The first stop in the new season for the Iowa Junior High School Rodeo Association will be the rodeo this weekend at the Ringgold county fairgrounds.

Action will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday morning and again at 9 a.m. on Sunday morning at the fairgrounds.

Some 50 participants from Iowa, Nebraska and Missouri are expected to participate in the rodeo, the first of the 2010-11 season.

Events from bull riding to roping and barrel racing will be part of the action.

There is no admission charge to come out and watch the young rodeo participants compete.

  A team consisting mostly of Iowa State University students and alumni won the world Ultimate club championships for the sport of Ultimate in Prague, Czech Republic recently and a Ringgold county native was part of the group.

In fact Jon Staron and Ringgold county native Rachel Derscheid, who were recently married, joined another couple in making the trip to the world championships their honeymoon.

The Iowa State University-based team, called “The Chad Larson Experience” for a friend of the team, won the mixed division of the competition by beating Onyx, a Canadian team, by a score of 17-10 in the finals.

Derscheid, who a veterinarian in the department of veterinary pathology at Iowa State University, emailed parents, Ted and Nan Derscheid of Ellston with news of the victory.

“In case you haven’t seen it on Facebook or heard it elsewhere, we are the world champions,” Derscheid wrote. “Oh, John and I both got injured, but we are still the champions.”
Ultimate is a limited-contact field game in which teams score by throwing a flying disc to other players to advance down the field and score. It was formerly known as Ultimate Frisbee.

The object of the games is to score points by passing the disc to a player in the opposing end zone, similar to the end zone in football or rugby.

Read more about the event in the online edition of the Mount Ayr Record-News

Third place Mount Ayr Community was well represented on the 2010 Pride of Iowa conference softball teams.  

Shortstop Becca Pennington is a repeat selection to the POI first team.  Bailey Myer and Erica Kemery were also selected to the first unit this season.  

Jordyn Grose was a unanimous selection to the second team and Raiderettes’ pitcher Erin Budach, catcher Jensen Stewart and outfielder Tiffany Wimer were also second team selections.  

  The Mount Ayr Community varsity softball team completed the 2010 season  compiling an 11-4 conference record and overall mark of 20-9.  

Junior shortstop Becca Pennington led the team in hits, runs scored,  RBIs, triples, stolen bases, and batting  average.  

Jensen Stewart led the team in doubles and hit the only Raiderette home run this season.   

Senior Erica Kemery led the team in walks and senior Tiffany Wimer led the team in sacrifice hits with eight.

Erin Budach led the team in wins for the second year in a row as she finished the season with a 19-7 win-loss mark and an ERA of 3.52.   

The defensive leader was Ashley Phelps who compiled a fielding average of .976 while handling 209 chances at first base.  Catcher Jensen Stewart was second in fielding average with a mark of .969. 

Complete statistics for all the girls seeing action on the varsity squad are included on page 10 in the online version of the Mount Ayr Record-News.

  The Mount Ayr Community varsity  baseball team completed the 2010 season  compiling a 7-8 conference  mark and an overall mark of 16-9.   

This is a four game improvement over their 2009 record.  

Matt Sobotka led the Raiders is several hitting categories.  He topped the team in hits, RBIs, doubles, and posted a outstanding .470 batting average.  

Junior Korey Beaman had another good year at the plate as he led the team in triples, homers and had a .425 batting average.  Senior Chad Starlin led the Raiders in runs scored and stolen bases.

Cody Doolittle’s 1.54 ERA led the Raiders in that category and he and Christian Overholtzer both had four wins on the mound.  

Overholtzer led the staff in strikeouts and he and Jake Still both earned a save this season.  The entire Raider pitching staff are underclassman and eight of the nine members of the every day lineup also will be able to wear the Raider uniform next season. 

Complete statistics are on page 10 in the online version of the Mount Ayr Record-News.

  Bob Johnson of Tingley and his dog Ruby won the 2010 United States Border Collie Handler’s Association’s national cattledog finals competition held in Scottsbluff, NE, recently.

The competition started in 2009 with the top 60 qualified dogs allowed to compete. Johnson had four dogs that were qualified, but he just took his best dog -- a three-year old female named Ruby.

The nationals begins with three days of tough qualifying rounds, which eliminate all but the top 10 dogs that are selected to make the final run for the championship.

“It was a big win for me,” Johnson said. The wins have allowed him to sell some of his dogs for above average prices, he noted.

Johnson plans to compete with Ruby again next year at the national compeition.

A picture of the pair is the puzzle picture of the week (pull down under community heading).

 Season for the Mount Ayr Community Raideretets came to an earlier than hoped for end in the Class 1A girls softball tournament in Mount Ayr.

The girls were able to get past East Union 14-2 Wednesday, July 2, but then fell to Lamoni 2-1 in a close battle  in the second round of the tournament.

The girls finished up their season with a 20-9 season mark. They had finished the conference season earlier with an 11-4 record for  fourth place.

Cade Lambson of Blockton, a Mount Ayr Community high school athlete, has qualified for the national AAU track and field meet to be held in Norfolk, VA, August 1-4.

Lambson worked his way through the AAU region 12 track and field national qualifying meet in Minneapolis, MN during the Fourth of July weekend. He broke two meet records with gold medal throws in the shot put and discus. Though not personal records, his 51’6” throw in the shot put and 165’ 11” throw in the discus were good for meet golds.

He is in the process of doing some fund-raising for his trip to Virginia because he is unattached (not a member of a team) and must bear the burden of expense for the trip on his own. He is a two-time state gold medalist in the discus and will be a senior this coming school year. He has represented the Mount Ayr Community school district well and hopes to bring home some hardware from Virginia.

Mount Ayr Community’s Raiders ended the regular season with a bang, then fizzled out in the first round of the Class 2A boys baseball tournament to close the season this past week.

The Raiders handled Orient-Macksburg 15-4 in Orient Wednesday, July 7, then finished up the Pride of Iowa conference season with a 17-2 win for a 7-8 conference mark and a seventh place finish.

The Raiders then went on to host the opening round of the boys tournament and lost a heartbreaker 9-8 when Central Decatur rallied for four runs in the seventh inning to win the game and end the Raider season mark at 16-9.  

 The Class 2A boys baseball tournament trail begins for the Mount Ayr Community Raiders Saturday night when they host Central Decatur in a tournament game at 7 p.m.

The semifinals will be held Tuesday, July 13, at 7 p.m. in Mount Ayr against the Wayne and Clarke winner.

The finals will be held Saturday, July 17, at 7 p.m. in Mount Ayr against the survivor of games in Clarinda.

  A week with two wins and three losses saw the Mount Ayr Community Raider Pride of Iowa conference mark slip below .500 this past week.

The Raiders dropped games to Interstate 35, split with Lenox, defeated Lamoni and lost to Nodaway Valley in their most recent action.

The team is now 6-7 in the Pride of Iowa conference and 14-7 for the season.

 Mount Ayr Community’s Raiderettes opened play in the Class 1A regional softball game Wednesday night when they hosted East Union in play in Mount Ayr.

A win would put the girls in the quarterfinals against the Lamoni- Bedford winner Friday, July 9, at 7 p.m. in Mount Ayr. The semifinal game is set for Monday, July 23, at 7:30 p.m. with the team advancing from games in Moravia.

The regional final will be held Wednesday, July 14, at 7 p.m. at Osceola against the survivor of games played in Corning and Martensdale.

Including action in the Mount Ayr Softball Classic, the Mount Ayr Community Raiderettes played seven games in the past week in a rush of action at the end of the season.

The Raiderettes were able to gain wins in five of the seven, but two of the losses were Pride of Iowa conference games.

The girls defeated Lenox, Clarinda, Nodaway Valley, Essex/South Page and Murray while falling to Nodaway Valley and Martensdale-St. Mary’s.

The girls are now 19-8 for the season and have an 11-4 Pride of Iowa conference mark heading into their Pride of Iowa conference finale.

  It was a seesaw week for the Mount Ayr Community Raiders in Pride of Iowa conference baseball action.

The Raiders split a double-header with Corning, winning one game 6-3 and dropping the second 3-1. They got a big win over Nodaay Valley 4-1 and then saw a close game get away at the end 14-6 with Bedford.

The Raiders are now 5-4 in the Pride of Iowa conference and 12-4 overall.

  In eight softall games this past week, the Mount Ayr Community Raiderettes were able to win six.

The girls handled Central Decatur 10-1, won a double header over Corning with identical 7-2 scores, rolled over Sidney 15-0 and 10-run ruled Shenandoah 13-3.

On the other hand, the girls found the going touch in a 7-2 Pride of Iowa loss, their second of the season, to Interstate 35. They also were blanked by Treynor 13-0 at the end of the Bedford Classic Saturday.

The girls are now 14-6 overall and 9-2 in the Pride of Iowa conference. 

  A non-conference loss and two Pride of Iowa conference wins were chalked up by the Mount Ayr Community Raiderette softball tam this past week.

The girls fell to Clarke 5-0 Wednesday, June 16, then rallied to handle East Union 11-2 June 17 and Central Decatur 10-1 on June 18.

With their losses, the girls have fallen out of state rankings.

The girls are now 9-4 for the season and 6-1 in Pride of Iowa conference play.

  It was a successful week of baseball play for the Mount Ayr Community Raiders this past week as they added three victories -- two of them in the Pride of Iowa conference.

The Raiders handled Murray 11-0 on Wednesday, June 16, East Union 8-2 on Thursday, June 17, and Central Decatur 9-4 on Friday, June 18 in the games that survived the weather.

The Raiders are now 10-2 overall and 3-2 in Pride of Iowa conference play.

    It was a bumpy road for the Mount Ayr Community Raiderettes in girls softball action this past week.
    The girls dropped their first conference game in a 9-1 loss to Wayne, dropped a non-conference game to Dallas Center-Grimes 2-1 in the first round of the Creston Classic Saturday, then rebounded to defeat Red Oak 9-5 in the consolation game there.
    The girls are now 7-3 for the season and 4-1 in Pride of Iowa conference play.

    The Raiders got in three of six planned games in the past week, and they were all victories for the Raiders, boosting their season mark to 7-2.
    The week opened with a 5-4 victory over Wayne in Corydon Friday, June 11, and included the title of the Raider’s own tournament Saturday, June 12. Wins over Clarinda Academy 15-0 and Nishnabotna 8-5 brought the tournament title.

Two losses and a win moved the record for the Mount Ayr Community Raiders to 4-2 for the season.

The Raiders dropped Pride of Iowa conference games to Bedford 10-4 and Southeast Warren 13-8 before thumping Murray 21-0 this past week.

The Raiders are now 0-2 in conference play.

  After starting out on a 5-0 run for the new season, the Raiderettes tripped for the first time in a close loss to Lamoni Monday night June 7.

The girls opened the week with a 15-1 win over Bedford and an 11-5 win over Southeast Warren before falling to Lamoni 4-3.

The girls are now 5-1 for the season and 3-0 in Pride of Iowa conference play.

They have been ranked fifth in the state, but that may change with the loss to Lamoni.

  The Class 1A state golf meet was completed this past week on the River Valley Golf Course near Adel with Mount Ayr Community’s Molly Budach finishing in a tie for 13th place among the individuals.

Budach fired a 96 on Tuesday and came back with a very good round of 87 on Wednesday, finishing with a 183 score for the 36- hole tournament.   

Jocilyn Onnen of Grundy Center was the state champion with a 154 total.  Last year’s champion  Victoria Grasso of Ankeny Christian finished in the runner up spot with a 36-hole total of 160.  

Budach carded the sixth best score on Wednesday and her total was 14 strokes better than she recorded last year in the 1A tourney held at Marshalltown.  Budach has participated in the state meet three consecutive years and has improved her score each year.

Grundy Center won the 1A title edging last year’s Champion  Algona, Bishop Garrigan by two strokes.  Mason City Newman was third,  AGWSR finished fourth,  Hinton was fifth, Wapello sixth, Treynor was seventh and Wapsie Valley was eighth.

 A 3-0 start with the Murray baseball tournament trophy marked a great start to the season for the Mount Ayr Community Raider baseball team.

