ATLANTIC -- A “gutty” performance only begins to describe what Harlan Community sophomore Greichaly Kaster accomplished in Thursday’s Class 3-A State Qualifying Cross Country Meet. Becoming physically sick to her stomach during the last half-mile of the girls’ five-kilometer race, Kaster barely broke stride and stubbornly held her position to place 10th out of 86 runners at the Atlantic Country Club. By finishing in the top 15 with her time o

 HARLAN -- The Harlan Community football team finished the year on a positive note and perhaps offered a glimpse toward 2017 with Friday night’s 49-14 home win over Atlantic. Junior tailback Nick Foss stole the show for HCHS at Merrill Field, breaking one single-game rushing school record and tying another as the Cyclones finished 4-5 overall and 3-4 in Class 3-A, District 7, tying Winterset and A-D-M for fourth place.

 AVOCA -- In a Week 9 battle that doubled as a postseason play-in game, the AHSTW football team started fast, finished strong and looked every bit deserving of their 11th playoff berth in the last 12 years. Dominating at times en route to a 23-0 halftime lead, the Vikings answered a stern third-quarter challenge from Missouri Valley by scoring two fourth-quarter touchdowns and held off the Big Reds, 37-15, in Friday night’s regular-season fina

 MALVERN -- Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton steamrolled to a 40-0 halftime lead and cruised into the playoffs Friday night, beating East Mills 52-11 in a Week 9 matchup. The Spartans finished the regular season at 6-3 overall and 6-1 in 8-Player, District 7, placing second in the standings to earn the district’s runner-up playoff spot. Exira-EHK will play at Bedford (8-1) in a first-round playoff game Friday at 7 p.m.

 MANNING -- IKM-Manning scored the first 22 points of the game and never looked back Friday night, closing the season with a 48-21 home win over Tri-Center to finish tied for third in Class 1-A, District 7. Stephen Grimm totaled 228 rushing yards and four touchdowns to lead the Wolves, scoring on runs of 60, 10, 19 and 22 yards.

 PANORA -- State meet veterans Payton Sporrer of IKM-Manning and Emily Copic of Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton are headed back to Fort Dodge later this week after notching top 10 finishes in Thursday’s Class 1-A State Qualifying Cross Country Meet at Lake Panorama Golf Course. Sporrer placed fourth with a five-kilometer time of 20:58 while Copic placed 10th in 21:14.

 GLENWOOD -- If Harlan Community’s players didn’t already know it was tournament time Wednesday night, coach Angie Spangenberg cued them in pretty quickly at the start of set two. Already holding a 25-17 win to their credit over Glenwood, the Cyclones received serve to start the second set, showed a lack of communication on the first pass and let the ball hit the floor. Spangenberg immediately signaled for a timeout, only minutes after calling

HARLAN -- The Harlan Community football team will have one last chance to put it all together Friday night when it hosts Atlantic in the final game of the season for both teams. The Trojans visit Merrill Field with an overall record of 1-7 and a Class 3-A, District 7 mark of 0-6, having lost seven straight games since opening the year with a 16-14 win over Clarinda. HCHS stands at 3-5 overall and 2-4 in district play following last week’s thri

 LOGAN -- It’s hard to say how Tuesday’s regional match between AHSTW and Logan-Magnolia would have played out if the first set had ended differently, but for the Lady Vikes it was an all too familiar experience. Letting a 22-20 lead slip away in a highly-competitive set one, AHSTW never fully recovered and was swept by the Panthers, 25-23, 25-9, 25-16 in a Class 2-A, Region 1 opener at Logan. The same two teams had met three other times - onc