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.

High School Track and Field

The Central Lee, Danville, New London, and West Burlington boys’ teams will head to Central College today for an indoor meet.

The Mt. Pleasant, West Burlington, Mediapolis, and Danville girls’ teams will travel to Central College for an indoor meet tomorrow, March 21st. Panther head coach Scot Lamm has a talented senior class and is excited to see them lead the team to more success after snatching the runner-up title at the IATC Indoor Championships,

“… And then just having those seniors, you know, do this for four years and do it successfully you know is a tribute to the amount of work that they put in and you know, it’s amazing to me, you know, they still they still don’t have all the confidence in the world. You know, they want to be perfect all the time but still come with nerves and so just trying to get to them and let them know that you know, you’ve been here, you’ve done this, now it’s just time to enjoy your senior year. It’s a tough year because they’ve got a lot of other things going on as well with graduation, prom, and what are they gonna do after they get out of school. So, it’s a lot for them, but it’s a lot of fun to watch your seniors come out and start their senior year with a lot of success, as well.”

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

High School Basketball

Talent from all over the state will be heading to Dallas Center-Grimes High School for the 2026 Pizza Ranch All-Star Games on Saturday, March 28th, with seven local players and two coaches making the trip for the southeast Iowa squad.

On the girls’ side, the Southeast Iowa Super Conference (SEISC) will be represented by Mediapolis’ Grace Holsteen and Madison Kellogg of Winfield-Mt. Union. Holsteen was named SEISC-South Player of the Year, while Kellogg battled through injury to lead her team with 14.9 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. Joining Kellogg will be her Wolves head coach Mendy McCreight.

Joining the pair will be Kendra Boatman of Keokuk and Mylee Stiefel of Burlington. The two have both taken home Conference Player of the Year awards during their high school careers.

 On the boys’ side, Washington’s Collin Stark will be patrolling the sideline with three local players running the court. Burlington Notre Dame’s Shay Stephens, the SEISC-South Player of the Year, will be flanked by two-time Southeast Conference Player of the Year in Keokuk’s Jaxon Clark and All-Substate talent Max Griffin of Mediapolis. Clark and Stephens have each tabbed at least one season double-double, which is scoring at least 500 points and securing 250 rebounds.

Southeastern Community College

The baseball team will start their three-game road series against Ellsworth Community College today. 

The softball team dropped their matchup to Volunteer State Community College yesterday, 5-4. The Blackhawks will travel to Motlow State Community College today for a doubleheader. 

College Wrestling

Southern Illinois University of Edwardsville’s #27 Marcel Lopez fell to #6 Drake Ayala of Iowa in his first-round matchup, 11-1. The New London native advanced to the next round of the consolation bracket due to a medical forfeit. Lopez will take on #12 Evan Mougalian of Penn 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. 

The first day saw multiple upsets with #12 High Point defeating #5 Wisconsin and a pair of #11-seeds in VCU and Texas pulling off dramatic victories over North Carolina and BYU, respectively. The first round continues today.

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 tomorrow, March 21st, at 3 pm. 

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

The Iowa State men’s team will be the #2-seed in the Midwest Region as they will take on #15 Tennessee State today at 1:50 pm. 

The Iowa men’s team will look to pull off the upset as the #9-seed for the South Region with a first round matchup against #8 Clemson tonight at 5:50 pm. 

This Day in Sports History

1934 – All-around female super athlete Babe Didrikson Zaharias pitches a hitless inning for Philadelphia A’s in their exhibition pre-season baseball game against the Brooklyn Dodgers.

1965 – 27th NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship: UCLA beats Michigan, 91-80, making the Bruins one of seven teams to earn back-to-back titles. 

1990 – The LA Lakers retired Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s #33.