CARROLL -- The Harlan Community girls golf team finished just five strokes away from qualifying for the state meet last Monday (May 23), placing third out of 11 teams in the Class 4-A, Region 1 Final Tournament held at the Carroll Country Club. Creston shot a fantastic score of 349 to claim the team title by 30 strokes over second-place Spencer, which also advanced to state with a 379.

 SIOUX CITY -- One week into the high school baseball season, the only opponent causing Harlan Community any trouble is Mother Nature. The Cyclones’ home game vs.

 MANILLA -- Jared Vollstedt pitched six scoreless innings of four-hit ball last Tuesday as the IKM-Manning baseball team beat AHSTW, 4-0, in the season opener for both teams. Vollstedt struck out eight batters and walked just one before Sam Gross struck out the side in a scoreless seventh. Jay Heiny, Chase Jacobsen, Zach Hagadon and Cain Francois all hit a single for AHSTW.

 DENISON -- The difference between state and the end of the season came down to four strokes for the Harlan Community boys golf team. The Cyclones scored a 329 at the Class 3-A District Tournament on May 20, placing third behind Atlantic (314) and MOC-Floyd Valley (325), who both advanced to the state meet.

 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