By DAVE SKRETTA AP Sports Writer
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City Royals outfielder Alex Gordon says he will retire after the season. The player who spent his entire 14-year career with Kansas City mase the announcement Thursday. Gordon was a former first-round pick whose rollercoaster career took him from near bust to All-Star and Gold Glove winner. He enjoyed a standout career at Nebraska, where he was honored as the best amateur in baseball. While he never quite hit with the kind of average the Royals hoped he would, Gordon did through sheer grit turn himself into one of the best defensive players in the game. He helped the Royals to two World Series trips and a championship in 2015.

The Atlantic Trojans (8-13) volleyball team hosts the St. Albert Saintes (5-10) tonight at the Atlantic High School and we’ll have live video coverage on KJANTV. It’s Atlantic’s first home Hawkeye Ten Conference match of the season and will also serve as Senior Night for the Trojans.

St. Albert won their previous meeting during the Atlantic Tournament back on September 5th (2-0) 21-18, 21-14.

Chris Parks and Jim Field will provide the video coverage tonight with pre-match coverage at about 7:05 p.m. and first serve scheduled for 7:15 p.m.

w/ Chris Parks

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STATE CROSS COUNTRY QUALIFYING MEET SITES
CLASS 3A & 4A – WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 21
CLASS 1A & 2A – THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22
4:00 PM START

CLASS 4A
COUNCIL BLUFFS, ABRAHAM LINCOLN
DUBUQUE, SENIOR
MARSHALLTOWN
PLEASANT VALLEY
SOUTHEAST POLK

CLASS 3A
MONTICELLO
PELLA
SPENCER
WAVERLY-SHELL ROCK
WINTERSET

CLASS 2A
EAGLE GROVE
JESUP
PANORAMA
UNITY CHRISTIAN
WILLIAMSBURG

CLASS 1A
ACGC
AUDUBON
CASCADE
CENTRAL SPRINGS
CLAYTON RIDGE
MOUNT AYR
PEKIN (WILDWOOD PARK, OTTUMWA)
RIDGE VIEW

*Team assignments for each site will be announced at a later date.

(IHSAA/IGHSAU) Dates previously set for the 2020 IHSAA and IGHSAU cross country postseason will be split at next month’s meets to accommodate competition and crowds with COVID-19 related precautions.

State qualifying meets and the state meet will now be separated by classification and take place over two days. The state meet will remain in Fort Dodge at Lakeside Golf Course, where it has been run as a co-ed event since 1993.

Class 4A and Class 3A will run their meets one day earlier than initially planned, with state qualifying now taking place on Wednesday, Oct. 21 and the state meet on Friday, Oct. 30.

Class 2A and Class 1A will compete on the originally scheduled dates, with state qualifying on Thursday, Oct. 22 and the state meet on Saturday, Oct. 31.

IGHSAU Executive Director Jean Berger said, “Our joint championship in Fort Dodge has long been a special event for our participants and fans. Changes to any successful championship are never easy, but holding a two-day meet is our best option this year. Our new plan really focuses on a safe and rewarding experience, something we all agree is our top priority.”

The boards of the IHSAA and IGHSAU have approved the changes for 2020. The state meet will continue to be hosted by Fort Dodge Community School District and Fort Dodge Parks and Recreation, at Lakeside Golf Course.

IHSAA Executive Director Tom Keating said. “The IHSAA is grateful to the Fort Dodge community, particularly the Parks and Recreation Department and Lakeside Municipal Golf Course for their efforts to make a two-day State Co-Ed Cross Country event possible. By allowing us to run each class individually, the Fort Dodge community is contributing to our commitment to safety for participants, coaches, workers, media and spectators. This is another example of the outstanding support and partnership we enjoy with the city, the golf course and the wonderful volunteers who make this event special.”

