Sports

The Waukon girls track team ended up with just one night of competition this past week but was represented on that one night at two different locations. A majority of the Lady Indians’ squad competed in the Gary Bottorff Invitational hosted by Kee High School in Lansing Thursday, April 18, where they finished second in the final seven-team standings in a close battle with the host squad, while several Waukon competitors also traveled to Manchester to compete in the West Delaware Invitational that same evening as well, taking part in just four events but scoring well in three of them to finish 11th in that 14-team field.

Avoiding the worst of the weather systems that plagued the middle of this past week, the Waukon boys track and field team was able to book-end this past week with a pair of competitions. The Indians placed fourth at the Decorah Invitational held Monday, April 15 before claiming a runner-up finish at their own Indian Relays held Friday, April 19.

The Indians were next scheduled to compete at the Crestwood Invitational Thursday, April 25 and will then make a trip to New Hampton Monday, April 29. They will then prepare for the Northeast Iowa Conference Meet Thursday, May 2 at Charles City.

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In what was its only competition scheduled for this past week, the Kee boys track team hosted its only home meet of the season, welcoming six other teams to the Gary Bottorff Invitational Thursday, April 18 after a wet, cool start to that day. The Hawks posted four event victories on the night to lead their way to 74 team points and a runner-up finish in the seven-team field.

The Kee boys are next scheduled to compete in the Clayton Ridge Invitational Thursday, April 25. They will then take part in the MFL/MarMac Invitational Monday, April 29 before competing in the Upper Iowa Conference Meet to be hosted by South Winneshiek Thursday, May 2.

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It was home, sweet home for the Kee girls track team in what turned out to be the only meet of this past week for the Lady Hawks as they hosted their own Gary Bottorff Invitational Thursday, April 18 and edged out a team victory by just three points over their nearest competitor in the seven-team scoring field. Kee’s track and field ladies won half of the events they competed in for eight gold medals, and had their best event finishes in any event end up no lower than fourth place in racking up 96 team points that kept the meet crown at home for this season.

The Waukon boys golf team was finally able to get its 2024 season schedule underway and did so with a nearly full schedule for the week of four meets in five nights. The Indians finished in front of four of the seven opponents they matched up against in the week, first winning at Crestwood Monday, April 8 by a 185-191 final result before finishing second with a 168 team total that ended up in the middle of MFL/MarMac’s 156 team tally and Postville’s 231 strokes at Luana Tuesday, April 9. The golf Tribe swept a road triangular at Clayton Ridge Thursday, April 11, tallying a 168 team score to better South Winneshiek’s 172 squad result and a 188 stroke total carded by Clayton Ridge, before wrapping up its week with a team count of 173 strokes at home Friday, April 12 that finished behind Decorah’s 165 strokes and a 171 team score tallied by North Fayette Valley.

The Waukon girls golf team played in one of its busiest weeks of the season, competing in three different events over a span of four nights and taking on five different opponents in those meets. The Lady Indians finished in front of just one of those five opponents, as their 232 strokes finished in the middle of a triangular at Luana - behind MFL/MarMac’s 219 strokes and ahead of Postville’s 235 strokes Tuesday, April 9 after having fallen at home to Crestwood  Monday, April 8 in dual meet action, 258-219. The golf Tribe wrapped up that busy week with a third-place finish at the Clayton Ridge triangular Thursday, April 11, tallying 241 strokes to finish just six strokes behind the 235-stroke tie between the host Eagles and South Winneshiek.

For the first time this season, the Waukon girls track team was able to compete in both of its scheduled meets in a week, pulling double duty this past week and claiming top-three team finishes at both meets. The Lady Indians first dominated their own Early Bird Invitational Tuesday, April 9, winning the meet by 60 points, and then brought home a third-place team finish from the New Hampton Invitational Thursday, April 11.

The Lady Indians were next scheduled to compete in the Tuesday, April 16 Crestwood Invitational before splitting its squad between the West Delaware Invitational and Kee Invitational Thursday, April 18. The Waukon girls will then host their own Indian Relays Tuesday, April 23, with details of that second home meet of the season printed elsewhere in a shaded box on this week’s Sports pages, and will then compete at the MFL/MarMac Invitational Thursday, April 25.

For the first time this season, the Kee girls track team was able to get all of its scheduled meets in, although one of those meet participations was cut short by weather conditions. With a bit of a limited line-up due to injury and illness, the Lady Hawks finished fifth in the eight-team Waukon Early Bird Invitational Tuesday, April 9 before competing at the MFL/MarMac Invitational Thursday, April 11, completing a handful of events before leaving the meet early due to the cold, wet weather conditions but with a seventh-place team finish.

The Kee girls were next scheduled to compete in the Crestwood Invitational Tuesday, April 16 before hosting their own home invitational Thursday, April 18, with details of that upcoming lone home meet of the season printed elsewhere in a shaded box on this week’s Sports pages. The Lady Hawks are then slated to compete in the Clayton Ridge Invitational Tuesday, April 23 before returning to Monona Thursday, April 25.

The 2024 NCAA Men’s Basketball National Championship Tournament has played its way to a final champion, as the University of Connecticut (UConn) topped Purdue University in the Monday, April 8 National Championship game, 75-60, to repeat as the NCAA Men’s Basketball Champion. The sorting out of that 68-team national tournament to this season’s National Championship winner has also resulted in the emergence of the winning entry for The Standard’s Bracket Challenge contest.

The winner of this season’s Bracket Challenge is Verland Lenth of Waukon, as he overcame some average early rounds of picking and a tough third round with some strong final four choices. He was the lone entry this year to choose at least three of this year’s final four teams, selecting UConn, Purdue and Alabama (along with Houston) within his final four teams, and then having UConn defeat Purdue in the finals.

With a Monday, April 1 meet at Decorah and the Thursday, April 4 Postville Invitational this past week both being the latest weather victims in the Waukon boys track team’s first four outdoor meets of the season being canceled, the Indians made some late-week inquiries to finally be able to compete in their first outdoor meet of the season Friday, April 5 at the Dyersville Beckman Invitational. The track Tribe won a pair of events and finished second in four more in a meet where no team scores were kept but that included 10 other teams, many of which the Indians don’t often see during their regular season schedule.

The Indians were next scheduled to take part in the Decorah Invitational Monday, April 8 before competing in the New Hampton Invitational Thursday, April 11. Another week of double duty next week includes a return trip to Decorah Monday, April 15 and then hosting their own Indian Relays Friday, April 19.