Sports

Each year the Waukon Swim Club honors swimmers with the Michael J. Hager Award given in memory of Michael J. Hager (1960-1991), who was the son of Bonnie and the late James Hager of Waukon. This year’s Michael J. Hager Award recipients are Meridian Snitker and James VanderVelden. Meridian Snitker is pictured at right and James VanderVelden was not available for the photo.

Michael Hager loved swimming. In 1976, as a lifeguard at the pool, he started the Waukon Swim Club. He worked as a lifeguard, swam with the club and coached until he graduated from high school in 1978. He went on to attend college for one year at William Penn University and then transferred to Luther College, where he swam for the Norse for three years. Each summer, Hager would come home to coach the swim team and lifeguard at the pool until he graduated from Luther in 1982.

Waukon baseball graduated senior Abe Schwartz was named to the Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association Academic All-State First Team following the 2018 baseball season. He was among the First Team honorees recognized at the annual Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association All-Star Banquet held Saturday, August 4 at the Marriott Hotel Banquet Center in Iowa City. That Academic All-State First Team consists of the top 22 players, nominated by their coaches, who demonstrate outstanding academic, moral and athletic characteristics. A panel of coaches selected these senior players.
 

The Waukon baseball team played its way to an 11-22 season record during its 2018 campaign, showing signs of greatness but not consistently being able to maintain that level of play during this season’s stringent schedule. That 11-22 season mark included a 2-16 record in Northeast Iowa Conference (NEIC) play that placed the Indians in a tie for sixth place in the final NEIC standings with a Crestwood team that the baseball Tribe had claimed its only two NEIC victories from in three match-ups with the Cadets this season.

Kee softball senior Kendra Cooper was named to the Iowa Girls Coaches Association (IGCA) Northeast District All-District Team and All-State Softball First Team following the recently completed 2018 season. Cooper led the Hawks with a .477 batting average and 53 hits that included another team-high 17 homeruns that also shared top honors in the entire state of Iowa. She was also Kee’s leading pitcher with a 24-6 season record that included 169-1/3 innings pitched with 283 strikeouts against just 28 walks and an earned run average (ERA) of 0.74, pacing this season’s squad to a 35-6 season record and a fifth consecutive Upper Iowa Conference (UIC) championship, the softball Hawks’ third straight undefeated UIC title. This was Cooper’s fifth consecutive First Team All-State selection by the IGCA.

Kee softball senior Chloe Severson was named to the Iowa Girls Coaches Association (IGCA) Northeast District All-District Team and All-State Softball First Team following the recently completed 2018 season. Severson led the softball Hawks with 19 doubles this season, ranking third on this season’s squad with 46 hits and a .390 batting average to help the Hawks finish with a 35-6 season record and win a fifth consecutive Upper Iowa Conference (UIC) championship, the Hawks’ third straight undefeated UIC title. This was Severson’s second consecutive All-State pick, being a Second Team selection in 2017.
 

Kee softball senior Nicki Wood was named to the Iowa Girls Coaches Association (IGCA) Northeast District All-District Team and All-State Softball Second Team following the recently completed 2018 season. Wood led the Hawks with six sacrifices and seven stolen bases in seven attempts this season. She also batted .320 with 39 hits and 19 runs batted in (RBI) while scoring 40 runs that ranked third on this season’s squad that finished with a 35-6 season record and won a fifth consecutive Upper Iowa Conference (UIC) championship, the softball Hawks’ third straight undefeated UIC title. This was Wood’s third consecutive IGCA All-State selection, having received Honorable Mention in both 2016 and 2017.
 

Kee softball junior Katie Brennan was named to the Iowa Girls Coaches Association (IGCA) Northeast District All-District Team and received Iowa Girls Coaches Association All-State Softball Honorable Mention following the recently completed 2018 season. Brennan finished second on this season’s team with 42 runs scored and 50 hits, finishing with a .379 batting average to help this season’s squad to a 35-6 season record and a fifth consecutive Upper Iowa Conference (UIC) championship, the softball Hawks’ third straight undefeated UIC title. This was Brennan’s second consecutive All-State selection, as she was also an Honorable Mention selection following the 2017 season.
 

The last home games of the 2018 season were special ones for the Lansing Mudcats Little League baseball and softball teams. The July 10 game for the baseball Mudcats (pictured at right) and the July 11 game for the Mudcats softball team (pictured below at right) were each dedicated to the memory of their teammate, classmate and friend, Austyn Seitz, the son of Tony and Becky Seitz of Lansing who passed away suddenly in July 2015 at the age of seven. The players came up with the idea on their own and approached their coaches about doing something during the season as a tribute to Austyn to honor his memory and recognize that he has not been forgotten by his peers. He would have completed fourth grade this past school year and this would have been his first year as a member of the Mudcats traveling baseball team, which fields a combined squad of fourth through seventh grade players.

The mission of an athletic booster club is to provide support for a school’s athletic teams in such aspects as financial, equipment and other resource needs. This year, the Allamakee Athletic Booster Club supporting the Waukon High School and Middle School athletic teams certainly put an extra “boost” in booster club.

That boost came in the form of an additional nearly $35,000 in financial support that helped with the purchase of a variety of equipment, some more sport specific and some that can benefit all sports. These purchases were made over and above what the Booster Club and the athletic teams would normally spend in a year to provide those teams with equipment, training and other preparation and competition opportunities.

The 29th Annual Shooky Fink Wood Bat Baseball Tournament was held Thursday, July 12 and Friday, July 13 in New Albin. Thursday was the 11U Division, with New Albin, Lansing and Hokah and Spring Grove teams from Minnesota competing in a round-robin style tournament. New Albin finished in first place, with Hokah finishing as runner-up. In Friday’s 13U division, Pool A consisted of Waukon, Spring Grove, MN and Lansing, while Pool B consisted of New Albin and Lanesboro and Hokah from Minnesota. New Albin and Waukon both won their respective pools to advance to the championship game, which was rescheduled to Monday, July 16 due to a rainout Friday. New Albin defeated Waukon, 5-4, in that championship game to claim first place, while Waukon was runner up.