We are currently in the middle of our fall sports season and the Spartan’s sports teams are doing a great job of representing our school. The athletes wake up early and stay after school for practices, and the hard work is starting to show.

The Girls Swim Team is off to a very strong start and continues to dominate their competition with a season record of 5-0. They won the Cedar Rapids Kennedy Invite this past weekend with a score of 522, far ahead of second place, which was Johnston with a score of 461. Ali Staver, a senior on the team, said, “I think our team is doing great, however I think our team can improve on our times.” Staver said that some of the problems the team has might be from the head coach inconsistency, saying “I think the relationship between Coach Kissack and the girls need to be improved a little.” As for the end of the season, Staver hopes that, “everybody drops time” and that they “stay in that first or second place range at state.” The girls’ next dual meet is Sept. 27 against Davenport Central at home.

The Boys Varsity Golf Team competed in the MAC Championships this past weekend at the Kewanee Dunes Golf Course, finishing in fourth place. Ryan Brohm, a senior on the golf team, said, “we have definitely had our ups and downs this season. I believe our team could do well this season, though we have not quite performed to our expectations. Day two at MAC was a glimpse at what we know we are capable of.” Brohm sees the talent in the golf team and said that “people are overlooking us as a contender, but if we all play how we know we can, we can compete with the best.” The team is focusing on the District Meet at Palmer Hills on Oct. 3. and if the Spartans place in the top three at Districts, they will have the chance to compete in the State Tournament on Oct. 7 and 8 in Polk City.

The Girls Cross Country team is starting to show huge improvements, with the varsity team finishing fifth at the Heartland Classic in Ames, Iowa, and the JV team finishing first in the Geneseo Classic. Kaitlyn Evans, senior, stated “I think our season is going great so far. With three weeks left, many people have gotten the chance to shine, and that’s always been our goal. We’ve all been hitting PR’s and moving up pace groups, which means lots of improvement.” Evans said their ultimate goal is to take is to dominate MAC and Districts, and “the girls will be pushing harder than ever to take back our MAC title.” The team’s next meet will be the Muscatine Invite on Sept. 27.

The Boys Cross Country team is showing dominance this season as well, finishing in second place at the Pleasant Valley Spartan Challenge and in the Marshalltown Invite, as well as placing fifth in the Heartland Classic in Ames, Iowa. The team’s next meet will be the Muscatine Invite on Sept. 27.

The Girls Volleyball team is currently ranked first in the MAC with a record of 5-0, and an overall season record of 8-4. Their last dual meet was against Clinton, defeating them 3-2 (25-23, 25-19, 24-26, 19-25, 15-10). Rachel Tebbe, senior, said the season is going well. She stated, “We’ve won all our MAC games and made it to the championship bracket at both tournaments. Those both were two of our team goals we had.” Tebbe said that the team needs to improve their consistency, but said, “we are practicing hard and continually getting better.” Eventually, Tebbe said that the team wants to make it to State. Their next meet is on Sept. 27 against Davenport West at home.

The Spartan Football team currently has a season record of 1-4 and a district record of 0-1. Their last game was against Western Dubuque, falling 22-18. The team’s next game is the Homecoming game on Sept. 30 against Davenport West.

Everyone should come out to all the meets and sporting events to cheer on the Spartans, who continue to dominate the MAC. We’ll be seeing a lot more improvement from everybody and we can’t wait to see what the future has in store for the Spartans.