SIOUX CITY ― Starting three games in 24-hour weekend, Spencer traveled to Sioux City West, Friday night, ranked ninth overall, and scored the first of two 4-0 wins on the road. Addison Hoben had all four goals in the win, scoring two in each half. Ana Olson and Ingrid Olson were credited with assists in the win. Freshman Hannah Moser got win in goal with two saves while handing the Wolverine’s their seventh loss.

SPENCER AT SIOUX CITY WEST

SPENCER — Ranked No. 6, Spencer kept a clean sheet against struggling Sioux City West, at home, Friday, 7-0. The Tigers road Nolan McCusker’s hat trick for the win as the team improved to 6-2-1.

Jesse Kuehler, Spencer’s coach, said, “Lights out performance from the boys.

He added, “Defensively, we bunkered down early and gave them nothing towards goal all game.”

HULL — MOC-Floyd Valley ran away with the team title at the Western Christian Invitational, Friday, but Spencer’s AJ Stanley earned individual honors with the lowest score.

“The boys battled the elements well once again,” Tiger coach Marc Bruning said. “AJ Stanley was solid once again for us, earning the over all medallist. To shoot an even par 71 on that course with the wind and cold is quite a feat. He continues to be solid meet in and meet out.”

ESTHERVILLE ― Brent Trierweiler’s Rebel girls earned Sioux Center first place, going away with 139 team points at Estherville, Friday, The host Midgets were second with a 98.

While team scores were available, individual finishes were incomplete at press time.

The Rebels girls track and field will participate in the Girl’s Tomahawk Relays at 4:30 p.m., in Cherokee; before competing at the Ross Samuelson Relays at South Sioux Calhoun’s oval at 4:30 p.m., Friday.

LE MARS — Sioux Central found the going tough in Le Mars, Friday, as the girls shot a 212 overall to finish in the bottom half of the loaded field.

“The Rebels faced yet another cold day on the course …,” Sioux Central coach Jennifer Wittmaack. “The team faced off with opponents from the western part of the state who proved to be seasoned players.”

POCAHONTAS ― Sioux Central was nine points better than runner-up Bishop Garrigan at Pocahontas as the two teams dominated the competition at Pocahontas, Friday, winning with a score of 151. The victory was fueled by three relay firsts, and four individual top efforts.

Each week the Iowa Department of Natural Resources offers an update of the spring’s early bloomers. Spring wildflowers are early bloomers — you have to catch them at the right time to see them. Weekly wildflower bloom reports will be emailed to you through mid-May.

Spotting secretive wildflowers is a refreshing, unique spring activity for the whole family. Get outside this spring and see what you can find.

Spring weather arrived and with it, the annual spring cleaning and garden prep rituals going in backyards and acreages across Iowa.

Iowans who set out bird feeders and waterers are encouraged to include regular feeder cleaning as part of their annual to-do list, to avoid unintentionally spreading disease among birds that frequent these feeders.

Iowa Department of Natural Resources' fisheries biologists made their requests to the Spirit Lake Hatchery and Lake Rathbun Hatchery for their walleye fry allocation prior to the recent gillnetting. So, going into the gillnetting process, Kim Hawkins, Spirit Lake Hatchery manager, knew exactly what she needed.

A total of 51 million fry were requested, which meant 85 million eggs were needed with 650-700 ripe females and 250 males that needed to be brought in to the hatchery.

More and more anglers are hiring a guide to take them fishing. Some anglers don’t have a boat or are in between boats. Others want to learn a new tactic or learn about a new body of water.

Some just want to go fishing. Regardless of why you want to go fishing with a guide, there are several questions that you should ask when interviewing a guide to fish with.

For the third consecutive year, the top high school teams and the top junior teams in third to eighth grade converged on the Okoboji Chain of Lakes to compete at the SAF/TBF High School Bass Fishing Iowa State Championships, sponsored by the Iowa Great Lakes Fishing Club and Strike King. The numbers broke all previous records with 60 high school teams and 19 in the junior division.

SPIRIT LAKE ― Ahead of the Drake Relays, both Spencer teams used the Spirit Lake Meet, Tuesday, to give some athletes an opportunity to make their mark in different events, both squads placing fourth overall in the field.

“Thank God through Jesus Christ for such beautiful weather and the outstanding athletes from all schools that performed,” Tiger boys coach Wilson Hookfin said. “Again we had some ups and downs.”

STORM LAKE — Another day equals another Lakes Conference win as the Spencer girls swept their way to a 9-0 tennis win at Spirit Lake.

“Sometimes the score doesn’t represent the whole story,” Tiger coach Bob Schlaeger said. “We played well, but we need to continue the journey. We need to be able to stay focused, no matter who the competition is.”

SPENCER ― Three Spencer first half goals proved too big a mountain to climb as the host team claimed a 3-1 decision in a battle of ranked squads, defeating No. Sioux Center, in Spencer.

“We played some really great soccer, connecting passes and holding most of the possession,” said John Hansel, coach for No. 9 Spencer. “We would have liked to have been a little more efficient on offense with 22 shots and only three goals.

SPENCER AT ELC MEET

Monday, April 21 — Estherville

Team Scores

1. Spencer 393, 2. Algona 395, 3. Emmetsburg 417, 4. Estherville Lincoln Central 419, 5. Western Christian 458, 6. Spirit Lake 498.

Medalist: Morgan Irvine, Spencer, 85.

Runner-up: Calista Joyce, Emmetsburg, 87.

Spencer Golfers