The Hartley Sentinel-The Everly/Royal News - Serving O'Brien & Clay Counties

Golden girl

Iowa’s Caitlin Clark takes sports world by storm

It doesn’t take someone who bleeds black and gold to appreciate what Caitlin Clark has done in Iowa City.

The Hawkeyes’ unstoppable guard last week became the all-time scorer in NCAA women’s basketball history. She sunk Iowa’s first eight points against Michigan in Carver-Hawkeye Arena, breaking the record of 3,527 by splashing one of her trademark logo three-pointers. She now stands alone at the top with plenty of season left to keep racking up the tally.

Clark’s star has shined bright well beyond the Hawkeye State. Her incredible play has pushed women’s basketball to the forefront of the nation’s attention, and at no other time have people cared so deeply about the sport. Folks from sea to shining sea are simply in awe of what she’s been able to do on the hardwood. Time will tell, but one could argue no other person will ever do it like Clark again.

While her mind-blowing stats, mile-long threes and dazzling assists are enough to drop jaws on their own, Clark’s impact extends well beyond the court. Millions of young girls have seen her take the mantel for the sport and want to be just like her. That’s not hyperbole, as the numbers tell the tale.

All of Iowa’s road games have been sellouts and schools that host the Hawkeyes have logged attendance increases of 150 percent, according to the Associated Press. In January’s matchup at Ohio State, the Buckeyes set their attendance record with 18,660 fans. Ten days later Iowa traveled to Northwestern, and the Wildcats had their first-ever sellout in Welsh-Ryan Arena. By the end of the season, all but two of Iowa’s games will be sellouts or break attendance records.

TV ratings also prove the so-called “Caitlin Clark Effect.” On Feb. 3, 1,578,000 viewers watched Maryland take on the Hawkeyes on Fox. It was the most-watched women’s college basketball game ever on the network – until eight days later when the Huskers-Hawkeyes matchup broke the Fox viewership record with 1,772,000 fans tuned in. Iowa’s overtime loss at Ohio State in January peaked at 3.9 million viewers.

It’s truly remarkable what this homegrown heroine has done for Iowa, women’s sports and perceptions writ large. We are extremely fortunate to have her in a Hawkeye jersey, and you’d be hard-pressed to find someone better to represent our state on such a massive scale.

There’s nothing much left for Clark to prove other than winning the national championship. Now that she’s got the record, pundits have been filling airtime comparing her to other basketball greats – both men and women. While that’s certainly flattering, they’re wasting their breath.

She’s Caitlin Clark, she’s from Iowa, and she’s the greatest thing on a basketball court right now.

Blue jacket salute

Honoring future leaders during National FFA Week

Rural Iowa has many rich traditions, but very few have an impact quite like our local FFA chapters.

This week more than 600,000 FFA members across the country are observing National FFA Week. The annual celebration allows communities to laud their local chapters and reflect on their influence, which is indeed huge in areas like ours. After all, you’d be hard-pressed to find an organization with as much youthful enthusiasm as this one. Whether it’s building a shelter house or hosting a food drive, our local Blue Jackets are always willing to lend a helping hand in the communities they serve.

That spirit of volunteerism is one of the many key factors that make FFA great. However, we’d be remiss to ignore the organization’s wide-ranging influence on agriculture. By bringing ag into the classroom, FFA has introduced generations of students to a variety of topics not typically broached in traditional curriculum. Whether it’s a lesson about pigs, corn or something in between, FFA members are cognizant of their food sources and the impact farmers have on the world around them. That’s easy to forget in this day and age, which makes FFA all the more important.

Agriculture has changed drastically since the first FFA chapter was founded in 1928. Thankfully, the organization has continued to thrive and pump out America’s future farmers, biologists, chemists, veterinarians, engineers and entrepreneurs. It has never waivered in its mission, and school districts like Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn can be thankful to have thriving chapters that continually serve their communities to the highest degree. Without them, our area would be severely lacking.