We continue our coverage of the top sports stories of the decade for area schools and today we tackle the year 2016. 

It was a big spring weekend at the Blue Oval for area athletes, as three track stars took home gold medals. Junior Jovonte Squires of Lone Tree had the best long jump leap in class 1A with a championship jump of 22’4.75’’, WACO’s Bryce Achen won the boys 200m dash with a time of 22.45 seconds, and Highland’s Keiffer Sexton won by one second in the 3200m run clocking in at 9:45. Other top performances included Sexton second in the 1600m, Lone Tree’s Niko Gosnell third in boys’ high jump, and Sigourney’s Autumn Barthelman third in the girls’ 100m dash. 

The Sigourney-Keota wrestling team cracked the top two at districts and qualified for the class 1A state dual tournament where they finished eighth in Des Moines. Four Cobras also punched their ticket to the individual tournament with Kaleb Reeves placing seventh at 182 lbs. 

A scorching end to the summer for the Highland baseball team propelled them to their first state appearance in 32 years. The Huskies were 24-7 that season including winning 14 in a row before falling to Remsen St. Mary’s in the class 1A state quarterfinal round in Des Moines. The Huskies finished second in the SEISC-North division with a 13-3 mark. Spencer Wieland was a big bat with a .411 average and Chase Rath had a 1.05 ERA in 74 innings of work. 

The Highland boys’ basketball team enjoyed a strong season as well winning the Southeast Iowa Super Conference North division. The Huskies were 16-7 overall including a 12-3 mark in league play before falling to New London in their first playoff game. Trent Lasek was a top performer with 12.6 points a night. 

Check back in tomorrow when we take a look at 2017.