The Raiders blanked Villisca 8-0 here Tuesday, M ay 25, then downed Lamoni 11-1 and Central Decatur 8-5 in the Murray tournament Thursday, May 27.

The Raiders are 3-0 without seeing any conference action yet.

  Three straight wins opened the season for the Mount Ayr Community Raiderettes girls softball team on a strong note this past week.

The girls opened with a 3-0 win over Villisca, added a 10-2 thumping of East Union and then rolled over Orient-Macksburg 16-4.

The Raiderettes are now 3-0 for the season and 1-0 in Pride of Iowa conference action.

The Mount Ayr Community junior high rodeo participants had their rodeo finals this past weekend in Winterset with three competitors qualifying for nationals.

Four Mount Ayr Community students participated in the state finals this year -- Kaci Stackhouse, Cody Stackhouse, Riley Weehler and Ashton Johnson.

Three students qualified for the national finals rodeo in Gallup, NM June 26-July 3.  

Cody Stackhouse was the state champion in chute dogging.

Ashton Johnson was the state champion in girls breakaway roping and reserve champion in ribbon roping team with partner Riley Weehler.

Riley Weehler was the state champion in boys breakaway roping, reserve champion in ribbon roping team with partner Ashton Johnson) and place third in goat tying and third in chute dogging.

 Two top eight placings were picked up out of the eight events that the Mount Ayr Community Raiderettes sent to the Class 1A track meet this past week.

Bailey Myer anchored the 4x800 meter relay team to a seventh place finish, then took seventh herself in the 800 meter run to give the Raiderettes the four points that tied them for 45th among the teams taking part.

Central Lyon of Rock Rapids won the Class 1A girls title with 70 points in a run-away.

Mount Ayr Community’s Raiderettes did not have the kind of opening day that they had hoped for as the shuttle hurdle team did not turn in one of their best times and finished in 22nd place with a 1:13.25.  The team consisted of Madi Hosfield, Jensen Stewart, Allie Knapp and Tiffany Wimer.  

Audubon ended up winning the event in the finals with a time of 1:06.78.

The 4x800 meter relay team of Becca Pennington, Megan Doubleday, Katelyn Warin and Bailey Myer racked up two team points by finishing seventh  with a 10:01. 83 time.  Central Lyon easily won the event, turning in a 9:32.97 clocking.  

“This was our best time this season, but I know our team felt they could have run better,” said coach Deb Larsen.  “All members of the team return next year and they plan to return to the Blue Oval to run the event again.”  

Senior Jamie Novak ran in the first heat of the 200 meter dash preliminaries and did not qualify for the Saturday final as she recorded a time of :28.36. This was the 24th best clocking in the preliminaries.

The distance medley team of Madi Hosfield, Jamie Novak, Katelyn Warin and Bailey Myer lowered their Mount Ayr Community school record to 4:22.58 to finish just out of the medals in ninth place in the field of 24 to open things on a damp Friday.  

Central Lyon won the race with a time of 4:13.42.

Allie Knapp was one of four Pride of Iowa conference 400 meter hurdlers to compete in the Class 1A event this year.  She turned in a fine 1:09.76 to finish 19th just behind Central Decatur’s Jenna Lincoln and right in front of Bedford’s Kayli Lindenmeyer.  POI champion Meagan Streyffeler of Martensdale-St.Marys finished third in the event.

The event was won by Alex Gochenour of Logan-Magnolia in 1:02.17.

Tiffany Wimer ran :16.68 into the wind in the 100 meter hurdle preliminaries on Friday to finish 20th.  

Logan-Magnolia’s Alex Gochenour set a state meet record winning Wimer’s heat in :14.07.  

The 4x400 meter relay team of Becca Pennington,  Madison Hosfield, Katelyn Warin and Bailey Myer ran nearly six seconds faster than their district winning performance, but the 4:12.73 was not fast enough to qualify for the eight-team final on Saturday. They finished 14th.

Grundy Center won the finals with a time of 4:02.89.

The weather was supposed to warm, sunny and windy on Saturday, but when Becca Pennington and Bailey Myer were ready to compete in the 800 meter run it was cloudy, windy and cool.  Becca Pennington finished eighth in the opening heat with a time of 2:31.01 to finish 19th overall.  Bailey Myer scored the final two points for the Raiderettes by earning seventh place in the second heat and overall with a time of 2:23.25.

Kaly Adkins of Earlham took first place with a 2:16.54 clocking.

“We had one of the best seasons ever for Raiderette track,” said coach Deb Larsen.  “We had a great group of hard working young ladies and assistant coach John Larsen and I had an enjoyable season as their coaches.”

  Mount Ayr Community’s Raiderette golf team finished fourth carding a 406 in the regional golf tournament at Montezuma on Monday, May 24.  

Grundy Center won the tournament shooting a 367 and Wapello was also a state qualifier firing an 18 hole total of 388.  Ankeny Christian was third with 398, New London fifth with a 414 and Van Meter was sixth with a 451. 

The Raiderettes Molly Budach will be making her third trip to the state tournament by qualifying as an individual.  The junior recorded an 86, which was the third best individual score of the day. 

The remaining Raiderette scores included Kelsey Glendenning--96, Caitlin Giles--112, Jacy England--112, Johanna Scott--117, and Maci Sickels--129. 

Defending state champion Victoria Grasso of Ankeny Christian will also be returning to the state competition as she earned medalist honors with an 80.  Jocilyn Onnen of Grundy Center was the runner up with an 84.  Alyssa Nobel of Wapello and Jenna Hansen of HLV also qualified as individuals for the state tournament.  

The state tournament will be held on June 1-2 at the River Valley Golf Course in Adel.  

“It was a very warm day and this was a very hilly course,” said coach Scott Giles.  “Our girls had another great season and Molly is looking forward to another opportunity to play in the state tourney.” “I want to wish the best to seniors Kelsey Glendening and Maci Sickels in their future endeavors and thank them for all their efforts the past four years,” coach Giles concluded.

 Here are the results of the state track meet for the boys and girls in action Thursday, May 20, and Friday, May 21, at Drake University in Des Moines. They have been updated during the day.

The final event will be the girls 800 meter run Saturday morning with Bailey Myer and Becca Pennington taking part.

The boys are  tied for 10th with 14 points and the girls are tied for 38th with two points.

Girls shuttle hurdle relay: Madi Hosfield, Jensen Stewart, Allie Knapp and Tiffany Wimer combined for 21st place with a time of 1:13.25.

Girls 4x800 meter relay: Becca Pennington, Megan Doubleday, Katelyn Warin and Bailey Myer combined for seventh place in 10:01.83.

Boys shot put: Dustin Pritchett took 5th place.

Girls 200 meter dash: Jamie Novak took 24th place in :28.56.

Boys shuttle hurdle relay: Sheldon Triggs, Matt Sobotka, Korey Beaman, Chad Starlin combined for 19th place in 1:03.90.

Boys high jump: Braydee Poore took ninth place with a 6' 0" leap and Colton Bolles took 20 place with a 5' 8" jump.

Girls distance medley: Madi Hosfield, Jami Novak, Katelyn Warin and Bailey Myer placed 11th with a time of 4:22.58.

Boys 400 meter hurdles: Chad Starlin placed 11th with a time of :56.81.

Girls 400 meter hurdles: Allie Knapp placed 19th in a time of 1:09.76.

Boys discus: Cade Lambson won the state with a throw of 174' 7".

110 meter hurdles: Tiffany Wimer placed 20th with a time of :16.68.

Girls 4x400 meter relay: Becca Pennington, Madi Hosfield, Katelyn Warin and Bailey Myers placed 14th in a time of 4:12.73.

  Mount Ayr Community won the 2010  Class 1A boys sectional championship May 14 on the Mount Ayr Golf and Country Club course.  

The Raiders fired an 18 hole team score of 370 to take the title.  The team scores:  Mount Ayr Community--370, Moravia--385, Wayne 394, Lamoni--418, Mormon Trail--421 and Melcher Dallas 429.  

Mount Ayr Community, Moravia and Wayne advance to the district tournament in Anita on Friday, May 21.  The other teams playing at Anita are CAM,  Treynor, AHST, Boyer Valley, Southeast Webster-Grand, Burnside,  East Mills, Corning and Adair-Casey. 

“We knew if we played well, we could qualify,” said coach Scott Giles.  “Our young men played their best golf of the season.”

Jake Glendenning earned runner up medalist honors with an 18-hole total of 81 on Friday.  The remaining Raider totals: Dusty Lyden--95, Ethan Pollock--95, Joey Taylor--99, Alex Wallace--104 and Jordan Klejch--116.  

Taylor Hagen of Martensdale-St. Marys was the sectional medalist, shooting a 10 over par 80 on the damp Mount Ayr course.  

The remaining individual qualifiers were Trent Kennedy from Melcher-Dallas, Nick Ferin of Martensdale-St.Mary’s and Lane Brewer of Moravia.

 Mount Ayr Community cruised to a 44-stroke victory in the district golf tourney on May 17  in Mount Ayr.  

The Raiderettes carded a team total of 432, Van Meter a 476, Martensdale-St. Mary’s a 558, Earlham a 599 and Southeast Warren a 648.  

The Raiderettes and Van Meter both advance to the regional tournament at Montezuma on May 24.  The other teams competing at Montezuma are Wapello, New London, Grundy Center and Ankeny Christian.

“The course was a little wet and played long,” said coach Scott Giles.  “We know we will have to turn in a lower score at the next level if we want to advance to the state meet, but we are anxious for the opportunity.” 

Molly Budach took home medalist honors with an 18-hole total of 86.  Sidnee Smith of Lamoni was the runner up with a 98.  The remaining individual regional qualifiers are Kelsey Glendenning with a 99, Holly Baiotto of Van Meter with a 100 and Sam Quelland also of Van Meter with a 103.  

The Raiderette scores included Molly Budach--86, Kelsey Glendenning--99, Maci Sickels--120, Caitlin Giles--127, Johanna Scott--131 and Jacy England--133.

  Mount Ayr Community’s track teams are going to be busy at this year’s state track meet held in Des Moines on the Drake University track.  

Mount Ayr Community will have athletes competing all three days of the meet beginning early each day.  

The Raiderette shuttle hurdle team will kick things off with their preliminary heat starting at 9  a.m. on Thursday, May 20 .  The 4x800 girls relay team will compete in the finals of their event at 11:10 a. m. also on Thursday.  

Dustin Pritchett will be competing in the Class 1A boys shot put event at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday.  Jamie Novak will have her preliminary heat of the 200 meter dash at 12:40 p.m. on the opening day.  The Raider shuttle hurdle team will complete the Mount Ayr Community competition for Thursday by running their preliminary at 2  p.m.

Friday, May 21 is another early start for Mount Ayr Community fans.  Braydee Poore and Colton Bolles will be high jumping at  9 a.m.   The Raiderettes also will have to rise early as the distance medley relay team also runs at 9  a.m.  

Chad Starlin will run in the 400 meter hurdle finals at 9:40 a.m. and   Allie Knapp will compete in the girls 400 meter hurdle race at 10  a.m.  

Tiffany Wimer will run in the 100 meter hurdle preliminaries at 11:40 a.m. and Cade Lambson will begin the discus event at 11:30 a.m. on Friday morning.  

The final Friday event for Mount Ayr Community will be the girls 4x400 meter relay preliminary at 2  p.m.

Bailey Myer and Becca Pennington will get things rolling on Saturday as they will compete in the 800 meter run at 9:50 a.m. 

The teams could have more events depending on the preliminary performances on Thursday and Friday.  The finals of the shuttle hurdle relay for girls is 11:10 a.m. and the boys final will follow at 11:40 a.m.  The final in the 100 meter hurdles is 12:35 p.m. on Saturday and the 200 meter dash final is at 1:25 p.m.  

The final in the 4x400 meter relay is the final event of the state track meet and it will commence at 3:35 for the girls.

The compete day-by-day scheduled includes:

Thursday, May 20

9 a.m. -- Girls shuttle hurdle preliminary (Madi Hosfield, Jensen Stewart, Allie Knapp, Tiffany Wimer).

