Skip to main content
GIRLS HOOPS REVIEW: Okoboji (7-15, 5-11)

 

Okoboji’s girls basketball team got out to a slow start this season, winning just two of its first 13 games, but the Pioneers ended the year by winning five of their final nine, pushing their win total to seven. It was just the second time in the last 12 years the program hadn’t notched double digit wins.

 

KEY VICTORY

GIRLS HOOPS REVIEW: Harris-Lake Park (6-15, 4-6)

 

Despite playing without all-district hooper Payton Reimers, who suffered a knee injury before the season, Harris-Lake Park’s girls basketball program took another step forward under third-year head coach Jared Rahe. The Wolves finished the year with a 6-15 overall record and a 4-6 mark in the War Eagle Conference – their highest conference win total since 2018 — and earned a postseason victory for the second consecutive season.

 

KEY VICTORY

Spirit Lake boys win first-ever Class 2A team title in Ames

 

Spirit Lake’s boys track team lapped the competition at the 2024 Iowa Association of Track Coaches Indoor Championships held Friday, March 7 at Iowa State University in Ames. The Indians totaled 61 points on the day to win the Class 2A team title over runner-up Mediapolis — the first indoor state title in school history.

Okoboji boys place ninth at state indoor meet

 

Okoboji’s boys track team — which finished seventh in Class 2A at last year’s state meet — totaled 20 points to place ninth overall at the 2024 Iowa Association of Track Coaches Indoor Championships held Friday, March 7 at Iowa State University in Ames. The Pioneers earned three top-three finishes on the day.

Spirit Lake girls track places fifth at state indoor meet

 

Spirit Lake’s girls track team placed fifth at the 2024 Iowa Association of Track Coaches Indoor Championships held Friday, March 8 at Iowa State University in Ames. The Indians totaled 33.5 points on the day and earned five top-five placings.

Okoboji girls track competes at IATC Indoor Championships

 

Okoboji’s girls track team competed at the 2024 Iowa Association of Track Coaches Indoor Championships held Friday, March 8 at Iowa State University in Ames. The Pioneers earned two top-10 placings.

Bedell Barracuda swimmers have great showing at state meet

The Iowa YMCA State Championship Swim Meet was held on March 2-3 in Marshalltown, Iowa. The Bedell Barracuda Swim Team was well represented at the meet, boasting the biggest group of athletes in the history of the program. The team took home many medals, with five individuals claiming state championships.

BOLLUYT NAMED IFCA 2A REGIONAL COACH OF THE YEAR

Spirit Lake football head coach Josh Bolluyt was recently named the Class 2A Regional Coach of the Year by the Iowa Football Coaches Association. Bolluyt, in his 16th season as the Indians’ head coach, led Spirit Lake to a 10-2 overall record, a second consecutive district championship, and an appearance in the Class 2A semifinals last fall. It was the Indians’ fourth semifinal appearance under Bolluyt and first since winning their second state title in 2015.

 

Wetlands to be established on Okoboji View Wetland Complex

 

The final touches on the Okoboji View Wetland Complex, a major clean water project near the Okoboji View Golf Course across the road to the west of West Lake Okoboji, are scheduled for this spring with completion by the end of this coming June. The Natural Resources Commission approved the project at its January meeting.

Waiting for fishing

 

The period between the ice fishing season and the open water season this year is going to be a bit longer for anglers in some areas. Mild winter temperatures shut the ice fishing season down prematurely, and in those same places, open water fishing isn’t real feasible either, say in areas north of us in Minnesota and Wisconsin. There’s too much ice to put a boat in, and not enough ice to walk on. Additionally, some fishing seasons are closed.  

Time for spring fun

 

With the ice gone, our concern becomes the need for rainfall. At this point, strong winds and low humidity levels are raising the fire danger levels. Fires have broken out here and there across northwest Iowa, and there is a lot of praying for rain.

This is also the time to look at our lake levels. Big Spirit Lake is currently 11.4 inches below the spillway, while the Okoboji chain is 3 inches below the Lower Gar outlet.

Extremely dry February extends record drought conditions streak

February set multiple records for warm, dry conditions and minimal precipitation, according to the latest Water Summary Update.

February 2024 ranks among the top two warmest, top three driest and top five least snowy months on record. Overall winter temperatures also rank among the top five warmest recorded, with February showing a statewide average temperature more than 12 degrees above normal.

MAMMOTHS THREE-PEAT: Boji Mammoths high school hockey claims third straight state championship


After winning a second consecutive Iowa High School Hockey Alliance championship last season, the Boji Mammoths entered the 2023-24 season needing to rebuild. The departure of a large senior class — which included Pierce Hetland, Wes Radcliffe, Blake Danielson, Dillon Ferguson, Cale Quiring and Regan Crichton — accounted for 90% of the team’s offensive firepower, according to coach Brett Hetland.

What a weekend


What a weekend!

I kicked it off Friday with a trip to Sioux Falls for the 2024 Pheasants Forever National Pheasant Fest & Quail Classic at the Denny Sanford Premier Center and Convention Center. My wife went along to rendezvous with her sister, while I spent more than 3 hours taking in everything possible.

When fishing, patience isn’t a virtue


You’ve seen it before. Maybe even participated. A group has gathered and they’re talking about who-knows-what.  

Eventually the conversation turns to fishing, and, often, a non-fisherman in the group says that he doesn’t go fishing because he doesn’t have the patience to sit there and wait for a fish to come along. I think to myself of the successful anglers that I’ve fished with over the years.  Usually patience was not an attribute they possessed.  

Subscribe to Sports