16th.

The WACO boys’ and girls’ teams will travel to Central College on Thursday, March 14th, to start their season.

The Winfield-Mt. Union and New London boys’ teams will travel to Danville on March 18th to get the season rolling. 

The New London girls’ team will travel to Columbus for their first meet of the year on March 18th. 

High School Soccer

The WACO boys’ team will open the season on March 28th against Fairfield on the road at 5 pm.

The Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union boys’ and girls’ teams will take on West Liberty on March 25th at home with the girls’ game scheduled first at 5 pm. 

The Mt. Pleasant girls’ will host Mediapolis on March 26th to start their season at 4:30 pm, while the boys’ will travel to Danville to play at 5 pm on the same day. 

The Danville girls’ team will face off against Assumption on March 25th on the road at 5 pm.

College Basketball

The #3 Iowa women’s team claimed the Big Ten championship over the weekend for the third consecutive season with a dominating 95-68 win over Michigan in the semifinals and a narrow 94-89 victory over Nebraska in an overtime thriller. Against the Wolverines the offense was unstoppable as four Hawkeyes finished in double figures. Caitlin Clark led the way with a double-double, collecting 28 points and 15 assists as she shot over 50% from the field.

The Big Ten Championship match saw the Hawkeyes erase an 11 point deficit in the third quarter with an even stretch in the fourth quarter making way for an overtime period. Nebraska held a one-point lead with less than a minute to go before Iowa scored five quick points off a three and two free throws from Clark after a steal by the senior. Clark tallied another double-double with 34 points and 12 assists as Hannah Stuelke added 25 points. The Hawkeyes will wait for Selection Sunday on March 17th to find out their seeding for the women’s national championship.

The Iowa State women’s team punched their ticket to the Big 12 semifinals after defeating Baylor over the weekend 67-62. Addy Brown finished with a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds as Audi Crooks scored a game high 23 points. The Cyclones will face off against #19 Oklahoma today with the winner advancing to the Big 12 championship game. 

The #6 Iowa State men’s team ended the regular season on a loss after falling to Kansas State 65-58 over the weekend. Curtis Jones led the scoring with 16 points off the bench. The Cyclones will compete against either Texas or Kansas State on Thursday at 6 pm in the Big 12 tournament. 

The Iowa men’s team had their senior night spoiled by #12 Illinois over the weekend 73-61. Payton Sandfort led the scoring for the Hawkeyes with 23 points as he drilled five three-pointers. Iowa grabbed the 7th seed in the Big Ten tournament and will take on the #10-seed Ohio State on Thursday, March 14th, at 5:30 pm.

March Madness

The NCAA men’s basketball season is winding down as teams are battling for position and the opportunity to be crowned National Champion in this year’s March Madness bracket.

KILJ, with the help of The Press Box and Wiley’s Interior Furnishings and Design will be hosting another bracket challenge, but things will be done a little differently this year. March 17th marks Selection Sunday with the brackets being released after 5 pm central time.

A printable bracket will be posted to KILJ’s Facebook page after Selection Sunday for you to fill out. You can either bring your bracket out to our station or email it to sports@kilj.com. The four play-in games will not count towards your final score. Brackets are due by the end of the day March 20th.

For a full list of rules and prizes follow this link: KILJ Bracket Challenge 

This Day in Sports History

1912 – First Stanley Cup challenge game to be played in three 20-minute periods (formerly 30-minute halves), Quebec beats Moncton, 9-3 on way to series sweep.

1986 – New York Islanders Mike Bossy is the first NHL player to score 50 goals in nine straight seasons.

1991 – Monica Seles ends Steffi Graf’s streak of 186 weeks ranked as the #1 women’s tennis player.

Boys’ State Basketball

Championship Friday is in the books for the 2023-2024 season and two upsets occurred in Des Moines.

Starting in Class 1A, #1 North Linn and #2 Marquette Catholic went point-for-point with the Defenders grabbing a one-point fourth quarter lead, but the Lynx were too tough and won 57-56. 

Mason Bechen continued his impressive postseason run with 24 points in the championship game. Spencer Roeder had a great game for Marquette Catholic with 17 points and 14 rebounds. The Lynx have now won three state championships.

Winfield-Mt. Union’s Cam Buffington was named to the All-Tournament team with 33 points and 16 rebounds in his two games.

In Class 2A, the first half started off close between #1 Western Christian and #2 Hudson with the Wolfpack holding on to a slim 40 to 33 lead at halftime. Then the sails got ripped off in the third quarter as the Pirates were outscored 22 to 5, eventually losing 78-51. 

Karsten Moret and Caleb Douma each cashed in for 23 points in the win as Douma nailed seven threes. Hudson’s Camden Davis was the main source of offense with 19 points in the effort.

