HARLAN -- Despite their 4-5 record last season, the Harlan Community Cyclone football team had one of the most prolific offenses in all of Class 3-A. HCHS averaged 242 yards passing per game and 194 on the ground, scoring at least 32 points in seven of nine games and averaging just under 38. The good news is that many of the key cogs from that group are back in 2017. Senior quarterback Deren Schmitz passed for 1,875 yards and ran for 323 in h

 HARLAN -- The question really isn’t whether Harlan Community’s defense will be better in 2017. The real query is how much better? The answers might vary depending on who you ask, but second-year defensive coordinator John Murtaugh is optimistic that the overall improvement on ‘D’ will show up early and often. Just to review, last year’s Cyclone defense allowed 38.6 points and 449 yards per game, surrendering 70 points vs.

 HARLAN -- The Harlan Community baseball team’s sustained success over the last two and a half decades or so has officially reached juggernaut status. The 2017 Cyclones raised the bar another notch this summer, setting a single-season school record for wins (36-3) in qualifying for a seventh consecutive state tournament and reaching the 3-A championship game for the third year in a row. HCHS was unable to defend last season’s third state title

 HARLAN -- For a team that lost just three seniors off last year’s softball squad, the 2017 Harlan Community Cyclones found themselves in full-fledged rebuild mode this past summer. In addition to the graduation departures of Iowa State recruit Logan Schaben, Julia Sorfonden and Emily Juhl, several other full or part-time starters from a 13-23 campaign elected not to return for head coach Brooke Schaben’s second season at the helm. In their st

 DES MOINES -- The postseason honors have continued to pile up this month for Harlan Community senior shortstop Dillon Sears. The Western Illinois recruit played in the Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association All-Star Series August 3-6 and was named the team MVP for Small Schools West.

 DES MOINES -- Harlan Community senior Joshua Cheek was recognized as a 2017 First Team Academic All-State selection earlier this month by the Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association.

 BLAIR, NEB. -- The Iowa Western Baseball League will wrap up its 2017 season Saturday, August 19, when a team of IWL All-Stars takes on the Dodge County All-Stars in Blair, Nebraska.

 HARLAN -- The Harlan Community cross country program held its annual preseason Cyclone Camp August 7-11, concluding with a timed race at Prairie Rose State Park on Friday morning. The camp was attended by 51 prospective harriers (36 high school runners, 15 middle schoolers) who took part in various workouts throughout the week.

 HARLAN -- The Harlan Community volleyball team opened preseason practices on Monday, August 7, with a roster of 30 players in grades 9-12. First-year Cyclone head coach Willie Baughman, a varsity assistant the last two years, inherits a program that finished 20-18 overall last year and placed fifth in the Hawkeye 10 Conference with a record of 6-4. HCHS returns seven letter winners from a year ago, led by first-team all-conference libero Sidn

 AREA -- Forty-two total baseball and softball players from the area have been recognized on this year’s Hawkeye Ten, Western Iowa and Rolling Valley all-conference teams, including 20 first-team selections. The Harlan Community baseball team, which set a school record for wins (36-3) and finished as the Class 3-A state runner-up, leads the charge with five first-team players, followed by the Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton baseball and softball tea

 HARLAN -- Harlan Community junior Olivia Petersen was one of just 20 girls in the nation awarded the Ultra Ankle® JVA AthLeader Award in volleyball this past June to recognize those players who exemplify outstanding volleyball performance, academic excellence, leadership, responsibility and selflessness.

 GALVESTON, TEX. -- Alex Bladt, 12, caught a 30-inch black tip shark on July 3 while fishing in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Galveston, Texas. Alex, the son of Greg and Tammy Bladt, Harlan, was on a fishing charter with his father and brother Aiden when he reeled in his meal for the day.

 DES MOINES -- Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton junior Sophia Peppers was named first-team All-State and eight other area softball players garnered second team, third team or honorable mention recogniton on the 2017 Iowa Girls Coaches’ Association All-State Softball list released July 31. Peppers, a three-time all-state selection, was one of four Spartans honored by the IGCA in Class 1-A following a 16-11 season that ended in the regional semifinals.

 HARLAN -- Placing first in 33 out of 78 events and setting five school records on the day, Harlan Community’s summer swim team won its 11th consecutive Western Iowa Swim League conference meet championship on Saturday, July 8 at the Norman D.

 PORTSMOUTH -- Heath Stein homered twice and Justin Schaben added a home run and a double to lead Portsmouth over Walnut 5-1 in the championship game of the Iowa Western Amateur Baseball League Tournament on Sunday, July 30, in Portsmouth. Portsmouth outhit Walnut 7-6 and there was just one error in the ball game. Brett Croghan pitched a complete game six-hitter for the win, allowing only Andrew Sachs’ fifth-inning solo home run.