The Iowa State men face their first true road test of the season on Friday night with a visit to DePaul. The Cyclones are 5-2 after dropping their final two games at a tournament in Florida and coach T.J. Otzelberger says they have been focused on the things it takes to get a road win.
DePaul is off to a dreadful start. The Blue Demons are 1-5, have lost three straight and their only victory was a 12-point win over South Dakota at home.
Otzelberger expects to face a motivated DePaul team.
(Radio Iowa) – There’s the potential for precipitation in southeast Iowa tonight, but State Climatologist Justin Glisan says it’s likely this November will rank among the 20 driest Novembers on record. “The first 20 days we were at 5% of normal, so a very dry first two-thirds of November,” Glisan says. As of this morning, the statewide average for precipitation is just four-tenths of an inch. “That’s almost an inch and a half below average,” Glisan says.
This is the 178th week of moderate drought somewhere in Iowa — the longest drought in Iowa since the U.S. Drought Monitor was launched 23 years ago. “If you combine November with the other meteorological months of October and September, it looks like around the 36th driest fall on record,” Glisan says. “Interestingly enough, last fall was drier. It was the 22nd driest, so you can see that we’ve just really stacked up precipitation deficits through various seasons.” Last spring was the 16th driest on record and this past summer was the 17th driest summer in the past 151 years. “When you’re not getting the expected precipitation in spring and summer, which is the dominant season for rainfall that supplies soil moisture and stream flows, that’s where we’ve seen the drought just expand and intensify,” Glisan says.
State Climatologist Justin Glisan (Official photo from Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship photo.)
The current drought is different from the droughts that struck Iowa in 2012 and 1988, according to Glisan. “This has definitely been longer, but it hasn’t been coupled with extremely warm temperatures for long periods of time,” Glisan says, “so we’ve kind of termed this drought a ‘cool drought’ in that, again, we haven’t seen those exceedingly warm temperatures that would really push drought conditions to lead to widespread crop failure and things of that nature.”
Glisan says there are some positives in preliminary forecasts for the middle of December. “There’s a very high probability of above average temperatures,” Glisan says, “and why that’s a good signal to see is perhaps we won’t see soils freeze as deep or as fast if we have warm temperatures through December.” It means precipitation could be absorbed rather than run off frozen ground.”As you’ll remember from last year, in early December we had widespread rainfall before we froze up that really helped supply moisture for this growing season,” Glisan says. “Also, wetter soils don’t freeze as fast or as deep, so as we get into winter melt into early spring, there’s faster infiltration if we don’t have a deep frost level.”
Preliminary forecasts indicate there are slightly elevated signals for wetter conditions in December.
(Radio Iowa) – The University of Northern Iowa’s campanile renovation project is getting a boost with 250-thousand-dollar donation from local alumni Jan and Scott Bittner . U-N-I Foundation President, Jim Jermier, says the phase one of the renovations improved the instrument’s sound. “There are nine new bells that were installed with the existing 47. All of those bells were completely refurbished along with the carillon itself, and I believe we gained nearly two octaves,” he says.
The second phase of the renovations focuses on renovating the plaza around the campanile and the addition of seating and landscaping to create a community gathering area.”It’s a unifying space, a community space, that will be even more welcoming when this project work is complete,” Jermier says.
A new bell lifted into place at UNI. (UNI photo)
Other renovations include a temperature-controlled room for the bells in the tower. The total cost of both phases is about two-point-two million dollars, which will come from private donations. The university hopes to complete the tower’s renovation by 2026, which will mark the school’s 150th anniversary.
Iowa punter Tory Taylor expects fellow specialist and place kicker Drew Stevens to bounce back against Michigan in the Big Ten Championship Game. Stevens had two field goals blocked and had two kickoffs go out of bounds at Nebraska and backup Marshall Meeder kicked the game winning 38-yard field goal against the Huskers.
Taylor is the holder and remains confident in Stevens.
Iowa safety Quinn Schulte says all the distractions should be taken care of before the 16th ranked Hawkeyes leave on Friday for Indianapolis and Satursay night’s Big Ten Championship Game against second ranked Michigan. An issue for akk the players during championship week is ticket requests.
Iowa’s defense gave up a little more than 12 points per game in Big Ten play but must try to slow down a Michigan offense that averaged more than 39 points per game.
Schulte says the Hawkeyes are not focusing on them being a better than three touchdown underdog.
Third ranked Wartburg hosts fifth rated and perennial power Wisconsin-Whitewater on Saturday in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Division III playoffs. The Knights will earn a return trip to the semifinals with a win.
That’s Wartburg coach Chris Winter who says the styles of the teams are similar.
Winter says the challenge gets bigger with each round of the playoffs.
Whitewater has won the three previous meetings but this will be the first time they will play in Waverly.
Former Bellevue high school standout and senior running back Hunter Clasen hopes the home field is an advantage.
Clasen looks forward to playing Whitewater at home.
AMES, Iowa – After leading the Iowa State men’s cross country team to Top 5 finishes at two of the last three NCAA Championships, the Cyclones’ Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Jeremy Sudbury has been rewarded with a new contract, Director of Athletics Jamie Pollard announced today.
“Jeremy Sudbury has done a tremendous job leading our program and instilling a championship culture since taking over in the summer of 2021,” Pollard said. “I look forward to watching our programs continue to excel academically and athletically under Jeremy’s leadership. The future of Iowa State Track & Field is very bright.”
Sudbury, who is in his 11th year on the ISU staff and third leading the program in 2023-24, has guided a talented group of student-athletes to historic accomplishments and record-breaking performances. His new contract will run thru June 30, 2030.