For Class 3A, #4 Assumption and #2 Waverly-Shell Rock took a page out of the Class 1A championship game and battled for four quarters as the Knights outscored the Go-Hawks 20 to 10 in the second quarter and Navon Shabazz nailed a last second free throw to win 46-45 for another upset win for Assumption.

Shabazz was the leading scorer with 16 points as Kayvion Hodges collected a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Knights. Cole Marsh finished with 18 points and 14 rebounds for Waverly-Shell Rock. 

#2 Valley successfully fended off #1 Cedar Rapids Kennedy’s fourth quarter comeback attempt to win the Class 4A championship 63-59. The Tigers were led by Trevin Jirak’s 19 points as Curtis Stinson added 18 points to the winning effort. 

Trey McKowen was the leading scorer for Kennedy with 17 points as three other players also finished in double figures. 

High School Track and Field

The IATC Indoor Championships at Iowa State had schools from all across Iowa competing as the boys’ teams of Mediapolis, Danville, Mt. Pleasant, and Winfield-Mt. Union competed along with the girls’ teams of Mt. Pleasant and Danville.

Here’s a look at the top finishers on the boys’ side of the meet. For Winfield-Mt. Union, Kohlby Newsom grabbed fourth place in the 800 meter run with a time of 2 minutes and 5 seconds. Additionally, the team of Sheaden Adams, Thomson, Scorpil, and Newsom grabbed 11th place in the 4×800 meter relay. 

Mt. Pleasant’s Avin Truong took home the gold for the Class 3A long jump with a leap of 21 feet and 1.75 inches. 

The Mediapolis boys’ team finished top 30 in every event the Bulldogs participated in. Noah Schmidgall captured 8th in the 200 meter dash with a time of 23.67 seconds; moreover, Schmidgall took 15th in the Class 2A long jump with a leap of 18 feet and 5.75 inches.

Nathan Schmidgall finished with the better jump for the Bulldogs with a leap of 19 feet and 10 inches as he grabbed 6th place.

Solomon Zaugg was a beast in the long distance events as he finished 1st in the 1600 with a time of 4 minutes and 34 seconds and 3rd in the 3200 with a time of 10 minutes and 13 seconds. 

Logan Rosas also finished with the gold in the 800 meter run with a time of 1 minute and 58 seconds. Owen Schmidgall finished close behind in fourth place.

For the relay teams, the Shuttle hurdle took 6th place, the 4×400 meter relay team grabbed 3rd place, and the 4×800 meter relay team took home 1st place with a time of 8 minutes and 10 seconds.

Danville’s Ayden Doyle had a fine meet for the Bears with a 7th place finish in the 60 meter dash and a 6th place finish in the 200 meter dash. Jackson Shacklett took 3rd in the 800 meter run and Noah Horn grabbed 6th. 

For the relay teams, the 4×800 team took the gold, the distance medley finished in 4th place, and the 4×400 meter relay team took 6th place.

On the girls’ side, Alaina Gourley dominated with two 1st place finishes with a win in the 400 meter dash and the 800 meter run. Abby Arnett did well with a 6th place finish in the 3000 meter with a time of 11 minutes and 38 seconds.

Lastly, Mt. Pleasant’s Kynlee White sprinted to two top 10 finishes with a 6th place finish in the 60 meter sprint and a 9th place finish in the 200 meter.

Ella Ensminger’s toss of 35 feet and 11.25 inches in the shot put resulted in a 5th place finish. The 4×100 meter relay team of Sanders, Jalas, Raub, and White grabbed 2nd place with a time of 52.87 seconds. 

Mt. Pleasant boys’ team will compete at Central College on March 15th, while the girls’ team will run on the 16th.

The WACO boys’ and girls’ teams will travel to Central College on March 14th to start their season.

The Winfield-Mt. Union and New London boys’ teams will travel to Danville on March 18th to get the season rolling. 

College Basketball

The #3 Iowa women’s team walloped the #7-seed Penn State last night 95-62. Despite going just 2 of 14 from beyond the arc, Caitlin Clark surpassed Stephen Curry’s single season three-point record as she finished with 24 points in the win. The Hawkeyes will take on Michigan in the Big Ten semifinals today at 3:30 pm.

The Iowa State women’s team earned the 4-seed in the Big 12 Tournament and will face off against #17 Baylor today at 11 am in their quarterfinal matchup. 

The #6 Iowa State men’s team will travel to take on Kansas State today at 1 pm.

The Iowa men’s team will celebrate senior night tomorrow, March 10th, against Illinois at 6 pm.

This Day in Sports History

1904 – Brandon’s Lester Patrick becomes 1st hockey defenseman to score a goal.

1979 – MLB Commissioner Bowie Kuhn orders baseball to give equal access to female reporters.

1993 – Pittsburgh Penguins begin an NHL record 17 game winning streak.