NDN-SS-08-21-19

JASPER COUNTY

SPORTS PREVIEW

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2 Fall Sports Preview 2019

Familiar coach directing Cardinal volleyball

By Jocelyn Sheets Newton Daily News With summer open gyms and a team camp, Kim Florke and her coaching staff accessed the hand they were dealt for the 2019 Newton High School volleyball season.

Not too bad as the 2018 Cardinals only had one senior player on the Florke team.

Florke returns to the helm of the NHS volleyball program after retiring from the head coaching position in 2013. She had been the head coach for 15 years before that building a 265-252-22 match record with the Cardinals and one Little Hawkeye Conference championship (2013).

“This summer has helped so many of the players so much. The ones who were here all summer are heads and tails above the others,” Florke said after the first week of official practices. “There are many unknowns going into the season but we’re beginning to see some separation among the kids.”

Florke is joined by Heidi Woollums as the varsity assistant coach, LaNita Keeton as the junior varsity coach and Michaela Bleeker as the freshman coach. Woollums and Keeton have coached with Florke at Newton before and Bleeker was a standout player on the NHS 2013 team.

There are seven returning players with varsity experience on the 2019 roster. Junior Kate Callaghan is the only player with two years of starting experience for the Cardinals as a setter. She earned second-team Little Hawkeye Conference honors as a setter.

Senior Madi Amos was a LHC

Jocelyn Sheets/Daily News Newton High juniors Tess Brunsmann (11) and Jerrica McGuire (12) are back to help work the net for the Cardinals in 2019. The Cardinals head into the new season with a new coaching staff.

honorable mention selection as an outside hitter.

Meg Callaghan, a junior, earned LHC honorable mention honors also. She is sidelined with a shoulder injury as she comes back from surgery. The 5-foot-9 inch middle blocker was injured in the final match of last year. Florke said they are hoping Meg Callaghan will be cleared to play by mid-season.

Also back for the Cardinals are seniors Priscila Amador and Mackenzie Baker, juniors Tess Brunsmann, Jerrica McGuire and Nykole Hernandez. Working for a spot on the varsity squad are juniors Kynnedei Terpstra and Lainey Hull and sophomore Alyssa Shannon. Hailey Barr, a transfer student from Pleasantville, joined the team late the first week of practice.

“All the girls from varsity to freshmen are willing to earn and be coached which is what you want. Over the summer we were throwing a lot at them and they were like sponges,” Florke said. “Now, that we’re in practices, they are starting to have those ‘ahha’ moments.

“We’re getting players into rotations and there’s competition going among them and that is always good.”

Kate Callaghan was not just Newton’s starting setter with 164 set assists, she led the team in kills. The 5-9 junior downed 147 kills at the net and had 13 solo blocks and 10 block assists. She was a .949 server with 20 ace serves. She had 158 digs.

Amos, who is a 5-7 outside hitter, pounded down 49 kills and led the team with 190

digs. She served up eight aces, going 81-of-87 at the service line. McGurie put up 16 solo blocks and three block assists and nine kills as a 5-8 middle blocker.

Brunsmann is a 5-8 setter and outside hitter and Baker is working in the middle as a blocker. Brunsmann had 11 kills and 89 set assists a year ago. Baker had two kills, three solo blocks and three assisted blocks.

Amador and Hernandez are 5-3 liberos for the Cardinals. Hernandez had 109 digs and Amador made 47 digs last year. Hull is working as a defensive specialist.

Terpstra and Barr, who is a sophomore, will provide depth at the outside hitter position. Shannon is a 6-foot middle blocker. Meg Callaghan was second on the

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team in kills with 107 last year and led the team with 15 solo blocks.

“The girls continue to buy into what we’re doing. They are starting to see how things come together on the court.

There’s some frustrations, which we’re going to have because it is a game of mistakes,” Florke said. “They are working hard to learn what we’re teaching. They have learned we are coaches with attention to detail.”

Newton went winless in the Little Hawkeye Conference in regular season (0-7) and conference tournament play. The Cardinals were 4-22 overall.

They lost in the first round of Class 4A playoffs.

“We will just look to improve every day,” Florke said.

“That is the goal for the season. The rest will take care of itself.”

Newton opens the season at home Tuesday. The Cardinals host the Newton Cardinal Early Bird Varsity Invitational. Prairie City-Monroe, Des Moines Hoover, Knoxville and Saydel are in the tournament.

Contact Jocelyn Sheets at 641-792-3121 ext. 6535 or jsheets@newtondailynews.com Newton High School Varsity Volleyball 2019 Schedule Aug. 27 — NHS Early Bird Invitational, 4:30 p.m.

Sept. 3 — Dallas Center-Grimes, 7:15 p.m.

Sept. 10 — Grinnell. 7:15 p.m.

Sept. 17 — Oskaloosa, 7:15 p.m.

Sept. 19 — Des Moines Christian Invitational, 4:30 p.m.

Sept. 24 — Pella, 7:15 p.m.

Sept. 26 — Grand View Christian, North Polk, 5:30 p.m.

Sept. 30 — Roland-Story Invitational, 4:30 p.m.

Oct. 1 — Norwalk, 7:15 p.m.

Oct. 5 — Newton Invitational, 8:30 a.m.

Oct. 8 — Pella Christian, 7:15 p.m.

Oct. 15 — Indianola, 7:15 p.m.

Oct. 17 — LHC tournament, Pella, 4:30 p.m.

Home matches in bold

Fall Sports Preview 2019 3

Jocelyn Sheets/Daily News Newton High offensive lineman Gage Linahon (75) throws a block for wingback William Cheng in a game last season. The two are seniors for the Cardinals in 2019. Linahon is an all-district first-team lineman while Cheng is the leading rusher back and he earned 3A district honorable mention honors. The Cardinals prepare for another season of Class 3A football.

Depth is a plus for Cardinals in 2019

By Jocelyn Sheets Newton Daily News

Varsity game-experienced players and younger talented players are challenging each other for starting spots on the 2019 Newton High School Cardinal football team.

That’s good, says every head coach ever.

“There’s competition for all the spots. We have 65 players out this season which gives us good numbers to have two or three kids for each position on either side of the football,” Newton High head coach Ed Ergenbright said.

“We had great senior leadership throughout the summer and in our lifting program. These seniors have invested a lot into our program and they are leading our younger players.”

Newton finished 5-4 a year ago and was third in the Class 3A District 7 play at 3-2. The Cardinals lost district games to Pella and Oskaloosa, both playoff teams.

The Cardinals led Class 3A in rushing, 3,105 yards on 429 carries. The Newton offense was second rushing in Class 4A in 2017.

“We have established our running game and now, this season we want to improve our passing game to balance things out,” Ergenbright said.

Newton returns six players who earned all-district honors. It has three starting offensive linemen back with two others with game experience.

The Cardinals have 10 defensive players returning with starting experience or were rotated into varsity action a year ago.

Newton had an outstanding freshman team a year ago and those sophomores are vying for varsity playing time this season.

“We have a neat blend of players on the team from the seniors and juniors who have been with us four or three years now to a talented young group,” Ergenbright said.

“We’re excited to see who steps up and emerges in each spot.”

Leading the Cardinal offense for the second straight season will by Kyle Long.

Long is a 6-foot, 175-pound senior quarterback.

In 2018, he rushed for 227 yards on 56 carries with five touchdowns. Long completed 45 of 88 passes for 725 yards with four TDs and four interceptions.

“Kyle has worked hard to improve himself. He’s gotten bigger and stronger. He has always been an efficient passer,” Ergenbright said. “He knows our offense and is ready to become more than a one-dimensional quarterback. He will be in our running game more this season.”

Two sophomores are the backup quarterbacks in Zayvier Arguello and Adam Mattes. Arguello was the junior varsity quarterback and varsity backup last season.

Mattes piloted the freshman squad to a successful season.

“We have really good depth at our offensive skill positions — quarterback, running backs and split ends,” Ergenbright said. “We have returners who are good but also being pushed by younger guys to spots.”

At the wingback spots, Newton has seniors William Cheng, Logan Cummins, Cody Satterfield and Jarrett Antle and sophomore Nathan Maki. Cheng is 5-9 and 155 pounds while Cummins is 5-7 and 170. Both had plenty of playing time on varsity last season.

Cheng and Cummins, who won’t be eligible to play until the team reaches district games, earned district honorable mention last year. Long and senior running back Dylan Farver also had district honorable mention honors.

Cheng rushed for 646 yards on 75 carries and had five rushing TDs. He made nine catches for 124 yards and had a touchdown.

Cummins had 392 yards on 30 carries with one catch for 16 yards.

“William started every game for us at wing back. He is also a good blocker,” Ergenbright said. “We moved Cody from split end to wing back this year and he has picked it up well. Another switch we made is to bring Jarrett from the defensive side to the wing back.

“Sophomore Nathan Maki has grown and tested well with speed and agility. We’re

looking for him to have a good year out of the backfield.”

Farver, who is 6-foot and 180 pounds, became a vital part of the Newton running game a year ago. He runs hard with good speed and can pound the ball up the middle out of the 2-back spot.

Junior Dakota Adams is 5-11 and 205 pounds. Ergenbright said Adams is the Cardinals’ biggest back and is the power back with good speed.

A.J. Holdefer was the 2-back for the Cardinal junior varsity last year. He is 5-10 and 185 pounds with potential to battle for varsity playing time.

“With this depth, we should be able to rotate people in with fresh legs,” Ergenbright said.

At split end, Newton returns all-district first-team selection Julian Hotchkin.

Hotchkin, who is a 5-11, 175-pound senior, caught 10 passes for 246 yards and two touchdowns. He returned punts and kickoffs — he had one kickoff return for a TD. Working at the split end position with Hotchkin is sophomore Keith Moko and junior Jack Suttek. Ergenbright said Moko is a tremendous athlete who missed most of his freshman season with an injury but he is healthy this season. Suttek played on the Newton junior varsity squad at the spot and is a solid pass catcher, good block and runs good routes.

Up front, the Cardinals are searching for the right guys

to fill spots voided by graduation. Ergenbright is confident in the players who are working at the tight end and offensive line positions now to do just that.

Senior Kaleb Dydell is switched from defense to offense to step into a tight end spot. The 6-1, 200-pound Dydell is catching the ball well.

“He has to prove he can handle the blocking assignments as do all the guys working at tight end. That’s important to our offensive scheme.

We want to get our speedy backs to the edge,” Ergenbright said.

Junior Gavin Trostel )6-4, 225) has varsity experience at tight end. Senior Taylor Danley came out for the first time and is showing signs of providing depth at tight end.

All-district first-team offensive lineman Gage Linahon (6-0, 235) returns as starter at tackle. Also back as a starter is 6-foot, 230-pound senior Clay Meyer. Blake Sevenbergen, is a 6-1, 235-pound senior, working at center.

