COUNCIL BLUFFS -- When Harlan Community kicks off the 2016 football season at Lewis Central Friday night, Curt Bladt will begin his 39th year as head coach of the Cyclones and his 49th year with the program. For Coach Bladt, there’s still something special about that first Friday of the fall. “It’s the excitement of (having) a new group of guys and you want to see how they blend together and how they play and support each other, and I think th

 HARLAN -- The Harlan Community volleyball team will look to defend its four-year run of titles when it hosts the Cyclone Tournament here Saturday, starting at 8:30 a.m. HCHS, which is listed sixth in the Class 4-A preseason rankings by the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union, finished 37-6 last season and was the 4-A state runner-up on the heels of back-to-back championships.

 GLENWOOD -- The Harlan Community cross country teams will open the season at the 42nd annual Glenwood Invitational on Saturday, set for a 9:00 a.m. start time at Glenwood Lake Park. The 10-team field of teams will include: Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln, Atlantic, East Mills, Glenwood, HCHS, Lewis Central, OA-BCIG, Red Oak, Shenandoah and Thomas Jefferson.

AVOCA -- When you lose a senior class like AHSTW had last year, there’s bound to be a lot of new names and faces on the depth chart. And while that is certainly the case for the 2016 Viking football team, fifth-year head coach Davis Pattee is optimistic about the potential in his current 58-player roster and 14 returning lettermen. Numerous starting jobs have been up for grabs during fall camp and the competition has been a productive thing fo

 HARLAN -- The Harlan Community football team enters the 2016 season with a veteran-laden offense, a brand new defensive cast and high hopes to build on last year’s 8-2 campaign and return to the playoffs after a rare one-year absence in 2014. Armed with good team speed and adequate size, the Cyclones’ quest to secure a 33rd postseason berth in 35 years won’t be easy as they face a difficult front-loaded schedule and the fact that once again o

 MANNING -- The goals of the IKM-Manning football team don’t change all that much from year to year, and that’s the mark of a good program. A: Improve each week. B: Make the playoffs. C: Advance as far as possible. Through the first eight years of their consolidation, IKM-Manning been remarkably consistent in achieving those goals.

 HARLAN -- The weapons are in place. A starting quarterback will be named any day now. With only a few preseason practices left, Harlan Community offensive coordinator Mark Kohorst is excited to unveil this year’s Cyclone ‘O.’ Kohorst’s goal in 2016 is to develop a balanced, diversified and dangerous unit that utilitzes speed and unpredictability while making opposing defenses cover sideline to sideline.

 HARLAN -- From the first-year coordinator to the player personnel, Harlan Community’s defense has a brand new look in 2016. HCHS graduated its top 13 tacklers from a year ago and the top returnee - Josh Cheek with 16 stops - isn’t even listed on the current defensive two-deep by new coordinator John Murtaugh. “For all intents and purposes, we have no returning starters,” Murtaugh said.

 HARLAN -- The Harlan Community and IKM-Manning volleyball teams, along with Treynor and Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln, prepped for the upcoming season on Tuesday by holding a scrimmage at the HCHS gymnasium. Each team scrimmaged against the other three for approximately 20 minutes. HCHS, last year’s Class 4-A state runner-up, will open the season on Saturday, Aug.

 OMAHA, NEB. -- The Iowa Western Baseball League season will come to a close on Saturday when the IWL All-Star team faces the Dodge County All-Stars in a 1:00 p.m. game at Omaha’s Brown Field (15th & Q). The IWL roster includes 17 players, with Josh Weis of Persia serving as the head coach and Mike Brownlee of Council Bluffs as the assistant coach.

 PORTSMOUTH -- The National League pulled away in the late innings to defeat the American League, 10-1, in the Iowa Western Baseball League All-Star Game held Wednesday, August 10, in Portsmouth. The NL led 2-1 after five and a half innings before scoring three runs in the sixth and five in the seventh. The NL stars finished with 10 runs on seven hits, committed two errors and left 12 on base.

 HARLAN -- Returning to the program for which she was a four-time all-stater from 2007 to 2011, Brooke Schaben experienced an eventful first season as head coach of the Harlan Community softball team. It was a summer marred by injuries and inconsistency at times, but there were also positives as the Cyclones maintained excellent team chemistry through adversity and adjusted well to Schaben’s aggressive offensive coaching style. There were sign

TOPEKA, KAN. -- The Cyclone Pride 13U C Division traveling softball team put together an overall record of 25-11 this season, capped by a ‘Top 8’ finish at the USSSA National Tournament (Midwest Region) in Topeka, Kansas, July 20-23.

 HARLAN -- The Harlan Community freshmen baseball team finished the 2016 season with an overall record of 12-13 under the direction of Coach Brian James.

 HARLAN -- It was a season to remember for the 2016 Harlan Community baseball team. One year after falling just one win short of a state title, the Cyclones made their sixth consecutive trip to Principal Park in late July and left as Class 3-A state champions following a decisive 12-4 win over Carlisle.