FORT DODGE -- The Harlan Community tandem of Greichaly Kaster and Brecken Van Baale had two big goals for Saturday’s state cross country meet: stick together and finish strong. The Cyclone harriers did just that on a cool, sunny afternoon at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course, both placing in the top half of the Class 3A girls field less than six seconds apart. Making her state meet debut as a freshman, Van Baale spent much of the five-kilometer

 FORT DODGE -- Most kids throw a party and open gifts on their birthday. AHSTW senior Heidi Hall ran a five-kilometer race in 40-degree weather and wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. Hall celebrated her 18th birthday by accomplishing a season-long goal Saturday afternoon, earning a 15th-place medal in the Class 1A girls division of this year’s State Cross Country Championships near Fort Dodge. Hall’s time of 19:59.1 clinched her a spot on

 FORT DODGE -- Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton senior Evan Wilson finished 45th out of 149 competitors in the Class 1A boys division of Saturday’s state cross country meet at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course. Wilson, who entered the state meet ranked 2nd in 1A by the Iowa Association of Track Coaches, positioned himself in the top five of the race early on before falling toward the middle of the pack.

 FORT DODGE -- Competing in her fourth and final state cross country meet, IKM-Manning senior Payton Sporrer placed 74th out of 143 runners in the Class 1A girls race at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course Saturday afternoon. Sporrer clocked a five-kilometer time of 21:44.2.
    A two-time state medalist, Sporrer placed ninth, 11th, 63rd and 74th in four trips to Fort Dodge.

 HARLAN (Oct.

 SERGEANT BLUFF (Oct.

 MANNING (Oct. 23) -- Leading the fifth set 13-11 and just two points away from victory, IKM-Manning was unable to finish off Fort Dodge St. Edmond in Monday night’s Class 2A, Region 3 volleyball quarterfinal. The visiting Gaels rallied to score the final four points of the match, capped by an Erin Flattery kill, and outlasted the Wolves by a final score of 21-25, 25-23, 26-24, 16-25, 15-13. St.

 COON RAPIDS (Oct. 23) -- Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton was unable to recover from a hard-fought loss in the opening set Monday night, falling to Coon Rapids-Bayard 23-25, 16-25, 19-25 in a Class 1A regional quarterfinal on the Crusaders’ home floor. The Spartans finished the season with a match record of 15-18 while CR-B (20-13) advanced to face CAM (15-18) in Thursday’s regional semifinals.

 FORT DODGE (Oct. 28) -- Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton senior Evan Wilson will lead an area contingent of 11 runners set to compete at Saturday’s coed State Cross Country Championships at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course north of Fort Dodge. Wilson is ranked 2nd among Class 1A boys by the Iowa Association of Track Coaches and is coming off a first-place run at last week’s State Qualifying Meet in Mount Ayr.

 REGIONAL -- The football teams from Harlan Community, AHSTW and IKM-Manning will take a combined record of 23-4 into their respective first-round playoff games Friday night, October 27, at 7:00 p.m. HCHS and AHSTW, which both won district titles this fall, will open the playoffs at home. The Cyclones (8-1) will host Sioux City Bishop Heelan (7-2) in a Class 3A game while the Vikings (8-1) will host Western Christian (7-2) in Class 1A.

 ATLANTIC (Oct.

 MOUNT AYR (Oct. 19) -- From the AHSTW girls clinching a team state berth to Evan Wilson’s dramatic first-place finish for Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton, it was a good day for area runners at Thursday’s Class 1A State Qualifying Cross Country Meet in Mount Ayr. Overall, nine harriers from AHSTW, Exira-EHK and IKM-Manning qualified for this Saturday’s State Cross Country Championships at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course north of Fort Dodge.

 ATLANTIC -- Perhaps a little adversity was just what Harlan Community needed Friday night as it wrapped up the regular season with one final tune-up for the 2017 Iowa high school football playoffs. Locked in a scoreless halftime tie with Atlantic and held to just 82 first-half yards, the sixth-ranked (3A) Cyclones scored points on their first four drives of the second half and pitched their second shutout of the season to escape the Trojan Bo

TRI-CENTER -- IKM-Manning tuned up for the playoffs last Friday with a 40-14 win at Tri-Center, getting 121 rushing yards and four touchdowns from Stephen Grimm. Carter Irlmeier led the Wolves with 135 rushing yards and also caught a 27-yard touchdown pass from Jared Johnson. The Wolves fell behind 7-0 late in the first quarter before scoring 40 unanswered points.

 MISSOURI VALLEY -- AHSTW’s undefeated run came to an end Friday night as Missouri Valley knocked off the Vikings 24-14 in the regular season finale for both teams. The Vikings (8-1) still won the District 7 (Class 1A) title with a mark of 6-1 and will host Western Christian in a first-round playoff game this Friday (7 p.m.). Missouri Valley finished its season at 6-3 overall and 4-3 in the district. AHSTW's only touchdowns vs. Mo.