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Outdoors: Checking out our feathered friends

This time of year is such an awesome one. It is kind of a transition between summer and fall. We get some really nice 70-degree temperatures, but we also get some upper 80- to 90-degree temperatures, too. Corn fields are beginning to show some spots of brown, the prairies are beginning to change and garden produce becomes more and more abundant. The early teal season, along with the dove season have begun, as well as the squirrel and cottontail seasons.

MOREY LEADS FIELD

SPIRIT LAKE — After Spencer’s opening home cross-country meet was canceled due to heat last week, the Tiger boys and girls participated in their first meet of the season hosted by Spirit Lake at Brooks Golf Course.

Tiger junior Peyton Morey picked up right where she left off in regional competition last year, recording her first win of the year, in 21:06.20, leading from start-to-finish. She defeated second place finisher Grace Woodall, of Cherokee, by just over 34 seconds.

Rebels fall to Pokey

SIOUX RAPIDS — Pocahontas Area did what it had to do to edge host Sioux Central in games one and two, scoring 29-27 and 25-21 victories in tight sets, before convincingly completing the three game sweep, 25-16, Tuesday.

Sophomore Reata Ayers facilitated the Rebel attack with 11 assists to her credit. Senior Preslie Peterson finished the night with a team high seven kills, while teammates Morgan Christian and Vivi Orenday added 12 digs and two blocks respectively.

Spencer ladies rally to down Orabs

Tuesday night, the Spencer volleyball team dropped a pair of matches in straight sets before downing Sheldon, 2-1, at the MOC-FV Tournament. The Tigers fell to the host Lady Dutch and Sergeant Bluff-Luton.

“The girls battled against some really tough teams at the MOC-FV tournament,” head coach Tara Hauschen said. “… We definitely learned a lot and continue to build from all of these early season tournaments.”

Swimmers earn top 10 placements

Traveling to Sioux City Tuesday night, the Spender girls swim team competed against against Sioux Metro and Council Bluffs-Abraham Lincoln in a non-scored pentathlon where most athletes swim in all the events. Spencer’s Brooklyn Ferguson placed among the top 10 in all four events, finishing runner-up to SCM’s Natalie Patee in the 50-yard freestyle by less than six-tenths of a second.

Swimmers Lily Gross and Emily Quanbeck would crack the top 10 in three events.

ILCC women fall in 5

The Iowa Lakes volleyball team battled for five sets against Southwestern Community College, falling in the fifth 12-15. It was a back-and-forth night with the Spartans taking sets one, three and five and the Lakers taking sets two and four.

Lakers extend streak over Iowa Central

A 2-0 victory over Iowa Central extended the Iowa Lakes men’s soccer squad’s winning streak to 4-0, Wednesday.

Freshman Ian Campbell scored his fourth goal of his season just four minutes into his first start of the season off an assist from freshman Jeppe Toft-Hansen, who also impressed in his first start of the season.

CRAMP FEST

Field goals, turnovers and one offensive drive decided Friday night’s season opener for Spencer on the road at top 10 ranked Humboldt. The Tigers would fall 20-3 to kick off the 2023 campaign.

Spencer Girls Swimming Meet Preview

Tuesday, 4:30 p.m. — at Sioux City West

Opponents: Sioux City Metro and Abraham Lincoln.

Coach Amie Lawrence on who to watch: “This meet is a pentathlon, where many swimmers will compete in each stroke event and the individual medley. We are looking forward to seeing our swimmers swim each stroke to see improvements from last year.”

Coach Lawrence on opponents: “We expect to see strong swimmers from both teams at this meet.

Spencer Cross-Country Preview

Spirit Lake Invitational — Tuesday, 5 p.m. — Brooks Golf Course

Opponents: Cherokee, Estherville Lincoln Central, Sheldon, MOC-FV, Spencer, Storm Lake, PAC and Spirit Lake.

Rebels even series with Wolverines

SIOUX RAPIDS — Coming into Friday’s season opener against South O’Brien, Sioux Central trailed the team’s series 7-6. The Rebels evened things with a 20-point second half for a 20-9 home win.

Lakers fall to 0-9

ANOKA, Minn. — The Iowa Lakes Lakers had another tough weekend at Anoka-Ramsey Community College, falling 3-1 to Alexandria Technical and Community College; 3-1 to Ridgewater College; 3-0 to Minnesota North College-Mesabi Range; and 3-0 to Century College.

"There was loads of improvements from our last weekend,” ILCC coach Nick Erdman said. “The team is figuring out where they need to be on defense to find success, attacking on serve and mixing up their shots on offense.

Iowa Lakes downs Casper in home opener

The Iowa Lakes Lakers men’s soccer team hosted Casper College, from Wyoming, on Saturday at home, scoring a 1-0 win for Iowa Lakes. The Lakers came out hot, dominating possession with moments of intelligent ball movement. Philmour Virgo found Gabriel Miranda with a brilliant pass to get him into the box, where he sent his defender sliding off the pitch to cut back and rifle his shot into the near top corner.

Outdoors: DNR State Forest Nursery seedling orders start Sept. 1

The DNR State Forest Nursery is gearing up for fall 2023 and spring 2024 seedling orders.

Seedlings can be ordered Sept. 1 to May 30. The bare-root (no container, soil root ball or moss included) seedlings are packaged in bundles of 25 inside sealed and labeled plastic bags.

Outdoors: Stay on the move for more bluegills

It seems to happen every year about the time the Iowa State Fair comes around! The bluegill bite, which has been so consistent for the past couple of months on West Okoboji, always seems to change. It seems like from mid-August until mid- to late-September, the bluegills are deep and on the move!

Outdoors: Get ready to catch crappies

As the summer winds down and fall begins, anglers should start thinking about some fall fishing strategies. Fishing opportunities for a wide variety of fish are abundant in the fall across North America.

In many areas, crappies are the primary target. Crappies are fun to catch and they’re great on the table. If you keep a couple of ideas in mind you should be able to have outstanding crappie action until ice covers the lake.

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