Iowa- The Hawkeyes and Cyclones will have national eyes on them for some time, but not for the reason the University or the student-athletes would like. 26 athletes for the University of Iowa spanning across five sports and one-full time employee for the athletic department are suspects in a violation of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rules on sports betting. Iowa State stated that around 15 athletes across three sports are also suspected of engaging in sports betting.

The Department of Criminal Investigation’s (DCI) released this statement,

“The DCI is involved in an ongoing investigation concerning sports wagering involving individuals at the University of Iowa and Iowa State University. At this time, no criminal charges have been filed and no further information will be released. The DCI will work cooperatively with the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission concerning any potential regulatory violations.”

The NCAA is no stranger to controversy when it comes to its rules of its enforcement of the rules. One of the biggest criticisms leveled against the NCAA was written nearly a century ago, but the points still apply. The 1929 Carnegie Report was a scathing report about the professionalism of college athletics and how the move towards commercialism and abandonment of education were causing the derailment of collegiate athletics. Now, it’s important to note that the “evils” plaguing the NCAA had been plaguing collegiate athletics since its inception as sport clubs when rowing teams would go compete for a prize then go and drink.

However, compliance offices have only grown since then to ensure that rules are followed due to the complexity of the NCAA rulebook; yet nothing seems to have changed. The stats from the 2021-22 school year, there were 2,682 level III violation enforcement cases resolved. A compliance office would not be doing its job well if it did not turn in a litany of violations for the year.

The issue that lies with this case is that the NCAA rules prohibit athletes, coaches, and staff from betting on amateur, collegiate, and professional sports in which the NCAA conducts a championship. Even if the state allows sports gambling, these individuals may not participate. The inclusion of professional sports seems confusing in this matter because now the NCAA states that any of these individuals cannot gamble on an NBA game, even if the state allows. Yet, their fellow students can indulge.

This argument circles back to the same testimonies being made when student-athletes were not allowed to be paid. Now, with the name, image, likeness (NIL) deal in effect compliance offices are floundering. So, the issue remains does the fault lie on the student-athletes violating the rules or is the violation on the NCAA for making convoluted rules that leave players and staff vulnerable to be left in this cycle of violating their tortuous code.

Prep Boys’ Soccer- The Iowa High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) released the postseason brackets for soccer and here’s the matchups for some of our local schools.

In Class 1A Substate 5, West Liberty earned a bye as the #1 seed along with the #2 seed Mediapolis. Danville and WACO will square off against one another with the winner taking on West Liberty.

Danville won their matchup earlier this season in a 3-2 finale that needed penalty kicks to decide. Colton Leichty had 15 saves for the Warriors with Colin Pealer scoring two goals for the Bears.

Mediapolis will face off against the winner between Columbus and Wapello.

Central Lee is the #4 seed in the Class 1A Substate 6 and they will take on Hillcrest Academy at Central Lee. The winner will have to go against the #1 seed Pella Christian.

Class 2A Substate 5 will see Mt. Pleasant travel to take on Solon with the winner going against the top seed Davenport Assumption. Keokuk will battle against Burlington Notre Dame with the winner taking on Central DeWitt in round two.

The Panthers and Nikes will battle on May 11^th to end the Panthers regular season.

Fort Madison and Burlington will tango in Substate 4 Class 3A with Fairfield crossing paths with Clear Creek-Amana. In Substate 8, Washington will face off against Carlisle.

Round one will get underway on May 15^th for Class 1A and 2A. Class 3A and 4A will have to wait until May 16^th for their first-round matchups. The second round will take place on May 22^nd and the final substate games will be on May 24^th. State soccer will begin on May 30^th and run through June 3^rd.

