SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Carl Junction finished with a 3-2 record on the way to a fifth-place finish at the Springfield Classic volleyball tournament on Saturday.
Carl Junction (8-4) opened pool play with a 25-21, 25-18 win over Bentonville West before defeating Oak Park 25-20, 25-12. The Bulldogs suffered their first loss to Kickapoo 25-21, 25-22 to close out pool play with a second-place standing.
Carl Junction opened bracket play with a 25-10, 25-19 loss to Nixa before closing the day with a three-set win over Olathe East 25-20, 23-25 and 29-27.
Jessa Hylton led the Bulldogs with a total of 50 kills, 32 digs and eight aces in the tournament. Logan Jones accumulated 121 assists, 24 digs and 12 kills, while Kylie Scott added 26 kills and 11 blocks. Destiny Buerge added 47 digs to go along with 23 kills.
Carl Junction hosts Carthage on Tuesday.
Webb City earns wins against El Dorado and St. Mary’s Colgan
WEBB CITY, Mo. — Webb City hosted El Dorado Springs and St. Mary’s Colgan in a triangular tournament on Saturday inside the Cardinal Dome and walked away with a pair of wins.
The Cardinals (8-4-1) opened the day with a 3-0 sweep of Colgan, beating the Panthers 25-18, 25-18 and 25-16.
Kearston Galardo led Webb City in kills with 10, eight digs and an ace. Brenda Lawrence had nine kills and two digs, while Kyah Sanborn had 22 assists and eight digs. Jenna Noel had seven digs, with Kenzie Storm had five digs, four kills, a block and an assist. Kate Brownfield had six aces, three digs, two kills and a block.
The Cardinals went to four sets with the Bulldogs, earning a 25-21, 14-25, 25-18 and 25-21 victory.
Webb City had three players finish with double digit kills, with Brownfield’s 15 leading the way. Brownfield added four digs, two aces and an assist. Lawrence had 12 kills, three digs, a block and an ace, while Galardo had 10 kills, six aces and nine digs. Storm had 10 digs, nine kills and a block. Sophia Crane had 24 digs, one assist and an ace, while Sanborn totaled 40 assists, 12 digs, three kills and an ace.
Webb City hosts Joplin on Tuesday.
Thomas Jefferson takes third at own tourney
The host Thomas Jefferson Cavaliers finished third in their own volleyball tournament on Saturday.
Galena (Mo.) was the tourney champion, while Golden City took second, with the Cavaliers third.
EDMOND, Okla. —A 54-yard touchdown pass on fourth down fromDawson Herl toBrian Boyd Jr. inside the final minute, as well as a pair of interceptions fromDylan Bolden helped lead the Missouri Southern football team to a 14-10 road win at Central Oklahoma tonight.
The Lions (1-2, 1-2 MIAA) win for the first time over the Bronchos since 2013 and stop a six-game skid against UCO (1-2, 1-2 MIAA). Southern forced three takeaways on the night, including Bolden’s two interceptions, one of which was returned 27 yards for a score.
“This is an MIAA game,” said head coachAtiba Bradley. “You went and you saw the teams go back and forth all night. They scored, we answered. This was a great effort.”
Herl went 8-of-18 for 146 yards, but none were bigger than the 54-yards he got on the touchdown pass to Boyd. Boyd picked up two receptions for 71 yards and a score, whileNathan Glades had 18 carries for 73 yards.Akeem Gilmore,Keandre Bledsoe and Glades had a reception each.
Defensively, the Lions shined today. The team forced three takeaways, including Bolden’s two interceptions and a fumble recovery fromJerod Alton.Malachi Broadnax had eight tackles including seven solo, whileColton Winder had seven stops of his own.
Richard Jordan Jr. had six stops, a sack and two tackles for a loss, whileColeman Booker had six stops of his own. Jordan Jr. went over 200 tackles in his career and now has 202 for the Green and Gold.
Bolden started the scoring for the Lions in the first quarter as he recorded a pick-six, taking an interception 27 yards for the score to put the Lions up 7-0 after the PAT. It was the first interception returned for a touchdown since the 2019 season whenJaylon Alexander had a 55-yarder against Northwest Missouri.
