High School Track and Field
The West Burlington/Notre Dame girls’ team held their Falcon Relays last night and multiple meet records fell, including a pair for Mt. Pleasant.
In Class A, Mt. Pleasant’s Alex Scott set a Falcon Relay record in the 200-meter dash with a time of 26.16 seconds, while Avery Fedler reshaped the 400-meter time record with a mark of 58.37 seconds. Izzy Sloat claimed the long jump gold with a meet best leap of 16 feet and 4 inches. The Panthers snatched victories in the 4×100 and 4×800 meter relays.
Sticking to Class A, Fairfield’s lone victory belonged to Bailey Belzer in the 3,000-meter run, as she posted a time of 14 minutes and 7 seconds. The hosts’ top finishers went to Hannah Ritter, who took 2nd in the 400-meter dash, and Kaitlyn Kipp, who snatched the silver in the 800-meter run.
Over in Class B, WACO’s Bren Graber and Macie Carter had eventful meets with Graber winning three events: the 100-meter hurdles, 400-meter hurdles, and the high jump, while Carter swept the long distance events, including a meet-best time of 11 minutes and 54 seconds in the 3,000-meter run. The Warriors took home the gold medal in the 4×800 meter relay.
Danville set a Falcon Relay record in the sprint medley, as the team of Macie Wagner, Violette Sowell, Delaney Newberry, and Alaina Gourley produced a time of 1 minute and 53 seconds. The Bears also won the 4×200 meter relay. Gourley added a pair of gold medals in the 400-meter and 800-meter events, while Newberry won the 200-meter dash with a time of 28.11 seconds.
Mediapolis produced winners in the field events with Payton Harris’ toss of 123 feet and 5 inches winning the discus and Evie Schmidgall’s leap of 15 feet and 10 inches claiming the long jump. The Bulldogs also won the shuttle hurdle and 4×400 meter relays.
Van Buren County claimed a pair of relays, winning the distance medley and the 4×100. Aida Troutman snatched the 100-meter dash, while Briley Losey’s toss of 31 feet and 11.75 inches was good enough to win the shot put. Winfield-Mt. Union was led by Kaelyn Townsley’s 2nd place finish in the 100-meter hurdles and Quin Smith’s 2nd place leap of 5 feet in the high jump.
Wapello hosted their Co-Ed relays last night and on the girls’ side, Wapello claimed 53 points for 5th place, while the boys’ team claimed 6th place with 34 points. Columbus followed in the standings on both sides, but Bella Forbes’ throw of 34 feet and 6.5 inches in the shot put was the only gold medal for either side.
Mt. Pleasant will host their Co-Ed Relays tomorrow, April 2nd, with Fairfield, Mediapolis, and West Burlington/Notre Dame competing.
The Mediapolis girls’ team will host their invitational tomorrow with Central Lee, Van Buren County, Wapello, and WACO participating.
The Van Buren County boys’ team will host a meet tomorrow with WACO attending.
Columbus will attend the Liberty Co-Ed invitational on Saturday, April 4th.
High School Soccer
The Mt. Pleasant boys’ team started the season with a dominant victory over Danville on the road last night, 7-0. Isaiah Lange had a huge game, netting a hat trick and tabbing an assist, with Brandon Veloz and Dylan White each grabbing two goals. The Panthers will compete against Clear Creek Amana tomorrow, April 2nd, at 4:30 pm for their home opener.
The Danville boys’ team will stay at home to face off against Cedar Rapids Washington on Monday, April 6th, at 6 pm.
In a second half surge, the Columbus and Washington boys’ teams combined to net five goals, but it was the Demons escaping with the victory, 3-2. The Wildcats will host Mt. Pleasant at 7 pm on Monday.
The Burlington Notre Dame boys’ team fell to Assumption last night, 2-0. The Nikes will continue their five-game road stretch tomorrow against Wapello at 5 pm.
The Mediapolis boys’ team will travel to Keokuk tomorrow at 5 pm.
The WACO boys’ team will take on Sigourney-Keota tomorrow at 5 pm at home.
The Mt. Pleasant girls’ team will start the season tomorrow on the road against Clear Creek Amana at 5 pm.
The Central Lee boys’ team will host Fairfield, while the the girls’ team will face off against Mid-Prairie on the road with both games starting at 5 pm tomorrow.
High School Golf
Mediapolis and Wapello split their duel yesterday with the Bulldogs winning on the boys’ side, 161-203, with Ephram Hallgren leading the Bulldogs with a round of 38, while the Arrows’ girls’ team pulled off the win, 188-197, as Emmalin Marshall paced the field with a round of 40.
Wapello will host Louisa-Muscatine on Tuesday, April 7th.
Mediapolis will travel to Danville on Tuesday.
Southeastern Community College
The baseball team thundered past Marshalltown Community College yesterday, 17-5. Gavin Awbrey and Nile Sinn each whacked a home run with Sinn collecting a team-leading four RBIs. The Blackhawks will host Illinois Central College today.
The softball team swept Marshalltown Community College in the doubleheader yesterday, 12-0 in game one and 9-1 in game two. In game one, Araceli Rivas pitched four shutout innings to the tune of seven strikeouts, while game two featured Jeliane Stewart and Kaylee Winter going deep with Stewart tabbing three RBIs. The Blackhawks will hit the road for a doubleheader on Friday, April 3rd, against St. Louis Community College.
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.
Here’s an updated look at the top 10 brackets and a recap of the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight: KILJ’s Bracket Challenge Standings. The Final Four is slated to start on Saturday, April 4th, with game one at 5:09 pm between #2 UConn and #3 Illinois.
Standings will be updated before the championship game.
College Baseball and Softball
The Iowa baseball team clobbered Bradley yesterday, 21-8. Kooper Schulte led the way with four RBIs, while Miles Risely clouted a double and home run for two RBIs in the winning effort. The Hawkeyes will host Minnesota on Friday, April 3rd.
The Iowa softball team will travel to Oregon for a three-game series starting on Friday at 8 pm.
The Iowa State softball team waltzed to a 10-2 victory over UNI yesterday. Kadence Shepherd smacked a two-run homer for the Cyclones. Iowa State will take on #14 Arizona on Sunday, April 5th, in a home doubleheader.
This Day in Sports History
1926 – Montreal Maroons’ Clint Benedict becomes the first NHL goalie to record 3 straight playoff shutouts, in a 3-0 win against the visiting Victoria Cougars in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Championship series.
1930 – Chicago Cubs catcher Leo Hartnett breaks the altitude record for a catch by gloving a baseball dropped from the Goodyear blimp 800 feet over Los Angeles, California.
1978 – New York Islanders right wing Mike Bossy becomes the first NHL rookie to score 50 goals in a season after scoring #50 and #51 in the closing moments of a 3-2 win over Washington.