The Little Hawk

15/11/2025

RESULTS FROM DAY 2 at STATE SWIMMING:
By Louisa Berry-Stoelzle

The City High Girls Swim Team placed 12th in the 200 Medley Relay with swimmers Maeve Waas, Louisa Berry-Stoelzle, Ava Remme, and Helena Mundisev.
The 400 Free Relay placed 13th with swimmers Helena Mundisev, Ava Remme, Maeve Waas, and Celeste Miller.
The 200 Free Relay finished 18th with swimmers Maddie Elkins, Louisa Berry-Stoelzle, Abby Tierney, and Celeste Miller.

Helena Mundisev placed 13th in the 500 free with teammate Ava Remme following close behind in 14th place.

Maeve Waas placed 10th in the 100 Fly and 14th in the 100 Back.

11/11/2025

Floodwater Comedy Festival Returns This Weekend
Iowa City’s annual improv and stand-up festival will be held November 15 and 16
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Grab a life jacket, because Iowa City’s about to flood—with laughter. The annual Floodwater Comedy Festival returns next weekend on November 14 and 15 at Willow Creek theater, located at 327 S. Gilbert St. downtown.

“It’s a comedy festival that highlights improv comedy and stand-up comedy,” Hannah Neel, a member of the Floodwater Organizing Committee, said. “We bring in groups from all over the country, and there will also be workshops offered. It’s a great community event for people who want to not only watch comedy, but also participate.”

This year’s headliners are Shawna Blake, a stand-up comic from Redland, Oklahoma, and Ham Hammer, a three person improv comedy group from Chicago. 21 other groups will also perform, including Willow Creek’s three house teams (Lady Franklyn, Cool Shoes, Pope Cactus).

“[I joined Willow Creek’s long-form improv team Lady Franklyn in] August of this year. It’s one of those things where I love doing theater, doing improv, especially in the community,” improv comedian Fiona Howat said. “What I love about festivals like this is that you’re gonna see a whole range of talents and shows that you wouldn’t normally see.”

Howat will perform with Lady Franklyn on Friday and will give an improvised presentation, called a NED Talk, later in the night.

Floodwater was first started in 2014 by members of the Iowa City theater scene. Since then, it has undergone several transformations and is now under the umbrella of the Willow Creek Theater Company nonprofit structure.

“[Hosting Floodwater is] a torch that’s gotten past a few times,” creative director Luke Brooks said. “We were heading out of the pandemic and they were looking for someone to take up the mantle, and I jumped on there with a few other folks.”

Willow Creek, which was founded in January of 2020, is a volunteer-run improv theatre.

Read more on TheLittleHawk.com

📸 Willow Creek Theater
📝 Lily Rantanen

03/11/2025

📣 City High Cheer Finishes 5th at State!
Congratulations to Coach Degner and the Little Hawk Cheer team for placing 5th at the Iowa State Cheerleading Championships! The team showed incredible spirit, skill, and energy while representing City High on the state stage. ❤️🤍

30/10/2025

Mississippi Marching Band Invitational Rained Out
Marching band’s visit to Music on the Mississippi cancelled due to rain
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The marching band has prepared for their Mississippi Marching Invitational for the past few weeks, which is a marching band competition hosted by Clinton High School, in Clinton Iowa. Various high schools get together and showcase their field shows for a panel of adjudicators and are ranked based on both the effectiveness and quality of respective performances. 
The marching band’s show this year is called “Contrasts” and features three movements; 1. Love & War – music from “I Can’t Help Falling In Love” and “Mars: Bringer of War”, 2. Heaven & Hell – music from “Dies Irae” and “Stairway to Heaven”, and 3. Light & Dark – music from “Into the Darkness” and “Light em’ Up.
“I think the show is going really well, we had the whole show on the field in record time and everyone seems really bought in and we have been playing really well,” Daniel Kenyon ‘26, said.
This was City High’s second annual visit to Music on the Mississippi and the 4A schools that City High was planning to compete against were Davenport West, Western Dubuque, Muscatine, and Davenport Central.
“We try to approach every rehearsal like a performance, so in that respect it is special preparation! They’ve really been bringing it in rehearsal and performance lately,” Mike Kowbel, Band Director said. 
Unfortunately, the competition was rained out right before the marching band was planning to perform, so because they didn’t get a chance to compete, the band didn’t place at this competition. 
“Performing in marching band competitions is fun because it’s the culmination of the entire season, we only compete once per year so it’s really important that we get everything right the first and only time we get to compete,” said Kenyon ‘26, “I feel like everyone locks in and is ready and it’s cool to be a part of a band with 180 kids all ready to play and perform for each other.” 

