SPENCER — On Monday, the Iowa High School Athletic Association released districts and groups for the 2023 Iowa high school football season.

Spencer will still be in the Class 4A-1 District. Spencer, Denison-Schleswig, Fort Dodge, Le Mars, Sioux City West and Storm Lake will make up the district. Webster City moves down to 3A and out of the district.

MacKenna Jones now has the third lowest ERA in NJCAA Division II after another active week in the circle for Iowa Lakes. Jones threw 35.1 innings as the Lakers played 12 games last week. In eight appearances she picked up five wins — the Lakers went 9-3. She gave up just three earned runs while allowing 36 baserunners. She struck out 47 batters to put her in the top five in the country. On the year she has pitched in 53.2 innings, a record of 7-0 and 90 strikeouts.

SIOUX CENTER — Spencer started its week with a trip to Dordt University to compete at their high school indoor meet. The night would be highlighted with three runner-up finishes from the Tigers. The 4x800-meter relay team of Van Munson, Noah Fullhart, Rylei Koppie and Sergio Tello clocked a time of 9:04.15, finishing second. Sam Hinkledey finished second in the 60-meter low hurdles, finishing with a time of 8.94. Kaleb Cline would have the final runner-up finish in the Shot Put competition.

SIOUX RAPIDS — Sioux Central’s Ethan Mills made his decision to continue his athletic and academic career at Dordt University to play football.

“I’m excited for Ethan to continue his career playing football at Dordt,” Sioux Central football coach Brandon Goodchild said. “He has been a great player and more importantly a great person in his time here at Sioux Central.”

Jeremiah Burke, the leading scorer for the Iowa Lakes Community College Lakers, has been named the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference Player of the Year. Burke, a sophomore from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, averaged 14.8 points and 9.8 rebounds per game. He leads the league in rebounds per game and total rebounds with 312.

Recently, Studio Y soloists competed in the Midwest Starz Regional Dance Competition with over 300 entries. Their results were as follows:

• Zarah Zahrt (above) — Teen jazz solo “Big Bad Wolf” received platinum rating, second in category, fifth overall teen solos and a Judge’s Award “Awesome Attack,” and teen contemporary solo “Wide Open” received platinum rating and second in category,

Troy Larson, head men's basketball coach for Iowa Lakes Community College, was selected by the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference as the 2023 Coach of the Year. He led the Laker men’s basketball team to their first regular season title since 2012-13 and their second Region XI Tournament title since 2020-21.

SIOUX RAPIDS — Tuesday, Sioux Central point guard Carter Boettcher signed his letter of intent to continue playing basketball at Northwestern University. He will head to Orange City this fall to become a Raider.

STORM LAKE — Friday’s meet at Buena Vista University was an exciting one for the Spencer Tiger girls track team. The team took the meet by storm, winning seven events at the competition.

STORM LAKE — The Sioux Central girls track team set a Buena Vista Elite Meet record on Saturday, clocking a time of 39.02 in the shuttle hurdle. The group of Ryleigh Waldstein, Brynn Webber, Berkley Johannsen and Preslie Peterson accomplished the feat for the Rebels. Peterson also grabbed a first place finish in the 60-meter hurdles, clocking a time of 9.94.

IOWA CITY — The Spencer Special Olympics recently traveled to Iowa City to compete in the Spring Classic. The competitions took place on March 10-11, competing in multiple events like basketball and cheerleading.

Larson named 2023 ICCAC Coach of the Year amid berth into the NJCAA Division II men’s basketball championship

STORM LAKE — Buena Vista University was the site for Tuesday's track meet. Spencer competed in their second meet of the year after competing at Iowa State March 10. Spencer would put on a display, winning multiple events with multiple runner-up finishes.

STORM LAKE — The Spencer girls kickstarted their season on Tuesday at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake. Competing against Lakes Conference competition plus two more added teams in Okoboji and MOC-Floyd Valley. The Tigers took home first place in three events. Team scores were also not recorded at the event.

4 Iowa Lakes men’s basketball players earn postseason honors