NEWTON -- Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton’s first-ever trip to the Boys State Golf Tournament resulted in a shiny new object for the school trophy case. Led by top-15 finishes from sophomore twin brothers Everette and Will Carroll, the Spartans scored consistent rounds of 350 and 346 at Newton’s Westwood Golf Course to place third out of nine teams in the Class 1A state meet held May 24-25. Grundy Center improved by 29 strokes on day two and claime

 HARLAN (May 26) -- For the first 30 minutes of Saturday’s scorching substate final at Merrill Field, the Perry boys soccer team dodged one bullet after another fired by Harlan Community. It was only a matter of time, or so it appeared, until the fifth-ranked (Class 2A) Cyclones would break the seal and start scoring goals on the No.

 DES MOINES (May 26) -- Another successful AHSTW boys soccer season came to an end on Saturday afternoon as the Vikings were shut out by ninth-ranked Des Moines Christian, 5-0, in a Class 1A, Substate 7 final. The Vikings were held to just four shots on goal and seven total shots while the Lions finished with 18 and 32, respectively, led by a three-goal hat trick from Blake Witty. Ben Webster (2 assists) and Curran Ingram also scored goals for

 HARLAN (May 25) -- A Kylee Hinz hat trick led the way Friday as the Harlan Community girls soccer team snapped a nine-game losing streak and picked up some momentum for postseason play with a 5-1 home win over Creston. Savannah Parman and Hannah Bissen also scored goals for the Cyclones, who improved to 2-14 overall and finished 2-5 in Hawkeye Ten Conference play - good for sixth place out of eight teams.

 OAKLAND -- Cloey Case scored two goals while Chloe Falkena and Jordyn Holtz added one apiece last Monday (May 21) as the AHSTW girls soccer team capped the regular season with a 4-1 win at Riverside. Holtz, who led the Lady Vikes with eight total shots and five shots on goal, also distributed the team’s only two assists of the game while senior goalie Morgan Eckmann captured 10 saves. AHSTW (7-7 overall) will now travel to Urbandale to face 1

 HARLAN -- The Harlan Community softball team opened the season with a 2-1 home stand during the first half of last week, winning close games against Underwood and Kuemper Catholic before losing to Sioux City Heelan in eight innings.HCHS 4, Underwood 2 Trailing 2-1 after five and a half innings, the Cyclones put together a three-run rally in the bottom of the sixth to beat the Eagles 4-2 in the May 21 season opener. Morgan Schaben pitched a th

 LE MARS -- Harlan Community senior golfer Ellen Keast saved the best round of her career for the perfect time last Monday (May 21), qualifying for state with a sixth-place round of 93 in the Class 3A Regional Final Tournament held at Le Mars’ Willow Creek Golf Course.

 ATLANTIC -- Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton sophomore Jacey Anthofer qualified for the Class 1A Girls State Golf Tournament last Monday (May 21) by placing sixth in the regional final meet held at the Atlantic Country Club. Anthofer scored a 92 on the 18-hole course and will now compete at the 1A state meet May 29-30 at Marshalltown’s American Legion Golf Course. Griswold (387) and Woodbury Central (424) were the team state qualifiers from the Atla

    HARLAN – Colonel Justin Wagner was the Officer in Charge of a 53-person Iowa National Guard team and 35-member Military Police active duty Army Team from European Command in a two-week training exercise in Kosovo, geared toward building relationships and improving long-term security in the region.    Wagner, who also serves as superintendent of the Harlan Community Schools, served as the lead evaluator of the Kosovo Security Forces for the