High School Track
The Washington boys’ team will host the Steve Roth Relays tonight 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 Tuesday, April 1st.
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.
Southeast Iowa Playbook
Last night was a new episode of the Southeast Iowa Playbook with Mt. Pleasant’s girls’ and boys’ track and field head coaches Scot Lamm and Shawn Striegel, respectively, and girls’ tennis head coach Martha Peterson discussing their teams heading into the spring sport season. Coach Peterson dove into how competitive the next couple of practices are going to be for her squad,
“So, I have Bethany Drury and Audrey Richmond, who are my two returning varsity players. This will be their third year with varsity experience. So, I’m expecting great things from them. They’ll be real leaders for the team and not to mention probably fill in some of those top spots on the varsity squad. What’s fun about a season like this is that I have 4 varsity spots up for grabs and I see sort of a solid top five group that will be working through challenge matches over the next several days to figure out exactly who falls in which spot, but that sixth spot, at least in my opinion, is kind of up for grabs among another group of maybe four or five players. So, those challenge matches that we’re working through will help to determine that for me there, this may be a year where there’s a little fluctuation even throughout the season… So, it’ll be a good year. It’ll be a fun year to see who battles and who really wants those spots and who is willing to fight for them.”
If you missed last night’s episode, then follow this link: Mt. Pleasant Episode
Southeastern Community College
The softball team crushed Marshalltown Community College in their doubleheader yesterday, snapping a three-game losing streak. Game one saw Navy Clark pitch a nine strikeout, five-inning no-hitter as the Blackhawks went on to win 22-0. Mackenzie Sweeney and Duanna Coyle led the way with four RBIs apiece.
Game two was much of the same as SCC tagged the Tigers for eight runs in the first inning to go on to win 13-1. Tayler Braun smacked a double and finished with a game high three RBIs. The Blackhawks tallied 16 extra base hits between the two games Coyle and Lauren Summers each tabbed a home run and a double. The softball team is back in action at home today in a doubleheader against John Wood Community College.
The baseball team extended their win streak to six after picking up a pair of road wins against Ellsworth Community College yesterday, taking game one 11-10 and continuing the offensive momentum into game two with a 16-4 final. The Blackhawks will travel to Northeast Community College tomorrow, March 28th, for a doubleheader.
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 today.
This Day in Sports History
1871 – First international rugby union match – Scotland beats England 1-0 at Raeburn Place, Edinburgh.
1939 – First NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship: Oregon beats Ohio State, 46-33; Ohio State forward Jimmy Hull is named tournament Most Outstanding Player.
1951 – 13th NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship: Kentucky beats Kansas, 68-58; Wildcats’ third title; a 16-team field is introduced.