11:10 a.m. -- Girls 4x800 meter relay final (Becca Pennington, Megan Doubleday, Katelyn Warin, Bailey Myer).

11:30 a.m. --Boys shot put (Dustin Pritchett).

12:40 p.m. --Girls 200 meter dash preliminary--Jamie Novak.

2 p.m. -- Boys shuttle hurdle preliminary (Sheldon Triggs, Matt Sobotka, Korey Beaman, Chad Starlin).

Friday, May 21

9 a.m. -- Boys high jump (Braydee Poore and Colton Bolles).

9 a.m. -- Distance medley relay (Madi Hosfield, Jamie Novak, Katelyn Warin, Bailey Myer).

9:40 a.m. -- Boys 400 meter hurdles (Chad Starlin).

10 a.m. -- Girls 400 meter hurdles (Allie Knapp).

11:30 a.m. -- Boys discus (Cade Lambson).

11:40 a.m. -- Girls 100 meter hurdle preliminary (Tiffany Wimer).

2 p.m. --  Girls 4x400 meter re;au preliminary (Becca Pennington, Madi Hosfield, Katelyn Warin, Bailey Myer).

Saturday, May 22

9:50 a.m. -- Girls 800 meter run (Bailey Myer and Becca Pennington).

11:10 a.m. -- Girls shuttle hurdle relay final.

11:40 a.m. -- Boys shuttle hurdle relay final.

12:35 p.m. -- Girls 100 meter hurdle final.

1:25  p.m. - Girls 200 dash finals.

3:35 p.m. --  Girls 4x400 meter relay final.

  Mount Ayr Community will be hosting the District 9 Class 1A co-ed track meet on Friday, May 14.

Field events will begin at 4 p.m. at the Mount Ayr Community athletic complex.  

The schools competing include   Bedford, Corning, East Mills, Essex, Fremont-Mills, Hamburg/ Farragut, Lamoni, Lenox, Mount Ayr Community, Sidney, South Page, Stanton and Villisca.  

Athletic director Mike Still stated the running events will also commence at 4  p.m. as well.

The state requires a 45 minute break following the first four running events.  The meet will restart with shuttle hurdle races.

Top finishers automatically qualify for the state track meet in Des Moines.

The Raiders and Raiderettes have the opportunity to qualify quite a few events for state, so support of fans for the coed event will be appreciated.

 Mount Ayr Community’s Raiders and Raiderettes will host the first round golf tournaments here Friday and Monday.

The Raiders will be hosting the Class 1A sectional at the Mount Ayr Golf and Country Club on Friday, May 14.  

The teams will tee off at 10 a.m. for the 18-hole tournament.  The first and second place team will advance to the district tournament held in Anita at the Crestwood Hills Golf Course on May 21.   

The top two teams from sectionals held at Corning, Coon Rapids and Avoca will also compete in Anita.  

Teams competing in Mount Ayr will include Diagonal, Lamoni, Martensdale-St. Mary’s, Melcher-Dallas, Moravia, Mormon Trail, Mount Ayr Community, Southeast Warren and Wayne.

The Raiderettes will be hosting the Class 1A girls district tournament at the Mount Ayr Golf and Country Club on Monday, May 17.   

The Raiderettes are ranked number seven in Class 1A by the Coaches Association poll.  

Molly Budach is number seven and Kelsey Glendenning is number nine in the girls individual rankings.  

The teams will tee off at 10 a.m. for the 18-hole tournament.  The first and second place team will advance to the regional tournament held in Montezuma at the Montezuma Country Club Golf Course on May 24.   

The top two teams from districts held at New London and Brooklyn will also compete in Montezuma.  The teams competing in Mount Ayr include Earlham, Lamoni, Martensdale-St. Mary’s, Melcher-Dallas, Moravia, Mormon Trail, Mount Ayr Community, Southeast Warren, Van Meter and Wayne.

Mount Ayr Community's Raiderette golf team placed second to Pleasantville and the Raiders placed eighth in the conference tournaments held Monday, May 3.

Raiderette Kelsey Glendenning was the medalist in the girls meet with a round of 90 for the tournament, six strokes ahead of the runner. The girls shot a 429 for the meet while Pleasantville shot a 415.

In the boys action, East Union won a tie-breaker to edge out Pleasantville for the conference title. Both teams shot 327. The Raiders were eighth with a 397 for the day, led by Jake Glendenning's round of 94.

The Raiderettes have a 9-0 record in individual matches for the season while the Raiders are 4-6.

    Mount Ayr Community’s Raiderettes won the Pride of Iowa conference girls track meet while the Raiders took second in the boys action in Bedford Tuesday, May 4.

The Raiderettes outdistanced a strong field to win the conference title for the first time since 1997. The Raiders had several personal bests on the way to placing second behind Interstate 35 in the boys race.
    Details of the big night will be included in next week’s Mount Ayr Record-News.

The Mount Ayr Community Raiderette golf team set a new team nine-hole  mark for the Mount Ayr Golf and Country Club course on Tuesday, April 20 when the Raiderettes and Raiders faced East Union and Southeast Warren in golf action. 

The Raiderettes shot 192 to defeat the Southeast Warren Warhawks and run their season record to 7-0.  Molly Budach took medalist honors with a 45 and Kelsey Glendennig recorded a 47 for runner up honors.  Johanna Scott carded a season best 48, Annie Uhlenkamp had a 52, Jacy England a 54 and Maci Sickels completed the Mount Ayr scoring with a 55.  

East Union boys fired a great round of 158 to defeat both Mount Ayr (204) and Southeast Warren (224).  

Taylor Mayne from East Union took medalist honors with a 38 and the Eagles’ Drew Greene was the runner up with a 39.  The Raider scoring included Jake Glendenning, 42; Dusty Lyden, 50; Russell Reynolds, 52, and Alex Wallace, 60.  

The Raiders have a 3-5 record for the 2010 season. 

Next action

The golfers played at Corning on April 27 and host Nodaway Valley on April 29.

The Mount Ayr Community Athletic Booster Club is planning to begin construction of much needed new restrooms and a concession stand at the baseball/ softball complex near the existing structure.  

The Booster Club has been working diligently over the past few months raising money for the project.  They have raised over $7,000, but much more is needed to insure the building will be a top quality, serviceable structure for the use of athletes, fans and visitors to Mount Ayr Community athletic events.

Ron Landphair has donated his expertise by drawing up the plans for the new concession stand that will be constructed directly east of the existing structure.  Part of the roof of the existing building will be used as a covered “picnic “ area on the west end of the new structure.   

The Booster club realizes that building supplies, plumbing work and concrete are costly, but they also know that the existing facility is inadequate and out of date.  Mike Gilliland has volunteered to be the Booster’s “contact” person for anyone wishing to donate money, materials or labor to this project.  Mike’s cell phone number is 641-234-0173.  

People may also contact Michele Sobotka or Marcia Showalter to help with this building project.

  Brandi Goodale, a senior at Diagonal Community high school, signed a letter of intent to play basketball at Southwestern Community College for the 2010-2011 school year. 

Goodale plans to attend SWCC to start her education for a degree in physical therapy and transfer to the University of Iowa to finish her degree.  She is the daughter of Dan and Kristy Goodale of Diagonal.

During high school Goodale participated in basketball for four years, softball for four years, volleyball and golf for three years and drama and speech for four years.  Goodale was honorable mention her sophomore year and second team all conference her junior and senior years in basketball.

She has already been lifting weights and shooting in her spare time to get ready for the college basketball career.  She knows of a basketball camp that will be held in July for elementary through middle school age and high school students that she will be helping with and then one for the college team as well.

SWCC coach Buck Scheel said, “Goodale works on and off the floor, she shoots well, and leads by example.”

Buck Scheel has coached the Spartans for three years. The most important ingredient to success in athletics and life is discipline, believes Scheel.  Coach Scheel is still working on building the Spartan team from ground up.  The team will have five returning players next year.  

Sacrifice, attitude and commitment are the philosophies Scheel lives and uses when coaching his team.  Scheel has an associate’s degree in business administration and is originally from Columbus, NE.

Mount Ayr Community junior Cade Lambson will be participating in the annual Drake Relays on April 22 and April 23 at the Drake University track in Des Moines. 

Lambson will be competing in the high school division of both the shot and discus.  He will throw the discus on Thursday at 3 p.m. and then compete in the high school shot put event on Friday at 8:30 a.m.  This is the second time Lambson has qualified for the Drake Relays as he finished 16th in the discus last year.

Qualifers for the high school division are chosen without regard to the class in which they compete during the regular season.

Building on big leads from the field events, the Mount Ayr Community Raiders rolled to two more relays titles in action this past week.

The Raiders won by 50 points at the East Union Eagle Relays in Afton Tuesday, April 6, then won the Class Bi title at the Crawford Relays in Osceola by 32.5 points on Thursday, April 8.

Eagle Relays title won

Mount Ayr Community won the East Union Eagle Relays scoring 116 points in Afton on Tuesday, April 6.  

The rest of the team scoring: Clarinda Academy--66, Worth County--66, Adair Casey--61, Nodaway Valley--59, Orient Macksburg--54, Bedford--43, Central Decatur --33, Lamoni--26, East Union--23, and Lenox--10.   

“I am very pleased with our overall effort so far this season,” stated coach Brad Elliott.  “We have trained through these early meets, so it is exciting to see us competing so well.”   

The Raiders dominated the field events scoring 55 points to put them far ahead of the field heading into the running events. 

Cade Lambson and Dustin Pritchett went 1-2 in both the shot and discus.  Lambson threw a season best 154’ 7” in the discus and heaved the shot 51’ ’0.5”, which also is a season best  to win that title. Pritchett threw a career best 48’ 10”  to capture the silver in the shot.  

Braydee Poore won the high jump and Sheldon Triggs and Matt Sobotka both placed in the long jump.  Korey Beaman won the 110 meter hurdles and he teamed with Matt Sobotka, Braydee Poore and Chad Starlin to take the shuttle hurdle relay title with a 1:06.93 clocking.  

The Raiders closed the evening by winning an exciting 4x400 meter relay.  Chad Starlin pulled away in the final five meters to secure the victory for Mount Ayr Community.  The other members of the relay were Brett England, Tyler Hinz and Korey Beaman.

Crawford Relays title for boys

Mount Ayr Community again came roaring out of the field events and continued to pile up points to win the Crawford Relays in Osceola on April 8.   

The Raiders scored 143.5 points to top the ten team Class B field on Thursday.  The rest of the scoring: Martensdale-St. Marys--111, Murray--91, Moravia--69, Lamoni--59, East Union--52, Central Decatur--33, Lamoni--26, Lenox--22, and Lineville-Clio--9.   

“I am proud of the way our guys competed,” said head coach Brad Elliott.  “We have worked these guys hard and they have responded with great effort and good performances.”

Cade Lambson raised his season’s best in the shot to 51’ 6” and 156’ 8” in the discus.  Dustin Pritchett had a career best 137’ 3” throw in the discus on Thursday.  These two young men again rolled up 36 points by going 1-2 in the shot and discus.   

The 4x800 team of Alex Sobotka, Drake Schafer, Jordan Clymer and Brett England turned in a season best 9:17.80 clocking to win gold at Osceola.  

The shuttle hurdle team of Matt Sobotka, Braydee Poore, Chad Starlin and Korey Beaman won for the second time this week and the 4x400 team of Korey Beaman, Brett England, Tyler Hinz and Chad Starlin also won for the second straight time running 3:43.78.   The 4x200 relay of Matt Jones, Matt Sobotka, Tyler Hinz and Chad Starlin picked up another first for the Raiders with a winning time of 1:40.88.  

Tyler Hinz won the 200 and Korey Beaman the 110 meter hurdles to complete the gold medal winners for Mount Ayr Community.

Next action

The Raiders went to Chariton Tuesday, April 13 and run at the Clarke Invitational tonight (Thursday). Tuesday, April 20, they go to the Red Oak Invitational and are at the Martensdale-St. Mary’s Invitational on Thursday, April 22.

