High School Track and Field
The Central Lee, Danville, New London, and West Burlington boys’ teams will head to Central College on Friday, March 20th, for an indoor meet.
The Mt. Pleasant, West Burlington, Mediapolis, and Danville girls’ teams will travel to Central College for an indoor meet on Saturday, March 21st.
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 took down Baton Rouge Community College yesterday, 15-7. The Blackhawks will start their three-game road series against Ellsworth Community College on Saturday, March 21st, with a doubleheader.
The softball team will take on Dyersburg State Community College today for a road doubleheader.
The ICCAC released their Athletes of the Week for March 9th through the 15th yesterday and Kyler Kaczmarski, a right-handed pitcher, earned the honor. The freshman collected his second victory of the year after a six inning, 11 strikeout, two-hit, shutout performance against Delgado Community College this past weekend. Kaczmarski has notched a 2.31 ERA and team leading 31 strikeouts in his four appearances this season.
March Madness
The KILJ Bracket Challenge brought to you by The Press Box is back for the 2026 March Madness men’s bracket with the same rules as last year. A printable bracket was posted to KILJ’s Facebook page. The bracket must be filled out and turned in to sports@kilj.com or our station by the end of the day today.
For a full list of rules and prizes follow this link: KILJ Bracket Challenge
College Basketball
The Iowa women’s team will be the #2-seed and will clash with #15 FDU on Saturday, March 21st, at 3 pm. Ava Heiden earned All-America Honorable Mention from the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) heading into the tournament. Heiden is producing 17.4 points and 7.3 rebounds per game.
The Iowa State women’s team claimed the #8 seed and will play #9 Syracuse on Saturday 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 on Friday, March 20th, at 1:50 pm. Jack-of-all-trades, Joshua Jefferson, made the AP Second Team All-American list yesterday. Jefferson is the first player in Big 12 history to accumulate multiple triple-doubles in Big 12 play. The senior is posting 16.9 points, 7.6 rebounds, 4.9 assists, and 1.7 steals per game.
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 on Friday at 5:50 pm. The Hawkeyes will lean on AP All-American honorable mention Bennett Stirtz throughout the tournament. Stirtz is averaging 20 points per game and dishing out 4.5 assists per game.
This Day in Sports History
1892 – Canada’s Lord Stanley of Preston announced he would donate a silver challenge cup to be awarded to the nation’s best hockey team.
1945 – Montreal Canadien Maurice “Rocket” Richard becomes the first NHL player to score 50 goals.
1958 – MLB Los Angeles Dodgers announced their mascot and clown Emmett Kelly will not perform in 1958.