GRINNELL -- The Harlan Swim Club capped a successful 2017-18 winter season at the Greater Iowa Swim League State Meet in Grinnell on Saturday, March 10.

 DES MOINES -- Representing the community of Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton, Lisa Burmeister received the Iowa Farm Bureau Sportsmanship Award at the Girls State Basketball Tournament on February 28. A fan from each school participating in the tournament was presented a sportsmanship award prior to the team’s first-round game.

 DES MOINES (March 9) -- The Glenwood boys basketball team represented southwest Iowa and the Hawkeye Ten Conference in fine fashion last week, winning three straight thrillers at Wells Fargo Arena to claim the program’s first-ever state championship. This year’s Class 3A title winner, which beat Harlan Community 82-69 in a substate final on February 26, features plenty of local ties. Rams head coach Curt Schulte graduated from HCHS in 1989 an

 DES MOINES (March 6) -- Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton senior Sophia Peppers became a two-time, first-team all-state selection this week, recognized among the top eight girls basketball players in Class 1A by the Iowa Print Sports Writers Association. The newly-formed IPSWA announced its first-ever girls basketball All-State teams on Tuesday, also citing area seniors Kealey Nelson of Exira-EHK (1A) and Kia Rasmussen of IKM-Manning (2A) as third-te

 AVOCA -- AHSTW senior AJ Sieh signed a national letter of intent on February 7 to play football at NCAA Division II powerhouse Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville.

 ROCKPORT, TEX. -- This 41-inch black drum was caught by Brad Campbell and released off of Rockport Beach in Texas. Brad lives near Polk City, Iowa and is formerly from Irwin. Rockport, Texas, located along the Gulf of Mexico near Corpus Christi, was devastated by Hurricane Harvey last summer but is coming back strong, according to Campbell.

 HARLAN -- The Harlan Community Athletic Booster Club Hall of Fame added four new inductees on Friday, February 2, as longtime booster club members Brian and Pam Gubbels and Chris and Joni Larsen were recognized during the HCHS girls and boys basketball games vs. Glenwood.

 HARLAN -- Nine youth wrestlers from the Harlan Community Wrestling Club recently competed at the Iowa AAU State Tournament in Des Moines and/or the Iowa Super Pee Wee State Wrestling Championship meet in Waterloo. Results from the AAU State Tournament, held Feb.

 DES MOINES (March 2) -- The Springville girls basketball team is already a formidable outfit when seniors Mikayla Nachazel and Rylee Menster shoulder the scoring load and everyone else contributes to a great defense. When the role players and subs start knocking down shots as well, the top-ranked Orioles are downright unbeatable. It was that kind of afternoon for Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton Friday as the seventh-ranked and fourth-seeded Spartan

 DES MOINES (March 2) -- The final numbers are nothing short of fantastic for Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton seniors Sophia Peppers and Kealey Nelson. Peppers and Nelson played their final high school game on Friday as the Spartans lost to Springville in the 1A state tournament semifinals.

 DES MOINES (March 3) -- For the second straight year, Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton’s Sophia Peppers was one of six girls named to the Class 1A All-Tournament Team at the Girls State Basketball Tournament in Des Moines.

 DES MOINES (March 2) -- Three years ago, an upstart 11th-ranked Springville team pulled off a semifinal upset at the Girls State Basketball Tournament, scoring the first 16 points of the game and holding off No. 2 Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton 68-57. The Orioles have rarely looked back since, finishing as state runner-up in 2015 and winning the last two state titles in Class 1A.

 DES MOINES (Feb. 28) -- For three and a half quarters on Wednesday, Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton and AGWSR waged a back-and-forth battle in search of consistency. The lead changed hands eight times and there were seven ties. Momentum was fleeting. But with the outcome hanging in the balance at Wells Fargo Arena, Spartan seniors Sophia Peppers and Kealey Nelson did what they always seem to do at crunch time.

 COUNCIL BLUFFS (Feb. 26) -- From an effort and execution standpoint, the Harlan Community boys basketball team graded out close to an ‘A’ in Monday’s Class 3A, Substate 8 final vs. Glenwood. But on this night - against this opponent - an A+ was required to win. In an entertaining, up-tempo battle between senior-laden rivals, the Rams simply had an answer for everything the Cyclones threw at them inside the Abraham Lincoln Fieldhouse.

 DENISON (Feb. 26) -- Only three IKM-Manning players were able to break into the scoring column Monday night as the Wolves lost a low-scoring Class 1A, Substate 8 final vs. third-ranked Remsen St. Mary’s, 39-23, at Denison. IKM-Manning trailed just 6-2 after the first quarter and 16-10 at halftime, but could never get going on the offensive end against the unbeaten Hawks (25-0), who advanced to the Boys State Basketball Tournament as the No.