Drake Announces Cancellation of Summer Camps:
Due to the global COVID-19 outbreak and continued guidance from Polk County officials to restrict events of more than 10 people, Drake Athletics has canceled all summer youth sports camps and clinics scheduled to be hosted on the Drake University campus this summer.
Individual programs may elect to conduct virtual, off-campus or satellite camps and clinics this summer pending availability and scheduling.
For more information on those potential alternative camps and other Drake Athletics summer sport camps, please visit each camp’s website or contact the respective Drake athletics staff member.
Iowa’s Williams Names to All-American Team:
University of Iowa first baseman Peyton Williams has been named a Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American, it was announced Tuesday by the publication.
Williams is the eighth player under head coach Rick Heller to earn All-America distinction and the first freshman to be honored since Ben Norman and Kyle Shimp in 2017.
The Johnston, Iowa, native started all 15 games in 2020, hitting .298 with 16 RBIs, 13 runs, and seven extra base hits (two home runs, four doubles, one triple). His 16 RBIs tied for fifth in the Big Ten and were the most by a league freshman.
Williams finished the season on an 11-game hitting streak and he hit safely in 13 games with four multi-hit contests.
Iowa finished the shortened 2020 season with a 10-5 record with three victories over ranked opponents – No. 18 Arizona, No. 20 North Carolina, and No. 14 Duke.
Former Cyclone Coach Passes Away:
Former Iowa State head football coach Johnny Majors, the man responsible for turning around ISU football and leading it to its first-ever bowl game, has died. He was 85 years old.
At the age of 33, Majors was hired to take over the Iowa State football program prior to the 1968 season. Majors faced a giant rebuilding project, as the Cyclones were a combined 4-15-1 the two seasons prior to his arrival.
In his third season (1970), the Cyclones made progress, recording a 5-6 mark, setting up a breakout season in 1971.
Majors improved the Cyclone recruiting efforts yearly in his tenure in Ames, and behind four All-Americans and many future NFL players, the Cyclones had the talent to compete in the rugged Big Eight Conference heading into the 1971 campaign.
Iowa State raced out to a 5-1 mark and ended the season at 8-3, securing a bid to the Sun Bowl, the school’s first-ever postseason appearance.
Led by All-American George Amundson, who rushed for a then-school-record 1,260 yards, the Cyclones scored 40 or more points five times during the year, including a 54-0 thrashing of Oklahoma State, the largest winning margin vs. a conference opponent in school history at the time.
In Majors’ final season in 1972, the Cyclones made it to their second-straight bowl game by participating in the Liberty Bowl, finishing the season with a 5-6-1 mark. One of the highlights of the season was a 23-23 tie vs. No. 3 Nebraska in Clyde Williams Field, ending the Cornhuskers’ 24-game winning streak vs. league opponents.
Majors announced his resignation following the Liberty Bowl contest vs. Georgia Tech to take over the head coaching duties at Pittsburgh.
Majors ended his five-year coaching tenure at Iowa State with a 24-30-1 record. He coached 12 Cyclones who earned first-team all-Big Eight honors, including Amundson, who was the Big Eight Player-of-the-Year in 1972 and the school’s highest NFL draft pick (No. 14 in 1973).
