High School Track and Field
The first day of the 2024 State Track and Field championships is in the books with today and tomorrow, May 18th, still yielding opportunities for our local athletes. First, here’s the highlights from yesterday’s slate of events.
Girls’ Class 3A discus got the day rolling yesterday and Mt. Pleasant’s Kya Goodrich snuck into the finals and then improved her position to 7th place with a throw of 119 feet and 6 inches, giving the Panthers two points for their team total.
The boys’ Class 3A high jump yielded a state champion in Eli Zillman, a sophomore from Fairfield. After almost slipping up early in the competition, Zillman hit a season best mark of 6 feet and 9 inches to win the gold. Additionally, Fairfield’s Ryan Giberson added two more points for the Trojans with a leap of 6 feet and 3 inches, claiming 7th place. Fort Madison’s Kenden Bowie cleared 6 feet and 7 inches to finish in 5th place.
Shifting towards the early running events, Fort Madison’s Avery Rump took 5th place in the Class 3A 3000-meter run with a time of 10 minutes and 27 seconds.
Solomon Zaugg’s last lap heroics captured the crown in the 3200-meter run with a time of 9 minutes and 19 seconds, earning ten points for Mediapolis. Moreover, Noah Schmidgall advanced to the Class 2A 200-meter finals tomorrow with the 3rd best run of the heat.
The Bulldogs kept up that pace in the 4×800 meter relay as they captured 2nd place with a time of 7 minutes and 51 seconds and eight more points.
Mt. Pleasant’s Alex Scott advanced to the girls’ Class 3A 100-meter dash with a time of 12.41 seconds, the sixth fastest time. West Burlington’s Landry Haberichter qualified on the boys’ side for Class 2A with the fastest run of the heat: 10.89 seconds.
The Columbus boys’ team in the shuttle hurdle relay kicked off the second half of the meet with the fourth fastest time of 1 minute and 2 seconds, qualifying the Wildcats for the finals.
The Danville boys’ team captured 6th place in the 4×800 meter relay with a time of 8 minutes and 12 seconds.
Hillcrest Academy’s Rya Scott culminated her busy day with the sixth fastest time of the girls’ Class 1A 100-meter dash with a time of 12.69 seconds, qualifying for tomorrow’s finals. Burlington’s Mylee Stiefel qualified for the girls’ Class 4A 100-meter dash finals with a time of 12.2 seconds, the second best time of the field.
For the field events, Owen Scott of Hillcrest Academy took 3rd place in the boys’ Class 1A long jump with a leap of 21 feet and 7.75 inches.
Kenna Furnald of Danville finished in 7th place in the girls’ Class 1A long jump with a leap of 16 feet and 3.75 inches. Lastly, Russell Coil of Columbus claimed the bronze in the boys’ Class 1A shot put with a heave of 51 feet and 10.25 inches.
Today’s events are all about relays and hurdles as the Winfield-Mt. Union boys’ team gets into the action today and the Mt. Pleasant boys’ team will have their lone competitor, Avin Truong, compete in the boys’ Class 3A long jump.
If you would like to watch the meet, the Iowa High School Sports Network (IHSSN) will live stream and broadcast the coed State Track Championship today through Saturday. It will air on the IHSSN Cable Network and be streamed for free at IHSSN.com or the WatchIHSSN app. You can access the stream through the IHSAA or IGHSAU websites. KILJ will bring updates throughout the three day event.
High School Soccer
The Central Lee girls’ team will take on Assumption, the #1-seed, on Tuesday, May 21st, at 7 pm in the Class 1A Region 1 semifinals.
In the boys’ Class 1A Substate 6 postseason bracket, Central Lee will have their hands full when they travel to #1 West Branch on Monday, May 20th, at 7 pm.
In the bottom half of the bracket, Danville will face off against Mediapolis in the semifinal on Monday at Mediapolis.
In the boys’ Class 2A Substate 5 bracket, Keokuk will take on Williamsburg on the road on Monday at 7 pm.
Burlington Notre Dame will compete against Assumption on Monday at 7 pm on the road.
The Burlington Notre Dame girls’ team will travel to Mt. Pleasant tonight for the Class 2A Region 8 quarterfinal at 5:30 pm.
High School Tennis
Jana Isanta of Mt. Pleasant will participate in the girls’ Class 1A State Singles tournament on May 24th in Iowa City.
High School Golf.
The girls’ Class 1A state meet will take place at the American Legion Golf Course in Marshalltown on May 23rd, continuing into May 24th, with New London eyeing a team title.
The Class 2A state meet will take place at Cedar Pointe Golf Course in Boone on May 23rd with Olivia Hines of Mediapolis competing as an individual and Mid-Prairie participating as a team.
The boys’ state meet is set to begin on May 20th in Ames with Washington competing as a team for Class 3A at Veenker Memorial Golf Course and Winfield-Mt. Union for Class 1A at Ames Golf and Country Club.
High School Baseball
Mt. Pleasant swept their first week of competition with an 8-4 win over Cardinal last night on the road. The Panthers jumped on the Comets early, scoring five runs in the first half-inning of the contest. Zach Newton did most of the damage with a double and five RBIs, while Carson Andreasen smacked his own double and tallied two RBIs of his own. J.C. Sitar grabbed a triple in his lone hit of the game. Payton Hagans was electric on the mound, going 4.2 innings and striking out 10 Comets to earn the win. The Panthers will host Clear Creek Amana on Wednesday, May 22nd, at 7 pm.
Burlington Notre Dame will travel to Don Bosco tomorrow, May 18th, for an invitational.
West Burlington will host Keokuk on Monday, May 20th, at 7:30 pm.
Central Lee will start their season on Monday on the road against Fort Madison at 7 pm.
Winfield-Mt. Union will take on New London on Tuesday, May 21st, at 5:30 pm.
Mediapolis will square off against Lone Tree on Tuesday at 5:30 pm at home.
Van Buren County will face off against Hillcrest Academy on Tuesday at 5:30 pm at home.
High School Softball
Central Lee will travel to Fort Madison on Monday, May 20th, at 7 pm.
Winfield-Mt. Union will hit the road to face off against New London at 7 pm on Tuesday, May 21st.
Mt. Pleasant will scrimmage Winfield-Mt. Union on Monday at 6 pm.
Mediapolis will square off against Lone Tree on Tuesday at 7 pm at home.
Van Buren County will travel to take on Fairfield at 7:30 pm on Monday.
West Burlington will face off against Keokuk at home on Monday at 7 pm.
This Day in Sports History
1875 – The first Kentucky Derby: Oliver Lewis aboard Aristides wins in 2:37.75.
1915 – Cubs George “Zip” Zabel relieves with 2 outs in the first and winds up with a 4-3 19-inning win over Brooklyn in the longest relief job ever.
1964 – The first Tim Horton’s coffee and donut shop opens in Hamilton, Ontario by NHL player Tim Horton.