Sports

The 2018 Waukon baseball team will benefit from the return of 14 letterwinners from a squad last season that played to a 7-23 record that included only a single win in 18 Northeast Iowa Conference tries. That veteran group will include a group of six seniors who will provide the greatest share of that leadership for this season’s 45 players on the eighth-12th grade team roster, many of those seniors sporting multiple varsity baseball letters to their credit.

That group of seniors includes Evan Armstead, Garrett Garin, Abe Schwartz, Colin Waters, Isaiah Welch and Mitchell Snitker. “We have a group of seniors that will provide valuable leadership to the younger players,” Waukon baseball coach Jerry Keenan said.

The 2018 Waukon boys track season came to an official end at every team’s and athlete’s ultimate destination, the Iowa High School State Track and Field Meet held at Drake Stadium in Des Moines Thursday-Saturday, May 17-19. The Indian track boys had five team members qualify in three events among this season’s Class 2A track and field elite.

A pair of field event efforts accounted for the Indian track boys’ Thursday efforts at the season grand finale, each ending up short of qualification for the eight-competitor final rounds of their respective competitions. Senior Isaiah Welch’s return to the State Meet in the long jump yielded a best effort of 19’8.5” that left him short of the eight-jumper finals and in 14th place in the Class 2A 24-jumper field. Carroll Kuemper senior Miles Rupiper claimed the Class 2A long jump crown with a leap of 22’1”.

Welch returns in long jump, Sullivan debuts in shot put, 4x200 earns at-large berth for State Meet

The Waukon boys track team competed in a pair of significant meets this past week that matched the Indians up against some of their fellow conference and class colleagues, and ultimately proved to be an extension or extinction of their season. The Indians first battled to a fifth-place team finish at their Northeast Iowa Conference Meet hosted by Charles City Monday, May 7 after postponement from its original Thursday, May 3 date due to storms.

Headington automatic in shot put; 4x800 and Armstead in high jump earn at-large State Meet berths

The Waukon girls track team competed in its two most important meets of the season within four nights of one another, bringing the 2018 track season to an end for many of its team members but proving to extend that season for a small handful of Lady Indians. The track Tribe opened the week by placing sixth at the Northeast Iowa Conference Meet hosted by Charles City Monday, May 7 after that meet had been postponed from Thursday, May 3 by stormy weather.

The Waukon boys golf team had the future of its 2018 season determined Thursday, May 10 at its Class 2A Sectional Tournament hosted by New Hampton. The tournament had actually been moved up one day earlier from its original Friday, May 11 date due to anticipated rainy weather.

Playing for the opportunity to advance further into postseason tournament play, the Indian golfers came up short of that goal, placing seventh in the eight-team field with a team total of 382 strokes. Likewise, none of the individual Indian golfers finished high enough to earn further advancement down the postseason tournament road in individual medalist play.

TEAM SCORES
New Hampton 327; Denver 335; North Fayette Valley 354; Sumner-Fredericksburg 358; South Winneshiek 361; Osage 361; WAUKON 382; MFL/MarMac 500

In what turned out to be its only meet of the week and its only home meet of the season, the Waukon girls golf team ended up not having a full team to compete against anyway as a depleted Oelwein squad came to Waukon with just three golfers Monday, April 30 and had to forfeit to the Indians’ team total of 215 strokes. The Tribe’s other meet of the week, a Tuesday, May 1 meet at South Winneshiek was postponed to Thursday, May 3 before finally being canceled altogether after another round of stormy weather rolled through the area.

The invitational season came to a close for the Waukon girls track team as the track Tribe competed in its final invitational meet of the 2018 season at Edgewood-Colesburg Monday, April 30. The track Tribe landed eight top-three event finishes to help rack up 89 team points on the way to a runner-up team finish in the 12-team field.

TEAM SCORES
Central Elkader 131.5; WAUKON 89; Kee 82; North Linn 78; Alburnett 68; Springville 67; Starmont 50; Edgewood-Colesburg 45; Central City 42; Clayton Ridge 35.5; East Buchanan 31; MFL/MarMac 19

The Waukon boys track team wrapped up its invitational schedule at New Hampton Monday, April 30, competing in the Chickasaw Invitational. The Indians compiled eight event finishes within the top two places, including a trio of event championships, to tally 78 team points and finish third in the meet’s six-team field.

VARSITY TEAM SCORES
New Hampton 105; Crestwood 85; WAUKON 78; Clarion-Goldfield 49; Oelwein 45; Valley Lutheran 21

JV TEAM SCORES
WAUKON 88; Crestwood 80; Charles City 67; New Hampton 31; Oelwein 24; Clarion-Goldfield 20; Valley Lutheran 1

The track Tribe was next scheduled to compete Monday, May 7 in the Northeast Iowa Conference Meet at Charles City, a meet postponed from Thursday, May 3 due to stormy weather. The Indians will then prepare for their Class 2A State Qualifying Meet at Osage this Thursday, May 10, with further details in the print edition and e-edition of The Standard.

The Waukon boys golf team was able to return to the course after another full week of canceled meets, competing in three different events this past week and tallying team totals in the 190s early on in the week to finish outside any championship results but - just like the weather - warming up later in the week to turn in one of the best team totals for Waukon boys golf in recent years. The golf Tribe hosted both Waverly-Shell Rock and Crestwood Monday, April 23, finishing in between those two schools before playing at Sumner-Fredericksburg Tuesday, April 24 and finishing behind both the host school and Waterloo Columbus. The Indians then wrapped up the week with another home meet, this time hosting New Hampton Friday, April 27 but still finishing behind the Chickasaws, 176-172.

In its only meet scheduled for this past week, the Waukon boys track team finished fourth in the five-team field of the Husky Invitational at Oelwein Tuesday, April 24. The Indians tallied five event finishes of runner-up or better, including two event victories, to rack up a total of 60 team points for that fourth-place team finish in the meet’s final standings.

VARSITY TEAM SCORES
Decorah 138; Oelwein 76; Dunkerton 70; WAUKON 60; Wapsie Valley 45

The track Tribe was next scheduled to travel to New Hampton Monday, April 30 before competing in the Northeast Iowa Conference Meet Thursday, May 3 at Charles City. The Indians will then prepare for their Class 2A State Qualifying Meet at Osage Thursday, May 10.

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