Sports

The Waukon girls golf team is fielding one of its smallest teams in recent seasons, as 13 young ladies have reported for early-season rounds on the course. All but one of this season’s participants comes from the upperclassman ranks of either the junior or senior class, including a senior trio and one junior who make up the four returning letterwinners leading this spring’s squad.

Seniors Annika Anderson, Kayla Palmer and Caitlin Shelton, along with junior Kylee Hager, make up that list of varsity veteran returnees. “With the experience of all these players, I am looking to them for their leadership,” Waukon girls golf coach Kathy McMillan said. “Half the team are seniors and will all have the experience of competition, and they will have good competition within themselves. Actually, all team members but one will have the experience of competition.”

The 2017 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament has come to an end, crowning North Carolina as this year’s NCAA Champion after a 71-65 victory over Gonzaga Monday night, April 3. Likewise, The Standard’s NCAA Basketball Bracket Challenge has also come to a close, crowning its own champion in a battle that - just like this year’s championship game - also went down to the end to determine a winner.

That winner is Ernie Palas of Waukon, who was actually tied with Gregg Jones of Waukon with a final score of 136 points at the end of this year’s contest but edged out the victory by virtue of the combined points scored in the championship game tie-breaker. With that tie-breaker ironically also ending up at 136 points in the 71-65 final score, Palas guessed 161 points to finish closer to that actual game total than the 184 points guessed by Jones, giving Palas this year’s contest crown and $50 in Standard Bucks.

Waukon girls add May 1
Ed-Co meet, will host own Early Bird Invitational April 11

The boys and girls track teams from both Waukon and Kee High Schools all had their first outdoor competitions of the season canceled this past week by early spring conditions. Both the Waukon boys and girls track teams were scheduled for their first outdoor competition Tuesday, March 28 at Sumner-Fredericksburg, but had that co-ed meet canceled due to soft track conditions in this early spring.

After playing to program history a season ago with its first-ever State Tournament appearance, the Kee girls basketball team took its 2016-2017 season to the brink of that same qualification accomplishment for the third consecutive season this winter, falling just a few seconds and a single point short of a return trip to that season grand finale. Still, the Lady Hawks played to another strong season with a 17-5 season record that included a 10-3 mark that placed the Hawks third overall in the final Upper Iowa Conference standings and second in the small school division of that league.

The Kee girls track team got its 2017 season underway at the Upper Iowa Conference (UIC) Indoor Meet hosted by South Winneshiek at Luther College in Decorah Monday, March 20. The Lady Hawks tallied a total of eight finishes within the top three of their respective events to help tally 75 team points and finish fifth in the meet’s 11-team final standings.

TEAM SCORES
Edgewood-Colesburg 104; Central Elkader 89,5; Clayton Ridge 85.5; South Winneshiek 79; KEE 75; Turkey Valley 40; MFL/MarMac 30; West Central 24.5; North Fayette Valley 18; Postville 15.5; Starmont 12

The Lady Hawks are next scheduled to take their efforts outdoors for the first time this season, being scheduled to compete at the West Delaware Invitational at Manchester Thursday, March 30. Kee will then compete at the Postville Invitational Tuesday, April 4 before traveling to Starmont for a meet Thursday, April 6.

The Waukon girls track team got its 2017 season underway at the Northeast Iowa Conference Indoor Meet hosted by Decorah Tuesday, March 21 at Luther College in Decorah. There was no team score kept at the meet, but the Lady Indians managed six top-three event finishes.

The Indians were next scheduled to take their efforts outdoors for the first time this season, competing at Sumner-Fredericksburg’s Frostbite Invitational Tuesday, March 28. The track Tribe is then scheduled to compete at Charles City Tuesday, April 4 before traveling to Decorah Friday, April 7.

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The Kee boys basketball team played its way to a 4-17 record this winter, battling through its lowest per game scoring average in the past 10 seasons. That 47.2 points per game average posted by this season’s squad couldn’t quite keep pace with the 57.8 points per game the Hawks allowed on defense this winter.

“As a team, we came close to knocking off Turkey Valley in the first round of the tournament, but poor free throw shooting at the end of the game allowed Turkey Valley to extend a narrow lead and take the victory,” Coach Sullivan remarked.

The Waukon boys track team began its 2017 season at the Northeast Iowa Conference Indoor Meet hosted by Decorah High School at Luther College in Decorah Tuesday, March 21. The Indians rattled off 13 top-five event finishes at the meet, which did not keep track of an official team score.

The Indians were next scheduled to take their efforts outdoors for the first time this season, competing at Sumner-Fredericksburg’s Frostbite Invitational Tuesday, March 28 before hosting their own Early Bird Invitational at Waukon Thursday, March 30, details of which appear in a shaded box elsewhere on this same Sports page. The track Tribe is then scheduled to compete in a quadrangular meet at Decorah Monday, April 3 before traveling to Postville Thursday, April 6.

For more complete coverage, pick up this week's print edition or subscribe to our e-edition by clicking here.

The Kee boys track team got its 2017 season underway with the Upper Iowa Conference Indoor Meet Monday, March 20 hosted by South Winneshiek at Luther College in Decorah. The Hawks tallied eight top-10 event finishes at the meet to help score 18 team points and finish in a tie for 10th place with MFL/MarMac.

TEAM SCORES
South Winneshiek 105.5; Edgewood-Colesburg 105.5; North Fayette Valley 69; Clayton Ridge 63.5; Turkey Valley 60; Starmont 52; Central Elkader 31.5; Postville 27; West Central 25; MFL/MarMac 18; KEE 18

The Hawks are scheduled to take their efforts outdoors for the first time this season, being scheduled to compete at the Early Bird Invitational at Waukon Thursday, March 30. Kee will then compete at the Edgewood-Colesburg Invitational Tuesday, April 4 before traveling to Postville Thursday, April 6.

Registration for the Waukon Youth Sports Foundation (YSF) 5th and 6th grade tackle football program has been scheduled for Sunday, April 2 from 6-7:30 p.m. at the Waukon Wellness Center. Registration is open to any boy or girl currently in fourth or fifth grade.

The Waukon Youth Football program, a division of the Youth Sports Foundation, is available to any Waukon area youth entering into fifth or sixth grade in the fall of 2017. The tackle football program begins in August and includes introduction to skills for tackle football, a Jamboree kick-off event, and a Sunday afternoon game schedule throughout the fall.

Both parent (guardian) and player must attend registration, as players will be fitted for equipment at this time. Total cost to participate in the program is $100, which includes all equipment necessary to play, except cleats.