High School Volleyball
Mt. Pleasant and Fairfield engaged in a five-set epic last night that saw the Panthers rally from a two-set-to-one deficit to win an emotional fourth set but come up short in the tiebreaker to fall to the Trojans 3-2 (23-25, 25-22, 24-26, 25-18, 7-15). Addison Clark finished the night with double-digit kills for the Panthers. Faith Jones dished out 48 assists with Natalie Steele (17 kills) and Elyse Setterstrom (18 kills) combining for 35 kills in the win. For Panther head coach Alicia Shrader, it’s about staying positive,
“I think just we’re gonna have to keep our heads up and know that we were in that and that everything we did, everything pretty much right, you know, with a few little things, the ball rolling over the net, I mean, some things we just are out of our control and then heads up that we can come back Tuesday and still fight and win, and know that we’re still a good team. It’s going to be the hardest thing to keep our confidence, but I know that they’re a good team. I know that they’re good, so we’ll keep building them up all week. You’re ready for Tuesday.”
Mt. Pleasant will get another chance at home on Tuesday, September 30th, against Burlington at 7:15 pm.
Fairfield will take their momentum back home to host Keokuk on Tuesday at 7:15 pm.
The Southeast Iowa Super Conference Tournament pool play is scheduled to start tomorrow, September 25th, with Wapello, New London, Burlington Notre Dame, and WACO acting as the hosts.
The Wapello pod will see Pekin, Louisa-Muscatine, and Mediapolis facing off against one another. Over in New London, the Tigers will play host to Danville, Winfield-Mt. Union, and Holy Trinity Catholic. Burlington Notre Dame will be taking on Highland, Columbus, and Central Lee. Lastly, WACO will see Van Buren County, West Burlington, and Hillcrest Academy.
High School Cross Country
Mt. Pleasant protected their turf for their home invitational last night as they walked away with two champions and a litany of personal records. Here’s a breakdown of the action last night.
In the girls’ large class division, Mt. Pleasant took 2nd place as a team, finishing behind Fort Madison, thanks to Avery Fedler’s top time of the meet at 18 minutes and 53 seconds. The freshman talked about how her increased training has allowed for her to stay on top of the older competition,
“I think one thing I’ve really worked on is building my mileage. So, in middle school I probably wasn’t running more than 10 miles a week, and I’ve built it up to like 30 miles a week, 10 miles is not ideal for any kind of mid distance runner, so building my mileage is definitely the key factor in my success.”
Mt. Pleasant’s Quintrie Lee finished right outside the podium with a 4th place time of 20 minutes and 10 seconds. Alex Jo Steward of Fairfield claimed 10th place with a time of 22 minutes and 32 seconds.
In the small class division for the girls’, WACO’s Josie Dykstra nearly broke the 20 minute barrier with a time of 20 minutes and 2 seconds, which was good enough for the bronze. Danville’s Alaina Gourley turned in a 4th place time of 20 minutes and 30 seconds.
Central Lee finished in 3rd as a team as they were anchored by Aubree Bunnell and Macy Anderson’s top 10 finishes. Avery Dietz led Mediapolis with a time of 22 minutes and 52 seconds. Gabriela Duran and Iris Garza finished with an identical time of 23 minutes and 48 seconds for Columbus, while Irelynn Kelly of New London clocked a time of 28 minutes and 39 seconds.
On the boys’ side of the large class division, Mt. Pleasant’s Silas Hulett shocked the field, besting a ranked runner in Fort Madison’s Riley Tripp with a time of 17 minutes-flat and the gold. Surprisingly, Hulett did not feel well heading into the race,
“I just kind of went out, I wasn’t feeling really good today and I just wanted to run my own race. I wasn’t trying to go that hard, and I figured if I don’t PR, it’s room for another day.”
Fairfield’s John Miller claimed 12th place with a time of 18 minutes and 53 seconds. Mt. Pleasant took 4th place as a team with 93 points followed by Fairfield with 97 points.
It was a tight finish in the boys’ small class division, Mediapolis’ Simon Wendel led for most of the race until Jude Dykstra of WACO flew in to steal the win on the final straightaway by three seconds with a time of 16 minutes and 23 seconds. Dykstra always loves the home reunion,
“Not really. I think I am more motivated coming back to Mount Pleasant just to, I don’t know the home crowd. I know so many people here and it’s a great environment.”
Isaac Shinn of Danville finished in 9th place with a time of 17 minutes and 37 seconds, while Ryan Villa of Columbus rounded out the top 10. Central Lee’s Caden Crozier claimed a time of 18 minutes and 52 seconds and Brayden Cline led Winfield-Mt. Union with a time of 20 minutes and 5 seconds. Lastly, Zayden Lawrence of New London clocked a time of 21 minutes and 5 seconds.
Panther girls’ head coach Lyle Murray loves seeing the community spirit when Mt. Pleasant gets to host a race,
“It’s awesome to have all the Mount Pleasant folks out. You know, the kids always get a little jacked up for it. We saw that in the start of the races a little bit on both sides, but it’s just great. You know, a lot of maroon and gold out here and we’ve got great fans, great helpers. You know, people are helping us run the course and the meet and stuff and can’t do it without them.”
Van Buren County, Wapello, Mediapolis, and Burlington Notre Dame will run at the Grayhound Invite tomorrow, September 25th.
New London and Winfield-Mt. Union will make the trip to Clear Creek Amana for an invitational on Monday, September 29th.
Mt. Pleasant and Danville will participate in the Williamsburg Invitational on Tuesday, September 30th.
WACO and Fairfield will compete at the Washington Invitational on September 30th.
High School Football
Mt. Pleasant will look to bounce back against Washington on Friday, September 26th, at home at 7:30 pm for their Homecoming. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 7:15 pm.
West Burlington/Notre Dame and Central Lee will both be looking to get back in the win column at 7 pm on Friday with the Hawks acting as the hosts.
Due to injuries, New London opted to forfeit their contest against Columbus.
Van Buren County will travel to Pekin on Friday at 7 pm.
Winfield-Mt. Union will square off against Iowa Valley on Friday at 7 pm at home.
Mediapolis will celebrate their Homecoming on Friday at 7 pm against Wilton.
Wapello will host North Cedar on Friday at 7 pm.
WACO will hit the road to take on Belle Plaine on Friday at 7 pm.
Fairfield will host Solon on Friday at 7:30 pm.
High School Girls’ Tennis
Fairfield will square off against Camanche at home today.
Southeastern Community College
The volleyball team was swept by Indian Hills Community College last night 3-0. The Blackhawks will take on Hawkeye Community College tonight at 6 pm on the road.
The men’s soccer team will host Marshalltown Community College today.
The women’s soccer team will travel to Iowa Lakes Community College on Saturday, September 27th.
College Football
Iowa will look for an upset against #11 Indiana on Saturday, September 27th, at 2:30 pm at home. KILJ 105.5 FM will have the call.
#14 Iowa State will host Arizona on Saturday at 6 pm fresh off a bye week. KILJ 98.5 FM and AM 1130 will be on the call.
This Day in Sports History
1920 – Babe Ruth becomes the first player to hit 50 home runs in a season.
1929 – New York Yankee pitcher Tom Zachary ends the season 12-0, the record for the most pitching wins without a loss in one season.
1977 – Ken Hinton of the CFL British Columbia Lions returns a punt 130 yards, a record that still stands.