The Raider and Raiderette golfers opened the 2010 campaign with victories over the Martensdale-St.Marys Blue Devils and the Southeast Warren Warhawks on April 8  in Mount Ayr.   

The Raiders carded a 199, Southeast Warren a 223 and Martensdale-St. Marys failed to post a team score as they had only three golfers.  

Taylor Hagen from Martensdale-St.Marys was the medalist with a 43 and the Raiders’ Jake Glendenning was the runner-up with a 45.  

The rest of the Raider scoring: Dusty Lyden--50, Russell Reynolds--50, Ethan Pollock--54, Alex Wallace--56, and Levi Stark--65.    

The Raiderettes easily downed the visitors by shooting a good opening match score of 213.  The Lady Blue Devils shot 249 and the Lady Warhawks turned in a 280 total.  

Molly Budach fired a 48 to take the medalist honor and teammate Kelsey Glendenning carded a 51 for the runner-up spot.  The remaining Raiderettes scores were: Jacy England--55, Annie Uhlenkamp--59, Maci Sickels--62, and Johanna Scott--62.

Next action

The Raiders and Raiderettes played Wayne on Tuesday and travel to Leon today (Thursday). Monday, April 19, the teams travel to Central Decatur again to take on Central Decatur and Interstate 35. They come back home Tuesday, April 20 to host East Union, Southeast Warren and South Page.

Mount Ayr Community’s Raiderettes opened the 2010 track season by taking the title of the Demon Indoor Relays in Lamoni on March 30.  

“It was a good start and we are looking forward to competing outdoors,” said head coach Deb Larsen. 

Mount Ayr Commuinty won 11 events and finished second in five others to roll up 194 points and easily outdistanced the five-team field.  

Lamoni was second with 93 points, Mormon Trail/Lineville-Clio third with 62, Princeton fourth with 61, and Mercer was fifth scoring 23  points.  

Tiffany Wimer won the 55 meter hurdles and Amanda Perrigo raced to the 55 meter dash title.  Allie Knapp won the 400 meter run, Becca Pennington the 800 meter run and Megan Doubleday the 1500 meter run to complete the individual winners for the Raiderettes.  

The Raiderettes won all the relay events at the indoor meet as well.  

Listed are Raiderette results for the Lamoni Demon relays:

Shot put -- 2. Jensen Stewart, 30’ 5”; 6. Claire Andresen, 26’ 9”.

Long jump -- 2. Becca Pennington, 14’ 6”; 3. Madi Hosfield, 14’ 4”.  

High jump -- 2. Desirae Trammel, 4’ 4”.  

3000 meter run -- 2. Becca Gregg, 13:51.6; 3. Valerie Jones, 16:23.2.                                                                                                                              

55 meter hurdles -- 1. Tiffany Wimer, :09.76; 2. Jensen Stewart, :10.53.

55 meter dash -- 1. Amanda Perrigo, :08.39; 3. Grace Fernandez, :08.84.

200 meter dash: 2. Allie Knapp, :29.49; Brittni Gillespie, :33.9; Grace Fernandez, :34.09; Charmaine Johnson, :34.2. 

400 meter dash -- 1. Allie Knapp, :67.20; Valerie Jones, :82.00.

800 meter run -- 1. Becca Pennington, 2:40.9; 3. Hannah Fletchall, 2:54.9.

1500 meter run: 1. Megan Doubleday, 6:06.2; Becca Gregg, 6:40.6; Taylor Lynch, 6:43.70.

4x800 meter relay -- 1. Becca Pennington, Katelyn Warin, Allie Knapp, Bailey Myer, 10:50.7.

1600 meter medley relay -- 1. Brittni Gillespie, Megan Doubleday, Jamie Novak, Madi Hosfield, 4:54.00.

4x200 meter relay -- 1. Amanda Perrigo, Erica Kemery, Bailey Myer, Katelyn Warin, 2:01.2. (JV) Morgan Quick, Charmaine Johnson, Desirae Trammell, Jordyn Grose, 2:13.00.

800 meter medley relay 1. Tiffany Wimer, Erica Kemery, Jamie Novak, Katelyn Warin, 2:05.1.

4x100 meter relay -- 1. Tiffany Wimer, Erica Kemery, Amanda Perrigo, Jamie Novak, :56.91. (JV) Brittni Gillespie, Charmaine Johnson, Jordyn Grose, Jensen Stewart, :60.43.

4x400 meeer relay -- 1. Megan Doubleday, Hannah Fletchall, Madi Hosfield, Bailey Myer, 4:38.4.

Next action

The Raiderettes were to run at Clarinda Tuesday night and at Interstate 35 tonight (Thursday). Monday, April 12, they go to the Panther Relays in Creston and Thursday, April 15 they travel to the Fillie Relays in Shenandoah.

  It’s a celebration no one should miss. Iowa’s seventh annual Greater Prairie Chicken Day is scheduled for Saturday, April 10 at the Kellerton Grasslands Bird Conservation Area.

Although situated a bit off the beaten trail, the event is easy to find. The prairie chicken booming grounds are located in southern Iowa two miles west of Kellerton on Highway 2, and one mile south on 300th Ave. There’s easy parking and the area’s public viewing platform is wheelchair accessible. The fun begins at daybreak and DNR wildlife staff will be on hand to assist with viewing. Spotting scopes, early morning refreshments and good conversations are provided free of charge. Excellent and affordable lodging is available at the newly constructed Mount Ayr Inn.

“Prairie chickens are amazing birds and the Kellerton area is something that all Iowans can take pride in,” says field day coordinator and DNR wildlife biologist Chad Paup. “This is our only public [prairie chicken] booming ground and there‘s nothing else like it anywhere in the state. Prairie Chicken Day is highly unusual in that it’s an outdoor event where people are virtually guaranteed the chance to hear and observe wild prairie chickens as they conduct their annual spring ritual in a natural setting. In many ways it’s like traveling back in time and catching a glimpse of what Iowa once was.

“We held our first public field day in 2004. A handful of people turned out and the event has grown ever since,” notes Paup. “Last year we had over 200 people show up for the sunrise display, and we’re hoping for even more this spring.”

Paup adds that April weather can be brisk and recommends dressing in layers. Once participants have a firsthand opportunity to see dancing prairie chickens for themselves, most people are reluctant to leave the site, he says. The clearer the skies, the better the show and dancing males usually remain active until mid-morning. A more low key performance usually occurs prior to sunset.

“The prairie chickens always provide an exciting show and I seem to observe something different with each new visit,” says Paup. “It’s a unique viewing opportunity and I wish everyone in Iowa could see this at least once in their lifetime.”

  Mount Ayr Community’s Riaders opened the 2010 track season by competing at the Bruce Jenner Indoor meet in Lamoni on Saturday, March 27.  

Junior Cade Lambson won the shot put with a throw of 49’ 3” and sophomore Dustin Pritchett’s throw of 47’ 6” earned him the silver medal at the meet.  

Chad Starlin ran :55.59 to place third in the 400 meter dash and also qualified for the finals in the 200 meter dash.  

Braydee Poore cleared 6’ 0” in the high jump which also allowed him to get a second place medal.

“Our guys competed well,” stated head coach Brad Elliott.  “We wanted to get an idea of what our 200, 400 and 800 runners could do in a meet situation in order to set up relays for upcoming meets.”  “Cade and Dustin threw very well for a first meet and Braydee and Chad had good performances as well,” added coach Elliott.  “We had some other good performances as well for a tough indoor meet.”    Listed are the placings for the Raiders at the Bruce Jenner meet:

Shot put -- 1. Cade Lambson, 49’ 5”; 2. Dustin Pritchett, 47’ 6”.

High jump -- 2. Braydee Poore, 6’ 0”; 6.  Drake Schafer, 5’ 4”; 7.  Christian Overholtzer, 5’ 4”’ 9. Brett England, 5’ 2”.

55 meter  hurdles -- 5.  Korey Beaman, :08.92.

1600 meter run -- 14. Zach Zollman, 5:49; 15. Heath Evans, 5:51; 16. Tom Hosfield, 5:55.

55 meter dash -- 16. Devin Richards, :07.39; 24. Ty Han, :07.53.

200 meter dash --  7. Chad Starlin, :24.99; 12. Tyler Hinz, :25.43; 26. Matt Sobotka, :26.76; 30. Braydee Poore, :26.92; 38. Jeff Risser, :27.40; 39.  Ty Han, :27.45; 48.  Devin Richards, :27.92; 56.  Harley Hamilton, :28.55.

400 meter dash -- 3. Chad Starlin, :55.59; 6. Tyler Hinz, :57.75; 8.  Korey Beaman, :58.46; 13.  Zach Zollman, 1:01.02; 14. Alex Sobotka, 1:01.04; 19.  Brett England, 1:02.16; 20. Jeff Risser, 1:02.59; 21.  Tom Hosfield, 1:03.03; 22.  Drake Schafer,  1:03.26; 24. Harley Hamilton,  1:03.32; 26.  Jordan Clymer, 1:03.77; 27. Braydee Poore, 1:04.06; 28. Zane Sickels, 1:04.19; 31.  Christian Overholtzer, 1:05.28; 32.  Matt Sobotka, 1:05.36; 35. Shane Swank, 1:06.12; 38.  Lusekelo Lwesya, 1;07.35; 44. Heath Evans, 1:14.06.

4x800 meter relay -- 11. Mount Ayr Community (A. Sobotka, J. Clymer, C. Overholtzer, D. Schafer), 10:08.45; 12. Mount Ayr Community (B. England, L. Lwesya, Z. Sickels, S. Swank),  10:35.06

Next action

The Raiders were to return to Graceland University for another indoor meet on Tuesday, March 30.

  A total of 28 young men have reported to coaches Brad Elliott and Kurt Wallace for the beginning of the 2010 track season.  

“I’d like to have a few more guys out, but we are anxious to get some decent weather and get outside,” said head coach Brad Elliott.  “Our strength right now is in the weight field events, but hopefully we can put together some quality relays and get some points in individual running events.”

Cade Lambson finished second in the state in the Class 1A shot put and won the Class 1A discus title last season.  Sophomore Dustin Pritchett also qualified for the state meet in the shot put in 2009.  

Veteran distance runners Tyler Hinz, Tom Hosfield, Jordan Clymer, Brett England, Christian Overholtzer, Drake Schafer, Alex Sobotka, and Zach Zollman should enable the Raiders to field some distance relay teams.  

Sprinters Matt Jones, Devin Richards and Chad Starlin also have a lot of meet experience as do middle distance runners Korey Beaman and Matt Sobotka. 

Austin Cox and Jeff Risser ran on some distance relays last spring and may also see more running action this spring.  

Several freshman are coming off good middle school careers and should provide help in several areas for the Raiders.  

“Several conference teams have strong individuals, but it could be a wide open race in Bedford for the team title,” added coach Brad Elliott.  

Team members include:

Seniors -- Ty Han, Tyler Hinz, Tom Hosfield, Matt Jones, Devin Richards and Chad Starlin.

Juniors -- Korey Beaman, Jordan Clymer, Cade Lambson, Christian Overholtzer, Drake Schafer, David Showalter, Matt Sobotka, Brett England and Lusekelo Lwesya.

Sophomores -- Austin Cox, Josh Fernandez, Harley Hamilton, Dustin Pritchett, Jeff Risser, Alex Sobotka and Zach Zollman.

Freshman -- Zach Lemon, Braydee Poore, Austin Quick, Zane Sickels, Shane Swank and Heath Evans.

Schedule includes:

Saturday, March 27 -- Bruce Jenner Invitational, Lamoni,                               10 a.m.

Tuesday, March 30 -- Demon Invitational, Lamoni, 3 p.m.

Friday, April 2 -- Winterset Invitational , Winterset, 4:30 p.m.

Tuesday, April 6 -- East Union Invitational, Afton, 4:30 p.m.

Thursday, April 8 -- Clarke Invitational , Osceola, 5 p.m.

Tuesday, April 13 -- Chariton Invitational, Chariton, 5 p.m.

Thursday, April 15 -- Clarke Relays, Osceola, 5 p.m.

