Spring car racing’s biggest event begins Wednesday night with a first night of qualifying at the Knoxville Nationals. Among those making a qualifying run Wednesday is 11-time champ Donny Schatz. If he takes the checkered flag Saturday night Schatz will become a 12-time winner, equaling the record set by Steve Kinzer. It is a race nearly every driver hopes to win once.

That’s Race Director John McCoy. Drivers earn points via time trials, a heat race and a feature. The top 16 in points after the first two nights advance to Saturday night’s championship race.

More than 100 cars are registered. The purse for the four-day event tops 1.1 million dollars.

Iowa punter Tory Taylor is getting ready for a senior season that he did not think would happen. The native of Australia averaged better than 45 yards per punt and had 38 downed inside the 20 last year in earning All-America honors. Taylor considered moving on the NFL after a Music City Bowl win over Kentucky.

Taylor says there are still things to work on and he enjoys college football.

Taylor says he lost some weight in the offseason in the hopes of improving his leg speed.

The Hawkeyes open at home against Utah State on September second.

Iowa State defensive back T.J. Tampa has taken on a bigger leadership role as he gets ready for his senior season. The St. Petersburg, Florida, native started all 12 games and was a second team All-Big 12 selection for a Cyclone team that finished 4-8.

Despite a subpar season in 2022 the Cyclones still led the Big 12 in defense and Tampa says a key to that unit has been depth.

Tampa says a lot of young players are stepping up to fill roles in the secondary.

The Cyclones open at home on September second against UNI.

PARIS, France – The University of Iowa men’s basketball team flew past the Paris All-Stars, 123-77, to open its foreign tour.

All 11 Hawkeyes scored en route to the victory, led by fifth-year Ben Krikke and junior Payton Sandfort, who each scored 22 points. Krikke earned a double-double with 10 rebounds, while freshman Owen Freeman came off the bench with 10 points and 15 rebounds. Senior Tony Perkins stuffed the stat sheet with 19 points, five assists, four steals and three rebounds.

Freshmen Pryce Sandfort and Brock Harding also got into double figure scoring with 13 and 10 points, respectively.

As a team, the Hawkeyes shot 50.6% from the field and buried 16 three-pointers. The Sandfort brothers accounted for seven of the 16 made three-pointers, with Harding, Perkins, and sophomores Josh Dix and Dasonte Bowen knocked down two apiece. Redshirt sophomore Carter Kingsbury added to the tally with one three-pointer. Iowa dished 27 assists on 41 made shots. Defensively, the Hawkeyes had 15 steals.

Games are not scheduled to be streamed, but fans can stay updated via hawkeyesports.com and @IowaHoops social media channels for updates.

Upcoming Games
Aug. 11 – Valencia All-Stars – Noon (CT)
Aug. 14 – Barcelona All-Stars – Noon (CT)

SWIFT held the final stop for the Junior and High School Duke Rentals Kayak Series Championships presented by AA Treen and Lawn Service / Big Bite Baits at Prairie Rose Lake. 18 student anglers enjoyed beautiful calm morning as they paddled their kayaks around the lake in search of the 5 biggest Bass. The championship tournament would not decide the Junior and High School kayak championship, but the closely contested 2023 Denny Bramer Angler of the Year was up for grabs. Coming into the tournament two points separated the top 3 anglers.  Brentyn Hoover from Anita and Jake Wailes from Wiota, IA were deadlocked a top of the point standings with Owen Hoover only two points behind. After entire season of tight lines, good hook sets, big fish and full bags Jake Wailes was crowned the 2023 Denny Bramer Angler of the Year. Margin of victory was one point and half of an inch. Congratulations to all the anglers.

For the tournament in the Fairlife Junior division Jake Wailes hauled in five bass totaling 75” to take the top spot.  Brentyn Hoover was second with 70.75”, third went to Brendan Wilke 68.25”, Letty McSorley was fourth 55.25”, and round out the top five was Gavin Dougherty with 12.75”. Wailes was crowned the 2023 Duke Rentals Junior Kayak champion.

In the Powerade High School division Owen Hoover caught full limit of fish totaling 69.75” to win the tournament and the series championship. Second was Joaquin Wailes 54.5”, Lucas Bose  was third 44” and Colin Rudy 43.5” was fourth, Hunter Quist 15” rounded out the top five.

Shout out to Bryce Berg and Logan Bose for catching some big bass from the banks!

AM Cohron Big Fish award when to Colin Rudy with the first 17.5” lunker catch.

If you are interested in joining the team reach out to swifishingteam@gmail.com . It is always a good time to join the team. The 2024 season will start in September.

2023 SWIFT Awards Banquet Sunday Aug 20^th in Wiota, IA.

2023/24 Agrivison Elite Boat Series-

September 9th-10^th – Prairie Rose Lake High School on Saturday and Juniors on Sunday.

Oct 7^th & 8^th– Viking Lake- Juniors on Saturday and Powerade High School Division on Sunday.

Oct 21st- 12 Mile Lake, Afton, IA

2024

April 13^th & 14^th Lake Anita- Anita, IA

May 3rd & 4th Iowa TBF/SAF State Championship- Lake Okoboji

Start forming your 2024 boat team now!