“He (Bolden) was in a cover-two look and staring at the quarterback and he threw him the ball. He made a play and I’m so happy for the guys to get to see their hard work pay off. I couldn’t be happier for them.”
The Bronchos tied the score with 8:44 left in the second quarter with a rushing touchdown from Tucker Pawley and a 26-yard field goal with ten seconds to go before halftime gave UCO a 10-7 lead at the break.
Neither team scored in the third quarter and Southern had a chance to put some points on the board midway through the fourth but a field goal attempt forNick Williams was no good.
“I went right over to him and told him to pick his head up,” Bradley said. “I told him he’s going to make a game-winner for us sometime, I guarantee it. That kid is good and has a really short memory.”
After forcing another punt, the Southern offense came back on the field with 2:50 to go in the game. Southern got a third-down conversion from Glades with a three-yard carry to the Southern 36-yard line and picked up a short pass from Herl toJaedon Stoshak setting up what would be the game-winner. On 4th and three from their own 46-yard line, Herl hooked up with Boyd for a 54-yarder to go ahead 14-10 after the PAT from Williams.
Southern had 115 yards on the ground tonight and 153 through the air to out-gain the Bronchos 268 to 249.
Southern will be back in action next Saturday when the Lions host Fort Hays State for Homecoming. Kickoff from Fred G. Hughes Stadium is slated for 2 pm.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Liberty North pulled away from Webb City for a 7-3 win after out-scoring the Cardinals 5-1 over the final three innings of play in the Park Hill softball tournament on Saturday.
Laney Taylor delivers a pitch to the plate for Webb City this past weekend at the Park Hill tourney. Photo by Cody Thorn.
The Cardinals (8-5) scored seven runs in the first inning and held off Warrensburg 9-8 in four innings in the second game.
LIBERTY NORTH 7, WEBB CITY 3
Liberty North pushed across two runs in the top of the first before Webb City matched with a two-run bottom of the second. The Eagles broke the tie in the fifth inning after touching home twice. Liberty North added another two spot in the sixth, with Webb City rallying for a single tally in the bottom half, before each team traded a run in the seventh inning.
Sabrina Rogers earned the win for the Eagles after allowing four runs on seven hits, a walk and two strikeouts in seven complete innings.
Laney Taylor took the loss for the Cardinals after allowing four runs, three earned, on four hits and a strikeout in five innings. Peyton Hawkins allowed three unearned runs on four hits in two innings of work.
Kiana McDowell led Liberty North with two hits and three RBI, while Kayley Lenger added a hit, two RBI and scored a run.
Lauren Hicks led Webb City with a pair of home runs, a team-high three RBI and two runs scored. Kaylyn Gilbert doubled and had two hits while scoring a run.
CARDINALS 9, TIGERS 8
Webb City scored seven runs in the first inning and two more in the second to build an early 9-3 lead before Warrensburg rallied with two runs in the third and three more in the fourth before the final out was made.
Trailing 1-0, Hawkins got the scoring started in the last of the first with a two-run home run to center to give the Cardinals a 2-1 lead. Ripley Shanks added a two-run single and Morgan Brannon also picked up an RBI base hit. Hawkins reached on an error in her second at-bat of the inning to allow the seven run to score.
Emalee Lamar doubled home Gilbert and Shanks singled up the middle to score Lamar in the second inning.
Warrensburg’s Molly Nicas hit a two-run home run in the third, while Kayla Bloom had a two-run double and Emma Kreisel had an RBI single in the fourth. The Tigers had the tying run on second in the fourth before Nicas lined out to end the threat.
Hawkins started and earned the win after allowing three unearned runs on two hits, a walk and a strikeout in two innings. Taylor allowed five runs on six hits, a walk and a strikeout in two relief innings.
Kreisel started and took the loss after allowing nine runs, seven earned, on nine hits and two strikeouts in one inning. Brookelynn Becker allowed six hits and struck out two in three scoreless innings.
