On the first good weather night in a couple weeks for Knoxville, Panther sports squads took full advantage.
Boys Golf Wins Moravia Meet
The boys golf squad won the Moravia Invitational with Evan Smith winning individual medalist with a 74. Beau Leisure and Carson Uitermarkt tied for third with 79s. The Panthers head back to Moravia for another 18 hole meet on Thursday.
Girls Tennis Wins In Grinnell, Boys Fall To Centerville
The Panther tennis squads played separate opponents on Tuesday as the boys fell to Centerville at the Joel Tonda Tennis Courts 7-2. Grant Liston won in singles and then teamed up with Joe Ferguson in doubles to give Knoxville its only other win on the night. The girls ventured to Grinnell and came back with a 6-5 win over the Tigers. Olivia Maasdam, Janie Maasdam, and Riley Dailey all won singles. The Panthers had to win three doubles matches including #5 doubles from the team of Dani Johnston and Abby Reida. Both Panthers will take on Albia on Thursday.
Girls Track and Field Gets 3 Golds At Chariton, Boys Come Back With Hardware From EBF
The Knoxville Girls Track and Field Squad brought back three gold medals from Chariton on Tuesday. Natalie Collins won the 3000 in a time of 12:14.58 while Ciara Heffron was first in the discus with a throw at 107 feet seven inches and Ashlyn Finarty tuned up for Thursday’s Drake Relays by winning the shot put with a toss of 34 feet one inch. Finarty tells KNIA/KRLS Sports she credits new throws coach Doug Bacon for her improved form that she learned in the offseason.
Finarty “He has helped a good amount. I went from throwing about 37 last year to 39 this year. I knew the form but I wasn’t comfortable with it, and he gave me the bits and pieces to be comfortable with.”
Listen for a full interview with Finarty on this week’s Radio Sports which airs tonight at 6:00 or Thursday at 10:00 on KNIA/KRLS. The boys were at Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont and placed 3rd. Kaiden Smith won the high jump with a leap of six feet 2 1/2 inches, while Kaden Curry was second in the 800 with a personal record time of 2:05.88. Seth Walraven won the 1600 in a time of 4:49.28 while T.J. Dejong took top honors in the 100 and placed 2nd in the 200, 400 and long jump among the top finishers.
Panther Soccer Squads Double Blank Conference Opponents
It was a double Panther win over different South Central Conference opponents on the pitches Tuesday night as the girls shut out Centerville 3-0. Goals from Charlye Willis, Taylor Jones, and Emily Dean with two assists by Hanna Linsley and one by Janae Baker. Meanwhile at Randy Wilson Track, the boys controlled the entire match and blanked Albia 4-0. Andrew Jackson, Tyler Kearney, Emmett Schmidt, and Bryce Mateer all had goals. The boys will host Grinnell on Friday while the girls will take on Centerville on Tuesday.