High School Soccer

The Mt. Pleasant girls’ team’s season comes to an end after falling to Central DeWitt 4-1 last night on the road. The Panthers finish the season with an 11-6 record. 

For girls’ soccer, Burlington Notre Dame fell to North Scott 8-0. The Nikes end the season with a 10-9 record.

Fort Madison stopped their two game skid against Burlington last night winning 3-2. Burlington ends the season with a 12-6 record. The Bloodhounds will compete against Pella for the Regional Championship.

High School Golf

Play concluded at the Ames Golf and Country Club for the boys’ Class 1A state tournament and Mason Shelledy of New London finished tied for 18th with a score of 22 over par.

On day one, Shelledy found himself tied for 30th after shooting an 86 on a par-71 course. Shelledy greatly improved on day two finishing with one of the top 20 scores of the day with a score of 78 for the same course.

Class 3A played at Veenker Memorial Country Club and Roman Roth played magnificently as he finished as the individual state champion. Roth finished 1 under after the two days of competition. He led the competition after day one with a score of 73 and followed that up with a score of 70 as he was one of two to shoot under par for the course, Davis Korver of MOC-Floyd Valley shot 1 under for day two.

The Class 1A team champion was Hillcrest Academy scoring 650. Grundy Center was the team champion for Class 2A. Class 3A’s team champion was MOC Floyd-Valley.

The New London girls’ team and Olivia Hines of Mediapolis will be competing in the state tournament with day one of the two day tournament starting tomorrow, May 25th. 

Deerwood Golf Club will be sponsoring KILJ’s coverage of the girls’ state golf meet.

High School Baseball

Mt. Pleasant will travel to take on Clear Creek-Amana tonight. KILJ will be on the call with pregame at 6:45 pm.

Winfield-Mt. Union fell to Pekin last night 6-3. The Wolves will face off against West Burlington tomorrow.

New London will travel to take on West Liberty tomorrow at 7 pm.

Danville lost to Mediapolis 12-2 last night. The Bears will face off against Hillcrest Academy tomorrow at home. 

Central Lee will travel to face off against Burlington Notre Dame on May 26th.

High School Softball

Mt. Pleasant will host Mid-Prairie on May 26th.

Holy Trinity Catholic fell to West Burlington last night 19-9. The Crusaders had the lead after scoring 5 runs in the top of the 5th inning, but the Falcons would pour on 11 runs to end the game early. Lauren Summers smacked a home run and collected 7 RBIs for West Burlington. The Crusaders will host Pekin tomorrow, May 25th.

Winfield-Mt. Union and Pekin had a game that offenses dream about as the Wolves tallied 6 runs in the bottom of the 7th inning to win 28-27. The Wolves will face off against West Burlington tomorrow at 7 pm.

Danville was shut out 12-0 by Mediapolis last night. The Bears will host Hillcrest Academy tomorrow with first pitch at 7 pm.

Central Lee will travel to face off against Holy Trinity Catholic on May 26th.

Iowa Wesleyan Athletics

The NAIA National Championship meet starts today for outdoor track and field. All Tiger competitors will begin competition tomorrow.

This Day in Sports History

1979 – Billy Martin issues a public apology to Reno sportswriter Ray Hagar.

1984 – Detroit Tigers win an American League record 17th straight road game.

1992 – Indianapolis 500: Al Unser Jr. holds off Scott Goodyear to win by 0.043 seconds; closest finish in Indy history; first second-generation driver to win the race.

Prep Boys’ Golf- Play has concluded at the Ames Golf and Country Club for the boys’ Class 1A state tournament and Mason Shelledy of New London finished tied for 18^th with a score of 22 over par.

On day one, Shelledy found himself tied for 30^th after shooting an 86 on a par-71 course. Shelledy greatly improved on day two finishing with one of the top 20 scores of the day with a score of 78 for the same course.

Class 3A played at Veenker Memorial Country Club and Roman Roth played magnificently as he finished as the individual state champion. Roth finished 1 under after the two days of competition. He led the competition after day one with a score of 73 and followed that up with a score of 70 as he was one of two people to shoot under par for the course, Davis Korver of MOC-Floyd Valley shot 1 under for day two.

Deerwood Golf Club is the exclusive sponsor for boys’ and girls’ state golf here on KILJ.

Prep Softball­– The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union released the first rankings of the softball season and three out of the five champions from last year do not enter this season as the top team.

In Class 1A, Twin Cedars defeated Southeast Warren in the championship game last year. This year Twin Cedars almost started outside of the top 15 as they snuck in with the #13 ranking. Additionally, it was not a great start to the season for the Sabers as they fell to Wayne 17-2. Southeast Warren enters as the top ranked team. Martensdale-St. Marys finished 3^rd last year and enter the rankings in 2^nd with Remsen St. Mary’s in 3^rd. Highland comes into the season ranked 10^th and St. Ansgar rounds out the top 15.

Iowa City Regina is looking to repeat as state champions after taking down Wilton 6-4 last year and they enter this year as the favorite. Lisbon ranks 2^nd with Central Springs taking the #3 spot. Wilton is ranked 6^th despite their runner-up finish last season. Mount Ayr competed in the state tournament last season; however, the Raiders do not find themselves ranked in the top 15. South Hardin rounds out the top 15 for Class 2A.

For Class 3A, last year’s champion Mount Vernon starts this year ranked 5^th. Williamsburg is the favorite this year with Davenport Assumption assuming the #2 position after their runner-up finish last year. PCM closes out the top 15 as they finished last season with a 16-12 record.

