New Hampton ended in the same spot in the Northeast Iowa Conference tourney over the weekend as it finished during the regular season, but it took a circuitous route to get them there.

Say this for the New Hampton football team Friday night: It responded to the first punch Clear Lake delivered.
But the Chickasaws didn’t have any answers for the rest. 

When Turkey Valley coach Sarah Bakula saw where freshman Jalyssa Blazek was two-thirds through the Upper Iowa Conference race, Bakula couldn’t help but smile.

As a freshman, Nolan Usher earned Northeast Iowa Conference honors by placing 12th at the NEIC meet. Then as a sophomore he moved up to 11th, then back down to 14th as a junior.

With the wet conditions at the Jackson Heights golf course, the Upper Iowa Conference cross country meet that was to be held at the Turkey Valley site will now be moved to North Fayette Valley.

When Sarah Bakula saw where her star freshman stood late in the race Tuesday afternoon, the Turkey Valley cross country coach had a good feeling.

When Jess Geerts walked into the Waverly-Shell Rock gym Tuesday, her team was already in the second set, after losing the first one 25-19.
As it turns out, there are more important things than volleyball. 

A dicey weather forecast for Friday night has led New Hampton and Nashua-Plainfield officials to move up the start of their high school football games.

Nashua-Plainfield didn’t get the win, yet one touchdown changed everything for the Huskies last Friday in a 38-16 loss to South Winneshiek.

The word coach Ethan Adams used after his Turkey Valley volleyball team dropped a 3-0 match to Upper Iowa Conference opponent Clayton Ridge Thursday was “streaky.”
“We lose our enthusiasm, we lose our fire on the court,” he said.

The New Hampton and Turkey Valley cross country teams finally enjoyed a “normal” week, and they capped it off with a shining run on a cold Saturday outing in Cresco.

After a loss to Central City, Turkey Valley couldn’t afford another defeat if they wanted to advance to the state playoffs in a wild card spot. 

The experiences, at least in the eyes of New Hampton volleyball coach Jess Geerts, more than made up for the Chickasaws’ first loss of the season on Saturday.

Turkey Valley recorded consecutive wins earlier this season, but this week marked the first time the Trojan volleyball program has two straight wins over different opponents.

Forget the 0-4 beginning to the season, or even the rather pedestrian start to Friday’s game, New Hampton’s football team will be playing for the Class 2A, District 3 lead next week.The Chickasaws, down 7-6 at halftime, played arguably its best ha