Tuesday, April 20 -- Red Oak Invitational, Red Oak -- 5 p.m.

April 22-24 -- Drake Relays, Des Moines, TBA.

Tuesay, April 27 --- Raider Invitational , Mount Ayr, 5 p.m.

Thursday, April 29 -- Bondurant Invitational, Bondurant, 5 p.m.

Tuesday, May 4 -- Pride of Iowa  Conference Meet, Bedford, 4 p.m.

Thursday, May 6 -- Corning Invitational , Corning, 5 p.m.

Friday, May 7 -- Bedford Invitational, Bedford, 5 p.m.

Tuesday, May 11 -- Central Decatur  Coed Invitational, Lamoni, 5 p.m.

Friday, May 14 -- District Meet, Mount Ayr, 4 p.m.

May 20-22 -- State Meet, Des Moines, TBA.

  Diagonal’s archery teams have again qualified for a trip to the national archery tournament.

Team members will be traveling to Louisville, KY May 7-8 for the National NASP tournament after the team qualified at the state meet last week. 

As well as qualifying an elementary and the high school team for the nationals, the Diagonal shooters had individuals place in the top five in each category.

In the elementary male competition, Diagonal’s Colter Pickering placed first with a score of 267.

In the middle school male competition, Layne Ruby placed second overall with a score of 291, just one point out of first place. 

In the high school competition,  Shad Haidsiak placed fifth with a 280 score on a tiebreaker with another archer who had the same score but more 10’s.

  Mount Ayr Community’s girls opened practice for what could be another exciting and successful track campaign recently.   Coaches Deb and John Larsen return an outstanding group of veterans and are hoping some newcomers can give them some depth this season.   

Returning juniors Allie Knapp, Bailey Myer and Becca Pennington are members of the school record holding 4x800 relay team that earned silver medals at the state track meet last season.   Myer also placed eighth in the state meet in the open 800 with a 2:22.0 clocking, which is the second best 800 time in Raiderette track history.

Senior Tiffany Wimer is the school record holder in the hurdles and she, Bailey Myer and Allie Knapp are members of the record setting shuttle hurdle relay team.  Seniors Erica Kemery and Jamie Novak are medal winning relay runners with a wealth of experience for Mount Ayr Community.  Besides the juniors already mentioned the Raiderettes return Grace Fernandez, Brittni Gillespie, Becca Gregg, Jordyn Grose, Charmaine Johnson, Valerie Jones, Jensen Stewart and Liberty Silliman.   Becca Gregg, Valerie Jones and Jensen Stewart all have earned first place medals in their Raiderette careers.  

Megan Doubleday, Amanda Perrigo, Desirae Trammell and Katelyn Warin are the leading medal winners among the sophomores.  Doubleday and Warin are middle distance runners and Perrigo will be running a lot of sprint relays.  Trammell will be helping the Raiderettes by scoring points in the field events.  

Sophomores Taylor Lynch and Kylee Klommhaus also have meet experience for Mount Ayr Community.  

Head coach Deb Larsen is expecting some contributions from a good group of incoming freshman and some other newcomers this season.  

“Perennial power Corning and upcoming power Martensdale-St. Marys will be the ones to beat for the POI title,” said head coach  Larsen.  “The Raiderettes will be hosting a 1A District, but the teams present at the Mount Ayr site are not yet determined.”  

The Raiderette roster  includes:

Seniors --Erica Kemery, Jamie Novak and Tiffany Wimer.

Juniors -- Grace Fernandez, Brittni Gillespie, Becca Gregg, Jordyn Grose, Charmaine Johnson, Valerie Jones, Allie Knapp, Bailey Myer, Becca Pennington, Jensen Stewart and Liberty Silliman.

Sophomores include Claire Andresen, Megan Doubleday, Mariah Fifer, Kylee Klommhaus, Taylor Lynch, Amanda Perrigo, Rachael Roach, Deirae Trammell and Katelyn Warin.

Freshmen are Brooke Chenoweth, Hannah Fletchall, Cassidy Flowers, Emily Fox, Madison Hosfield, Maggie Jennette and Morgan Quick.

Schedule set

Schedule for the girls includes:

Tuesday, March 30 -- Demon Invitational, Lamoni, 3 p.m.

Tuedsay, April 6 -- Clarinda Invitational,  Clarinda, 4:30 p.m.

Thursday, April 8 -- Interstate 35 Relays, Truro, 5 p.m.

Monday, April 12 -- Panther Relays, Creston, 5 p.m.

Thursday, April 15 -- Fillie Relays, Shenandoah, 5 p.m.

Monday, April 19 -- Girls Red Raider Relays,  Corning, 5 p.m.

April 22-24 -- Drake Relays, Des Moines, TBA.

Tuesday, April 27 -- Lady Charger Relays, Chariton, 5 p.m.

Thursday, April 29 -- Interstate 35 Invitational, Truro, 5 p.m.

Friday, April 30 -- Bedford Invitational,  Bedford, 4:45 p.m.

Tuesday, May 4 -- POI Conference Meet, Bedford, 4 p.m.

Thursday, May 6 -- Raiderette Relays, Mount Ayr , 5 p.m.

Tuesday, May 11 -- Central Decatur Coed Invitational, Lamoni 5 p.m.

Friday, May 14 -- District Meet, Mount Ayr, 4 p.m.

May 20-22 -- State Meet, Des Moines, TBA.

 BY JAMES SAVILLE

The Mount Ayr Community Raiderettes finished the season as the Class 1A  state runner-up as they dropped a 57-55 game to number two ranked and undefeated Exira in the championship game at Wells Fargo Arena on Friday, March 5.  

And what a classic battle it was with the outcome not determined until after the buzzer when a ball bouncing on the rim went through for the Exira victory.

“I said at the pep meeting that Exira may have the best player, but the Raiderettes are the best team and the outcome of the game did not change my belief,” said coach Thad Streit.  “It took a fortuitous bounce of the ball to allow the Vikettes to get the victory with less than one second left.”

Both teams scored on their first possession before Bailey Myer hit from beyond the arc to give the Raiderettes a 5-2 lead at the seven minute mark of the first period.  A conventional three-point play by 6’ 3” Hallie Christofferson tied the game at 5-5 and Maddy Peppers scored a lay-up putting the Vikettes up 7-5 with six minutes left in the opening quarter.  

Mount Ayr Community would not score again until Bailey Myer made a free throw with under two minutes left in the first period.  Free throws by Christofferson and baskets by Claire Andresen and Becca Pennington made the first quarter score 14-10 in favor of Exira.

The teams traded baskets early in the second period as Megan Doubleday and Bailey Myer scored for the Raiderettes and Ann Walker and Christofferson scored for the Vikettes.  Exira led 18-14 before Becca Pennington scored a two-pointer and a Claire Andresen steal and a successful conventional three-point play by Pennington  put the Raiderettes up 19-18 with 1:29 left in the first half.  

Mount Ayr Community got a basket in close from Tiffany Wimer and added Bailey Myer’s three-ball with seven seconds left in the quarter to give Mount Ayr  a 24-20 lead at half-time.

Tiffany Wimer scored to open the second half giving Mount Ayr Community its biggest lead of the game at 26-20.  Hallie Christofferson pulled down one of her game high 13 rebounds and converted the lay-up and the foul shot to cut the lead to 26-23.  The big center duplicated the feat on the next offensive Exira possession tying the game at 26-26.  

The scoring went back and forth throughout the rest of the period with the Raiderettes leading 39-35 after Becca Pennington scored with 2:40 left in the quarter.  Maddy Peppers made a free throw and then grabbed the rebound on her unsuccessful second attempt and scored giving the lead back to the Vikettes 40-39 with just over a minute left.  Jensen Stewart took the ball strong to the rack allowing the Raiderettes to have a 41-40 lead heading into the final eight minutes.

Tiffany Wimer made two free throws, but Christofferson did likewise for Exira keeping the difference at one, 43-42.  The Vikettes would score the next six points, giving them a 48-43 lead with just over four minutes left in the game.  

Jensen Stewart hit from the right side cutting the lead to 48-45.  Mount Ayr Community continued to battle the much bigger Vikettes, but were unable to hit their one- and-one free throw opportunities allowing Exira to hold a 48-45 lead with just two minutes  left.  

Christofferson made two more free throws and those were matched by Becca Pennington, keeping the margin at three, 50-47.  Ann Walker made two more charity tosses, but nine seconds later Becca Pennington had the scoreboard showing 52-49 with just over a minute left in the season.  Ann Walker remained perfect at the line allowing the Vikettes to inch closer to the title with just 25 seconds left.  

A missed Raiderette field goal and another free throw by Christofferson had the Exira fans anticipating a state title as the scoreboard read Exira 55, Mount Ayr 51 with just over 20 seconds left.  

Becca Pennington drove to the hoop and drew a foul and calmly made both free throws cutting the lead to 55-53 with 15 seconds left.  Becca Pennington wrested the inbound pass away from Christofferson and although she missed the lay-up, teammate Tiffany Wimer grabbed the rebound and tied the game at 55-55 with 4.6 seconds left in regulation.  

The Vikettes tried to get the ball to Christofferson on a long court play, but the ball got loose when Tiffany Wimer got a hand on it but Chelsea Nelson pushed the ball ahead to Ann Walker, whose desperation lay-up at the buzzer hung momentarily on the back iron before falling into the net making the Vikettes the 2010 1A champions 57-55.

Halle Christofferson led all scorers and rebounders posting her third double-double of the tournament with 27 points and 13 rebounds.  Ann Walker added 13 (including the final crushing shot) and Maddy Peppers also scored 13 for Exira.  The Vikettes hit 56 percent from the floor and 85 percent  from the line on Friday.  Mount Ayr made 35 percent of their field goals and 77 percent of their free throws in the contest.  

Becca Pennington led the Raiderettes with 19 points and Bailey Myer reached double figures again with 13 points.  Tiffany Wimer closed out her Raiderette basketball career with a team leading nine rebounds and tallied eight points.  Jensen Stewart dished out six assists and Bailey Myer topped the team in steals with five against the Vikettes.

Bailey Myer and Becca Pennington were both selected to the all-tournament team, which was announced at the close of the game.

The other members of the team were  Hallie Christofferson and Ann Walker of Exira, Morgan Halverson of Martensdale-St. Mary’s and Newell-Fonda’s Susan Kies.

In summation here is a partial list of some of the accomplishments of the 2009-2010 Raiderette basketball team.  The 26 victories is the most ever recorded by a Mount Ayr girls basketball team.  Their 18-0 start was the best ever and this past week the Raiderettes won their first contest at a state tournament.  

They followed that with another victory and became the first Mount Ayr Community team to play for the state championship.  Bailey Myer and Becca Pennington are the first Raiderettes to be selected to the all-tournament team.  

The final game did not conclude the way the Raiderettes, coaches, and hundreds of fans would have liked, but that’s the way events happen sometimes.  The Raiderettes created lasting memories for themselves and hundreds of others who live in Raiderette Country.  These young ladies were outstanding representatives of the community as they played with heart, determination and class the entire season.  So, Raiderettes,  in the eyes of many, are champions. 

A buzzer beating shot after the ball traveled the lenghth of the court in just over four seconds brought to and end the season for the Mount Ayr Community Raiderettes as runners-up for the state title in Des Moines Friday night.

The Raiderettes tied the game 55-55 with four second left after it looked like they might lose straight away, but Exira was able to get the ball in bounds, passed down the court with Tiffany Wimer almost getting it stopped for the Raiderettes and to Exira star Hallie Christopherson, who's shot hit the iron as the buzzer was sounding and then fell threw.

That meant a 57-55 loss for the Raiderettes in the Class 1A championship game which was a battle all the way. The girls did about all they could possibly do in the battle against the number two ranked team in the state and came up just short.

Raiderettes Bailey Myer and Becca Pennington were named to the all-tournament team after the game and the girls brought home a beautiful trophy for a season that was a dream come true despite missing the championship title.

Dr. Peggy Whitson was presented an award at halftime of the game and was to speak at the breakfast for all the teams Saturday morning.

