By: Nathan Bloechl — sports@kilj.com
Two Panthers Named First Team All-SEC:
Mount Pleasant seniors Samantha Broeker and Sydni Coleman have both been named First Team All-SEC, the conference has announced.
Coleman was the Panther ace this summer starting 14 games logging 90.1 innings and 4.11 ERA. Coleman struck out 41 and walked just 18 in her senior season.
She was also outstanding at the plate for Mount Pleasant hitting .328 with four home runs, driving in 14 runs. Her four long balls was the top on the ball club.
Broeker, a Simpson College commit, hit a team-best .463 at the plate this year with a team-high eight doubles and 12 RBI.
The Panthers finished this year with a record of 4-18.
Iowa State Adds To Their 2020 Schedule:
Iowa State football has added Ball State as their 12th opponent on the 2020 schedule.
The Cyclones will host Ball State on September 12th.
The game is replacing the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series game against Iowa which was canceled when the Big Ten made the decision earlier this summer to only play conference games this fall.
Ball State finished 5-7 in the Mid-American Conference one year ago.
Cyclone’s Purdy Named to Manning Award Watch List:
Iowa State’s Brock Purdy has been named to the 2020 Manning Award Preseason Watch List, Iowa State has announced.
Purdy was outstanding for the Cyclones one year ago, passing for 3,982 yards and rushing for an addition 249 more while accounting for 35 total touchdowns.
The Manning Award honors the top quarterback in college football and is the only postseason award that accounts for bowl performance.
SEC Announces They’ll Play Conference Only Schedule:
The Southeastern Conference announced Thursday that the conference will play just a 10-game, conference-only schedule this year.
As part of the revamped schedule formatting, the SEC Championship Game will now be played on December 19th at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, which is two weeks later than originally planned.
The new schedule also includes one mid-season open date for each school and an open date on December 12th.
NAIA Moves National Tournament to Spring:
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has decided to move its football championships to the Spring 2021.
The decision of course comes due to concerns over COVID-19.
“Moving the football championship to the spring was the right thing to do for the well-being of our student-athletes,” said NAIA President and CEO Jim Carr.
“The decision also provides additional flexibility for our conferences and institutions to account for regional differences and plan their regular season accordingly.”
The move directly impacts Iowa programs such as Morningside, William Penn, St. Ambrose and Grandview, among others.