Well, I was born in a small town ...

Please allow me to introduce myself. I am Jeff Arenz, and I have been hired to be the sports editor of The Creston News Advertiser and Adair County Free Press.

With the intention of making a solid first impression, I want to say that I am excited to lead the coverage of sports at a daily newspaper in southwest Iowa. I consider myself to be a passionate person, and I hope that passion is expressed through my writing.

After more than 20 years of working as a sports journalist, I am still inspired by the effort put forth by prep athletes and amazed by their skills. It’s an honor to get to know them and to tell their stories.

I believe the role of a sports journalist is to observe their environment, take accurate notes based on what they sees and deliver a fair, unbiased report of the game they covered. It’s good to be the proverbial fly on the wall.

I aim to create pages that feature a variety of sports because it’s my job to keep readers like you informed on the whole spectrum.

During the last two decades, there isn’t a prep sport that I have not covered. I have written about topics that include auto racing, baseball, basketball, bowling, boxing, cross country, football, golf, gymnastics, rodeo, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, track and field, volleyball and wrestling.

Throughout my career, I have worked for several newspapers, and gained a lot of experience along the way. My goal is to share that experience in creating a sports section that everyone will enjoy reading.

Living in a small town like Creston is a good fit for me. I grew up on the farm of Leonard and Judy Arenz, my parents, who live five miles northwest of my hometown, Streator, Ill.

A rural lifestyle is not culture shock to me. It’s home.

While sports and writing are two dominant interests in my life, I like drawing upon a variety of hobbies for entertainment.

I enjoy playing and listening to classic rock and going to concerts. I am learning how to play guitar and I have played keyboards for more than 20 years. Some of my favorite bands are AC/DC, Aerosmith, Van Halen, KISS, Bon Jovi, Motley Crue, Def Leppard, Led Zeppelin, The Doors, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Elvis Presley, etc.

I enjoy working with computers and being creative with graphic design.

My favorite types of movies are action-adventure and comedy. I enjoy meeting my friends for dinner and going out to socialize. I like to play card games such as Euchre and Poker and collecting CDs of my favorite rock bands.

I look forward to working with Tyler Hetu, who is now my partner in the CNA sports department. Here’s to a long, successful run together.

I want to thank Larry Peterson, who stepped in to help Tyler with all things related to sports while I was making my move to Creston. Larry will continue to be a part-time member of the CNA sports deparment, and I am excited use his vast knowledge as reference tool to sports history in southwest Iowa.

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Contact the writer:

Phone — (641) 782-2141, ext. 6439

Email — jarenz@crestonnews.com

Twitter —@CNASports