DES MOINES (May 19) -- Gage Clay’s final turn on Drake Stadium’s famed blue oval did not feature the blazing speed that Iowa prep track fans have grown accustomed to seeing over the last three years. What it did include was one of the most heartfelt and well-deserved standing ovations to occur on the third and final day of the 2018 State Co-Ed Track and Field Championships. When Saturday began, it was highly conceivable that Clay - AHSTW’s se

 DES MOINES (May 19) -- Jenny Hamilton’s first year as head coach of the AHSTW girls track team closed with two state medals, four near misses and a school record as the Lady Vikes capped a progressive season at the 2018 State Co-Ed Track and Field Championships this past weekend. Taking eight events to Des Moines - the program’s largest state meet contingent in years - AHSTW placed in the top 10 six times and scored 11 points to tie for 26th

 DES MOINES (May 18) -- State medals and personal bests were hard to come by for the Harlan Community boys track team this past weekend, but all nine Cyclone events basically finished middle of the pack or better at the 2018 State Co-Ed Track and Field Championships. Senior Nick Foss earned the lone HCHS medal with a fourth-place effort in the long jump, soaring 22 feet, 2.5 inches for the second-best mark of his two-year varsity career. The C

 DES MOINES (May 18) -- Harlan Community junior hurdler Chloe Hansen could check off every box but a school record following Friday’s 400-meter hurdles race at Drake Stadium. • Hit each hurdle in stride - check. • Improve personal-best time - check. • Take home a state medal - check. Breaking the school record will have to wait until next year, and that’s just fine with Hansen, who improved her ‘PR’ to 1:06.41 and used a strong surge to the fi

 DES MOINES (May 19) -- IKM-Manning’s sister combo of Payton and Shyanne Sporrer both competed in seven state meet events during their four years with the Wolves track team. They stamped their names on multiple school records - both individual events and relays - but prior to this year had not garnered a state medal higher than seventh. At the 2018 Co-Ed State Track and Field Championships, the Sporrer girls and their teammates went out with a

 DES MOINES (May 18) -- After qualifying just one event for the state track meet last year and three in 2016, the IKM-Manning boys were a little more busy at Drake Stadium last Thursday and Friday. The Wolves qualified six events for state and achieved season or personal-best results in three of them while falling short of any medal-winning performances in Class 1A. Junior Alex Lingle competed in a team-leading three events for the Wolves, inc

 DES MOINES (May 17) -- A top-eight medal continued to elude Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton senior Evan Wilson at last week’s co-ed state track meet, but the Spartan distance runner was able to notch a season-best time in his feature event and also compete in his first-ever state relay. Exira-EHK’s two state-qualified events took place within a two-hour window inside Drake Stadium on Thursday morning, May 17. Wilson started things off by finishing

 CRESTON (May 14) -- The Harlan Community boys soccer team notched its 12th shutout of the year and locked up second place in the Hawkeye Ten Conference standings Monday night with a 3-0 win at Creston. Tanner Fink, Cole Kramer and Aaron Wollaston each scored a goal for the fifth-ranked (2A) Cyclones, who improved to 14-1 overall and finished 6-1 in the H-10 with their second 3-0 decision this year over Creston. The Panthers dropped to 7-7 ove

 NEOLA (May 11) -- Gabe Madsen scored the only two goals of the match last Friday as the AHSTW boys soccer team improved to 11-1 overall with its second 2-0 win this year over Tri-Center. Madsen’s goals were assisted by Kyle Branan and Brayton Tuma. The 16th-ranked (Class 1A) Vikings attempted 14 total shots, including eight on goal, while goalie Lucas Young saved all five of T-C’s shots on goal.