Watch for next week's Mount Ayr Record-News for details and pictures about the final two games of the big week at state. The Mount Ayr Record-News is also publishing a full-color commemorative edition about the season for the first Mount Ayr team to make it past the first round in state basketball action.

Call the Mount Ayr Record-News at 641-464-2440 if you would like to have a congratulatory message as part of the special issue, which will feature pictures, stories about the season, and information on each of the girls on the squad.

 Here's some information about the state girls Class 1A finals Friday night.

There will be a pep rally for the girls at 1:10 p.m. Friday afternoon to which the public is invited. School will be dismissed at 1:25 p.m. at the elementary school and 1:30 p.m. at the high school.

Tickets for the finals are not available at Mount Ayr Community high school like they were for earlier rounds. They can be purchased at the ticket offices at Wells Fargo Arena. The $8 tickets can be purchased on line at www.iowaeventscenter.com but a singe ticket there costs $14.60 after charges are added in. Checks are not accepted at Wells Fargo Arena.

The parade of participating teams will be held Friday night during halftime of the 2A championship game so the crowd may be extra large for the events Friday night. All the participating teams will be taking part in the parade of participating teams.

A team honors breakfast will be held on Saturday morning at 10 a.m. to which all the teams will go and this will be special for the Mount Ayr Community girls because Dr. Peggy Whitson will be the speaker.

There will be ways to watch the finals game Friday night on television and on the internet. The game will be broadcast on KCWI (the CW channel) beginning at 6 p.m. This is channel 9 on Mediacom 

For fans who live further away from the area, the Iowa High School Sports Network (IHSSN.com) offers video webcasts of the games. There is a charge for people who are not Iowa Telecom subscribers.

Area radio stations are also expected to carry the game.

The Mount Ayr Record-News will be publishing a special full-color commemorative edition of the season. Call 641-464-2440 to place your congratulatory ad for the edition.

 If winning the opening game in the state girls basketball tournament was ground-breaking, then winning the semifinal game against Martensdale-St. Mary's Wednesday night must be earth-shattering.

The Mount Ayr Community Raiderettes upset the only team that has defeated them this season in the semifinal round of the girls Class 1A state tournament  Wednesday by a score of 57-48.

Not only where the girls defeating the top ranked team in Class 1A, they were defeating the team that handed them second place in the Pride of Iowa conference in the only loss the girls have had this year.

The battle Wednesday night looked nothing like the earlier game in Mount Ayr where the inside play of Mackenzie Morrison was balanced with a three-point shooting attack that added 15 points to the score. The Raiderettes were able to hold Morrison to just 12 points and keep the Martensdale-St. Mary's outside threat without a three all night.

Bailey Myer poured in 22 points and Jensen Stewart had a big night with 18 points for the Raiderettes in the game.

A huge crowd of Mount Ayr fans helped cheer the girls on to the victory, which means that the Raiderettes will face Exira in the Class 1A finals in a game at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines at 6 p.m. Friday, March 5.

Watch next week's Mount Ayr Record-News for all the details of the game Wednesday and the state finals along with many pictures of the games. More pictures will be available on the internet page as well.

Mount Ayr Community came up a little short of making a trip to the state tournament as they lost to Ankeny Christian Academy 62-53 in the Valley of West Des Moines gymnasium on Saturday, Feb.  27.

This was the first appearance by a Raider basketball team in a sub-state game since Coaches Brad Rumple and Delwyn Showalter guided the 1986 squad to appearance against state-qualifier Woodward-Granger.  

“We defended them as well as we could, said coach Bret Ruggles. “We just needed to shoot the ball better, but we gave another great effort.”  

“It was good to see Malcom Mercer end his Raider career on such positive note,”  stated coach Ruggles.  “We will definitely miss him, but we have a lot of young men who got some valuable experience this season.” 

The Raiders finished the season with a 16-8 overall mark, but were 13-4 in their final 17 games of their season.

Malcom Mercer scored first to give the Raiders an early 2-0 lead, but it did not last long as Jason Cameron hit a long “three” and 6’ 5” Jay Snyder scored inside to put the Eagles ahead 5-2.  Malcom Mercer hit a “three” of his own and Tim Olejniczak hit from beyond the arc and Snyder scored again in close to keep the Raiders at bay.   Braydee Poore and  Jake Glendenning scored “two’s” and Matt Sobotka nailed a long ball and the Raiders were within two, 15-13 at the end of one quarter.  

Jason Cameron really made things difficult for the Raiders as they tried to help out inside on the big Snyder, the big forward hit two 23-footers to put the home team up eight.  Matt Sobotka was able to score five points, including another “three,” but Isaac Lopez scored along the baseline and Cameron and Olejniczak helped the Eagles go into the half-time break leading 31-25.

The Raiders did a great job limiting the Eagle field goal production in the second half, they just could not generate enough scoring by their own offense to overtake the bigger Ankeny team.  

Malcom Mercer added another “three” and Jake Glendenning scored twice in the third period.  Mercer’s bomb had pulled the Raiders to within three at 31-28, but Andy Harmsen joined the Eagle scorers and the pesky Olejniczak found the bottom of the net from long range putting the Eagles back up 41-33 heading into the last eight minutes of the game.  

Tim Olejniczak did most of the ball handling for the Eagles and drew several fouls in the final quarter. Ankeny Christian Academy would score 21 points in the final quarter with most of those coming at the free throw line.  Tim Olejniczak and Jay Snyder were nearly automatic in the closing minutes, dowsing any hopes the Raiders had of a miracle finish.  

The Raiders had a productive quarter themselves as Braydee Poore scored six points and Malcom Mercer five before they both went to the bench with five fouls.  David Showalter’s three-pointer cut the lead to 58-53 with 43 seconds left, but that would end the Raider scoring and Olejniczak and Snyder would make free throws to seal the Eagles’ state tournament berth.

Malcolm Mercer led the Raider scoring with 16 points and Braydee Poore and Matt Sobotka both added 10 against Ankeny Christian Academy.  

The Raiders shot 46 percent from the floor and made four of seven free throws.  The Eagles shot 48 percent from the field and made 69 percent of their 32 free throws.  Ankeny Christian was successful on 79 percent of their two-point tries against the Raiders.  Tim Olejniczak topped the Eagles with 24 points including 13-16 at the charity stripe.  Jay Snyder scored 13 points, Jason Cameron 12 and Andy Harmsen 10 for Ankeny Christian.    Colton Bolles did most of the board work as he had 13 rebounds and Malcom Mercer was the only other Raider with more than one as he pulled down two rebounds.  David Showalter led the team in assists with nine and Jake Glendenning and Braydee Poore each had two steals.

An exciting victory over North Sentral Kossuth in the first round of the state basketball tournament Monday afternoon means the Raiderettes will be playing again Wednesday, March 3, at 8 p.m. in the semifinal round of the tournament.

The Raiderettes defeated North Sentral Kossuth 54-45 in the first round game Monday afternoon. After a close first half where the Raidrettes trailed 23-22, the girls outcored the fifth-ranked NSK team 17-7 in the third period to make the difference in the game.

The girls had four players in double figures in an even attack and outrebounded the NSK team 41-32. A big difference in the game was that the NSK team had been hot in three-point shooting in the past but were held to four of 24 attempts against the Raiderettes.

More details of the game will be included in the Mount Ayr Record-News this week, along with photos from the game which will go up on the website.

The girls will play Martensdale-St. Mary's in a rematch of the conference championship game which the top-ranked M-SM team won.

The finals are set for Friday, March 5, at 6 p.m. at Wells Fargo Arena.if the Raiderettes win Wednesday.

Mount Ayr Community's Raider boys basketball team saw their season come to a close after a tough battle with Ankeny Christian Academy forbore a 62-53 loss in Des Moines Saturday night.

Tim Olejniczak was a player that the Raiders could not answer and he was able to score 24 points to lead the Eagles to the win over the Raiders.

The Raiders finished the season with a 16-8 record, reaching the furthest along the tournament trail they have since the mid 1970s.

Watch for more details in next week's Mount Ayr Record-News.

 It’s on to the Class 1A district finals for the Mount Ayr Community Raider boys basketball team.

The Raiders downed Lamoni 62-42 in Lamoni Tuesday night, avenging an earlier three-point loss this season, to reach the district finals.

On the other side of the bracket, Murray defeated Southeast Warren 73-64 to reach the district finals.

The game will be played tonight (Thursday, Feb. 25) at 7 p.m. at Interstate 35 in Truro.

In the opening game of the season for Murray, the Raiders won 79-60 back on November 30.

Both the Raiders and Murray come into the game with 15-7 season marks.

In the boys competition, the district champ meets another district champ in a substate game to qualify for the state tournament.

A victory over Murray tonight would send the boys to a substate game with the winner of the Ankeny Christian Academy and Grandview Park Baptist game at Valley High School of West Des Moines at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 27.

State play for the Raiders, if they make it that far, would begin Monday, March 8, at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

  First action for the Mount Ayr Community Raiderettes at the Class 1A state girls basketball tournament will come Monday, March 1, at 1 p.m. at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines when they face North Sentral Kossuth.

North Sentral Kossuth comes into the contest ranked fifth in the state while the Raiderettes are ranked eighth. North Sentral Kossuth has a 22-2 record coming into the state tournament, where only the top eight teams in the state qualify.

NSK’s 5’9” guard Rebekah Rolling led the team in scoring with a 19.4 point per game average. Kelsey Gerhart, another 5’9” guard has an 11 point per game average. Six foot center Amber Goraczkowski is the top rebounder on the team.

The team has two losses this season -- a 41-27 loss to Manson Northwest Webster and a 43-34 loss to Woden-Crystal Lake-Titonka. To make it to the state they defeated 10th ranked Mason City Newman 65-56.

The Raiderettes have a history in the state tournament, but this is only the second time in the five-player game period that the girls have made a trip to state.

The first trip in five-player ball was made in 1998 when the girls went to state with a 22-1 record. Their only loss that year came at the hands of Lenox, which was not part of the conference that the girls won the title in with a 14-0 record. The the girls were defeated by West Marshall in the first round of the tournament.

Members of that team, coached by Mark Larsen, included  Melissa Eighmy, Kristin McKern, Katie Routh, Brandie Shields, Rachel Derscheid, Jess Gepner, Annie Johnson, Tricia Routh, Amy Schlapia, Cara Smith, Debbie Stephens, Angie Shields and Jolene Frost.

Mount Ayr high school was one of 24 teams that took part in the first girls’ state tournament in 1920. Over the years several other county teams made it to state as well.

The last time a Mount Ayr team was at state in the six-on-six days was in 1966, when the squad had a 21-1 record heading to the tournament. That team lost to East Union during the season but then defeated East Union in the district championship. 

The girls lost to Ellwood in the first round of the state tournament that year.

Members of coach Jerry Horton’s squad then included Julia Haley, Diane Richards, Alice Minnick, JoEllen Hainline, Patti Stull, Sharon Long, Carla Riggs, Leola Minnick, Lynn Crawford, Linda Henry, Jeannie Jackson, Diane Dailey, Gay Nichols, Debbie Richards and Edith Minnick.

  It’s on to the Class 1Adistrict finals for the Mount Ayr Community Raider boys basketball team.

The Raiders downed Lamoni 62-42 in Lamoni Tuesday night, avenging an earlier three-point loss this season, to reach the district finals.

On the other side of the bracket, Murray defeated Southeast Warren to reach the district finals.

The game will be played tonight (Thursday, Feb. 25) at 7 p.m. at Interstate 35 in Truro.

In the opening game of the season for Murray, the Raiders won 79-60 back on November 30.

Both the Raiders and Murray come into the game with 15-7 season marks.

In the boys competition, the district champ meets another district champ in a substate game to qualify for the state tournament.

A victory over Murray tonight would send the boys to a substate game with the winner of the Ankeny Christian Academy and Grandview Park Baptist game at Valley High School of West Des Moines at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 27.

State play for the Raiders, if they make it that far, would begin Monday, March 8, at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

 Mount Ayr Community's Raiderettes battled back from a 15-point deficit to defeat Sidney 48-39 in Clarinda Monday night to advance to the state tournament for the first time in more than 10 years.