CARDINALS | 5 Newton High School Varsity Football 2019 Schedule Aug. 30 — PCM, 7:30 p.m.

Sept. 6 — Boone, 7:30 p.m.

Sept. 13 — Ottumwa, 7 p.m, Sept. 20 — Waterloo East, 7:30 Sept. 27 — South Tama, 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 4 — Oskaloosa, 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 11 — Grinnell, 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 18 — Pella, 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 25 — Knoxville, 7:30 p.m.

Home games in bold

4 Fall Sports Preview 2019

Cardinal cross country teams powered by youth

By Jocelyn Sheets Newton Daily News Youth is the driving force for Newton High School cross country in 2019. Don’t get it wrong, the Cardinal girls and boys have returning seniors on their squads but juniors and sophomores power after have strong 2018 seasons.

The Cardinal boys are up to 21 athletes on the team for the 2019 season with six of their seven top runners from a year ago back on the course.

Newton’s girls number 15 on their squad with six returning letter winning runners.

“This is a great, hardworking group,” Cardinal girls’ head coach Rachelle Tipton, who begins her seventh season at NHS. “Our greatest strength will be our packs and pushing each other to improve throughout the season. We also have experienced and competitive upperclassmen leading the way.”

Steve Weeks is in his fifth year as head coach for the Cardinal boys’ cross country program. This is the largest team Newton has had under Weeks.

“Our strength currently comes from my core of varsity runners being mostly sophomores,” Weeks said. “The greater number of runners we have out the more likely every athlete has a teammate with similar ability who usually help push each other in a form of friendly teammate rivalry.”

The top runner back for the Newton girls is junior Ashay Malow, who qualified for her first state meet in 2018. As a sophomore. Malow ran her personal-best time of 20 minutes, 30.7 seconds for the 5K in the Class 4A state qualifying meet for 13th place.

Newton High School Girls and Boys Cross Country 2019 Schedule Aug. 29 — Gilbert Invitational, Ames, 4:45 p.m.

Sept. 3 — Williamsburg Invitational, 4:30 p.m.

Sept. 10 — Grinnell Invitational, 5:15 p.m.

Sept. 17 — Oskaloosa Invitational, 4:30 p.m.

Sept. 24 — Newton Cardinal Invitational, Westwood Golf Course, 4 p.m.

Sept. 26 — Indianola Invitational, 4:30 p.m.

Sept 28 — Roy Griak Invitational, St. Paul, Minn.

Oct. 1 — Knoxville Invitational, 5 p.m.

Oct. 7 — Norwalk Invitational, 4:15 p.m.

Oct. 10 — Fort Dodge Invitational, 5:45 p.m.

Oct. 10 — LHC meet, Norwalk, 5 p.m.

Home meet in bold

Jocelyn Sheets/Daily News Newton High junior Ashay Malow ran a personal-best time to qualify for her first state cross country meet as a sophomore.

She is back for the Cardinal girls’ cross country team in 2019.

She was 91st in the 4A state meet race in 20:52.2.

Joining Malow as returning letterwinners for the girls are seniors Tes Schuster and Jenna Smith, junior Willow Oswalt and sophomores Kelsey Church and Morgan Stalzer. Stalzer, Oswalt, Church and Smith ran on the Newton state qualifying meet team, which finished sixth.

In the Little Hawkeye Conference meet, the Cardinal girls were sixth.

Malow was 19th overall. Stalzer, and Oswalt were scoring runners for Newton while Church and Schuster also ran the race.

Other returning runners for the girls are senior Jillian Waits, junior Abigail Atkinson and sophomore Heather Perry. New on the team are juniors Sydni Followill and Lexi Pollock and sophomore Kathia Rosario and freshmen Alyssa Hinderberger and Kate Muckler.

“We go to some tough meets but we have some tough athletes. Our goal

Jocelyn Sheets/Daily News Senior Luke Zaabel will lead a youthful Newton High boys’ cross country team in 2019.

will be to improve our team placings from last year and place in the top half in as many meets as possible,” Tipton said. “Exciting this season, if we keep everyone healthy, we should be able to score a JV team and it will be fun to track their improvement throughout.”

The LHC is always strong and Tipton said weather permitting, the conference meet will be on a fast and familiar course at Norwalk. She said Malow should be looking to gain all-conference honors this season and the team working to finish in the top half of the conference.

“We will not know our location or competition for state qualifying until October. We do know we will be 4A again, which is tough competition. We want to place higher than last year as well as return at least Ashay back to state,” Tipton said.

Senior Luke Zaabel leads the returning letterwinners for the Newton boys. Zaabel was the Cardinals No. 2 runner at the 4A qualifier a year ago, finishing 36th as the boys were sev-

enth. The top finisher for the Cardinals at the meet was sophomore Treycen Garton, who was 34th, running an 18:10.9 5K as Zaabel was in 18:19.2.

Sophomore Jackson Mace-Maynard, Derek Beiner and Hunter Kennedy raced for the Newton varsity in the 4A state qualifying meet and in the LHC meet. The Cardinal boys were sixth in the conference. Junior Anthony Bestell is another returning letterwinner. Senior Noah Cook and junior Dakota Gooden fill out the returning roster for Newton.

New to the boys’ team are seniors Chayton Lambertus-Hamm and Zachary Ort and sophomores Brennan Amos, Ryan Nook, Brady Romberg and Ethan Walker. Freshmen on the team are Collin Buchli, Leon Friedman, Brenden Holschuh, Logan Malek, Kenneth Skinner Havens, Jared Smith and Jarret Waits.

“One challenge as a coach with 21 runners is to provide the personal attention they need to improve their stride, pace and technique,” Weeks said. “Our season outlook is a varied one but positive. As a team we should finish higher in all meets we ran in last year with the exception of the Griak meet at the University of Minnesota course, as the number of runners and teams is unpredictable.”

Weeks said being the smallest 4A school in the state is a concern in looking toward the state qualifying meet at the end of the season. He said running in the Little Hawkeye Conference helps the Cardinals as the LHC is one of the toughest conference in the state.

For the third straight season, the Newton teams will compete in the University of Minnesota Roy Griak Invitational on Sept. 28 in St. Paul, Minn. The Griak meet has more than 2,000 high school participants along with college divisions.

The Newton cross country squads open the 2019 season on Aug. 29 at the Gilbert Invitational on the Iowa State University cross country course in Ames. Newton’s Cardinal Invitational is Sept. 24 at Westwood Golf Course.

Contact Jocelyn Sheets at 641-792-3121 ext. 6535 or jsheets@newtondailynews.com

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Fall Sports Preview 2019 5

Jocelyn Sheets/Daily News Sophomore Hannah Nedder is one of several state qualifiers returning to the pool for the 2019 swimming season for the NCMP Aquagirls. They come at the opponents 45 strong.

NCMP Aquagirls swim with a purpose

By Jocelyn Sheets Newton Daily News Forty-five strong are the NCMP Aquagirls for the 2019 swim season. They are ready to prove their 2019 mantra — Here for a Reason.

“We’re excited about the big team this season. We’ve got a great mix of returning swimmers with state qualifiers and some good incoming freshmen. We’re a young team with great talent potential up and down the roster,” NCMP head coach Sarah Patterson said.

Patterson begins her 27th season as NCMP head coach with fourth-year assistant coach Jenny Jensen. The Aquagirls are the three-time defending champion of the Little Hawkeye Conference.

They are also the defending North Central Iowa Conference champion.

“I get most of my energy from the kids themselves. All of our seniors are team captains and each year it is great to see the leadership blossom among our seniors,” Patterson said. “We’ve created a great tradition and to see our kids excited to be part of the Aquagirl experience each season is

Cardinals Continued from Page 3 Sevenbergen was the team’s long snapper last year and will fill that role again.

On the other side of the offensive line, senior Cayden Harper (6-6 and 290) and junior William Muckler (61, 215) are working at tackle.

Senior Gabe Hoen (5-9, 230) is looking to fill the backside guard spot.

Also in the mix on the line are 6-3, 270-opound junior Cade Smith and sophomore Dallas King.

Newton returns junior Josh Meyer as its placekicker.

Meyer was 40-of-41 on extra-point kicks last year and had a 29-yard field goal.

rewarding.”

Also rewarding for the longtime swim coach is the meet-to-meet and season-to-season improvement in her team’s swimmers. Patterson said the top swimmers and older swimmers are always helping out the other kids to get better in practices.

“We know you have to practice strong to compete strong.

The culture this team has is one of family. We encourage every swimmer to do her best each time out,” Patterson said.

NCMP had two divers — both seniors — last year. Diving is a year-to-year situation for the Aquagirls. The Newton-based high school swim team does not have diving at its home pool — the Newton YMCA because of the pool is not deep enough for competition.

Another factor is a diving coach. Patterson said there were a few athletes who were going to give diving a try.

NCMP divers will be practicing at Grinnell and coached by the same person coaching the Grinnell divers for the second season.

“We’ll see if we have any girls who really want to compete in diving and go from

“Josh has worked hard over the summer to improve. He kicked a 52-yard field goal in practice,” Ergenbright said.

“Also Cade Cupples is back as our punter.”

Defensively, the Cardinals have a group of six players who are in the front-running group to fill the three defensive line spots. Linahon will see some defensive time on the line along with juniors Gabe Abrams, Lane Arrowood, Nelson Lopez and Owen Sanger and sophomore Cole Conner.

Abrams saw action last year. He made four solo tackles including 3.5 tackles for loss. He had 1.5 quarterback sacks and fumble recovery.

“We moved athletes around this year to fit the personnel

there,” Patterson said.

In the pool, the Aquagirls return three girls who qualified for the 2018 state swim meet and one state alternate swimmer. Sophomore Hannah Nedder qualified for the 100-meter butterfly and on two NCMP relays — the 200 medley and the 200 freestyle.

Nedder finished 17th in the butterfly in a personal-best 59.28 seconds. The two relays were 12th and 18th in season’s-best times.

Senior Erika Van Sickle and junior Natalie Boll were on the NCMP state-qualified 400 freestyle relay. It post a season’s-best time of 3:50.57.

Junior Makenna Brooks was an alternate for the state team.

Nedder is the LHC 50 free-

style and 100 butterfly champions. Boll is the two-time LHC 500 freestyle champion and senior Kenzie VanMaanen is the LHC 200 individual medley champion.

The other seniors on the team are Emma Thomas, Jordon Pritchard, Allison Paulius, Abbie Hill, Courtney Dawson, Molly Coy and Lilly Busch. Paulius was second in the LHC 200 IM and Van Sickle was second to a NCMP teammate in the 100 freestyle.

Brooks and junior Chloe Kibbee are two more of the top butterfly swimmers for NCMP. Junior Arabella Eide is a backstroker along with Coy while VanMaanen and Paulsen led the breaststroke returners.

