BRANSON, Mo. — Top-seeded Carl Junction made quick work of eight-seeded McDonald County with a 25-12, 27-25 and 25-9 win in the opening round of the Class 4 District 6 tournament on Tuesday.
The win advances the Bulldogs to the semifinals, where they will take on the winner of (4) Springfield Catholic and (5) Willard at 5 p.m. on Wednesday at Branson High School.
Kylie Scott led Carl Junction over the Mustangs with 11 kills, while Aubreigh Fowler was right behind with 10 kills. Karissa Chase had six kills and two blocks, while Miya Carnes had 30 assists and three aces and three blocks. Abigail Wilson had 12 digs and three aces, while Sara Buchele finished with 10 digs.
JOPLIN 3, RUSKIN 0
LEE’S SUMMIT, Mo. — Eighth-seeded Joplin started its postseason on a high note after sweeping ninth-seeded Ruskin 25-16, 25-17 and 25-4 in the sectional round of the Class 5 District 7 volleyball tournament on Tuesday.
Joplin improves to 6-17-1 on the year with the win and takes on top-seeded Lee’s Summit West (23-8) in the quarterfinal round at 5 p.m. on Thursday.
Bailey Owens finished with 15 kills, three digs and two blocks, while Raelin Calderon had nine kills, four aces, three digs and two blocks. Adalynn Noirfalise had 27 assists, four digs, three aces and two kills. Janiah Vaughn closed with five kills, four aces and three digs. Amy Kessler had three jills, a block and a dig, while Aiyana Kroll added two blocks, two kills and two digs.
SENECA 3, EAST NEWTON 0
MONETT, Mo. — Fifth-seeded Seneca earned a first-round sweep over fourth-seeded East Newton in the Class 3 District 12 volleyball tournament on Tuesday.
With the win, Seneca improves to 8-14-3 and takes on top-seeded Nevada (22-9) at 5 p.m. on Thursday at Monett High School.
Jera Jameson led the Indians with 20 kills and two blocks, while Anna Adkins added 24 assists. Ella Graham had 28 digs and five aces, while Maddy Hembree finished with four aces.
WEBB CITY 3, PARKVIEW 0
BRANSON, Mo. — Second-seeded Webb City earned a 25-7, 25-5 and 25-16 sweep over seventh-seeded Parkview in the opening round of the Class 4 District 6 tournament.
The Cardinals improve to 25-6 and take on third-seeded Branson (14-4-4) at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday in the district semifinals.
No other information was made available at the time of publication.
Nevada junior Emree Cameron parlayed back-to-back dominant rounds into a record-setting 10-under-par state title performance at the MSHSAA Class 3 Girls Golf Championships in Farmington on Tuesday.
Cameron sank 16 birdies, accentuated by a 20-foot putt on the final hole of the tournament, while firing a 5-five-under-par 67 on both days en route to the runaway victory.
“It was mind-blowing,” Cameron said of her performance at Crown Pointe Golf Club in eastern Missouri. “I was stoked to win state.”
Cameron notched a second-place finish in Class 2 last year when she was edged out by Marshfield’s Marlee Edgeman.
The two were expected to again battle it out in a sequel, however, Parkway West’s Kylie Secrest crashed the party with an opening round 68.
“After seeing scores from other district tournaments, I knew that there were other girls out there that were up to beat me,” Cameron said.
Nevada’s Emree Cameron poses with Coach Brian Leonard after winning the Class 3 championship on Tuesday. Courtesy photo.
Despite the narrow lead over Secrest, Cameron said that she was “calm as a cucumber” heading into the second round.
“My plan was to just go out and play par golf and let the birdies fall,” she said, “and if I have a bogey, I can always make up for it with a birdie. I was just really calm and knew I didn’t have to stress over it or be nervous.”
Cameron added that during a discussion with her father Eric on Monday night, she was informed that a Round 2 score of even-par or better would set a new state record.
