High School Sports

Two of the Spencer girls swim team’s three state qualifying events improved on their seeding Friday and Saturday during the IGHSAU State Swimming and Diving Meet held at the Marshalltown YMCA-YWCA. Emma VerSteeg got things started for the Tigers, swimming in Friday night’s preliminary individual events...

Spirit Lake's Kourtney Delperdang, after wrapping her high school cross country career with a fourth trip to the state meet, made an encore appearance Saturday at the Iowa Track Coaches Association (IATC) Senior All-Star 5K. Delperdang placed seventh individually and helped the West squad to a two-point victory. She finished in 19 minutes, 8.4 seconds...

Area runners took on the state's best this past Saturday at the 2018 Iowa High School Cross Country Championships held at Kennedy Park in Fort Dodge. Dickinson County sent three individuals and one team to the state meet. Spirit Lake senior Kourtney Delperdang's high school cross country career came to an end Saturday. The four-time state meet qualifier placed 18th in the Class 3A girls race, just missing out on the podium...

Spirit Lake's playoff run was short-lived, as the seventh-ranked Indians suffered a 35-7 road loss to second-ranked Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley Friday in the opening round of Class 2A play. The Indians got out to a nice start on the game's opening drive but, after a missed field goal, struggled to move the ball against the stout BH/RV defense. The Nighthawks held the previously potent Indians offense to just 204 total yards...

Harris-Lake Park entered Thursday's semifinal match with Gehlen Catholic on an 11-match win streak, but the second-ranked Jays snapped the streak and ended the 12th-ranked Wolves' season with a 3-0 victory in Marcus. The Wolves fell behind early but battled all the way back to make it a close contest in the opening set. However, Gehlen pulled ahead to win 25-23 before winning set two (25-15) and set three (25-15) decisively...

Spirit Lake came up one win short of a state tournament trip, as the 14th-ranked Indians fell 3-0 to third-ranked MOC-Floyd Valley in Monday's Class 3A regional championship in Sheldon. The Indians played the Dutch close in the opening set before falling 25-23. MOC-Floyd Valley took control of the contest with a 25-14 win in the second set and finished the night with a 25-21 win in set three...

Spencer’s girls took on regional competition at Fort Dodge High School Saturday, swimming with the opportunity to take part in this coming weekend’s state meet in Marshalltown. The Tigers had three events qualify for a trip to Marshalltown with Emma VerSteeg making it individually in the 100-yard backstroke as well as on relay teams with Brooke Moser, NancyLynn Maris and Haley Harms, qualifying in the 200-yard medley relay and 200-yard freestyle relay...

Several area runners punched their tickets to Fort Dodge this past week, as three individuals and two teams will compete at the state cross country meet on Saturday. Spirit Lake's Kourtney Delperdang will cap her stellar career with a fourth straight trip to compete in Class 3A, while Okoboji freshmen Lexi Duffy and Leah Sorenson will compete for the first time at Lakeside Golf Course. They, along with the entire Okoboji boys team, will run in the Class 2A race...

Spirit Lake junior Gavin Harms raced 67 yards for a score early Friday night, giving the Indians a lead that they would not relinquish in the regular season finale against Garner-Hayfield-Ventura. Harms finished with 134 yards on 11 carries. He also caught three passes for 57 yards and an additional score. The Indians walloped the Cardinals 50-20 in Spirit Lake...

Harris-Lake Park is looking to the future after a 58-28 loss to Kingsley-Pierson in Friday's season finale. The Wolves, who return all but one player next year, showed promise in the final game of the season after suffering four straight losses in the middle part of the year...

Okoboji, as it has all season, struggled to run the ball while falling behind by three scores to MOC-Floyd Valley Friday. With nothing to lose in the season finale, the Pioneers decided to abandon the run in the second half and pulled within 12, but the success was unsustainable, as the Dutch, buoyed by running back Gage Fisher, pulled ahead for a 55-21 victory...

The 14th-ranked Indians took care of business Wednesday evening, as Spirit Lake defeated Estherville Lincoln Central in straight sets in the opening round of regional tournament play. The Indians defeated the Midgets 25-20, 25-13 and 25-22 to advance to the semifinals...

Okoboji's volleyball season came to a close Wednesday, as the Pioneers fell to third-ranked MOC-Floyd Valley in straight sets to open regional tournament play. The Dutch defeated Okoboji 25-9, 25-8 and 25-11 in Orange City. "We had a great effort all around, but unforced errors and not being able to put the ball down for kills is what hurt us," Okoboji coach Ashley Linquist said...

