CLEVER, Mo. — Cross country squads from McAuley Catholic and College Heights Christian School fared well at the Clever Invitational on Thursday.
McAuley Catholic’s Kendall Ramsey finished 12th in the varsity girls race with a time of 21:14.
College Heights Christian’s Jayli Johnson took 13th in 21:28, while teammate Marla Anderegg was 17th in 21:45.
Also competing for College Heights were Jesalin Bever (20th), Madelynn Jordan (52nd), Emily Winters (72nd) and Madi Carson (78th).
Also running for McAuley were Marbellie Villanueva (61st), Brooke Righter (84th), Samantha Perrin (88th) and Miriam Kramer (92nd).
Spokane’s Lily Hunsucker won the girls race in 20:06.
Clever (95), Mansfield (114) and Strafford (115) were the top three girls teams.
McAuley Catholic’s Michael Parrigon was the top local finisher in the boys race. A sophomore, Parrigon finished 16th with a time of 18:03.
McAuley’s Trae Veer placed 20th with a time of 18:14.
Also competing for the Warriors were Phillip Motazedi (28th), Joe Staton (43rd), Alex Bohachick (51st), Drew Zeb (52nd), Connor Taffner (70th), Kable Reichardt (79th), Cliff Nolan (89th) and Grant Horinek (131st).
Competing for College Heights were Colton McMillin (56th), Caleb Quade (63rd), Josiah Thomas (64th) and William Porter (137th).
Stockton’s Braden Postlewait won the race in 16:22.
The top three boys teams were Stockton (62), Strafford (92) and Fair Grove (132). McAuley was fourth in the team standings with 137 points.
CARTHAGE, Mo. — The host Tigers cruised to a first place finish at their own Carthage Invitational on Thursday night at the Fair Acres Family YMCA.
Led by eight first place finishes, Carthage had 399 points to finish on top of the standings. Marshfield was second with 197 and Nevada took third with 151. There were six full squads competing.
Winning individual events for the Tigers were Braxton McBride, Will Wallace, William Wright, Kellen Frieling and Maveric Allphin.
McBride won two events, the 50-yard freestyle in 23.8 seconds and the 100 free in 54.05.
Wallace took first in the 200 IM with a time of 2:16, while Wright won the 500 freestyle in 5:34.
Frieling was first in the 100 backstroke in 1:02 and Allphin won the 100 breaststroke in 1:15.
Finishing second in their events were Wright (200 IM), Frieling (200 free), Eli Cox (100 fly), Wallace (500 free) and Noah Blackford (100 back).
Taking third were Blackford (200 IM), Landon White (100 fly), Trey Nye (500 free) and Cox (100 back).
Carthage won two of three relays.
The CHS team of Frieling, McBride, Wright and Cox won the 200 medley relay in 1:49.
Carthage’s 400 freestyle relay team of Wallace, Cox, Frieling and McBride took first in 3:43.
The Tigers were second in the 200 free relay in 1:44, with Nye, Allphin, White and Wallace competing.
Nevada’s Kolton Evans won the 200 freestyle with a time of 2:01 and his teammate Trace Gould was the runner-up in the 50 free (25.5).
The Carthage boys swim team poses after winning their own invite on Thursday. Courtesy photo.
WEBB CITY, Mo. — Webb City improved to 27-4-2 overall and 6-2 in the Central Ozark Conference with a 3-0 win over Branson on Thursday night inside the Cardinal Dome.
The Cardinals topped the Pirates 25-10, 25-15, 25-21.
Three Webb City players recorded double-digit kills, as Aubree Lassiter and Brenda Lawrence slammed 11 kills apiece and Jaeli Rutledge added 10 kills. Lassister added seven digs and two aces, while Lawrence chipped in six digs.
Kate Brownfield contributed 16 digs, seven kills and three aces, while Sophia Crane added nine digs.
Senior setter Kyah Sanborn handed out 36 assists to go along with five digs and two aces.
Kirra Long had three kills and two solo blocks.
Webb City hosts Joplin on Tuesday night in the regular season finale.
CHC BEATS WHEATON IN FOUR
WHEATON, Mo. — Coming off a sweep over Purdy on Senior Night on Tuesday, College Heights Christian improved to 2-0 this week with a four-set win over Wheaton on Thursday.