The girls will now play North Sentral Kossuth in the first round of the state tournament Monday, March 1, at 1 p.m. at  Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

Second round games are Wednesday, March 3, with the finals Friday, March 5 for Class 1A.

Watch for pictures and the complete story in this week's Mount Ayr Record-News.

Mount Ayr Community's Raiders defeated Orient-Macksburg 76-52 Thursday, Feb. 18, to advance in the Class 1A boys basketball tournament.

The are set to meet Lamoni Tuesday, Feb. 23, at 7 p.m. in Lamoni.

Diagonal was eliminated from the tournament when they lost to Lenox 74-37 in Lenox. 

Dylan Lame lost his wrestling title match 4-2 in double overtime to Caleb Wilkin of Nashua Plainfield at the state wrestling tournament Saturday and Cade Lambson finished sixth in the consolation finals Saturday.

Look more pictures and more details in the Mount Ayr Record-News this week.

Dylan Lame moved to the championship match and Caleb Lambson moved to the consolation bracket in wrestling Friday night in Des Moines.

Lame pinned Joe Koehn on Valley in :51 to move into the finals against Caleb Wilken of Nashua Plainfield Saturday night in Des Moines.

Lambson lost his semifinal round to Jordan Simon of Applington-Parkersburg in a wild 19-15 decision, then lost a 7-2 consolation round match to Al Horstman of West Hancock.

He will face Mitch Montgomery Lisbon Saturday afternoon in the consolation finals in the match for fifth place in the tournament. He beat Montgomery 10-4 earlier in the tournament.

Quarterfinal round

Caleb Lambson and Dylan Lame reached the semifinals of the state wrestling tournament Friday morning after defeating their opponents by decisions.

Cade Lambson at 215 pounds defeated fourth-ranked Mitch Montgomery of Lisbon on a 10-4 decision and Dylan Lame at heavyweight defeated Landon Worden of Belmond-Klemme 7-0 to advance to the semifinal round at 6:30 p.m. Friday night.

In the consolation bracket, Wes Pierschbacher at 130 was defeated 8-1 by Drew Proctor of Tipton to be eliminated from the tournament.

In Friday night's wrestling, Lambson will wrestle Jordan Simon of Applington-Parkersburg while Lame will take on Joe Koehn of Valley. A win would put them in the finals Saturday night. A loss would put them in the consolation rounds. Both are assured of at least an eighth place finish.

All three Raider wrestlers advanced from the first day of action in the Class 1A state wrestling meet at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines Thursday morning.          

At 130 pounds, Weston Pierchbacher was in the match until making a mistake and getting pinned by Caleb Smothers of Northwest Webster in 3:51 in his first match. In the first round consolation bracket he came back and pinned Josh Taylor of Akron-Westfield in 1:05. He advances to the consolation round at 9 a.m. Friday, Feb. 19, where he will face the loser of a match earlier in the day between Nelson Oviatt of Logan-Magnolia and Drew Proctor of Tipton.

At 215 pounds, Caleb Lambson was able to pin Max Wacha of Alburnet in 2:35 in his first match of the meet to advance in the championship bracket. In the second round, he will face fourth-ranked Mitch Montgomery of Lisbon, who also won by pin in his first round match in the quarter finals in the session Friday morning.

Heavyweight Dylan Lame made quick work of Dustin Schwaller of Okoboji with a pin in :51 in his opening match Thursday. He will advance to take on Landon Worden of Belmond Kelmme in the quarterfinal match in the session Friday morning as well.

Wins in the Friday morning session would advance the wrestlers to the Class 1A semifinals and third round consolation matches at 6:30 p.m. Friday night.

The consolation finals for third through eighth places will be held Saturday at noon and the finals are at 6 p.m. Saturday night.

Matches will be updated on the internet and next week’s Mount Ayr Record-News will give complete details.

After the first session, the Raiders were tied for fifth place in the team standings with 11 points.

First round wrestling for the three Mount Ayr Community Raider wrestlers who made the state tournament will be held today (Thursday) in a session beginning at 9 a.m. at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

Senior Weston Pierschbacher, who was the champion at 130 pounds at the district meet, will meet Caleb Smothers of Manson Northwest Webster in the first round.

Smothers, a sophomore, comes into the contest with a 31-16 record while Pierschbacher has a 30-12 mark for the season.

A win by Pierschbacher would put him in a second round match Friday morning in the 9 a.m. session against the winner of top ranked Derric Thomas of Mason City Newman and  third ranked Tanner Taylor of Okoboji. A loss by Pierschbacher would put him in a first round consolation match to be held later Thursday morning against the loser of that match.

First foe for Cade Lambson in the 215-pound class will be Max Wacha of Alburnet, a senior who comes into the tournament with a 34-6 record. Lambson, ranked third in the state, has a 35-4 mark so far this year, with two of those loses coming at the hands of Class 1A top-ranked Jon Meyers of Coon Rapids-Bayard and two at the hands of Class 2A second-ranked Marcus Streit of Harlan.

A win would match Lambson against the winner of the opening match between fourth-ranked Mitch Montgomery of Lisbon and Zach Cartensen of Southeast Webster in action Friday morning.

A loss would put him against the loser of that match in first round consolation action later this morning.

Raider heavyweight Dylan Lame, currently third ranked in the state, has a first round match with Dustin Schwaller of Okoboji, who is ranked second in the state.

Lame has a 31-3 record going into the match while Schwaller is 40-4. Schwaller was upset by number six Brendan Terwee of West Lyon in the Sioux Center district meet to come to state as a runner-up.

A win would match Lame against the winner of a match between ninth ranked Jacob LeClair of West Monona and Landon Wordon of Belmond-Klemme on Friday.

A loss would put Lame in the consolation first round action this morning against the loser of that match. 

The Class 1A quarterfinals and second round consolation matches will be held Friday, Feb. 19, at 9 a.m.

The Class 1A semifinals and third round consolation matches will be held Friday night at 6:30 p.m.

Consolation finals for third through eighth place will be held Saturday at noon. The finals will be held Saturday night at 6 p.m.

Mount Ayr Community's Raiderettes defeated Lamoni 45-39 Saturday, Feb. 20, in Mount Ayr in the Class 1A regional semifinal game.Mount Ayr Community's Raiderettes defeated Corning 43-38 in a game postponed to Saturday, Feb. 20, at in Mount Ayr in the regional semifinals.

The regional final game is set Monday, Feb. 22, at 7 p.m. in Clarinda against Sidney, which upset Stanton. A victory there would advance the girls to the state girls basketball tournament for the first time in 10 years.

See next week’s Record-News for details of the games.

 Three Mount Ayr Community Raider wrestlers will be appearing in the state wrestling tournament in Des Moines next week.

Advancing will be 130-pounder Weston Pierschbacher, 215-pounder Cade Lambson and heavyweight Dylan Lame. In addition the Raiders placed third as a team at the district meet held in Guthrie Center Saturday, Feb. 13.

Pierschbacher and Lame won district titles and Lambson finished second to number one ranked Jon Meyers of Coon Rapids Bayard.

The Raiders will wrestle in the first round of the Class 1A state tournament on Thursday, Feb. 18 at 9 a.m. at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

 Mount Ayr Community's Raiderettes handled Diagonal 75-45 in the first round of the Class 1A regional basketball tournament in Mount Ayr Thursday, Feb. 11 to advance in tournament play.

The Raiderettes will take on Lamoni in Mount Ayr Tuesday, Feb. 16, at 7 p.m. in the next round of the tournament. The winner Tuesday will take on the winner of the Corning-East Union game in Corning, also being played Tuesday night. The regional semifinal will be played Friday, Feb 19, at 7 p.m. in Mount Ayr.

Looking down the tournament trail, Bedford, Sidney, Stanton, Fremont-Mills and Essex are still alive in the other half of the regional that will lead to the regional title Monday, Feb. 22, at 7 p.m. in Clarinda.

There will be plenty of tough competition at the district wrestling meet in Guthrie Center at noon Saturday, Feb. 13, but there may not be a more contested weight class with state-ranked wrestlers than 215 pounds.

Mount Ayr Community’s Cade Lambson, ranked third in the state, may meet two other state-ranked wrestlers in Guthrie Center.

Lambson, who is 33-3 for the season, goes up against Christian VanSyoc of Griswold in the first round, the runner-up at the Coon Rapids-Bayard sectional. VanSyoc is ranked eighth in the state and brings a 35-5 record to the meet. The champion at the Coon Rapids-Bayard sectional is number one ranked Jon Meyers of Coon Rapids-Bayard, who has a 42-0 record so far this year.

Mount Ayr Community heavyweight Dylan Lame, ranked third in the state, will be taking on Miriam Free of East Sac County in the first round. Free comes into the meet with a 24-10 record while Lame is 29-3 so far this year. The other wrestler from the Coon-Rapids-Bayard sectional to be at district is champion Colton Greer of Coon Rapids-Bayard, who has a 17-9 record.

Brad Love, wrestling for the Raiders at 179 pounds with a 27-12 record so far this season, will face the Coon Rapids-Bayard champion Kaleb Reis of Coon Rapids-Bayard, who has a 37-6 record so far this year. Also qualifying is CR-B runner-up J. J Bierbaum of Griswold, who has a 23-11 record.

Weston Pierschbacher will be going up against Jacob Kapasta of Coon Rapids-Bayard in the first round at 130 pounds. Pierschbacher already has a win over eighth-rated Austin Christensen of Bedford-Lenox among his 28-12 record for the season. Kapasta has a 15-11 mark. Runner-up at Coon Rapids-Bayard was Trey Imermann of Guthrie Center, who comes to the match with a 30-18 mark.

 Four Mount Ayr Community Raider wrestlers qualified to advance to the district wrestling tournament set Saturday, Feb. 13 in Guthrie Center.

Cade Lambson at 215 and Dylan Lame at heavyweight both took first place while Weston Pierschbacher at 130 and Bradley Love at 189 took second place in action at the sectional tournament in Mount Ayr Saturday Feb. 6.

Interstate 35 took the team title with 199 points while Corning took second with 161.5 points.

Qualifiers from the sectional in Mount Ayr included:

103 -- 1. Christian Nook, Bedford/Lenox; 2. Justin Marn, Corning.

112 -- 1. Kole Stapes, Intestate 35; 2. Mikel Hilton, Corning.

119 -- 1. Kaleb Wessell, Nodaway Valley; 2. Taylor Brammer, Central Decatur.

125 -- 1. Jordan Johnson, Interstate 35; 2. Kevin Wessell, Nodaway Valley.

130 -- 1. Jake Winkler, Corning; 2. Weston Pierschbacher, Mount Ayr Community.

135 -- 1. Kolby Baier, Nodaway Valey; 2. Jared Smith, Bedford/Lenox.

140 -- 1. Dallas Houchins, Interstate 35; 2. Jesse McCann, Nodaway Valley.

145 -- 1. Carl Davis, Southeast Warren; 2. Connor Christensen, Central Decatur.

152 - 1. Tyler Ogburn, Corning; 2. Cody Schuman, Southeast Warren.

160 -- 1. Cody Morris, Bedford/Lenox; 2. Cory Schmelzer, Corning.

171 -- 1. Willie Lawrence, Bedford/ Lenox; 2. Grant Beck, Southeast Warren.

189 -- 1. Ethan Calvert, Interstaste 35; 1. Bradley Love, Mount Ayr Community.

215 -- 1. Cade Lambson, Mount Ayr Community; 2. Riley Shea, Central Decatur.

Heavyweight -- 1. Dylan Lame, Mount Ayr Community; 2. Matt Eads, Interstate 35.

See this week's Mount Ayr Record-News for more details.

  Mount Ayr Community will be hosting the sectional wrestling tournament Saturday beginning at noon at the high school gymnasium.

Wrestlers from Bedford/Lenox, Central Decatur, Corning, East Union, Interstate 35, Mount Ayr Community, Nodaway Valley and Southeast Warren will be taking part in the tournament here.