“I was like, ‘What? I didn’t even know that,’” Cameron recounted, adding that she didn’t feel any added pressure. “What I was really thinking about was just playing my game and staying ahead of my competition.”
In the end, Cameron coasted to a decisive 7-stroke win with her two-day score of 134.
In the run-up to the tournament, Cameron said that she was focused on improving in the areas of flighted-wedge shots and putting.
“If I would have hit some flighted shots during state last year, I would not have been short so many times,” she said. “So me and my dad went out on the course every night last week and practiced those shots from 100 yards and in so that I would be dialed in.”
Cameron added that those types of shots came into play Monday, with the colder temperatures and 13 to 14-mile-per-hour wind gusts.
Fresh off of victory, Cameron said that she is already excited about the prospect of repeating as state champion next year.
“It’s awesome to leave my footprint with Nevada High School,” said Cameron, who became the first female athlete in the history of the program to win a state championship. “I’m so excited and cannot wait for the next chapter.”
Nevada junior Emree Cameron captured the Class 3 championship in record-setting fashion on Tuesday in Farmington.
Nevada coach Brian Leonard is also eagerly anticipating the next chapter.
“Emree has worked so hard to get here and she so deserves it,” he said. “This sure makes a golf coach proud.”
D-1 commitment
Cameron has been on cloud nine of late, having also recently committed to the University of Louisville golf program.
While also drawing heavy interest from several other NCAA Division I schools, Cameron said that she was blown away on her official visit to Louisville.
“I haven’t seen better facilities out there,” she said, “and I can’t wait to be practicing on them every day. I can see myself just getting better and better.”
Cameron said that it also felt like a family atmosphere on the recruiting trip.
“As soon as I stepped on campus it felt like home,” she said.
Helping matters, Cameron’s good friend and fellow Missouri prep golf star Bailey Burkett, committed to Louisville. Florida-native Madison Moman, another friend of Cameron’s, also inked with Louisville.
“I’m so excited to go and play college golf with them,” Cameron said.
Nevada junior Emree Cameron’s scorecard from her record-setting performance at the Missouri Class 3 Girls Golf Championships.
Nevada junior Emree Cameron, pictured above earlier this season, earned medalist honors at the Missouri Class 3 Girls Golf Championships.
CASSVILLE, Mo. — In a pair of repeats, Lamar’s boys captured the team championship and East Newton’s Chase Sorrell was the medalist at Tuesday’s Big 8 Conference Cross Country Championships at the Cassville Aquatic Center.
Lamar had three runners finish in the top nine, and the Tigers repeated as team champions. Lamar finished with 78 points and Rogersville was a distant second with 99.
A senior standout at East Newton, Sorrell won the boys 5K in 16 minutes, 26 seconds. He repeated as the Big 8’s individual champ.
Marshfield’s Zach Mitchell was the runner-up in 17:02, with Lamar’s tandem of Cameron Bailey (17:48) and Ryder Friend (18:02) finishing third and fourth.
Cassville’s Ethan Bohmke took eighth, Lamar’s Pierce Heins was ninth, East Newton’s Nicholas Schaeffer finished 12th and Nevada’s Aidan Ryan took 14th.
Aurora’s Carsen Gillam finished 17th, McDonald County’s Caleb Garvin took 18th, Cassville’s Trever Garnett was 20th, Monett’s Kash Adams placed 21st, Mac County’s Lane Pratt finished 23rd and Nevada’s duo of Montgomery Gumm Palmer and Anthony Pizzano finished 24th and 25th, respectively.
Seneca’s top performer was Brock Short (66th).
On the girls side, Springfield Catholic (40) and Lamar (59) were the top two teams.
Catholic’s Emma Belk was the medalist with a time of 21:09.
Cassville’s Jadyn Williams-Reed took second in 21:30, East Newton’s Brooklyn Blanchard finished third in 21:44, Lamar’s Abigail Diggs placed fourth in 21:50 and Mount Vernon’s Rylee Simons was fifth in 22:02.
