Sports

The Van Buren volleyball team comes loaded with potential in 2012.Few people are more aware of that fact than new head coach Matt Zeitler, who coaches many of the same girls in winter basketball season. He takes over the struggling volleyball program ? they finished 7-19 in 2011 ? in the hopes of tapping into their potential.?I hope, with a different direction, that they pick it up and get out what they need to ...

No area team was hit harder by the 2012 graduating class than Cardinal volleyball, which lost much of its varsity roster this offseason.Six Comets graduated, and another ? sophomore Jordan Smith ? transferred to Solon. Losing that many players from one year to the next might make some coaches a little down, but not so for third-year head coach Jerald Harter.?I never go into a season expecting that we?re not ...

Van Buren football hasn?t experienced much in the way of recent success, but no one is a bigger believer in the Warriors than their head coach.Rich Wiegand begins his second year at the helm, and after leading the Warriors to one win in 2011, isn?t holding back on his hope for the future.?I think the biggest thing is taking the next step. We came back from no varsity in 2010 to one win last season, and now our ...

A little intra-squad competition can go a long way.Just ask Cardinal cross country coach Michelle Albert, who has never so much as seen a full harrier squad at Cardinal.But all that should change this year. With eight girls currently out for the team, Albert has the largest group of girls she?s ever coached and for the first time will see competition for the seven varsity spots.?This is a big group for us ... ...

The Fairfield volleyball team is ranked No. 11 in the Class 4A preseason rankings released Monday by the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union.Sioux City Heelan, which finished runner-up to Waverly-Shell Rock last season in the Class 3A championship game, begins the season atop the Class 4A poll. Harlan is ranked second, and Solon, which ended Fairfield?s season last year, is No. 3.Fairfield opens the 2012 ...

WAYLAND ? The Van Buren volleyball team suffered through three losses Monday at the WACO Tournament in Wayland.The Warriors fell to host WACO by a final score of 20-22, 21-15, 12-15 in the season opener. They then lost 7-21, 7-21 at the hands of Iowa Valley and dropped a 12-21, 18-21 contest to Columbus Junction.?It was a disappointment for me because we?re better than Columbus Junction, and we?re way better ...

AMES (AP) ? Iowa State senior quarterback Steele Jantz will open the season as the Cyclones starter.Coach Paul Rhoads announced Tuesday that Jantz will start for Iowa State against Tulsa on Sept. 1, ending the competition between Jantz and sophomore Jared Barnett.Jantz started seven games for Iowa State in 2011, but he was pulled in favor of Barnett after a foot injury and increasing ineffectiveness.Barnett ...

Gary Grunow, Mt. Pleasant Parks and Recreation director, accepts a check for $1,600 from Justin Septer, Farm Credit Services of America (FCSA), regional vice president of the Iowa southeast region. The local parks and recreation department were the recipients this year of the FCSA?s Community Involvement program. Each year, FCSA makes a contribution to one of the communities in its service area. This is the first ...