Sports

The 2018 football season is underway and with it comes the return of The Standard’s Halfback Harry contest. The opening week of the contest proved to be somewhat of a logjam in all competitions.

Three entries tied in each of the two aspects of the contest, including a trio that missed just two of this week’s 20 games. Wayne Kreitzer of Cresco, Dana Fink of Perry and Mark Goeke of Riceville were locked in that initial battle, requiring the total points scored by winning teams tie-breaker to be implemented. This week’s 20 winning teams racked up 738 total points, giving Kreitzer the first-week nod with his choice of 732 points, with Fink’s guess of 767 points and Goeke’s choice of 680 each being further off.

Returning all but one of its top seven runners from an overall young squad that came up just a couple places shy of continuing its most recent streak of State Meet qualification last season, the Waukon boys cross country team will work toward its ultimate goal of competing in that season grand finale once again with a strong returning foundation in 2018. Six of the distance Tribe’s top seven runners, including last season’s top four individuals, will be working to make a return trip to Fort Dodge this fall.

“Returning six of our top seven runners from last year’s team, as well as the majority of the guys coming into the season with at least one year of cross country under their belt, if not more,” Waukon boys cross country coach Tara Stein listed as the strength’s of this season’s team. “I have been pleased with our numbers and how hard the boys have been pushing themselves in practice.”

The 2018 volleyball season will mark the beginning of the impact felt by graduation of the most decorated and historic senior class in the history of Kee girls athletics. Although just three seniors were lost from last season’s net squad that pieced together one of the most successful season’s in Kee volleyball history, the fact that trio took with it the top statistical numbers in nearly every category from last fall’s 21-15 campaign, including the top three totals in many categories, will leave some considerable shoes to fill for the 2018 Lady Hawks.

Starting the season with a squad working to fill the loss of a half dozen All-District graduated seniors, the Kee football team opened its 2018 campaign with an even more depleted squad with just three players who played considerable starting roles in last season’s Hawk varsity grid effort due to some early-season overcomings. Couple that with a season-opening opponent, Riceville, that had played to State Play-Off qualification last season and owns a three-game winning streak over the Hawks, and the end result looks something like the 26-0 loss Kee was dealt at home by the visiting Wildcats Friday, August 24, Riceville limiting the Hawks to just 114 total yards of offense and eventually racking up 302 yards of its own, 295 of those yards coming on the ground.

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The Kee girls and boys cross country program looks to benefit from the return of all but one of last season’s competitors from each squad. Just one senior was lost to graduation this past spring, taking the multi-year experience of Nicki Wood with it, but the return of five other varsity letterwinners from a team effort of historic proportions last season still gives the Kee girls team just cause for continued optimism. Likewise, the return of all but one of last season’s varsity frontrunners for the Kee boys squad looks to have a similar impact on moving forward.

The ultimate history of a first-ever State Championship in program history won last season puts the Waukon football team in a similar first-ever position of having the opportunity to build on that ultimate success this season. That opportunity to build on past success will also offer the opportunity for an abundance of others to do the building, as graduation this past spring took a class of 16 seniors who filled a total of 18 of 22 starting positions from last season’s Class 2A State Championship squad.

The first-ever Northeast Iowa .22LR Marksman Challenge was held Saturday, August 11 at Walnut Lane Range near Farmersburg, featuring a series of target shooting events from 25 to 200 yards with .22LR Caliber firearms, such as the event pictured above. The inaugural Challenge was open to competitors in two different age categories. As pictured in the advertisement below, Brody Bries was the Sub-18 Challenge winner and Chris Wachal of Elgin was the Adult Challenge winner. Plans are being made for multiple events in 2019 with prizes awarded for individual events and a championship prize based on total scores for the year. Standard photo by Joe Moses.
 

Adam Haluska, a former four-sport stand-out at Carroll High School who went on to All-Conference and Academic All-American honors playing for the University of Iowa basketball team before being drafted by the New Orleans Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NBA), spoke to students, parents and community members at the annual Meet the Team Night and Allamakee Athletic Booster Club Membership Kick-Off event held at Waukon High School Thursday, August 16. Haluska shared a message reflecting on his life and athletic career, the professional basketball portion of which was eventually ended by an accumulation of injuries.

Each year the Waukon Swim Club honors swimmers with the Michael J. Hager Award given in memory of Michael J. Hager (1960-1991), who was the son of Bonnie and the late James Hager of Waukon. This year’s Michael J. Hager Award recipients are Meridian Snitker and James VanderVelden. Meridian Snitker is pictured at right and James VanderVelden was not available for the photo.

Michael Hager loved swimming. In 1976, as a lifeguard at the pool, he started the Waukon Swim Club. He worked as a lifeguard, swam with the club and coached until he graduated from high school in 1978. He went on to attend college for one year at William Penn University and then transferred to Luther College, where he swam for the Norse for three years. Each summer, Hager would come home to coach the swim team and lifeguard at the pool until he graduated from Luther in 1982.

Waukon baseball graduated senior Abe Schwartz was named to the Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association Academic All-State First Team following the 2018 baseball season. He was among the First Team honorees recognized at the annual Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association All-Star Banquet held Saturday, August 4 at the Marriott Hotel Banquet Center in Iowa City. That Academic All-State First Team consists of the top 22 players, nominated by their coaches, who demonstrate outstanding academic, moral and athletic characteristics. A panel of coaches selected these senior players.