MANNING (Aug. 24) -- The IKM-Manning football team will become quite familiar with state highways 71 and 20 during the next two years as it joins the newly-aligned Class A, District 2 starting this fall. IKM-M is by far the southern-most school in the six-team league, which also includes Sioux Central (7-3 last year, Class A playoff qualifier), Ridge View (6-3), Manson-Northwest Webster (4-5), St.

 AVOCA (Aug.

 HARLAN -- Glancing at the preseason depth chart for the 2018 Harlan Community football team, it’s difficult to find a position group that doesn’t feature at least some level of returning talent. In all, the Cyclones bring back nine players on offense and seven on defense who started at least part-time for last year’s 10-2 Class 3A state semifinalist - a team that nearly pulled off an incredible comeback from down 35-0 in a 41-39 UNI-Dome loss

Cyclones’ New Home: Class 3A, District 9 Every two years, the Iowa High School Athletic Association reclassifies the state’s football schools according to enrollment size and issues new district assignments.

 HARLAN (Aug. 25) - Three state-ranked teams will be in the field this Saturday when Harlan Community opens the season by hosting the annual Cyclone Volleyball Tournament. Play will begin at 8:30 a.m. with three pools of three teams each. Pool A will feature HCHS, 8th-ranked (2A) Tri-Center and Underwood on the south court of the high school.

 AVOCA -- AHSTW will host seven other teams Saturday for the season-opening Lady Vike Invitational at 8:30 a.m. The tournament will begin with pool play. In Pool A in the high school gym, AHSTW will compete against CAM, Denison-Schleswig and Essex. Pool B, in the elementary gym, will feature Atlantic, Thomas Jefferson, Earlham and Riverside.

 GLENWOOD -- The Harlan Community cross country team will open the season Saturday by competing in the Glenwood Ram Invite at 9:30 a.m.

 HARLAN -- The tradition continued for the Harlan Community baseball team this summer as yet another season ended on the final Saturday of July. Playing in their fourth consecutive Class 3A state championship game - and the sixth in 11 years - the Cyclones capped a 33-4 season by facing state power Davenport Assumption in the title game. The top-seeded Knights got the best of HCHS for the second straight year, defending their crown with an 11-

 HARLAN -- Sometimes it’s hard to see the forest through the trees, but the Harlan Community softball team made definite strides overall during 2018. While the Cyclones are still in search of their first postseason victory during Brooke Schaben’s three-year head coaching tenure, the roster is still young as a whole and the numbers are trending in the right direction. With five of its top eight hitters still freshmen or eighth-graders, HCHS imp

 AMES -- Highlighted by Big 12 Conference Player of the Week honors in late April, Iowa State University sophomore Logan Schaben batted .203 and hit six home runs this past spring in helping the Cyclone softball team finish 23-33 overall and 4-14 in the Big 12 for sixth place. An infielder and designated hitter for ISU, Schaben is the daughter of Gary and Jackie Schaben, rural Portsmouth, and a 2016 graduate of Harlan Community High School.

 MACOMB, ILL. -- Dillon Sears started 41 games and batted .217 in his first season of NCAA Division I baseball this past spring, helping the Western Illinois Fighting Leathernecks finish 17-31 overall and notch their most conference wins since 2006 with a 14-12 record in the Summit League. The freshman infielder is the son of Chad and Janelle Sears, Westphalia, and a 2017 Harlan Community High School graduate.

 EL DORADO, KS -- Iowa Western Community College sophomore Marcus Klein earned All-American status for the second straight year by placing second in the decathlon at the 2018 NJCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships held May 17-19. Klein, a 2016 graduate of Harlan Community High School, is the son of Rose Stitz, Harlan, and Tracy Klein.

 HARLAN -- The Harlan Community football team will hold its annual preseason “soap” scrimmage, hosted by the Harlan Lions Club, on Thursday, August 16, at Merrill Field. The freshmen team will scrimmage at 6:00 p.m., followed by the varsity scrimmage at approximately 7:30. The area’s other three prep football teams will also hold public scrimmages later this week.

 PORTSMOUTH (Aug. 8) -- The National League squad blew open a close game with 10 runs in the final two innings to defeat the American League 13-3 in Wednesday night’s Iowa Western Baseball League All-Star Game at Portsmouth. The NL team consisted of players from Portsmouth, Panama and Persia while the AL selected players from Council Bluffs, Walnut and Massena.

 SIOUX FALLS, SD -- Chad Swanson, a longtime Harlan Community teacher and coach, was honored at the National High School Athletic Coaches Association’s national convention June 26 as a finalist for the National (Girls) Assistant Coach of the Year. Swanson was one of just eight finalists chosen from throughout the country for this award.