Atlantic senior basketball player Garrett Franken made it official on Wednesday, signing a national letter of intent with the University of North Dakota.  Franken, the son of Greg and Tina Franken, says he’s glad to have the decision behind him.

Franken says U-N-D immediately made an impression.

Franken says he has gotten a lot of encouragement from his high school coaches.

Atlantic coach Alan Jenkins says Franken has earned this opportunity.

Franken will play for a team that is coached by former University of Iowa assistant Brian Jones.

Atlantic’s Brooke Newell will play college golf at the University of Nebraska.  Newell signed a national letter of intent Wednesday to play in the Big Ten with the Huskers.  Newell said she narrowed down her search and Nebraska stood out.

Newell says getting her golf game to that level has taken a lot of practice.

Playing golf in division one is a dream come true, but Newell knows she will be pushed hard.

Newell gives a lot of credit to her coaches, but Atlantic High School golf coach Kathy Hobson says it’s her determination that makes Brooke special.

Newell, the daughter Danny and Tori Newell, will play for a Nebraska team coached by Robin Krapfl.

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

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MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota Golden Gophers linebacker Cody Poock (pohk) has been scheduled for season-ending surgery on his shoulder. Poock, a junior who started his career at Iowa Western Community College, sat out the 2014 season with a knee injury. This year, he has 24 tackles in seven games, with one sack.

Gophers coach Tracy Claeys said Tuesday that the decision was made to give Poock the opportunity to recover as soon as possible from the procedure. Claeys says Poock’s lingering injury isn’t “doing anybody any good.” He didn’t say when Poock would have the surgery. Nick Rallis has replaced Poock in the lineup in Minnesota’s base defense.

Minnesota plays at No. 21 Nebraska on Saturday. Rallis must sit out the first half of that game after being ejected for targeting last week against Purdue.

The Audubon Wheelers were able to rally back from a 2 set deficit in a Regional Final with Grand View Christian to make it to the State tournament and they hope they can start faster on the state stage.  Audubon (27-6) will face a tough challenge in the Quarterfinal round on Wednesday night in Cedar Rapids against Springville (28-7).

The Wheelers have had a week to let the accomplishment of being the first team in school history to head to the state tournament set in.  Audubon Head Coach Molly Lange said it was a great accomplishment to come back and get the win in the Regional Final.

Coach Lange said they have focused in now on performing well at the state tournament and says the Wheelers will need to play a good team game against a well balanced Orioles opponent.  Lange knows a key to winning will be to start faster than they did in the Regional Final.

Springville comes in to the match with three players over 200 kills and two more with 130+. Oriole Head Coach Claude Howard said that balance is the strength of his team.

The Orioles played some tough competition, especially to start the season, to prepare themselves for the type of teams they see in the postseason.

Will have coverage of the Wheelers and the Orioles in their Class 1A Quarterfinal round match at the US Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids.  Pre-match coverage will begin at 7:30pm and play is set to begin at 8:00pm on court #2.

Tuesday, November 8
Class 5A First Round

Top Bracket

(3-0) Cedar Falls 25-25-25, Dowling Catholic 12-17-17  Box Score
(3-2) Ankeny 16-22-25-25-15, Linn-Mar 25-25-17-17-7 Box Score

Bottom Bracket

(3-1) Ankeny Centennial 24-25-25-25, Iowa City West 26-16-14-23  Box Score
(3-1) West Des Moines Valley 25-25-21-25, Dubuque Hempstead 23-15-25-15  Box Score

Class 4A First Round

Top Bracket

(3-0) Pella 25-25-25, Nevada 20-23-15  Box Score
(3-1) Bishop Heelan 25-26-25-25, Charles City 23-28-12-16  Box Score

Bottom Bracket

(3-0) Dubuque Wahlert 25-25-25, Lewis Central 11-12-17  Box Score
(3-1) Cedar Rapids Xavier 27-25-22-26, Marion 25-18-25-24  Box Score

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

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AMES, Iowa (AP) — Even as the losses mount at Iowa State, Allen Lazard’s numbers keep climbing. The junior wide receiver was the No. 1 recruit during the seven-year tenure of former coach Paul Rhoads, and he’s living up to the billing for first-year coach Matt Campbell.

The Cyclones might be 1-8, but it’s certainly not because Lazard has failed at his job. Campbell says if people came to practice they’d see that Lazard is as locked in as anyone on the football team. He says Lazard has a chance to become one of the best players in college football.

Lazard leads the team in receiving (48 catches), yards (658) and touchdown catches (five) and is steadily climbing the school’s career records list. He has caught a pass in all 32 games he has played and now ranks fifth in career receptions (145) and TD catches (14) and third in receiving yards (2,059).

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Dee Ford was a bust, a laughingstock in Kansas City, the punchline to jokes that usually referenced broken-down pickup trucks and ended up with them never getting where they were supposed to go. That was last year. Things have changed this year.

Now, the 2014 first-round pick is among the league leader in sacks, the emerging star for a defense that has pushed the Chiefs into AFC West contention, and he’s the one having all the laughs. Ford says it’s human nature for athletes.

The Chiefs were roundly criticized for drafting Ford with the 23rd overall pick two years ago, when he was rated a second- or third-round talent by many. The Chiefs already had Justin Houston and Tamba Hali at outside linebacker and many other needs on a team in the midst of a rebuild.

Reid says quarterback Alex Smith will start Sunday at Carolina. Nick Foles replaced him against Jacksonville after Smith sustained a head injury against Indianapolis.

The Atlantic Girls Swimming team had 8 events compete at the State Swimming Meet on Saturday at the Marshalltown YMCA.

200 Yard Medley Relay: 12th, 1:50.49. Annamaria Lowary, Jessica Hartwig, Madelyn Kickland, Mycala Kickland.

200 Yard Freestyle: Cambry Miller 22nd, 1:55.88.

200 Yard Individual Medley: Jessica Hartwig 21st, 2:15.13

50 Yard Freestyle: Mycala Kickland 17th, 24.74.

100 Yard Freestyle: Cambry Miller 15th, 53.39.

200 Yard Freestyle Relay: 11th, 1:38.97. Mycala Kickland, Mckenna Ewoldt, Madelyn Kickland, Cambry Miller.

100 Yard Breaststroke: Jessica Hartwig 7th, 1:06.74.

400 Yard Freestyle Relay: 17th, 3:41.42. Mycala Kickland, Mckenna Ewoldt, Madelyn Kickland, Cambry Miller.