HARLAN -- Conditions were certainly less than ideal, but it didn’t stop quality performances from going on the board in Thursday night’s 19th annual Koos Relays girls track meet at Merrill Field. With temperatures falling into the 40s, athletes battled northwest winds gusting up to 40 mph on the back stretch that also provided a nice push on the final straightaway. Harlan Community scored 96 points and placed third out of 10 teams on its home

 HARLAN -- Amber Gross and Maggie Langenfeld of Harlan Community both carded a 54 for the top scores Thursday, but Denison-Schleswig’s balance prevailed in the end as the Monarch girls topped HCHS by 18 strokes (246-264) in a windy season opener at the Harlan Golf and Country Club. Gross notched the only par of the dual with a four on number two and took medalist honors over Langenfeld on a tiebreaker handicap hole.

 DENISON -- Max Langenfeld’s two-over-par round of 37 easily earned medalist honors Thursday and led the Harlan Community boys golf team to a triangular sweep over Denison-Schleswig and Charter Oak-Ute at Majestic Hills. HCHS finished with a 169, followed by Denison’s 195 and the Bobcats’ 224 as high winds made an already challenging course that much more difficult to navigate. Langenfeld’s round included two birdies, three pars and four bogey

 SIOUX CITY -- One poor stretch of defense made the difference Friday night as the Harlan Community soccer girls dropped a 6-3 decision at Sioux City West. HCHS, now 1-1 overall, led 1-0 until the Wolverines punched home three goals in the last 12 minutes of the first half and added another during the opening two minutes of the second. Cyclone junior Haley Arkfeld scored twice in the 44th minute to make it a 4-3 game, but West’s Fernanda Serna

 HARLAN -- The Harlan Community girls tennis team ran into a tough matchup in Thursday’s season opener, losing all nine varsity matches against a senior-laden Denison-Schleswig squad. HCHS did prevail in junior varsity action, winning 6-5. Northwest winds gusting over 40 mph made it important to hit shots low and firm, especially on the four unprotected courts north of the high school.

 DENISON -- The Harlan Community boys tennis team came up one victory short at Denison on Thursday, losing a 5-4 dual decision that puts the Cyclones at 2-2 overall and 1-1 in the Hawkeye Ten. Isaac Stitz and Josh Cheek won singles matches for HCHS while the doubles teams of Stitz and Alec Plagman and Cheek and Kaleb Kaster also earned victories.

 CLARINDA -- Harlan Community scored 69 points and placed fifth out of eight teams in the Class 3-A division of Friday’s Clarinda Boys Cardinal Relays. The top four finishers were Lewis Central (153 points), Glenwood (124), Atlantic (86) and Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson (76). Shenandoah won the Class 2-A team title and Nishnabotna prevailed in Class 1-A.

 DUNLAP -- The IKM-Manning track teams combined to win five gold medals and both placed fifth overall at Friday’s Denison-Schleswig Co-Ed Meet held in Dunlap. The Monarchs handily won both team titles on the night with the Logan-Magnolia girls and Treynor boys each placing second. The IKM-Manning girls placed fifth with 73 points and the boys were fifth with 58 points.

HARLAN -- In a way, the 2016 girls soccer season began just like last year for Harlan Community - with a two-goal victory over Creston. The next step for Coach Jared Boysen’s squad will be building on Tuesday’s 5-3 win at Merrill Field and improving on last year’s disappointing 5-13 overall record. Boysen, for one, believes there is reason for optimism. The 2015 Cyclones were hampered by injuries and close losses all season long, including the