Sports

In its only competition of the week, the Waukon volleyball team hosted its annual weekend tournament Saturday, September 16. The Indian netters won three out of the five matches they played on the day, finishing third in their initial four-team pool with a 1-2 match record before sweeping their final two matches in the Silver Tournament to ultimately finish seventh in the 12-team tournament.

Holding a 7-13 season record, 0-1 in Northeast Iowa Conference play, the Indians were next scheduled to play at Oelwein Tuesday, September 19 for their only competition this week. The volleyball Tribe will then host Class 4A fourth-rated Waverly-Shell Rock Tuesday, September 26 before then traveling to New Hampton Thursday, September 28 and playing in the Waterloo Columbus Tournament Saturday, September 30.

The Waukon boys cross country team competed in its largest meet of the season Tuesday, September 12 at the Starmont Invitational, finishing seventh in the 19-team overall field. The meet also has the unique aspect of keeping separate team scores for just the Class 1A schools competing and the Class 2A and 3A schools competing, with the Indians moving up to a fourth-place team finish among the 10 schools managing team scores in that largest class race.

The Indians were scheduled to host their own Waukon Invitational Tuesday, September 19. The cross country Tribe will then have more than a week to prepare for its next meet, which is scheduled for Saturday, September 30 at Cresco.

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The Waukon girls cross country team entered this past week as the 11th-rated team in Class 2A, according to the Iowa Association of Track Coaches, and competed in, perhaps, the largest meet field they ever will prior to postseason possibilities. Within that large field were also some of the best teams the Indians will face this season, as several top-10 rated teams in their respective classes were also part of that mix at Cascade, with the Indians finishing right up in that mix with a fourth-place team finish in the 18-team overall field with 140 team points.

The Indians were scheduled to host their own Waukon Invitational Tuesday, September 19. The cross country Tribe will then have more than a week to prepare for its next meet, which is scheduled for Saturday, September 30 at Cresco.

Top-rated Lady Hawks edge out two-time State Champion Central Elkader on Warriors’ home course

The Kee cross country teams had their busiest week of the season, competing in a pair of meets within three days of one another. One of those meets was likely the largest the Hawks will compete in during the regular season, the Starmont Invitational Tuesday, September 12, where the Kee girls slipped to fifth place out of 18 teams with a squad not quite at full strength, and the Kee boys placed 16th out of 19 squads. The Hawks then took part in the Central Elkader Invitational Thursday, September 14, the Lady Hawks returning to full strength to claim their third meet title in five chances so far this season and the Kee boys finishing in third place.

The Hawks were next scheduled to compete at the Waukon Invitational Tuesday, September 19. Kee will then participate in the Jesup Invitational Tuesday, September 26.

Seven Waukon High School (WHS) cheerleaders were among those nominated or who made the National Cheerleaders Association (NCA) All-American Cheer Squad by attending NCA Summer Cheer Camp that took place at Village Creek Bible Camp, rural Lansing in early August. WHS cheerleaders Michaela Dehli, Ayonna McKithen, Taya Duehr, Jasmyn Enyart, Oonagh Ahouse, Aleah Howes and Allie Bieber were among those nominated on motion, technique, stunting ability, and other qualities the NCA staff is looking for.

Of more than 800 high school cheerleaders and dancers from across the country that will represent the camp brands of Varsity Spirit in the third annual Varsity Spirit Spectacular at the Walt Disney World® Resort in Orlando, FL from November 29-December 3 of this year, three WHS cheerleaders have chosen to attend this special event.

Hitting the road Friday, September 15 for the first time in its Eight-Player District 3 schedule this season, the Kee football team headed to the home of one of the District’s still unbeaten teams, Tripoli, a team that had outscored its first three opponents of this season by a combined 144-66 count and had racked up nearly 1,000 yards of combined offense in those first three games. Regardless of what had been accomplished by the high-powered Panthers in their previous games, the football Hawks had early opportunities to contend with Tripoli, but missed out on those opportunities and saw the game roll away to a 50-6 Kee defeat.

The Waukon girls cross country team competed in the uniquely-scored Dick Pollitt Go-Hawk Classic hosted by Waverly-Shell Rock Tuesday, September 5, finishing seventh in the overall 15-team field. The meet is run in “grade” format, where seniors and juniors compete in one race and sophomores and freshmen in another, and team scores are then kept for each grade level as well as an overall team tally.

Meet guidelines for the overall team scoring take the top five individual finishes for a team from each grade race, but no more than two runners from each grade level can be used by a team to calculate its final overall team score. The Indians used at least one scorer from each of the four different grade races to calculate their team score of 55 points that placed them seventh in the final 15 scoring team overall standings.

The Waukon boys cross country team competed in the uniquely-scored Dick Pollitt Go-Hawk Classic hosted by Waverly-Shell Rock Tuesday, September 5, finishing 10th in the final overall 16 scoring team standings based on the meet’s grade competition format and unique scoring system. With the meet matching grade levels in two separate races - seniors and juniors competing against one another in one race and sophomores and freshmen doing likewise in another race, and the finishes of only two runners from each grade race being allowed to count in the overall team score made up of five runners from each squad, the Indians finished with 98 team points.

OVERALL TEAM SCORES
Decorah 17; Charles City 27; Mason City 34; Waverly-Shell Rock 44; Western Dubuque 45; Denver 54; Webster City 61; West Delaware 65; Aplington-Parkersburg 86; WAUKON 98; Starmont 118; Grundy Center/G-R 142; Crestwood 149; Jesup 178; Hampton-Dumont 214; Independence 253

Big plays were a big factor in a big first step taken by the Waukon football team in opening their Class 2A District 4 schedule with a 53-35 victory at home over Dyersville Beckman Friday, September 8. The Indians struck on three scoring plays covering 216 yards in their first three possessions to bolt to a 22-0 headstart they would never really look back from in keeping their undefeated season and number-one ranking intact as District play got underway.

“We have a great deal of respect for Beckman as a program, so to jump on them like that out of the gate was pretty shocking,” Waukon football coach Chad Beermann said. “We know this group of players has that kind of ability, we just don’t always get to see it. Friday night it was on display in the first quarter, and most of the second.”

The Kee football team’s first victory of the season couldn’t have come at a better time than the start of District 3 play, as the Hawks played host to Central City Friday, September 8 and came away with a 24-6 triumph. For the third consecutive game Kee’s grid guys put together a strong first half effort, holding a halftime lead for the second consecutive week, but this time the Hawks continued that effort for the game’s remaining half as well, answering their only defensive letdown directly and coming up with some big defensive plays to further cement an overall strong defensive effort in the contest.

The Hawks are next scheduled to travel to Tripoli this Friday, September 15 to continue District 3 play against the 3-0 Tigers. Tripoli comes off a 68-8 trouncing at home over Central Elkader this past Friday, and also has wins of 34-30 over Riceville and 42-28 over Janesville to its early-season credit.