While Carthage did graduate several key players from last year’s strong season, the Tigers have a talented group of upperclassmen returning with the goal of duplicating the success from a year ago.
The Tigers, which haven’t had a sub-.500 season under head coach Jacob Osborne since the 2014 campaign, finished with a 16-8 record last year and finished in second place in the Central Ozark Conference standings. However, Carthage did graduate notable seniors such as MF George Laytham, DEF Kleverzon Paz, MF Eric Garcia, F Neyzer Ramos, F Jorge Mendes and GK Julio Lopez.
“We had a good season last year,” Osborne said to SoMo Sports. “It was a really fun group. The players who were a part of the team were able to see how much the culture of the team can impact the performance on the field. They worked hard on and off the field and they got along with each other really well.”
While that group of seniors certainly left its mark, the senior class for the upcoming 2023 season is just as talented.
First-team all-conference senior F/DEF Welle Welle (23 goals, 12 assists) and first-team all-conference senior MF Henry Hernandez (10 goals, six assists) lead the list of returners for Carthage.
“Welle is one of the most talented players I have ever coached,” Osborne said. “He’s a very versatile player that can stand out no matter what position he plays. He obviously brings a lot to the team on the field, but he’s also a very strong leader.”
“He’s a fantastic player who was the best player on the field for some of our games last year,” Osborne added about Hernandez. “Last year, he made the switch to the midfield from the defense and that will continue this year.”
Also returning for the Tigers is senior F Silas Laythem, a second-team all-conference performer who finished with 20 goals and six assists last year. The Tigers didn’t have a player score 20 goals in the season since 2016. Carthage had two of them a year ago.
“We aren’t a very big team, but Silas gives us great size,” Osborne said. “He’s very athletic and strong. He and Welle gave almost everyone we played last season a lot of problems because if you key in on one of them, the other will make you pay. … I look for him to continue this kind of impact this season. He’s grown a little more and has put on some more muscle. I think he will have a more recognized season than last year.”
Senior MF Anderson Reyes, and junior MF Aldo Sanchez Concinos (five goals, two assists) also return to the varsity lineup.
Back on the defensive side for Carthage are seniors Edson Lopez and Danilo Lopez.
“Last year, Edson transitioned to defense and did a great job. He will be an important defender for us.
“Danilo was voted co-Defender of the Year for our team last season. It was his first year with varsity. He’s a really good player who is also a good leader.”
Expected to take over in goal is senior Isaias Tello.
Other players returning with varsity experience who are expected to make a bigger impact on defense are seniors Marvin Najera and Bryan Ordonez as well as junior Eri Mendez, while sophomore MF Bagner Barrios and junior striker Reece Horton will provide experience depth on offense.
New faces to the varsity level this year will be senior DEF Christopher Gonzalex, junior MF Axel Vazquez, junior MF Josue Garay-Elias and freshman DEF Henry Laytham, the brother of George and Silas.
“I’m optimistic about us having a strong season,” Osborne said. “We have a lot of returning players and we have a very potent offensive attack that is returning. I believe that we will again be a very high-scoring team. As always, our skill level is a strength for us. We are very skilled and technical. We will have a very high percentage of possession and we have the attackers available to make use of that possession by turning it into goals.
“I also really like the commitment from our players. They want to be there and they want to get better. Summer workouts are not mandatory, but we still have had almost all varsity players showing up to all of the workouts. They also really enjoy being around each other. It’s been a continuation of last season in that respect because last year was one of the more enjoyable coaching seasons I have had and it’s felt the same this summer.”
Carthage opens the season with a home matchup against Republic on Aug. 29.
Carthage High School has tabbed Kevin Burgi as its new head baseball coach.
The appointment was announced on Friday.
Burgi previously coached at McDonald County, Joplin and Hollister and played collegiately at Missouri Southern State University in Joplin.
Also of note, Burgi’s father, John, is a former Carthage baseball coach.
“I am very excited to take a job at a school district and within a community that I have felt a connection with my entire life,” Burgi said in a press release. “This position comes with great responsibility because of the rich tradition that has been established by so many great people in the program’s history. The success was built through hard work and dedication from many stakeholders in the community. The coaching staff will work to continue and build on this tradition. I would like to thank the Carthage administration and school board for giving me this amazing opportunity.”
During his time at McDonald County, Burgi was named the Big 8 Conference Coach of the Year in 2021 and ’22. Burgi resigned after the ’22 season to move into an assistant principal position at MCHS.
Burgi was on the coaching staff at Joplin for five years, including a stint as the interim head coach in 2017 after Kirk Harryman retired.
Burgi, who was born in Carthage, graduated from Valley View High School in Jonesboro, Arkansas. After a standout prep career, Burgi played at Arkansas State, Garden City Community College and MSSU.
Burgi and his wife, Carrie, have three children—Olivia, Brooks and Brynlee.
Burgi replaces Luke Bordewick as Carthage’s head coach. Bordewick recently resigned after three seasons in charge of the program.
NEW BASEBALL STADIUM IN THE WORKS
The Carthage School District announced on Thursday that the K.D. & M.L. Steadley Trust, Bank of America, N.A, Trustee, pledged $2.5 million to construct a baseball stadium on the CHS campus.
According to a press release, no specific construction schedule or anticipated completion date have been finalized.
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — The Neosho Wildcats boys track and field squad made history for the third meet in a row, winning their first sectional title Saturday with 73 points in Class 5 Sectional 3 competition at Parkview High School’s JFK Stadium.
The Wildcats’ first sectional title follows their first district title since 1979 and their first Central Ozark Conference title, both of which Neosho earned in the final event, the 4×400 relay.
On Saturday, Neosho overtook the lead earlier on and held off second place Lafayette (Wildwood) and Waynesville, who each compiled 70 points.
Nixa placed fourth with 67 points, followed by Camdenton (59), Capital City (57), Joplin (57), Eureka (54), Kickapoo (48), Carthage (34), Republic (32), Willard (28), Ozark (25), Branson (22), Parkview (13), Lebanon (11), Glendale (4), and Springfield Central (4).
On the girls side, meanwhile, Lafayette tallied 92 points to earn the sectional crown, followed by Republic (82), Capital City (71), Kickapoo (69), Glendale (55), Ozark (54), Nixa (47), Eureka (41), Joplin (37), Willard (35), Lebanon (33), Camdenton (29), Northwest (21), Carthage (19), Branson (15), Waynesville (14), Parkview (11), and Springfield Central (7).
The top four finishers in each event Saturday qualified for the state track and field championships May 26-27 in Jefferson City.
NEOSHO HIGHLIGHTS
The Wildcats have already earned the right to call their season historic, but they have one more chapter to write next week in Jefferson City with their six state qualifiers.
Izaiah Hill and Collyn Kivett not only won sectional titles Saturday, but they also established school records in their respective events (Isaiah Hill 400-meter dash and Kivett javelin).
Hill won the 400 in 49.41 seconds and Kivett won the javelin with a toss of 173 feet, 5 inches.
Tyrese Hill finished second in both the 100 in 11.04 and the 200 in 21.84, and his time in the 200 established a school record.
The Hills combined for 26 points in three sprinting events.
Jared Siler claimed a sectional title with a clearance of 6-5 in the high jump and he earned a second qualification for state with a second in the long jump at 22-6.
