Photo from Griswold School District Facebook Page

Griswold senior cross country and track and field runner Joanna Topham announced this week that she will continue her running career at Hawkeye Community College in Waterloo.

Topham had a strong senior year that propelled her to the opportunity to continue running at the next level. Topham took place medals in the 1500 and 3000 meter runs at the state track meet this season.

Topham will join brand new programs at Hawkeye CC for both cross country and track and field. She’ll join schoolmate David Thompson who also is joining the new programs for the Redtails.

The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast w/Chris Parks.

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The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union released their latest softball rankings late Thursday.

2017 Iowa High School Softball Rankings
Thursday, June 15

Class 1A

Dropped Out: Wayne (12)

Class 2A

Dropped Out: Highland (13)

Class 3A

Dropped Out: PCM (11), Union (13)

Class 4A

Dropped Out: Charles City (14), Keokuk (15)

Class 5A

Dropped Out: Fort Dodge (12), Ottumwa (14)

ACGC 6, Coon Rapids-Bayard 3
AHSTW 7, Riverside, Oakland 5
Atlantic 14, Clarinda 0 (3 innings) (Baylee Newell finished with 3 base hits and had 4 RBI’s.  Alexis Handel had 3 hits including a home run and had 3 RBI’s. Ally Anderson pitched a one hit shutout with three strikeouts for the win. The second game of the doubleheader was suspended in the first inning due to weather.)
Bishop Heelan 12, Abraham Lincoln 3
Carlisle 2, A-D-M, Adel 0
Denison-Schleswig 8, Creston 4
Glenwood 4, Harlan 2
IKM-Manning 7, Treynor 2
Kuemper Catholic, Carroll 5, Red Oak 1 (6 innings)
Logan-Magnolia 10, Underwood 7
Martensdale-St Marys 5, Lenox 2
Missouri Valley 12, Griswold 0
Stanton 10, Bedford 4 (6 innings)
Twin Cedars 11, Orient-Macksburg 1
Westwood, Sloan 14, West Harrison 4
Winterset 11, Carroll 1
Woodbury Central 9, West Monona 1

AHSTW, Avoca 11, Riverside, Oakland 10
Audubon 11, Tri-Center, Neola 6
Bishop Heelan 15, Abraham Lincoln 8 (Game 1)
Abraham Lincoln 8, Bishop Heelan 7 (Game 2)
CAM, Anita 1, West Central Valley, Stuart 0 (suspended in bottom of 2nd)
Carlisle 12, ADM, Adel 2 (5 Innings)
Central Decatur 18, Southwest Valley 2 (4 innings)
Creston 7, Denison-Schleswig 4
Earlham 1, Madrid 0
Harlan 10, Glenwood 9
Harlan 0, Glenwood 0 (Game 2 Suspended in 1st inning)
Madrid 16, Earlham 5
Treynor 10, IKM-Manning 4
Twin Cedars 12, Orient-Macksburg 2
Winterset 1, Pleasantville 0 (suspended bottom of 3rd lightning )
Woodward-Granger 14, Panorama, Panora 1 (5 inn)
Woodward-Granger 15, Panorama, Panora 1 (5 inn)

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

The Iowa High School Athletic Association announced district assignments for teams in Classes 1A and 2A on Thursday. Take a look at the full lists here:

Class 1A

Class 2A

ST. LOUIS, Mo., June 14, 2017 – The St. Louis Cardinals concluded the 2017 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by selecting 38 players, 30 from the college ranks and eight from high school or prep academies.  The list included 22 pitchers (7 left-hander & 15 right-handers), four catchers, eight infielders and four outfielders.

Four of the players are still playing in the NCAA College World Series: outfielder Scott Hurst and infielder Taylor Bryant of Cal-State Fullerton, shortstop Kramer Robertson of LSU and pitcher Jim Voyles of Florida State.

The draftees came from hometowns covering 18 states and Puerto Rico.  The top producing state was California with nine players selected and Florida, Georgia and Texas were represented with three apiece.

Only one player drafted today by the Cardinals had been previously drafted, that being left-handed pitcher Andrew Summerville in the 34th round of the 2014 draft by the Seattle Mariners.