The regular season came to a close Thursday night at the Algona Family YMCA for the Spencer Tigers as they bested the Algona Bulldogs in a dual 94-77. Spencer’s regional meet comes Saturday, Oct. 27, at Fort Dodge High School where the Tigers will compete for a chance to swim at the state meet to be held at the Marshalltown YMCA-YWCA the following Saturday. The top 24 times from across the state in each event during regional meets will advance to state...

A back-and-forth battle ended in an Indians' victory Tuesday night, as 14th-ranked Spirit Lake picked up a five-set victory over unranked Algona in the semifinal round of the Class 3A Region 1 tournament. The Indians fell behind 1-0 with a 25-18 loss in the opening set, but bounced back to win set two (27-25) and three (25-8) to take a 2-1 advantage. ...

The 12th-ranked Harris-Lake Park volleyball team advanced to the semifinals of the Class 1A Region 1 tournament with a 3-0 win over Clay Central-Everly on Monday. The Wolves downed the Mavericks 25-13, 25-20 and 25-12 in Lake Park. Taylor Meyer led the way with 16 kills. She also had six digs, three assists, a block and two aces...

The Spencer girls swim team celebrated senior night Tuesday at the Spencer Family YMCA, hosting Storm Lake and Sioux City Metro in double dual action. The Tigers bested the Tornadoes once again this year by a score of 66-27 while falling to Metro 55-39...

After losing leader Abdulla Elbuytari to a knee injury in the fourth week of the football season, Harris-Lake Park suffered four straight losses following a 2-1 start to the year. The Wolves snapped that streak Friday with a dominant 59-6 road win over Clay Central-Everly...

Okoboji dropped the ball — literally and figuratively — Friday night in a 33-14 home loss to Sheldon. Coach Jon Allen said the Pioneers dropped multiple touchdown passes and struggled with penalties in their final home game of the year. "Our hands failed us in some pretty big moments," Coach Allen said. ...

A last-minute score by Algona was enough to push the third-ranked Bulldogs past eighth-ranked Spirit Lake Friday in a back-and-forth battle between two of the top teams in Class 2A District 2. After trailing 24-10 through three quarters, the Indians connected on a pair of scoring drives to knot the game at 24-24 with 2:55 remaining in the final stanza...

The fifteenth-ranked (1A) Harris-Lake Park volleyball squad picked up a pair of War Eagle Conference wins on Thursday to wrap the regular season. The Wolves swept Clay Central-Everly and Remsen St. Mary's in a conference triangular in Lake Park. "We finished the conference season with two home wins, which was a really good feeling for the team," Harris-Lake Park coach Daryl Meyer said. "Starting at 5 p.m. ...

The Okoboji volleyball team wrapped its regular season with a 3-0 loss to Central Lyon on Thursday. The Pioneers fell 25-23, 25-12 and 25-13 to the Lions. "We played very well the first set," Okoboji coach Ashley Linquist said. "We were point-for-point with them. ...

Okoboji cross country runners earned five medals at the Siouxland Conference meet held Thursday in Sibley. Lexi Duffy, Leah Sorensen and two-time conference champion Magan Christopherson each medaled for the girls team. Ethan Albright and Jacob Lamb earned medalist honors for the boys team...

The Harris-Lake Park boys cross country team ran well at the War Eagle Conference meet held Friday at Orange City. Jaden Rueter medaled with his 12th-place time of 18 minutes, 55 seconds. Cole Ihnen placed 32nd in 20:22. Matt Stone placed 43rd in 21:02 in the field of 80 runners...

The Spirit Lake volleyball team ended its regular season slate with a road win Thursday over Jackson County Central. The Indians defeated the Huskies in four sets. Spirit Lake took the first two sets, winning 25-13 and 25-17. Jackson County Central bounced back with a 25-23 win in set three, but the Indians capped the night with a 25-20 win in the fourth set...

Editor's Note: This is the ninth and final installment of a weekly series previewing prep football in Dickinson County. And then there was one. Just one game remains in the football regular season and Dickinson County teams are still battling — albeit for different reasons. ...

Harris-Lake Park battled through some adversity to advance in the volleyball postseason with a 3-1 win over George-Little Rock Thursday in Lake Park. The 12th-ranked (1A) Wolves won 27-25 in set one, but fell 25-23 in set two to knot the contest at 1-1. From there, though, Harris-Lake Park maintained a slight advantage, outscoring the Mustangs 25-21 in set three and 25-20 in set four to salt away the regional tournament victory...