Sports

The Waukon boys track team was finally able to compete outdoors for the first time this season, taking part in the Decorah Early Bird Invitational Monday, April 4 that would end up being the track Tribe’s only competition of the week after the Thursday, April 7 Postville Invitational was canceled due to weather.

In the meet’s six-team field of teams from all class sizes, the Indians tallied 118 team points to finish in third place, just one point behind the host Vikings and considerably further behind a strong Mason City squad.

The Waukon boys were slated to return to Decorah Monday, April 11 before competing at New Hampton Thursday, April 14. The Indians will then make their way back to Decorah for a third consecutive Monday, April 18, before hosting their own Indian Relays Friday, April 22, beginning at 4:30 p.m. with field events.

The Waukon girls golf season got underway with what was supposed to be a very busy week of three meets but, instead, got continually less busy with just one complete meet, one partial meet and one that was completely called off over a period of four days. Regardless of the extent of competition, the Indians had just one player taking to the course, as freshman Alyssa Connelly is this season’s lone team member.

That season began with a Monday, April 4 road date at Oelwein, where Connelly shot a nine-hole total of 76 strokes in her varsity debut. The Oelwein host squad tallied a team total of 217 strokes.

The Indians were slated to host South Winneshiek Tuesday, April 5 as part of a girl-boy doubleheader. That meet got through nearly two holes of competition before rainy, windy weather forced the meet to be called off with no results recorded.

For the second consecutive week, both the Waukon and Kee girls track teams were left idle in their competition schedules this past week by winter weather, as cold, windy and sometimes wet conditions forced cancellation of all four of the meets on their respective schedules. Both teams were scheduled to compete at the same meets this past week, with their Tuesday, April 5 Postville Invitational and their Thursday, April 7 Decorah Invitational both being claimed by Mother Nature.

The Waukon girls track team was scheduled to host its own Early Bird Invitational Tuesday, April 12 before traveling to New Hampton Thursday, April 14. The Lady Indians will then compete in the Crestwood Invitational at Cresco Tuesday, April 19 before taking part in the North Fayette Valley Invitational in West Union Friday, April 22.

The Kee boys track team was finally able to compete in its first outdoor meet of the 2022 season, but that first outdoor meet also proved to be the Hawks’ last and only competition of this past week after the Thursday, April 7 Postville Invitational was canceled due to weather. Kee’s tracksters battled not only the 15 other teams at the event, but also some cold, windy and wet conditions when they competed at the Edgewood-Colesburg Invitational Tuesday evening, April 5.

In that large field, the Hawks scored 14 points coming from just two events that accounted for half of their top-10 finishes at the meet. Those 14 points placed Kee 13th out of the meet’s 16 teams.

The Kee boys were next slated to compete Monday, April 11 at the Decorah Invitational before they compete Thursday, April 14 at MFL/MarMac. The Hawks will then travel to Oelwein Monday, April 18  before hosting their own home invitational Thursday, April 21, which is slated to begin at 4:30 p.m.

TNT Gymnastics traveled with 11 gymnasts to Elkhorn High School in Elkhorn, WI March 26-27 for the 2022 Wisconsin USA Gymnastics (USAG) Optional State Competition. TNT Gymnastics collected a total of 11 individual State Championship titles in various events at the competition between six of those TNT gymnasts.

Ava Hooten, 15-year-old daughter of Adam and Jennifer Hooten of Waterville and a freshman at Waukon High School, became the 2022 USAG Wisconsin State Level 9 Junior B All-Around Champion, scoring a 36.225 All-Around score. In addition, she also became the State Champion in the Floor Exercise with a strong 9.475 score, took third place on the Balance Beam with an 8.95 and took fourth place in both the vault, with a score of 9.125, and the uneven bars, with an 8.675.

The 2022 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament has come to an end after Kansas was crowned this year’s NCAA Champion with a 72-69 win over North Carolina Monday, April 4. With that final game determining this year’s tournament champion, the same can be said for The Standard’s Bracket Challenge, as, much like Kansas in the NCAA Tournament field, Annabelle Dibert of Lansing emerged atop this year’s collection of entries as the Bracket Challenge champion.

Standing just two points apart heading into Monday night’s championship game, Dibert and Stan Johnson of Holly Hill, FL were two of just six entries who had some combination of three teams remaining out of this year’s final four teams in the tournament, with no entries picking all four teams correctly.

The Waukon boys golf team of 2022 will return a pair of varsity letterwinners from last season, that experienced pair leading a collection of 11 players making up this spring’s squad. Having to replace a large group of seven graduated seniors that made up half of last season’s squad, this year’s Indians will try and do that with an influx of nearly that many first-year high school golfers.

That pair of letterwinning returnees includes one golfer who was in that same situation last season as a freshman, as sophomore Dylan Hogan and junior Cody Huinker bring back their varsity experience from last spring. With nine of this season’s 11 players being sophomores or younger, there will be plenty of opportunity to continue to build the program for the future.

“We will be looking for some younger underclassmen to step up and fill the other varsity spots,” Waukon boys golf coach Tharin Benson said.

The 2022 Waukon girls golf season will feature an unprecedented situation in the fact that there will be just one young lady taking to the course for the Lady Indians this spring. Freshman Alyssa Connelly makes up the entire roster for this season’s golf Tribe, as no golfers returned from previous seasons for this spring campaign.

“The census of the team is down considerably, but my individual is working hard, is excited about the game, and has personal goals that she wants to achieve,” Waukon girls golf coach Kathy McMillan said.

Even though her team size may be the smallest it has ever been, Coach McMillan will continue to provide the tutelage she has for all golfers who have gone through her program. “I want to teach my individual good course management skills and establish solid fundamentals,” she explained.

Don Martindale wins first-ever State Championship as head coach, assisted by Annie (Stelow) Kalous

by Perry Hesse

Estherville-Lincoln Central (ELC) head girls basketball coach Don Martindale triumphantly put his right fist in the air as junior forward Brei Christoffer hugged the ball tightly while time ran out awarding Martindale and his Class 3A Midgets the State Championship title at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines March 12. For Martindale, it highlighted an already highly successful coaching career that has spanned over 40 years with his love for the game beginning as a prep in Waukon. ELC defeated Ballard, 44-30, as the Bombers attempted to repeat as State Champions after winning the Class 4A title last year.

The 2022 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament is headed toward its final week of competition, meaning a new champion will be crowned in the tournament and in The Standard’s Bracket Challenge within the next week. Following this past weekend’s trimming of the tournament field to its final four teams, the top 22 Challenge entries currently stand as follows:

Annabelle Dibert    85
Kristi Campbell    80
John Reinke    79
Chase Adam    79
Morgan Weymiller    77
Keira McCormick    75
Caity Schultz    74
Charlene Baxter    73
Pat Stilwell    71
Jerry Brinkman    71
Stan Johnson    71
Scott Dougherty    70
Grady Goetzinger    69
Mitchell Schultz    68
Tate Ellingson    67
Kent Schultz    67
Kaley Benzing    66
Diane Piittmann    66
Caylie Adam    65
Gina Curtin    65
Tucker Jackson    65
Mark Welsh    65