Other juniors on the team are Mikayla Creech, JoJo Brown, Jaden Hunter, Kenleigh Jack, Kali Smith and Hailey Trease. NCMP has 17 sophomores on the team led

by Nedder, Lauren Zaabel and Maggie Garrett.

“We’re working hard in practices. We had a great team camp the week before official practices started. We should be able to put together some strong relay teams. State is

within reach of our girls,” Patterson said.

The sophomores on the team are Grace Benson, Gracie Brown, Kya Butler Ellie Caldwell, Emma Curry, Dani Dalasta, Olivia Hartman, Destiny McBride, Emily Mills, Katie Schlosser, Hannah Schwickerath, Kathryn Van Manen, Kallie Van Kley and Maggie Williams.

Patterson is always looking for competitors for the distance races the 500 and 200 freestyles. She said NCMP doesn’t have a ton of kids who swim year round but they usually find kids willing to take on the challenge.

Freshmen on the team are Brooke Bayles, Olivia Felton, Skyler Gooden, Abby Hollenbeck, Lillie Ray, Maylei Ruggles, Emily VanderMolen, Jocelyn Wells and Emily Wogen.

NCMP combines swimmers from Newton/Colfax-Mingo/Pella on the team.

NCMP opens the 2019 season Tuesday at home against Linn-Mar at 5:30 p.m. at the Newton YMCA.

we have for our schemes,” Ergenbright said.

Seniors Canaan Terpstra and Zane Kohlmeyer are in the outside linebacker spots.

Mattes is also working there.

Returning as inside linebackers are seniors Destin Schroder and Dalton Altemeier. Sophomores Evan Grimm and Braydon Chance and senior Ryan Brown are in the mix.

“Ryan is just always there.

We put him in the linebacker spot to see what he can do and he’s a solid special teams player for us,” Ergenbright said.

Kohlmeyer recorded 14 solo tackles and five assisted tackles with one quarterback sack last year. Terpstra, who played defensive back, had nine solo stops and seven as-

sisted tackles.

Schroder and Altemeier each had seven solo tackles, 11 assisted tackles and one fumble recovery.

Senior Camden Winther returns as a starting safety in the Cardinal defensive backfield.

He had 28 solo tackles, six assisted tackles and recovered a fumble. Arguello will be playing the other safety spot.

At cornerback, the Cardinals have Moko, Hotchkin, sophomores Noah Allen, Reece Hammons and Caleb Lawson working to fill those spots. Hotchkin had two interceptions in 2018.

“We have a lot of younger players who are learning the positions and should be able to help throughout the season,” Ergrenbright said.

Newton is still in the Class 3A District 7 with Oskaloosa, which won the district title last year, Pella, Grinnell, Knoxville and South Tama.

“With the playoff formula now in which all nine games count, we have to work hard and get rolling early,” Ergenbright said. “We can be in the mix as long as we improve each day and stay healthy.”

Newton opens the 2019 season on Aug. 30 against the defending Class 2A champion Prairie City-Monroe Mustangs. The game will be played at Central College in Pella because PCM’s new field won’t be ready.

NCMP Aquagirls Swim Team 2019 Schedule Aug. 27 — Linn-Mar, 5:30 p.m.

Sept. 5 — Grinnell, 7 p.m.

Sept. 12 — Ankeny Centennial, 5:30 p.m.

Sept. 17 — Fairfield, Oskaloosa, 5:30 p.m.

Sept. 24 — Fort Dodge, Waukee, 5 p.m.

Sept. 28 — Valley Invitational, 8:30 a.m.

Oct. 1 — Osklaoosa, Perry, 6:30 p.m.

Oct. 3 — Atlantic, 5:30 p.m.

Oct. 10 — SEP Ram Relays, 5 p.m.

Oct. 15 — Boone, 5:30 p.m.

Oct. 19 — NCIC meet, Grinnell, 9 a.m.

Oct, 22 — SICL meet, Indianola, 5:30 p.m.

Home meets in bold

Contact Jocelyn Sheets at 641-792-3121 ext. 6535 or jsheets@newtondailynews.com

Contact Jocelyn Sheets at 641-792-3121 ext. 6535 or jsheets@newtondailynews.com

6 Fall Sports Preview 2019

Defending champion PCM reloads for another playoff run

By Troy Hyde Newton Daily News MONROE — Prairie City-Monroe celebrated the school’s first-ever state football title for about nine months. And now it’s time to for another season and 17 seniors are gone from last year’s Class 2A state championship team.

Three all-state linemen — seniors Jace Smith and Seth Greiner and junior Greyson Strum — are back but the rest of the roster will be filled in by last year’s backups who played sparingly throughout the 2018 season.

But PCM coach Greg Bonnett still feels like his Mustang squad can be competitive.

“Our situation has not changed all that much in terms of how we have to improve to achieve our goals,” said Bonnett, who was named the Iowa Football Coaches Association Class 2A Coach of the Year after last year’s title run.

“While we lose a bunch of really good players, we also return a bunch of guys who were either also really good last year or waiting to get their shot at being the new players.”

The Mustangs went 13-0 last year and defeated each of their opponents by at least 21 points. Smith, Greiner and Strum played key roles up front in creating holes for record-setting running back Wes Cummings, 2A Player Prairie City-Monroe High School Varsity Football 2019 Schedule *Aug. 30 — Newton, 7:30 p.m. *Sept. 6 — West Marshall, 7:30 p.m.

Sept. 13 — Roland-Story, 7:30 p.m.

Sept. 20 — Pella Christian, 7 p.m.

Sept. 27 — Chariton, 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 4 — Saydel, 7 p.m. (Homecoming) Oct. 11 — Des Moines Christian, 7 p.m.

Oct. 18 — Clarke, 7 p.m.

Oct. 25 — Centerville, 7:30 p.m.

Home games in bold. * Games will be played at Central College

Troy Hyde/Daily News Prairie City-Monroe senior linemen Seth Greiner (57) and Jace Smith (72) are back this season after earning first team all-state honors in 2018. Greiner and Smith were a large part of the Mustangs winning their first state championship last season.

of the Year quarterback Reed Worth and last year’s topranked offense.

Having three standout linemen back is important to Bonnett.

“It’s big because you know you can do some good things at the line of scrimmage,” Bonnett said. “The skill positions are great to have, but their positions can be pretty limited if you don’t have people blocking well up front.”

Smith earned first-team all-state honors as an offensive linemen and Strum was selected to the third team.

Greiner was a first-team allstate pick on the defensive line.

The linemen trio will be joined by junior Caleb Duinink on the offensive line.

The fifth starting spot will come down to a battle in preseason camp by seniors Austin Simo and Trent Johnston

and juniors Cooper Sloan and Kaeden Strum.

Taking over for first-team all-state quarterback Worth will be junior Sage Burns, who threw for 75 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 25 yards in spot duty last season.

Record-setting tailback Cummings will be replaced by a trio of running backs who Bonnett said will all see varsity action.

That trio includes juniors Connor Bennett and Colby Tool and sophomore Aidan Anderson.

Bennett rushed for 105 yards a year ago and also threw for 51 yards. Tool rushed for 60 yards and a touchdown and had 70 yards receiving and one TD on two catches.

“I certainly think we will have more designed run plays to use those guys on the offensive line, but we will still be an

RPO type of offense where we take what is given to us as best as we can,” Bonnett said.

Last year’s receiving core also was decimated by graduation.

The new guys include senior Dylan Sanders, juniors Gatlin Boell, Jacob Van Winkle, Brayden Berger, Justin Maggard and Landon Fenton and sophomore Durant Van Dyke.

Van Dyke also could play tight end behind senior Dane Owens.

Owens had three catches for 39 yards last year to lead the returners. Boell had 30 yards on three catches, Van Winkle had three catches for nine yards and Berger finished with six yards on two catches.

Greiner earned all-state honors as a defensive linemen because he was third on the team last season with 43.5

tackles.

He also had seven tackles for loss, one sack and three fumble recoveries.

Bonnett said the rest of the defensive line will include Smith, Owens, Greyson Strum, Van Dyke, Sloan, Simo, Kaeden Strum and Johnston.

Smith was a starter last season, finishing with 29 tackles, eight tackles for loss, two sacks and a fumble recovery.

Simo also had an interception that he returned for a touchdown.

Tool got extensive playing time at linebacker last season for the Mustangs. He’s expected to headline the group this year after finishing with 31.5 tackles and one fumble recovery in 2018.

No other returning player had more than 10 tackles last season. The rest of the linebackers include Berger, Boell, Bennett, senior Gabe Steenhoek and juniors Andrew Mitchell and Dylan Warrick and sophomore Will Oelmann.

The secondary has no returning starters, but Boell, and seniors Cody Rink and Rayce Kohlhof all had one interception a year ago. The rest of the secondary includes Fenton, Maggard, Sanders and senior Nigel Sperfslage.

Mitchell is back at kicker after making his only two field goal attempts and burying 42 of his 46 extra point tries.

Bonnett said sophomore Tyler Kuecker and senior Tristan Doehne also are in the mix at kicker.

Berger and Greiner are in competition for punter. Berger was the primary kickoff specialist last season, too.

The Mustangs go into the season as much bigger underdogs than the team that was ranked in the top three all of last season.

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Fall Sports Preview 2019 7

Experienced Mustangs look to turn corner on volleyball court

By Troy Hyde Newton Daily News MONROE — Calling all terminators.

Interim head coach Mike Vittetoe is looking for volleyball players who can terminate the ball this season.

Vittetoe, who was head coach of the Mustangs for 22 years before returning to the program as an assistant coach three years ago, will have an experienced roster in his Wagaman temporary return to head coach.

Vittetoe, who coached the freshmen team the past two seasons, will fill in for head coach Alex Samson who is taking the year off for maternity.

“We had a couple open gyms a week in the summer. They are coming along,” Vittetoe said. “We are looking for people to put the ball away. We are looking for girls to step up and really terminate the ball. We have people who can hit consistently, but we need to see more termination.”

Junior Celeste Wagaman is one returner who can terminate the ball, according to Vittetoe. Wagaman led the Mustangs with 113 kills last season.

She will play middle hitter this year.

The Mustangs bring back their setter, top seven attackers and two of their better servers.

The experience is there. PCM can take the next step with players who can score more frequently, be more consistent with blocking and pass the ball well from the back row.

“The girls are working hard and our strength so far is passing. We have several girls who have done well with passing,” Vittetoe said.

PCM finished 5-26 last season and were 1-6 in the Heart of Iowa Conference.

The Mustangs open the season in the Newton tournament at 4:30 p.m. on Aug. 27 in Newton. The home opener is against Saydel at 7 p.m. on Sept. 12 in Monroe.

The returning setter is senior Shelby Voeller, who led the team with 217 assists, 30 aces and eight blocks last season. She also was third in digs with 42 and fourth in kills with 37.

