All-star meet
IOWA CITY — Kelsey Fields of Creston had one last chance to compete in her track and field specialties last weekend.
Fields represented the South team in the North-South All-Star Meet sponsored by the Iowa Association of Track Coaches at Iowa City West High School. She won the shot put competition with a throw of 39-9, and was fifth in the discus at 120-10. Like the Drake Relays, the events included competitors from all four high school classifications.
Soccer awards
The 2021 Hawkeye Ten all-conference awards for boys soccer were announced recently, and junior center midfielder Aiden Anderson of Creston was unanimously selected on the first team.
Panthers named to the all-conference second team were center midfielder Clayton Stafford and forward Brance Baker, both seniors. In addition, senior defender Britian Miller and senior midfielder Brodie Wallace received honorable mention.
In the girls soccer all-conference awards announced Wednesday, senior Madison McCoubrey of Creston was named to the second team. Sophomore Autumn Stafford and freshman Zoe Ralston received honorable mention.
All-American
Southwestern Community College softball player Kaitlyn Schad was named to the All-America fit team for National Junior College Athletic Association Division I softball.
The sophomore first baseman and catcher from Martensdale-St. Marys batted .488 this season with 12 home runs, 19 doubles, 83 RBIs, 48 runs scored and only nine strikeouts in 170 at-bats.
Coaching honor
The Iowa Association of Track Coaches has named Steve Birchard of Creston as the 2021 Assistant Track Coach of the Year for boys track and field.
The IATC voted on the award at its spring meeting Sunday.
“This is an honor that coach Birchard richly deserves!” said Panther head track coach Pat Schlapia. “He goes the extra mile for each and every one of our team members.”
Birchard has been involved in the high school or middle school track programs nearly every year since joining the Creston staff in 1992. For 17 years he served as co-coach with Schlapia. He previously coached track at Exira High School, and coached the sport for 32 years overall in the two districts.
Sundown Showdown
WAUKEE — Keaton Street of Creston placed first in his division and Kaden Street of Creston placed third in the 11th annual Waukee Wrestling Takedown Tournament Friday. The Showdown at Sundown was held under the lights at at the Waukee High School football field.
Academic awards
The Hawkeye Ten Conference academic award winners for spring sports have been announced. Those named are senior letterwinners who have attained a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher during their high school career.
Named from Creston girls track and field were Angelina Chuong, Paige Davis, Kelsey Fields, Peyton Rice, Molly Sickels and managers Braelyn Baker and Payton Luther. Honorees from girls tennis were Karly Calvin, Madeline Frey and Samantha Dunphy.
Creston academic award winners in girls golf are Rylie Driskell and Amiya Watkins. Boys golf award winners are Colby Burg and Cole Strider. Named in boys soccer were Britain Miller, Brance Baker, Clayton Stafford and Tyson Stuart.
Academic all-region
The Iowa Community College Athletic Conference announced the Academic All-Region performers for the 2021 spring sports seasons. (Championships in several sports were held in the spring because of COVID-19 restrictions earlier in the school year.)
First team members received a 3.4 grade point average or above, while second team members earned between a 3.0 and 3.49 GPA.
DMACC softball player Sara Keeler of Creston was named to the academic first team.
Southwestern first team members from baseball are Blake Murray, Carlos Muniz, Colby Page, Eric Desbois, Jake Ciafullo, Joel Sampson, Josiah Young, Kelvin Roman, Noah Carpenter, Noah Leist, TJ Swaney, Trey Rodriguez, Wil Courtney and Zach Beckmon. Second team in baseball are Anthony Comfort, Cole Dingee, Daniel Thiessen, Ernies Lozada, Giancarlos Figueroa, Jayden Williams, Jordan Graves, Julio Goncalves, Robert Quino and Tye Falkner.
Southwestern first team members in men’s basketball are AJ Lacabe, Chris Blair, Demetrius Johnson, Donzell Johnson and Emmanuel Nwaneri. Second team members are James Kelley, Jhonta Gonnigan, Justin Graham, Manyiel Ater Wugol, Nate Duckworth and Qushawn Wells.
First team members in women’s basketball are Alyssa Morris, Brielle Baker, Deja Brown, Jordan Richards, MIracle Allen and Whynter Waterhouse. Named to the second team was Kaylynn Tucker.
Men’s golf first team members are Ethan Brumbaugh, Harrison Galea, Lachlan Timms, Ryan Jarvis and Thomas Esterhuyse. Second team members are Hayden Green and Zayne Osborn.
Softball first team members are Ali Enright, Brylee Kemper, Grace Cotton, Hailey Chew, Heylee Shields, Jenna Parfeniuk, Jordan Redeker, Kaitlyn Schad, Kayla Jensen, Madeleine Shwaluk, Madison Orewiler, Paige Shwaluk and Sydnee McKinney.
Sports shooting team members on the first team are Cole Leuenberger, Jessica Kelley and Taylor Miller. Named to the second team were Cole Nelson, Grant Goering, Morgan Pierce and Tyllar Roesener.
Men’s track and field athletes on the first academic team are Benjamin Aliel, Hunter Arends, Justin Cunningham, Levi Detrick, Nyle Buchanan and Reuben Cooper. Second team members are Connor Eaton, Connor Koppa, Jacob French, Josh Baudler and Nicholas Mather. Fane Sauvakacolo of the women’s track team was named to the first team.
Volleyball team members on the first team are Allison Lillis, Brooke Halterman, Deniz Tuncer, Emma Hanson, Florence Omodayo, MaKenna Hudson and Vernae Ramoth. Named to the second team was Demi Paige.
— Compiled by Larry Peterson, contributing writer