Isaiah Green and Carter Baslee finished just short of state in three events (Green fifth in triple jump and sixth in long jump; Baslee fifth in discus), but their points in their respective events helped Neosho stay atop the team standings Saturday.
JOPLIN HIGHLIGHTS
The Eagles qualified for state in 11 events Saturday with senior distance runner Hobbs Campbell leading the boys in three events and freshman sprinter Brylee Strickland sparking the girls in four events.
Campbell won the 1600 in 4:16 and finished third in the 3200 in 9:48 and the 800 in 1:54, while Strickland placed second in the 400 in 58.94, third in the 200 in 25.58, fourth in the 100 in 12.57, and she ran the anchor leg for the 4×100 that finished third in 49.14.
Strickland was the lone freshman runner among those who qualified in the 100, 200, and 400 on the girls side.
Back on the boys side, senior Orion Norris placed fourth in the 200 in 22.53, the 4×100 finished third in 42.85, freshman Cordell Washington finished third in the high jump at 6-4 and senior Drew VanGilder finished third in the javelin at 167-7.
CARTHAGE HIGHLIGHTS
The Tigers qualified for state in six events, four on the boys and two on the girls side.
On the boys side, Carthage senior Miguel Solano won a sectional title in the 800, leading a field where the top four finishers were separated by a mere .58.
Solano won with a time of 1:54.49, besting Waynesville’s Tyrell Phinn (1:54.73), Campbell (1:54.78), and Capital City’s Keion Grieve (1:55.07).
Trent Yates placed fourth in the triple jump with a personal record of 43-9 getting the sophomore to state as the youngest qualifier from Class 5 Sectional 3.
Solano’s fellow senior Micah Lindsey placed fourth in the shot put with a throw of 57-6.
Junior hurdler Daryl Martin placed fourth in the 300 hurdles in 41.00 and just missed on another state qualification with a fifth in the 110 hurdles in 15.65.
On the girls side, freshman Chasity Straw earned her first state qualification with a third in the discus at 114-6.
Sophomore thrower Karlie Nichols placed fourth in the shot put at 34-7.
Senior Joey Hettinger just missed qualifying after finishing fifth in the high jump.
CARTHAGE, Mo. — The Neosho Wildcats boys track and field team made history for the second meet in a row.
On May 4, at Ozark High School, the Neosho boys won their first Central Ozark Conference team title in program history.
On Saturday, trailing Nixa entering the final event of the 4×400, Neosho’s relay of freshman William Ebbinghaus, sophomore Isaiah Keezer, senior Isaiah Green and junior Izaiah Hill rallied past the field down the back stretch with a winning time of 3 minutes and 26 seconds and secured the program’s first district track title since 1979.
Neosho won with 127 points and Nixa finished second with 121. Joplin was third with 107, Kickapoo fourth at 97, Ozark fifth at 68, Republic sixth at 64, Branson seventh at 59, Carthage eighth at 58 and Parkview ninth at 38.
“Super exciting,” Neosho boys coach Randy Mustain said. “We had a similar situation last week at the conference championship, which we won for the first time in program history being in the COC. We were down one point to Webb City, and we came in and competed and the kids just had an awesome night PR’d in the 4×4 and came back tonight. …
“We’re tired. You know, some of those guys ran four or five events tonight and came back and battled hard and pulled through for us. I’m super proud of them. To be able to come back and win that event to cap it off tonight, there’s nothing more sweet.”
The excitement around the final event could be felt and heard around Carthage’s David Haffner Stadium, especially as the anchor legs cranked up their engines and hit their accelerators for that final push toward the finish line.
Neosho senior Tyrese Hill looks to the scoreboard while finishing the 200-meter dash on Saturday at David Haffner Stadium in Carthage. Hill took first in the finals with a time of 22.46 seconds. Photo by Brennan Stebbins.
The excitement continued for Neosho after the race, as they celebrated like it was 1979, culminating in Mustain being surrounded and given the customary Gatorade shower.
“We’ve got a great group of guys on the 4×4,” Mustain said. “We’re pretty young there at the start of the race. We start off with a sophomore and a freshman who are coming on strong and training well for us. Then, you roll into a senior (Green). We use the term ‘dog’ in our program, and he’s a dog. He just absolutely goes after it and battles, and he did everything he could to give Izaiah a chance. I knew he could do that. We were super excited for him.
“I told Izaiah before the race, Izaiah Hill, our anchor leg, I said, I wouldn’t want it in anybody else’s hands. I’m super proud of him, and he handled himself very well.”
Neosho senior Tyrese Hill won the 100 in 10.81 and the 200 in 22.46, while Izaiah Hill won the 400 in 49.99.
The 4×200 of Tyrese Hill, Izaiah Hill, Keezer, and Tyrone Harris finished third in 1:31 and the 4×100 of Brock Franklin, Tyrese Hill, Jared Siler, and Harris placed fourth in 43.53.
Green won the triple jump at 44 feet and 11 inches and Siler placed fourth at 42-9.75. Green and Siler finished third and fourth in the long jump at 21-8.75 and 21-7.25 respectively, while Siler placed fourth in the high jump at 6-2.75.
Collyn Kivett won the javelin with a toss of 164-1 and Carter Baslee finished third in the discus with a mark of 150-6.
Neosho qualified in all these events for next Saturday’s Class 5 Sectional 3 meet hosted by Parkview, and the top four sectional finishers advance to the state meet the last weekend in May in Jefferson City.
“Those guys, they have known that they can do something special from the beginning,” Mustain said. “We’ve continued to preach that. We started this season off with a plywood state plaque we cut out and we put ‘Victory takes payment in advance’ in front of that and on the back, we put every team we were going to face at conference and districts. We said that this is what we want, and this is what our program is striving for.
“It’s the first time in 44 years the Neosho boys track and field program has won a district title. We’re proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish.
“This is Year Six for me as the head coach of this program. We’ve seen it grow every year, and that’s not a testament to me, it’s a testament to the kids coming into the weight room. Coach (Brandon) Taute does a great job with them in the weight room. Just having him in there driving those kids helps a lot.
“I have awesome assistant coaches that … at the beginning of the year, we were looking at districts and we were scheduled to get zero points in the throws. We came out today and I think we scored 22 points in the throws. I’m extremely proud of our kids there. All of our coaches do a great job, they’ve got our kids bought in, we’re a family, we love each other, they know that, and they’ll go to battle for each other all the time.”
Mustain’s assistants are Drew Harmon, Frank Hebert, Desmond Williams, and Josh Yarnell.
Carthage senior Miguel Solano leads the pack in the 800 on Saturday at the district meet hosted by the Tigers. Photo by Brennan Stebbins.
CARTHAGE HIGHLIGHTS
The host Carthage Tigers finished eighth Saturday in the overall standings and qualified for sectionals in six different events.
Miguel Solano won the 800 in 1:58.88, just .07 ahead of Joplin’s Hobbs Campbell, and Daryl Martin finished third in both the 110 hurdles in 15.73 and the 300 hurdles in 40.66.
The 4×800 of Trey Nye, Solano, Caleb Fewin, and Michael Lanyon finished third in 8:19 and the 4×400 of Braxton McBride, Solano, Nye, and Joseph Childs also finished third in 3:27.
Trent Yates placed second in the triple jump at 43-1.5 and Micah Lindsey also finished second in the shot put at 54-7.5.