“It’s nice having a real good setter back and she’s one of our best hitters too,” Vittetoe said of Voeller.

Houser “We want her to attack more and not just with dumps. We may need her to do more. We could move to a 6-2 to get her involved more in the front row.”

Wagaman added 12 aces and 22 digs to her 113 kills. Junior Emma Houser was second on the team with 59 kills and also tallied 14 aces and 21 digs. Junior Emma Reed was next with 44 kills.

The other three returning hitters are juniors Jacki Vos and Kassidy Block and sophomore Claire Wilson.

Vos battled an injury last season but finished with 32 kills, five aces and 15 digs. Wilson had 29 kills and seven aces.

Junior Lilli Baird has a chance to help as a hitter, too. She did not play last year and missed half of her freshman season because of an ACL injury.

Junior Erin VanPeursem has blocked really well during preseason practices and could be used to defend big hitters.

“We need more blocking. That’s an emphasis,” Vittetoe said. “We didn’t have near enough blocks last year.

That has to change.”

The biggest hole PCM has to fill this season is at libero.

Avery Stock was lost to graduation but led the Mustangs with 158 digs.

Prairie City-Monroe High School Varsity Volleyball 2019 Schedule Aug. 27 — Newton tournament, 4:30 p.m.

Aug. 31 — West Marshall tournament, 9 a.m.

Sept. 5 — Des Moines North, 7 p.m.

Sept. 7 — BCLUW tournament, 9 a.m.

Sept. 9 — Gilbert, 6:30 p.m.

Sept. 12 — Saydel, 7 p.m.

Sept. 17 — North Polk, 7 p.m.

Sept. 21 — North Mahaska tournament, 9 a.m.

Sept. 30 — Roland-Story tournament, 4:30 p.m.

Oct. 1 — Greene County, 6:30 p.m.

Oct. 8 — Nevada, 7 p.m.

Oct. 15 — Roland-Story, 6:30 p.m.

Oct. 17 — South Hamilton, 6:30 p.m.

Home matches in bold.

Troy Hyde/Daily News Prairie City-Monroe senior setter Shelby Voeller returns to the Mustang volleyball team in 2019. Voeller led PCM with 217 assists and 30 aces last season. She also had 37 kills and 42 digs.

The next best had 44 digs.

Vittetoe said the two leading candidates to take over the libero are seniors Chloe Inskeep and Meghan Kinnamon. The other back-row players junior Bella Stone and sophomore

Chelsea Bird.

Inskeep had 40 digs last year and finished with 20 aces and a serving percentage of .921.

Kinnamon tallied 22 digs. Stone, who is the backup setter, had 18 assists and 19 digs last year, while Bird finished with 17 kills.

“Avery was our libero and we put her in the middle of all of our serve receive schemes,” Vittetoe said. “Teams would try to hit away from her but she had a majority of our digs. We have some shoes to fill.

“Chelsea was one of the highlights of the Central team camp. She did a good job anticipating where the ball was going to go. She had a really good camp.”

Vittetoe, who spent four seasons as an official before returning to the bench, will still have Jodi Johnson as an assistant coach and his long-time assistant Angie Clark has returned to help him out this year, too.

“That was one of the deals. I wanted to make sure she would come back and do this with me,” Vittetoe said.

“We haven’t talked about expectations yet, but I think we can be better than last year. We should be able to build off last year. The conference is still really good so we could be better and not have a better conference record.”

Contact Troy Hyde at 641-792-3121 ext. 6536 or thyde@newtondailynews.com

Mustang harriers primed for ‘best seasons ever’ under Karr

By Troy Hyde Newton Daily News MONROE ­— Prairie City-Monroe cross country coach Eric Karr feels like this year’s Mustang squads can be the best he’s ever had in his time at the school.

But he also knows it’s way too early to predict anything.

Some top returners are back for both teams, and the rest of the varsity lineups will be filled in by talented underclassmen.

“I think both teams could be the best teams we’ve ever had,” Karr said. “I have been working with all these boys since middle school. I do think this will be the best boys team I have ever had. They have put in the time and they have experience. They are just starting to hit their peak.

“There is a lot of talent on the girls’ team, too.”

The Mustangs open the regular season at the Gilbert Invitational at 4:45 p.m. on Aug. 29 at Iowa State Troy Hyde/Daily News Prairie City-Monroe senior Klaire Jungling is University in Ames.

The home meet is at 4:30 p.m. on back for the Mustangs this season and should again be one of the top runners on the team.

Sept. 26 at Gateway Recreation Golf

Course in Monroe.

Karr knows what it takes to get a girls’ team to state, having guided the 2017 squad to a state berth. This year’s boys’ team also brings back all seven runners who finished on varsity last season.

Seniors Jason Stafford, Ayrton Breckendridge, Cooper Vandelune and Cody Courtney, juniors Beau Webb and Garin Padget and sophomore Kyle Sanders are all back after finishing last year’s state qualifier as varsity runners.

Stafford and Webb went back and forth as the team’s No. 1 last season.

Webb finished a few seconds ahead of Stafford at the state qualifier.

“They both want to get state. This is something that they can do,” Karr said. “They are both hard workers.

The desire is there, and that’s one of the biggest things you need in this sport.

“The boys have the experience side of things.”

Back for the girls are seniors Klaire Jungling and Hannah McCarthy and junior Margo Chipps, who all ran at the state qualifier last sea-

son. Those are the only three who competed in that meet who are back this season.

Karr does welcome in a strong freshmen class who had plenty of success in junior high.

“It’s a young team, but the incoming freshmen have had major success in middle school,” Karr said.

“They will be fine once they adjust to the distance. The first race for the freshmen is always the hardest.”

Jungling will start the season as the team’s top runner. She ended last season as the No. 2 and is the only Mustang remaining from the 2017 state team.

Chipps ended last season as the No. 3 runner and McCarthy also gives Karr an experienced runner to go with an otherwise young roster.

“I think Klaire has a really good shot. She wasn’t far off last year,” Karr said. “Her street 5K this summer here in town was great. She has messaged me all summer asking me what she can do to make state. She wants it.”

PCM XC | 8

8 Fall Sports Preview 2019

PCM XC

Continued from Page 7

Troy Hyde/Daily News Prairie City-Monroe senior Jason Stafford returns to the Mustang cross country team and is expected to be one of the top two runners in 2019.

Jungling was 34th at last year’s state qualifier. Chipps was 50th.

Webb was 37th in the boys’ race, and Stafford finished 39th.

Both the boys and girls have rosters of about 14 runners.

That gives PCM a full varsity and JV team.

It’s been a slow start to the season because several kids were absent due to the state fair and family vacations.

“I try not to get too huffy puffy with it because most of these kids have been to the runs all summer long,” Karr said.

“They haven’t missed many workouts. They know they have to put in the work on their own.”

Karr also knows it’s a process and the team has only just recently started to get into actual cross country workouts.

“Summer cross country is built on mileage. I have an idea of who is putting in the work and you would associate that with success when the season starts but we haven’t determined

Prairie City-Monroe High School Varsity Cross Country 2019 Schedule Aug. 29 — Gilbert - Iowa State, 4:45 p.m.

Sept. 10 — Grinnell, 5:15 p.m.

Sept. 16 — Pleasantville, 4:45 p.m.

Sept. 26 — Monroe, 4:30 p.m.

Oct. 1 — Knoxville, 4:15 p.m.

Oct. 7 — Norwalk, 4:15 p.m.

Oct. 14 — HOIC meet - North Polk, 4 p.m.

Oct. 24 — State Qualifier, TBD Nov. 2 — State Meet, Fort Dodge, TBD Home meet in bold.

anything yet,” Karr said. “It’s a process. And we take it slow and use as much science as we can.”

The rest of the boys’ roster includes freshmen Alex Courtney and Carson Porter, sophomore Nathan Vanderpool and juniors Colton St. Pierre and Dylan Masterson.

Battling for the remaining varsity spots for the girls include freshmen Paige Steenhoek, Riley DeVore, Emma Hiebert, Jillian Fairbanks, Jocelyn Brandt, Rylee Gallaher and Teagan Glover and sophomores Taryn Steenhoek and Hanna Townley.

Contact Troy Hyde at 641-792-3121 ext. 6536 or thyde@newtondailynews.com

PCM Football Continued from Page 6

PCM, which starts the season with around 70 players, is in search of its fourth straight district title. The team has won at least seven games in each of the last four seasons.

The 2019 schedule was slated to have five home games, but the new turf stadium currently being constructed will not be ready for the start of the season.

Bonnett said the team expects to play its first two home games against Newton (Aug. 30) and West Marshall (Sept. 6) at Central College. Both games kick off at 7:30 p.m.

“The field will not be ready for the first two games,” Bonnett said. “The good people at Central College are working with us so we can host our games at their facility and we should have the details hammered out on that by (the end of last week). We are excited about that because it’s a great venue and if we can’t play at home it’s the next best thing.”

Centerville, Chariton, Clarke, Des Moines Christian and Saydel join PCM in 2A District 8. The Mustangs outscored district opponents 270-37 last season.

Contact Troy Hyde at 641-792-3121 ext. 6536 or thyde@newtondailynews.com

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Fall Sports Preview 2019 9

Lynnville-Sully football reloads for 2019

By Jocelyn Sheets Newton Daily News SULLY — Tradition is the foundation. Each year’s Lynnville-Sully football squad pushes to put its brick on the stack for the Hawks.

The 2019 edition of the Lynnville-Sully Hawks’ football team is stepping up ready to continue the tradition.

Nine-year head coach Mike Parkinson (59-26) guides the Hawks with the help of assistant coaches T.C. Cunningham, Brad Bowlin, Chad Squires, Cale Van Wyk and Kevin Johnson.

“It’s hard to tell how the season will go, but the more work we put in the better we will be,” Parkinson said. “We look for our returning players’ experience and leadership to show through as we graduated a lot of starters, but the good news is we don’t graduate tradition.”

Lynnville-Sully won its second straight Class A district championship in 2018 going 5-0. The Hawks (7-3) made the Class A playoffs seven out of the past eight years. They lost to Hudson in the opening round of the playoffs.

“We have several players returning with a lot of experience from last season’s great year and a tough playoff loss to the eventual state champion. We had a great final game and in that game, several of our returning players who

Jocelyn Sheets/Daily News Senior Ethan Wyma (25) is back as a defensive back and running back for the Lynnville-Sully Hawks in 2019. The Hawks are finding the right pieces to make another playoff run.

stepped up big.”

Back on the gridiron for the Hawks are seniors Kinnick McFarland, Slater Young, Ethan Wyma, Bray Noun Harder and Zane Fraker and juniors Payton Van Wyk and Chance Stock. Expecting to push for starting roles are senior Jacob DeHoedt and Skyler Sanders, juniors Kodie Waggoner and Zeke Vander Leest and sophomores Miles

Mintle and Gage Elscott.

