Iowa defensive end Ethan Hurkett is ready to step into a leadership role this season. The former Cedar rapids Xavier standout will help replace Joe Evans after appearing in 13 games a year ago and registering 49 tackles.

Hurkett says he learned a lot from Evans.

Not only is the Iowa defense expected to be good once again, but it may be the nation’s oldest unit. The Hawkeyes had several players return for their sixth season.

The Hawkeyes open the season at home on August 31st against Illinois State.

Iowa basketball coach Fran McCaffery believes added depth will help the Hawkeyes improve on defense. More than a half dozen newcomers join a team that finished last in the Big Ten in defense by giving up nearly 79 and-a-half points per game.

McCaffery says added depth on the front line will help on the defensive end.

McCaffery expects the newcomers to contribute right away.

The Hawkeyes finished 19-15 this past season and missed out on the NCAA Tournament.

First Team–Softball

Pitcher-Karley Millikan* (Griswold) Senior
Catcher-Whitney Pennock* (Griswold) Senior
Pitcher/Catcher-Tori Burns* (Essex) Senior
Utility-Macy Mitchell* (Fremont-Mills) Senior
IF-Dakota Reynolds* (Griswold) Senior
IF-Marissa Askeland* (Griswold) Junior
IF-Lilly Crom (Fremont-Mills) Senior
IF-Ella Thornton (Fremont-Mills) Sophomore
OF-Amanda Morgan* (Fremont-Mills) Senior
OF-Jenna Thornburg (East Mills) Senior
OF-Cindy Swain (Essex) Senior
OF-Addison Adams (Griswold) Junior
*Elite Team

Second Team–Softball

Pitcher-Saige Mitchell (Fremont-Mills) Sophomore
Catcher-Lindze Smith (Fremont-Mills) Sophomore
Utility-Kandra Laumann (East Mills) Senior
IF-Kyndra Gray (Essex) Senior
IF-Abby Gohlinhorst (Griswold) Junior
IF-Lexi Frank (Stanton) Senior
IF-Gabi Jacobs (Sidney) Sophomore
OF-Kyla Hart (Stanton) Senior
OF-Lilly Barbour (Fremont-Mills) Senior
OF-Joanna Reynolds (Griswold) Junior

Honorable Mention

Lana Alley (Fremont-Mills) Sophomore
Kinley Blackburn (Fremont-Mills) Sophomore
Leah Sandin (Stanton) Senior
Ashlyn Hayes (Sidney) Freshman
Carsyn Adams (Griswold) Freshman
Brooke Jones (East Mills) Sophomore
Kiley Barrett (East Mills) Senior

The Audubon Wheelers keep the season alive and punched their ticket to the state tournament with a terrific win against MVAOCOU. It didn’t come easy for the Wheelers, as a stout Rams defense constantly shut down anything the Wheelers tried to do. Mattie Nielsen led off the game with a single, but Rams pitcher Mya Goslar responded by striking out Taryn Petersen, before Jordan Porsch hit a screamer to the 2nd baseman who touched the base then quickly threw over to second to turn a double play.

The double play set the tone early, as in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th innings, the Wheelers found themselves with runners in scoring position, with MVAOCOU finding a way out of the jam each inning. Coach Schwery talked about what she had to tell her players in the dugout.

Runs were scarce to come by on both sides, as Riley Miller had another standout performance. The freshman added to her dominant campaign, striking out 12 Ram batters and not allowing a single hit on the night. Coach Schwery talked about Miller’s season.

It all came down to the bottom of the 7th inning. Anna Larsen led off the inning with a stand-up double, then advanced to 3rd on a passed ball. With the winning run only 60 feet away, the Rams pinned back their ears, with Gemeni Goodwin and Mattie Nielsen both hitting pop-ups to the shortstop. Then with a 1-1 count, Taryn Petersen hit one to the 3rd base-shortstop gap. Rams shortstop MaKynlee made a terrific snag and throw over to first but there was no beating Taryn Petersen’s speed as she walked it off for the Lady Wheelers. After the game, Coach Schwety tipped her cap to players both past and present.

The Wheelers will await to find their seeding for the state tournament in Fort Dodge. Their first game will be next Tuesday the 23rd. The Rams’ season comes to an end at 20-12. The Rams graduate three seniors.

