Sports briefs

Heyne starts season strong

English Valleys standout runner Gage Heyne had quite the week to debut his senior season.

Heyne took home the individual title at the Hillcrest Early Bird in a time of a 16:47 Tuesday night, winning by 43 seconds.

To follow that up, Heyne placed fourth at the Pella Invite in a strong field finishing in 16:06 on a very hilly course.

On the girls side, the Bears finished second at Hillcrest led by freshman Anna Luers in her first race. Luers placed fifth individually in 21:19.

Luers finished ninth at Pella in 20:08.

Raiders go 3-0 at Montezuma

The Williamsburg volleyball team got its first wins of the season last week, going 3-0 in a Tournament at Montezuma Tuesday.

The Raiders defeated HLV and Montezuma in two sets and Class 1A No. 8 Gladbrook-Reinbeck in three sets.

HLV kicked off its season 1-2. After falling to Williamsburg and Gladbrook-Reinbeck, the Warriors defeated Montezuma in three sets.

Ema Roberts had 23 kills, and Erilea Kupka added 38 assists in three matches.

“It was great to finally get out and play some matches,” HLV head coach Kayla Chizek said. “I was impressed with our serve receive, and we had some great hits from our front row.”

Cook finishes top 20

The Montezuma cross-country team was back in action Thursday at Pekin after racing at Williamsburg Tuesday.

Ellen Cook finished in the top 20 for the Braves in the varsity girls race, placing 16th.

As a team, the Braves finished sixth in the girls race and ninth in the boys race.

“Many runners who felt well tonight ran a faster time tonight than they did on Tuesday [at Williamsburg],” Montezuma head coach Kevin Gartman said.

“I'd argue tonight was far harder due to the hills, so it shows good growth.”

Girls’ wrestling qualifying sites announced

In a tweet Thursday, the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union announced the state qualifying sites for girls’ wrestling in the coming season.

Williamsburg was chosen as one of the sites in Class 1A. The school will host the qualifying tournament in January 2025.