The rest of the fall sports can now get on the court and course and start their seasons. Girls tennis has been playing for a couple of weeks and Knoxville will continue with a road meet tonight at Grinnell. The Panthers are 3-1 in dual meets and came off a busy week where they won the Saydel Invitational on Friday. Volleyball sees its first competition after a few scrimmages. The class 4A #15 Panthers will travel to Carlisle to play the Wildcats, Ottumwa and Oskaloosa. Cross Country will get the season underway in the Knoxville Early Bird Meet at Pine Knolls Country Club. The Panthers will welcome PCM Pekin and Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont. Girls Coach Mikayla Splavec tells KNIA/KRLS Sports her veteran leadership plus the varsity runners will be able to run as a pack more this year will benefit everyone.

Splavec: “I know Nicole put in a lot of miles this summer, and she’s invested in running. I know our varsity 7 will be much closer this year, so they can train and work together a lot better this year.”

Temperatures will be ideal for a cross country meet as the high is projected to be 71 on Monday, a far cry from previous meets where the temperatures would hover around the mid to upper 80s. Girls are set to run at 5:00.