The Drake Bulldogs and a Mexican All-Star team made history early Saturday morning by playing the first college football game in Africa.  The Bulldogs beat CONADEIP All-Stars, a collection of top college players from Mexico, 17-7 in the Global Kilimanjaro Bowl in front of an estimated crowd of about 12,000 in Arusha, Tanzania.  The exhibition is part of a two-week trip organized by Drake that includes youth clinics, a safari, an orphanage project and a five-day climb to the summit of the 19,340-foot Mount Kilimanjaro.  The trip grew out of a vision by Drake Coach Chris Creighton and took more than a year of planning by Global Football.  The company has been taking US college football teams around the world for 14 years.  Creighton told the Associated Press that the event made for a magical day.  Former Griswold prep Tyler Mosier is a defensive back for Drake.

The Board of Directors of the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union voted unanimously today to expand to five classes in the sports of basketball, golf, softball, and volleyball beginning with the 2012 softball season.  The largest class, 5A, will be composed of the 40 largest schools in the state in terms of enrollment.  Class 4A will be comprised of the next 48 schools, 3A the next 64, 2A the next 96, and the remaining schools will be classified 1A.

The move comes after a year of study by IGHSAU staff and after recommendations to move to five classes by the IGHSAU Representative Council and the basketball, softball, and volleyball advisory committees, which are comprised of school administrators, coaches, and officials from around the state.

“We asked each group to approach the topic with the goals of ensuring that our classification system was fair and that it balanced the number of schools per class and the enrollment range per class, IGHSAU assistant director Joel Oswald said.  We also wanted to be sure we were not placing unreasonable demands on schools and students regarding travel, loss of school time, or putting any schools at a distinct competitive disadvantage.

The new classification structure allows for an approximate 2:1 enrollment ratio in each class, except for the smallest of 1A schools.  It also ensures that no team would have to play more than four regional games to qualify for the state tournament.

State tournament dates will remain unchanged in the four sports.  More games will be played on the current dates.

The most important thing is that eight more teams and communities have the opportunity to reap the positive life experiences and prestige of qualifying for the state tournament, said IGHSAU executive director Mike Dick.

(Press Release from IGHSAU)

Class 1-A Final Team Standings

    1) Madrid                      74        2) Manson NW Web              53
    3) W Harrison, M               34        4) BCLUW                      30
    4) Laurens-Mara                30        6) Treynor                    27.50
    7) Lisbon                      26        8) AGWSR                      25
    9) Wapello                     20       10) Colo-Nesco                 19
   11) Emmetsburg                  17       12) Bedford                    16
   12) Wapsie Val, F               16       12) Belle Plaine               16
   12) Central, Elkader            16       16) Tri County, T              15
   16) Underwood                   15       18) Tripoli                    14
   18) Van Meter                   14       18) Sigourney                  14
   21) Pekin                       11       21) Winfield-Mt. U             11
   21) North Iowa, BC              11       24) Olin                       10
   24) North Butler                10       26) W Lyon, Inwood              9
   27) Bellevue                     8       27) Earlham                     8
   27) Fremont-Mills                8       27) HM-Sanborn                  8
   27) Graet-T/Ruth-Ayr             8       27) Nwood-Kensett               8
   33) Saint Ansgar                 7       33) East Mills                  7
   35) West Hancock                 6       35) Bishop Garrigan             6
   35) Pleasantville                6       35) EHK-Exira                   6
   35) CWL, Corwith                 6       35) Cent Lyon, RR               6
   35) NUH, CF                      6       42) Clarksville                 5
   42) N Sentral K/AR               5       44) New London                  4
   44) Martndsl-StMarys             4       44) St. Albert, CB              4
   47) South O'Brien, P             3.50    48) Valley Commu                3
   49) Ia Chst/Ank Chst             2       49) Clay Central                2
   49) Hinton                       2       49) East Greene, GJ             2
   53) DSM Christian                1       53) A-H-S-T, A                  1
   53) Springville                  1       53) Lawton-Bronson              1
   53) NE Hamilton, B               1       53) Adair-Casey                 1
   53) English Valleys              1       53) Gehlen Cath, L              1

Class 2-A Final Team Standings

    1) St. Edmond, FD              66        2) Monticello                 51
    3) W Marshall, SC              45        4) Mediapolis                 26
    4) South Cent Cal              26        4) Durant                     26
    7) Ia Falls-Alden              25        8) Regina, IC                 24
    8) Mount Ayr                   24       10) Bond-Farrar                21
   11) Clarion-Goldfied            20       12) Hudson                     19
   13) Beckman, D                  18       14) Mid-Prairie, W             17
   14) CMB, Baxter                 17       14) PCM, Monroe                17
   17) Albia                       15       17) North Polk, A              15
   19) KP-WC                       14       19) Okoboji, Milford           14
   21) Ridge View                  12       22) Sioux Ctrl, SR             11
   22) Dike-NH                     11       22) Sioux Center               11
   25) Clarke, Osceola             10       25) Gilbert                    10
   25) West Liberty                10       25) Unity Chrst, OC            10
   29) Roland-Story                 9       29) N Fayette, WU               9
   31) Logan-Magnolia               8       31) Maple Valley-A-O            8
   33) Audubon                      7       34) Estherville-LC              6
   34) Cascade, WD                  6       36) Garner-Hayfield             5.50
   36) IKM-Manning                  5.50    38) S Hamilton, J               5
   38) West Branch                  5       38) Wilton                      5
   41) Maquoketa Valley             4       41) Eddyvl-Blakesbg             4
   41) Jefferson-Scran              4       44) West Fork, S                3.50
   44) Columbus, CJ                 3.50    46) Woodward Acad               3
   47) Nodaway Vall                 2       47) Cherokee, Wash              2
   47) S Winn, Calmar               2       47) Tipton                      2
   47) Cardinal, Eldon              2       52) Colfax-Mingo                1
   52) Davis County, B              1

Class 3-A Final Team Standings

    1) Glenwood                    78        2) Central Clinton            67
    3) Waverly-SR                  64        4) Bishop Heelan              48
    5) Wahlert, Dub                45        5) Spirit Lake Park           45
    7) Knoxville                   36        8) Clear Crk-Amana            35
    9) Algona                      33       10) Solon                      30
   11) Mt Pleasant                 28       12) Oelwein                    18
   13) Hampton-Dumont              14       13) Storm Lake                 14
   13) Boone                       14       16) Union, LaPorte C           13
   17) Decorah                     12       17) Centerville                12
   19) Fairfield                   11       19) DC-Grimes                  11
   21) Pella                       10       22) Webster City                8
   22) Keokuk                       8       24) S Tama Cty, Tama            6
   24) Washington                   6       26) Norwalk                     5
   26) A-D-M, Adel                  5       28) Oskaloosa                   4
   28) Marion                       4       30) Williamsburg                3
   30) Fort Madison                 3       32) Center Point                2
   32) Carlisle                     2       32) Forest City                 2
   35) Atlantic                     1