High School Track
For Class 1A, only first place finishers from each state qualifier automatically qualified for the state meet with the next 14 best performances statewide getting a spot. Here’s a look at local qualifiers from WACO’s meet.
The Columbus boys’ team took the team win with 123 points with New London finishing in 4th place with 67 points.
Columbus had Alexander Rees outsprint his teammate Lamar Ceant by six-hundredths of a second in the 200-meter dash. Rees pulled off another upset against Ceant in the 110-meter hurdles, outdueling his teammate by two-hundredths of a second with a time of 14.72 seconds. The Wildcats had the squad of Rees, Ceant, Jonathan Miranda, and Riley Kaalberg take the shuttle hurdle relay with a time of 1 minute.
For the Tigers, London Franklin claimed the top spot in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.32 seconds. New London’s team of Cale Westerbeck, Gavin Strawhacker, Brigham Porter, and Franklin won the 4×100 and 4×200 meter relays.
Winfield-Mt. Union’s Kohlby Newsom cruised to victories in the 400-meter dash with a time of 50.27 seconds and the 800-meter run with a mark of 1 minute and 57 seconds.
Kolton Small of Wapello swept the throwing events with a toss of 49 feet and 5.75 inches in the shot put and a mark of 140 feet and 7 inches in the discus.
On the girls’ side, WACO was the highest team finisher with a 5th place team score of 62 points followed by Danville with 61 points. The Warriors finished in 2nd place in two events, including Jose Dykstra’s time of 1 minute and 9 seconds in the 400-meter hurdles.
The Bears had Alaina Gourley claim 1st place in the 400-meter dash with a time of 58.87 seconds and the 800-meter run with a time of 2 minutes and 24 seconds. Gourley anchored the sprint medley relay squad of Macie Wagner, Violette Sowell, and Delaney Newberry as they won the race with a time of 1 minute and 52 seconds.
Josie Nelson of Winfield-Mt. Union’s time of 16.25 seconds won the gold medal in the 100-meter hurdles. Freshman Kynlee Buffington clinched the win in the long jump with her best leap of the season, getting a mark of 17 feet and 8 inches.
Van Buren County made the trip to Wayne last night and the boys’ team finished in 2nd place with 106 points, while the girls’ team collected 96 points for 4th place.
On the boys’ side, the Warriors had the team of Bryce Moquin, Kayden Simmons, Izaak Loeffler, and Lincoln Bainbridge win the sprint medley relay with a time of 1 minute and 35 seconds. Bryce Newcomb replaced Moquin in the distance medley, which claimed 1st place with a time of 3 minutes and 37 seconds. The girls’ team took second place in five different events.
For Classes 2A and 3A, the top two place winners advance to state along with the next eight performances statewide.
Mediapolis made the trip to Monticello last night and the boys’ team claimed 2nd place with 71.5 points, while the girls’ team accrued 48 points for 7th place. Simon Wendel finished in 2nd place with a time of 4 minutes and 35 seconds in the 1600-meter run. The Bulldogs had the squad of Kyler Crow, Noah Schmidgall, Henry and Will Luttenegger grab 1st place in the 4×100 meter relay with a time of 44.64 seconds and the 4×400 meter relay with a mark of 3 minutes and 27 seconds. Lathan Keller cleared 6 feet and 1 inch to take 2nd place in the high jump.
Central Lee traveled to PCM and Kegan Damico’s 2nd place finish in the 400-meter dash with a time of 56.91 seconds earned the senior a spot at the state meet. On the girls’ side, Aubrey Weber took the bronze in the shot put with a heave of 34 feet and 6 inches.
Mt. Pleasant hosted their state qualifier last night and the girls’ team took home 2nd place with 154 points as a team, while the Fairfield boys’ team grabbed the silver with 120 points.
On the girls’ side, Mt. Pleasant had Alex Scott collect victories in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.31 seconds and the 200-meter dash with a mark of 26.17 seconds. Kiyah Sanders also qualified in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.88 seconds, which was good enough for 2nd place. The Panther team of Kynlee White, Taylor Williamson, Sanders, and Scott took the 4×100 meter relay and claimed 2nd place in the 4×200 meter relay with the squad of Ellie Freeman, White, Sanders, and Scott. Freeman, Sanders, and White were joined by Izzy Sloat to finish in 2nd place in the sprint medley relay with a time of 1 minute and 51 seconds. Additionally, Sloat managed to leap 16 feet and 9.25 inches in the long jump to finish in 2nd place. The last automatic qualifier for Mt. Pleasant was Ella Ensminger in the shot put with a 2nd place heave of 39 feet and 3.5 inches.
Fairfield’s Lilly Bergren won the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 15.47 seconds and claimed the silver in the 400-meter hurdles with a mark of 1 minute and 8 seconds.
