IRON COUNTY—Football started flying through the air on Monday, as football practice got under way at both West Iron County and Forest Park.
 Except for helmets, the athletes won’t wear any protective equipment until Thursday, Aug. 9. That’s a state rule.

IRON RIVER—When the annual “Meet the Wykons” night takes place Tuesday, Aug. 14, at 6 p.m., it will also be time to meet Nelson Field’s new scoreboard.

West Iron County’s race team is on the run during the ladder race, which they won in 18.91 seconds—dressing, running and climbing the ladder.

IRONWOOD—If those ancient Mayan prophecies somehow turn out to be wrong and the world doesn’t end this December, the West Iron County Fire Department will be going for its third straight U.P. Firefighters title in L’Anse next July.

CRYSTAL FALLS—The showdown among the Upper Peninsula’s strongest takes place at noon this Saturday.
 It’s the annual U.P. Strongman Competition, part of Fungus Fest, taking place Aug. 4 at the Runkle Lake Park softball diamond.

IRON COUNTY—Volleyball practice for both Iron County high schools will be starting next Wednesday, Aug. 8.
 At West Iron County, practice will be from 8 to 11 a.m. JV practices will begin Aug. 15 and will go from 7:30 to 10:30 a.m.

Wausau West assistant Josh Nowitzke gives the instructions for an agility drill. Warriors players wore mesh shirts that said “Iron River 2012”—Wausau West is a regular at the Iron County camp.

IRON RIVER—As hot as it’s been, summer is moving along. In just a few weeks, footballs will be flying through the air.
 They were last week at West Iron County High School’s practice field, where 140 grid hopefuls honed their skills and fought off the heat during the annual  Iron County Football Camp.

A big field—111 runners—took part in the 10K Run Your Bass Off race, which started at Runkle Lake Park in Crystal Falls July 8 as part of the Bass Festival. The Half Bass race drew nearly double the runners—210.
CRYSTAL FALLS—It’s been a while since John Butsic wore West Iron County’s blue and white in a race for the Wykons.
 But Butsic showed he hasn’t lost his love of running at the Run Your Bass Off races here July 8 when he won the men’s division in the 5K Half Bass run, which started and ended at Runkle Lake Park.

Melissa Christensen runs the hurdles during heptathlon competition during the GLIAC Championships, held May 2-4 at Grand Valley State University. She finished fifth in both the heptathlon and in open long jump, helping Northern Michigan University finish in fourth place. (submitted photos)
IRON RIVER—Melissa Christensen, a 2008 graduate of West Iron County High School, recently completed her fourth and final year on Northern Michigan University’s women’s track team.
 In her four years on the team, Christensen competed in pentathlon (60-meter hurdles, high jump, shot put, long jump and 800-meter run, all in one day), heptathlon (100-meter hurdles, high jump, shot put, 200 dash, long jump, javelin and 800 run over two days), long jump, 4x100 relay, 4x400 relay, 55-meter hurdles, 100-meter hurdles, triple jump and high jump.

IRON MOUNTAIN—Iron County’s Major League (11-12 years old) all-star team reached the semifinals of the Little League tournament early last week before the team was eliminated.
 Kingsford defeated Iron County 7-4 on July 9 at the East Kingsford sports complex after Iron County got in front early. Kevin Ballinger doubled and Steven Nelson singled to drive in runs, putting Iron County in front 3-0.

The Italians were all smiles after defeating the Swedes 17-14 at Runkle Lake Park July 7 in the annual Wop-Swede slowpitch game. Front row, from left: Tony Santilli, Philip Robinson, Scott Santilli, Coach Tom Lesandrini, Manager Bill Santilli, Herb Nylund, Dave Lesandrini, Kyle LaVacque, Coach Dennis Fabbri. Back row: Troy Margoni, Bryan LaChapelle Jr., Bryan LaChapelle, Brian Fabbri, Chris Colavecchi, Kevin Colavecchi.

CRYSTAL FALLS—The Italians made plenty of noise with their bats in the first three innings of the annual Wop-Swede softball game at Runkle Lake Park here July 7.