The Griswold/CAM Softball team defeated the Stanton Viqueens 13-3 in four innings in Sidney Thursday night to advance to the Corner Conference Championship game. Griswold/CAM cashed in ten of their 13 runs in the final two innings of the game. The 19-4 Griswold/CAM Tigers scored their thirteen runs on nine hits and four Stanton defensive miscues.

Griswold/CAM began their day at the plate reaching on an outfield error, followed by a walk. Freshman Ailey Wahlert stepped in and delivered a two-run double to put Griswold/CAM ahead 2-0. Wahlert scored the third run in the inning on a defensive error.

In the second, Stanton’s Brea Mitchell roped a double to deep center and was brought in off a Kiela Franzen base hit to right center. After the second, Griswold/CAM had a 3-1 run lead. Despite the scoreless inning, Head Coach Jody Rossell complimented the team’s effort.

Later on in the third, Stanton fed off two Griswold/CAM errors. The 1-2 punch of Quinn McDonald and Lily Ford came around to score to tie the game at three heading into the bottom of the third.

Griswold/CAM put their foot down and broke out for six runs on five hits, highlighted by a two-RBI double by Courtney Follmon. All of a sudden, a 9-3 ballgame in Sidney.

Griswold/CAM starting pitcher, Sadie Gohlinghorst put up a zero in the fourth in the circle including her fifth and final strikeout to retire the side.

In the bottom half of the fourth, Abby Gohlinghorst drew a leadoff walk and was driven in by Follman on a base hit for third RBI of the day. After that, back-to-back base hits ended the game in a four-inning mercy rule in a 13-3 final score.

Griswold/CAM improves to 19-4 on the season and solidifies their spot in the Corner Conference Championship Game Friday night.

Northern Iowa football coach Todd Stepsis says the depth at defensive line has improved since the start of summer workouts. That was an area of concern during spring drills as Stepsis gets ready for his first season as Panther coach.

Stepsis says depth is crucial, especially with all the no huddle and quick tempo offenses you see in college football.

Stepsis believes the Panthers will have enough depth up front to handle a demanding schedule.

The Panthers were 3-9 in the final season under long-time coach Mark Farley. They open August 30th at home against Butler.

The competition for playing time will be fierce for the Iowa Hawkeye women next season. A talented group of newcomers join six players who saw significant action a year ago for a team that finished 23-11 and made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. In the era of the transfer portal Iowa’s roster has remained very stable.

That’s Iowa coach Jan Jensen who says the Hawkeyes have a lot of flexibility with the current roster.

Summer workouts are underway in Iowa City

AMES, Iowa – Learfield’s Cyclone Sports Properties, in partnership with Iowa State Athletics and Learfield Impact, Learfield’s industry-leading Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) service combining the power of expert people, award-winning content, and innovative technology, has announced the appointment of Brent Blum as the new Director of NIL Development, Jake Lovell as NIL Partnerships and Operations Coordinator and MaryKate Walling as NIL Content Producer.

“We are excited to launch this innovative initiative with Learfield as we navigate this new world intercollegiate athletics enters starting July 1,” ISU Director of Athletics Jamie Pollard said. “We believe that these positions are a continued evolution of our long-standing partnership and allow us to create additional opportunities through existing and new corporate partners.”

Learfield Impact integrates the addition of these three on-campus NIL leadership positions, innovative technology in the form of Learfield’s Compass NIL dealmaking platform, and the Emmy Award-winning Learfield Studios content team into an unmatched full-service NIL offering. This powerful combination seamlessly generates authentic dealmaking and creates opportunities for influential storytelling content between student-athletes and brand partners.

In this newly created role, Blum will help oversee the university’s evolving NIL strategy, working closely with student-athletes, coaches and donors, as well as the Iowa State Foundation and corporate partners to build innovative and sustainable support. His work will focus on aligning the athletic department’s NIL vision with national best practices while staying true to the culture and values of Iowa State.

Blum currently serves as Executive Director of the We Will Collective, where he has helped raise over $12 million in support of Iowa State student-athletes, backed by contributions from more than 10,000 individual donors and area businesses.

“Cyclone Nation’s involvement is as important as ever as we tackle this transition in college athletics,” Blum said. “This next chapter gives us the opportunity to build a more unified and long-term NIL infrastructure for Iowa State. In the short term, continued support of We Will is vital as we move forward.”

