Sports

The Waukon volleyball team opened its 2023 season with a split of its first two matches of this fall, coming up just a bit shy in a comeback effort on the road before taking care of business at home against two early-season non-conference foes. The Lady Indians first fell at North Fayette Valley in West Union Tuesday, August 22 in a five-set marathon before sweeping through Postville at home in three straight sets Thursday, August 24.

The Indians were next scheduled to host both Riceville and Kee Monday, August 28 before playing in another multiple team event at South Winneshiek Thursday, August 31. The net Tribe will then travel to Waverly-Shell Rock Tuesday, September 5 before playing in the Kepros Tournament hosted by Crestwood High School in Cresco Saturday, September 9.

The 2023 Waukon football team will have an overall young look to it, as the program will have to overcome the graduation of nearly two dozen seniors from last fall’s squad that played to a 6-4 season record, a fifth consecutive undefeated Class 2A District championship and a sixth consecutive qualification for the Class 2A State Play-Offs. A group of just eight players with letterwinning experience return to lead an overall collection of 52 players working to try and extend those streaks this fall.

Those eight returning veterans include the senior half-dozen of Brody Berns, Jacob Courtney, Isaac Ericson, Dylan Hogan, Kole McCormick and Jack O’Neill. The junior pair of Graine Curtin and Carson Hager also return as underclassman veterans who gained letterwinning experience last fall.

The 2023 Kee football team will have half of its players returning with varsity letterwinning experience from last season’s result of a 2-6 overall record. Eleven of this season’s 22 players return from that squad that battled through injury and other challenges to also piece together a 1-4 mark in Eight-Player District 5.

“We return a nucleus of junior and senior guys that have been tossed into the fire and had to grow up quickly,” Kee football coach Chad Winters said. “Hopefully that experience they gained last year will be beneficial for us on both sides of the ball. We return four of our top six tacklers, our starting QB, and two of our top three receiving threats from a year ago.”

A number of new faces will be featured within the 2023 Waukon volleyball campaign this fall, including at the very top of that totem pole as 2018 Waukon High School graduate Carley Sweeney takes over the head coaching reins of the Tribe’s net program. Greeting Coach Sweeney in her debut season will be a number of new varsity faces this season, as just three letterwinners return from last fall’s 16-19 season result.

Sweeney played her senior season with the volleyball Indians in 2017, one of the three sports she participated in for the Tribe during her high school career. Since then she has been a volunteer assistant coach for the Waukon volleyball, girls basketball and golf programs.

The three varsity veterans headlining this season’s experience include the senior pair of Kloe Hemmersbach and Lynsey Houg, along with sophomore Willa Troendle. Each of them will provide their own bit of leadership to this season’s team, according to Coach Sweeney.

The 2023 Waukon girls cross country season will not only benefit from returning nearly all of its competitors from last season but will also have the added bonus of fielding its largest participation numbers in more than a decade as the Lady Indians take to the course this fall. Having graduated just one senior from last season’s squad, head coach Tyler Scholl has welcomed 30 young ladies so far to this fall’s early-season practices.

“We have the largest group of kids out for girls cross country within the last 10 years,” Coach Scholl explained. “It’s been fun seeing 30 girls in grades 7-12 out for the sport and seeing how the team continues to mature and grow because of our leadership from the upperclassmen. We have new runners on our squad that have put in the work this summer and proved they can run on the heels of our veterans. Our freshman class will have a significant impact on our squad and I’m excited to see them grow into the sport.”

The Kee cross country program will field two teams heading in opposite directions for 2023, as far as participation numbers. The Lady Hawks have had their squad dwindle to just one runner this season, while the Kee boys should be able to consistently tally a team score as their participation has grown to six athletes this fall.

“We had a good first week of practice,” Kee cross country coach Pat Wagner said. “All the athletes came in physically fit and all seven of them did good work.  I am looking forward to our season.”

The Hawks were scheduled to get their 2023 season underway at the Edgewood-Colesburg Invitational Tuesday, August 22 before wrapping up the month of August at the MFL/MarMac Invitational Thursday, August 31. The month of September will open with two meets in the first week of that month, beginning with the Clayton Ridge Invitational at Guttenberg Tuesday, September 5 and then the Luther Invitational in Decorah Saturday, September 9.

Those involved with the 2023 Waukon Men’s Invitational Golf Tournament held July 29-30 at the Waukon Golf & Country Club say this year’s tournament will be one of the most memorable for a number of reasons. Several feats of notoriety made this year’s tournament stand out, including some scoring records, a couple hole-in-one feats and a new generation being adding to the championship plaque.

Owen Sawyer, a graduate of Cedar Falls High School this past spring who was playing in the event for the first time, won the tournament by shooting a 65 in Round 1 and following that tally with what is believed to be a tournament record 59 in Round 2. His back 9 score of 28 is believed to have tied a course record as well.

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 pictured at right, left to right, Dane Burns and Allia Ericson.

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. Hager believed that a swimmer did not have to be a technical or precision swimmer to be good in the sport. He believed that everyone could learn to swim and love the water.

Left to right - Front row: Leah Bulman, Justine Sullivan, Andrea Gibbs, Lexy Johnson; Back row: Reed Kelly, Isaac Roe, Noah Hatlan. Not pictured: Brock Hatlan and Lainey Sweeney. Submitted photo.
 

Katie Brennan, a 2019 graduate of Kee High School in Lansing and a senior on the 2023 Luther College softball team, was recently honored for her work both on and off the field this season. The Lady Norse third baseman was one of seven players from this past season’s Luther softball team named All-America Scholar Athletes by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Tuesday, August 1.

To earn All-America Scholar Athlete honors, a player must have achieved a 3.5 grade point average (GPA) for the 2022-2023 academic year. The seven Lady Norse to achieve that honor headlined an overall team effort that ranked Luther 124th among all Division III softball teams with a 3.07 team GPA.