Sports

A second consecutive home game for the Kee football team in the early-going of this 2024 season already had a lot riding on its end result, as the Hawks of the gridiron opened Eight-Player District 3 play Friday, September 6 against Turkey Valley - a team they were in a shoot-out with last season, both in their 68-56 Kee victory and in Eight-Player State Play-Off positioning last fall. This season’s match-up between the two squads had early indications of another such high-scoring battle to the end, as within the first three plays of the game each had already scored a touchdown, but the Hawks proved to be much more consistent in taking control of the game shortly after that early exchange to pull away to a 58-28 victory.

Having been dealt its first shut-out loss since the 2011 season in its opening game for 2024 a week earlier against Class 4A Decorah, the Waukon football team not only made sure that scenario would not play out again, but that there would not be a second consecutive loss to the MFL/MarMac squad the Indians were paying a visit to Friday, September 6. Having suffered a 34-12 home defeat to the Bulldogs last fall as part of the best football season in MFL/MarMac history that led to a Class 1A State Runner-Up finish and now an early-season ranking among Class 1A’s top-10 teams for the Bulldogs this fall, the grid Tribe ground out a strong initial drive and capitalized on an early turnover to help play to a 20-0 halftime lead and eventually avenge last season’s loss with a 28-12 road victory.

The 2024 season for the Waukon football team got off to a slow start at home against Class 4A ninth-rated Decorah Friday, August 30. The visiting Vikings scored on three of their first four offensive possessions, as well as on the Indians’ own first series of the contest, on the way to handing the grid Tribe its first shut-out loss, 33-0, since the 2011 season, when Waukon football was last playing in the Class 3A ranks of Iowa high school football.

The 2024 Kee football season got off to a strong and convincing, both overall and within the game itself, as the Hawks opened this fall’s campaign with a 66-18 home triumph over Tripoli Friday, August 30. Scoring on nine of its 11 possessions in the ballgame, including its first three drives on just eight plays combined, Kee’s grid squad jumped out to a 22-0 advantage within the first five minutes of the ballgame and never looked back on the way to its season-opening victory.

“We were able to get off to a great start, scoring three times in the first five minutes of the ballgame,” Kee football head coach Chad Winters shared. “We hit some big plays and (sophomore) Tanner (Troendle) was able to force a turnover on a kick-off that set up a short field.”

The Waukon volleyball team got its 2024 season off to a split result against a pair of Upper Iowa Conference (UIC) opponents this past week, each at differing degrees as well. The Lady Indians opened the season falling at home to North Fayette Valley in a five-set war waged Tuesday, August 27 by scores of 25-16, 23-25, 10-25, 25-23 and 11-15. The net Tribe then traveled to Postville two nights later, sweeping three straight sets from the host Pirates Thursday, August 29 by scores of 25-10, 25-16 and 25-13.

The volleyball Indians were scheduled to host both Kee and Riceville Tuesday, September 3 before playing in a multi-team match-up at Crestwood Thursday, September 5. They will then return to Cresco Saturday, September 14 for their first weekend tournament action of this fall.

The 2024 Waukon volleyball team will be returning three varsity letterwinners from a squad that played to an 8-19 overall record last fall, including a 1-4 result in dual match play that placed the net Tribe in fifth place in the final Northeast Iowa Conference (NEIC) team standings. A total of 13 young ladies have been listed on the early-season varsity roster for this fall’s campaign, with more than half that roster being led by a senior class of seven players.

The three varsity veterans bringing their letterwinning experience back to the court this fall include a pair of those seniors in Mari Delaney and Reese McCormick. Junior Willa Troendle adds further veteran varsity experience to the Lady Indian line-up this fall, returning for a second consecutive season with letterwinning accolades.

The 2024 Waukon football team will look to continue a trend of success that has come to be somewhat expected within the program ranks in recent years, as the grid Tribe comes off a sixth consecutive Class 2A district championship campaign and a 10th season of Class 2A State Play-Off qualification in the past 12 seasons. Helping fuel that pursuit of continued success this fall will be a collection of 17 returning varsity letterwinners who will pave the way for this season’s program of 59 players in total, with those 17 returning veterans making up nearly half of this season’s squad from the ranks of sophomores on up through seniors.

The Kee football team will look to continue its most recent trend of growth and improvement as it approaches its 2024 campaign. After playing to a season record of 5-4 and an Eight-Player Play-Off berth last fall, the Hawks will benefit from more than half of their players this fall returning with varsity letterwinning experience from last season’s efforts that resulted in winning just over half their games.

The Waukon Swim Club swam to a perfect dual meet record of 8-0 during its 2024 season, including a home meet victory over Decorah in an intense, narrow battle. That undefeated dual meet mark placed the Waukon swimmers at the top of the final Northeast Iowa Swim Conference season standings, with Decorah later edging Waukon in the final team scoring of the Northeast Iowa Swim Conference Meet to bring this 2024 season to a close.

The 2024 Waukon baseball season played out to a 12-18 overall record for the Indian diamond dwellers. That season-long mark included a 7-13 mark in Northeast Iowa Conference (NEIC) play that placed Waukon fourth in the final six-team NEIC standings, and culminated in a second postseason tournament run to the Class 2A District Championship game in the past four seasons before having the 2024 summer season brought to a close with a rain-shortened loss at home to Denver in that Class 2A district finale.

“I was happy to see our seniors advance to another district championship game,” Waukon baseball coach Shane Schellsmidt said in reflecting on this season. “They ended their career knowing they played in two district championship games, which is not easy to accomplish, as well as recording three 15-win seasons.”