“I think we came out and competed,” Carthage boys coach Logan Wilson said. “At the very start of the day I told them, ‘Hey, go get another PR and we’ll see how we fall.’ That’s what we did. We got PRs across the board, and a couple of our teams were lucky to be fast enough to move on. We had a shot putter go through, we had a triple jumper go through, and our hurdler got through at 110 and 300. We told them at the beginning of the year to come out and get better every day and that’s exactly what they did.”
District 6 qualifiers and District 5 qualifiers from schools Camdenton, Capital City, Eureka, Glendale, Lafayette (Wildwood), Lebanon, Northwest (Cedar Hill), Springfield Central, Waynesville, and Willard meet at sectionals.
“It’s hard,” Wilson said. “When you’re going to a Class 5 sectional, it’s hard. You’ve got kids that are top ranked in the state in every event. It’s going to be tough, but we’re going to go there with the same mentality. We’re going to compete, and where the chips fall is where they’re going to fall. We’ve got two guys ranked at the top of sectionals right now, so we like our odds. At the end of the day, we just want a chance to compete, and we earned that today.”
Joplin sophomore Tayshaun Palmer takes the baton from junior Quinton Renfro during the 4×100 relay at Saturday’s Class 5 District 6 meet. Joplin won the event in 42.95 seconds.
JOPLIN HIGHLIGHTS
The Joplin Eagles finished third on the boys side Saturday and qualified in 11 events for sectionals at Parkview.
Senior distance standout Hobbs Campbell won the 1600 in 4:18 and finished second in the 800 in 1:58 and the 3200 in 9:48, while Orion Norris raced to fourth in the 200 in 23.03.
The 4×100 of Quinton Renfro, Tayshaun Palmer, Norris, and Davin Thomas won in 42.95 and the 4×200 of Palmer, Aiden Scourten, Norris, and Davin Thomas finished second in 1:31.
Renfro took second in the long jump with a leap of 21-10, freshman high jumper Cordell Washington finished third at 6-3.5, freshman Neil Barstow’s heave of 146-10 earned him fourth in the discus (three of the four sectional qualifiers in the discus are freshmen), Dontrell Holt placed fourth in the shot put at 49-6.5, and Drew VanGilder also placed fourth in the javelin at 152-7.
Joplin junior Kiki Thom won the 300-meter hurdles in 47.48 seconds at Saturday’s Class 5 District 6 meet in Carthage. Photo by Brennan Stebbins/Special to SoMo Sports.
GIRLS HIGHLIGHTS
On the girls side, the Joplin Eagles finished fifth with 83 points and qualified in nine events for sectionals next Saturday at Parkview.
Joplin freshman Brylee Strickland especially proved to be fleet of foot Saturday, qualifying for sectionals in three individual sprinting events and one sprint relay.
Strickland sprinted to second in the 100 in 12.53, won the 200 in 26.30, and finished third in the 400 in 1:01.
Strickland also ran the anchor leg on the second place 4×100 relay with their 49.52 time. Sophomore sprinters Phia Vogel and Abigayle Lowery, along with junior Abigail Eckert, joined Strickland on the relay.
Junior hurdler Kiki Thom won a district title in the 300 hurdles in 47.48, Vogel placed fourth in the 100 in 12.81, and Lowery also placed fourth in the 200 in 26.79.
Maria Loum finished third in the pole vault at 10-0 and Kendall Nyarango also finished third in the long jump at 17-4.75.
The host Carthage Tigers tallied 64 points to finish sixth and qualified in five events for sectionals.
Carthage senior Joey Hettinger won a district title with a high clearance of 5-2.25 in the high jump, and she was the lone athlete in her event to clear 5-0 on Saturday.
Meanwhile, freshman Chasity Straw finished second in the discus with a heave of 104-9 and Lilly Holmes and Karlie Nichols finished second and third in the shot at 35-0.25 and 34-9.5.
Lexa Youngblood placed fourth in the 400 in 1:03 and the 4×400 of Aven Willis, Evelyn Carrol, Maggie Boyd, and Youngblood also placed fourth in 4:16.
The Neosho Wildcats totaled 26.5 points to take ninth in the standings and qualified in one event for sectionals, as freshman Jazmyn Washington finished second in the 100 hurdles in 16.01.
Joplin sophomore Davin Thomas finished fourth in the 100-meter dash to earn a spot in next weekend’s sectional meet.
LEE’S SUMMIT, Mo. — Joplin and Carthage were among the boys tennis teams competing at the individual district tournament on Saturday.
Competing in Class 3 District 6 at Lee’s Summit North High School, none of the Eagles or Tigers were able to advance to the state tournament. The top two singles players and the top two doubles teams advanced.
Joplin’s doubles team of Adam Badr and Josiah Hazlewood fell one win short of advancing to the bracket’s title match.
After a first-round bye, Badr-Hazlewood defeated Carthage’s Will Wallace-Fabian Solano 6-2, 7-5 in the quarterfinals.
In the semifinals, Rockhurst’s Luke Johnson and Nathan Dierks defeated the Joplin duo 6-1, 6-2.
Both Rockhurst teams were in the title match, with Caleb Bridges-Henry Stevens beating Johnson-Dierks 6-2, 6-2.
Also competing in doubles were Joplin’s duo of Hunter Merkley and Michael Mancipe and Carthage’s tandem of Silas Laytham and Danilo Lopez. Both teams went 0-1.
Carthage’s Wallace-Solano defeated Lee’s Summit West’s Nathan Fredlund-Dane Hooks 6-2, 6-3 before falling to the Eagles.
The top two singles players were Lee’s Summit West’s Arnav Gannavaram and Lee’s Summit North’s Maxon Chen.
In the title match, Gannavaram beat Chen 6-0, 6-2. Again, both players advanced to the individual state tournament.
Playing singles for Joplin were Leif Garrity and Oscar Kienzle, while Charlie Snow and Joshua Rivera competed for Carthage.
Snow defeated Kienzle 6-0, 6-0 before falling to eventual champ Gannavaram 6-0, 6-0 in the quarterfinals.
Garrity and Rivera went 0-1.
TEAM TOURNAMENT
The district team tournament begins at 4 p.m. on Monday.
In quarterfinal matchups, fifth-seeded Carthage is at fourth-seeded Lee’s Summit North and seventh-seeded Joplin is at second-seeded Lee’s Summit.
The other opening-round match features No. 3 Lee’s Summit West against sixth-seeded Raymore-Peculiar.
Top-seeded Rockhurst has a first-round bye and awaits the Lee’s Summit North-Carthage winner in Tuesday’s semifinals.
OZARK, Mo. — The Neosho Wildcats definitely finished strong on Wednesday night.
Neosho’s boys were trailing Webb City in the team standings by a slim margin when the final event of the Central Ozark Conference track and field championships arrived.
However, the Wildcats won the 4×400-meter relay, Webb City finished sixth, and with that, Neosho captured the team championship at the 2023 COC Meet at Ozark High School.
Neosho finished with 129.33 points to Webb City’s 123.
Nixa (106.33), Joplin (92) and Ozark (68) rounded out the top five teams. Branson (63), Willard (58.33), Carthage (50), Republic (43) and Carl Junction (7) finished sixth through 10th, respectively.
The top five girls teams were Republic (129), Ozark (118.5), Nixa (105), Webb City (85) and Joplin (79).
Rounding out the girls team standings were Carthage (67.66), Carl Junction (60), Willard (47), Branson (26.5) and Neosho (20.33).
