Sports

SPENCER — After singles regional competition on Wednesday, the Tiger girls tennis team hosted the regional team play at Riverview Tennis Courts for team Saturday. Spencer took down Storm Lake to start their day, defeating the Tornadoes 5-1; before besting Cherokee, 5-2 to advance to a showdown with Spirit Lake Tuesday...

STORM LAKE — Spencer girls golf team traveled to Lake Creek Country Club for the Storm Lake Invitational Saturday. Taking a fourth place finish on the day, Mo McDermott was not with the team during the day. Meredith Baker stepped up during the absence and shot her career low with a score of 92 on the 18th hole competition, good enough for a runner-up medalist finish...

SPENCER — Thursday night it felt like a wind storm during the soccer game between Spencer and Storm Lake, the ball would fly to the west, and die in the wind to the east, it was amazing the game was played. It was a long night for the Tigers during the game, unable to find the back of the net, with plenty of chances, the weather did them no favors during the contest. ...

By Dakota Locker Sports Editor sports@spencerdailyreporter.com LE MARS — Spencer boys and girls track competed at Le Mars High School Friday for a chance to punch their tickets to state. For both teams, it was a lot of winning, including seven times for the girls team, they won in the 4x100- and 4x200-meter relays, distance medley, 4x100-meter shuttle hurdle and the 800 sprint medley as a team. ...

MILWAUKEE, Wis. — USA Gymnastics Region 4 held its 2022 XCEL Regional Championship Competition April 29-May 1 at the Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. More than 2,000 athletes from 145 clubs in seven states competed in the silver-diamond levels. Gymnasts advanced to regionals after qualifying in the All-Around or as an event specialist at their respective state competition...

ESTHERVILLE — Iowa Lakes Community College softball team had seven student-athletes that were named to the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference Division II Softball All-Region teams. Lexi Chase, pitcher; Bryn Bohmann, infield; Eliya Johnson, infield; and Alyssa Thorson, outfield, were all named to the ICCAC All-Region first team. ...

LE MARS -- Tiger girls tennis doubles team Kinsey Schroeder and Haley Berends were the No. 1 seed heading into regional play for a reason, they've been dominant all season on the court for Spencer. That wouldn't change on Wednesday, winning four matchups on the day, and sweeping the regional competition. ...

ORANGE CITY -- The Spencer Tigers had arguably their best performance of the season at the right time, grabbing second place with a team score of 312, falling only to MOC-Floyd Valley, 304, at Landsmeer Golf Course, site of the 3A boys sectionals, Wednesday. They advanced to District play which the team hosts Monday at 10 a.m. with a bid to the state tournament on the line. ...

SPENCER — Wednesday, the substate brackets were announced and Spencer drew the No. 1 seed, earning the squad a first round bye and home field advantage. “Securing the No. 1 seed in our substate bracket is huge,” coach Jesse Kuehler said. “Being able to host the games here in Spencer and having a first round bye is really big. ...

SPENCER — The week jumped right into summer temps, minus much a spring, welcoming Little League baseball and softball with opening ceremonies Monday. A total of 633 kids are participating in this year’s season, comprising 53 teams league wide. Brandon Edmonds, president of the Spencer Youth Baseball and Softball Board, spoke about opening night...

EMMETSBURG — The Tiger girls track team traveled to Emmetsburg High School Monday to participate in its final meet of the regular season. Spencer won 10 different events on the track. “The girls performed at a very high level as we were preparing for the postseason,” coach Alan Pierce said. “We used this meet to polish some relay handoffs and experiment with the lineup in a few spots. The kids came through in flying colors as we dominated the four team field...

ORANGE CITY — Alexa Johnson has been on an absolute tear this season, scoring goals left and right against each opponent. She came into Monday’s game against MOC-FV one shy of Katie Moser’s school record of 99 career goals. Johnson didn’t just break the record, she shattered it, scoring six goals in the contest to give her 104 in her Spencer Tiger career, and helping her team to a 10-0 win against the Dutch...

SPENCER — Monday morning Spencer Golf and Country Club hosted the girls Lakes Conference Tournament. After turning in two top four scores in the meet, the Tigers fell eight strokes short of the Spirit Lake Indians for the conference title. Mo McDermott led the way for Spencer again, shooting the best round in the conference with an 89 on the day, earning her medalist honors and all-conference...

SPENCER — It was senior night for the Spencer Tiger boys track team, hosting a track meet at Dale Norton Field Monday. The boys swept varsity and junior varsity competition, with a team score of 149, 52 more than second place Cherokee-Washington, which scored 97...

SPENCER — Riverview Tennis Courts hosted the district boys tennis tournament this year, the third ranked class 1A Tigers have been rolling on the season, and didn’t want that to stop Monday. The Tigers won the district competition by district tournament by 27 points, sending both doubles squads and an alternate singles player to the state tournament...

The Iowa Great Lakes Fishing Club works hard to provide lots of opportunities for families when it comes to the outdoors and fishing. Events so far this year have included the Wild Game Feed to raise money for the Jim McDonnel scholarship for area high school/college students, adult and youngster hard water tournament, the ISU Kid’s ice fishing clinic, spring seminar, Ice Fishing Tournament/fundraiser at Camp Autumn, Kids Fishing Clinic (Stolley’s Park) and roadside cleanup (Fostoria). ...

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is offering a six-month workshop to teach skills needed to hunt, field dress and cook white-tailed deer to individuals who have little to no archery hunting experience. This workshop consists of archery practices in the summer, a fall workshop and hunting opportunities throughout Iowa’s archery season. All sessions are led by instructors that possess the experience to teach skills necessary to become efficient archers and bowhunters...

Iowa Department of Natural Resource foresters are receiving reports of moderate to severe winter burn damage to arborvitae and white pine trees across Iowa. “The ground remained frozen for a long time at the start of this year and the ambient temperatures were above freezing,” explained Tivon Feeley, DNR forest health forester. “The tree is forced to use their water reserves in the needles, but can’t absorb new water from the frozen soil. The lack of water causes the trees to dry out.”...

The nation’s largest recreational boating safety event of the year, National Safe Boating Week, is May 21–27, serves as a reminder to boaters to keep safety front and center all season long. The BoatUS Foundation for Boating Safety and Clean Water offers three tips for boaters to be safety heroes on the water:...

“When the red birds are whistling, the crappies will be biting.” Wally Marshall shared that piece of wisdom with me in a recent phone conversation. Wally is perhaps better known by his trademarked nickname Mr. Crappie. Mr. Crappie is probably the best known crappie angler in North America and maybe the world. ...

Well, the 40th annual Iowa Great Lakes Walleye Opener is in the books! Lots of people entered the tagged walleye contest, fished in the many divisions and celebrated the weekend at the awards luncheon held at the Dickinson County Expo Building on Sunday...

It’s spring. That time of year when temperatures warm, mushrooms pop up and the outdoors beckons. So run. Hike or bike. Hunt for mushrooms. Take photos. Visit our parks. And count on better air quality. Over the last 18 years, Iowa industries have significantly reduced six major air pollutants, along with total hazardous air pollutants, while growing our economy...

Fishing Rule No. 1 — If you want to make wonderful memories, take advantage of the fish that are most likely to get caught on the day that you’re fishing. Fishing Rule No. 2 — Remember Rule No. 1. As the weather slowly warms the water and the days get longer, more and more species of fish become more and more active. They are interested in spawning, and after they spawn, eating takes priority. When fish are willing or wanting to eat, they become easier to catch...