“The heart of our team is still there and so is the work ethic. We’ll have our challenges, but we will be ready to go,” Parkinson said.

Wyma, a 5-foot-7 inch, 150-pound running back and defensive back, earned honorable mention district honors as a defensive back. He had 14 solo tackles and eight assisted tackles with two quarterback

sacks and a fumble recovery.

Wyma had 351 yards rushing on 43 carries for the Hawk offense last year. He scored five touchdowns and 32 points.

Earning district honorable mention honors at tight end was Fraker (6-foot, 175).

Fraker made four catches for 107 yards and had two touchdowns. He also is back on defense as a linebacker. Fraker made 17 solo tackles and six assisted tackles with two interceptions.

Lynnville-Sully led Class A District 8 in total offense with 2,203 yards. The Hawks lost a lot of their offensive production to graduation, but have proven varsity-experienced player to step into skill roles and up front on the line.

Noun Harder was a parttime starter at quarterback in 2018. The 6-foot, 175-pound senior is set to lead the Hawk offense. He went 13-of-35 passing for 175 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.

Wyma and Young are the top running backs returning but look for Noun Harder to provide more in the running game also. Young (5-11, 160) had 71 yards on 16 carries last year. He scored 12 points and had one touchdown run. In the backfield mix is Sanders, who is 5-9 and 150 pounds.

McFarland is a 6-foot, 160-pound wide receiver and defensive back. He caught eight passes for 157 yards last year with two TD catch-

Lynnville-Sully Football 2019 Varsity Schedule Aug. 23 — Belle Plaine, 7 p.m.

Aug. 30 — Pleasantville, 7 p.m.

Sept. 6 — Sigourney Keota, 7 p.m.

Sept. 13 — Highland, 7 p.m.

Sept. 20 — Colfax-Mingo, 7 p.m.

Sept. 27 — Wayne, 7 p.m.

Oct. 4 — Central Decatur, 7 p.m.

Oct. 18 — North Mahaska, 7 p.m.

Oct. 25 — Martensdale-St. Marys, 7 p.m.

Home games in bold

es. DeHoedt and Waggoner are working in the receiving corps for the Hawks.

Van Wyk and Stock are offensive and defensive linemen. Van Wyk is 6-1 and 210 pounds and Stock comes in at 5-11 and 290 pounds. The Hawks are rebuilding up front on both sides of the ball following graduation.

Vander Leest is 6-3 and 260 pounds as a lineman on both sides of the ball. Elscott is 6-3 and 175 on the line. Mintle is 5-9 and 200 pounds as an offensive lineman and linebacker on defense.

Young is the leading tackler returning for the Hawk defense. He had 18 solo tackles and 21 assisted tackles as a linebacker. He had two solo quarterback sacks. Stock had a fumble recovery with six solo tackles.

McFarland had 19 solo tackles and six assisted tackles as a defensive back a year ago.

DeHoedt, a defensive back, piled up 12 solo tackles and L-S FOOTBALL | 16

Hawks continue tough net work against opponents

By Jocelyn Sheets Newton Daily News SULLY — No volleyball team facing Lynnville-Sully’s Hawks wants to see Mallory Loftus and Krystal Van Dyke at the net individually or at the same time. The junior Van Dyke had a team-high 87 solo blocks and Loftus, a senior, put up 64 solo blocks a year ago. They each had 20-plus assisted blocks.

Loftus and Van Dyke lead the Hawks into 2019 season.

The Hawks went 16-13 in 2018 losing in a Class 1A regional semifinal to fellow South Iowa Cedar League member MonLynnville-Sully Varsity Volleyball 2019 Schedule Aug. 27 — Martendale-St. Marys, 6 p.m.

Aug. 31 — Grinnell tournament, 9 a.m.

Sept. 3 — Baxter, 5:30 p.m.

Sept. 9 — Sigourney, 5:30 p.m.

Sept. 12 — North Mahaska, 5:30 p.m.

Sept. 16 — HLV, 5:30 p.m.

Sept. 21 — North Mahaska tourney, 9 a.m.

Sept. 23 — BGM, 5:30 p.m.

Sept. 30 — Colfax-Mingo, 5:30 p.m.

Oct. 1 — Montezuma, 5:30 p.m.

Oct. 7 — Iowa Valley, 5:30 p.m.

Oct. 8 — Belle Plaine, 5:30 p.m.

Oct. 12 — Davis County tournament, 9 a.m.

Oct. 14 — SICL pool play Oct. 17 — SICL quads Oct. 19 — East Marshall tourney, 9 a.m.

Home matches in bold

tezuma, which qualified for the state tournament.

“Going into my fourth year here, I feel we have an advantage as we have been working together for several years now,” Lynnville-Sully head coach Jayme Deal said. “The girls are athletic, work well together and work hard for me, which should help produce a successful season.”

The Hawks went 7-5 in SICL play finishing fourth in the 12-team conference in 2018. Montezuma is the defending SICL champion after going 11-0 followed by Belle Plaine at 9-1 and HLV at 9-2.

Returning to the Hawks along with Loftus and Van Dyke is senior setter Janelle Rozendaal, who led the Hawks with 428 set assists. Other juniors back on the court for Lynnville-Sully are outside hitter Korinne Jansen, setter and right side hitter Cayler Noun Harder, outside hitter Danali Conover, middle and right side hitter Cally Gibbs and right side hitter/setter Jaden Brand.

Junior Briar Hill and sophomore Aliya James also are on the varsity. Both are working at libero on the back row. Hill is a defensive specialist and

James can help at the setter and right side hitter positions.

“We have several returning varsity players who have been playing together for a long time,” Deal said. “One of the areas we continuously work on is our serve receive, which is always a concern as a season begins.”

Loftus and Van Dyke are the Hawks’ middle hitters and blockers. Loftus racked up 164 kills a year ago and she had 102 digs. Van Dyke downed 96 kills and made 73 digs.

Serving is a strong point for Lynnville-Sully under Deal and assistant coach Kyra Smith. Last year the team had a serving efficiency of .934 and had 151 service aces. Van Dyke led the team with 32 aces and severed at .894 percent.

Rozendaal and Loftus each had 22 service aces while serving at .961 and .958, respectively. Jansen had 14 service aces while serving at a .960 clip.

VOLLEYBALL | 16 Jocelyn Sheets/Daily News At right, junior Krystal Van Dyke goes for a tip at the net. Van Dyke led the Lynnville-Sully volleyball team in solo blocks in 2018. She is back for the 2019 season.

10 Fall Sports Preview 2019

Hawk harriers fielding full teams in 2019

By Jocelyn Sheets Newton Daily News SULLY — Being able to field full teams in both girls and boys at cross country meets in 2019 is a plus for Lynnville-Sully’s Hawks. A year ago the Hawks’ boys squad consisted of one runner. “Right now we have enough to score as a team for both girls and boys team,�

Lynnville-Sully cross country head coach Darin Arkema said. “We have returning letterwinners with a lot of experience and who have competed at a high level. We also have a big group of freshmen who participated in cross country in junior high and they are ready to contribute this season.�

Arkema, who is in his 17th season as head coach at Lynnville-Sully, has his enthusiasm tempered a bit. He admits he would like to have more numbers — six runners for the girls’ team and five for the boys’ squad — and he is not as happy with the overall conditioning of his athletes coming into the season. “We’d love to have bigger numbers for both squads and really need that depth to help challenge and compete for varsity spots, make the team stronger, and some insurance in case of injuries during the season,� Arkema said.

Class 1A state qualifier Caitlin Alberts, a junior, leads the Hawk girls this season. Unfortunately, the girls’ team has already been hit with an injury to change the season. Senior Abby Gruver, who has been a front-runner for the Hawks the past three years, is sidelined the full season. “We will miss Abby competing as

Troy Hyde/Daily News Leading the pack for the Lynnville-Sully cross country teams in 2019 are juniors Caitlin Alberts, left, and Mason Jansen, right. Alberts qualified for the Class 1A state meet as a sophomore. Jansen was the lone boy competing for the Hawks in 2018.

she is still recovering from a stress fracture that caused her to miss nearly the whole track season and then had a setback with it again during the summer,� Arkema said.

Gruver said she is working hard in rehabbing to be ready for the 2020 spring track season. For the fall, she said she is still part of the Hawk cross country team helping as a manager and “encouraging the younger runners since one of them is my brother.�

Alberts broke through to the state cross country meet in her first season of the sport last year. She qualified by running a personal-best 21 minutes,

23.8 seconds for the 5K at the 1A state qualifier. Alberts finished 52nd in the 2018 1A state meet in 21.40.

Also returning for the Hawk girls are senior Brittney Hansen and junior Megan Van Zante. They are joined by freshmen Kendra Fikse, Greenlee Smock and Kinsley Tice. “I’m sure there are aspirations of returning again this year for Caitlin.

Megan earned all-conference honors last season, and we will need her to step up to train and compete at a high level that she is capable of again,�

Arkema said.

Junior Mason Jansen carried the

Lynnville-Sully boys’ cross country banner by himself a year ago. He ran a 20:06.4 in the 1A state qualifier 5K race a year ago. He is joined by four freshmen — Evan Fikse, James Gruver, Zach Morningstar and Gentry Walston. “All the freshman participated in Jr. High cross country for two years. So they don’t come into this year in the dark, and I think all of them, especially Mason are excited about having enough guys to earn a team score,�

Arkema said.

Arkema said neither Hawk squad has room for people to be injured or out of action so staying healthy will need to be a priority and responsibility of every team member. He said his group is not as fit as it should be after an inconsistent running and training regiment over the summer.

The Hawk girls finished six points behind the 2018 South Iowa Cedar League meet champion Belle Plaine.

Alberts and Van Zante were fifth and sixth overall earning SICL honors and Brittney Hansen was 31st. Mason Jansen ran 19th in the conference boys’ race.

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Lynnville-Sully Boys and Girls 2019 Cross Country Schedule Sept. 3 — Williamsburg Invitational, 4:30 p.m.

Sept. 7 — Pella at Central College, 9:30 a.m.

Sept. 10 — Grinnell Invitational, 4:30 p.m.

Sept. 16 — Pleasantville Invitational, 5 p.m.

Sept. 19 — Lynnville-Sully Invitational, 4:30 p.m.

Sept. 26 — PCM Invitational, 4:30 p.m.

Oct. 1 — Williamsburg, 4:30 p.m.

Oct. 7 — North Polk, 4:30 p.m.

Oct 15 — SICL Conference Meet, Knoll Ridge Golf Course, 4:30 p.m.