The Cougars hike their record to 20-6-1 with the 23-25, 25-21, 25-20 and 25-21 win over the Bulldogs.
Addie Lawrence had 26 kills, while Maddy Colin finished with 44 assists and 13 digs to lead the way for CHC. Lauren Ukena added 12 kills and 11 digs, while Ava Masena finished with a team-high 36 digs. Lindsay Griesemer closed with 19 digs and Marley Woodford had seven kills.
College Heights is at Diamond on Monday.
CARL JUNCTION FALLS TO OZARK
CARL JUNCTION, Mo. — Carl Junction hosted Ozark in the Bulldogs’ final home game of the season and fell 25-16, 25-23, 23-25 and 25-14 to the Tigers on Thursday in Central Ozark Conference action.
Carl Junction is 19-11-2 on the season.
Destiny Buerge had 14 kills and 21 digs, while Kylie Scott added 11 kills, eight digs and two blocks. Lo Jones led the team with 36 assists and had 10 digs, Karissa Chase finished with 11 kills and two blocks. Jocelyn Brown finished with 14 digs in the win.
Carl Junction wraps up the regular season with a COC matchup on the road against Willard on Tuesday.
CARTHAGE FALLS TO REPUBLIC
CARTHAGE, Mo. — Republic defeated Carthage 25-20, 25-18, 25-16 on Thursday in COC action.
Carthage (8-19-2, 2-6 COC) has two dates left in the regular season — at home against Springfield Catholic on Monday and at Neosho on Tuesday.
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Carl Junction’s doubles team of Jenna Besperat and Naiyah Wurdeman concluded the 2022 season alongside the state’s best at the MSHSAA Class 2 Girls Tennis Championships on Thursday at the Cooper Tennis Complex.
In the opening round of doubles play, Besperat and Wurdeman suffered a 6-3, 6-3 loss to Villa Duchesne’s Elizabeth Brown and Katherine Todorovich.
In the consolation round, and with the season on the line, Fort Zumwalt North’s Mariah Savala and Diana Calzada-Torres defeated Besperat and Wurdeman 7-6, 7-6.
Both players will return next fall, as Besperat is a junior and Wurdeman is a sophomore.
Joplin hosted Nixa in the final home game of the season on Thursday and fell in three sets on Senior Night inside Kaminsky Gymnasium.
Joplin senior Jayla Hunter earns a dig during the matchup with Nixa on Senior Night. Photo by Shawn Fowler.
Nixa and Joplin battled back and forth for much of the night before NHS used a long service run in each set to pull away late for a 25-14, 25-14 and 25-15 win in Central Ozark Conference action.
“I think our girls worked extremely hard tonight,” Joplin coach Desiree Felker said. “They played their butts off. We didn’t back down. I think the biggest difference, though, was Nixa showed up ready to win. We played to win at times, and then there were times where we played frazzled and not to lose. When we were playing to win, we were competing and kind of taking it to them. Then, a couple of things don’t go our way and we let up a little bit.”
With the win Nixa improves to 22-6, 8-0 COC. Joplin falls to 15-11-1, 3-5 COC.
SENIOR NIGHT
Joplin senior Abby Edwards returns a serve against Nixa on Senior Night. Photo by Shawn Fowler.
Joplin celebrated Senior Night against Nixa and honored Paisley Parker, Jayla Hunter, Abby Hembree, Serafina Auberry, Abby Edwards and Kaya Cooper.
“You can’t say enough good things about this group of seniors,” Felker said. “They work extremely hard every single day and were a big reason we were able to win a district title last year. They do a great job with the younger kids in the program as well. They do all of the right things and are great culture kids. We are really going to miss them next year.”
GAME ACTION
Joplin and Nixa played evenly in the first set, with JHS holding a 9-8 lead after a kill from Bailey Owens.
A sideout kill from Hillary Estes, a JHS error and a kill from Norah Clark gave Nixa all the momentum it needed, as that was the final lead change of the set. Later in the set, Sidney Ayers earned a kill before Estes struck for a kill again, which was followed by an ace from Chloe Judd to push the Nixa advantage to 18-12.
Joplin senior Serafina Auberry earns a kill against Nixa on Senior Night. Photo by Shawn Fowler.
