May 22, 2013

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Iowa AD says he’s commited to playing UNI

May 22, 2013 By

With the addition of Rutgers and Maryland next year, the Big Ten conference will be moving to a nine-game league football schedule. With one less non-conference game available, Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany has said that he wants conference schools to stop scheduling games against FCS opponents. That means that Iowa may no longer be playing UNI.

But Iowa Athletic Director Gary Barta says he’s told UNI A-D Troy Dannen that Iowa is committed to honoring their current contract with the Panthers. “For those who don’t know my history, I have been at UNI for 7 years, my wife graduated from UNI — and so set that aside, that’s personal affection and feelings — but you know it’s good for the state…and it looks pretty good that we’ll be able to keep the two games that are on our contract and we’ll see after that,” Barta says.

In addition to games against UNI in 2014 and 2018, Iowa is also scheduled to host Illinois State and North Dakota State in the coming seasons. Barta says that Iowa will need to schedule seven home games per season going forward, making it sound like he will try to keep some FCS games on Iowa’s schedule.

He says they have always played Iowa State and one other BCS level school and now they will add another Big 10 school and will play ISU and add some other opponents who are willing to come to Kinnick Stadium without a home and home series.

From a financial standpoint, Iowa would pay an FCS team like UNI somewhere around $500,000 for a game, whereas the Hawkeyes would need to shell out closer to a million dollars to bring in a team from a low-level FBS conference, like Tennessee Tech or Louisiana-Monroe.

Barta says the financial aspect is just one benefit of continuing the series with UNI as he says it’s a good financial deal for both when you can play an instate school. And he says with UNI as a the top team in FCS, it makes for an exciting matchup.

Iowa and UNI have faced off five times since their series resumed in 1995. Prior to that, the schools had not met on the football field in 81 years.

By Jesse Gavin KCNZ Cedar Falls

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Officials hope big crowd at U.S.A. championships will sell Drake for Olympic track trials

May 20, 2013 By

Local organizers say they want to pack Drake Stadium next month for the U.S.A. Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The meet, which runs June 19th through the 23rd will determine the qualifiers for the World Championships that will be held in Moscow in August.

Former Drake Relays director Mark Kostek is serving as competition manager and says a big crowd could help Des Moines attract an even bigger event down the road. “Our goal is to host the 2020 Olympic Trials. What we have to do, is we have to make a great call to the community. The community has to come out and support this event, because one of the things they want us to show them is how this championship looks on television,” Kostek says.

Kostek says if the state wants the trials they have to start now by coming to the event. He says it will be something that people “will probably never forget.” Kostek says it will be the most talented field that has ever competed at Drake Stadium.

“Besides having the U.S.A. Championship and the World Championship advancement, we also have the U.S.A. Junior Championship along with it,” Kostek says. He says that will bring the very best at all levels of track and field to Drake Stadium.

National events have become commonplace in Drake Stadium since it underwent a series of renovations seven years ago. He says they have hosted some type of national championship in each of those years and that should not be taken lightly.

 

The top three finishers in each event at next month’s meet will represent Team USA at the World Championships.

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Location change not impacting field for Principal Charity Classic golf tournament

May 20, 2013 By

A change in venue has not had a major impact on the field for next week’s Principal Charity Classic in Des Moines. Corey Pavin, the 1995 U.S. Open champion, is the latest big name from the Champion’s Tour to announce he will play the Wakonda Club in Des Moines.

Tournament Director Jamie Alt says they get a top field every year and this year should be no different. He says the large crowds the tournament draws enjoy seeing the biggest names in the sport and he says there is great golf played by all the participants.

The tournament moved from the Glen Oaks Country Club in West Des Moines after last year’s tournament but Alt says That has not had a big impact on the field. He says they did not expect the change to impact things as the golfers have said they appreciate the support they get here.

Alt says as long as the crowds show up to watch, the venue does not matter to the competitors. The opening round of the tournament is May 31st.

