DEFIANCE -- Two-time Harlan Community all-state selection Will McLaughlin has made a decision about his football future, choosing Iowa State University in Ames. McLaughlin, a junior at HCHS, gave his verbal commitment to Iowa State on Saturday, April 17, choosing ISU over additional NCAA FBS scholarship offers from Iowa, Kansas State, Air Force and Buffalo. He is the son of Scott and Shawn McLaughlin, rural Defiance. McLaughlin stated that th

 DES MOINES (April 22) -- The Harlan Community girls’ 4x400 relay squad had a run to remember Thursday afternoon at the 111th Drake Relays. Ranked 18th out of 24 event qualifiers, the Cyclone quartet of Kaia Bieker, Brecken Van Baale, Lilly Metzger and Liv Freund cut more than four seconds off their previous season-best time and placed eighth out of the slow heat with an impressive clocking of 4:06.29. Running in lane five, HCHS finished secon

 OMAHA, NEB. (April 23) -- The Harlan Community boys tennis team lost a pair of 7-2 dual decisions late last week and is now 1-5 on the season. HCHS lost at Shenandoah 7-2 on Thursday and was beaten by the same score against St. Albert Friday at the Hanscom Indoor Tennis Center in Omaha.Shenandoah 7, HCHS 2 The Cyclones punched wins at No.

 HARLAN (April 22) -- The Harlan Community girls golf team improved its team score by 13 strokes from the previous round at Harlan Golf and Country Club but still fell short of a victory Thursday, losing to Denison-Schleswig by 19 shots, 217-236. The battle for medalist honors came down to a handicap hole tiebreaker (number six), with Cyclone senior Jocelyn Cheek placing first over Denison’s Kelsey Jorgensen. Both girls carded a 49.

 DENISON (April 22) -- Jace Gubbels earned medalist honors with a round of 44 Thursday afternoon as the Harlan Community boys golf team won its first dual meet of the year with a 193-200 victory over Denison-Schleswig at Majestic Hills. HCHS improved to 1-3 on the season and has now cut at least six strokes off its nine-hole team score each time out since the April 13 opener in Harlan. Gubbels tied Denison’s Parker Bekkerus for the top round o

 MANNING (April 23) -- The IKM-Manning girls and boys golf teams both defeated AHSTW on Friday in a co-ed meet at the M&M Golf Course. The IKM-M boys won by a score of 166-200 and the Wolves’ girls beat the Lady Vikes 214-231. Tyler Brandt of IKM-Manning was the boys medalist with a 1-over-par round of 37 while teammate Kyler Rasmussen was the runner-up with a 41. The Wolves also counted 44s by Conner Richards and Max Nielsen.

 NEOLA (April 23) -- Ashton Lyon’s first career hat trick paved the way Friday as Harlan Community used a fast start to earn its first boys soccer win of the season, beating Tri-Center 5-3 at Neola’s new City Park field. Lyon scored three goals and also had an assist while Ian Shelton and Connor Frame scored one goal each for the Cyclones, who improved to 1-9 overall. HCHS stormed out to a 4-0 lead in the first 13 minutes and was able to hold

 HARLAN (April 19) -- It was another busy night for Raegen Wicks and another dominant win for the Harlan Community girls soccer team. Three days after shutting out Riverside 8-0, the HCHS girls blanked Greene County by the same score on a cold Monday evening at Merrill Field, improving to 2-2 on the season. Wicks scored four goals for the second straight game and assisted three others, taking 12 total shots and nine shots on goal.

 COUNCIL BLUFFS (April 20) -- The Harlan Community girls track team got back in the win column Tuesday night with a gutty all-around performance at Lewis Central’s Co-Ed Titan Relays. The Cyclone girls took home just two gold medals, but placed 20 times in 16 events to outscore Glenwood 114-108 and claim their third meet title of the season in a competitive 13-team field. Sioux City North won a tight battle for third place with 70 points while