The Knoxville Cross Country Squads head to Oskaloosa for a meet today. The Panthers will likely see many of the same teams they saw last Tuesday at Grinnell where the girls placed 9th and the boys were 8th led by Isaac Rankin with a 9th place finish. Boys Coach Micheal Splavec tells KNIA/KRLS Sports is looking for better times against a strong field of teams as the season nears the halfway point.

Splavec: “We’re building for the season. Times weren’t bad but we know they can be better, and we’ll see some of the same teams we saw at Grinnell in Oskaloosa on Tuesday So we need to be ready to go and see what we’ve done to improve from last week.”

Meanwhile, back in Knoxville it will be a battle with two ranked volleyball squads as class 4A #14 Knoxville will host class 2A #3 Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont. The Rockets suffered their first losses of the season going 1-3 at the Southeast Polk Invitational over the weekend, but were very competitive against the likes of West Des Moines Valley ,Waukee Northwest and North Polk, all ranked in the latest Iowa High School Girls Athletic Union poll. Panthers Junior Middle Hitter Ella Breazeale tells KNIA/KRLS Sports she has been focusing on hitting her spots on the court and being ready to step up to make a play.

Breazeale: “I think this week I’m focusing on being a shot maker. Also watching video and seeing what shots I can make against Eddyville and just paying attention to the details.”

Cross country is set to get underway at 5:00 first serve for volleyball is set for 7:00 at Knoxville High School Gym.