High School Track
The Washington boys’ team will host the Steve Roth Relays on Thursday, March 27th, with Fairfield, Mediapolis, Wapello, Mt. Pleasant, Danville, West Burlington/Notre Dame, Columbus, WACO, and Winfield-Mt. Union all competing.
The Danville, Fairfield, Mediapolis, New London, WACO, Winfield-Mt. Union, West Burlington/Notre Dame, and Mt. Pleasant girls’ teams will meet up in Burlington for the Falcon Relays on April 1st. Panther head coach Scot Lamm wants his team to get back up top the pedestal of the conference again,
“That’s always the goal. Washington hadn’t won the conference since 1979, and like I said, you know, we won ten of the last 12 and we certainly pride ourselves on being good not only in Southeast Iowa but across the state. Yeah, that’ll be the goal all year long, and we’ll try to chase down the demons and see if we can get that conference title back to Mount Pleasant.”
High School Basketball
The 2025 Pizza Ranch All-Star Game is scheduled for Saturday, March 29th, at Dallas Center-Grimes High School with three of our local players and a coach making the trip to compete.
On the girls’ Southeast team, WACO’s Ella Huisenga, who ranked 2nd on the team in points and 1st in rebounds, earned a spot and accompanying her will be her coach Lisa Graber. The Southeast squad will face off against the Northwest team for the first round at 10:45 am.
On the boys’ Southeast team, a pair from the Southeast Iowa Super Conference South Division will join forces in West Burlington’s Mason Watkins and Luke Hellige of Holy Trinity Catholic. Watkins and Hellige both finished within the top 10 in the state in points per game and as their respective program’s all-time leading scorer. The Southeast and Northwest will square off for their first round matchup at noon.
Southeastern Community College
The softball team will host a doubleheader against Marshalltown Community College tomorrow, March 26th.
The baseball team will hit the road tomorrow to take on Ellsworth Community College in a doubleheader.
College Basketball
The #6-seed Iowa woman’s team proved to be outmatched in their showdown with the #3-seed Oklahoma yesterday, losing 96-62. Lucy Olsen collected 20 points in the loss. The Hawkeyes finished the season with a 23-11 record.
Ben McCollum will be the 23rd head coach in Iowa men’s basketball history after accepting the job yesterday. McCollum sports an 81.8 winning percentage in his career and holds four NCAA Division II National Championships when he coached at Northwest Missouri State. He was named Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year after leading Drake to a conference regular season and tournament title along with a win in March Madness. McCollum will have an introductory press conference today at 3:30 pm.
March Madness
The KILJ bracket challenge, sponsored by The Press Box and Wiley’s Interior Furnishings and Design, is officially underway with nearly 50 brackets submitted with the top three set to receive prizes.
The standings have been updated through the first two rounds. For a look at the top 10 breakdown, follow this link: KILJ Bracket Challenge Standings
The standings will be updated after the Elite Eight, Final Four, and championship matchup. The Sweet 16 will be back in action on Thursday, March 27th.
This Day in Sports History
1934 – The Masters Tournament was held for the first time. Horton Smith becomes the inaugural Champion with a 20-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole.
1972 – Chicago Blackhawks’ Bobby Hull becomes the 2nd NHLer to score 600 goals, with a goal in Boston assisted by his brother Dennis.
1986 – Kurt Browning becomes the first figure skater to land a quadruple jump.