Finishing seventh through 10th were McDonald County’s Kate Cheney, Nevada’s Brynley Hedges and Lamar’s Carly Dunham and LeiLani Toves.
Monett’s Mary Jastal finished 15th, Mac County’s Kenzie Horton was 19th, Lamar’s Mikayla Madison took 20th, Aurora’s Avery Miller placed 22nd and Cassville’s tandem of Kayli Anderson and Tori Mitchell were 24th and 25th.
2023 Big 8 Conference Meet
Boys team standings: Lamar 78, Rogersville 99, Springfield Catholic 119, Marshfield 126, McDonald County 134, Nevada 135, Cassville 143, Reeds Spring 170, East Newton 182, Aurora 233, Monett 246.
Girls team standings: Springfield Catholic 40, Lamar 59, Cassville 83, McDonald County 87, Rogersville 89, Monett 161.
WEBB CITY, Mo. — For the second straight year, the Carthage Tigers were celebrating at the conclusion of the Central Ozark Conference boys swimming and diving championships.
Led by seven event wins, Carthage repeated as COC champs on Tuesday night at the Buck Miner Swim Center on the campus of Webb City High School. The Tigers topped the team standings with 324 points.
“Last year was the first year we’d ever won it, and we graduated four seniors and lost a couple of other kids,” Carthage coach Braden McBride said. “So this really came as a surprise. Joplin has the best swimmer in the conference in Nathan Wardlow. Ozark has Steve Boyce as their coach and he’s won state championships. And I’ve learned so much from Shawn Klosterman. The fact that we won this year’s meet is awesome. It’s not just the guys who earn the medals and get on the podium, we’ve got a lot of guys scoring points. Those guys scoring the seventh, eighth and ninth place points really matter and are big for our program.”
Host Webb City was second in the team standings with 233 points and Joplin took third with 205.
“I’m pretty happy, we had some good swims,” Webb City coach Shawn Klosterman said. “We had some guys move up and that’s what you always look for. It’s always an inspired meet. Carthage is loaded, so they’re pretty untouchable this year. Joplin has some studs this year, and I thought they were going to get us. We pulled off second place, so we’re happy with that.”
“Overall, I think there were a couple of events where we could have done a little better, but the guys performed well,” Joplin coach Aaron Stump said. “If we had diving, we would have been closer to second overall. Webb City has that advantage on us. But I’m happy with how the guys performed tonight.”
Nixa (180), Ozark (93) and Republic (92) rounded out the team standings.
Carthage’s Kellen Frieling won the 100-yard backstroke at Tuesday’s COC Swim Meet. Photo by Israel Perez.
CARTHAGE HIGHLIGHTS
Carthage’s Will Wright won the breaststroke at Tuesday’s COC Swim Meet.
The Tigers won two of the three relays and also took first in five individual events.
“Our boys competed well and they did everything we thought they’d need to do tonight,” Coach McBride said. “It was a great night.”
Carthage’s 200-yard medley relay team of Kellen Frieling, Braxton McBride, Will Wright and Maveric Allphin took first with a time of 1:47.
The Tigers won the 400 freestyle relay in 3:34, with Braxton McBride, Frieling, Aydan Nye and Wright competing.
Carthage finished second in the 200 freestyle, as Allphin, Daryl Martin, Ben Rogers and Nye recorded a time of 1:42.
Braxton McBride and Frieling each won two individual events.
A junior, McBride won the 50-yard freestyle in 23.15 seconds and the 100 freestyle in 51.71 seconds.
A senior, Frieling took first in the 100 butterfly with a time of 57.46 seconds and also captured gold in the 100 backstroke with a time of 56.69 seconds.
A sophomore, Wright won the 100 breaststroke in 1:05. Wright also finished second in the 200 IM.
