Sports

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.

The Waukon Park & Recreation Department is currently holding a registration period for its Fall Recreation Programs for both youth and adults. To sign up or to have questions answered, contact Kim Kraus at wkn_park_rec@neitel.net or 563-568-6420.
Youth programs in both football and volleyball are scheduled to be held this fall, with a Thursday, August 24 deadline to register. Registration forms can be picked up at the Waukon Wellness Center or register online at the City of Waukon Park and Recreation website or Facebook page for any of the following  youth programs:

First/Second Grade Nerf Flag Football
Third/Fourth Grade Flag Football
Third/Fourth Grade Volleyball
Fifth/Sixth Grade Volleyball (Travel).

Replacing nearly two-thirds of its starting line-up from graduation losses last season and bringing back just two seniors in a limited amount of four returning varsity veterans, the Waukon softball team battled through a 2017 season defined by overall youth and varsity inexperience. With so many holes to fill and not much varsity experience returning, second-year head coach Amanda Eggerichs worked throughout the season to try and find the right pieces to fit the puzzles of her offensive and defensive line-ups, that effort resulting in a 7-25 overall season record for the softball Tribe that included a mark of 3-15 that placed the Indians sixth in the final seven-team Northeast Iowa Conference standings.

Most return trips in consecutive years to the State Tournament at Fort Dodge would produce a message such as “We’re Back!”.

But, in its first-ever return trip to the season grand finale in consecutive seasons, the Kee softball team’s message once all was said and done in Fort Dodge was “We’re Back-to-Back!” as the softball Hawks not only returned to every team’s ultimate destination for a second consecutive season, but also returned home with a second consecutive Class 1A State Tournament Championship.

“This is an unbelievable feeling,” Kee softball coach Liz Hill said of her team’s repeat accomplishment as the best team in Iowa high school softball’s Class 1A. “I am so beyond excited, happy and proud of these girls and what they’ve accomplished. It’s really impressive, as far as what one might expect out of high school girls. They have worked so hard for a long time to accomplish what very few teams have been able to.”

Cinderella was dressed as a Pirate for this year’s ball (tournament), as the Hudson Pirates entered Class 1A postseason play with a losing record of 14-16, but played their way all the way to the Class 1A State Tournament with four straight postseason victories. Unfortunately for the Kee baseball Hawks, they were the last team on Hudson’s postseason dance card, suffering a 10-6 defeat Tuesday, July 18 in the Class 1A Substate 3 championship game played at Hertl Field on the Wartburg College campus in Waverly.

The Waukon baseball team had its 2017 season brought to a close by one of the highest regarded teams in the state, as the seventh-rated Dyersville Beckman Trailblazers disposed of the Indians by a mercy-rule final of 12-2 in five innings in the district semifinal round of Class 2A tournament play. The game began Tuesday, July 11 at the home of the Blazers and played through a single full inning with the score tied at 2-2, but a lightning delay eventually turned into a postponement to Wednesday, July 12 after more than an hour wait for a storm to pass through. That postponement proved to be troublesome for the Indians, as after that 2-2 first inning the Indians were turned away in order in each of the next four innings, the Tribe being outscored by a 10-0 margin after play resumed a day later to lead to the 12-2 Indian defeat.

Postseason tournament play is supposed to be the most exciting time of the season, and the Kee baseball team took that excitement level even higher as the Hawks played to a Class 1A District 5 championship and substate berth with three consecutive victories at home this past week, including a pair of one-run triumphs earned in dramatic late-inning fashion in their final two district tournament games. The baseball Hawks opened their postseason tournament road with a 9-2 win over Nashua-Plainfield at home Tuesday, July 11 before pulling out one of those one-run triumphs, 9-8, over Turkey Valley with a five-run sixth inning Thursday, July 13. Kee then clinched its first substate berth since the 2012 season with even further dramatics, scoring the game-winning run on the last play of a 5-4 victory over St. Ansgar Saturday, July 15.