Middents, Huffman, Mullenix, and Rush at State Meet 2022.

The Atlantic girls track and field team is excited for the 2023 season and has some lofty goals in sight. The Trojans are coming off a solid season last year with seven qualifiers for the State Meet and a 5th place finish in the Hawkeye Ten Conference Meet. The Trojans are hoping to take the next step this year and compete for a conference crown and take home some more medals at State. Atlantic head coach Matt Mullenix said they set a great standard last year.

The Trojans will be very strong in the middle-distance races. The 4x400M Relay team that placed 4th at state last season are all back to try to improve on that placing and lead the team. Chloe Mullenix, Ava Rush, Nicole Middents, and Mariah Huffman made up that relay last year. Rush didn’t hold back her excitement for the event.

Mullenix also qualified in the 400M Hurdles last season and she said they have been working hard to improve overall team speed and endurance.

Rush said the speed work emphasis they’ve had the past few seasons has really been beneficial.

Middents said it’s a great group to work with and they have a great team comradery heading into the season.

Coach Mullenix said some of those middle-distance runners are very versatile so they may be able to move some runners around to events that suit them best to produce a really strong team effort.

The Trojans opened up last weekend at the Northwest Missouri State Indoor Meet and are scheduled to get the outdoor season rolling on the 28th at Earlham.

Listen to complete interviews with Chloe Mullenix, Ava Rush, Nicole Middents, Mariah Huffman, and Coach Mullenix below.

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Northern Iowa football coach Mark Farley says the Panthers are deeper heading into spring drills than they been since prior to COVID. UNI is coming off a 6-5 season that saw them get left out of the FCS playoffs.

Farley says spring is the next step in getting ready for next season.

Farley says spring is about building depth needed to navigate a season.

Quarterback Theo Day returns but Farley says there are a number of areas that need work.

Farley says spring is about developing technique.

UNI women’s basketball coach Tanya Warren feels the future is bright for her program. The Panthers finished 23-10 after Sunday’s 77-57 loss at Nebraska in the second round of the W-N-I-T. Warren does not want her team to think about next season just yet.

Warren says the players need to get away from the game for a while and rest.

Warren says preparation for next season will begin in a few weeks.

Iowa guard Gabbie Marshall has given the third ranked Iowa Hawkeye women a lift as they get ready to travel to Seattle for the Sweet 16. Marshall struggled with her shooting early in the season but finished with 15 points on five of eight from three point range in Sunday’s 74-66 win over Georgia.

That’s Iowa coach Lisa Bluder. Marshall says the Hawkeyes’ experience is a big factor in her play the last few weeks.

Marshall says another key has been Iowa’s willingness to share the ball.

Marshall says she has been gaining confidence the past few weeks.

The Hawkeyes take on the Colorado Buffalo’s, following their win over Duke Monday night.

Iowa defensive end Joe Evans says returning for a fifth season will help him reach his goal of playing in the NFL. The Ames native began his career as a walk-on and last season had 41 tackles, including six and-a-half sacks in Iowa’s 8-5 season. His experience will be a boost after defensive end Lukas Van Ness left early for the NFL Draft.

Evans says another reason for his return is he is healthy. A year ago before spring practice Evans had surgery on both shoulders.

Evans says he has spent the offseason breaking down areas he can improve in.

The Hawkeyes open spring drills Wednesday.

The Iowa High School Athletic Association has now released the districts for the next two-year football cycle in 2023 and 2024. New classification numbers were announced last week and now the districts have been set. Next up in the process will be teams submitting their non-conference opponent preferences and the then schedules will be compiled and released later. Here is a look at area districts and the links to see all of the new districts.

Monday, March 20 — Second round

• No. 3 Ohio State vs. No. 6 North Carolina | 3 p.m. | ESPN
• No. 4 Tennessee vs. No. 12 Toledo | 5 p.m. | ESPN2
• No. 4 Texas vs. No. 5 Louisville | 6 p.m. | ESPN
• No. 4 Villanova vs. No. 12 Florida Gulf Coast | 6 p.m. | ESPNU
• No. 1 Indiana vs. No. 9 Miami | 7 p.m. | ESPN2
• No. 3 Duke vs. No. 6 Colorado | 8 p.m. | ESPNU
• No. 2 UConn vs. No. 7 Baylor | 8 p.m. | ESPN
• No. 4 UCLA vs. No. 5 Oklahoma | 9 p.m. | ESPN2

The third ranked Iowa Hawkeye women survived a fight to advance to the Sweet 16.

Rob Brooks and Jamie Cavey Lang on the Hawkeye Network. After stumbling in the second round a year ago the Hawkeyes made the stops they needed down the stretch to beat upset minded Georgia 74-66.

That’s Iowa coach Lisa Bluder who says the sold out Carver-Hawkeye Arena crowd was a big factor in the outcome.

The Hawkeyes played without freshman standout Hannah Stuelke, who injured an ankle in a Saturday practice.

Caitlin Clark led four Hawkeyes in double figures with 22 points. She also added 12 assists.

Clark accounted for 33 of Iowa’s final 35 points as the Hawkeyes improve to 28-6.

Former Iowa player Katie Abrahamson-Henderson is the Georgia coach. The Bulldogs were within two late but three straight turnovers were costly.

Boyer Valley and Underwood both had a pair of winners at the Buena Vista High School Elite Meet on Saturday.

Boyer Valley’s Patrick Heffernan won the 1600M in 4:47.89 and the Bulldogs won the 4x800M Relay in 11:22.69.

Underwood’s Aliyah Humphrey won the 400M in 1:03.07 and the Eagles won the 4x200M Relay in 1:51.48.

Check out the full results HERE.

The Central College Indoor Track and Field Meet was held on Saturday in Pella.

On the girls side Audubon’s Madison Steckler won the 60M Hurdles with a time of 9.43.

In boys action Exira-EHK’s Cash Emgarten won the 400M in 54.32.

Check out the full results HERE