NEOSHO HIGHLIGHTS
Neosho won seven events and took second in two others. Overall, the Wildcats recorded 18 top-six performances.
The Wildcats had a strong showing in the sprints, relays and jumps.
Neosho’s Jared Siler (22-2.25) and Isaiah Green (21-6.75) took first and second in the long jump.
Green won the triple jump (44-5.25) and Siler was third (43-8.5). Siler also finished third in the high jump.
Tyrese Hill won the 100-meter dash in 10.87 seconds, and teammate Konnor Siler was fourth in 11.31. Hill also won the 200 in 22.37 seconds.
Izaiah Hill took first in the 400 with a time of 50.34 seconds. Teammate Isaiah Keezer was fifth. Izaiah Hill also placed fourth in the 200.
In addition to winning the 4×400 relay in 3:26, the Wildcats took first in the 4×200 relay in 1:30, were second in the 4×100 and placed fifth in the 4×800.
Also for the Wildcats, Carson Newell finished fourth in the 800, Carter Baslee finished sixth in the discus and Collyn Kivett was sixth in the javelin.
For the Neosho girls, Miranda Wennhold (triple jump) and Rylyn Moritz (200) both finished fourth.
WEBB CITY HIGHLIGHTS
Webb City’s boys won four events and took second in five others. The Cardinals recorded 17 top-six performances.
Winning individual events for the Webb City boys were Grayson Smith (pole vault), Trey Roets (javelin) and Evan Stevens (3200).
Smith cleared 15 feet in the pole vault, while Roets recorded a toss of 174-9 and Stevens crossed the line at 9:21.
Stevens was also the runner-up in the 1600.
William Wolfe (11.04) and Jordan Thornburg (11.22) finished second and third in the 100-meter dash. Wolfe took second in the 200.
Justin Allen (pole vault), Malique McCarter (javelin) both finished third, Tucker Liberatore (javelin) was fourth and Jadon Brisco (pole vault) and Mason Hedger (800) both placed fifth.
Joseph DeGraffenreid took sixth in the high jump.
Webb City won the 4×100 relay in 43.12 seconds and finished second in both the 4×200 and 4×800 relays before finishing sixth in the 4×400.
Winning individual events for the Webb City girls were Chase Stilley (high jump), Dawsyn Decker (javelin) and Abi Street (3200).
Stilley cleared 5-1.75, while Decker recorded a toss of 133-10 and Street crossed the line at 11:14.
Street was second in the 1600, while teammate Brooke Hedger finished third in the 800 and fourth in the 1600.
Aubree Lassiter placed third in the discus, Essence Robinson took fifth in the 400 and Jaeli Rutledge and Kylee Sargent placed sixth and seventh in the shot put.
Webb City’s girls finished third in the 4×100 relay, third in the 4×400 and fourth in the 4×800 relay.
JOPLIN HIGHLIGHTS
Joplin senior Hobbs Campbell won two events and finished second in another.
Campbell won the 1600 in 4:20. The Eagles had three of the top seven in the event, as Ian Horton was sixth and Grey Edwards took seventh.
A future Kansas Jayhawk, Campbell won the 800 in 1:55. Campbell was the runner-up in the 3200 in 9:34.
Drew VanGilder took second in the javelin, Orion Norris placed third in the 200 and Cordell Washington (high jump) and Horton (3200) both finished fourth.
Finishing fifth were Davin Thomas (100), Neil Barstow (discus), Dontrell Holt (shot put) and Chance Tindall (3200). Avarus Kuhn-Wofford finished sixth in the 300 hurdles.
The Eagles took third in the 4×100 relay.
The Joplin girls also had a stellar showing.
Featuring Phia Vogel, Abigayle Lowery, Abigail Eckert and Brylee Strickland, the Joplin girls won the 4×100 relay in a school record time of 49.6 seconds.
Joplin finished third in the 4×200 relay.
Brylee Strickland won the 400-meter dash in 59.51 seconds and also took second in two other events, the 100 and the 200.
Kiki Thom was the runner-up in the 300 hurdles and Vogel took second in the 200.
Maria Loum placed third in the pole vault, Micah Holden was third in the 100 hurdles, Aubrey Strickland finished fifth in the 100 hurdles and Ava Werberger-Doll finished fifth in the 3200.
CARTHAGE HIGHLIGHTS
Carthage’s Miguel Solano was the runner-up in the 800, while Daryl Martin finished third in the 100 hurdles and fourth in the 300 hurdles.
Micah Lindsey placed third in the shot put and Trenton Yates finished fourth in the triple jump.
Carthage’s boys finished fourth in both the 4×800 and 4×400 relays.
For the Carthage girls, Chasity Straw won the discus with a toss of 109-12. Straw was fourth in the shot put.
Finishing second were Ada Roughton (triple jump) and Karlie Nichols (shot put), while Lexa Youngblood finished third in both the 200 and the 400.
Joey Hettinger placed fourth in the long jump and Maggie Boyd was sixth in the 800.
The CHS girls were fifth in the 4×400 relay.
CARL JUNCTION HIGHLIGHTS
Carl Junction’s Sydney Ward won a pair of events in the girls meet, the 100-meter dash in 12.12 seconds and the 200 in 25.23. Both times are conference meet records.
The CJ girls won the 4×200 relay in 1:47. They were sixth in the 4×100.
Carl Junction’s Acadia Badgley and Brooke Jasperson finished fourth and fifth in the pole vault.
Zoie Weibel (400) and Madilyn Olds (javelin) both finished fourth, while Hannah Cantrell (triple jump) and Izzy Southern (shot put) placed fifth in their respective events.
Carl Junction’s Ryder Pyles finished fifth in the boys long jump and Braxton Dodds was eighth in the javelin.
Note: The names of those who competed in relays were unavailable at time of publication.
Joplin’s doubles team of Adam Badr and Josiah Hazlewood and Neosho singles player Reid Snyder were the top local finishers at the 2023 Central Ozark Conference boys tennis tournament on Wednesday at the Joplin Athletic Complex courts.
Joplin’s Badr and Hazlewood finished second at No. 1 doubles, while Snyder was the runner-up at No. 2 singles.
NO. 1 DOUBLES
In the bracket’s championship match, Willard’s Dawson Amstutz and Seth Miller defeated Joplin’s Badr-Hazlewood 8-4.
In the quarterfinals, Badr-Hazlewood defeated Webb City’s Felipe Perez and Tristan Lynch 8-4.
“They were down 1-4 against Webb City but were able to rally back to win that round,” Joplin coach Aaron Stump said. “They followed it up with a tight match against Branson, which went into a tie-break. They played well against Willard as well but lost the championship match.”
In the semifinals, the Eagles defeated Branson’s Jack Dawson-Preston Volz 9-8 (10-9) to advance to the title match, where they settled for the silver medals.
The Branson duo defeated Republic’s Elder-Cole 8-6 in the third-place match.
Webb City’s Perez-Lynch defeated CJ’s William Russel-Blaine Wilkerson 8-2 in the play-in round before falling to the Eagles.
Neosho’s duo of Willis Jarvis and Peyton Williams and Carthage’s tandem of Silas Laytham and Danilo Lopez dropped their opening matches.
NO. 2 DOUBLES
Branson’s duo of Joshua Brown and Zachary Zander defeated Ozark’s Benjamin Romano-Nicholas Psarev 8-4 in the championship match of the No. 2 doubles bracket.
