The first round of the 54th annual Tournament of Champions begins with the first group teeing of at 8:30 this morning at the Atlantic Golf & Country Club.  A number of former champions are participating in this year’s tournament, including defending Championship Division champion Jason Reynolds, a Griswold native, who beat Aaron Ahrendsen of Manning by one stroke to capture the 2011 crown.  George Gartelos of Marion is the defending Senior Division champion.  Listen live for tee to green coverage all three days of the tournament on KJAN AM 1220 & FM 101.1.  You can also listen to our live stream at www.kjan.com.  And, follow along as the scores and tee times will be posted on the sports page at www.kjan.com!

• (S) – playing in senior tourney

8:30 am

• Brad Hartkopf – Top 25, Atlantic
• Arnie Leistad (S) – Atlantic G & CC
• Mike Noble (S) – Indian Hills CC, Wapello
• Dean Muhs (S) – Rosman Glendale GC, Minden

8:40 am

• Brad Bailey – Treynor Recreation
• Dave Ross – Atlantic G & CC
• Ryan Huinker – Harlan G & CC
• Jeremy Perkins – Oakland CC

8:50 am

• Jim Turner (S) – Audubon GC
• Kim Peters (S) – Crestwood Hills, Adair
• Jerry Hoff (S) – Oakland GC
• Don Perrin (S) – Happy Hollow CC, Corning

9:00 am

• Rick Carter (S) – Crestmoor GC, Creston
• Jim Campbell (S) – Albia CC
• Ron Calhoun (S) – Crestwood Hills, Anita
• Blair Hoegh (S) – Ankeny

9:10 am

• Ryan Clark – Briarwood Club of Ankeny
• Jason Calhoun – Crestwood Hills, Anita
• Aaron Ahrendson – Manning/Manilla GC
• Alex Bireline – 5 X 80, Adair

9:20 am

• Al Kingrey – Legacy GC, West Des Moines
• Tad Olsen – Atlantic G & CC
• Carl Eckenrod – Mason City CC
• Bobby Rist – Lake City CC

9:30 am

• Isaac Rodenberg – Woodward GC, Johnston
• Jeff Gude – Atlantic G & CC
• Andrew Martin – Nishna Hills GC
• Daryl Armstrong (S) – Top 6, Anita

9:40 am

• Matt Gross – Nishna Hills GC
• Ryan Kirchhoff – Griswold CC
• Ken Portsche (S) – Beaver Creek GC, Johnston
• Tim Byrte – Hillcrest GC, Adel

9:50 am

• Lyle Wittrock (S) – 5 X 80 GC, Adair
• Jim Sachs (S) – Gruis Recreation, Lakota
• Ken Hoogensen (S) – Willow Creek GC, West Des Moines
• Maurice Greenway (S) – Twin Lakes GC, Rockwell City

10:00 am

• Jason Moores – Fremont County GC, Sidney
• Cole Tackett – Fremont County GC, Sidney
• Derek Jacobsen – Atlantic G & CC
• Jason Reynolds – Past Champion, Griswold

10:10 am

• Chad Dryden – Crestmoor GC, Creston
• Jared Cochran – Terrace Hills, Des Moines
• Tim Agan – Willow Creek GC, Waukee
• Chris Nelson – Atlantic G & CC

10:20 am

• Alex Huyser – Diamond Trail GC, Sully
• Dan Conaway – Eagle Grove GC
• Aaron King – Sac CC, Sac City
• Jeff Buelt – Breda GC

10:30 am

• Manuel Smith – Copper Creek, West Des Moines
• Todd Sewick – River Road GC, Algona
• Keegan Bak – Deer Run GC, Hinton
• Noah Simon -Leon G & CC, Lamoni

10:40 am

• George Gartellos (S) – Hunters Ridge GC, Marion
• John Willmore (S) – Des Moines GC, Hubbard
• Rick Thompson (S) – Fairfield GC, Libertyville
• Ron Peterson – Past Champion, Clive