As an additional precautionary measure at state qualifying meets, Class 1A will go from five sites to eight sites. This will cut attendance at each 1A location by around 10 teams per gender. With this change, Class 1A will feature 16 state qualifying teams – the top two teams qualifying at each site, instead of the usual three – and 10 individual state meet qualifiers for each gender instead of the usual 15 individual state qualifiers. The IHSAA and IGHSAU anticipate this will be a one-time qualifying change. Class 2A, 3A, 4A will remain unchanged on qualifying teams and individuals for the 2020 State Cross Country Meet.

State qualifying meet sites for all classes have been released and posted on each of the websites. Assignments for those meets will be released the week of Oct. 12. More details for the state meet will be released in early October.

The Class 4A girls race will begin at 10:30 am on Friday, October 30 followed by the Class 4A boys race at 11:00 am.

The Class 3A girls race will begin at 3:30 pm on Friday, October 30 followed by the Class 3A boys race at 4:00 pm.

The Class 2A girls race will begin at 10:30 am on Saturday, October 31 followed by the Class 2A boys race at 11:00 am.

The Class 1A girls race will begin at 3:30 pm on Saturday, October 31 followed by the Class 1A boys race at 4:00 pm.

Parking will be available inside Kennedy Park. Spectator tailgating will not be permitted. Admission for spectators will be $10 each upon arrival to Kennedy Park as the shuttle bus system utilized in 2019 will not be used at the 2020 event.

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Former transfer Matthew Downing has been named the starting quarterback for TCU’s season opener against Iowa State. Coach Gary Patterson announced the decision Tuesday. Last year’s starter Max Duggan is also clear to play. Duggan started TCU’s final 10 games as a freshman. But he was sidelined much of training camp this summer after a previously undetected lifelong heart condition was revealed during enhanced testing protocols because of COVID-19. TCU didn’t play its scheduled opener Sept. 11 against SMU after the Horned Frogs had a cluster of Frogs players and team support staff that tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

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By DAVE SKRETTA AP Sports Writer
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Austin Gomber tossed six innings of four-hit ball in a crucial spot start, leading the St. Louis Cardinals to a 5-0 victory over Brady Singer and the Kansas City Royals. The Cardinals still trail the Chicago Cubs by 3 1/2 games in the NL Central, but they improved to 27-25 and edged ahead of Milwaukee and Cincinnati for the No. 2 spot in the division. Dylan Carlson paced the St. Louis offense by driving in two runs while finishing a homer shy of the cycle. Singer walked five in three-plus innings while taking the loss for Kansas City.

The Earlham boys and girls came out on top of the Class B section of the Creston XC Invitational on Tuesday. Lily Dixon of Earlham won the girls race and Jayden Dickson of Earlham won the boys race.

Girls Team Scores

1. Earlham 42
2. Mount Ayr 54
3. Nodaway Valley 57
4. CAM 94
5. East Union 119
6. Southwest Valley 127

Girls Individual Top Ten

1. Lily Dixon, Earlham 20:49.00
2. Sophia Broers, Nodaway Valley
3. McKinna Hogan, Lenox
4. Rowen Fisk, Earlham
5. Katie Noah, Earlham
6. Gabrielle Valencia, East Union
7. Karlie Larsen, Mount Ayr
8. Makayla Jones, Mount Ayr
9. Christa Cass, Orient-Macksburg
10. Erin Ford, Nodaway Valley

Boys Team Scores

1. Earlham 21
2. Nodaway Valley 52
3. West Nodaway 78
4. CAM 115
5. East Union 143
6. Orient-Macksburg 153
7. Essex 164

Boys Individual Top Ten

1. Jayden Dickson, Earlham 16:28.00
2. Zach Dixon, Earlham
3. Tyler Blay, West Nodaway
4. Dominic Braet, Earlham
5. Toby Bower, Nodaway Valley
6. Riley Harger, Earlham
7. Doug Berg, Nodaway Valley
8. TJ Harkins, Earlham
9. Ben Breheny, Nodaway Valley
10. Riley Blay, West Nodaway

Full results HERE.