By: Nathan Bloechl — sports@kilj.com
College Football: Central Favorited for ARC Crown:
The Central College Dutch are the coaches’ choice to win the 2021 American Rivers Conference Football title.
Central was chosen first on eight ballots and earned 64 points to earn the No. 1 ranking.
Two years ago, the last time conference football was played, the Dutch split the title with Wartburg. The Knights garnered 56 points in the poll and received one first-place vote.
Dubuque debuts at No. 3 in the coaches’ poll, earning 47 points, and Coe picked up 43 points to put them at the No. 4 spot.
Simpson tallied 36 points to put them at the No. 5 spot and Loras picked up 31 points to earn sixth.
Nebraska Wesleyan, Luther, and Buena Vista finished seventh, eighth, and ninth, respectively.
Central is entering the season ranked No. 14 while Wartburg is entering ranked No. 18 in D3football.com’s Top 25 Preseason Poll.
The 2021 season kicks off on Saturday, September 4 with all nine members of the American Rivers Conference taking the field.
Prep Cross Country: Revisiting Area Rankings:
The Danville-New London boys’ cross country will enter their 2021 season as the top dogs among the Class 2A pack.
Earlier this week, the Iowa Association of Track Coaches announced their preseason rankings and Danville-New London checks in at No. 1 following a terrific 2020 year.
Now, expectations remain the same.
Joining them in the 2A top-five are Western Christian, Tipton, Williamsburg and Des Moines Christian.
Davis County is the preseason No. 8 in Class 2A boys’.
No area teams are featured in the 2A girls’ poll.
Pekin is in the top-10 in Class 1A boys’ — the Panthers being their season No. 9.
Columbus Junction is No. 14.
The Pekin girls’ are No. 3 to begin the season in Class 1A, as well.
Individual preseason rankings are expected to be released next week.
College Sports: Iowa State Names Soles to Associate AD Role:
Adam Soles, who has 11 years of professional experience at three Power Five institutions, has been selected as Iowa State’s new Associate Athletics Director for Compliance, Cyclone Athletics Director Jamie Pollard announced Friday.
Soles returns to Iowa State after spending the last five years as Pitt’s Associate Athletics Director for Administration.
Prior to leading the Pitt compliance efforts, Soles spent four years as an Assistant Director of Compliance at Iowa State, where he implemented and enhanced the Cyclones monitoring processes and oversaw camps and clinics to ensure compliance with NCAA legislation.
He began his career as an extern/intern at the University of Nebraska before joining the ISU staff.