Class 1A

Region 3 

Earlham @ Collins-Maxwell (Rescheduled for 7/16)

Region 4 

Martensdale-St Marys 8, Griswold 0

Region 6

Twin Cedars @ Wayne (Rescheduled for 7/16)

Class 2A

Region 2

Audubon 1, MVAOCOU 0

Region 3

Van Meter 6, Treynor 2

Region 4

Ogden @ East Marshall (Rescheduled for 7/16)

Region 5

Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont 3, Pleasantville 2

The Martensdale-St Marys Blue Devils won 8-0 against the Griswold Tigers on Monday night in the Class 1A Region 4 Final. From the start of the ball game Blue Devils pitcher Campbell German seemed locked in as she collected 2 strikeouts and gave up no hits in the top of the first inning. In the bottom of the first inning is where Martensdale-St Marys made their first splash scoring 3 runs from an error thrown at first and a 2 RBI single by Shelby Woods put them up 3-0. The Tigers still had no luck hitting in the top of the second inning as German struck out two more and forced a pop fly. The bottom of the second inning saw 3 hits in a row for the Blue Devils including an RBI double to increase their lead at 4-0. After the second inning, both teams seemed to be stuck in neutral offensively with Griswold pitcher Karly Millikan only giving up 2 hits through the next two innings.

In the bottom of the fifth inning Martensdale-St Marys caught a second wind and went on to post 4 more runs which included a triple by Mac German and a 2-run homer from Shelby Woods giving them a massive advantage at 8-0. Griswold would remain hitless in the next two innings and never got a runner past second on the day. German ended the game with 3 strikeouts in a row, summarizing the difficult night of hitting for the Tigers as they did not record a hit all game.

When looking back on the regional final against the Blue Devils, Tigers head coach Jody Rossell complimented the talent displayed throughout the evening.

Campbell German had a truly impressive night for Martensdale-St Marys pitching 7 innings, throwing 14 strikeouts, with 3 walks, no hits, and no runs. Griswold saw great effort from Karly Millikan pitching 6 innings, collecting 3 strikeouts, giving up 8 runs, and 12 hits. Tigers catcher Whitney Pennock also helped her team by collecting 2 walks. Griswold’s loss in the regional ends their season, which also ends the high school careers for 3 seniors that coach Rossell admires, Whitney Pennock, Dakota Reynolds, and Karly Millikan.

Coach Rossell also explained that while the season ended shorter than she would like, there was still a tremendous amount of success to be proud of.

The Tigers softball season ends with a well-earned record of 27-4. The Blue Devils will start the State Softball tournament in Fort Dodge on July 22nd.

An Iowa umpire will work Tuesday night’s Major League Baseball All Star Game in Arlington, Texas. Bruce Dreckman lives in Marcus and will be working first base in the midsummer classic. It is his second All Star Game assignment.

Dreckman says an All Star Game is a much different assignment than a playoff series.

Dreckman says for the umpires the goal is the same for every game.

Dreckman will have family with him at Tuesday night’s game.

IOWA CITY, Iowa — The Eastern Iowa Airport has worked with two carriers to add special direct flights for Hawkeye fans wanting to travel to select University of Iowa football road games this fall.

Below is a list of flight options for fans looking for air travel from Eastern Iowa to Ohio, Michigan and California.

American Airlines: Nonstop to Columbus (CMH) for Ohio State game departing Cedar Rapids (CID) at 2 p.m. on Oct. 4. The return flight on Oct. 6 departs at 9:29 a.m. ET.
Delta: Nonstop to Detroit (DTW) for Michigan State game departing Cedar Rapids (CID) at 1:45 p.m. on Oct. 18. The return flight on Oct. 20 departs at 10 a.m. ET.
Delta: Nonstop to Los Angeles (LAX) for UCLA game departing Cedar Rapids (CID) at 12:15 p.m. on Nov. 7. The return flight on Nov. 10 departs at 11:15 a.m. PT.
There will also be a nonstop flight on Delta from Seattle (SEA) to Cedar Rapids (CID) for the Washington home football game. The flight will depart Seattle at 9:35 a.m. PT on Oct. 11. The return flight on Oct. 13 will depart at 11 a.m. This will be the first-ever nonstop flight CID has had to/from Seattle and provides fans of the Huskies, as well as Hawkeye fans living in the Seattle area an easy four-hour flight.

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Two University of Iowa men’s basketball student-athletes – juniors Payton Sandfort and Riley Mulvey – have been named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches Honors Court, it was announced Monday by the NABC.

NABC Honors Court honorees include juniors, seniors and graduate students who finished the 2023-24 year with a cumulative grade point average of 3.2 or higher.

The NABC recognizes teams and athletes from all levels of college basketball. More than 2,100 players earned the Honors Court distinction.

It is the first career NABC Honors Court accolade for both players.