Lovell, who has been a member of the CSP staff for three years, will assist Blum in fulfilling NIL sponsorships and Walling, who received both her undergraduate and master’s degrees from Iowa State while working as a content producer for the Cyclone Football program, will produce NIL-related content for CSP sponsors.

With the House settlement approved by Judge Claudia Wilken earlier this month, the Iowa State Athletics Department will now provide direct financial support to Cyclone student-athletes on top of the world-class education and other benefits that they currently receive. Nearly every Cyclone student-athlete will receive a financial payment from the University for their NIL rights beginning on July 1.

Iowa State Athletics will provide the maximum revenue-sharing amount allowed, currently projected to be $20.5M for the 2025-26 fiscal year, by the House settlement to its student-athletes. The We Will Collective will begin transitioning its members to the We Will Fund that will be housed within the ISU Foundation next month. Contributions to the We Will Fund will allow donors to invest in the support of student-athletes while helping ISU ensure future success of its championship-caliber programs.

“The Iowa State fan base has long-been recognized as one of the nation’s most-loyal, and their continued generous support of the We Will Fund will be critical as we move into college athletics’ new era,” Pollard said. “We are grateful for all of our fans who have contributed to the We Will Collective over the last few years and it is our sincere hope they continue that support as we transition to the We Will Fund to ensure that our programs are positioned for greater success in this new era.”

The field for next week’s John Deere Classic will be set this week after the Rocket Classic in Detroit. JDC tournament director Andrew Lehman says players have until the end of tomorrow’s second round in Detroit to enter the field.

The only thing that could change that is if a players qualifies for the John Deere Classic by finishing in the top ten in Detroit.

Clanton used the exemption and it helped him become a member of the PGA Tour.

The John Deere Classic is July third through the sixth.

Hawkeye Ten Conference

• Atlantic – 7 vs Clarinda – 6
• Harlan – 14 vs Shenandoah – 0
• Red Oak – 5 vs Denison-Schleswig – 4
• Denison-Schleswig – 6 vs Red Oak – 0
• St. Albert – 13 vs Glenwood – 4
• Creston – 10 vs Kuemper Catholic – 2
• Kuemper Catholic – 1 vs Creston – 0

Western Iowa Conference

• Tri-Center – 5 vs Audubon – 3
• Treynor – 12 vs AHSTW – 1

Rolling Valley Conference

• Ar-We-Va – 2 vs Exira-EHK – 1
• Woodbine – 20 vs CAM – 12
• Coon Rapids-Bayard – 10 vs Glidden-Ralston – 3

Pride of Iowa Conference

• Lenox – 16 vs Nodaway Valley – 1
• Martensdale-St. Marys – 12 vs Southwest Valley – 3
• Southeast Warren – 6 vs East Union – 0

Corner Conference

• Hamburg – 19 vs Essex – 9

Non-Conference 

• Shenandoah – 7 vs Riverside – 6
• Bedford – 6 vs Mount Ayr – 5
• Central Decatur – 10 vs Melcher-Dallas – 7
• Sioux City North – 4 vs Unity Christian – 2
• Twin Cedars – 7 vs Ogden – 2
• Pleasantville – 16 vs Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont – 1

Hawkeye Ten Conference

• Atlantic – 9 vs Clarinda – 4
• Creston – 20 vs Kuemper Catholic – 1
• Creston – 7 vs Kuemper Catholic – 2
• Glenwood – 4 vs Red Oak – 0
• St. Albert – 6 vs Glenwood – 0

Western Iowa Conference

• Treynor – 9 vs AHSTW – 1

Pride of Iowa Conference

• Lenox – 9 vs Nodaway Valley – 8

Rolling Valley Conference

• Glidden-Ralston – 11 vs Coon Rapids-Bayard – 1

Corner Conference

• East Mills – 17 vs Sidney – 9
• Essex – 16 vs Hamburg – 1

West Central Activities Conference

• ACGC – 10 vs Panorama – 9
• Ogden – 5 vs Woodward-Granger – 4
• Ogden – 7 vs Woodward-Granger – 6
• Pleasantville – 5 vs Des Moines Christian – 4

