by Blake West, Sports Writer UNDERWOOD – It was a beautiful night at Eagle Stadium in Underwood for a rare Thursday night contest to kick off the 2025 football season for the Harlan Community Cyclones. Underwood won the opening toss and elected to receive, which put the Cyclones on defense first.

The Harlan Community High School boys soccer team was not able to recover from a strong first half by the St. Albert Falcons offense Monday night at Merrill Field. After the Falcons scored five goals in the first half, the Cyclones fell short and lost their second game of the season 5-2.

Despite strong defensive efforts by the Cyclone’s goalkeeper Grace Albertsen and defender Lily Schechinger, the St. Albert Saintes defeated the HCHS girls soccer team Monday evening at Merrill Field.

The Harlan Trap Shooting Team competed over the weekend putting up a strong performance.
“I think we did really good this meet,” said Head Trap Shooting Coach Jason Paulsen. “I think our top five kids are our top squad, and I think in every division, we were number one. Our varsity kids did good.”

HCHS Girls
The HCHS girls track and field team is coming off a strong performance at Thursday’s Monarch Relays in which they earned a third place finish with 122 points, 18 behind the winner, Atlantic with 140.

HCHS Senior Hayden Soma will continue his education and baseball career at Iowa Central in Fort Dodge.
“It’s crazy,” Soma said. “If you told me that when I was probably 10-years-old, I would’ve told you you’re crazy because I’ve always wanted to play football, but now I’m just pumped that I get to play baseball at the collegiate level.”

The HCHS Cyclones boys soccer team earned a 6-1 win in their season opener Monday against the Panorama Panthers.
“It is always nice to start out the season with a win,” said Cyclone Head Coach Dave Voge. “We started out slow, but really picked up momentum as the first half went on, and that carried over into the second half.”
Both teams got off to a slow start, as the game was tied at one heading into halftime.

The HCHS girls soccer team opened their season Monday night at home with a 4-3 win over the Panorama Panthers.
“Panorama is always a tough team to face, especially early in the season,” said Cyclone Head Coach Jared Boysen. “They usually possess the ball really well and have been tough to score on in the past. They had one of the top goal scorers in the state returning in Morgan Crees that we knew we were going to have to stop.”

Monday at Audubon High School, the AHSTW Vikings and IKM-Manning Wolves girls track teams participated with the Vikings earning a fourth place finish with 71 points and the Wolves coming in seventh place with 52 points.
“Overall it was a great first outdoor meet for the girls,” said Wolves Head Coach Emma Konkler-Petersen. “They showed strong performances in both relays and some individual events.”

HCHS Girls
The HCHS Cyclones girls soccer team was back in action Friday night for a scrimmage against the AHSTW Vikings. Junior Cyclone Carly Torneten said it felt good to start the season.
“Obviously the wind isn’t what we wanted, but it feels good to get everybody out there and get moving again,” Torneten said. “We have a lot to look forward to this season.”

HCHS Girls
The HCHS girls track and field team put on a strong showing during the Carroll Early Bird event, finishing second place with 105 points, 32 behind first place finishing Glenwood.
“We had such a beautiful night for our first outdoor track meet,” said Cyclone Head Coach Jenny Hamilton. “It was good for us to see local competition and how we match up.”

HCHS Senior Molly Swensen recently decided to further her education and basketball career at Morningside College. Swensen is excited for what’s to come.
“I just took my time, praying, and finding the right school for me that will help my faith and help everything in my life,” Swensen said before deciding.
Swensen’s coaches, Zach Klaassen, Sam Brummer, and Mark Kohorst, were in attendance at the signing.

The HCHS Cyclones boys soccer team will be back in action at Merrill Field with a new season kicking off Monday. Senior Spencer Fink said he is looking forward to the season.
“The team is looking great,” Fink said. “We’re out here quite a bit right after we got done with wrestling and basketball. I think we’re going to have a good year. It could be the year we make a run at state.”

The HCHS Cyclones girls golf team hopes to accomplish big things this season with a small roster.
“Some of them are brand new to golf,” said Cyclone Head Coach Todd Bladt. “It’ll be a steep learning curve. You got to get out there and swing to have any improvement. We’ll battle a little bit here in March where it’s Iowa weather. It could be 70 degrees at 9 a.m. and then all of a sudden there’s a blizzard at 4 p.m.”

The HCHS Cyclones boys golf team has been taking advantage of the warmer weather, practicing at the Harlan Golf & Country Club preparing for the upcoming season.
“The weather is breaking and getting a little nicer,” said Cyclone Head Coach Chad Swanson. “We’re definitely itching to get going for sure. The courses are starting to green up a little bit.”
Swanson said the team has been getting some holes in.