Four sets of college teammates were selected: Cal State-Fullerton had Scott Hurst (3rd round) and second baseman Taylor Bryant (33rd round); San Diego State had left-handed pitcher Brett Seeburger (10th round) and right-handed pitcher C.J. Saylor (28th round); Coastal Carolina had right-handed pitcher Will Latcham (17th round) and second baseman Wood Myers (29th round), although both transferred in and did not play for the 2016 National Championship squad; University of Arkansas-Little Rock had catcher Cameron Knight (32nd round) and right-handed pitcher Cory Malcom (34th round).

Players with athletic ties in their family included catcher Saul Garza (31st round) whose father Santana Garza played college baseball for University of Texas-Pan American; pitcher Jim Voyles (38th round) who has a twin brother Ed on the Florida State baseball team, and his father Ben and uncle Bill both played golf at Florida State.

Two-way players and players who switched positions include third baseman Drew Mendoza (11th round), who also pitched at North Carolina State, but was drafted as a third baseman, and C.J. Saylor (28th round), a converted catcher to relief pitcher, who nailed down 24 career saves for the Aztecs, tied for the second-most in the school’s history with current MLB pitcher Addison Reed.

Several of the team’s draftees came with exemplary athletic accolades.  Outfielder Brandon Benson (20th round) batted .395 with 22 home runs, 79 RBI and a .819 slugging percentage at Georgia College and State University, ranking among the NCAA Division II leaders in home runs (2nd), RBI (3rd) and slugging (4th).  Right-handed pitcher Jake Walsh (16th round) ranked 2nd in NCAA Division II with 12 wins while at Florida Southern College.  Jake Dahlberg (21st round), a left-handed pitcher out of the University of Illinois-Chicago, was the first pitcher to be named Horizon League Pitcher of the Year twice, accomplishing the feat in 2015 and 2017.  Thomas St. Clair (24th round), a right-handed pitcher out of Lenoir-Rhyne University, ranked 7th in NCAA Division II strikeouts with 116 including games with 17 and 16 strikeouts during the 2017 season.  Right-handed pitcher Cory Malcom (34th round) set the University of Arkansas-Little Rock single-season school record with 109 strikeouts this year.

See the following for a complete listing of the Cardinals 2017 draft.

2017 FIRST-YEAR PLAYER DRAFT – RECAP
Rd., Player (overall pick)                Pos.        B-T     Ht.      Wt.     School                                                        Hometown

•   3.  Scott Hurst (94)                       CF           L-R      5-10    175     Cal State University, Fullerton             Glendora, Calif.
•   4.  Kramer Robertson (124)        SS            R-R     5-10    166     Louisiana State University                    McGregor, Texas
•   5.  Zach Kirtley (154)                   2B           R-R     6-1      190     St. Mary’s (Calif.) College                      Highland, Calif.
•   6.  Zach Jackson (184)                 C              L-R      6-3      215     Winter Haven (Fla.) HS                          Haines City, Fla.
•   7.  Chase Pinder (214)                  CF           R-R     6-1      190     Clemson University                                Poquoson, Va.
•   8.  Wilberto Rivera (244)            RHP        R-R     6-3      207     Carlos Beltran Baseball Academy       Naranjito, Puerto Rico
•   9.  Evan Kruczynski (274)          LHP        L-L      6-5      215     East Carolina University                        Franklin, Wis.
• 10.  Brett Seeburger (304)             LHP        L-L      6-2      225     San Diego State University                    Oceanside, Calif.

