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TRACK & FIELD: Area athletes shine at Sarcoxie invite

SARCOXIE, Mo. — College Heights Christian, Thomas Jefferson, McAuley Catholic and Seneca were among the schools competing at the Inch at a Time Track Classic on Friday at Sarcoxie High School.

The top five girls teams were Sarcoxie (116), Sherwood (94), Reeds Spring (86), College Heights (80) and Pierce City (60.5).

The top five boys teams were Reeds Spring (130), Hollister (106), Sarcoxie (83), Seneca (53) and College Heights (49).

There were 20 squads competing.

 

COLLEGE HEIGHTS HIGHLIGHTS

Winning events for the College Heights girls were Jayli Johnson (100, 400) and Lauren Ukena (200).

The CHC girls won two relays, the 4×200 and the 4×400. The 4×200 featured Jesalin Bever, Amelia Hagale, Johnson and Ukena. Bever, Hagale, Johnson and Quincy O’Malley ran the 4×400.

Also for the CHC girls, Marla Anderegg finished third in the 1600 and fourth in the 800, Bever took third in the 300 hurdles, Bailey Peoples tied for third in the high jump and Maddy Colin placed third in the discus. 

For the College Heights boys, Caleb Quade won the triple jump, finished fourth in the long jump and was fifth in the high jump.

The CHC boys finished third in the 4×800 relay, with Zach Beaty, Steven Calandro, Ian Edwards and Jace Edwards competing.

Also for the Cougars, Calandro finished fourth in the 300 hurdles and Josiah Thomas placed fifth in the 3200. 

 

THOMAS JEFFERSON HIGHLIGHTS

Thomas Jefferson’s Kip Atteberry won the 800 in 2:05, while Tyler Brouhard finished third in the 100 and fourth in the 200 and Sheraz Anis finished fifth in the 300 hurdles and seventh in the 110 hurdles.

The Cavaliers placed fourth in the 4×400 relay, with Anis, Brouhard, Atteberry and Braden Honeywell-Lynch competing.

For the TJ girls, Lannah Grigg was the runner-up in the discus and also took sixth in the shot put, while Gabriella Hiebert and Nico Carlson both tied for third in the high jump, Samantha Seto finished fifth in the 3200 and Avery Hocker was seventh in both the long jump and triple jump.

 

MCAULEY CATHOLIC HIGHLIGHTS

McAuley’s Kendall Ramsey finished second in the 1600 and was also fifth in the 800. 

The McAuley girls were sixth in the 4×400 relay, with Ramsey, Samantha Perrin, Brooke Righter and Cristal Torres competing.

For the McAuley boys, Michael Parrigon took second in the 800, Trae Veer finished third in the 3200 and eighth in the 3200, Alex Bohachick finished seventh in the 400 and Jack Jones was eighth in the high jump.

McAuley’s boys fared well in the relays.

The Warriors took second in the 4×800 relay, with Bohachick, Connor Taffner, Drew Zeb and Parrigon competing. 

McAuley’s 4×400 relay team of Jones, Dylan Taffner, Connor Taffner and Parrigon finished third.

McAuley’s 4×800 relay team of Ethan Stabb, Joe Staton, Dylan Taffner and Roscoe Miller finished eighth.

 

SENECA HIGHLIGHTS

Seneca’s Cambry Long was the runner-up in the girls 200 and also finished fifth in the 400, while Addyson Jones finished third in the high jump, Amber Garrison took fourth in both the shot put and javelin and Harley Lankford placed fifth in the discus.

Seneca’s girls were fifth in the 4×200 relay, with Long, Jones, Savannah Johnson and Anna Adkins competing.

For the Seneca boys, Blake Hurn took second in the 100 and was fifth in the 200, Brodie Probert was the runner-up in the 400, Brock Pendergraft placed third in the discus, Ethan Altic finished fifth in the 800 and Grant Landers took fifth in the triple jump.

The Indians were third in the 4×100 (Hurn, Marrs, Probert, Vaughn) and third in the 4×200 (Altic, Hurn, Marrs, Probert). 

