Four Knoxville Sports Teams were in action on Thursday night.
Panther Soccer Squads Fall In Separate 2-0 Matches
Both soccer squads were in action at separate venues as the boys traveled to Carlisle while the girls were hosting the Wildcats at Randy Wilson Track and both were on the wrong end of 2-0 finals. The boys got down early 1-0 and thought they had tied the game at one, but the goal was disallowed due to an offsides call. Carlisle scored almost immediately and the Panthers were unable to recover. Coach Dylan Mick tells KNIA/KRLS Sports playing bigger schools and good teams in those upper classes will get his team prepared for the substate road at the end of the season.
Mick: “We have to seek out the best competition we can. We want to win the conference and have a winning record. Yes our goal is to have a winning record but we want to get to state and make some noise at state and the best way to do that is to play tough competition.”
The girls held the Wildcats scoreless until the 33:36 mark of the 2nd half when Carlisle put in its first goal, and then put the match out of reach with another goal with 2:04 left. Ella Breazeale had 19 saves. Coach Bethany Johnson told KNIA/KRLS Sports they played better in the 2nd match of the season then in the opener on Tuesday. Knoxville girls are 0-2 on the season and will travel to Pella Christian on Monday while the boys are also 0-2 and host Oskaloosa on Monday.
Heffron Sweeps Throws As Knoxville Girls Track And Field Places 8th At Clarke
The Girls Track and Field Squad went to the DeWitt Relays at Clarke and placed 8th scoring 42 points. The Panthers top performers were Ciara Heffron sweeping the throws, winning the shot put and discus. She threw the shot put 36 feet 9.5 inches while her best discus throw traveled 133 feet nine inches. Avery Pelong was able to come away with points scoring a 3rd in the shot at 30 feet nine inches and 4th in the discus at 91 feet four inches. Hannah Dunkin placed 3rd in the 400 with a time of 1:04.50.
Knoxville Boys Tennis Falls To North Polk 8-1
The Knoxville Boys Tennis Squad faced class 1A #4 ranked North Polk on Thursday night in the Panthers’ season opener and fell 8-1. The singles matches were played to ten while the doubles were played to eight. Doubles is where the Panthers found their lone win on the day with the team of Eli Bumgardner and Jacob Williamson, winning their match 8-4. Knoxville is off until next Thursday when the Panthers play their home opener at the Joel Tonda Tennis Courts against Centerville.