📝 Estelle Hartz

Read more on TheLittleHawk.com 🦅

30/10/2025

SWISH SEASON
Head Coach Lynsey Barnard and players break down their thoughts towards the upcoming season.
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Head Coach Lynsey Barnard is entering her fourth season as head coach of the Little Hawk girls’ basketball team. Last year, the Little Hawks had a winning record of 16-8, falling short in the state qualifier to cross town rival Liberty. The Little Hawks lost two key players after last season, graduating seniors August Palmer and Emmy McComas. Palmer led the team in points while McComas led in rebounds. Coach Barnard feels that though the team lost key players, the overall style of play will not change drastically.
“We are going to replace two people with a team mentality, and I think we have a lot of weapons to do that,” Barnard said. 
The Little Hawks are returning three starters, and Barnard discussed the potential that she believes her roster has. 
“Loria has improved an insane amount, Driscoll will have a lot of pressure off after her commitment, and I’ve been super impressed with their growth over the summer,” Barnard said.
The girls’ basketball team will also bring in two freshmen who Coach Barnard expects to have a significant impact on the team’s overall success.
“We didn’t even know they were gonna really go out. They’ve just been awesome in terms of what we want out of teammates and also what we want out of basketball players. They’ve got great attitudes, and they are willing to work hard,” said Barnard when talking about the two new freshmen guards, Maddie Fraga ‘29 and Audrey Howe ‘29.
Coach Barnard’s roster has already taken a hit with the loss of starter Eve Vitense ‘28. Vitense made an impact on the varsity floor during her freshmen season last year, with her constant defensive effort and deep range. Vitense suffered an avulsion fracture on the inner base of her thumb in late October. 
“I’m gonna do my physical therapy, get my left hand ready and boom, I’ll be back before the season ends,” Vitense said with a smile. 

📝 Tessa Driscoll

Read the full story on TheLittleHawk.com‼️🦅

24/10/2025

FOOTBALL FLASHBACK: City High vs. Ottumwa

The Little Hawks take on Ottumwa tonight at Bates Field starting at 7 p.m.

This Friday, the Little Hawks play the Ottumwa Bulldogs on senior night to finish off their 2025 football season. While the Little Hawks’ season hasn’t gone the way they had hoped, they look to end the season off strong with a victory over Ottumwa and end their playoff chances. During halftime o...

24/10/2025

TICKET PUNCHED
The Little Hawk Girl’s Cross Country team punched their ticket to state, with three runners finishing in the top 10
By Tessa Driscoll

The Little Hawk Girl’s cross country team punched their ticket to state on Wednesday, October 22nd for the fifth year in a row. The cross country team has been racking up accomplishments. Last week, the Little Hawks won the MVC for the first time since 2015, and won districts for the first time si...

23/10/2025

The Little Hawk was named All-Iowa News Team of the Year at the 2025 IHSPA Conference! 🤍❤️🦅
We’re so proud of our incredible staff for their hard work, creativity, and dedication to telling the stories that matter.

20/10/2025

Girls XC Wins MVC Championships and Coach Ryan Ahlers Named MVC Coach of the Year
By Martha Willard and Kaitlin Loria

Little Hawks take the MVC conference win at Cedar Falls. Head coach Ryan Ahlers also won the title of coach of the year for women’s cross country.

“Personally, the award is recognition of a lot of work that goes into planning out a season to help runners be the best they can be, especially as the season gets into October. A coach and athletes in the sport of cross country have to have a lot of trust in each other, and I trust the women I coach completely,” Coach Ahlers said.

At the Cedar Falls meet, the Little Hawks scored 37 team points, with Abigail Burns receiving two points with a time of 18:26.2 and Grace Hamann receiving four points with a time of 19:06.4.

On Wednesday, October 22nd girls will be running at is their state qualifying meet at their home course of Iowa City Kickers Fields to run their best and earn a spot to run at state.

“We are preparing by having a good balance of physical, social, and emotional aspects of the sport. Being at your best physically happens best if the social and emotional needs are met as well. That takes planning, and I believe our team is doing a great job of that,” Ahlers said.

  Little Hawks take the MVC conference win at Cedar Falls. Head coach Ryan Ahlers also won the title of coach of the year for women’s cross country. “Personally, the award is recognition of a lot of work that goes into planning out a season to help runners be the best they can be, especially...

15/10/2025

🎓 CLASS OF 2026 — THIS IS YOUR MOMENT!
We’re offering FREE senior photos through 📸
Leave your legacy in the yearbook 🫵💥

📅 Deadline: January 9th
📲 Scan the QR code to sign up
📩 DM with any questions!

Tag a senior who hasn’t taken theirs yet ⬇️

11/10/2025

LH SPORTS POD: The Blaine Heick Edition
The four horseman talk with star line backer Blaine Heick about football, volleyball, golf, and cross country.
Listen to the podcast on YouTube Little Hawk

10/10/2025

Rose Nkumu Starts the Club The Lead-Hers for Female Athletes

By Kaitlin Loria

Rose Nkumu, City High School’s new athletic secretary, has recently started a club for female athletic leaders at our school called the Lead-Her program. This team consists of coach-selected players from their city high teams who demonstrate leadership within their teams at City High. This group i...