DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Brian Hardin has been hired as Drake’s athletic director. President Marty Martin said Tuesday that Hardin will replace Sandy Hatfield-Club in early December. Hardin, a native of Des Moines, was a deputy athletic director at Marquette. He also worked at Ball State and Notre Dame. Martin cited Hardin’s “reputation for success and integrity in all facets of athletics administration at Division I institutions.”

Hardin inherits a new men’s basketball coach in Niko Medved. But perhaps his two biggest short-term challenges will be to oversee the Drake Relays, an international track and field meet held every April on campus, and to retain women’s basketball coach Jennie Baranczyk. Baranczyk led the Bulldogs to a Top 25 ranking last season.

Regional Finals. All set for 7:00pm starts

Class 1A

Region 1: Gehlen Catholic vs. Harris-Lake Park (@ George)
Region 2: Essex vs. East Mills (@ Tabor)
Region 3: Newell-Fonda vs. Janesville (@ South Hamilton)
Region 4: North Tama vs. Coon Rapids-Bayard (@ Nevada)
Region 5: Kee vs. Tripoli (@ Cresco)
Region 6: Starmont vs. Iowa Valley (@ Center Point)
Region 7: HLV vs. Springville (@ Williamsburg)
Region 8: Holy Trinity Catholic vs. Southeast Warren (@ Ottumwa, Evans Middle School)

Class 2A

Region 1: Western Christian vs. Central Lyon (@ Hull)
Region 2: Unity Christian vs. Treynor (@ Sioux City East)
Region 3: St. Albert vs. Woodward-Granger (@ Atlantic)
Region 4: Sidney vs. Clarinda (@ Shenandoah)
Region 5: Grundy Center vs. Pella Christian (@ Grinnell)
Region 6: Lake Mills vs. Wapsie Valley (@ Nashua)
Region 7: Dike-New Hartford vs. Bellevue (@ Delhi)
Region 8: Iowa City Regina vs. Wilton (@ West Liberty)

Class 3A, 4A, 5A State Volleyball Brackets

Class 3A Regional Finals

(3-1) Red Oak 25-20-27-25, Gilbert 21-25-25-20
(3-0) Kuemper Catholic 25-25-25, South Central Calhoun 15-14-10
(3-0) Sioux Center 25-25-25, Humboldt 20-14-10
(3-0) Osage 25-25-25, Forest City 16-15-16
(3-1) Columbus Catholic 26-25-20-25, New Hampton 24-21-25-18
(3-2) Iowa Falls-Alden 13-25-10-26-15, Mount Vernon 25-22-25-24-10
(3-1) Beckman Catholic 25-20-25-25, Davenport Assumption 17-25-19-22
(3-0) Tipton 25-25-25, Davis County 14-18-11

Class 4A Regional Finals

(3-0) Sergeant Bluff-Luton 25-25-25, Glenwood 14-9-17
(3-0) Lewis Central 25-25-25, Dallas Center-Grimes 13-13-19
(3-0) Bishop Heelan 25-25-25, LeMars 22-22-7
(3-0) Pella 25-25-25, Bondurant-Farrar 22-11-22
(3-0) Waverly-Shell Rock 25-25-25, Charles City 9-17-14
(3-0) Independence 25-25-25, Center Point-Urbana 18-20-22
(3-0) Cedar Rapids Xavier 25-25-25, Fort Madison 18-18-16
(3-0) Dubuque Wahlert 25-25-25, North Scott 15-12-17

Class 5A Regional Finals

(3-0) WDM Valley 25-25-25, Abraham Lincoln 10-20-13
(3-0) Ankeny Centennial 25-25-25, Sioux City East 14-9-13
(3-2) Urbandale 26-25-27-21-20, Pleasant Valley 28-22-25-25-18
(3-0) Cedar Rapids Jefferson 25-25-25, Johnston 16-19-16
(3-0) Linn-Mar 25-25-25, Waukee 11-19-22
(3-0) Cedar Falls 25-25-25, Marshalltown 10-15-9
(3-0) Dubuque Hempstead 28-26-25, Iowa City West 26-24-22
(3-1) Dowling Catholic 25-21-25-25, Bettendorf 19-25-19-20

The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast w/Jim Field.