The Tigers received big points in several other events. Allphin finished third in the 100 breaststroke and fifth in the 50 free, while Martin took fourth in the 100 free and Noah Blackford finished fourth in the 100 backstroke.
Also, Ryan Steinbach took sixth in the both the 200 IM and the 500 free, Emerson Ixcol took sixth in the 100 backstroke, Carter Yost finished seventh in the 200 IM and Rogers took seventh in the 500 free.
“Kellen, Braxton and Will have committed to being year-round swimmers,” Coach McBride said. “They lead us, but they’ve got a lot of other guys with them. It was a total team victory.”
Webb City’s Dagan Chacon is pictured during the COC Swim Meet.
WEBB CITY HIGHLIGHTS
Webb City fared well in the relays.
The 200 medley relay team of Cole Dalton, Micah Brouwer, Dalton Spence and Aiden Patterson finished third in 1:54.
Webb City was also third in the 200 freestyle relay, as Steve Kenlee, Spence, Brouwer and Adrien Black recorded a time of 1:43.
The Cardinals were fourth in the 400 freestyle relay, with Black, Kenlee, Dalton and Patterson competing.
Black was the runner-up in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:28, while Brouwer placed second in the 100 breaststroke in 1:07 and third in the 200 IM in 2:16.
Black and Kenlee took fourth and sixth in the 200 freestyle, while Kenlee and Patterson were fifth and seventh in the 100 butterfly.
Also for the Cardinals, Spence was fifth in both the 200 IM and 100 breaststroke, Dalton was fifth in the 100 free, Patterson placed fifth in the 500 free, Cole was fifth in the 100 backstroke and Dagan Chacon finished seventh in the 50 free.
Webb City’s Grant Humphrey won the 1-meter diving competition, besting Nixa’s Keegan Sandgren for the top spot.
“Adrien had a big meet and our 200 free relay moved up from fifth to third, so I was proud of that,” Klosterman said. “Aiden had a season-best in the 500, so that was big. Grant Humphrey had a great day. He’s a new kid, but he’s proven to be very competitive.
“I’m also glad we got to have a Senior Night, too,” Klosterman said. “And it’s always nice to host this meet. It’s a hectic day, but it’s really nice to have it here.”
Joplin’s Nathan Wardlow won two events at the COC Swim Meet on Tuesday. Photo by Israel Perez.
JOPLIN HIGHLIGHTS
Joplin was led by the standout performance of junior Nathan Wardlow.
Joplin’s Nathan Wardlow reacts to his time in the 500-yard freestyle, which broke a pool record set in 1984.
Wardlow was the COC champion in two events, as he won the 200 individual medley in 2:02 and took first in the 500 freestyle with a record-breaking time of 4:53.
Wardlow set a meet and pool record in the 500 freestyle. The previous pool record (4:55) was set in 1984 by Sean Garretson of Jenks, Oklahoma. The COC record (4:57) was set by Ozark’s Graham Eisenmann in 2022.
“Nathan has been impressive all year,” Stump said. “I see a lot of drive from him. I saw him kick it into another gear tonight. For him to get that time in the 500 free here, I couldn’t be more impressed.”
The Eagles had a top-five finish in all three relays.
Joplin’s 200 medley relay team of Wardlow, Jackson Mordica, Parker Hinman and Ian Vermillion finished second in 1:50.
The JHS team of Wardlow, Isaiah Thom, Vermillion and Hinman took second in the 400 freestyle relay with a time of 3:40.
The Eagles placed fifth in the 200 freestyle relay, with Owen Mordica, Jackson Mordica, Jordan Goins and Thom competing.
A junior, Hinman was the runner-up in two events, the 100 fly in 59.71 seconds and the 100 backstroke in 1:00.
Vermillion and Thom finished third and sixth, respectively, in the 50 freestyle, while Jackson Mordica took fourth in the 100 breaststroke.
Also for the Eagles, Vermillion was sixth in the 100 fly, Thom took seventh in the 100 free and Owen Mordica placed seventh in the 100 backstroke.