 

SARCOXIE HIGHLIGHTS

For the Sarcoxie girls, Nikki Roth won the javelin, Ariel Wilson was the runner-up in both the 400 and the long jump, Lily Garrison was second in the 3200, Madison Chrisman finished second in the 100 hurdles, Abbey Lawyer was the runner-up in the high jump, Jordyn Misner took second in the triple jump, Baylon Malotte finished third in the javelin and Laney Dorris took third in the pole vault and fourth in the 1600.

Jaron Malotte won two events for the Sarcoxie boys, the 110 hurdles and the pole vault.  

Noah Garrison won the 200 and was third in the long jump, while Blake Heckmaster was the runner-up in the triple jump, Garrett Smith took second in the javelin and Gatlon Malotte finished fourth in two events, the 100 hurdles and the pole vault. 

 

OTHER EVENT WINNERS

Other local individual event winners at the girls meet were Pierce City’s Hayden Kramer (discus) and Marionville’s Olivia Hopkins (shot put) and Jeslyn Coker (pole vault). Other local individual event winners at the boys meet were Diamond’s Zachary Roughton (300 H) and Marionville’s Wil Carlton (HJ).

 

Sarcoxie’s Inch at a Time Classic

Girls team standings: Sarcoxie 116, Sherwood 94, Reeds Spring 86, College Heights Christian 80, Pierce City 60.5, Hollister 49, Seneca 45.5, Spokane 40, Crane 40, Marionville 30, Thomas Jefferson 25.5, Miller 16, McAuley Catholic 15, Lockwood 13, Diamond 7.5, Lamar 7, Bronaugh 5.

Boys team standings: Reeds Spring 130, Hollister 106, Sarcoxie 83, Seneca 53, College Heights 49, Marionville 46, Lamar 44, Crane 37, Thomas Jefferson 34, McAuley Catholic 33, Pierce City 32, Sherwood 29, Diamond 27.5, Spokane 15, Wheaton 12, Lockwood 8, Miller 8.

BASEBALL: Neosho wins on Rodriguez’s gem, one big inning

NEOSHO, Mo. — The Neosho Wildcats received a gem from senior pitcher Austin Rodriguez and their bats came alive with four runs in the sixth inning during a 5-1 win over the Mount Vernon Mountaineers on Friday at Roy B. Shaver Field inside the Marion Sports Complex.

Rodriguez allowed one run on two hits and recorded 10 strikeouts and two walks over seven innings, and the Mountaineers jumped out to a 1-0 lead with their only run in the second.

Rodriguez’s sacrifice fly tied it up in the fourth and then the Wildcats put together their big rally with two outs in the sixth.

“He (Rodriguez) was very efficient,” Neosho coach Bo Helsel said. “During his bullpen session on Wednesday we worked on a little adjustment to his curveball trying to get a little more break on it and it worked today. He filled it up and he competed for us. He kept his mind right the whole game and didn’t get any down when they had a couple hits. He grinded for us and one run, you can live with it.”

In the second, Mount Vernon junior Sawyer Anderson worked a walk and stole second, then scored on a Gavin Johnson RBI single to left.

Neosho junior Quenton Hughes reached on a hit by pitch leading off the fourth, stole second, and advanced to third on a Wyatt Shadwick hit before scoring on Rodriguez’s fly out to center.

Shadwick began the two-out rally in the sixth when he reached on an infield single and that was followed by a Rodriguez single, and a Kael Smith walk to load the bases.

Helsel called on sophomore Cade Spiva to pinch-hit and he delivered a two-run single bringing home Shadwick and courtesy runner Hudson Williams.

Carter Fenske worked a walk to load the bases again and Colton Southern then came through with a two-run single to score Smith and Spiva for the 5-1 advantage that proved to be far more than enough runs for the Wildcats to earn the win in the seventh.

“That inning started with two straight outs, so we did all that damage with two outs, which we haven’t been able to do this year,” Helsel said. “I wish we had done that in a couple more innings before that, but you’ll take what you can get. All wins are good wins, and all losses are bad losses. It may not have been the cleanest and best win that I had envisioned for today, but a win is a win.

“Cade Spiva came in in a big spot off the bench and drove in two runs, then Colton Southern followed him up with two more runs so that was important for us especially going into CJ in a few days.

