By: Nathan Bloechl — sports@kilj.com
July: Mount Pleasant Baseball Puts Eight on All-Conference List:
The Mount Pleasant baseball team had six 1st Team All-Conference selections as announced by the league today:
- P Nik Coble
- P Jaxon Hoyle
- INF Clayton Lowery
- OF Rylan Seberg
- OF Chase Williamson
- DH Brennen Bender
Shortstop Corbin Broeker was 2nd Team All-SEC choice, as well.
INF Jack Johnson and C Dalton Gardner were both Honorable Mention selections.
The Panthers finished this year 15-7 and conference champions of the Southeast Conference before falling in the Substate 5 semifinal to Davenport Assumption, 9-5.
July: IHSAA Announces Football Schedule Changes:
The Iowa High School Athletic Association has announced that there will be a revised schedule for the upcoming football season.
In the new revision, the Association announced this year will be a seven-week regular season with the option for teams to schedule five, six or seven games within that seven-week period.
As a result of the shortened year, all teams in all classes will qualify for the postseason — which will begin Friday, October 16th.
The first practice date (August 10th) and Week 1 game date (August 27th) have not changed. However, Weeks 1 and 2 will be optional game dates.
Mount Pleasant opened their season against Clear Creek-Amana.
July: Iowa Wesleyan Sees Football Season Move to Spring:
The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Council of Presidents and Chancellors decided to modify the schedule for conference competitions and championships for their high-risk sports, which were determined by the NCAA Sports Science Institute (SSI).
The Iowa Wesleyan Tiger Football team fell into this category.
The UMAC Council of Presidents and Chancellors voted to postpone the season for football until the spring.
August: Two Panthers Named All-SEC:
Mount Pleasant seniors Samantha Broeker and Sydni Coleman have both been named First Team All-SEC, the conference announced in August.
Coleman was the Panther ace this summer starting 14 games logging 90.1 innings and 4.11 ERA. Coleman struck out 41 and walked just 18 in her senior season.
She was also outstanding at the plate for Mount Pleasant hitting .328 with four home runs, driving in 14 runs. Her four long balls were the top on the ball club.
Broeker, a Simpson College commit, hit a team-best .463 at the plate this year with a team-high eight doubles and 12 RBI.
The Panthers finished this year with a record of 4-18.
August: Two Area Softballers Named All-State
The Iowa Girls Coaches Association has released their 2020 All-State Softball teams in August and two area players were recognized.
Winfield-Mount Union pitcher Madie Anderson was been named Class 1A Second Team All-State.
Anderson finished 18th in the state among all classes in strikeouts with 150.
The junior finished 7-5 in 12 starts, working 82 innings to the tune of a 0.51 ERA.
New London senior Layney Loyd was honored as Third-Team All-State selection in 1A.
Loyd finished her season hitting .273 with three doubles, one triple, one home run and 11 runs batted in, helping guide New London to a 9-7 record and one game from the state tournament.
September: Mount Pleasant Cancels Against Keokuk Due to COVID-19 Concerns:
The Mount Pleasant Panther football team cancelled their contest in September against Keokuk out of an abundance of caution regarding potential positive COVID-19 tests within the team, Director of Athletics Scott Lamm informed KILJ.
Parents and players were notified of the cancellation at about 11:30 a.m. on game day morning.
The Panthers were expected to travel to Keokuk for the Chiefs’ homecoming contest.
Mount Pleasant was 2-2 at the time of cancellation.
September: Mount Pleasant, Danville-New London Sweep 40th Annual MP XC Invite:
The Mount Pleasant Panther boys’ and girls’ cross country swept the Large Division titles, while Danville-New London rolled to the Small Division titles in September’s 40th Annual Mount Pleasant Cross Country Meet.
Starting with the boys’, Mount Pleasant’s Ben Carthey placed fifth — running 18:20.56 to pace the Panthers. Luke Ryon, Logan Lee and Nathan McWilliams all went top-10 as well, helping guide Mount Pleasant to the team championship.
Gabe Feldmann, Isaac Rynders and Gannon McNamee finished 14th, 15th, and 16th respectively, as well for Mitch Anderson’s group.
Mount Pleasant finished two points better than second place Fairfield to hold on for the team title.
Fort Madison finished third.
In Small Class boys’ top-ranked (2A) Danville-New London ran away — literally — from the competition as they rolled to yet another team championship.
The Bears had the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 7th, 8th and 10th place finishers overall, led by terrific junior Ty Carr who finished with a time of 16:47.72.
Alexander Julian, Oliver Sowell and Seth Bailey were 2-through-4 for Danville-New London, while Columbus’ Isaac Acosta finished fifth.
Columbus took second in the team standings, while Winfield-Mount Union took third.
On the girls’ side of things, Mount Pleasant’s Abby Blint ran 21:13.28 to take home an individual championship and help guide the Panthers to a team title, last night.
Cristina Carthey finished third (21:52.90) and Belle Meador took fourth (21:57.17) for Lyle Murray’s squad.
Elsie Lange also finished top-5 for the Panthers, running 22.35.99.
The Panthers finished with 37 team points, 18 better than that of second-place Fairfield.
In Small Class girls’, Danville-New London’s Addison Parrot won by nearly two minutes, running an absurd 19:29.68 to help guide the Tigers to the team title.
Carissa Mackey placed third for Danville-New London, running 21:44.18.
The Bears ended with the 6th, 8th and 15th total finishers as well, which helped cement their 20-point first place finish.