The top two placings in each weight class will advance from the sectional to the district wrestling tournament at Guthrie Center Saturday, Feb. 13.

The top two wrestlers from the sectional hosted in Coon Rapids will advance to the district as well.

Teams at the Coon Rapids sectional include Audubon, Coon Rapids-Bayard, East Sac County, Elk Horn-Kimballton, Griswold, Guthrie Center, Keumper Catholic and Panorama.

The top two placings at the district will advance to the state wrestling tournament in Des Moines.

 Mount Ayr Community and Diagonal Community girls basketball teams will open the Class 1A regional basketball tournament action Thursday, Feb. 11, at 7 p.m. in Mount Ayr.

The winner of the opening match moves on to play the Lamoni and Murray winner on Tuesday, Feb. 16, at 7 p.m. in Mount Ayr.

Mount Ayr Community will host the regional semifinal Friday, Feb. 19 at 7 p.m. and the regional final will be held in Clarinda Monday, Feb. 22, at 7 p.m.

The streak has reached 15 for the ninth rated Mount Ayr Community Raiderettes in girls basketball this past week.

The girls added conference wins over East Union 60-19, Corning 59-51 and Wayne 60-31 to run their season mark to 15-0 and their conference mark to 10-0 in a busy week of action.

Mount Ayr Commmunity 60, East Union 19

Mount Ayr Community defeated East Union 60-19 in Mount Ayr on January 19 for their 13th consecutive victory of the 2009-1010 season.  

“Our defense completely shut them down in the second half,” said coach Thad Streit.  “We still need to shoot better as we have some tough contests coming up and we can’t afford to miss easy shots and free throws.”

Becca Pennington and Jensen Stewart scored four each as the Raiderettes built a 12-2 first quarter lead.  

East Union had their best scoring quarter in the second period as they still trailed the home team 29-12 at the half. Megan Doubleday scored four points off the bench and Becca Pennington added six  to the Raiderettes first half total.

Jensen Stewart picked the Eagles pockets and scored six points as Mount Ayr Community increased the lead to 30 points in the third period.  Tiffany Wimer and Claire Andresen scored three each as Mount Ayr Community headed into the final quarter leading 45-15.  

Ashley Phelps scored eight points in the final quarter as the Raiderette reserves finished the rout by outscoring the visitors 15-4 in the final eight minutes.

Mount Ayr Communiy hit 39 percent from the floor and 54 percent of their 37 free throws against East Union.  East Union hit just 17 percent of their field goals and 39 percent of their free tosses.  

Britney Roseman led the Eagle scoring with seven points.  Becca Pennington tallied 12 and Jensen Stewart added 10 to led the Raiderettes. 

Ten of the twelve Raiderettes suited dented the scoring column against East Union.  Stewart and Wimer both had six steals andPennington led the squad in assists with four on Tuesday.  Wimer also led Mount Ayr in rebounds with sixboards on Tuesday.

Mount Ayr Community 59, Corning 51

The ninth rated Class 1A Mount Ayr Community Raiderettes defeated Corning 59-51 to raise their season mark to 14-0 on Thursday, January 21.  

“Corning is playing pretty well at this point in the season,” said coach Thad Streit.  “We were able to handle the test and came away with a satisfying victory.”

It looked like the Raiderettes were going to have a big scoring night as they established a 9-0 lead after just one minute of play.  Becca Pennington made two baskets, Claire Andresen two free throws, and Bailey Myer a 3-pointer to provide the early scoring.  Kelsey Roberts’ scoring helped pull the Corning squad back into contention at 16-10 at the end of the first quarter.  

Becca Pennington scored nine straight points for Mount Ayr Community as the Raiderettes held a 10 point lead throughout the second period.  Bailey Myer swished her second three-pointer of the night making the half-time margin 37-26 in favor of the Raiderettes.

Tessa Mullen scored six straight points as the visitors cut into the Raiderette lead in the third period.  Ella Akin banked in a two-pointer reducing the lead to 46-42 with a minute left in the quarter.  Jensen Stewart hit from beyond the arc boosting the lead to 49-42 heading into the final quarter.   

Kelsey Roberts kept the Red Raiderettes close in the final eight minutes.  A conventional three-point play by Jensen Stewart and free throws by Becca Pennington in the closing minutes  helped secure the eight-point win for Mount Ayr Community. 

The Raiderettes hit 34 percent from the floor and 55 percent from the line on Thursday.  The Red Raiderettes made 42 percent of their  field goals and 75 percent of their free throws.  

Becca Pennington scored 20 points for  Mount Ayr Community and Claire Andresen contributed 13 to the Raiderette output.  Kelsey Roberts scored 18 for Corning and Tess Mullen tallied 13 before fouling out in the final quarter.  Jensen Stewart led the Raiderettes in assists and Tiffany Wimer was the team leader in steals and rebounds.  Bailey Myer blocked two shots against the Red Raiderettes.  

Mount Ayr Community 60, Wayne 31

Mount Ayr Community remained atop of the Pride of Iowa conference by downing winless Wayne 60-31 on Friday, Jan. 22 in Mount Ayr.   

“We did not have our full line-up tonight and we were trying to rest some of our starters,” commented coach Thad Streit.  “We kind of played in spurts tonight.”

Jensen Stewart piled up 10 of her game high 19 points in the opening five minutes as the Raiderettes raced to a 17-2 lead.  The Lady Falcons cut the margin to 21-8 at the end of the first quarter.  

The Raiderettes outscored Wayne 12-9 in the second quarter to build a 33-17 half-time lead.

Six different Raiderettes found the scoring column in the third period led by Claire Andresen’s six points as Mount Ayr Community gradually increased their advantage.  Mount Ayr led 52-24 after three periods were completed.

Mount Ayr Community used their junior varsity lineup most of the final quarter.  Taylor Lynch, Taylor Still and Molly Budach all got in the scorebook in the last period.  The Raiderettes outscored the Lady Falcons 8-7 as the Raiderettes played several different combinations in the fourth quarter.

The  Raiderettes made 45 percent of their field goals, but only 10 of 28 free throws.  Wayne hit 40 percent from both the floor and the free throw line against the Raiderettes.  

Jensen Stewart scored 19 points to lead the Raiderettes and Hannah Lain led the Lady Falcons with 15.  Tiffany Wimer added 14 points and Claire Andresen 10 for Mount Ayr Community.  Stewartled the team in steals with eight and Wimer and Andresen both collected sixrebounds on Friday.  Bailey Myer was the assist leader with five against Wayne. 

Next action

The Raiderettes were to travel to Bedford Tuesday night go to Southeast Warren Friday, Jan. 29. Tuesday, Feb. 2, they host Nodaway Valley.

 Diagonal’s Maroons picked up their first victory of the season when they defeated Lineville-Clio 31-24 in the Bluegrass conference tournament Tuesday, Jan. 19.

The Diagonal boys moved their record to 1-11 and finished ninth in the conference with the big win.

Diagonal 31, Lineville-Clio 24

Diagonal’s Maroons picked up their first win of the season with a seven-point win over Lineville-Clio in the conference tournament battle for ninth place.

The Maroons fell behind quickly in a big Lineville first period, trailing 11-2. The Diagonal boys bounced back in the second period, however, to pull within one 13-12.

The Maroons held Lineville-Clio to three points for the second period in a row to take the lead 20-17 after three periods.

The Diagonal team then added four points to the margin in the final period by outscoring L-C 11-7.

Two Diagonal players made it to double figures -- Brett England with 14 points and Austin Steinbach with 10 points.

C. J. Steinbach led the rebounding by pulling down nine. Brett Enalnd was the assist leader with three, tied with Chad Starlin for the steal lead with three and tied with Tyler Becker for the steal lead with two.

The Maroons were able to pick up the win despite 19 percent shooting from the field. They were able to make half their foul shots for the night.

Next action

The Maroonettes were scheduled to play  Lenox Monday, Jan. 25 and Lamoni in a conference game on the road Tuesday, Jan. 26. Friday, Jan. 29, the team hosts Seymour for a conference matchup.

  A thrashing of Lenox and a nail-biter victory over Central Decatur kept the undefeated win streak alive for the Mount Ayr Community Raiderettes this past week.

The girls rolled over Lenox 62-22 in Mount Ayr Tuesday night, then eeked out a 43-42 win over always tough Central Decatur in Leon Friday night.

The girls are now 12-0 for the season 7-0 in the Pride of Iowa conference.

Mount Ayr Community 62, Lenox 22

Mount Ayr Community added win 11 with a 62-22 thrashing of the Lenox Tigers on January 12 on the Raiderettes home court. 

  “We finally got rolling in the third quarter,” stated coach Thad Streit.  “We have to get better on our foul shooting as it was not good on Tuesday.”

All five starters scored in the first quarter, but the Raiderettes held just a five-point advantage at the end of one period.   

The Raiderettes had seven girls dent the scoring column in the second period as the Raiderettes built their half-time advantage to 31-15.

Mount Ayr Community really cranked up the defense and the tempo of the game in the third quarter.  Becca Pennington scored 10 of her game high 20 points in the third period as the lead ballooned to 53-17 after 24 minutes. 

The Raiderettes allowed Lenox just one field goal and five free throws in the second half.  Reserves played most of the final quarter with Taylor Still scoring four points as Mount Ayr Community outscored Lenox 9-5 in the fourth period, making the final score 62-22.  

Becca Pennington scored 20 points and Tiffany Wimer also reached double figures scoring 15 points against the Tigers.  Katie Barker tallied nine points to top the Lenox quintet.   

Mount Ayr Community hit 49 percent from the floor and a paltry 17 percent of their free throws.  Mount Ayr Community held Lenox to just six field goals and a 17 percent shooting night on Tuesday.  The Tigers did hit 50 percent of their 14 free throws.  

Becca Pennington also led the team in assists and blocked shots and she and Bailey Myer both recorded four steals.  Tiffany Wimer was the leading rebounder with six boards against the Tigers.  

Mount Ayr Community 43, Central Decatur 42

Mount Ayr Community miraculously pulled out a 43-42 win over Central Decatur in Leon on Friday, January 15.  

“It has been awhile since a Raiderette basketball team has won a game in Cardinal Emporium  or whatever their gymnasium is called,”  said a hoarse, but excited coach Thad Streit.  “We did not win this game with great shooting or offensive finesse, but with a lot of hustle and intestinal fortitude by the whole Raiderette squad.”

Jensen Stewart, Tiffany Wimer and Claire Andresen scored getting the Raiderettes an early 10-2 lead.  Mount Ayr missed some easy shots and late baskets by the Cardinals cut the lead to 12-6 at the end of the first quarter.  

Mount Ayr Community struggled finding the hoop and hurried some shots in a cold second quarter.  Jenna Lincoln and Bailey Boswell helped bring Central Decatur to within two just before half-time.  The Raiderettes managed only Jensen’s field goal and Becca Pennington’s and Tiffany Wimer’s free throws during the entire second quarter.  The teams headed to the locker room with Mount Ayr Community holding a 17-15 lead.

The play in the third quarter was fast and intense as both teams caused turnovers and hurried shots as neither team could pull away and establish a lead.  Bailey Myer, Becca Pennington and Tiffany Wimer scored, but not many, as the Lady Cards outscored Mount Ayr Community 9-7 to knot the game at 24-24 after three quarters of play.  

Shyanne Masters nailed her second three-pointer of the game to stake the home team to a three-point lead at 27-24. Jensen Stewart and Tiffany Wimer scored to keep the Raiderettes close, but another basket by Jenna Lincoln kept Central Decatur in front 33-31 with a little over four minutes left in  the final stanza.  

Free throws by Tiffany Wimer and Becca Pennington got the lead back for the visitors at 34-33 with 3:50 on the clock.  Baskets by Lincoln  and Bailey Boswell gave Central Decatur a 39-35 lead and then a Raiderette turnover and an impossible two-pointer made by Boswell as she was falling to the floor made things worse as the margin grew to 41-35.  

Becca Pennington scored and a Bailey Myer steal and basket made it 41-39 with 40 seconds left.   the Raiderettes fouled and Central Decatur converted one free