Home meet in bold

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Fall Sports Preview 2019 11

Plethora of returners hope to send Tigerhawks to top of district

By Troy Hyde Newton Daily News COLFAX — Colfax-Mingo head football coach Jeff Lietz talks playoffs every season. It’s always the goal for the Tigerhawks, and nothing has changed this season as Colfax-Mingo welcomes back a plethora of starters and hopes to return to the postseason for the first time since 2015.

The Tigerhawks went 5-4 last season but lost three of their final four games and missed out on the postseason. They are searching for their fourth winning season since 2010.

“I expect to compete in every game, and we can be a playoff team,” Lietz said. “We still have to line up and play every game. That’s the expectation every year. Health is a big part of it.”

Keeping senior quarterback Brady Berkey on the field is certainly a big part of the end result. Berkey returns at quarterback after throwing for 1,854 yards and 20 touchdowns in his first season as a starter.

The 1,854 passing yards ranked seventh in Class 1A. The 20 TDs ranked sixth. He also ranked second in 1A with six interceptions and a pick six on defense to earn second-team allstate honors.

“I expect him to be better. I think he will be really good,” Lietz said. “We need him to stay healthy. We’ll limit his reps defensively.”

Other key returners for the Tigerhawks include senior Trinity Schroeder at wide receiver and cornerback, junior Andres Villegas on the offensive and defensive lines and senior Trystin Ross at wide receiver and linebacker.

Schroeder had a breakout season last year. Offensively, he caught 37 passes for 730 yards and seven touchdowns. Defensively, he finished with 40 tackles and three interceptions.

Ross led the defense with 49.5 tackles last season. He added a rushing touchdown and had 28 catches for 187 yards and a TD as a secondary wide receiver.

Villegas will anchor the offensive line and was third on the team in tackles last season with 42. He also had two sacks and eight tackles for loss.

Both Schroeder and Villegas begin the season with scholarship offers from Grand View University.

“We had a really good summer. We had about 85 percent attendance. We got a ton of work in and went to some camps and team camps,” Lietz said.

“We are right where we need to be, but will find out more when we get the pads on.”

Colfax-Mingo opens the season against BCLUW at 7 p.m. on Aug. 30 in Conrad.

The Tigerhawks’ home opener is Sept. 13 against Wayne.

Lietz said the offense will feature the same wide-open attack and senior

Troy Hyde/Daily News Colfax-Mingo senior Trinity Schroeder, with the ball, had 730 receiving yards and seven touchdowns last year as a Tigerhawk wide receiver and compiled 40 tackles and three interceptions on defense.

Andrew Meinhart and junior Zach Steenhoek will join Schroeder and Ross at wideout. Meinhart made four catches for 21 yards last season.

The Tigerhawk running backs will

be sophomores Tanner Gorman and Justin Myers and junior Jaden Horrach, a transfer from Newton.

C-M FOOTBALL | 12

Young Tigerhawks look to move up conference ladder

By Troy Hyde Newton Daily News

Troy Hyde/Daily News Colfax-Ming’s Kyra Lester led the Tigerhawks in assists and aces last year as a freshman. Now a sophomore, Lester is back as C-M’s primary setter and hopes to help the Tigerhawks climb the ladder in the South Iowa Cedar League.

COLFAX — Colfax-Mingo’s volleyball team went 7-22 last season and lost six seniors to graduation.

But head coach Michelle Grant is still bullish on her Tigerhawk roster despite having only three upperclassmen who have significant varsity experience.

Grant welcomes back her primary setter from a year ago and four of the team’s top six attackers.

“We are still really young but we bring back a ton of experience,” Grant said. “Bringing back the setter, a few big hitters and some back row pieces has me feeling good about the start.”

The Tigerhawks’ roster includes three seniors, five juniors, seven sophomores and six freshmen.

Grant said summer workouts were better than they’ve ever been since she took over the head coaching position six years ago.

Colfax-Mingo also played in the Central College team camp and fared better than any other time during that span, too.

“I am not sure how that will translate to the season, but we had a lot of our varsity pieces at that camp and

Colfax-Mingo High School Varsity Volleyball 2019 Schedule Aug. 31 — Colfax-Mingo Invitational, 9 a.m.

Sept. 3 — Southeast Warren tournament, TBD Sept. 9 — BGM, 7 p.m.

Sept. 12 — HLV, 7 p.m.

Sept. 16 — Montezuma, 7 p.m.

Sept. 21 — ACGC tournament, 9 a.m.

Sept. 23 — North Mahaska, 7 p.m.

Sept. 30 — Lynnville-Sully, 7 p.m.

Oct. 3 — Tri-County, 7 p.m.

Oct. 5 — Madrid tournament, 8 a.m.

Oct. 7 — Keota, 7 p.m.

Oct. 10 — Iowa Valley, 7 p.m.

Oct. 14 — SICL tournament pool play, TBD, 5 p.m.

Oct. 17 — SICL Quads, TBD, 5 p.m.

Oct. 19 — Woodward-Granger Invitational, 9 a.m.

Home matches in bold.

participating in the summer workouts,” Grant said. “It’s scary to say that we have a pretty solid team because we are so young. I like this team though.”

Sophomores Kyra Lester and Morgan Van Dyke and junior Chelsey Temple are by far the most experienced on the roster.

Lester had a team-high 292 assists last year as the team’s freshman setter.

She also led the Tigerhawks with 63 aces and had 33 kills, 163 digs and 11 blocks.

“She’s very ready. Her setting is where we need it to be,” Grant said.

“We also want to make her more of C-M VOLLEYBALL | 13

12 Fall Sports Preview 2019

C-M Football Continued from Page 11 Gorman rushed six times for 30 yards and had one catch for 11 yards last season in a reserve role.

“We will be able to pass the ball effectively and the run game will be there,” Lietz said. “We have some speed back there this year and not just bruisers.”

Blocking for the offensive skill positions will be linemen Villegas, returning junior starter Andrew Gorman, junior A.J. Gibson and sophomore Grant Alexander. The rest of the linemen battling for playing time include sophomore Kenny Schlosser, senior Jakob Chapman, junior Brode Nichol, sophomore Shane Aikin and Seth Johnson.

“I am really happy with how our lines have come together,” Lietz said. “That should be one of our strengths. I think we can go about 12 deep as far as linemen go.”

The defensive line is made up of Villegas, Chapman, Schlosser, Gibson, Nichol and Horrach. Chapman had 14 tackles and two sacks last year, while Nichol chipped in

Colfax-Mingo High School Varsity Football 2019 Schedule Aug. 30 — BCLUW, 7 p.m.

Sept. 6 — Martensdale-St. Marys, 7 p.m.

Sept. 13 — Wayne, 7 p.m.

Sept. 20 — Lynnville-Sully, 7 p.m. (HC) Sept. 27 — Pleasantville, 7 p.m.

Oct. 4 — Interstate 35, 7 p.m.

Oct. 11 — Pella Christian, 7 p.m.

Oct. 18 — Woodward Academy, 7 p.m.

Oct. 25 — Woodward-Granger, 7 p.m.

Home games in bold.

13 tackles.

Ross is back to lead the linebackers, and Lietz said he had a productive offseason.

“Trystin has put in lots of time.

He looks great,” Lietz said. “He’s going to be a great receiver for us and he’s a stud on defense.”

The rest of the linebackers are seniors Jesse Allen and Tim Carroll and Myers. Allen had 14 tackles and a sack last year in a key reserve role.

The secondary features Berkey, Schroeder, Meinhart, Tanner Gorman, Steenhoek and sophomore Colton Lind, who also will be the backup quarterback.

Meinhart was the fourth leading tackler last season with 40 tackles.

“After a close runner-up finish in the conference meet last year to Belle Plaine, I still have confidence that our girls have what it takes to again be competing for that conference title,” Arkema said. “I’m excited to see how much growth our boys make throughout the season, and what they might be capable of doing by mid October.”

Arkema said Belle Plaine, Colfax-Mingo, Montezuma and North Mahaska will have competitive teams in both divisions of the conference. He said there have been individual state qualifiers the last few seasons from the SICL, and a number of those are back again this season.

“So there will be plenty of competition to go around,” Arkema said.

The Hawk athletes have a couple more weeks to work into better shape. Lynnville-Sully opens the 2019 season on Sept. 3 at Williamsburg.

The Hawks host their annual Lynnville-Sully Invitational on Sept. 19 at Diamond Trail Golf Course in Lynnville.

Contact Troy Hyde at 641-792-3121 ext. 6536 or thyde@newtondailynews.com

Contact Jocelyn Sheets at 641-792-3121 ext. 6535 or jsheets@newtondailynews.com

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He also had two interceptions.

Berkey handled kicking and punting duties a year ago. He averaged 30.2 yards per punt, made 20 of his 25 PAT attempts and hit 1-of2 field goal tries.

“We return a lot of starters and that helps,” Lietz said. “They have played a lot of reps and we haven’t made many changes. There’s not much separation between the ones and twos for most our of spots. We can get a lot of the guys quality reps.”

The Tigerhawks went 2-3 in 1A District 7 last season, defeating Pleasantville and Woodward Academy. The district also features defending champion Interstate 35, Pella Christian and Woodward-Granger.

Woodward-Granger brings back a bunch of starters, but I-35 and district runner-up Pella Christian graduated a plethora of talent.

“I think we can win the district.

That’s always the goal for every team this time of year,” Lietz said.

Fall Sports Preview 2019 13

McConeghey leads C-M harriers as Tigerhawks seek rise in SICL

By Troy Hyde Newton Daily News COLFAX — Colfax-Mingo co-head cross country coach Zach Tomas used to worry about summer workouts and preseason practices. He used to think those were super important for his Tigerhawks to meet end-of-the-season goals.

But the longer he coaches, the more he understands that there is plenty of time to get into shape. There’s plenty of time to get to where they want to be.

Where the Tigerhawks want to be

by October is at or near the top of the South Iowa Cedar League and Tomas and co-head coach Jake Crouse welcomes back plenty of talent and also hopes to take advantage of a talented freshmen class.

“We’ve seen all of our kids this summer, but we haven’t seen them all together,” Tomas said. “I understand that kids work and kids take vacations and things are going on. We will get to where we need to be.”

The Tigerhawks open the season in the Collins-Maxwell Spartan Invitational at 4:30 p.m. on Aug. 29 at Center Grove Orchard in Cambridge.

Colfax-Mingo’s home meet is at 4:30 p.m. on Sept. 12 at Colfax Country Club.

Senior Abbey McConeghey headlines the girls’ roster as she prepares for her final season. She was a state qualifier as a freshmen but has battled through injuries and surgeries each of the past two seasons.

McConeghey advanced to state in the 3,200-meter run during the track season this past spring. Tomas hopes she can take that momentum into the fall. She was 13th at last year’s SICL cross country meet and placed 20th at the Tigerhawks’ 2A state qualifier.

“She’s building off a strong track season,” Tomas said.