In the third-place match, Willard’s Brigham Thedell-Gabriel Hernandez defeated Nixa’s Nathan Uptown-Rowley and Tyler Neal 8-6.
Neosho’s Breckin McAffrey and Noah Schade defeated Joplin’s Michael Mancipe and Hunter Merkley 8-2 in the opening round, but lost to Ozark’s Romano-Psarvev 8-4 in the quarterfinals.
Carthage’s Will Wallace and Fabian Solano defeated Republic’s Gavin Collyott-Caleb Long 8-3, but then fell to Nixa in the quarterfinals, 8-5.
Carl Junction’s Jayden Wolf-Samuel Cory and Webb City’s Zachary Stump-Jacob Russel dropped their opening-round matches.
NO. 1 SINGLES
Willard’s Caden Lingenfelser was the champion at No. 1 singles.
In the bracket’s title match, Lingenfelser defeated Branson’s Nathan Bartram 8-1.
Nixa’s Carson Palmer defeated Ozark’s Connor Kitchin 8-3 in the third-place match.
Joplin’s Leif Garrity defeated Neosho’s Christian Williams 8-1 in the play-in round but lost to Bartram 8-3 in the quarterfinals.
Carl Junction’s Jordan Markham, Carthage’s Charles Snow and Webb City’s Jacob McDonald all went 0-1.
NO. 2 SINGLES
In the title match at No. 2 singles, Branson’s Benjamin Merrifield defeated Neosho’s Snyder 8-1.
Snyder edged Ozark’s Ethan Fast 9-8 (7-5) in the quarterfinals and got past Carthage’s Josh Rivera 9-8 (8-6) in the semifinals.
In the bracket’s third-place match, Carthage’s Rivera defeated Carl Junction’s Daniel Hodson 8-4.
Hodson defeated Webb City’s Trevor Peterson 8-5 in the quarterfinals and suffered an 8-4 loss to Merrifield in the semifinals.
Joplin’s Oscar Kienzle and Webb City’s Peterson both went 0-1.
Carthage’s Owen Derryberry and Carl Junction’s Jack Spencer were the top two finishers at the COC Boys Golf Tournament. Derryberry won a second playoff hole after the two were tied after 18 holes.
CARL JUNCTION, Mo. — With the pressure on, and with an individual conference championship on the line, Carthage’s Owen Derryberry sank a dramatic 30-foot putt to put a final exclamation point on a long day of golf.
Derryberry’s impressive putt concluded a second playoff hole against Carl Junction’s Jack Spencer and gave the CHS junior medalist honors at the 2023 Central Ozark Conference Boys Golf Tournament on Tuesday at Briarbrook Golf Course.
That’s not all. Derryberry’s performance led the way as Carthage captured the COC’s team championship.
“I feel really good right now,” Derryberry said. “I started out rough today, but I pulled it together and played pretty well. It was like a sigh of relief to see that last putt go in. I’m just proud of our whole team for being COC champs. We want to win districts next. That’s the next goal.”
On a near perfect day to play, Derryberry and Spencer both fired 1-under-par 71 at the conclusion of 18 holes.
The first playoff hole, No. 10, ended with the pair still deadlocked.
After two swings on No. 18, Derryberry ended the tourney in dramatic fashion, converting from 30 feet out.
“He got really hot today,” Carthage coach James Newman said of Derryberry. “He had five birdies in six holes and that gave him a lot of confidence. He’s a gritty player. And on that last putt, you could see the confidence…he knew he made a good putt.”
The Tigers turned in a four-person score of 308, three strokes better than Carl Junction, to capture the team championship.
“I’m really proud of them,” Newman said moments after his team posed for photos with the conference championship plaque. “I feel excellent about how they played today. They were struggling the last few weeks to their standards. They were playing really well at the beginning of the year and they’re playing really well right now. It feels good to watch them succeed out there and to see their hard work come to fruition.”
Carthage senior Max Templeman tied for fifth place with a 76 and classmate Britt Coy tied for seventh with a 77.
Also for the Tigers, senior Ben Nicholas shot an 84 and sophomore Luke Lewis carded 103.
Of note, Carthage finished sixth at last year’s COC tourney in Branson.
This year, the Tigers have won four tourney championships (Joplin, Horton Smith, Pittsburg, COC) ahead of postseason play.
Carthage’s Owen Derryberry putts during Tuesday’s Central Ozark Conference Boys Golf Tournament at Briarbrook Golf Course.
SPENCER, BULLDOGS SETTLE FOR SECOND
Carl Junction finished second in the team standings.
That’s been a common theme of the ’23 season, Bulldogs coach Ryan Jones noted.
“We’re a good golf team and we continue to finish second,” Jones said. “It can be frustrating, but we are a very good golf team. Maybe our time is coming. The COC is a really tough conference. This might be the most-talented field that I can remember in 20 years. For us to be second and in the mix, I won’t lose sight of that. If it was easy to win, everyone would do it. We’re waiting for our moment. We’ll get there.”
Just a sophomore, Spencer had an impressive showing, but could only watch as Derryberry sank the winning putt.
“Owen made a great putt,” Spencer said. “I don’t feel like I lost the playoff hole…he just made a really good putt. Owen’s a good friend and he’s a great player.
“I thought I played really solid today,” Spencer added. “I bogeyed the first and third holes, but didn’t have any bogeys after that. I played pretty steady. When you shoot 1-under with three birdies that means you’re playing pretty consistently. I had a lot of stress-free pars. I putted better today and that’s something I’ve been struggling with. Of course, more than anything, I wanted to win.”
Coach Jones noted he was proud of Spencer’s performance.
“Jack is a competitor and a bulldog,” Jones said. “I appreciate the way he plays the game. He’s going to attack and he competes his tail off. Jack’s a talented kid and he had a good day.”
In addition to Spencer’s runner-up finish, Carl Junction senior Jacob Teeter was one of five players who tied for seventh place with a 77.
Just outside of the top 10 was junior Tommy Walker, who carded 78. Also competing for the Bulldogs were freshmen Austin Baker (85) and Logan Lowry (86).
SATTERLEE LEADS JOPLIN
Joplin sophomore Harry Satterlee tied for third place, as he and Nixa’s Noah Naugle both shot 74.
Satterlee was the medalist at last year’s COC tourney in Branson, but his repeat bid fell just a few strokes short.
“I thought Harry played pretty consistently,” Joplin coach Jack Pace said.
Joplin finished seventh in the team standings with a 332.
Also competing for the Eagles were Ian Surbrugg (80), Dylan Bozarth (88), Hobbs Campbell (90) and Cash Tyson (101).
“330 or so isn’t bad,” Pace said of the team finish. “A couple of years ago, 330 probably would have won some tournaments. But golf in this area has gotten a lot better.”
THIS ‘N THAT
Defending champion Nixa finished third in the team standings behind Carthage and Carl Junction with a 312.
Ozark finished fourth in the team standings with a 321 and Webb City finished fifth with a 329.
Rounding out the team standings were Willard (330), Joplin (332), Branson (338), Republic (343) and Neosho (380).
Cooper Forth (79) and Braxten Cahoon (80) led the way for Webb City, while Levi Lassiter (85), Braden McKee (85) and Jackson Lucas (94) also competed.
The Neosho Wildcats were led by Colby Shadwick (89) and Collier Hendricks (93).