REEDS SPRING, Mo. — Carl Junction earned its first two wins of the season after beating Seymour 9-8 and following it up with a 10-7 win over Reeds Spring on Saturday.
CARL JUNCTION 9, SEYMOUR 8
Carl Junction scored four runs in the top of the first inning before Seymour rallied to take a 8-5 behind a five-run fifth. The Bulldogs added four runs in the sixth to rally back for the win.
DaLaynie Hallacy doubled home a run, with Dezi Williams adding a two-run single to highlight the scoring in the first inning. Alivia Haase doubled home Williams in the fifth inning to push the lead to 5-3.
Seymour’s first three runs of the sixth inning came home on Carl Junction errors before Aubrie Fann wrapped the inning with an RBI single for an 8-5 lead.
Allison Plumlee cut the CJ deficit to 8-6 with a run-scoring single to left to start the rally in the top of the sixth inning. Hallacy added a one-out RBI single before Williams scored Hannah Cantrell and Evalyn Wade on a sac fly to right to give the Bulldogs a 9-8 lead.
Hannah Cole earned the win after allowing eight runs, two earned, on 11 hits, a walk and three strikeouts in six innings of work for Carl Junction.
Hannah Clark took the loss after allowing nine runs, two earned, on 11 hits, two walks and five strikeouts in six innings.
Williams doubled twice and finished with three hits, four RBI and a run scored, while Hallacy doubled for one of her three hits. She added two RBI and scored a run. Addie Brock had two hits and scored two runs.
BULLDOGS 10, WOLVES 7
Carl Junction scored a run in the top of the first to gain the lead and took complete control over Reeds Spring with an eight-run second inning on the way to the win in the second game.
Plumlee singled home Madi Olds in the first inning to give the Bulldogs the advantage. The first two runs of the second came in one a bases-loaded walk and hit-by-pitch in consecutive at-bats before Olds scored on a passed ball two batters later to make the score 4-0. Cole followed with a two-run double, Hallacy and RBI single and Williams a run-scoring triple to give CJ a commanding 8-0 lead.
Olds closed the Bulldog scoring with an RBI double in the sixth inning.
Cole earned the win in the circle after allowing seven runs, three earned, on five hits, a walk and two strikeouts in six innings.
Alexis Baskins took the loss after surrendering 10 runs, three earned, on nine hits, four walks and five strikeouts in five innings.
Olds had a double for one her two hits, while scoring twice and driving in one. Plumlee had one hit and two RBI, while Izzie Southern also registered a pair of hits. Williams had a hit, scored three times and drove in a run. Cole had a double and drove in two.
Conference rivals Joplin and Webb City finished fourth and fifth in the team standings, and Neosho’s Kaden Cole was the top local finisher in the boys Green Division at the 31st annual Missouri Southern Stampede on Saturday at the Tom Rutledge Cross Country Course on the campus of Missouri Southern State University.
With three runners in the top 10, Kickapoo was the team champion with 61 points. Liberty North (78) and Rogers Heritage (163) finished second and third, with Joplin (166) and Webb City (261) rounding out the top five squads.
The Green Division, featuring larger schools, featured 30 full teams and 262 runners.
Joplin had four runners finish in the top 29. With that, Eagles coach Dustin Dixon was pleased with his team’s showing.
“We had a great day,” Dixon said. “All five of the boys who scored today PR’d. We ran great. We feel really good. We came into the year with big time goals and we ran like it today. Some really good Class 5 teams beat us today, but we feel like we had them at the two-mile mark. We just have to finish. My No. 5 (Nicholas Horton) didn’t finish. He collapsed, but he’s going to be fine. We competed really well today, so I’m pleased. We had a good day.”
Neosho’s Cole crossed the line fifth in a personal best time of 15:37.
Joplin’s Hobbs Campbell finished ninth in 15:53, while Carl Junction’s Collin Emmert was 11th in 15:57.
Joplin’s Evan Matlock finished 14th (16:03), while Webb City’s Dustin Brockmiller (16:07) and Roman Borboa (16:17) placed 15th and 18th, respectively.
