Jeff Linder

State cross country, Class 2A: Tipton’s Noelle Steines captured her fourth championship and the Mid-Prairie girls and Oelwein boys ran to team titles.

State cross country, Class 1A: Maquoketa Valley’s Matthew Schaul and English Valleys’ Gage Heyne finished 3-4. The Earlham girls and Lake Mills boys are team champions.

State cross country, Class 4A: Iowa City Liberty’s Keegan Decker and Cedar Rapids Kennedy’s Slader Buckheister finished third and fourth, and both will return next year. The Pleasant Valley girls and Cedar Falls boys won the team titles.

State cross country, Class 3A: Western Dubuque’s Quentin Nauman set a 3A state-meet record and ran the second-fastest time, all-class, all-time. The Pella girls and Gilbert boys ran away with the team titles.

Five Gazette-area state cross country storylines, including Noelle Steines’ pursuit of a fourth consecutive individual championship and both the Mid-Prairie boys and girls contending for titles.

Capsules for the Iowa high school state cross country meet Friday and Saturday at Lakeside Golf Course

Reese Naeve (39 kills) powered Iowa City Regina past Pella Christian in a Class 2A regional volleyball final. The Regals will make their first state appearance since 2017.

It’s all about the playoffs now with 16 teams remaining in each of the seven Iowa high school football classes. This episode of the Prep Football Huddle takes a class-by-class look at the brackets with games to watch and surprise teams to consider.

Prep volleyball: Iowa City Regina, Beckman, North Tama take aim at state-tournament bids Wednesday.

Third-ranked West Delaware surgically spread the wealth and swept Union Community in a Class 3A regional volleyball final Tuesday night. West Delaware advanced to the state tournament for the 15th time — and to Xtream Arena in Coralville for the first.

As Jan Jensen readies for her first game as Iowa women’s basketball head coach, Angie Lee has some advice — “Be true to yourself; don’t change what isn’t broken.”

Iowa high school vollleyball regional finals are Tuesday in 3A, 4A and 5A, and Anamosa and Monticello look for a state-tournament breakthrough.

Calamus-Wheatland escaped three match points in Game 4, Erica Will made three critical blocks in the finale, and the Warriors prevailed over Springville in a Class 1A volleyball regional semifinal Monday night at Machovec Gymnasium.

Iowa high school football rankings: Dowling, North Polk close as unanimous No. 1 teams in 5A and 4A; Dubuque Wahlert and Sergeant Bluff-Luton share the top spot in 3A.

Five Gazette-area 2A and 1A Iowa high school volleyball regional semifinals to watch. Winners play for state-tournament berths Wednesday.