KCII’s coverage of the top sports stories from the 2010s decade continues when we take a look at the year 2018 for area schools.

Three events from area track teams bested the whole field at Drake Stadium in the state track and field championships. Emily Yahnke of Highland captured a title in the class 1A girls’ long jump with a leap of 17’8.5’’. Sigourney’s Autumn Barthelman capped off her career winning the 100m hurdles with a time of 14.83 seconds. Barthelman was also a part of the winning shuttle hurdle relay team clocking in at 1:07.21. Summer Barthelman, Leah Carter, and Sloane Magill rounded out the relay team.

After claiming a class 1A boys’ golf state title the year prior, Winfield-Mt. Union’s Kaleb Hagge capped off his career with a runner up finish in 2018. The senior shot a 36-hole score of 148 strokes that was one shy of another championship. 

At Wells Fargo Arena for the state wrestling championships Jarod Kadel had another strong campaign for Columbus Community/Winfield-Mt. Union. The junior placed runner-up in class 2A at 106 lbs with a season record of 43-2. Sigourney-Keota’s Kaleb Reeves finished third at 220 lbs in class 1A and teammate Mason Dye was fourth at 106 lbs.

It was a breakout fall for the Highland football team, as they improved by six wins from the previous year to finish 8-3. The Huskies edged Durant 14-13 in the first round of the playoffs before falling to Hudson in the quarterfinals and just missing out on an appearance at the UNI-Dome. Trey Lasek produced over 2,300 yards of offense and the quarterback was responsible for 29 touchdowns. 

The Sigourney softball team stood alone a top of the South Iowa Cedar League and just missed out on a second consecutive state bid. The Savages finished 14-2 in league play and 21-7 overall. The Savage offense produced an eye-popping 8.7 runs a night led by Autumn Barthelman with a .506 average and Madison Schauf bringing in 50 runs. 

The Keota boys’ basketball team captured another SICL East Division title with a 13-3 conference record and 15-7 overall. Sophomore JD Stout put up 24 points a night and Hunter Wilson had 12. 

Our decade countdown concludes tomorrow when we look back at 2019.