Iowa’s top academic students were recently chosen by their schools for the 2021 Governor’s Scholar Program.
In the KCII-listening area, Sydney Cuddeback of Washington, Isaac Black of Highland, Eryk Hovde of Mid-Prairie, Aidan Yoder of Hillcrest Academy, Owen Watson of Columbus Community, Layne Kiefer of WACO, and Jenna Buffington of Winfield-Mt. Union were all selected. All students will receive a recognition plaque and certificate to commemorate their achievement. This program which began in 2003 and is sponsored by the Governor’s Office, the Iowa High School Athletic Association, and Iowa Farm Bureau invites schools to select the one senior who was the highest academic achiever for their first seven semesters.
The indoor track season officially kicked off this week with a few area teams traveling to Cedar Falls for the annual Dickinson Relays.
The Columbus Community boys competed in a handful of events with Kaden Amigon being the headliner. He finished 26th in the long jump with a leap of 18’11’’ and his 7.5 seconds in the 60m dash ranked 33rd. Mason Hodges placed 47th in the shot put with a heave of 36’2.25’’, Jeff Hoback 56th in long jump (16’10’’), Owen Watson 66th in shot put (32’3’’), and the 4x800m relay team placed 27th (9:33.81). Winfield-Mt. Union was also there with Brody Barton cracking the top 40 in the 1600m relay. The senior recorded a time of 5:12 and teammate Noah Sparrow was not far behind in 44th (5:21). Other top performances included Caleb Giese 57th in the 400m (1:00.04), Sparrow 62nd in 800m (2:29), and 4x400m relay in 32nd (4:04). Columbus Community was the lone girls team competing and they were led by Emma Milder placing 29th in the long
ASAA State Competition 2021
By Coach Beck
8 Valdez High School Nordic Skiers competed in the 2020-2021 ASAA State Nordic Ski Competition last weekend at Government Peak Recreation Area in Palmer. Elaina Hanson and Billi Lovell skied for the Bucs in the individual girl’s races. While the 6 Buccaneer boys who were scored as a team for the state competition were Chase Randall, Jeffrey Prevost, William Benes, Piers Shirk, Fisher Mishmash, and Rafe Carathurs. Teams from schools throughout the state competed in the 3-day event on the notoriously difficult GPRA ski trails.
Captain William Benes accepts the ASAA State Championships Sportsmanship Award on behalf of his team.
The Class 1A districts got started on a positive note for the Winfield-Mt. Union boys’ basketball team on Friday when they hosted Columbus Community for a first round game and triumphed in a 58-45 win.
With the game tied at 19 all at half, the third quarter was key with WMU exploding for a 21-7 eight minute segment that proved to be the difference. Abram Edwards came to work for the Wolves finishing with 20 points and 15 rebounds. Cam Buffington returned from injury and also had a double-double with 14 points and 10 boards. WMU had plenty of second chances on the night with 26 offensive rebounds.