Owens earned a block to trim the Joplin deficit to 18-14, but Nixa scored the final seven points, six on Ayers’ serve, to finish off the first-set win. Ayers had two aces in the run, while Clark, Estes and Madison Goleman all had kills.
The second set was back and forth early as well before Nixa scored seven of eight points to build a 13-5 lead over Joplin. Chipping away at the margin, Joplin cut Nixa’s lead to 16-11 after kills from Owens and Auberry. However, Nixa again pulled away at the end, holding an 18-14 lead before a sideout kill from Estes was followed by a six-point run in service by Ayers once again to clinch the second-set win. Ayers had two aces, while Estes had a block and a kill and Jewel Bray added a kill.
Joplin junior Bailey Owens earns a kill against Nixa on Thursday. Photo by Shawn Fowler.
The final set played out much like the first, with Nixa and Joplin battling in a seesaw contest. Nixa held a slim 10-9 advantage before a long service run from Bray had NHS holding an 18-10 advantage. Nixa finished off the set and match shortly after.
STATS
Owens led Joplin with nine kills and a block, while Parker had seven kills, two aces and nine digs. Auberry had four kills and five digs. Adalynn Noirfalise finished with 23 assists, whil Hunter added 15 digs. Edwards had seven digs.
UP NEXT
Joplin is in the Ozark Grand Slam Invitational tournament over the weekend. After the weekend invitational, the Eagles’ next time on the court will be at Webb City on Tuesday to wrap the regular season.
Joplin will then head into the Class 5 District 7 tournament as the fourth seed and take on fifth-seeded Lee’s Summit North (8-19) on Thursday at Lee’s Summit West High School.
“That tournament has a lot of high-level volleyball,” Felker said. “If we are going up to Kansas City for districts, we need to play some high-level volleyball leading up to it. I think it will be good for us moving into that.”
WEBB CITY, Mo. — The highly motivated McDonald County Mustangs wasted little time in taking control of Thursday’s district title game.
A four-run first inning propelled second-seeded McDonald County past top-seeded Nevada 8-3 in the championship game of the Class 4 District 7 softball tournament at the Webb City athletic complex.
“It was absolutely huge to take control of the game early,” Mustangs coach Heath Alumbaugh said. “We wanted to attack early. Putting up four runs in the first inning allowed us to control the tempo of the game. That was huge.”
The Mustangs entered the night with plenty of extra motivation.
For starters, the team fell short in a district title game the past two seasons.
That’s not all. Nevada defeated Mac County 4-2 earlier this season in Big 8 play.
“Nevada’s a great team,” Alumbaugh said. “I don’t want to take away anything from them. They got us earlier this season. And from that day on, that’s been a motivating factor in practice. Our girls have worn that one pretty hard. They got back to work. They knew there was a chance we’d get a shot at Nevada again. Tonight was that shot.”
It’s McDonald County’s first district championship since 2019.
“This is huge,” Alumbaugh said. “That’s the expectation in our program and that’s the community’s expectation for our program. To be able to do it this year, after being upset in the last two, it’s the monkey off our back. It was just a great job by our girls to get it done.”
In Mac County’s big first inning, leadoff batter Nevaeh Dodson reached on an error and came home on Carlee Cooper’s RBI single to right.
Next, Jacie Frencken launched a two-run home run to right-center before cleanup hitter Katelynn Townsend followed with a homer to center for a four-run cushion.
“They’re a good team and they grabbed the momentum from the start,” Nevada coach Danny Penn said of the Mustangs. “Giving up four runs in the first, especially when it started with a defensive error, it was hard for us to catch our breath. Credit to McDonald County. We made some mental mistakes that allowed innings to be prolonged and they took advantage of that.”
The Mustangs, who were in a district title game for the fifth straight season, added a single tally in the second when Cooper charged home from third after a dropped third strike.
Down 5-0, Nevada plated three runs in the third on back-to-back doubles from Kirstin Buck and Ella Heathman.
“I’m proud of how we responded in the third,” Penn said. “We made it a game, but they were the better team today.”
With their lead trimmed to two, the Mustangs responded immediately in the fourth. Reagan Myrick smacked a two-run single into left and later scored on an error for an 8-3 advantage.
