Sports

Making their way back to a place their program had not been in six years, the Waukon cross country boys competed among Class 2A’s distance running elite at Lakeside Country Club near Fort Dodge Saturday, November 1. Along with the top distance runners in all of Class 2A, the Indians also battled chilly, breezy conditions to rack up 266 team points and finish in 14th place out of 15 teams in the Class 2A field.
The Indians are one of just three teams within that Class 2A State Meet scoring field of 15 teams not graduating a single runner from their seven State Meet competitors, having four juniors and three sophomores make up their top seven runners this season. Class 2A State Meet Runner-Up and top-ranked Monticello fielded five juniors, one sophomore and one freshman for this season’s grand finale, while fourth-place Garner-Hayfield has just one junior, five sophomores and one freshman on this year’s State Meet roster.

The Kee volleyball team began its Class 1A postseason tournament trail in thrilling fashion, battling a visiting Central Elkader team to the very brink of elimination before fighting back to clinch the match in five sets. Just one set away from having their season ended, the Hawks rallied back to win sets four and five by the narrowest of margins to secure advancement to the quarterfinal round of Class 1A Regional Tournament play by scores of 20-25, 25-15, 18-25, 25-23 and 17-15. The first-round victory advances the Hawks to the Class 1A Region 5 quarterfinals with a 12-16 overall record, where they were scheduled to face 10th-rated and fellow Upper Iowa Conference foe Turkey Valley Tuesday, October 28 at Jackson Junction.

The Waukon football team looked to wrap up its 2014 season playing for pride at home against Oelwein Friday, October 24 as this season’s campaign took its toll on the Indian gridiron roster and, in turn, the Tribe’s season results. An overall balanced Indian offensive effort, coupled with a determined defensive charge, played out to a pride-producing result with a 48-16 victory over the visiting Huskies.
The win completed the Indians’ 2014 grid campaign at an overall record of 3-6 that included a mark of 2-4 in Class 2A District 3 play that left the Indians in fifth place in the final seven-team standings. North Fayette Valley (8-1 overall, 5-1 in District 3), Dyersville Beckman (7-2, 5-1), New Hampton (6-3, 4-2) and Center Point-Urbana (6-3, 4-2) finished in front of the Indians, in that order, for the top four State Play-Off qualifying spots from District 3 and will begin those Class 2A State Play-Offs this Wednesday, October 29.

The Waukon volleyball team opened Class 3A Regional Tournament play Monday, October 27 at home against its most familiar foe this season, as the Indian net squad was facing the Crestwood Cadets for the fifth time on the year. The two teams had met in three weekend tournaments and once in Northeast Iowa Conference dual match play already this fall, splitting those four matches to set the table for this fifth and final showdown with the end of either team’s season hanging in the balance.

The Kee cross country team had its 2014 season brought to a close at its Class 1A State Qualifying Meet hosted by Nashua-Plainfield High School at the Nashua Town and Country Club Thursday, October 23. The Hawk boys missed out on extending their season by falling short of the top-10 individual and top-three team finishes required for advancement to this season’s Class 1A State Meet, the Hawks finishing 21st out of 22 scoring teams at the meet.
“I was pleased with the effort in a field of way too many runners,” said Kee cross country coach Gary Bottorff. “Some parts of the race the runners were almost coming to a stop on turns because there were so many runners trying to make the turns. My runners gave it their best shot. Some day they may even the districts so that the small schools have a chance to compete on the same terms as the large schools - Class 4A with eight to 10 teams per districts compared to 27-30 teams per districts for small schools.”

The Waukon girls cross country team was within just a single team placewinning of qualification for this year’s Class 2A State Cross Country Meet, the Lady Indians finishing fourth as a team at their Thursday, October 23 Class 2A State Qualifying Meet hosted by New Hampton High School at the New Hampton Golf and Country Club. The Tribe tallied 155 points for their best overall team finish of the season, 52 points shy of the third-place finish required for State Meet qualification and earned by North Fayette Valley Thursday with a team score of 103 points.

The Waukon boys cross country team put together its strongest overall team effort of the season when it mattered most, and the pay-off is a trip to every high school cross country team’s ultimate destination - the State Cross Country Meet - for the first time since the 2008 season.
“Awesome! I am so proud of the boys, all of their hard work is paying off and as a result they will be running at the State Meet in Fort Dodge Saturday,” Waukon boys cross country coach Tara Stein said. “I knew the boys ran a strong race, (sophomore) Tyler (O’Neill) finished seventh, so we knew he would be advancing on to State, now we had to wait patiently for the awards to see if the team would be joining him... and then we heard, ‘in third place, qualifying for State... Waukon.’”

The Kee football team hosted Midland of Wyoming in the final Eight-Player District 4 match-up of the season for both teams, but with so much more riding on the game’s final outcome than just a win or loss. Both teams held equal records of 3-3 in district play heading into the contest, with the winner earning the district’s fourth-place and final Eight-Player State Play-Off berth.
Nearly as even as the two team’s district records were their offensive yardage totals in the ballgame, each holding a slight edge in their respective specialties, with Kee holding a slight offensive edge, 455-406, and that edge further translating on to the final scoreboard with a 64-44 Hawk victory.

The Kee football team traveled to the home of Eight-Player newcomer and top-five ranked Central Elkader Friday, October 17 for a District 4 game. The undefeated host Warriors were averaging just over 74 points per game coming into the contest, and that’s exactly where they ended up in defeating the Hawks by a 74-26 final result. Falling to a 5-3 overall record on the season, 3-3 in district play, the Hawks will return home this Friday, October 24 for a game with Midland/Wyoming that has the fourth and final District 4 play-off qualification spot riding on it. Midland is 3-5 overall on the season, and comes off a 38-0 home win over Central City this past Friday, October 17.

The Waukon girls cross country team ran to a fifth-place team finish among its fellow Northeast Iowa Conference (NEIC) teams at the annual Northeast Iowa Conference Meet hosted this year by Decorah Tuesday, October 14. The host Vikings made themselves right at home, claiming five of the top seven individual finishes at the meet to win this season’s NEIC championship with 22 points, the Indians tallying 125 points to finish fifth out of six teams scoring at the meet. The Indians will now take part in their Class 2A State Qualifying Meet Thursday, October 23.

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