——————————————————–DAY THREE————————- ——————————

• 11. Evan Mendoza (334)               3B           R-R     6-2      200     North Carolina State University           Sarasota, Fla.
• 12. Andrew Summerville (364)   LHP        L-L      6-3      195     Stanford University                                 Seattle, Wash.
• 13. Jacob Patterson (394)              LHP        R-L      6-2      190     Texas Tech University                            Garland, Texas
• 14. Donivan Williams (424)        3B           R-R     6-0      190     Harold L. Richards HS                            Oak Lawn, Ill.
• 15. Terriez “Terry” Fuller (454)  LF           L-R      6-4      240     Griffin HS                                                   Griffin, Ga.
• 16. Jake Walsh (484)                      RHP        R-R     6-1      192     Florida Southern College                       Indialantic, Fla.
• 17. Will Latcham (514)                 RHP        R-R     6-2      200     Coastal Carolina University                  Briarcliffe, Pa.
• 18. Shane McCarthy(544)              RHP        R-R     6-2      190     Seton Hall University                              Fair Haven, N.J.
• 19. Irving Lopez (574)                   2B           S-R      5-10    170     Florida International University          Yuma, Ariz.
• 20. Brandon Benson (604)            OF           R-R     6-1      195     Georgia College & State University      Loganville, Ga.
• 21. Jake Dahlberg (634)                 LHP        L-L      6-0      205     University of Illinois-Chicago              Vancouver, Wash.
• 22. Kevin Hamann (664)               RHP        R-R     6-3      180     Lewis & Clark State (Idaho) College    Bend, Ore.
• 23. Evan Guillory (694)                RHP        R-R     6-3      205     University of Louisiana-Lafayette       Jennings, La.
• 24. Thomas St. Clair (724)            RHP        R-R     6-1      186     Lenoir-Rhyne University                       Winston-Salem, N.C.
• 25. Patrick Dayton (754)               LHP        L-L      6-0      170     Kent State University                               La Jolla, Calif.
• 26. Paul Balestrieri (784)              RHP        R-R     6-0      210     Cornell University                                   West Windsor, N.J.
• 27. Kodi Whitley (814)                  RHP        R-R     6-3      215     University of Mount Olive (N.C.)        Clayton, N.C.
• 28. Cameron “C.J.” Saylor (844)   RHP        R-R     5-10    185     San Diego State University                    West Covina, Calif.
• 29.  Wood Myers (874)                 2B           L-R      5-8      180     Coastal Carolina University                  Chapel Hill, N.C.
• 30. Alex Fagalde (904)                   RHP        R-R     6-3      225     University of California-Riverside      El Dorado Hills, Calif.
• 31. Saul Garza (934)                       C              R-R     6-3      220     Edinburg North HS                                  Edinburg, Texas
• 32. Cameron Knight (964)             C              R-R     6-0      205     University of Arkansas-Little Rock     Moore, Okla.
• 33. Taylor Bryant (994)                2B           R-R     5-11    200     Cal State University, Fullerton             La Quinta, Calif.
• 34. Cory Malcom (1,024)              RHP        R-R     6-0      190     University of Arkansas-Little Rock     Elkhart, Ind.
• 35. Alex Gallegos(1,054)               RHP        R-R     6-3      175     Torrance HS                                              Torrance, Calif.
• 36. Michael Brdar (1,084)             SS            R-R     5-10    180     University of Michigan                           Pleasanton, Calif.
• 37. Adam Kerner (1,114)               C              R-R     5-11    175     Oaks Christian HS                                    Agoura Hills, Calif.
• 38. Jim Voyles (1,144)                   RHP        R-R     6-7      205     Florida State University                          Atlanta, Ga.
• 39. Chris Hunt (1,174)                   RHP        R-R     6-3      210     Henderson State (Ark.) University      Greenwood, Ark.
• 40. Austin Pollock (1,204)            LHP        L-L      6-3      183     Lincoln HS                                                 Tallahassee, Fla.

Iowa baseball fans who are headed to the College World Series opening in Omaha this weekend will notice changes around the stadium in light of recent violence and terrorist attacks overseas. Omaha Police Captain Adam Kyle says one obvious addition is the placement of some 300 large concrete barriers around T-D Ameritrade Park. “I won’t say they run a 360-degree circle around the entire T.D. Ameritrade area, but we’ve got almost all of the area covered,” Captain Kyle says.

The 48-hundred-pound, 12-foot-long barriers, known as jersey curbs, don’t restrict the movement of fans on foot or in vehicles. “It’s provided a barrier between traffic flow and the citizens or pedestrians on the sidewalk,” Kyle says. “It’s just a normal barrier that would divide the street from the sidewalk. There’s a curb there but we’ve enhanced that by putting a jersey curb up on the curb.”

The curbs were brought in for last month’s Berkshire Hathaway stockholders meeting at the nearby CenturyLink Center and they got good reviews. “We did exactly what we’re doing now, we surrounded the CenturyLink perimeter with jersey curbs to protect the citizens,” Kyle says. “We got a lot of positive reinforcement, a lot of good attitudes from the citizens. They felt safer.”

A local art center has already given the barriers a coat of colorful paint for more visual appeal. Omaha has hosted the College World Series since 1950 and the opening ceremonies are Friday night, with the first games on Saturday. Play runs daily through the finals next weekend.

(Radio Iowa)