For a full list of the brackets visit: IHSAA Postseason Brackets

(Pictured left to right: Jason Egli, Gail Egli, McKenzie Vradenburg, Jaykla Vradenburg, Track Coach Scott Meth, Cross Country Coach Caylon DeVaul)

WACO- McKenzie Vradenburg will continue running at the collegiate level after signing her letter of intention to attend Truman State University and join the Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field team. Vradenburg will also be majoring in Criminal Justice. She talked about all of the factors that went into her decision,

“I actually like their campus and I like how it wasn’t too far from home. I was looking for something that was far enough where I felt like I can’t just go back every weekend, but also close enough that if I want to come and visit I can. They have an indoor and outdoor track, which I think I’ll be able to use that a lot with my training and everything and I just met the team and I just really bonded with them and I really enjoyed the atmosphere the team was giving me.”

Vradenburg has left her mark in the history book of WACO as she touts a school record in the 200 meter dash with a time of 28.55 seconds, which she set this year beating her previous mark of 29.70 seconds from a year ago. She is a conference champion in several events, and she qualified for state last season as she competed in two events. Vradenburg finished 23^rd in the 4×100 meter relay and 22^nd in the 4×200 meter relay at the state tournament last season.

WACO will be hosting the state qualifying meet this Thursday, May 11^th, and Vradenburg was quite candid about her feeling heading into the meet,

“I’m a little nervous, I’m kind of excited to try and go out and compete. Our distance medley has been doing really good this year. So, we’re going to try and see if we can PR (personal record) again in that and our 4×100, 4×200 we’re doing all right in that and we’re going to see if we get better at that too.”

To qualify for state in Class 1A, the top place winner in each event plus the next 14 best performances statewide will advance to the state meet. If there are ties, the highest qualifying meet place winner will be the qualifier. There will be no more than 24 qualifiers in any event.

Vradenburg was smiling from ear to ear when talking about her next step,

“I’m super excited for college and I feel like it’s just going to be great for me. I’m so excited to go out and meet new people. I love doing new things, and being in a new school, new atmosphere, meeting new friends I think that’s going to be really great for me.”

The Bulldogs recently competed in their conference meet and brought home Conference Champions and National qualifiers.

SEIMS Conference Meet- The Mt. Pleasant grade school showed off their athleticism at their conference meets as the boys’ and girls’ 7^th grade teams walked away with a conference championship and both 8^th grade teams took second place.

For the 7^th grade girls’ team, Ellie Freeman took home wins in the 100 meter dash (13.95 seconds), the 200 meter dash (28.89 seconds), and joined Taylor Williamson, Abby Shelangoski, and Paisley Jalas in the 4×100 meter relay that took first with a time of 56.09 seconds. Williamson, Jalas, and Shelangoski teamed up with Alayna Wilson to win the 4×200 meter relay. Megan Newton grabbed first place in the 100 meter hurdles with a time of 18.43 seconds. Shelangoski picked up an individual gold in the 200 meter hurdles with a time of 33.09 seconds. The 4×400 meter relay team of Newton, Molly Baker, Izzy Sloat, and Josie Dykstra took first place. Sloat then leaped 14 feet 8.5 inches to win the long jump. The Panthers won by 40 points with a team total of 172.

The 8^th grade girls’ team captured 121 points and second place behind Ottumwa. The 4×100 meter shuttle hurdle team of Scotlyn Roen, Linzy Striegel, Jayde Yoder, and Bathsheba Bowman grabbed first with a time of 1 minute and 13 seconds. Nevaeh Beans took first with a time of 1 minute and 5 seconds. Bowman snatched another win for the Panthers in the 200 meter hurdles with a time of 31.59 seconds. Paige Newton, Jenna Schwartz, Beans, and Monroe James won the 4×400 meter relay and Ja’Kiyah Sanders leaped 15 feet 1 inch to win the long jump.

For the 7^th grade boys’ team, Ryan Helling won the 200 meter dash with a time of 25.79 seconds, and the 400 meter dash with a sub-one minute time of 58.82 seconds. Griffen Jones took the 200 meter dash with a time of 31.24 seconds. Caleb Shepherd, Khanon Koller, Jones, and Gunner Ortiz-Beckman won the 4×400 meter relay with a time of 4 minutes and 25 seconds. James Thiengmany, Koller, Isaiah Lange, Kaden Schadt grabbed the gold in the 4×100 meter shuttle hurdle. The Panthers scored 122.5 points on their way to the conference championship.