Dallas Center-Grimes continues the trend created in Class 1A as they finished as last year’s runner-up and this year’s favorite for Class 4A. Fort Dodge ranks 2^nd and North Scott in 3^rd. Last year’s champion Winterset enters this season ranked 10^th. Similarly, Winterset fell to 9^th ranked North Polk to start the season 4-2. Two of our local teams find themselves ranked in the top 15. Burlington enters ranked 11^th after making it to the state tournament last season where they went 0-2 to Winterset and Norwalk. Fairfield is ranked 13^th but lost their season opener 10-6 to Van Buren County.

Last year’s Class 5A champion is this year’s favorite in Waukee Northwest. Valley is ranked 2^nd with Southeast Polk taking 3^rd. Fort Dodge is not ranked inside of the top 15 despite being last year’s runner-up. Muscatine enters the season ranked 7^th despite finishing in 3^rd place last year. Iowa City Liberty rounds out the top 15 after finishing 28-14 last year.

Iowa Wesleyan- The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Outdoor Track and Field National Championships begin tomorrow and run through May 26^th. Here are the qualifiers for Iowa Wesleyan.

The women’s team will have three competitors at the meet. Bri Hunter returns to nationals as she looks to improve upon her 24^th place finish in the shot put from last year when she threw 12.33 meter (40 feet 5.5 inches). Hunter enters the field ranked 14^th after a season best throw of 13.69 meters.

Faith Younce and Allison Morris will both be competing in the 5000 meter RaceWalk. Younce enters with the 9^th fastest time and Morris ranks 11^th heading into the event.

For the men’s team, Kenny Tucker and Logan Lucas will compete in the 5000 meter RaceWalk. Tucker enters with a season best time of 25 minutes and 36 seconds, which ranks him 15^th in the field. Lucas rounds out the event rankings in 16^th with a season best time of 26 minutes and 10 seconds.

Indiana Wesleyan will be hosting the three-day event with the Tiger men competing on May 25^th at 4:15 pm. Hunter will be throwing the shot at 1:30 pm on May 25^th. Lastly, Younce and Morris will be competing at 3:25 pm on May 25^th.

High School Soccer

The Mt. Pleasant girls’ team will take on Central DeWitt on the road tonight.

The Danville boys’ team fell to West Liberty last night 10-0. The Bears finished the season with a 5-5 record.

The Central Lee boys’ team was eliminated from the postseason after losing to Pella Christian last night 6-0. The Hawks end the season with a 6-9 record.

For girls’ soccer, Burlington Notre Dame will take on North Scott and Fort Madison will take on SEC foe Burlington. Both games will be played today.

High School Golf

Day one of the boys’ state tournament got underway yesterday and through 18 holes Mason Shelledy of New London is tied for 30th as he shot 15 over. Dawson Barthole is in 1st place with a score of 3 over. The tournament will conclude today.

In Class 3A, Roman Roth of Washington leads the field after shooting 1 over through 18 holes.

The New London girls’ team and Olivia Hines of Mediapolis will be competing in the state tournament with day one of the two day tournament starting on May 25th.

Deerwood Golf Club will be sponsoring KILJ’s coverage of both state golf events.

High School Baseball

Mt. Pleasant will travel to take on Clear Creek-Amana tomorrow, May 24th.

Winfield-Mt. Union will face off against Pekin tonight.

New London will travel to take on West Liberty tomorrow at 7 pm.

Danville will start their season against Mediapolis tonight.

Central Lee fell to Fort Madison 12-2 last night. The Hawks will travel to face off against Burlington Notre Dame on May 26th.

High School Softball

Mt. Pleasant escaped a 7th inning jam to come away with the opening day win over Holy Trinity Catholic 6-4. Ella McNamee got the scoring going with an RBI double in the bottom of the first inning to score Sage Burchett. Addison Clark tallied her own RBI double to give Mt. Pleasant a 2 to 0 lead.

The Crusaders would tie the game up in the 3rd inning after an error and an RBI triple by Brooke Mueller. The Crusaders and Panthers traded a run to keep the game tied at 3. Some nifty baserunning and an RBI single by Jolynn Martin made it 6 to 3 Panthers. With the Crusaders down to their final two out, Mary Hellige clobbered a solo home run to make the score 6 to 4. Martin was able to navigate her way out of the problem and pick up her first win as a Panther going 7 innings and notching 5 strikeouts. The Panthers will host Mid-Prairie on May 26th and the Crusaders will travel to take on West Burlington tonight.

Winfield-Mt. Union will host Pekin tonight to start their season.

Danville will host their opening day today against Mediapolis.

Central Lee will take on Highland on May 25th at 7 pm.

Iowa Wesleyan Athletics

The NAIA National Championship meet will take place tomorrow, May 24th, for outdoor track and field.

This Day in Sports History

1981 – Puerto Rican boxer Wilfred Benítez at 22 years old becomes the youngest 3-division world champion in history by knocking out WBC World Super Welterweight champion Maurice Hope in 12 rounds in Las Vegas.

2001 – Marco Siffredi becomes the first person to snowboard down Mount Everest via the Norton Couloir.

2021 – PGA Championship Men’s Golf, Ocean Course Kiawah Island: Phil Mickelson becomes oldest major winner in history at the age of 50; wins his 6th major by 2 strokes over Brooks Koepka and Louis Oosthuizen.