ST. LOUIS (AP) — Mark McGwire was back in his element, holding court in St. Louis. Most major league coaches do their jobs in virtual anonymity behind the scenes. McGwire, however, is no ordinary hitting instructor and his homecoming is a juicy, natural subplot in this NL championship series. Once a star slugger for the Cardinals and later their batting coach, McGwire now serves in that role with the Los Angeles Dodgers on manager Don Mattingly’s staff. So on Thursday evening, none of the players on either team received nearly as much attention at Busch Stadium.

A swarm of reporters surrounded Big Mac near the batting cage before the Dodgers’ workout. He noticed the boom mike that hovered over the crowd and repeated answers to the second and third waves.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Carpets were still drying out from a champagne bath and a few players looked bleary eyed after a workout at Busch Stadium. A day after advancing, there wasn’t much time to rest for the St. Louis Cardinals. The Los Angeles Dodgers don’t have home-field advantage in the NL championship series, but they got a few extra days to savor early postseason success.

No telling which side will benefit, the team on a roll or the team coming off a break, entering Game 1 Friday night. Joe Kelly, who flourished as a replacement starter with St. Louis, opposes Zack Greinke in the opener. The staff aces won’t go until later in the best-of-seven series, with the Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw set for Game 2 and the Cardinals’ Adam Wainwright ready for Game 3.

The Cardinals will again be without cleanup man Allen Craig, who was out of town Thursday seeing a specialist for his foot injury.

AMES, Iowa (AP) — Few coaches have embraced senior transfers like Iowa State’s Fred Hoiberg. He might have one of his best ones yet in former Marshall point guard DeAndre Kane. The Cyclones will fill one of their guard positions with yet another “one-and-done” player in Kane. He averaged 15.1 points and seven assists for Marshall last season and earned second-team All-Conference USA honors.

Iowa State’s hopes for a third straight NCAA tournament bid rest in part on Kane’s ability to lead a revamped roster. Hoiberg says Kane is a versatile player who will see time at point and shooting guard. Iowa State, picked fourth in the Big 12 preseason poll, opens on Nov. 10 against UNC-Wilmington.

Atlantic Police remind the public that the Atlantic High School Cross Country meet takes place this (Thursday) afternoon (3:30-p.m.), at the Atlantic Golf and Country Club, and not Nishna Hills.

With the change, bus parking will be on Chestnut Street between 29th and 22nd Streets. Spectator parking will be on 22nd Streets, west of Palm St., as well as 29th St., west of Chestnut Street.

Residents should plan for increased traffic and pedestrians in the area.

IRVING, Texas – Iowa State has been picked to finish fourth in the Big 12 preseason poll. It is the highest the Cyclones have been picked in the poll since 2000-01, when Iowa State was also picked fourth and went on to win the league title.

The Cyclones were picked to finish behind Kansas and Oklahoma State, which were picked to win the league, and Baylor. Kansas State and Oklahoma State were tied for fifth in the poll. West Virginia, Texas, Texas Tech and TCU round out the poll.

The Cyclones open the regular season Nov. 10 against UNC-Wilmington.

2013-14 Big 12 Preseason Poll

1. Kansas (5)
2. Oklahoma State (5)
3. Baylor
4. Iowa State
5. Kansas State
6. Oklahoma
7. West Virginia
8. Texas
9. Texas Tech
10. TCU

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Atlantic will host its own cross country invitational today at a new site. The meet will be held at the Atlantic Golf and Country Club. Atlantic coach Paul Iekel says they believe the course will set up well for the runners and the spectators. The start/finish area is east of Palm Street on the number 16 fairway and that should give some good views to spectators.

24 teams, both boys and girls are expected for today’s meet. On the boys side, Harlan, St. Albert, Riverside and Tri-Center are among the ranked teams entered. The girls race features ranked teams like Griswold, Harlan and Dallas Center-Grimes.

The school is asking spectators to park on the south side of 22nd Street, the north side of 29th Street and on the east side of Chestnut Street, not in the Country Club parking lot.

The meet begins with the middle school at 4:00 pm. The high school races begin with the JV boys at 4:30pm, followed by the varsity girls, varsity boys and JV girls. Awards should be presented at about 6:30 pm.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Adam Wainwright pitched a complete game and the St. Louis Cardinals got two-run homers from David Freese and Matt Adams to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-1 on Wednesday night and advance to the NL championship series. Wainwright scattered eight hits in his second dominant win of the division series, coming through for the Cardinals in a winner-take-all Game 5.

St. Louis gets to stay at home to open the NLCS against the well-rested Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night. The last three seasons, the Cardinals are 8-1 when facing elimination. They also won Game 5 of the NL division series at Washington last year and at Philadelphia in 2011.

VARSITY GIRLS TEAM RESULTS

1st – St. Albert 65 Points

2nd Tri-Center 97 Points

3rd- Treynor 112 Points

4th- Audubon 112 Points

5th- Missouri Valley 126 Points

6th- Woodbine 144 Points

7th- West Harrison 151 Points

8th- Logam-Magnolia 156 Points

9th- Underwood 178 Points

10th Lewis Central JV 214 Points

11th Boyer Valley 275 Points

12th Riverside 278 Points

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

1ST – Michelle Mumm Tri-Center 16:11

2nd – Megan Deist Audubon 16:29

3rd Alexis Cook Missouri Valley 16:38

4th Megan Maaske Woodbine 16:51

5th Jaycee Martin St. Albert 17:06

6th Hannah Dugdale Missouri Valley 17:23

7th Kiara Brannen-Sporrer Audubon 17:29

8th Krisann Stephany St. Albert 17:37

9th Carmen Malloy Audubon 17:44

10th Caitlyn Casey Logan-Magnolia 17:48

VARSITY BOYS TEAM RESULTS

1st – St. Albert 34 Points

2nd- Boyer Valley 55 Points

3rd Riverside 105 Points

4th Tri-Center 222 Points

5th Logan-Magnolia 141 Points

6th IKM/Manning 157 Points

7th Lewis Central 188 Points

8th Missouri Valley 195 Points

9th Treynor 222 Points

10th Underwood 237 Points

11th A-H-S-T 259 Points

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

1st – Max Ross St. Albert 17:33

2nd Fred Hug St. Albert 17:42

3rd- Jake Weber Boyer Valley 17:49

4th Gus Doll St. Albert 18:02

5th Wyatt Schulz Logan-Magnolia 18:03

6th Chase Bonsall Boyer Valley 18:06

7th Drew Pauley Missouri Valley 18:08

8th Zach Ambrose Boyer Valley 18:12

9th Tim Brink Riverside 18:17

10th Jeremy Sindelar St. Albert 18:18

Click Here for complete results

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