On the boys’ side for Fairfield, Gabe Tejada won the 800-meter run with a time of 1 minute and 58 seconds. In the 400-meter hurdles, Dylan Adam took 2nd place with a time of 55.68 seconds. The distance medley team of Blake Burnett, Ousman Saine, Tejada, and Adam claimed 1st place with a time of 3 minutes and 38 seconds. In the high jump, the Trojans grabbed both the gold and silver as Eli Zillman cleared 6 feet and 7 inches, followed by Ryan Giberson with a leap of 6 feet and 5 inches.
Stay tuned to KILJ for a full list of our local state qualifiers and for updates and results throughout the three-day event starting on Thursday, May 22nd.
High School Tennis
The Mt. Pleasant boys’ team will compete against Grinnell for the first round of the team Substate 7 tournament at Kennedy High School tomorrow, May 17th.
The Fairfield boys’ team will face off against Centerville at home tomorrow for their first round matchup for Substate 8.
The Mt. Pleasant girls’ team will travel back to Fairfield today for their team Regional Tournament.
High School Golf
The girls’ Class 1A Region 5 meet will take place today in Wapello with Winfield-Mt. Union, WACO, New London, Danville, Holy Trinity Catholic, and Columbus making the trip.
The Mediapolis and Central Lee girls’ teams will head to Kalona for the Class 2A Region 5B meet today.
The Mt. Pleasant and Fairfield girls’ teams will compete in the Class 3A Regional on Wednesday, May 21st, at Edmundson Golf Course.
The boys’ Class 1A District meet for Winfield-Mt. Union, Wapello, and Holy Trinity Catholic will take place at Heritage Oaks in Wapello on Monday, May 19th.
The boys’ Class 2A District Meet for Mediapolis and Central Lee will take place in Pella on Monday.
The boys’ Class 3A District meet featuring Washington will be hosted by West Delaware on Monday at Pin Oak Links.
High School Soccer
Camryn Bailey was unstoppable for the Mediapolis girls’ team last night, notching four goals in a 5-1 victory against Keokuk. The Mediapolis girls’ team will face off against Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union on Wednesday, May 21st, at 7 pm at home for postseason play.
The Fairfield girls’ team escaped Centerville last night with a 2-1 victory, snapping a seven-game winless streak. Emmelia Miller and Lexi Mast picked up the goals for the Trojans. The Fairfield boys’ team will travel to Oskaloosa tonight at 6:30 pm.
The boys’ SEISC tournament semifinals are set for tonight. Mediapolis will take on Highland with the winner advancing to the championship tomorrow, May 17th, at Central Lee at 10 am. #6 Burlington Notre Dame will travel to Central Lee tonight for their semifinal matchup scheduled to start at 7 pm.
The WACO boys’ team will hit the road to take on Sigourney Keota tonight at 5 pm.
The Burlington Notre Dame girls’ team will host Davenport Central tonight at 5 pm.
The Central Lee girls’ team will start Regional play on Monday, May 19th, on the road against Fairfield at 7 pm.
The Wapello girls’ team will face off against Mid-Prairie in the Class 1A Region 3 first round at 7 pm on Monday.
The Mt. Pleasant girls’ team will compete against Ottumwa on Monday on the road at 4:30 pm.
Southeastern Community College
The Iowa Community College Athletic Association Conference (ICCAC) has released the Division II All-Region Baseball teams and Southeastern Community College’s head coach Justin Schulte took home Coach of the Year honors for the second consecutive season, while Abrahan Rios was named Defensive Player of the Year.
In his 20th season at the helm for the Blackhawks, the three-time Coach of the Year winner led the team to his second consecutive ICCAC regular season title with a 29-4 record. Additionally, under his leadership, Schulte helped SCC fly as high as being ranked 3rd nationally and currently sit in 6th with a 48-13 record. If the Blackhawks earn an at-large bid for the NJCAA World Series, then it would be their third straight appearance.
Abrahan Rios was a force at the plate with a 0.294 batting average and had the ability to push across runs with 34 RBIs for the season, but he also possessed an elite glove. Rios committed only two errors in 52 games and recorded 228 outs in ICCAC play, which ranked second in the conference.
Michael Farina, Jackson Petsche, Zach Moorman, Keaton Fenn, and Owen Thomson were named to the All-Region First Team.
This Day in Sports History
1957 – NY Yankee players including Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, and Hank Bauer are involved in a brawl at the Copacabana nightclub while watching Sammy Davis Jr. perform, leads to the Billy Martin trade.
1984 – Harvey Mackay pays $218,718 for 44,166 tickets to keep the Twins in Minnesota. The Twins sell 51,863 tickets but only 6,346 fans show up for the game.
2019 – Brooks Koepka ties the tournament record and breaks the course record when he shoots a 63 (-7) to lead the PGA Championship by one stroke after the 1st round at Bethpage Black, New York.