CENTRAL OZARK CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Team standings: Carthage 324, Webb City 233, Joplin 205, Nixa 180, Ozark 93, Republic 92.
Carthage’s Carter Yost is pictured during Tuesday’s Central Ozark Conference swimming and diving championships. Photo by Israel Perez.
Jackson Mordica competes for the Joplin Eagles on Tuesday night in Webb City. Joplin finished third in the team standings at this year’s COC Meet. Photo by Israel Perez.
The Carthage Tigers pose on Tuesday night after winning the Central Ozark Conference Championships for the second straight season. Photo by Jason Peake.
NIXA, Mo. — Joplin’s Ian Horton and Chance Tindall finished first and second in the boys race at the 29th Central Ozark Conference Cross Country Championships on Tuesday at Inman Intermediate School.
A senior, Horton crossed the line at 15 minutes, 28 seconds to claim medalist honors. A junior, Tindall was the COC runner-up in 15:34.
Nixa’s Aaron Ashley finished third in 15:48 and Webb City’s Evan Stevens placed fourth in 15:55.
Joplin had three runners finish in the top seven, as junior Grey Edwards placed seventh in 16:03.
Webb City’s Mason Hedger (16:24) and Spencer Kendall (16:29) finished 10th and 12th.
Carl Junction’s Jack Lawson finished 15th, while Webb City’s duo of Noah Lankard and Andrew Dawson were 16th and 17th, respectively.
Carl Junction’s Isaac Willoughby placed 19th, Carthage’s Eddy Fuentes was 20th and Carl Junction’s Luke Battagler took 25th.
Neosho’s Adam Farrell finished 28th, Webb City’s Fenton Rice placed 29th, Joplin’s Aidan Koch was 30th, Carthage’s Javen Byrd took 31st and Joplin’s Brady Honeycutt placed 33rd.
With five runners in the top nine, Nixa won the boys team championship with 31 points. Webb City took second with 59 points and Joplin was third with 73.
GIRLS HIGHLIGHTS
Webb City’s girls finished third in the team standings with 73 points. Ozark (48) and Nixa (57) were the top two teams.
Republic’s Gracie Troester was the medalist in 18:28 and Ozark’s Ellsie Estes was second in 19:10. Nixa’s Mackinzie Harris took third in 19:14 and Republic’s Kristin Probst took fourth in 19:36.
Joplin’s Katherine Schaefer placed fifth with a time of 19:36 and Webb City’s Brooke Hedger was sixth in 19:53.
Webb City’s Amelia Antillon finished 10th in 20:24, while Carthage’s Maggie Boyd took 13th in 20:30.
Joplin’s duo of Averi Burks (20:41.3) and Kyrie Britton (20:41.7) finished 15th and 16th, while Webb City’s trio of Emma McKinzie (21:02), Olivia Klotz (21:09) and Emily Countryman (21:19) placed 18th, 19th and 20th.
Carl Junction’s Audrey Fletcher finished 25th, Joplin’s Mia Grubbs was 26th and CJ’s Madilyn Dalton took 28th.
Carthage’s Jennifer Rodas-Gomez finished 31st, Joplin’s Meridyth Mai was 32nd, Carl Junction’s Delaney Harris took 33rd, Webb City’s Rachel Miller was 34th and Joplin’s Annabelle Rutledge finished 35th.
Carthage’s duo of Genesis Fuentes-Elias and Katy Witherspoon placed 36th and 37th, while their teammates Kimberly Monterroso and Jenna Wilson were 39th and 40th.
CENTRAL OZARK CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Girls team standings: Ozark 48, Nixa 57, Webb City 73, Republic 85, Joplin 94, Carthage 156, Carl Junction 180, Branson 229.
Boys team standings: Nixa 31, Webb City 59, Joplin 73, Willard 151, Ozark 158, Carl Junction 161, Branson 167, Republic 201, Carthage 204, Neosho 253.
