I would like to express my sincere gratitude for the coverage your newspaper provided on the East Marshall boys basketball season. Your commitment to covering local community athletics and thoughtful storytelling means a great deal to our student athletes. The articles highlighted the successes of the season and motivated us to keep making our community proud.

This team’s advancement to the Class IA Substate game started ten years ago when my fellow seniors Cody Weaver, Blake Neuroth, Dallas Miller, and Kaden Good started playing AAU basketball together in third grade here locally in Marshalltown. I will never forget the countless hours that I have spent in the gym practicing with these men, who I consider my best friends. Our relationship with each other through basketball was a huge part of our team’s success this year. Not only are these seniors amazing players on the court, but they are also amazing in the classroom; all of our seniors were recognized as Academic All-Conference!

Thank you again for your time and attention to local athletics. Go Mustangs!