Non-Conference 

• Riverside – 2 vs Shenandoah – 1
• Exira-EHK-Audubon – 8 vs Ar-We-Va – 0
• Harlan – 6 vs Thomas Jefferson – 1
• Mount Ayr – 7 vs Bedford – 2
• Woodbine – 7 vs Underwood – 2
• Boyer Valley – 13 vs Essex – 4
• Lewis Central – 12 vs Sioux City East – 11
• Chariton – 24 vs Central Decatur – 5
• Panorama – 17 vs East Union – 2
• Madrid – 9 vs South Hardin – 6

The Atlantic Trojan softball team picked up a huge road victory over conference foe Clarinda 9-5 Wednesday night. The big hits came at the biggest moments as five of Atlantic’s nine runs came via the home run. On the mound Zoey Kirchhoff showed incredible resilience in tough situations keeping the top of Clarinda’s line up relatively silent. although the runs didn’t come right away, Atlantic was on the base paths all night long putting the leadoff hitting on in five of the seven innings.

Early on, it looked bound to be a low scoring affair, and things didn’t go the way of the Trojans. Kirchoff allowed the first two hitters to reach base while a throwing error brought home the first run of the game for Clarinda. As she did all night, Kirchhoff responded by striking out the next four. However, the Cardinals would strike again in the third as Annika price lined an RBI double into the gap to give Clarinda a 2-0 lead. Mallory Wood pitched to contact and let the solid Clarinda defense work behind her. However, that would change in the fifth.

Down by two and already having stranded 3 runners at third base, it felt as if the game was in the balance. Once again, the Trojans got on leadoff batter on base as Claire Schroeder notched a single, which was quickly followed by McKenna Schroeder reaching on an error. A sac bunt and sac fly later; the Trojans were in prime position to take the lead. Then came the first defining moment. Lila Wiederstein launched a two-run homer to straightway center to put Atlantic up 4-2. Wiederstein finished 4-for-4 with 3 RBIs and the homer.

Despite the Trojans having all the momentum, Clarinda didn’t make it easy. Mallory Woods responded with a 2 RBI single to level the game in the sixth. However, Kirchhoff’s resilience shone once again as she stranded two Cardinals and prevented them from retaking the lead. All squared heading into the final frame the Trojans wasted no time getting back to work. Alivia Knuth and McKenna Schroeder started the inning off with back-to-back singles. Wiederstein would come through again driving in Knuth to give the Trojans the lead back before Kirchhoff put the nail in the coffin. Her third of the year, she sent well to left center to put Atlantic up by 4. Claire Schroeder picked up a Rbi single to extend the lead again before the ball went back to Kirchhoff who faced the minimum in the seventh. Head coach Terry Hinzmann was glad to see his team take advantage of their opportunities, even though they struggled early on.

There was nothing but praise for Wiederstein as she continues to produce and lead despite her injury.

Kirchhoff also got high remarks for her resiliency.

In a night of ups and downs Hinzmann was most proud of the way the Trojans responded to the pressure.

The win is the second against Clarinda this year and brings them to within a game of second place in the Hawkeye Ten. Atlantic moved to 19-10 on the year and will return home to face Red Oak Thursday while Clarinda now 17-7, remain at home to face Creston.

The Griswold-CAM Softball team has had four consecutive 20-win seasons, and three of the last four have been 25-win seasons. As Griswold-CAM approaches the Corner Conference Tournament and the final four regular season games, Griswold-CAM is ranked 14th in Class 2A. The Tigers sit atop the conference with an 18-4 record, including a 13-0 start. Head Coach Jody Rossell says her team’s toughness has come a long way.

Griswold-CAM is led by two dominant underclassmen in the circle. Freshman Ailey Wahlert and Sophomore Sadie Gohlinghorst make up 103 of the 106 innings that Griswold-CAM has played this season with both firing an under 2.10 ERA. The duo has pitched 10 shutouts this year including a five-game shutout streak. Wahlert has 70 of the innings while Gohlinghorst has 33, Rossell says the Sophomore pitcher has played a huge role for the Tigers.

Wahlert is one several everyday starters hitting over .300 for Griswold and has shown different players can step up each and every night.

Griswold-CAM is facing the tougher section of the schedule as the conference tournament rolls around and Rossell believes the challenge is what this team needs.

Griswold-CAM begins their Corner Conference Tournament run Thursday with the winner of Stanton and Sidney. KJANTV will have the coverage approximately at 7:05 P.M. CT.