The top 10 finishers were recognized as all-conference performers. There were actually 11 golfers who garnered all-COC recognition this year due to ties.
Carthage’s Templeman tied with Republic’s Jace Henry for fifth, as both carded 76.
In addition to Carthage’s Coy and CJ’s Teeter, tying for seventh place with 77s were Ozark’s Boston Huddleston, Willard’s Cole McMillan and Republic’s Cason Bekemeier.
DISTRICT TOURNEYS AWAIT
Area squads head to their respective district tournaments on Thursday.
Carl Junction and Webb City will compete at the Class 4 District 3 tournament at Whispering Oaks Golf Course in Marshfield.
“I want to have a solid day for my team, so maybe our whole team can go to state,” Spencer said.
Joplin, Carthage and Neosho are among the schools competing at the Class 5 District 3 tournament on Thursday at Rivercut Golf Course in Springfield.
“I feel good about districts,” Newman said. “We’re going to leave tomorrow and play a practice round and just hang out together. I just hope they leave Rivercut feeling like they did their best.”
The Carthage High School boys golf team poses with the COC championship plaque on Tuesday at Briarbrook Golf Course. Photo by Jason Peake.
2023 CENTRAL OZARK CONFERENCE BOYS GOLF TOURNAMENT
(At Briarbrook Golf Course)
TEAM BY TEAM RESULTS
CARTHAGE (308): Owen Derryberry 71, Max Templeman 76, Britt Coy 77, Ben Nicholas 84, Luke Lewis 103.
CARL JUNCTION (311): Jack Spencer 71, Jacob Teeter 77, Tommy Walker 78, Austin Baker 85, Logan Lowry 86.
The Carthage High School boys tennis team won the Republic Tournament championship on Friday.
Carthage edged Bolivar by one point (8-9) for the team title.
Rounding out the team standings were Republic (12), Forsyth (17), Neosho (20), Greenwood (24), Carl Junction (25) and Smith-Cotton (29).
The Tigers had one champion, a pair of runners-up and a third-place finisher.
Carthage’s Joshua Rivera was the champion at No. 2 singles.
Carthage’s Charlie Snow was the runner-up at No. 1 singles and the CHS tandem of Silas Laytham and Danilo Lopez took second at No. 1 doubles.
Carthage’s duo of Will Wallace and Fabian Solano placed third at No. 2 doubles.
Neosho had two entries finish fourth in their respective brackets—Reid Snyder at No. 2 singles and the duo of Breckin McAffrey and Noah Schade at No. 2 doubles.
Neosho’s Christian Williams-Peyton Williams finished fifth at No. 1 doubles and Willis Jarvis placed eighth at No. 1 singles.
Carl Junction’s top performer was Daniel Hodson, who took third place at No. 2 singles.
Bolivar’s Cy Douglas won the No. 1 singles bracket, while his teammates Kyle Pock and Seth Martin won the No. 1 doubles bracket.
Republic’s Cooper Davis-Cooper Choate were the champs at No. 2 doubles.
GIRARD, Kan. — With a strong overall showing, Carthage’s boys and girls captured the team championships at the Girard Optimist Club Track Meet on Friday.
Carthage’s boys compiled 150.5 points. Chanute was second with 101 and Girard was third with 99.
Carthage’s girls finished with 114 points, with Pittsburg second (104.5) and Girard third (99).
There were 13 teams in attendance, including McAuley Catholic.
CARTHAGE HIGHLIGHTS
Carthage’s Micah Lindsey won two events. A senior, Lindsey won the shot put with a school record toss of 56 feet even. Lindsey also won the discus with a toss of 149-3.
Daryl Martin also won two events.
Martin took first in the 110 hurdles in 16.35 seconds, with teammate Trenton Yates third (16.86). Martin won the 300 hurdles in 41.58 seconds.
Miguel Solano won the 1600 in 4:42. He also finished second in two other events, the 400 and the 800.
Featuring Kruz Castor, Jackson Hettinger, Yates and Braxton McBride, Carthage won the 4×100 relay in 44.69 seconds.
The Tigers took second in the 4×800 relay, with Trey Nye, Xander Vazquez, Michael Lanyon and Caleb Fewin competing.
Carthage was also second in the 4×400, as McBride, Martin, Trey Nye and Joseph Childs recorded a time of 3:34.
Fewin and Devin Smith placed first and second in the 3200, while Yates placed second in the triple jump and fourth in the long jump, McBride took third in the 400, Hettinger took fourth in the triple jump and Aydan Nye was fourth in the pole vault.
On the girls side, Carthage’s Lexa Youngblood won the 200-meter dash in 27.28 seconds. Youngblood was second in the 100 with a time of 12.99 seconds.
Joey Hettinger won the high jump (4-10), with teammate Evelyn Carrol second (4-8). Hettinger took second in the long jump.
Chasity Straw won the discus with a toss of 106-11.5 and Karlie Nichols (35-1) and Lilly Holmes (34-3) were the top two finishers in the shot put.
Also for the CHS girls, Maggie Boyd finished third in the 800, Jaidyn Brunnert was fourth in the 100 hurdles, Ashleigh Rowden took fourth in both the 400 and the high jump, Ada Roughton was fourth in the triple jump and Jenna Wilson was fifth in the 3200.
The CHS girls were third in the 4×400, fifth in the 4×800 relay and sixth in the 4×100.
MCAULEY CATHOLIC HIGHLIGHTS
McAuley’s Michael Parrigon took second in the 1600 with a time of 4:42. He was also fourth in the 800.
The Warriors finished fourth in the 4×100 relay, with Dylan Taffner, Jack Jones, Ethan Stabb and Alex Bohachick competing.
The team of Bohachick, Taffner, Jones and Parrigon finished fourth in the 4×400 relay.
McAuley’s 4×800 relay team of Bohachick, Connor Taffner, Drew Zeb and Trae Veer finished seventh.
Also for the Warriors, Jones finished fourth in the high jump, Veer was sixth in the 3200 and Bohachick finished seventh in the 400.
For the McAuley girls, Kendall Ramsey won the 3200-meter run with a time of 12:48.
Ramsey finished second in the 1600 in 5:39.
Girard Optimist Club Track Meet
Boys team scores: Carthage 150.5, Chanute 101, Girard 99, Parsons 74, Pittsburg 46, Fort Scott 29, McAuley Catholic 28, St. Mary’s Colgan 26, Riverton 18, Baxter Springs 14.5, Frontenac 6, Southeast 4, Columbus 3.
Girls team scores: Carthage 114, Pittsburg 104.5, Girard 99, St. Mary’s Colgan 74, Fort Scott 56.5, Chanute 50, Baxter Springs 26, Riverton 25, Frontenac 19, McAuley Catholic 18, Parsons 17.5, Columbus 3.5.
MONETT, Mo. — The Thomas Jefferson Cavaliers captured the team championship at the Monett Invitational boys tennis tournament on Wednesday.
Thomas Jefferson finished with 18 points, while Monett was the runner-up with 13 points. Carthage and New Covenant tied for third with 11 points.
Rounding out the field were Webb City (6), Mount Vernon (3.5), Aurora (2.5) and Clever (1).
The Cavaliers won two of the four brackets, No. 1 doubles and No. 2 singles.
At No. 1 doubles, Thomas Jefferson’s Prithvi Nagarajan and Devan Murali went 3-0.