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Here is the latest Mid-America sports news from The Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Harrison Butker kicked five field goals and Marcus Peters returned a fumble 45 yards for a touchdown, leading the Kansas City Chiefs to a 29-19 win against the Denver Broncos. The Chiefs picked off Trevor Siemian three times and forced five turnovers in snapping a two-game skid. It was also their fourth straight victory over their AFC West rival.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Chiefs renamed the broadcast booths at Arrowhead Stadium in honor of Hall of Fame player and broadcaster Len Dawson before their game against the Denver Broncos. The 82-year-old Dawson went into the Hall of Fame as a player in 1987 and a broadcaster in 2012. He announced this year that he would retire as a radio color analyst after the season.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Chiefs have activated cornerback Steven Nelson from injured reserve, where he has been since training camp, and he could make his season debut against Denver. Nelson had core muscle surgery just before the start of the season.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Broncos did enough defensively to beat the Chiefs, but the offense floundered again in a 29-19 loss. Denver held the NFL’s third-ranked offense to 276 yards, kept league rushing leader Kareem Hunt from running wild and even forced a pair of turnovers against a team that hardly ever loses one. But it wasn’t enough to overcome five turnovers and numerous mistakes by the Denver offense.

AMES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa State’s rise to the top of the Big 12 has been one of the nation’s biggest surprises this fall. The main reason the Cyclones are suddenly winning has been their vastly improved defense. The 14th-ranked Cyclones have the league’s top-rated defense through five games, allowing just 13.6 points in league outings and holding each of their opponents to at least 10 points below their season average. They face another big test on Saturday with a visit to West Virginia.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska quarterback Tanner Lee has gone from being a liability the first month of the season to giving the Cornhuskers their best chance to win. He threw nine interceptions through the first four games but only one the last four. He threw for more than 400 yards in a win over Purdue and might be called on to keep throwing a lot the rest of the season because of a struggling run game. The Huskers host Northwestern on Saturday.

IRVING, Texas – The Big 12 Conference announced today that Iowa State sophomore linebacker Marcel Spears was named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week for the second week in a row.

A native of Olathe, Kan., Spears played a huge role in Iowa State’s fourth-straight win, a victory against No. 4 TCU on Saturday. He clinched a Cyclone victory for the second-straight week with a fourth quarter interception. Spears, who had nine tackles and one TFL in the game, sealed the victory with a pick with 1:16 left in the contest as the Cyclones were clinging to a 14-7 lead. The week before at Texas Tech, Spears perfectly read a TTU screen pass and ran untouched 61 yards for the pick-six to put the game out of reach.

Spears is having an outstanding season, ranking fourth in the Big 12 and 40th nationally in tackles per game at 8.8. He is also tied for the team lead in forced fumbles with two.

This is the fourth-straight week an ISU player has been honored by the league: Joel Lanning (Def. PoW- Oklahoma), Kyle Kempt (Off. PoW- Oklahoma), Trever Ryen (ST PoW- Kansas) and Spears (Def. PoW- Texas Tech)

No. 14 Iowa State, 6-2 overall and 4-1 in Big 12 play, will travel to West Virginia on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. on ESPN2.

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The Iowa Department of Natural Resources fall trout stocking program is underway. Northeast Iowa Regional Fisheries Supervisor, Mike Steuck (Steyek like bike) says they stock the trout in water bodies that are within 15 to 20 miles of the state’s largest cities. He says the goal is to be in the urban areas and create some excitement and get people out to go trout fishing. Steuck says they hope people will enjoy the trout and then use their trout stamp to fish some of the trout streams in northeast Iowa. Steuck says the trout thrive in the cool streams in northeast Iowa and that’s why they wait to stock them in other areas until the fall.”They can’t survive in temperatures higher than 60 to 70 degrees — so we wait until October or November or even through the ice to stock them — when the waters in those ponds are cold enough to support the trout,” Steuck says.

He says they have a complete list of the lakes and ponds that will be stocked on the D-N-R website. Steuck says many of the communities are hosting events in conjunction with the trout stocking, but he says if you miss an event, you should still be able to find fish. “We stock between 15-hundred and two-thousand fish,” he says. Steuck says you can fish for the stocked trout throughout the fall and even into the ice fishing season. “And it doesn’t take anything special to catch them either,” Steuck says, “any old ice rod, or if it’s open water, all you need is a little spinner and some line on your fishing pole. Cast it out there and you are going to catch trout.” The stocked trout are ready to bring home. “They’re 10 to 12 inches in size and so they’re going to be a half a pound a piece. They should be more than big enough to eat,” Steuck says.

You need a valid fishing license and must pay the trout fee to fish for or possess trout. The daily limit is five trout per licensed angler with a possession limit of 10. Children age 15 or younger can fish for trout with a properly licensed adult, but they must limit their catch to one daily limit. The child can purchase a trout fee which will allow them to catch their own limit.

(Radio Iowa)

Regional state qualifying meets were held Saturday for Girls State Swimming.  Atlantic qualified in 8 events. See the qualifiers at the link below.

2017-state-meet-qualifiers