10:50 am

• Del Miller (S) – West Libery GC, West Branch
• Gregory Brown (S) – Indian Hills GC, Wapello
• Gary Myers (S) – Humboldt CC
• Victor Garza (S) – Gruis Recreation, Buffalo Center

11:00 am

• Ross Martins – Shelby County GC, Portsmouth
• Cary Cochran – Quail Run GC, Council Bluffs
• John Hanks – Manson GC
• Jeff Giza – Osceola GC

11:10 am

• Barry Smith – Pine Knolls CC, Knoxville
• Cole Davis – Logan/Missouri Valley CC
• Jim Wood – Red Oak CC
• Mark Rooney – Waveland GC, Des Moines

11:20 am

• Scott Schoenrock (S) – Nishna Hills GC, Atlantic
• Paul Huddleson (S) – Nishna Hills GC, Atlantic
• Mike Martin (S) – Nishna Hills GC, Walnut
• Chris Larson (S) – Atlantic G & CC

11:30 am

• Chris Meyers (S) – Honey Creek GC, Boone
• Jeff Morenz (S) – Atlantic G & CC
• Randy Black (S) – Gateway Recreation, Pella
• Neal Miller (S) – Manson GC

11:40 am

• Tim Murphy – Dunlap GC
• Matt Jones – Indianola CC
• Aaron Haleen – Honey Creek GC, Ames
• Ryan Bernholtz – Majestic Hills GC

11:50 am

• Wade Voith – Twin Lakes GC, Rockwell City
• Phil Ruth – Lakeside Municipal GC, Ft. Dodge
• Steve Davie – Dunlap GC, Logan
• Darby McLaren – Atlantic G & CC

12:00 pm

• Lance Halverson – Osceola CC
• Rob Langfelt – Crestwood Hills
• Matt Haley – Happy Hollow GC, Corning
• Zach Christiansen – Atlantic G & CC

12:10 pm

•  Brad Krohn – Council Bluffs CC
• Justin Eilers – Shadow Valley GC
• Matt Gatchel – Ballard CC
• Terry Hannah (S) – Jester Park GC

The U-N-I football team has their work cut out for them in the first month of the season. Over the course of their first five games, the Panthers will play two teams from the Big Ten Conference, and two of the top contenders in their own league. Head coach, Mark Farley, says the schedule breaks new ground. “I never thought, even as a U-N-I grad, coach or player, I never thought U-N-I would play two F-B-S teams in the same season. It was never even on the horizon,” Farley explained.

He says the idea was always to play one and always try to play Iowa or Iowa State. “But there was never an expectation to play two, and then the two that we play on top of that you’re you’re playing Wisconsin and Iowa. Those two will bring a whole other dimension, attitude if you will towards camp, towards how you approach the game.” Farley believes the Badgers are a top five team nationally. Farley says that playing at Wisconsin will be a big deal for his players, but they still have to use the game to get better.He says it’s a great opportunity to step on the field as he says there will be a lot of value to the experience. “There’s a lot of value to playing well too. So we have to find a way to line that up and to use our people to find a way to win that football game,” Farley says.

After the opener at Wisconsin, the Panthers have their home opener against Division II Central State, then play at Iowa. They open Missouri Valley Football Conference action September 22 at Youngstown State before hosting defending F-C-S champs North Dakota State. Farley says that will be a tough stretch, but the Panthers aren’t conceding anything. Farley says they will line up and prepare the team the same way not matter who they are playing. “I’ve never put my foot on a field I didn’t think I could win. I’ll put some thought into this one, but we’ll try to find a way,” Farley says. The Panthers have won a share of each of the last two Missouri Valley Football Conference championships.