“When runs are at a premium like they have been our last few games, it feels good to get a four-spot up there. Hopefully, that will give our hitters some confidence going into next week.”

The Wildcats improved to 12-4 overall on the season headed into one of their busiest weeks this season.

“We play CJ at CJ (Tuesday), we’re at Willard on Thursday, and then we’re in the Paul Dudley Lebanon Wood Tournament,” Helsel said. “We play Marshfield again, we play Nixa and Lebanon, and then we’ll play one more game against the other side of the tournament. Six games in five days, it will be a grind, but our kids are ready as they’ll ever be, and we’ve just got to hit.”

Neosho approaches last season’s win total of 14 with at least 14 games remaining.

BASEBALL: Webb City rolls past Hillcrest

WEBB CITY, Mo. — Webb City plated nine runs in the first inning to take complete control in a 17-2 four-inning win over Hillcrest on Friday.

The Cardinals (10-6) wasted little time putting the non-conference clash with the Hornets (6-11) out of reach. Webb City scored nine times in the first inning, starting with an RBI double from Cy Darnell before Kaylor Darnell drove in two more runs two batters later with a two-bagger of his own. Drew Vonder Haar hit the third run-scoring double of the inning to make the score 4-0. William Hayes picked up an RBI on a groundout before Eli Miller added an RBI single and Shaun Hunt had a bases-loaded double to bring three runners home to push the lead to 9-0.

Webb City ultimately scored in every inning, with a run on a sacrifice fly from Miller in the second before scoring four times in the third inning. Kaylor Darnell had a sac fly and Hood picked up an RBI on an infield single. A bases-loaded walk and hit-by-pitch accounted for the other two runs.

Hayes and Sam Weller added RBI singles in a three-run fourth inning.

Vonder Haar earned the win after allowing two runs on three hits, a walk and five strikeouts in two innings.

Holten Pyle took the loss after allowing nine runs on six hits in 1/3 of an inning.

Hood had three Hits, scored three times and had an RBI for Webb City, with Hayes garnering three hits, scoring once and driving in two. Hunt had two hits and three RBI, while Vonder Haar had two hits, scored twice and drove in two. Cy Darnell had two knocks, two runs scored and an RBI. 

Webb City takes on rival Carthage (3-12) at 4:30 on Tuesday at Joe Becker Stadium.

 

BOYS TENNIS: Host Cavaliers win Thomas Jefferson Invitational

The host Cavaliers won their own Thomas Jefferson Invitational boys tennis tournament on Friday.

Thomas Jefferson and Carthage both finished the event with 22.5 points. A tie-breaker was used to determine the team champion, with fewest games lost being the determining factor.

With that, the Cavaliers had the advantage (30-52) to take the team crown.

In the championship match at No. 1 singles, Thomas Jefferson’s Prithvi Nagarajan defeated Carthage’s Charlie Snow 8-0.

Monett’s Ethan Kutz defeated Mount Vernon’s Moore 8-3 in the third-place match.

In the title match at No. 2 singles, Carthage’s Silas Laytham defeated Thomas Jefferson’s Devan Murali 8-4.

In the bracket’s third-place match, Monett’s Heisman Welch beat Clever’s Dylan Dodds 8-0.

Thomas Jefferson’s duo of Chengle Qian and Jack Goodhue won the No. 1 doubles crown by defeating Carthage’s Danilo-Lopez-Josh Rivera 8-2.

For third place at No. 1 doubles, Monett’s Elijah Ridenour-Logan Kutz defeated Webb City’s Jake McDonald-Trevor Peterson 8-3.

At No. 2 doubles, Carthage’s Eli Scott and Will Wallace defeated TJ’s Sam Li and Nathaniel Curtis 8-3 for the title.

The third-place match at No. 2 doubles went to Webb City’s Tristan Lynch and Felipe Perez, who defeated Mount Vernon’s Payton West-CJ Robins 8-3.

Matches were played at the TJ courts and at Millennium Family Fitness. 

Full results of the tourney are listed below.

 

2023 TJ Boys Tennis Invitational Results