The 2023 Iowa State men’s cross country team placed fourth at the Big 12 Championships, second at the NCAA Midwest Regional and fifth at the NCAA Championships; marking the third time in the last five seasons the program produced a Top 5 NCAA finish. Only Northern Arizona and Oklahoma State have enjoyed more Top 5 NCAA finishes than Iowa State in that span. The Cyclone women, meanwhile, were 20th at the 2023 NCAA Championships and have advanced to the final site in eight of the last 10 seasons.
“I am extremely humbled to lead the Iowa State track and cross country programs, and grateful for the belief that Jamie (Pollard) and Calli (Sanders) have shown me with this new contract to continue leading our tradition-rich programs,” Sudbury said. “It shows great commitment to myself and my family, as well as our staff and student-athletes. As the Big 12 continues to evolve, I believe this will provide the stability necessary for us to continue building upon our past successes and fulfill Jamie’s vision for Iowa State’s championship-level track and cross country programs.
“My family is grateful to call Ames our home, and we look forward to the continued support of Cyclone Nation in future years,” he added.
His tenure leading the Iowa State program got off to a flying start during the 2021 cross country season, as both the men’s and women’s programs finished in the Top 10 in the same year for the first time since 1985. Sudbury’s men’s squad, which he oversees, finished second at the NCAA Cross Country Championships, its fifth Top 2 NCAA placement in program history. Sudbury’s star pupil, Wesley Kiptoo, took second at the 2021 NCAA Championships, his second Top 3 placement as a Cyclone, and Thomas Pollard took 21st to earn his first career All-America honor. The men’s cross country squad had seven All-Big 12 honorees in 2021, the third-straight season it produced seven honorees.
In Kiptoo, Sudbury helped continue to develop one of the nation’s strongest and most versatile runners. Sudbury coached Kiptoo to a program-record six Big 12 titles in 2020-21, as he became the first male in Big 12 history to win three individual titles at a single conference outdoor championship meet with meet records in all three of the 3,000m steeplechase, 5,000m and 10,000m. Kiptoo also earned four All-America honors and took down five school records in his debut season in Ames.
Edwin Kurgat claimed the 2019 NCAA Cross Country crown under Sudbury’s tutelage, along with picking up a pair of Big 12 and NCAA Midwest Regional titles during his Cyclone cross country career. Kurgat’s kick, developed under Sudbury’s watch, allowed the Kenyan to pull away from the field at the 2019 NCAA Cross Country Championships and claim ISU’s first individual title since 1990.
On the track, Ezekiel Rop earned first-team All-America honors in the 1,500m, racing to a time of 3:43.59 to place seventh at the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Championships. All-told, the Cyclones produced nine All-Americans, eight new school records, 38 outdoor and 25 indoor All-Big 12 honors in 2023. The Cyclone women finished third at the 2023 Big 12 Outdoor Championships, their highest finish ever, and tallied a program-record 107.5 points, while the ISU men’s 800m squad was ranked #1 for much of the 2023 indoor season.
The 2022 track and field season saw many great stories throughout Sudbury’s pupils. Four earned All-America honors at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, peaking with Jason Gomez taking fourth in the 800m run in a then-personal best 1:46.34. Nehemia Too took down ISU’s 28-year-old school record in the 1,500m run (3:39.15), which came after his anchor carry on the distance medley relay at the NCAA Indoor Championships took ISU from 10th to sixth and to first-team All-America distinction.
(Des Moines, Iowa) – Iowa Auditor of State Rob Sand, today (Thursday), released an independent auditor’s report pertaining to a periodic examination of the City of Wiota’s management and financial practices. The audit – performed by Gronewold, Bell, Kyhnn & Co. P.C., in Atlantic – covered the period of April 1, 2022 through March 31, 2023. The City agreed to have the audit performed.
The report states, that among other things:
Read the full report HERE.
Glenwood, Iowa (KETV) — The Mills County Board of Supervisors, Wednesday, accepted the resignation of Sheriff Travis Oetter. Their action came during a special meeting Wednesday morning. The Sheriff’s last day is Friday, Dec. 1, 2023. Oetter was elected in November, 2020. Chief Deputy Josh England will serve as interim sheriff.
The board of supervisors has the option of appointing England or another individual to complete the remainder of the sheriff’s term, which runs through December 2024. A special election could also take place if there is opposition to a board appointment and/or another person seeks to serve as interim sheriff for the remainder of the term.
Travis Oetter
The sheriff’s position will be on the November 2024 general election ballot. According to reports, England, who was in attendance at Wednesday’s meeting, said he doesn’t intend to run for sheriff in 2024.
Rural Glenwood resident and veteran law enforcement officer Greg Schultz, currently a captain with the Council Bluffs Police Department, has already announced his intentions to run for the sheriff’s post in 2024.
Des Moines – The Iowa Insurance Division reports a Dallas County man entered a plea of guilty, November 17th, to one-count of Identity Theft. 48-year-old Christopher Robin Cundiff, of Adel, also pled guilty to one count of Forgery. The charges were the results of an investigation by the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau. The investigation began in January 2023 after the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau received information indicating Cundiff had presented to an insurer a written document in support of payment knowing such document contained false information.
Christopher Cundiff (Photo courtesy of the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office).
Cundiff was arrested by the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office on June 12, 2023. Following his guilty plea, Cundiff was placed on supervised probation for two years and was also ordered to pay a civil penalty of $1,710.
Iowans with information about insurance fraud are encouraged to contact the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau at 515-654-6556.
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