AMES -- Highlighted by Big 12 Conference Player of the Week honors in late April, Iowa State University sophomore Logan Schaben batted .203 and hit six home runs this past spring in helping the Cyclone softball team finish 23-33 overall and 4-14 in the Big 12 for sixth place. An infielder and designated hitter for ISU, Schaben is the daughter of Gary and Jackie Schaben, rural Portsmouth, and a 2016 graduate of Harlan Community High School.

 MACOMB, ILL. -- Dillon Sears started 41 games and batted .217 in his first season of NCAA Division I baseball this past spring, helping the Western Illinois Fighting Leathernecks finish 17-31 overall and notch their most conference wins since 2006 with a 14-12 record in the Summit League. The freshman infielder is the son of Chad and Janelle Sears, Westphalia, and a 2017 Harlan Community High School graduate.

 EL DORADO, KS -- Iowa Western Community College sophomore Marcus Klein earned All-American status for the second straight year by placing second in the decathlon at the 2018 NJCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships held May 17-19. Klein, a 2016 graduate of Harlan Community High School, is the son of Rose Stitz, Harlan, and Tracy Klein.

 HARLAN -- The Harlan Community football team will hold its annual preseason “soap” scrimmage, hosted by the Harlan Lions Club, on Thursday, August 16, at Merrill Field. The freshmen team will scrimmage at 6:00 p.m., followed by the varsity scrimmage at approximately 7:30. The area’s other three prep football teams will also hold public scrimmages later this week.

 PORTSMOUTH (Aug. 8) -- The National League squad blew open a close game with 10 runs in the final two innings to defeat the American League 13-3 in Wednesday night’s Iowa Western Baseball League All-Star Game at Portsmouth. The NL team consisted of players from Portsmouth, Panama and Persia while the AL selected players from Council Bluffs, Walnut and Massena.

 SIOUX FALLS, SD -- Chad Swanson, a longtime Harlan Community teacher and coach, was honored at the National High School Athletic Coaches Association’s national convention June 26 as a finalist for the National (Girls) Assistant Coach of the Year. Swanson was one of just eight finalists chosen from throughout the country for this award.

 HARLAN -- The Harlan Community volleyball team began practicing for the 2018 season Monday morning (Aug. 6) as it looks to build on last year’s 23-13 match record. Second-year head coach Willie Baughman expects to start the season with a roster of approximately 35 players in grades 9-12.

 HARLAN -- The annual Harlan Community Cyclone Cross Country Camp for grades 7-12 is being held this week (August 6-10) with 44 total runners in attendance. The five-day camp will conclude with a timed four-kilometer race Friday morning at Prairie Rose State Park.

 LOGAN -- The Harlan Community Summer Swim Team capped an undefeated season here July 7 by winning its 12th consecutive Western Iowa Swim League conference meet title. Harlan placed first in 39 of 78 events on the day, set three school records and scored 740 points to win handily over second-place Missouri Valley (482).

 DES MOINES -- Seniors Sophia Peppers of Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton (Class 1A) and Peyton Gross of IKM-Manning (2A) are both first-team selections and five other area players have also been recognized on the Iowa Girls’ Coaches Association’s 2018 All-State Softball teams. Peppers is a repeat first-team selection after twice being named to the second team earlier in her career.

 HARLAN -- With the 2018 season opener just three weeks away, the Harlan Community football team is holding its annual Cyclone Camp of Champions this week (July 30-August 3) at Merrill Field. According to HCHS head coach Curt Bladt, this year’s high school camp includes 80-85 players while the four-day middle school camp for grades 7-8 includes 48 players.

 HARLAN -- Harlan Community senior defensive end Jake McLaughlin recently made his verbal commitment to play football at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls starting in the fall of 2019.

 PORTSMOUTH (July 29) -- Top-seeded Council Bluffs plated three runs in the bottom of the first and cruised to an 11-1, seven-inning win over Portsmouth in Sunday’s championship game of the Iowa Western Baseball League Tournament. Council Bluffs outhit Portsmouth 13-6 and capped the scoring with a five-run fifth inning. Matt Brown led C.B. with three hits, including a home run.

 IOWA CITY -- Harlan Community seniors Jared Moser and Ryan Doran will play for head coach Steve Daeges one last time this weekend as part of the Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association All-Star Series at Duane Banks Field in Iowa City. Moser, a catcher, and Doran, a first baseman, have been selected to play for the Small Schools West Squad, with Daeges serving as the head coach.

 DES MOINES (July 31) -- Class 3A state runner-up Harlan Community had three players recognized on the 2018 All-State Baseball teams released Tuesday by the Iowa Print Sports Writers Association. HCHS junior pitcher Brett Sears and senior first baseman Ryan Doran were both named to the 3A first team while senior outfielder Nick Foss was a second-teamer. All three players have contributed to the Cyclones’ four-year run of state title game appea