“We’ve been preaching that there will be ups and downs,” Alumbaugh said. “When you’re down, you have to find a way to battle and get out of it. And you have to answer right back and our girls did that.”
A junior right-hander, Dodson earned the pitching victory. She struck out 11 and scattered seven hits.
“She’s a fierce competitor,” Alumbaugh said. “There’s no give in. She gave up some hard hit balls and some runs in the third, but then she put up zeros after that. That’s a competitor.”
Natalie Gillming, Cooper, Frencken, Townsend and Myrick all had two hits apiece for the Mustangs.
Peyton Eaton was charged with the loss. She allowed four earned runs on 11 hits and struck out nine. Caylee Holcomb had two hits for the Tigers, who were looking to repeat as district champs.
The Tigers end the season with a record of 24-12.
“This season was a gauntlet,” Penn said. “We played 36 games, which is a lot. It feels like it was a marathon. But we won 24 games, we won our conference and we were second in a very tough district. I’m proud of how hard these girls worked and competed all season long.”
McDonald County (23-9) meets the District 8 champion on Oct. 19 in the quarterfinals of the state tournament. The District 8 title game between Kearney and Platte County is scheduled for 11 a.m. on Saturday.
The McDonald County Mustangs pose with the district championship plaque on Thursday night at Webb City High School. The Mustangs defeated Nevada 8-3. Photo by Jason Peake.
The Joplin Eagles netted six goals after halftime during their 7-0 home win on Thursday against College Heights Christian.
The Eagles scored those six goals over a 20-minute stretch of the second half from 28 minutes, 5 seconds through 8:15 remaining in regulation.
College Heights finished with three shots on the night.
“I think it was just slowing down a bit, figuring out how to respond to the pressure,” Joplin coach Josh Thompson said. “College Heights did a great job of putting on the pressure in the first half, and I think it’s probably just hard to keep up that tempo. They did a great job of just throwing us off our game. Second half, we were able to find our ground game. We’ve been a much better second-half team this year, for whatever reason, so I don’t know if that’s just our thing or what, but we definitely settled in more.”
Joplin senior Carlos Palma scored the lone goal of the first half and then fellow senior Adam Montanez, Palma, senior Grayden Cravens, senior Luciano Reyes, Montanez, and Ely Montanez deposited second-half goals.
The Eagles definitely spread the wealth.
“That’s a big deal for our guys,” Thompson said. “It’s just a lot of fun whenever the team can spread the ball around like that. And then it’s whoever is the closest to a goal at the end gets the goal. It makes the game fun, it makes us hard to defend, and it’s everything you want to see.”
The Eagles finished with their fifth shutout of the season and their second in a row, only two days after their 8-0 win over Central Ozark Conference rival Carl Junction.
“We were messy in the first half,” Thompson said. “We couldn’t do a lot even defensively. They were putting on more pressure. Second half, again, we cleaned it up and we were able to win balls in the air, 50-50 balls we were able to start stepping in on, and guys who winning possession is their strength were able to actually flex a little bit. Proud they turned it around.”
Class 4 Joplin improved to 13-5 overall on the season, and the Eagles are back in action on Tuesday with a big conference match at home against Ozark.
“We’d like to have a couple games back, but I can’t be too displeased looking forward to where we’re at,” Thompson said. “We’ll have Ozark to start off next week as a big test. We would like to have Neosho back and Carthage back and have another chance at those. Ozark will be a good one to let us know if we’re where we want to be at this point.”
Class 1 College Heights (with McAuley Catholic) dropped to 10-4 on the season and the Cougars saw their winning streak end at 10.
College Heights lost three straight matches to start the season, then started winning on Sept. 6 with a 2-1 overtime victory over Class 3 McDonald County.
“It was rough,” College Heights coach Scott Yount said. “We just came out flat, and we still had some decent opportunities in the first half, some good overlapping balls, and just missed a couple square-ball opportunities that could have made the difference. Just hoping to come out with a little more intensity in the second half, but we went flat again.”
College Heights welcomes Marshfield, Aurora, and Barstow for the College Heights Invitational on Saturday.
The Cougars play Marshfield at 10 a.m., while Aurora and Barstow face off in the other semifinal match.
The championship game will be played at College Heights with third place contested at Ozark Christian College. Championship and third-place matches are slated for a 2 p.m. start.