The 8^th grade boys team was paced by Hoang Quang as he took first place in the 100 meter dash, the 400 meter dash, and the long jump with a leap of 18 feet 2.5 inches. Franky Lopez won the 100 meter hurdles with a time of 15.48 seconds and the 200 meter hurdles with a time of 28.33 seconds. Lastly, the 4×100 meter shuttle hurdle team of Brody Clark, Owen Lord, Keegan Heaton, and Lopez grabbed first place with a time of 1 minute and 9 seconds.

High School Track and Field

Mt. Pleasant will be hosting the state qualifying meet on May 11th.

Central Lee will travel to Tipton to compete in their state qualifying meet on May 11th.

WACO will host the Class 1A District 10 state qualifying meet as Danville, New London, and Winfield-Mt. Union will also be competing at the meet on May 11th.

High School Soccer

The Mt. Pleasant girls team was able to fend off Fort Madison late in the game to come out on top 3-2. Elly Manning led the Panthers with two goals with Charice Auwerda picking up a goal and an assist. The Panthers will travel to take on Burlington Notre Dame on May 11th.

The Mt. Pleasant boys team fell to Fort Madison last night 11-2 on the road. Down 3-0 at halftime, the Panthers attempted to become more aggressive offensively and Fort Madison jumped at the opportunity. Dylan White converted both goals for Mt. Pleasant. The Panthers will take on Burlington Notre Dame on May 11th on the road.

The WACO boys team will take on Wapello tonight.

The Central Lee boys team lost to Burlington Notre Dame last night 2-1. Hunter Lillie scored both goals for the Nikes.

The Central Lee girls team ended up on the losing end of their contest with Burlington Notre Dame 5-2. Aburee Boyd netted one for the Hawks. The Class 1A Region 3 contest for Central Lee will be against Mid-Prairie on May 17th.

High School Golf

The Mt. Pleasant boys team’s next competition will be tomorrow, May 10th, for the 3A sectional meet.

The Mt. Pleasant girls team will compete in the SEC conference tournament tomorrow.

The boys teams of New London, Winfield-Mt. Union, Danville, and Holy Trinity Catholic will compete in the 1A sectional meet tomorrow.

The conference champion for the girls Southeastern Iowa Super Conference is New London after shooting a 355; Highland took 2nd place with Louisa-Muscatine in 3rd. Winfield-Mt. Union finished in 5th place. Alli Humphreys led the way for the Wolves with a 107 for the course. New London will host the Regional on May 12th with Winfield-Mt. Union also in competition.

High School Tennis

The Mt. Pleasant boys team competed at their District meet yesterday and Xavier took 1st and 2nd place in the singles and 1st place in doubles. Fairfield’s Garrett Flanagan and Jace Hannes took 2nd place. In doubles for the Panthers, Jake Ensminger and Owen Vansickle won their first round matchup 6-2 and 6-1 but fell in the second round. Gavin Ross and Phoenix Watson were eliminated in the first round. In singles, Tim Cam fell in the first round. Elliot Cook moved on to the second round but fell to the eventual District champion Charlie Legrand of Xavier. The Panthers will take on Marion in their Substate meet on May 12th.

The Mt. Pleasant girls team will compete at their singles and doubles regional assignment tomorrow, May 10th.

Iowa Wesleyan Athletics

The Tiger baseball team took third place in the CAC tournament and had two members named to the All-Tournament team. Cauy Massner tossed seven quality innings allowing four runs and striking out six batters in their win against Florida National University. Carlos Vicente earned a spot on the team after notching six hits (0.375 batting average), which included three doubles, and tallied 3 RBIs in their three games.

The Tigers outdoor track and field teams will compete at the North Star Athletic Association Championships taking place on May 11th.

This Day in Sports History

1975 – Brian Oldfield shot puts 22.86 meters (‘unofficial’ world record, due to his professional status) in El Paso, Texas.

1987 – Oriole Eddie Murray is the first to switch hit home runs in 2 consecutive games.

2018 – Manchester City smashes EPL records in 3-1 win over Brighton – most goals (105), most points (97), and most wins (31).