The Cavaliers defeated Aurora’s Greysen Boettler-Mario Jimenez 8-0 in the quarterfinals and topped Monett’s Elijah Ridenour-Logan Kutz 8-4 in the semifinals.
In the bracket’s title match, Nagarajan-Murali beat New Covenant’s Brody Bennett-Aidan Henderson 8-5.
Thomas Jefferson’s Jack Goodhue won the No. 2 singles bracket.
Goodhue beat Clever’s Kaden Smith 8-1 and Carthage’s Eli Scott 8-3 to advance to the title match. Goodhue defeated Monett’s Heisman Welch 9-8 (7-5) in the bracket’s championship match.
Thomas Jefferson’s Lele Qian was the runner-up at No. 1 singles.
Qian beat Mount Vernon’s Peyton West 8-0 and topped Aurora’s Landon Boatwright 8-4. In the title match, Monett’s Ethan Kutz edged Qian 9-8 (11-9).
Thomas Jefferson’s Sam Li and Nathaniel Curtis finished fourth at No. 2 doubles. They dropped the bracket’s third-place match to Mount Vernon’s Malachi Hennum-Austin Robison 8-4.
WEBB CITY HIGHLIGHTS
Webb City’s Jacob McDonald and Tristan Lynch took third place at No. 1 doubles.
Webb City’s Felipe Perez finished fourth at No. 2 singles and Trevor Peterson won the fifth-place match at No. 1 singles. Webb City’s Zachary Stump-Lucas Lowery went 0-2 at No. 2 doubles.
CARTHAGE HIGHLIGHTS
Carthage’s duo of Silas Laytham and Danilo Lopez took second at No. 2 doubles. They fell to New Covenant, 8-5, in the title match.
Carthage’s Josh Rivera finished third at No. 1 singles and Eli Scott took third at No. 2 singles.
Carthage’s No. 1 doubles team of Charlie Snow and Will Wallace won the fifth-place match.
Joplin’s Byler Reither and Carthage’s Nolan Brown battled in a pitcher’s duel on the bump with a pair of two-out RBI knocks by the Eagles’ offense being the difference in a 3-1 win in Central Ozark Conference action on Tuesday.
“At the end of the day, it was good pitching and timely hits,” Joplin coach Kyle Wolf said. “Those things are usually a good recipe to have success in a baseball game.”
Reither earned the win on the mound after allowing one run over 6 2/3 innings, scattering four hits, walking one and striking out 10. Brecken Green made his varsity debut by finishing off the save opportunity in the top of the seventh with a one-pitch popup to finish the win.
“Byler has been what Byler has been for a handful of games now,” Wolf said. “He is competing in the zone and using good stuff. He’s getting weak contact when they do make contact. He is hard to barrel up and I think you saw that today. … Brecken Green comes in there as a freshman in his first varsity experience and throws one pitch to get the save. You have to be excited about that as well.”
Brown took the tough-luck loss after allowing three runs on six hits and three strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings.
“Nolan has been a little inconsistent with his stuff (this season) but today in the bullpen he said, ‘Coach, I feel good.’ He just attacked the zone,” Carthage coach Luke Bordewick said. “We told him we wanted to get him through three (innings) in 60 pitches because we have a tournament this weekend and he got through 5 2/3 in 60 pitches. Joplin is an aggressive bunch, we knew that coming in, and he kept them off balanced with early (offspeed pitches for strikes). I can’t say enough good things. He just needs to continue to fill up the zone.”
Joplin (6-12, 2-3 COC) got on the board with a pair of extra-base hits in the second inning to take the initial lead. Layten Copher started the inning with an opposite field double over the head of the left fielder before Eli Sotlar delivered a two-out, go-ahead RBI double down the third-base line for a 1-0 advantage.
Carthage (3-18, 0-5 COC) rallied to tie the game in the top of the fourth inning when Clay Kinder led off with a double past first base before ultimately coming around to score on an RBI groundout from Brady Carlton with one out to tie the game at 1s.
“He had a good day in batting practice yesterday and really focused on hitting the ball to the opposite field,” Bordewick said of Kinder’s day at the plate. “It was nice to see his first AB staying through a ball to the opposite-field gap. He has been stroking it for us and is coming around. Hopefully, he can continue to carry that on because he is a catalyst for our offense.”
The Eagles’ offense again went to work with two outs in the last of the fifth. Jackson Queen started things with a leadoff single before a one-out single from Brock Waghorn. With two outs and runners on second and third, Brady Mails put Joplin back in front for good with a two-run single to left field for a 3-1 lead.
“Brady came up huge right there, being able to get a ball into left field,” Wolf said. “(Pinch runner) AJ (Alejandro De La Torre) did a great job coming from second base and keeping his eyes on me to be able to get in there and score, too. That third run was pretty big.”
“I think the more times that you do it, you get more confidence to think that you can,” Wolf added about Joplin’s late game heroics this season. “We have done it in different ways …Our thing is, we’ve needed to be better in the early innings to put ourselves in a situation to win a game late.”
Mails finished with a hit and two RBI for Joplin, while Sotlar doubled and drove in one. Copher doubled and scored a run, while Queen added a hit and a run scored as well.
Kinder doubled twice and scored a run for Carthage, while Drew Musche had a 2-for-2 game at the plate.
Carthage hosts Nixa in COC action on Thursday before taking part in the Lawrence River City Festival over the weekend.
Joplin closes a busy week hosting a COC matchup against Willard on Thursday before hosting Smithville and Nevada on Senior Day on Saturday at the JHS Athletic Complex.
“I just want to see us play hard and compete,” Wolf said. “Put ourselves in games late and have an opportunity to win. Pitching is always interesting during weeks like this because you have a plan, but you take it day by day. Then you reevaluate. Our next three are going to be tough games. … Hopefully, this is a little bit of a jumping board. You have a good feeling coming out of this one and stack some good days on good days.”
CARL JUNCTION, Mo. — The host Webb City Cardinals earned second place in the team standings by virtue of winning a tiebreaker against conference and district rival Carl Junction and Joplin junior Harry Satterlee won top individual honors with his 2-under par 70 on Monday in the Bird Dog Invitational at the Briarbrook Golf Course.
Nixa claimed the top prize at 304, four strokes ahead of Webb City and Carl Junction eight days before these schools and several others will battle for the Central Ozark Conference championship at the same course with Carl Junction assuming host duties.
Nixa’s Jack Holden finished second at even-par 72 and Webb City’s Braxten Cahoon, Carl Junction’s Jack Spencer and Monett’s Jaxon Bailey each shot 2-over 74 to round out the top five individual finishers Monday.
“I am very, very happy with the outing today,” Webb City coach Jackson Boyer said. “Three guys in the 70s. That happened (April 17) at Carthage and we needed help from our four and our five. Actually, our five-hole came through (Monday) with a 77 and he’s done that in practice. He’s still fairly new to golf … Jackson Lucas made a statement. We’re still trying to find our top five for conference and district.”
“We played pretty good,” Carl Junction coach Ryan Jones said. “Any time you’re playing golf, you’re more worried about what you shoot as opposed to everybody else. I feel like our scores weren’t too bad today. Nixa is a really good golf team and you’re just going to have to catch them on the right day to be able to beat them. Today, they played good enough.”
Webb City’s Cooper Forth shot 76 to finish in the top 10, Lucas stepped up and finished in the top 10 as well behind his 77 on Monday, and Levi Lassiter and Jack Good shot 81 and 91, respectively, for the Cardinals on a day when truly every shot counted.
