WAUKON — Call it a countdown. Or a count-up.
Either way, the chase is on.
The town is into it. The team is into it. Yeah, even Gene Klinge is into it.
“I’m a little excited about it, yeah,” said Klinge, who picked up his 932nd career victory when Waukon defeated Postville in its girls’ basketball season opener Friday.
Klinge is closing in on the late Bob Mullen, who won 938 games. It’s just a matter of when.
Most likely, it will happen on the road. If the Indians, ranked No. 2 in Class 3A, …

Jeff Linder’s preseason state rankings for girls’ basketball:
CLASS 4A
1. Linn-Mar 24-1
2. Cedar Rapids Kennedy 17-8
3. Waukee 17-7
4. Sioux City North 25-1
5. Ankeny 18-6
6. Ames 23-3
7. Des Moines East 20-3
8. Des Moines Roosevelt 12-11
9. Cedar Rapids Xavier 15-9
10. West Des Moines Dowling 14-9
CLASS 3A
1. Sioux City Heelan 20-5
2. Waukon 21-3
3. Algona 23-1
4. Davenport Assumption 18-4
5. DeWitt Central 18-4
6. Marion 22-2 
7. Storm Lake 16-6
8. Dallas Center-Grimes 19-4
9. Spencer 21-4
10. Washington 15-9
CLASS 2A
1. Ida Grove OA-BCIG ***
2. Cascade 24-4
3. Central Lyon 18-5
4. Manson-NW Webster 26-1
5. Mount Vernon 17-6
6. Denver 21-4
7. Hinton 25-1
8. Panorama …

Jeff Linder projects the area conferences:
MVC MISSISSIPPI DIVISION
1. Cedar Rapids Kennedy, 2. Cedar Rapids Xavier, 3. Iowa City High, 4. Waterloo West, 5. Dubuque Wahlert, 6. Iowa City West, 7. Dubuque Hempstead.
MVC VALLEY DIVISION
1. Linn-Mar, 2. Cedar Rapids Washington, 3. Cedar Rapids Jefferson, 4. Cedar Falls, 5. Dubuque Senior, 6. Cedar Rapids Prairie, 7. Waterloo East.
WAMAC EAST DIVISION
1. DeWitt Central, 2. Mount Vernon, 3. Anamosa, 4. Maquoketa, 5. Western Dubuque, 6. Solon, 7. West Delaware, 8. Beckman.
WAMAC WEST DIVISION
1. Marion, 2. Williamsburg, 3. VInton-Shellsburg, 4. Waterloo Columbus, 5. Center Point-Urbana, …

CLASS 4A
Name Ht. Yr. 2008-09 stats/honors
Tia Dawson, C.R. Washington 6-1 Jr. 10.7 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 2.5 bpg
Mariah Duke, C.R. Kennedy 5-7 Sr. 10.5 ppg, 3.1 apg, 3rd-team all-state
Virginia Johnson, Iowa City High 6-1 Jr. 17.2 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 1st-team all-state
Jade Rogers, C.R. Kennedy 5-11 Sr. 17.9 ppg, 10.6 rpg, 1st-team all-state
Kiah Stokes, Linn-Mar 6-3 Jr. 15.6 ppg, 12.8 rpg, 1st-team all-state
CLASS 3A
Name Ht. Yr. 2008-09 stats/honors
Carissa Berger, Waukon 5-6 Sr. 11.3 ppg, 3.4 spg
Allison Emrich, Vinton-Shellsburg 6-0 Jr. 12.4 ppg, 8.0 rpg
Mary Halvorson, Waukon 6-0 Sr. 15.5 ppg, 8.2 rpg, …

The Iowa Newspaper Association is allowing release of the all-state football teams at 12:01 Tuesday morning.
That’s when they’ll be released at this site. They’ll also be in Tuesday’s Gazette.