The only thing certain about this year’s girls’ and boys’ rosters is that Colfax-Mingo High School Varsity Cross Country 2019 Schedule Aug. 29 — Collins-Maxwell - Center Grove Orchard, 4:30 p.m.

Sept. 5 — Pekin - Wildwood Park, 4:30 p.m.

Sept. 12 — Colfax Country Club, 4:30 p.m.

Sept. 16 — Pleasantville Golf & Country Club, 5 p.m.

Sept. 19 — Lynnville - Diamond Trail GC, 4:30 p.m.

Sept. 26 — Monroe - Gateway Rec. GC, 4:30 p.m.

Oct. 1 — Knoxville - Pine Knolls CC, 4:15 p.m.

Oct. 7 — North Polk, 5 p.m.

Oct. 10 — Montezuma Country Club, 4:30 p.m.

Oct. 15 — SICL meet - Knoll Ridge Golf Course (hosted by English Valleys), 4:30 p.m.

Oct. 24 — State Qualifier, TBA Nov. 2 — State Meet at Fort Dodge, TBA Home Meets in Bold

C-M Volleyball Continued from Page 11

a threat this year besides just with the serve. She’ll take a big step this year.”

Van Dyke was second on the team last year with 108 kills as a freshman.

She had a team-high 15 blocks as the middle hitter, but Grant said she is moving Van Dyke to the outside this season.

Van Dyke also had 13 aces, eight assists and 39 digs.

“They both played a lot of volleyball this winter and spring,” Grant said in reference to Lester and Van Dyke.

“Moving Morgan to the outside will get her the ball more and let her have more open court to work with.”

Temple finished with 61 kills, 27

Troy Hyde/Daily News Colfax-Mingo senior Abbey McConeghey will lead the Tigerhawk girls’ cross country team this season. She made it to state her freshman year before battling through injuries and surgeries the past few seasons.

Troy Hyde/Daily News Colfax-Mingo senior Hunter Green returns to the Tigerhawk cross country team after leading the squad last season.

McConeghey should be the Tigerhawks’ No. 1 runner all season.

But McConeghey missed the start of the season as her and senior teammate Chelsey Atwood were on a school trip to Europe.

The rest of girls’ roster includes senior Jodine Woods, juniors Crystal Lincoln, Daytin Chadwick and Miranda McGill, sophomores Kylie Doty and Kirstin Frier and freshmen Carley Underwood, Caylee Cunningham and Joslyn Chadwick.

Lincoln placed 12th at last year’s SICL meet.

“It is so hard to predict where these two teams will fall as far as how each runner fares,” said Tomas, who begins his 10th season. “It will depend on how fast the freshmen pick up the new distance.”

The Tigerhawk boys welcome back

one of its top runners from last year in senior Hunter Green, but freshmen Max Van Dusseldorp and Carter Gibson should be near the front all season, according to Tomas. Van Dusseldorp has led the way all summer.

Van Dusseldorp and Gibson were both part of an unofficial SICL junior high championship last fall.

Green took sixth at last year’s SICL meet and was 18th at the 2A state qualifier.

“This could be one of our more successful boys’ teams by the time the season ends,” Tomas said. “We should have a strong pack of runners who will stay close to each other most of the season.”

Other boys expected to compete for the varsity top seven include juniors A.J. Gibson, Noah Strohmeyer and Avery Lees and sophomore Coleman

Craig. Craig finished 12th at the SICL meet last year.

Belle Plaine swept the SICL last year. Tomas thinks the boys’ race in 2019 is wide open. On the girls’ side, he thinks Belle Plaine, English Valleys and Lynnville-Sully will be tough to beat.

The three returning female state qualifiers from last year were Lynnville-Sully’s Caitlin Alberts, North Mahaska’s Cheyenne Shaw and Montezuma’s Elise Boulton. Shaw finished 11th overall.

“There’s not a clear favorite on the boys’ side,” Tomas said. “Belle Plaine is probably still the favorite on the girls’ side.”

digs and 11 assists last season. Grant plans to rotate Temple on the outside with freshman Caylee Cunningham.

Sophomore Avery Rague is back at middle hitter after compiling 52 kills, 17 digs, six blocks and three assists Van Dyke last year.

Two other middle hitters for Grant this season will be sophomores Melany Vry and McKayla Smith.

“They are both tall and have a good net presence,” Grant said. “Melany has made huge improvements. She will eat a pile of dirt if I tell her to and then ask where the next pile is. She wants to be good and wants to get better. We

could use her somewhere else on the floor, too.”

A lot of the Tigerhawks this season are versatile, and according to Grant, she is still trying to figure out where the puzzle pieces fit best. She may even use the early part of the regular season to complete her evaluation.

The back row will include senior Shanen Shedenhelm, junior Kira Warrick and freshmen Carley Underwood and Joslyn Chadwick.

Warrick had 14 aces, 10 assists and 146 digs last season, while Shedenhelm tallied six aces, nine assists and 22 digs.

Grant said one of them likely will play the libero position.

“We haven’t figured that out yet,” Grant said. “Shanen can be a second setter in the back row. Kira also does

some good things in the front row that can help us. So we have to figure out where they fit in best.”

The South Iowa Cedar League has perennial powers, and Grant said a few teams will be good because they always are. But the league for the most part is in a transition phase.

“The conference had a lot of turnover. Most of the all-conference players last year were seniors,” Grant said.

“The conference will be as low as it’s been since I have been here.”

The Tigerhawks will use a few scrimmages to iron out things. They open the season with their home tournament at 9 a.m. on Aug. 31 in Colfax.

Contact Troy Hyde at 641-792-3121 ext. 6536 or thyde@newtondailynews.com

Contact Troy Hyde at 641-792-3121 ext. 6536 or thyde@newtondailynews.com

14 Fall Sports Preview 2019

Baxter football seeks bounce back season

By Troy Hyde Newton Daily News BAXTER — Cole Damman’s injury during the third game of the season last year made things difficult for the Bolts moving forward and Baxter limped to a 3-6 mark in its second 8-man football season.

In 2019, long-time coach Rob Luther hopes to keep Damman on the field. That would be a key component to helping the Bolts clinch their first-ever 8-man postseason berth.

“Health will be key,” Luther said.

“We probably have a few more wins if (Cole) was healthy last year. You worry about it but you can’t play any different. It’s his senior year and he only has so many games left.”

The Bolts will play 10 games in 2019 after picking up a Week 0 home game against Mormon Trail. That game will be at 7 p.m. on Aug. 23 in Baxter.

Baxter, which went 8-1 in its first 8-man season in 2017, plays five games at home this season. The Bolts kicked off their season with a intra-squad scrimmage in front of a small crowd in Baxter.

“We are playing a week 0 game but we did it the same way as everyone else,” Luther said. “We still had our camp at the same time even though we could have had actual practice then.

“It was good to see under the lights who stepped up at our scrimmage.”

Damman will play quarterback again this season after throwing for 330 yards, rushing for 169 yards and scoring five total touchdowns in 2018.

He also had 14 tackles and one sack in a little more than two games.

Damman will team with sophomore running back Rory Heer and Baxter High School Varsity Football 2019 Schedule Aug. 23 — Mormon Trail, 7 p.m.

Aug. 30 — Coon Rapids-Bayard, 7 p.m.

Sept. 6 — Don Bosco, 7 p.m.

Sept. 13 — Melcher-Dallas, 7 p.m.

Sept. 20 — Collins-Maxwell, 7 p.m.

Sept. 27 — Gladbrook-Reinbeck, 7 p.m.

Oct. 4 — Twin Cedars, 7 p.m. (Homecoming) Oct. 11 — AGWSR, 7 p.m.

Oct. 18 — Colo-NESCO, 7 p.m. (Senior Night) Oct. 25 — Meskwaki Settlement School, 7 p.m.

Home games in bold.

junior wide receiver Kael Johnston as the primary ball carriers this season.

Heer got off to a slow start last season but finished with 595 rushing yards, 413 receiving yards and 17 TDs. He also was 1-for-1 through the air for 27 yards.

Johnston is back on the gridiron after taking a season off. He’ll be Damman’s primary receiving target along with Heer and senior tight end Carter Nelsen.

“Those three are electric and dynamic and we need to find ways to get the ball in their hands,” Luther said. “It was good to see them shining tonight.

They will be our guys and we have some good guys up front blocking for them, too.”

The guys blocking up front include junior three-year starter Micah Kearns, Nelsen, senior Shane Beougher, junior Brad Matthews, sophomore Hunter Hicks and freshman Trice Clapper. Hicks is a move in from Florida.

Kearns will be one of the tackles, while Hicks is expected to start at center.

Nelsen hauled in 31 catches for 289 yards and two TDs for the Bolts’ offense. Heer and Nelsen are the only returners who caught passes last season.

“We’ll get some mismatches with him,” Luther said of Nelsen. “He’s a good check down for Cole. We’ll use him.”

Freshman Jake Travis is expected to be Heer’s backup at running back.

The rest of the receiving core includes sophomore Nick Nelson and freshmen Cael Shipley and Cody Damman, who is nursing a foot injury and could miss some time.

Defensively, Luther expects the line to be a strength. That group includes Kearns, Nelsen, Beougher and Clapper.

“Kearns was great tonight,” Luther said. “I would imagine he’ll attack a lot of double teams.”

Heer and Damman are two of the linebackers, but Luther said they are still in search of a middle linebacker who can play downhill and make plays in open space. That job could go to sophomore Grant Borts, Travis or Nelson.

Heer finished with 39 tackles and a

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Troy Hyde/Daily News Baxter senior Cole Damman, right, is back for the Bolts this season after getting injured three games into the 2018 season. Damman’s return should help Baxter improve on last year’s 3-6 record.

team-high three interceptions last season, while Nelson had six tackles and Borts had 5.5.

Nelsen compiled 12 tackles, two sacks, one interception and two fumble recoveries.

Luther will use Damman on defense but how much could be a weekly thing.

“He goes 110 percent all the time and injuries happen when you are tired. We won’t worry about it. We’ll just go play,” Luther said.

The Bolts will again play in District 8 where Gladbrook-Reinbeck is the defending champion and AGWSR was the runner-up. Luther expects G-R to again be the favorite.

“They’ve been the team and someone has to beat them before it’s anyone else,” Luther said.

Baxter added a 10th game this season because Mormon Trail needed to

replace a game it lost in the offseason.

Having that game at home was an even better situation for the Bolts.

“We thought getting a 10th game would be big for some of our young kids,” Luther said. “And we’ve never played a game on our first day of school before so that will be cool, too.”

Overall, Luther thinks his team will score points. How good the team is may come down to how well they tackle. The Bolts lost their top three tacklers last season to graduation.

“Having Rory for the entire season playing like where he left off last year is a good thing,” Luther said. “I think we’ll score points. We have to find some guys who can tackle and be violent at the point of attack.”

