Nothing complicates emotions quite like a second-place performance. Being a runner-up means an individual or a team was better than all but one. When you stop and think about the distance traveled and work it took to get to that point, there’s really no logical reason for a kid to feel ...

It all seems so glamorous at first blush: the life of a collegiate athlete. After all, this is what many kids dream about and parents make sacrifices to attain, right? Wearing the colors of a high-profile school, having the spotlight on them at all times…a lifestyle of recognition, ...

When a college football program is barely keeping its head above water and Boise or Detroit are regular bowl destinations, it’s much easier to identify necessary philosophical or personnel changes. The Iowa Hawkeyes, meanwhile, just completed their sixth consecutive season with a win ...

It was simple math, really: 2021 Fiesta Bowl champion Iowa State returned 19 starters from its Big 12 regular-season championship squad this year, including unanimous All-American Breece Hall and national award contenders Brock Purdy, Charlie Kolar and Mike Rose. As such, the preseason ...

Cayd Lara faces challenges every single day as a member of the University of Northern Iowa wrestling team. The two-time Fort Dodge Senior High state runner-up would like nothing more than to simplify his complicated career on the mat. Nothing has ever come easy for Lara, who is currently ...

The state football championship was enough to cement the legacy of Aaron Graves at Southeast Valley. Four-time varsity letterwinner. Four-time all-state selection. Three-time first team pick. Committed to the University of Iowa’s football program as a precocious 6-foot-4, 225-pound freshman ...