High School Track
The 2025 State Track and Field meet commenced yesterday and some of our local athletes walked away with hardware after the first day, while some other competitors advanced to the finals tomorrow, May 24th. Here’s some of the highlights from yesterday’s events.
Classes 2A and 3A kicked off the day with the field events and a quartet of local talent challenged for the boys’ Class 3A high jump title. Kenden Bowie of Fort Madison leapt over 6 feet and 3 inches but needed all three of his attempts, while Fairfield’s Ryan Giberson and Eli Zillman each cleared it in one attempt. However, the height of 6 feet and 5 inches was too much for our competitors, leading to Bowie tying for 4th place and Giberson and Zillman sharing the silver medal.
In the girls’ Class 3A 3000-meter run, Avery Rump of Fort Madison snatched 5th place with a time of 10 minutes and 22 seconds.
Southeast Iowa’s speed was on display on both the boys’ and girls’ sides of Class 3A. Mt. Pleasant’s Alex Scott grabbed the last spot to qualify for the girls’ 100-meter finals with a time of 12.42 seconds. Ryan Bair of Keokuk qualified for both the 200-meter dash finals, with a time of 21.89 seconds, and the 100-meter dash, after sprinting to a time of 10.8 seconds. West Burlington/Notre Dame’s Landry Haberichter will be joining him in the 100-meter dash finals as he secured the 4th fastest time of 10.73 seconds. The finals are scheduled for Saturday at 12:50 pm.
In the boys’ 4×800 meter relay, Fort Madison outdueled Washington with a 6th place time of 8 minutes and 1 seconds, while the Demons finished two seconds behind for 8th place.
Lastly for the boys’ Class 3A field events, Greyson Hartman of Washington slung the discus 169 feet and 8 inches, which was good enough to earn the sophomore the bronze.
Classes 1A and 4A carried the momentum into their field events as Winfield-Mt. Union’s Kynlee Buffington nabbed 7th place in the girls’ Class 1A long jump, getting a mark of 16 feet and 8 inches. Kylee Hill of Burlington entered the discus event with the 23rd best throw from the state qualifiers and managed to finish as the runner-up with a throw of 149 feet and 3 inches.
On the boys’ Class 1A side of the field events, New London’s London Franklin flew to a silver medal in the long jump with a mark of 21 feet and 11.25 inches. Kolton Small of Wapello rattled off a 6th place throw of 50 feet and 0.75 in the shot put.
Danville’s Alaina Gourley sprinted to a personal record time of 58.44 seconds, earning 4th place in the girls’ Class 1A 400-meter dash and five points for the Bears. In the boys’ Class 1A 400-meter dash, Kohlby Newsom of Winfield-Mt. Union took home his own 4th place time of 50.11 seconds.
London Franklin continued his excellent day with a 5th place time of 11.11 seconds in the boys’ Class 1A 100-meter dash prelims. He will race tomorrow for the finals.
Lastly, Columbus had Lamar Ceant and Alexander Rees earn spots in the boys’ Class 1A 200-meter dash finals, which will race tomorrow at 2:05 pm. The Wildcats will also be competing in the shuttle hurdle relay finals tomorrow at 12:15 pm after notching a 7th place time of 1 minute and 1 second.
Stay tuned to KILJ for more updates through the final two days of the 2025 State Track and Field Meet.
High School Tennis
Fairfield’s Rumin Luo earned the #3-seed in the boys’ Class 1A State Singles Tournament. His first round matchup will be against Ethan Valtman of Newton on Tuesday, May 27th.
High School Golf
The girls’ Class 1A state meet will be held at American Legion Golf Course in Marshalltown with New London’s Emma Busby and Wapello’s Emmalin Marshall making the trip, starting on Thursday, May 29th, and concluding on Friday, May 30th.
The boys’ Class 1A state golf meet will take place at South Hills Golf Course in Waterloo on Tuesday, May 27th, and Wednesday, May 28th.
Central Lee will contend for the boys’ Class 2A state championship starting Tuesday at Gates Park Golf Course in Waterloo.
Washington’s Drew Conrad will tee off on Tuesday at Pheasant Ridge Golf Course in Cedar Falls for the boys’ Class 3A state meet.
High School Soccer
The Burlington Notre Dame girls’ team will start their Class 2A Region 4 postseason journey tonight on the road against Clear Creek Amana at 7 pm.
In the boys’ Class 1A Substate 5 bracket, Danville will take on (14-1) West Liberty on Tuesday, May 27th, at 7 pm in a road showdown.
The Central Lee boys team will travel to Mediapolis on Tuesday at 7 pm.
In the boys’ Class 2A Substate 5 bracket, #6 Burlington Notre Dame will take on Assumption on Tuesday at 7 pm at home.
It will be a Southeast Conference battle in the boys’ Class 2A Substate 6 semifinals as Mt. Pleasant will get to host Fairfield on Tuesday at 5 pm.
In the girls’ Class 1A Region 3 bracket, Assumption will take on Washington on Wednesday, May 28th, at 7 pm.
The Mediapolis girls’ team will get to host Mid-Prairie next Wednesday at 7 pm.
High School Baseball
Mt. Pleasant’s three-run fourth inning was enough to push the Panthers past Cardinal last night for a 4-3 home victory. Zach Newton was dealing on the mound last night, notching 11 strikeouts in six innings of work. Grayson Lowery picked up the save and an RBI. The Panthers are back on the road on Tuesday, May 27th, against Clear Creek Amana for first pitch at 7 pm.
Van Buren County fell to Keokuk in a pitchers’ duel last night, 1-0. The Warriors will face off against Mt. Pleasant on Wednesday, May 28th, at 5:30 pm at home.
Wapello will host Wilton tonight at 5:30 pm.
West Burlington will stay at home for their matchup against Louisa-Muscatine tonight at 5:30 pm.
Fairfield will travel to Moravia on Tuesday at 5:30 pm.
Mediapolis will face off against New London on the road at 5:30 pm on Tuesday.
Central Lee will compete against Fairfield on Wednesday at 7:30 pm on the road.
Southeastern Community College
The baseball team earned the #7-seed for the NJCAA DII World Series and will be taking on the Great Lakes District Champion in #10 Kellogg Community College tomorrow, May 24th, at 10 am.
SCC will be hosting a summer volleyball camp starting on Monday, June 16th, and running through Wednesday, June 18th. It is open to boys and girls in grades 3 through 12 and it will be held at the Loren Walker Arena. The final day to register and pay (prices vary from $106 to $132.50 based on grade) is June 1st and there are limited spots in each session.
You can register at the following link: www.sccvolleyballcamps.com
This Day in Sports History
1873 – First Preakness Stakes: George Barbee aboard Survivor wins in 2:43 at Pimlico Race Course, Baltimore, Maryland.
2001 – Marco Siffredi becomes the first person to snowboard down Mount Everest via the Norton Couloir (some share record accreditation with Stefan Gatt).
2021 – PGA Championship Men’s Golf, Ocean Course Kiawah Island: Phil Mickelson becomes the oldest major winner in history (50); wins his 6th major by 2 strokes over Brooks Koepka and Louis Oosthuizen.