Sports

The Waukon boys cross country team may be small in returning veteran leadership, but the squad’s overall numbers hold some promise. Seventeen young men have reported for early-season workouts for the Tribe distance dandies, but just three of them return with varsity experience from a team that made a third consecutive trip to the State Cross Country Meet last season.

“First and foremost, I am pleasantly surprised by the number of guys we have on the team this year with several new additions,” said Waukon boys cross country coach Tara Stein. “It will be nice to have enough guys out to be able to score as a team for both varsity and JV races. I have been very pleased with how hard all of the guys have been working during camp and the first couple weeks of practice and I am anxious to see how we come together and compete as a team.”

The 2017 Waukon girls cross country team will be led by four varsity letterwinners this season that include representation from three different grade levels. Add to that veteran core an overall young mix of varsity newcomers, and Waukon girls cross country coach Brett Egan has the makings of another possible step forward for his program that has featured 16 high school participants thus far in early-season workouts.

Those four veteran returnees include senior Gabby Marti, junior Megan O’Neill and sophomores Ellec Armstead and Madalyn Marti, who return from a squad that posted a fifth-place finish at last season’s Northeast Iowa Conference Meet and ultimately had its season ended with a ninth-place team finish at its Class 2A State Qualifying Meet.

The Kee football team returns six letterwinners from a team that played to a 3-6 season record last fall, but was a play or two away from having that record reversed if not improved even more. Those six letterwinners will lead an overall group of 25 players and include a quartet of returnees who earned All-District honors from last season, that being the senior foursome of Tucker Colsch, Brock Flack, Eric Rud and Noah Spearbecker.

As one might expect, a majority of that returning veteran core is made up of this season’s senior class. Whether a letterwinner or not, Kee football coach Chad Winters will be looking to those uppermostclassmen to lay the foundation for this season.

“The seniors have set the tone for practice,” Coach Winters explained. “They understand the hard work and dedication needed to be successful on the football field.  They are very encouraging to the younger kids and always helping teach during drills.”

The Kee cross country program faces varying scenarios between its girls and boys squads for the 2017 season, but coach Pat Wagner sees overall promise and potential with each. The cross country girls suffered no graduation loss and return all six of last season’s high school competitors from a team that finished its 2016 campaign right at the brink of State Meet qualification. The boys, on the other hand, are dealing with the reshuffling of their distance deck, with graduation taking away some veteran mainstays, a bit of experience returning, and some new faces holding some promise in their distance debut.
“We are excited about this season,” Kee cross country coach Pat Wagner said. “In early season workouts the student athletes are focused and working hard. All six girls are returning letterwinners, and (juniors) Jacob Berns and Ryan Whalen return on the boys side.”

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, left to right in photo at right, Alexis Hogan, daughter of Jeremy and Heather Hogan of Waukon, and Ryan Lubahn, son of Troy and Shari Lubahn of Waukon.

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.

Although a new face was poised at the helm of Kee baseball for the 2017 season, that new face was certainly not unfamiliar with the strength and tradition of the Hawk diamond program. Former Kee standout Pat Heiderscheit took over the reins as head coach this season of the program he once helped reach dynastic heights in the early 1980s, and although he was new to the head coaching role of the program, the return of all but two players from last season’s 24-15 season helped ease that transition and guide this season’s campaign to a 25-11 overall record and the Hawks’ farthest postseason advancement in five seasons.

“I am very grateful for the opportunity to coach at my alma mater,” Coach Heiderscheit said. “If the players had half as much fun as I did, then we had a great summer!”

After making history last season with the first-ever State Championship in female athletics for Kee High School, the Lady Hawk softball team would have been hard-pressed to improve on such a feat. But the 39-6 record that resulted from that first-ever state title was improved a bit to a mark of 38 wins with just two losses this season - the Hawks opting out of playing in their scheduled North Fayette Valley Tournament that may very well have pushed their win total into the 40s. Even further, the 23-9 outscoring that came with last season’s crown was bettered to a 33-5 scoring margin during this year’s return to Class 1A State Championship reign. But even though the end result for the Hawks was a repeat performance, the celebration and feeling of accomplishment are still as thrilling as the first time.

The Waukon High School athletic campaign for the 2017-2018 season will get kicked off Thursday night, August 17 at the newly established annual Meet the Team/Sports Drink Scrimmage Night being held at Waukon High School, beginning at 4 p.m. with a variety of scheduled activities. The Allamakee Athletic Booster Club will kick off the event at 4 p.m. with its annual membership drive that includes an appreciation meal being served to Booster members and athletes at the Waukon High School cafeteria.

At 5 p.m., a featured speaker will address the crowd in the Waukon High School gym. Former National Football League (NFL) player Cedric James will be this year’s featured speaker. James played his college football at Texas Christian University (TCU) before being drafted by the Minnesota Vikings for a two-year stint and then spending a year with the Dallas Cowboys before being part of the New England Patriots’ Super Bowl XXXIX championship team during the 2005 NFL season.

The 2017 Waukon baseball team returned a total of 10 letterwinners this season from a 7-22 campaign last summer, but even with that collection of returning experience the Indians couldn’t advance their win total any, finishing this year with a 7-23 overall record. That overall mark included a 1-17 record in Northeast Iowa Conference play, placing the baseball Tribe seventh in the final league standings.

Despite the regular season difficulties, the Indians put together some of their best work as the postseason got underway, once again winning their first postseason game before having their season brought to a close in the district semifinals by a top 10-rated Dyersville Beckman team that eventually played to the Class 2A State Tournament championship.

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The fourth annual Firecracker 5K Walk/Run hosted by Harpers Ferry Boosters, Inc. in Harpers Ferry Saturday, July 1 was considered a tremendous success with 270 participants registered from across the state of Iowa and six other states from across the United States. Each participant received a green t-shirt with the Firecracker emblem and a list of sponsors on the back.

The racers were welcomed by Harpers Ferry City Councilman Don Gibson, and Trekman Racing was used to assist and manage electronic registration and timing which enhanced the process and provided the racers/walkers with their individual times and ranking by age groups and overall. The 5K race featured an overall winner in the Female and Male divisions and gold, silver and bronze medals in seven age categories within the Female and Male divisions.