The ice skating rink being prepared at Sunnyside Park will have its Grand Opening sometime during the first week in January. The exact date will be announced later. Parks and Rec Director Seth Staashelm told the Atlantic Parks and Rec Board during their meeting Monday evening, that the heavy duty liner covering the basketball court was installed Friday thanks to volunteer help, and fits like a glove.

They’ve put in two-inches of water and will need to make sure the ice is at least four-inches thick before it can be used. That’s also the reason he hasn’t set a specific grand opening date. Staashelm said they want to make sure the ice is smooth and ready for use. The 90-by-120 foot rink will likely be open he said, before the Grand Opening event.

Staashelm said there is a lot of excitement about the skating rink. He said ice skates are not being made available to users, so you’ll have to bring your own. Staashelm said also, he has e-mailed the Aksarben Curling Club (www.curlaksarben.com) to see if they have any interest in using the facility once its open. He hopes to eventually have a night designated specifically for curling.

LED rope lights are installed on three of the four sides. Additional electrical and illumination issues are currently being addressed. A snow fence will enclose the area, with one designated entrance. Patio heaters are also planned for the area so people can warm up once they’ve been on the ice for a while.

In other business, Staashelm confirmed the streets in Sunnyside Park are closed for the season for safety reasons (they don’t want to have vehicles sliding off the roads and hitting buildings, property or pedestrians). The park itself is still open for foot traffic and events.

Seth said also, reservations for the shelter houses at Sunnyside Park will not be accepted until January 1^st. He says he will be updating the Parks and Rec website to reflect reservation dates for 2017.

The Top Ten teams in the Associated Press Iowa high school basketball poll with first-place votes in parentheses and win-loss record, total points and position last week at right:

Others receiving votes: Davenport, Central 11. Cedar Falls 7. Ankeny Centennial 2. Johnston 1. Waterloo, West 1.

Others receiving votes: Mount Pleasant 11. Carroll 9. Grinnell 7. Sergeant Bluff-Luton 7. Glenwood 6. Union, La Porte City 3. Bishop Heelan Catholic, Sioux City 3. Greene County 1. Le Mars 1.

Others receiving votes: Northeast, Goose Lake 17. Camanche 15. Southeast Valley-Gowrie 13. Sheldon 10. Van Meter 9. Sioux Center 4. Garner-Hayfield/Ventura 2. Jesup 1.

Others receiving votes: Grand View Christian 19. Maple Valley-Anthon-Oto 18. West Fork, Sheffield 16. St. Mary’s, Storm Lake 9. George-Little Rock 9. St. Albert, Council Bluffs 7. AGWSR, Ackley 4. Danville 3. Siouxland Community Christian 3. Woodbury Central, Moville 2. St. Edmond, Fort Dodge 1.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — No. 20 Florida will have Randy Shannon call defensive plays for the Outback Bowl. Coach Jim McElwain made the announcement Monday, saying Shannon will fill in for recently departed defensive coordinator Geoff Collins against 21st-ranked Iowa. Temple hired Collins as its head coach last week.

Although Shannon has the titles of associate head coach and co-defensive coordinator, Collins called the plays this season. Shannon worked primarily as linebackers coach. Shannon served as Miami’s defensive coordinator (2001-06) before becoming the Hurricanes’ head coach in 2007. McElwain promoted quality control assistant Mark DeBastiani to linebackers coach.

McElwain says he will wait until January to announce Collins’ successor for the 2017 season. McElwain says “we’re not going to make any full-time decisions on that until after the bowl games out of respect for coaches and people who are coaching in other programs and that kind of thing. I just don’t think it’s right this time of year.”

The Griswold Tigers travel to Stanton tonight for a Varsity Basketball Doubleheader that we will have for you on KJAN.  The Girls game is set to tip-off at 6:00pm with the Boys to follow around 7:30pm.

In the Girls game the Tigers come in with a 2-4 record after a Friday afternoon loss at the MAC Shootout to Underwood. The Stanton Viqueens are 4-2 with their last game played being a loss to Essex last Tuesday.  Griswold is led by Mateya Peters averaging 12 points per game while the Viqueens leading scorer is Jody Vanderholm with 13 points per contest.

The Boys game will feature two teams with very different seasons so far. Griwold is 0-6 after a loss Friday at the MAC Shootout to Underwood and Stanton is 4-0 on the young campaign.  The Tigers are led by Clay Amos with 11 points per game and Drake Johnson leads the Vikings with 20 points per outing.

Catch all the action here on AM1220, FM101.1, online at kjan.com, or on the KJAN Mobile app. Also check out live streaming video on KJANTV.

Pride of Iowa Conference Meet

The Pride of Iowa Conference Wrestling Meet was held Saturday in Afton and I-35 ran away with the title by scoring 229 points.

Red Owens Holiday Classic

Fort Madison Invitational

Council Bluffs, Thomas Jefferson won the team title at the Fort Madison Invite on Saturday. McGwire Midkiff (126), Jason Salazar (195), Cameron Baker (220) were all individual champions for the Yellow Jackets.

AMES, Iowa – Iowa State (8-2) defeated Delaware State (1-8), 88-57, at Hilton Coliseum on Sunday afternoon behind a game-high 25 points and 10 rebounds from senior guard Seanna Johnson.

Johnson did all her damage on 9-of-16 shooting while logging just 27 minutes of playing time, as all 13 available Cyclones saw action against Hornets. Iowa State controlled the glass throughout the game, and owned a 59-31 rebounding marking, including 23 offensive boards. The ISU offense racked up 24 assists on 27 made baskets, led by seven helpers for senior Jadda Buckley

Iowa State is back in action at Hilton Coliseum on Wednesday to take on Sacred Heart. Tip is set for 2 p.m. CT and the game can be viewed on Cyclones.tv Powered by Mediacom.

(From Cyclones.com)

The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast w/Jim Field.

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Cailtlin Ingle scored 20 points and Lizzy Wendell added 15 as Drake snapped Iowa’s 14 game winning streak in the series with an 81-76 win in Des Moines. The Bulldogs led by as many as 13 points midway through the fourth quarter before the Hawkeyes staged a furious rally. Drake outscored the Hawkeyes 24-17 in the opening quarter and led the rest of the way.

Ally Disterhoft led Iowa with 24 points while Megan Gustafson had her seventh double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds. The Hawkeyes fall to 8-4. Drake improves to 6-3 and it was the Bulldogs’ first win over the Hawkeyes since 2001.

(Learfield Sports/Radio Iowa)