The Drake Bulldogs tied for the Pioneer Football League championship last season, and they hope to take another step and win it outright this season. Coach Chris Creighton says it won’t be easy, but they are ready. “We’re real excited about it, we love the challenge of tiring to be the first consecutive champions I think in 80 years here at Drake football,” Creighton says. “It’s a goal that we want to accomplish for sure. We know it will be incredibly difficult to achieve that goal. We have to overcome the natural apathy that often accompanies success.” He says the effort to repeat began just after last season was over.

“A really neat thing about last year is that we finished the season, we had won the championship and we had talked about it last camp how we were going to have this emptiness in our stomachs, at the end of season after having won a championship, that we weren’t done yet,” Creighton explains. “It’s hard to get guys to understand the difference between going after your best versus just going after winning a championship. But I think that Monday after the season was where we took the biggest jump.” Creighton has quarterback Mike Piatkowski, the 2011 P-F-L Offensive player of the year, back to help the Bulldogs try to reach the goal of repeating. He says even Piatkowski has areas where he can improve.

“As a team we threw 14 interceptions last year and that is something I promise you that Mike Piatkowski wants to get better at,” Creighton says. He says Piatkowski is a very good football player who knows he can get better. The senior quarterback is like another coach on the field for Creighton. “I treat him really no different than the staff, my meetings with him, my conversations with him. He knows the offense really well. I’m putting him in a lot of positions to teach and make decisions,” Creighton says. He says Piatkowski They also have six other starters back on offense and six on defense. Creighton says finding a kicker and the special teams are an area they need to improve on is fall camp. There are also some new faces on offense that will need to fit in.

Creighton says they have experience returning, but lost a good group of starters from the offensive line. “I think that offensive linemen dictate the moral of any football team. I think there (isn’t) another group of guys who love football more than offensive linemen,” Creighton says. “S0 for those guys to really come into their own coming out of camp is another spot we want to feel great about coming out of camp.” The Bulldogs open the season August 30th against Grandview.

w/ Jim Field

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The 4th Annual T-Fred Memorial Golf Tournament, set for Saturday, is drawing near and organizers are inviting the public to attend. Melanie Petty with the Trevor Frederickson Foundation, says there’s a lot going on that day, and the event “Is definitely not just for golfers.”

A silent auction to be held in the Nishna Hills Club House will be set up by approximately 8 a.m. Saturday, with the tournament set to start at 9-a.m. The auction will end after the last score card is turned in, and organizers say an announcement will be made to let individuals know when the auction is officially closed. Bidders do not have to be present to win, and individuals have the opportunity to call or text Caryn Just at 254-0989 to place a bid or check on an item, even those out playing in the tournament. Just a few of the 40-plus items up for auction include a Yeti cooler, an Echo gas powered blower, a grilling basket, a Derrick Johnson autographed Kansas City Chiefs wall hanging, tickets to Iowa and Iowa State football games, a Weber charcoal grill, a quilt, a Coach purse, and a Craftsman tool chest.

In addition to the auction, a 50/50 raffle will also be held throughout the day. Tickets are $1 each or 6/$5 with the drawing held after the last score card is turned in. Tickets will be available on the course and in the club house. The person whose name is drawn must be present to win.

New to the event this year will be a beer sampling hosted by Doll Distributing. Current plans are to start the sampling at around 10:30-a.m. Also new this year will be County Artist and Atlantic native, Randy Burk, who will be performing live on the back patio from 4-6 p.m. Petty says while the silent auction, 50/50 raffle, free will donation lunch, beer sampling and live entertainment are open to the public, organizers have some things lined up for just the golfers too. Prizes will be awarded on every hole and for the top three places in four flights, bets can be placed on the betting hole, and a 2012 Chevy Cruze is ready to go home with anyone making Deter Motor Company’s Hole in One.

The T-Fred Memorial Golf Tournament is the only fundraiser for the Trevor Frederickson Memorial Fund which was formed to give back to the projects and organizations Trevor loved. Photos recapping the over $42,000 in donations given to date will be on display in the Nishna Hills club house.