East Newton’s Kelton Sorrell was 19th (16:18) and Joplin’s Ian Horton took 21st (16:19).
The top 25 runners were medalists.
Also, Joplin’s Zaben Barnes finished 29th, East Newton’s Gabe Bergen was 30th, Carthage’s Mariques Strickland placed 35th and East Newton’s Chase Sorrell was 45th. Webb City’s Evan Stevens was 55th and Carthage’s Miquel Solano was 57th.
Webb City coach Dustin Miller was pleased with his team’s showing. The Cardinals had two runners in the top 18.
“To come out and finish fifth in a big meet like this is great,” Miller said. “I’m really proud of the guys. We came out and competed well. It’s still early. Our training has gone well and we’ve had guys run really good races in bits and pieces. We haven’t put together a team performance yet, but we’re getting there.”
Miller noted his team continues to make progress, with peaking at the end of the season the ultimate goal.
“Dustin Brockmiller is just so consistent,” Miller added. “Roman is starting to come around. He looked good and looked focused. Evan Stevens struggled a little bit, but he’ll figure it out. Mason Hedger (93rd) stepped up as our No. 4. He’s starting to believe he’s as good as we tell him he is. And Blake Vaughan (99th) is nails. We can’t ask for any more than he gives us.”
Joplin runners are pictured at the start of Saturday’s Southern Stampede. Photo by Jason Peake.
NEOSHO’S COLE TAKES FIFTH WITH NEW PR
A senior at Neosho, Cole definitely had a day to remember as the top local finisher. He also shattered his previous personal best time.
Neosho’s Kaden Cole is pictured during Saturday’s Southern Stampede.
“I felt really solid,” Cole said. “I really just wanted to get out there, execute a plan and get a good time. I wanted to get out and not get boxed in and hold that position the whole race.”
Cole noted finishing fifth in such a stellar field will give him a confidence boost as the season progresses.
“It’s definitely a big confidence boost for me,” Cole said. “I had a PR by almost 40 seconds. The competition level was a big part of it. Getting a goal for the end of the season really sparks your mood for this race.”
El Dorado Springs standout Daelen Ackley won the race with a time of 15:10. Liberty’s North’s Sage Wilde was second (15:22), with Rolla’s Nathanael Pohlsander (15:30) taking third and Kickapoo’s Tyler Harris (15:32) placing fourth.
ATTEBERRY EARNS MEDAL IN GOLD DIVISION
The area’s smaller schools competed in the Gold Division (Class 1-3 schools in Missouri).
Thomas Jefferson’s Kip Atteberry finished 17th with a time of 17:30 to earn the bragging rights as the area’s top finisher.
“I was surprised a little bit by my time,” Atteberry said, noting a PR. “I didn’t feel like I was going that fast. This meet is three times bigger than the meets I’m used to, so it was great. When you come to these big meets, there’s always runners who compete at a really high level. So it’s just nice to be able to run with them. I’m pretty happy.”
There were 19 full teams and 175 runners in the Gold Division. New Bloomfield’s Nathan Hinrichs won the race in 16:12.
Smithville (45), Metro Christian Academy (92) and Union (98) were the top three teams. McAuley Catholic finished 18th in the standings.
Thomas Jefferson’s Kip Atteberry crosses the finish line on Saturday at MSSU.
MCAULEY GAINS EXPERIENCE
Despite being short-handed due to injuries, McAuley Catholic’s young team gained valuable experience, Warriors coach Andy Youngworth noted.
“I don’t think I did a very good job of preparing the kids for being in a race with nearly 200 kids in,” Youngworth said. “This is a new experience for some of them. But when I saw our times, probably in the worst conditions of the season due to the heat, I think we did OK. I’m not disappointed. I was pleased with the effort. Our finish is what it is. If we would have had our top guys, we might have made a little bit of a move up. But, there weren’t many full squads of Class 1 schools. We’re still running against really good teams.”
McAuley’s Drew Zeb finished 106th and Armando Alberto was 113th. The Warriors without their No. 1 runner Michael Parrigon and No. 2 runner Kevin Tran.