Contact Troy Hyde at 641-792-3121 ext. 6536 or thyde@newtondailynews.com

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Fall Sports Preview 2019 15

Under new direction, Baxter volleyball seeks big jump

By Troy Hyde Newton Daily News BAXTER — Joe Morton guided the Ankeny Hawks to the Class 5A state tournament in two of the past four seasons.

But Morton wanted to get back to his small-town roots and has taken over the Baxter volleyball team.

He plans to bring 5A volleyball to the 1A school.

“We need to have Morton the mindset that we can be just as good as a 5A school,” said Morton, a graduate of Prairie City-Monroe.

“That’s what we are trying to change.

We can do things at a 1A school that they do at a 5A school.”

Morton will have a full roster of returning letter winners, led by senior Amber Weltha. The roster includes seven seniors who all saw action last year and a talented group of junior returners.

Weltha has moved from middle hitter to the right side because Morton wants to get her on six rotations.

Weltha led the Bolts with 277 kills last year along with 77 digs and 28 aces.

She has 524 career kills.

Baxter High School Varsity Volleyball 2019 Schedule Aug. 27 — East Marshall, 7:15 p.m.

Aug. 31 — Colfax-Mingo Tournament, 9 a.m.

Sept. 3 — Lynnville-Sully, 7:15 p.m.

Sept. 5 — Martensdale-St. Marys, 7:30 p.m.

Sept. 12 — Don Bosco, 7:15 p.m.

Sept. 16 — Madrid (Quad), 5 p.m.

Sept. 17 — Colo-NESCO, 7:15 p.m.

Sept. 19 — Collins-Maxwell, 7:15 p.m.

Sept. 26 — Valley Lutheran, 7:15 p.m.

Oct. 1 — Meskwaki Settlement, 7:15 p.m.

Oct. 8 — GMG, 7:15 p.m.

Oct. 10 — North Tama, 7 p.m.

Oct. 12 — BCLUW tournament, 8:30 a.m.

Oct. 15 — Grand View Christian, 7 p.m.

Oct. 19 — Iowa Star Conference Tournament, Clarksville, 10 a.m.

Home matches in bold

The plan is to even use Weltha as a second setter in a 6-2 formation.

“We have to have her on the floor.

So we will try to use her as a setter in the 6-2 formation,” Morton said. “We want her hands on the ball as much as possible.

“We want her to take twice as many swings. The goal is for her to get 500 kills. That’s realistic.”

The Bolts open the season against East Marshall at 7:15 p.m. on Aug. 27 in Baxter. They play in the Colfax-Mingo tournament at 9 a.m. on Aug. 31 in Colfax.

The rest of the seniors are hitters Bekka Watt and Sadie Meyer, setter Kaitlyn Headlee and defensive specialists Abbey Shepley, Rachel Kenney and Mikayla McKnight.

The talented junior class includes junior hitters Sophie Meyer and Hallee Rainsbarger and junior libero Maddie Pierce.

Sophie Meyer ranked second to Weltha in kills last season with 110 and also led the team with 63 aces and tallied 188 digs, which ranked second.

Rainsbarger collected 86 kills and 36 aces, Watt tallied 74 kills and 154 digs and Sadie Meyer finished with 18 kills and 17 digs.

Pierce led the Bolts with 308 digs as the team’s libero last season. She also had 23 aces. She’s joined in the back row by Shepley (42 digs), Kenney (37 digs) and McKnight.

Headlee took over for graduated senior Sydney Schmidt at setter after Schmidt went down with an injury last season. She finished with 381 assists, 114 digs, 27 aces and 14 kills.

Morton said freshman Mandee Selover and sophomore Maggie Schabilion also will play.

Morton said Selover is a starter at middle hitter with Sadie Meyer if the season started today. He hasn’t figured out exactly where and how he’ll use Schabilion yet.

“They have the right mindset to attack,” Morton said of the hitters. “We want them to let it fly and not be afraid

Troy Hyde/Daily News Baxter senior Amber Weltha is back for the Bolts volleyball team after leading the program with 277 kills last season. She also had 28 aces and 77 digs and enters the season with 524 career kills.

to have good misses. We also don’t want to terminate the ball every time.

We need to play much, much smarter.”

The Bolts were 12-14 last season and finished second in the Iowa Star Conference South Division at 5-1.

Morton thinks Baxter will be top two in the division again. He also expects his team to be well over .500 before regional play begins.

“We don’t need to be ready to go when we play East Marshall. We have to be ready to go late September,” Morton said. “We are still building so let’s get through the first few weeks of the season, make some statements

but stay a little bit under the radar and then be in position to have a good regional draw.”

Morton got the job at the end of the school year last fall. He worked with the girls in several open gyms this summer and installed his new system throughout.

“We are making drastic changes to the culture and with our system,” Morton said. “They have bought in to all of it.”

Contact Troy Hyde at 641-792-3121 ext. 6536 or thyde@newtondailynews.com

Berg headlines roster of 12 for Baxter harriers

By Troy Hyde Newton Daily News BAXTER — Senior Logan Berg has accomplished a lot on many cross country courses across the state.

He has been an all-conference runner and qualified for the state meet three times.

But he has never medaled on the state’s biggest stage and has yet to claim a conference title.

In his final season at Baxter, Berg hopes to add both to an already long list of accomplishments.

“I will let him set his individual goals but after finishing 16th at state last year, I think he’d like to get into the top 15 to medal,” Baxter cross country coach Dennis Vaughn said.

“He’d like to be a four-time all-conference and four-time state qualifier.”

Berg headlines the Bolts again this year as 12 total run-

ners make up the boys’ and girls’ teams.

Berg is one of five boys who are out this season, but Vaughn hopes to add a few more to Conradi each squad before the start of competition. The girls roster is seven deep.

“We are a little concerned about the numbers early, but the team is working hard and in good spirits,” Vaughn said.

“They have come into the season ready to work and ready to run.”

The Bolts open the season at 4:30 p.m. on Aug. 26 in Woodward.

The Spartan Invitational hosted by Collins-Maxwell is at 4:30 p.m. on Aug. 29 at Center Grove Orchard just outside of

Maxwell.

Berg is the clear-cut No. 1 on the boys’ side. Vaughn expects senior Will Hitchler and junior Sean Finch to be the No. 2 and 3 and the other two runners are senior Christian Brandt and junior Jalen Porter.

“He ran a lot of miles, maybe more than he’s ever ran,” Vaughn said of Berg. “He’s put in a ton of time. I think he’s more prepared than ever.

“The attitudes for the team are good. We have big shoes to fill and they know that.”

On the girls’ side, Vaughn expects junior Kailee Conradi to lead the team this season after finishing as the third runner late in the season last year.

Conradi just missed a top 10 finish at conference last season with sophomore Lilie Vansice and senior Holly Jessen also in the top 15.

BAXTER XC | 16

Troy Hyde/Daily News Baxter’s Logan Berg returns to the Bolts cross country team after three straight seasons of competing in the state meet.

16 Fall Sports Preview 2019

L-S Football Continued from Page 9 nine assisted tackles. Noun Harder, another defensive back, had seven solo tackles and three assisted.

Lynnville-Sully will see quickly what it has with an early start to the season. The Hawks open the season Friday at Belle Plaine. Grand View Christian dropped out of Class A District 8 to play eight-man football this season leaving the Hawks with only eight games.

The Hawks picked up the game with

Volleyball Continued from Page 9 Jansen downed 121 kills and had 10 solo blocks and eight assisted blocks. She also had 231 digs.

Rozendaal was credited with 262 digs.

Conover, Noun Harder, Gibbs and Brand saw limited varsity play last year but will figure into the starting rotation this season. Conover had

Belle Plaine to begin the season. Lynnville-Sully will be idle on Oct. 11. Other teams in Lynnville-Sully’s district are Central Decatur, Wayne, North Mahaska and Martensdale-St. Marys.

“Our district will be tough but I look for us to again be a team in the front of the district. We’ll have to keep getting better each day and week, but as the year progresses the district could come down to one or two games,” Parkinson said.

Contact Jocelyn Sheets at 641-792-3121 ext. 6535 or jsheets@newtondailynews.com

five ace serves and 27 digs. Noun Harder had on ace and 30 set assists.

Brand made five digs and Gibbs had one dig.

The Hawks open the 2019 season on Tuesday at Martendale-St. Marys.

Their home opener is Sept. 3 against Baxter in Sully.

Contact Jocelyn Sheets at 641-792-3121 ext. 6535 or jsheets@newtondailynews.com

Baxter XC Continued from Page 15 “From what I have seen so far and from what she ran this offseason, Kailee is probably the top runner,” Vaughn said. “Realistically, the top three girls could be all-conference based on last year.”

After Conradi, Vaughn expects Vansice and Jessen to be next. The roster also includes seniors Maya Phelps, Andrea Brown and Bryn Schultheis as well as freshman Grace Gruis.

Without graduated standouts Brenna Thomson and Lauren Ratliff this season, Vaughn said his team will have to run more in a pack.

“The girls are coming along. We have some ideas for strategies of how to run without girls way up front,” Vaughn said. “We’ll try to run more like a pack this year. That will be an advantage for us if we can do that.”

The Bolts have 12 runners this season and six of them are seniors.

“Like any team, you can use the seniors as an example of how to do things daily,” Vaughn said. “Our seniors lead by example. They go out and work hard and let everyone know how it should be done.”

Baxter High School Varsity Cross Country 2019 Schedule Aug. 26 — Woodward-Granger, 4:30 p.m.

Aug. 29 — Collins-Maxwell - Center Grove Orchard, 4:30 p.m.

Sept. 7 — Pella - Central College, 9:30 a.m.

Sept. 12 — Colfax-Mingo - Colfax CC, 4:30 p.m.

Sept. 16 — South Tama County, 4:30 p.m.

Sept. 19 — Colo-NESCO - Dakins Lake, 4:30 p.m.

Sept. 24 — West Marshall, 4:15 p.m.

Oct. 1 — Nevada - SCORE Park, 4:30 p.m.

Oct. 5 — South Hardin, 9:30 a.m.

Oct. 8 — Dike-New Hartford, 4:15 p.m.

Oct. 17 — Iowa Star meet - Wartburg College, 4:30 p.m.

Oct. 24 — State Qualifier, TBD Nov. 2 — State Meet - Fort Dodge, TBD

The Bolts swept the Iowa Star Conference meet last season.

Doing that in 2019 will be much tougher, but Vaughn thinks his two squads will be toward the top of both races again.

“We’d like to compete for a conference championship. We should be back towards the top. I think we’ll be top three again,” Vaughn said. “The boys side in the conference is wide open. I don’t see a team that will be expected to dominate the thing.”

Contact Troy Hyde at 641-792-3121 ext. 6536 or thyde@newtondailynews.com

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