IRWIN -- IKM-Manning senior Abbey Youngren set a school record by blasting her 26th career home run last Tuesday night as the Wolves softball team topped AHSTW 11-0 in five innings. Youngren and Vanessa Freese hit back-to-back home runs during IKM-M’s seven-run fourth inning.

 HARLAN -- It didn’t take long for Harlan Community to show some resiliency under first-year head softball coach Brooke Schaben. Just 24 hours after losing their season opener, 8-1, vs. Kuemper Catholic, the Cyclones bounced back against arguably a better opponent in Bishop Heelan and blanked the Crusaders, 8-0, at H.

 HARLAN -- Harlan Community scored the first run in Tuesday’s softball season opener, but it was all downhill from there. Issuing eight walks and commiting seven errors, the Cyclones lost 8-1 to Kuemper Catholic at H. Jack Field and started 0-1 in the Hawkeye Ten Conference. Cora Hicks batted 3-for-4 and Kendra Peter slugged a home run for the Knights, whose three-run fifth highlighted a string of scoring in five straight innings.

 HARLAN -- Just five innings into the 2016 baseball season, Harlan Community has already accomplished two things it did not do all of last year - hit a home run and score 17 times in one game. Ranked second in the Iowa Baseball Coaches Association preseason top 10, the defending Class 3-A state runner-up Cyclones opened the season with a bang on Tuesday, plating 16 runs during their final three innings at-bat to blow out Kuemper Catholic, 17-5

 HARLAN -- A week after posting a 5-0 win at Creston, the Harlan Community boys soccer team knew it would face a much tougher challenge when the Panthers came to Harlan for Monday night’s postseason rematch. The Cyclones got the battle they bargained for, but in the end shut out Creston once again, winning 2-0 in a Class 2-A, Substate 8 quarterfinal match at Merrill Field. Drew Voge broke a scoreless tie with just 27.5 seconds left in the firs

 AVOCA -- The AHSTW boys soccer team won its Class 1-A, Substate 7 opener Monday night, getting two late goals from Preslyn Grobe to pull away for a 4-1 victory over Ankeny Christian Academy. The Vikings improved to 8-6 overall and advanced to face No. 7 Pella Christian in a substate semifinal at Norwalk on Wednesday. ACA wrapped up its season at 3-9 overall.

 DES MOINES -- What a difference a year makes for AHSTW sophomore sprinter Gage Clay. Last season, Clay did what he could for the Vikings but was hampered by a foot injury that required surgery during the summer.

 DES MOINES -- Senior Marcus Klein brought home two state medals on Saturday, but the Harlan Community boys left Des Moines with a somewhat sour taste in their  mouths following three days of competition at the 2016 Iowa High School Track and Field Championships. Klein placed fourth in the 400-meter dash on Thursday and secured an eighth-place medal in Saturday afternoon’s 200-meter dash final, giving HCHS six points for a 29th-place tie in th

 DES MOINES -- For the first time in many years the Harlan Community girls track team finished scoreless at a state meet this past weekend, but it wasn’t for a lack of effort. The Cyclones took eight events to the 2016 State Track and Field Championships and performed at, or close to, a season-best level in most of them.

 DES MOINES -- A trio of Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton athletes competed in four events at the Iowa High School Track and Field Championships this past weekend, but the Spartans were unable to bring home any medals from Drake Stadium. Seniors Martin Olson (shot put) and Brady Hansen (110 high hurdles), along with junior Emily Copic (3,000 and 1,500), each placed between 16th and 21st in their events after qualifying for state anywhere from eighth

 DES MOINES -- All in all, it was a great state meet for the IKM-Manning girls and boys track teams. The Wolves combined to qualify five events for the State Track and Field Championships last weekend and brought home Class 1-A state medals in three of the five. On Friday, the IKM-M girls placed seventh in the distance medley relay with a school-record time of 4:24.94.

 ATLANTIC -- Battling through two weather delays, a significant temperature drop and strong north winds during the last half of the meet, Harlan Community didn’t play its best golf last Friday but managed to keep its season alive at the Atlantic Country Club. Counting four scores in the low-to-mid 80s, HCHS finished with a third-place 334 in its Class 3-A Boys Sectional Golf Tournament, holding off Carroll by one stroke for the meet’s third an

 COON RAPIDS -- The Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton boys golf team advanced to district play last Friday by placing third at the Class 1-A Sectional Tournament held in Coon Rapids. The Spartans tied Audubon for third place with a team score of 385, but qualified ahead of the Wheelers based on having the better fifth score. Chris Paulsen carded a 92 for seventh place and Gage Lauritsen shot a 93 to lead the team individually.

 DES MOINES -- The girls and boys track teams from Harlan Community, IKM-Manning, AHSTW and Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton have combined to qualify 29 entries for this week’s Co-Ed State Track and Field Championships at Drake Stadium (May 19-21). All eight area squads qualified at least one event for the state meet, led by the HCHS boys with nine entries and the Cyclone girls with eight.

 CRESTON -- Five Harlan Community players scored one goal each Monday as the Cyclone boys soccer team won their final Hawkeye Ten Conference match, 5-0, on a slick field at Creston. HCHS (8-7 overall) won its first conference game in over a month to finish 3-4 in the H-10 standings. Creston dropped to 3-13 overall and 0-7 in league play.