HARLAN -- The Cyclone softball team notched a third consecutive winning season this summer, finishing 26-12 overall and tying for second place in the Hawkeye Ten Conference at 16-4.

 HARLAN -- Playing a mix of veterans and first-year varsity players, the Cyclones opened the season by losing eight of their first 12 games and fought the rest of the way to get back to .500 in Heath Stein’s first year as head coach.

 HARLAN (Aug.

 ATLANTIC (Aug.

 AMES, IA -- When Iowa State’s 2020 softball season was shortened to just 24 games due to COVID-19, senior Logan Schaben and her teammates were devastated. When the NCAA allowed seniors an extra year of eligibility if they wanted it, Schaben didn’t have to think twice. The Portsmouth native and 2016 Harlan Community graduate returned for a fifth season this past spring and enjoyed every last bit of an historic campaign for ISU. The Cyclones fi

 AREA (Aug. 19) -- All four local high school football teams will hold preseason scrimmages later this week in preparation for their Week 1 games on Friday, August 27. The Harlan Community football team’s annual intrasquad scrimmage, sponsored by the Lions Club, is set for Thursday night at Merrill Field.

 ELK HORN -- Tatum Grubbs, a 2021 graduate of Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton High School, signed a letter of intent this past spring to continue her academics and basketball career at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa. Grubbs was a four-year starter for the Spartans, finishing her career with 947 points, 224 assists and 150 steals while helping the team make appearances in the Class 1A state tournament semifinals as both a freshman and senior.

Summer Academic All-Conference honors from the Hawkeye Ten and Western Iowa Conference

 STATE -- The Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association announced its 2021 All-State Baseball teams on Tuesday, August 10, citing four Tri-Center players and 17 total players from southwest Iowa. This year’s All-State captains include: Seth Clausen of Pleasant Valley in Class 4A; Owen Puk of Marion (3A); Zach Pleggenkuhle of Van Meter (2A); and co-captains Blaine Harpenau of Remsen St. Mary’s and Cy Patterson of Council Bluffs St.

 HARLAN (Aug.

Press release from the Iowa High School Athletic Association and Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union

 HARLAN (Aug. 10) -- The annual Harlan Community Cyclone Cross Country Camp is being held Tuesday-Friday this week for grades 7-12. More than 55 HCHS and HCMS harriers registered for this year’s camp, which opened with time trials on Tuesday and will conclude with a camp race at Prairie Rose State Park on Friday (Aug.

 HARLAN (Aug.

 AREA -- Led by first-teamer Macy Emgarten, four players from three local schools have been named to the 2021 Iowa Girls Coaches Association’s All-State Softball teams. Emgarten, a junior from Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton, made the Class 1A first team this summer after being selected for the second team last year and the honorable mention list in 2019.

 PORTSMOUTH (Aug.