GLENWOOD -- Harlan Community claimed a pair of top-six individual finishes by Greichaly Kaster and Reagan Hansen, but both Cyclone squads finished sixth out of nine teams overall at Saturday’s season-opening Glenwood Invitational Cross Country Meet. Kaster, a sophomore, placed third for the HCHS girls, running a five-kilometer time of 21:10 that trailed only Janette Schraft of East Mills (20:16) and Ashley Wendt of Atlantic.

 MANNING -- Jared Johnson’s 57-yard touchdown pass to Nick Halbur broke a fourth-quarter tie and proved to be the game-winning score Friday night as IKM-Manning opened the football season with a 20-14 non-district win over East Sac County. It was the second straight year that the Wolves and Raiders played a highly-competitive game in Week 1. Last season, IKM-M prevailed 7-6 in overtime.

 EXIRA -- A second-half rally came up one touchdown short for Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton Friday night as the Spartans lost to Audubon 38-32 in the season opener for both teams. The Wheelers, who were playing their first-ever 8-Man game, got an outstanding performance from quarterback Tyler Riebhoff, who completed 14-of-15 passes for 195 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran for 55 yards and one score.

 EXIRA -- Going into Friday night’s season opener vs. Audubon, Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton head coach Tom Petersen said of his football team, “Just a long way to go ...

COUNCIL BLUFFS -- When Harlan Community kicks off the 2016 football season at Lewis Central Friday night, Curt Bladt will begin his 39th year as head coach of the Cyclones and his 49th year with the program. For Coach Bladt, there’s still something special about that first Friday of the fall. “It’s the excitement of (having) a new group of guys and you want to see how they blend together and how they play and support each other, and I think th

 HARLAN -- The Harlan Community volleyball team will look to defend its four-year run of titles when it hosts the Cyclone Tournament here Saturday, starting at 8:30 a.m. HCHS, which is listed sixth in the Class 4-A preseason rankings by the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union, finished 37-6 last season and was the 4-A state runner-up on the heels of back-to-back championships.

 GLENWOOD -- The Harlan Community cross country teams will open the season at the 42nd annual Glenwood Invitational on Saturday, set for a 9:00 a.m. start time at Glenwood Lake Park. The 10-team field of teams will include: Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln, Atlantic, East Mills, Glenwood, HCHS, Lewis Central, OA-BCIG, Red Oak, Shenandoah and Thomas Jefferson.

AVOCA -- When you lose a senior class like AHSTW had last year, there’s bound to be a lot of new names and faces on the depth chart. And while that is certainly the case for the 2016 Viking football team, fifth-year head coach Davis Pattee is optimistic about the potential in his current 58-player roster and 14 returning lettermen. Numerous starting jobs have been up for grabs during fall camp and the competition has been a productive thing fo

 HARLAN -- The Harlan Community football team enters the 2016 season with a veteran-laden offense, a brand new defensive cast and high hopes to build on last year’s 8-2 campaign and return to the playoffs after a rare one-year absence in 2014. Armed with good team speed and adequate size, the Cyclones’ quest to secure a 33rd postseason berth in 35 years won’t be easy as they face a difficult front-loaded schedule and the fact that once again o

 MANNING -- The goals of the IKM-Manning football team don’t change all that much from year to year, and that’s the mark of a good program. A: Improve each week. B: Make the playoffs. C: Advance as far as possible. Through the first eight years of their consolidation, IKM-Manning been remarkably consistent in achieving those goals.

 HARLAN -- The weapons are in place. A starting quarterback will be named any day now. With only a few preseason practices left, Harlan Community offensive coordinator Mark Kohorst is excited to unveil this year’s Cyclone ‘O.’ Kohorst’s goal in 2016 is to develop a balanced, diversified and dangerous unit that utilitzes speed and unpredictability while making opposing defenses cover sideline to sideline.

 HARLAN -- From the first-year coordinator to the player personnel, Harlan Community’s defense has a brand new look in 2016. HCHS graduated its top 13 tacklers from a year ago and the top returnee - Josh Cheek with 16 stops - isn’t even listed on the current defensive two-deep by new coordinator John Murtaugh. “For all intents and purposes, we have no returning starters,” Murtaugh said.

 HARLAN -- The Harlan Community and IKM-Manning volleyball teams, along with Treynor and Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln, prepped for the upcoming season on Tuesday by holding a scrimmage at the HCHS gymnasium. Each team scrimmaged against the other three for approximately 20 minutes. HCHS, last year’s Class 4-A state runner-up, will open the season on Saturday, Aug.

 OMAHA, NEB. -- The Iowa Western Baseball League season will come to a close on Saturday when the IWL All-Star team faces the Dodge County All-Stars in a 1:00 p.m. game at Omaha’s Brown Field (15th & Q). The IWL roster includes 17 players, with Josh Weis of Persia serving as the head coach and Mike Brownlee of Council Bluffs as the assistant coach.

 PORTSMOUTH -- The National League pulled away in the late innings to defeat the American League, 10-1, in the Iowa Western Baseball League All-Star Game held Wednesday, August 10, in Portsmouth. The NL led 2-1 after five and a half innings before scoring three runs in the sixth and five in the seventh. The NL stars finished with 10 runs on seven hits, committed two errors and left 12 on base.