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Radio Iowa/Baseball Coaches Association Poll 5/20/13

May 19, 2013 By

Class 4A
1. Ankeny
2. Fort Dodge
3. WDM Valley
4. Cedar Rapids Kennedy
5. Sioux City East
6. Urbandale
7. Dowling Catholic
8. Linn-Mar
9. Cedar Rapids Prairie
10.Iowa City West

 Class 3A
1. Sioux City Heelan
2. Benton Community
3. Decorah
4. Harlan
5. Western Dubuque
6. Dallas Center-Grimes
7. Grinnell
8. Davenport Assumption
9. Marion
10.LeMars

 Class 2A
1. Dyersville Beckman
2. North Polk 
3. Carroll Kuemper
4. Fort Dodge St. Edmond
5. Wilton
6. West Branch
7. Waterloo Columbus
8. Roland-Story
9. Council Bluffs St. Albert
10.Cascade

 Class 1A
1. Mason City Newman
2. Van Meter
3. Lawton-Bronson
4. Algona Garrigan
5. Twin Cedars
6. Don Bosco
7. Coon Rapids-Bayard
8. Martensdale-St. Mary’s
9. Treynor
10.Preston

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State coed track meet underway in Des Moines

May 16, 2013 By

Sibley-Ocheyedan junior Leah Seivert raced out to a big early lead over defending champion Rebekah Topham of Griswold to win the girls class 1A 3,000 meter run in a record time of 9:56.54. “It feels really great because I’ve practiced really hard for this race specifically, I didn’t really train for the 800′s,” Seivert says.

AGWSR senior Isacc Montes outkicked Austin Springsteen of Lisbon to win the class 1A 3,200 meter run by one one hundreth of a second. Springsteen says he has been working on building a reserve and is happy he was able to win in his senior year.

Linn-Mar runners swept the long distance events in Class 4A at the state high school track meet. Freshman Stephanie Jenks took command on the final lap to win the girls 3,000 meter run. Jenks says she was shocked when she won at Drake and knew who her toughest competitors would be here and kept them in her sights.

Junior Josh Evans outdueled Caleb Drake from Pleasant Valley to win the boy’s 4A 3,200 meter run. “It was kind of my goal to come out here and push it like I did at Drake and pull away. It was so cool to actually get it my first time,” Evans says.

Evans made his move with three laps to go on the back of the curve and says that’s what he had planned.

Burlington senior Justin Randall cleared 6-8 to win his second straight class 4A high jump title. Randall says he had to overcome a sluggish start where he felt “like an unfolding lawn chair” in trying to get over the bar.

He says he relaxed and took a deep breath and prayed a little bit to get some confidence.

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Iowa football schedule for 2014 announced

May 16, 2013 By

Iowa’s 2014 football schedule will include Big Ten newcomer Maryland. The conference released the schedule today for 2014 and the Hawkeyes will visit the Terrapins on October 18.

The 2014 schedule will consist of eight games for each of the Big Ten’s 14 teams, feature a new division alignment. The Iowa schedule that season does not include Michigan or Ohio State as both will be part of the East Division that season.

The conference division alignments will feature Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State and Rutgers. In the East Division and Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Purdue and Wisconsin in the West Division.

Each school will play the other six schools in its division plus two teams from the other division in 2014 and 2015, which will serve as transitional years in which the schools will still be playing eight-game schedules. Beginning in 2016, each school will play three teams from the other division as part of its nine-game schedule.

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NIACC baseball team celebrates first region championship

May 15, 2013 By

The North Iowa Area Community College baseball team is celebrating its first region championship. The Trojans beat Iowa Central Community College 8-6 on Tuesday in Waterloo to claim the junior college region 11 championship.

NIACC coach Travis Hergert says it was a big day for the program and the school as it had never been done before. “To go through our conference, our region, and to come out there the victor is a remarkable accomplishment because it’s probably one of the best regions in junior college baseball,” Hergert says.

Hergert’s team had to overcome some adversity. After failing to lock up the title on Monday with a 7-5 loss to Iowa Central the Trojans trailed 6-2 in the seventh inning on Tuesday before rallying for the victory.

“We faces a lot of obstacles this year from weather to travel, there was a stretch where we didn’t play for two weeks, there was a stretch where we didn’t play for 8 days, the cards have been stacked up against these guys all year, but they are a resilient bunch,” Hergert says.

He says their ability to come back shows they never give up on a game and feel they can win no matter what the score is. Next up, the Trojans travel to Montana for the North Plains District Tournament.

Hergert says they are still trying to line up the pitching staff after having to use some guys in situations with short rest. NIACC will play Miles Community College out of Montana on Saturday morning.

The other team in the tournament Dakota County Technical College out of Minnesota.

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