“We dealt with some injury issues that kept us from fielding a full team,” Youngworth said. “But there was great competition, I think we learned some things and I know I can prepare them better.”
MEET NOTES: The annual event featured 10 races and more than 2,000 runners.
Competing in the University/Open Men’s Division, Webb City High School graduate Ryan Riddle of Missouri Southern won the 8K race in 24:14.
Pittsburg State and Missouri Southern were the top two men’s teams.
Competing against the region’s best distance runners in a championship environment, Webb City’s dynamic duo of Abi Street and Riley Hawkins were the top local finishers in the Green Division at the 31st annual Missouri Southern Stampede on Saturday morning at the Tom Rutledge Cross Country Course.
The area’s larger high schools competed in the Green Division, while the smaller schools were entered in the Gold Division.
Webb City’s Abi Street (1900) runs with a pack on Saturday at the Southern Stampede.
GREEN DIVISION
There were 27 full squads and 234 runners in the Green Division. The top 25 runners were medalists.
Webb City’s Street finished 17th with a time of 19:23, while Hawkins placed 28th in 19:56.
“I was really proud of Abi,” Webb City coach Dustin Miller said. “Riley struggled some today, but I think overall we’re getting better as a team.”
Webb City’s girls finished 14th in the final team standings.
“Our No. 3 runner, Alanna Bundy (109th), struggled some today, but she’s been sick all week,” Miller noted. “So I’m just proud of her for coming out and competing. I thought Izzy Lopez (103rd) and Lauren Kuechler (132nd) had big days for us. We’re going to be a force in a month. Our training has been great.”
Neosho’s Chloe Wood.
As far as other top performers from local schools, Neosho’s Chloe Wood finished 38th in 20:20, while teammate Riley Kemna crossed the line 50th in 20:44.
Carthage’s Maggie Boyd finished 61st (20:57), Nevada’s Allie Rains was 73rd (21:18) and Joplin’s Jennalee Dunn crossed the line 76th (21:22).
Carl Junction’s Ally Montez (21:35) and Hannah Franks (21:42) finished 82nd and 85th, respectively.
The top five teams were Cor Jesu Academy (84), West Plains (105), Eureka (165), Moore (197) and Farmington (219).
Neosho was 18th, Carl Junction took 20th and Joplin was 21st.
“We had good performances from the girls, but Jennalee’s been sick all week,” Joplin coach Dustin Dixon said, noting the team was also without its No. 2 runner Allie Keizer. “Our other girls all had season-bests. We’re making steps. A day like today is just about finishing and trying to tough it out. It’s really about competing against other kids who are suffering in the heat with you.”
Bixby’s Cayden Dawson was the individual champion in 17:28, more than a minute faster than runner-up Frances Luna of Cor Jesu Academy (18:47).
Finishing third through fifth were Kickapoo’s Klarie Brown (18:47), Cor Jesu Academy’s Adrienne Luna (18:56) and Eureka’s Leah Kleekamp (19:00).
Joplin’s Jennalee Dunn is among a large pack of runners during the early stages of Saturday’s Southern Stampede. Photo by Jason Peake.
GOLD DIVISION
Pictured is Aurora’s Kaci Singer.
The top local finisher in the smaller school division was Aurora’s Kaci Singer, who crossed the line fourth in a time of 20:18.
Springdale’s Esperanza Trejo (19:57), Owensville’s Ilene Limberg (20:03) and Smithville’s Naomi Hunter (20:11) were the top three finishers.
East Newton’s Alonna Eytcheson finished seventh in 21:01 to earn medalist honors.
Thomas Jefferson’s Macie Shifferd finished 42nd (23:28), while teammate Sarah Mueller was 89th (26:41).
McAuley coach Andy Youngworth noted his program’s lone female runner, Kendall Ramsey, was unable to compete due to an injury.
El Dorado Springs (103) and Smithville (108) were the top two teams.
There were 12 full teams and 119 runners in the Gold Division.
Webb City’s Riley Hawkins competes during Saturday’s Southern Stampede.
