HARLAN -- There’s still work to be done, but the 2019-2020 girls basketball season was certainly one of progress for the Harlan Community Cyclones. Without a single senior in uniform, HCHS improved its record by eight wins from a year ago, going 13-10 overall, and tied for fourth with a 6-4 mark in the Hawkeye Ten Conference, which boasted four state qualifiers. One year after starting 0-8, the Cyclones won their first four games of the seaso

 HARLAN -- Longtime Harlan Community teacher and coach Bill Hosack died on Saturday, March 28, in Harlan following a lengthy battle with cancer.

 CARROLL -- The Harlan Swim Club finished a successful 2019-2020 season bringing home 22 medals from the Greater Iowa Swim League State Meet in Carroll on Saturday, February 29. The Harlan team qualified 58 state entries overall as 23 kids participated, including 21 individual qualifiers.

 AREA (March 26) -- The Iowa High School Athletic Association released the 2020 regular season football schedules Thursday for all participating schools in the state. Among the area schools, Harlan Community, IKM-Manning and Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton will each play five home games and four road games. AHSTW will have four home games and five on the road.

Hawkeye Ten Girls All-Conference Teams

Class 1A: West CentralZoey Baylor, CAM, jr.Macy Emgarten, Exira-EHK, so.Quinn Grubbs, Exira-EHK, fr.Aleah Hermensen, Audubon, so.Danielle Hoyle, Paton-Churdan, jr.Sammi Jahde, CAM, sr.Katelyn Neilsen, Boyer Valley, jr.Allie Petry, St. Albert, jr.Jadeyn Smith, Ar-We-Va, jr.Hannah Whitver, Glidden-Ralston, sr.Coach of the YearTom Petersen, Exira-EHK

Class 1A Girls: WestFirst TeamLexi Shockley, Sgt. Bluff-Luton, jr.Carrington Meek, Red Oak, sr.Ania Kaster, HCHS, so.Jayden Gessert, HCHS, sr.Madison Horn, HCHS, so.Kaitlyn Dolecheck, Mount Ayr, sr.Second TeamAly Johnson, Clarinda, fr.Abby Swank, HCHS, jr.Aylssa Dukes, Shenandoah, sr.Lillian Johnson, Red Oak, sr.Chelsey Hoakison, Lenox, jr.Ireland Palmer, Shenandoah, sr.Coach of the YearDavid Tyrrel, HCHS

 DES MOINES -- Jim Stessman of Harlan was recognized prior to Harlan Community’s Class 3A Boys State Basketball Tournament quarterfinal game on March 10 as the school’s Iowa Farm Bureau Fan of the Game. Stessman, a 1979 graduate of Harlan Community High School, has been employed by the school since 1986 and is a strong supporter of Cyclone athletics.

 DES MOINES -- Harlan residents Kyle Manz and George Applegate were both selected by the Iowa High School Athletic Association to work at the 2020 Boys State Basketball Tournament March 9-13 at Wells Fargo Arena. Manz served as a tournament game official throughout the week while Applegate was one of nine people selected to work on the tournament staff as a scorer and/or timekeeper.

 DES MOINES -- Royce Ranniger, a native of Manning, was inducted into the Iowa High School Athletic Association’s 2020 Officials Hall of Fame for boys basketball during halftime of the Class 2A state championship game on Friday, March 13, at Wells Fargo Arena. Ranniger began officiating while he was a student at Briar Cliff and has been registered with the IHSAA for 39 years.

 STATE -- The Iowa High School Athletic Association and Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union issued a joint release on Tuesday, March 17, announcing the coed state qualifying track meet sites for Thursday, May 14. All spring sports and activities remain on suspension throughout the state until at least May 1 according to an update from the IHSAA and IGHSAU on Thursday, April 2. Pending an abbreviated spring sports season, the IHSAA and IGHSAU

Class 1A, Substate 7Brennan Sefrit, Bedford, sr.Trey Baker, Martensdale-St. Marys, jr.Dawson Frost, Mount Ayr, sr.Tyler Peterson, Stanton, sr.Michael Schafer, East Mills, sr.Creighton Nelson, Exira-EHK, sr.Cooper Nally, Bedford, sr.TJ Harkins, Earlham, jr.Coach of the Year - Joe Franey, Martensdale-St. Marys

 PARK CITY, KAN.

 DES MOINES (March 17) -- Harlan Community senior Connor Bruck and Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton senior Creighton Nelson both made the most of their first year as starting varsity basketball players. On Tuesday, Bruck and Nelson were named third-team all-staters in Class 3A and 1A, respectively, as the Iowa Print Sports Writers Association released its 2020 All-State Boys Basketball teams. The all-state teams were selected by a panel of sports wri

 VERMILLION, S.D. -- Taylor Frederick, the daughter of Jay and Kathy Frederick, Earling, was a member of the record-setting 2019-2020 South Dakota women’s basketball team.