“Braxten Cahoon, our senior, he came out on his home course, and he had a pretty disappointing last few years at this tournament for his standards and he showed up today and helped the team,” Boyer said. “Of course, there’s Cooper Forth and Levi Lassiter. It came down to a tie with Carl Junction for second, so we took our number five score against their number five score. All five contributed today and it’s a big accomplishment.
“We had cool temperatures early. Greens are running smooth. This is the time of the year where there’s enough warm weather to let the grass catch up a little bit. I thought the wind was going to pick up (Monday), but it just never did. It was absolute perfect conditions for golf today, so guys came out and answered the call.”
Carl Junction’s Tommy Walker joined Spencer in the top 10 with his score of 77, Logan Lowry and Jacob Teeter shot 78 and 79 to finish right on the periphery of the top 10, and Zach Merwin and Jayden Wingo shot 94 and 95 to round out the Bulldogs’ scores Monday.
“We’re right there,” Jones said. “Again, it’s another runner-up. We won the (St. Mary’s) Colgan Invitational last week, but for the most part, we’ve settled in. We’re consistent in our numbers. We are who we are. We’re close enough to beat anybody, but we just need to have one of those days where putts drop, and we don’t make just one mistake here or there. We’re in the mix of being a really, really good golf team. We just need one day where we don’t shoot ourselves in the foot.”
Satterlee, who shot 1-under par 70 and beat Republic’s Cason Bekemeier in a playoff to win the previous week’s Abbiati’s BBQ Invitational at Carthage and a 4-under 68 to win the Joplin Invitational earlier this season, again showed why he’s one of the best golfers around.
“Obviously, it’s all-around the same score nowadays, definitely pretty consistent,” Satterlee said. “It was obviously 2-under, anybody will take it … it’s just one tournament.
“It (Briarbrook) was playing pretty easy, to be honest. Par-5s are gettable. I played the par-5s even, which was disappointing, but I made up for it on par-4s.”
Satterlee did not require a playoff Monday, though, as he was the only golfer among the nearly 90 golfers to shoot under par.
“They’re fun, though,” Satterlee said. “But I was excited to win it by a couple strokes. I have to stay focused … the job’s not finished.”
Satterlee won the Bird Dog his sophomore year with a 2-under 70.
His sights are not only the more immediate future of the upcoming conference and district tournaments, but Satterlee also recently committed to play golf at the college level for NCAA Division I school Cincinnati, a member of the American Athletic Conference alongside schools like Houston, Memphis, Temple, and Wichita State.
“I took a visit in mid-February,” Satterlee said. “I got to see the facilities and they laid out the red carpet for me. I’m excited for the future. There’s a couple more schools talking with me, but at the end of the day, I decided that I wanted to pursue my academic and athletic career at Cincinnati.”
Team champion Nixa and individual champion Satterlee will look to defend their respective titles at next Tuesday’s conference tournament.
“Nixa is one of the best teams in Southwest Missouri and we get them again next week on the same course in our conference tournament,” Boyer said. “We’re looking forward to the challenge again.
“At this point, the kids know what they’re capable of physically, it’s the mental preparation. Anybody that’s ever played golf knows that it’s between the ears and having a plan and being able to bounce back from a bad shot. I tell the kids the secret to golf is to not hit two bad shots in a row. No one’s going to go out and play perfect, but if you can limit those (bad) shots and be mentally tough, especially around the green when you’re chipping and putting, that’s going to be our emphasis at practice until we enter the playoffs.”
Nixa won by 10 strokes last season with a 307 at Branson’s Pointe Royale Golf Course, while Ozark finished second at 317, Joplin third at 318, Webb City fourth at 327, Carl Junction fifth at 332, Carthage sixth at 336, Republic seventh at 343, Willard eighth at 356, Branson ninth at 363, and Neosho 10th at 370.
Nine of those 10 schools competed Monday at Briarbrook.
“That’s a good thing that we’re back here,” Jones said. “I would expect the course will play a little longer, a little different next week. We’ll play a different set of tees and it will have a little more teeth to the course. Our kids are used to that, and we’ll see if we’re good enough. This is as good as the Central Ozark Conference has been, as far as I can remember, in almost the 20 years I’ve been doing this. It’s a talented field next week, but I like our team and I like our chances if we go out and do what we’re capable of … we can make some noise next week.”
2023 Bird Dog Invitational
(at Briarbrook Golf Course)
Team scores: Nixa 304, Webb City 308, Carl Junction 308, Carthage 321, Ozark 330, Joplin 335, Branson 336, Monett 336, Frontenac 344, Republic 346, Seneca 361, Neosho 362, Mount Vernon 381, McAuley Catholic 384, Thomas Jefferson 393, Nevada 395, Diamond 423, Lamar 450.
BOLIVAR, Mo. — Webb City’s boys and girls track and field teams finished second and fourth, respectively, at the Southwest Baptist University High School Invitational on Monday.
The meet featured 22 schools who compete in Class 5 or Class 4.
Webb City’s boys finished second in the team standings with 85.5 points. Waynesville was first with 105.5. Nixa (76) and Kickapoo (58) were third and fourth.
The top four girls teams were Kickapoo (92), Republic (82), Marshfield (65) and Webb City (64).
Athletes from Carl Junction and Carthage also competed at the event.
WEBB CITY HIGHLIGHTS
The Webb City boys won three events and had 11 total top-five finishes.
Trey Roets won the javelin with a toss of 174 feet and Grayson Smith took first in the pole vault by clearing 14-7.25.
Evan Stevens crossed the line first in the 3200 with a time of 9:37 and was also second in the 1600 in 4:19.
Also for the Cardinals, Justin Allen took second in the pole vault, William Wolfe finished second in the 100, while Tucker Liberatore took third in the javelin, Nate Miller was fourth in the discus and Joseph DeGraffenreid finished fourth in the high jump.
Webb City’s Jordan Thornburg was sixth in the 100, Malique McCarter placed eighth in the javelin, Jadon Brisco took eighth in the pole vault and Julian Andrae was eighth in the triple jump.
The Cardinals finished third in the 4×100 relay and took fifth in the 4×200 relay.
Webb City’s girls won four events and finished in the top five in three others.
Webb City senior Abi Street won two events, the 1600 with a time of 5:10 and the 3200 in 11:07.
Brooke Hedger took first in the 800 in 2:22 and Dawsyn Decker won the javelin with a toss of 136-9.
Also for the Cardinals, Hedger finished third in the 1600, Chase Stilley tied for third in the high jump, Essence Robinson took sixth in the 400, Aubree Lassiter finished seventh in the discus and Lily McCaw was eighth in the pole vault.
Webb City’s girls were fourth in the 4×400 relay and seventh in the 4×100 relay.
CARL JUNCTION HIGHLIGHTS
Carl Junction sophomore Sydney Ward won two events, the 100-meter dash in 12.29 seconds and the 200 in 25.7 seconds.
Also for the Bulldogs, Acadia Badgley and Brooke Jasperson finished second and fifth, respectively, in the pole vault, and Madilyn Olds placed sixth in the javelin.
The CJ girls were eighth in two relays, the 4×100 and the 4×200.
Carl Junction’s Braxton Dodds finished seventh in the boys javelin and Ryder Pyles took seventh in the long jump.
Carl Junction’s girls were ninth in the team standings and the CJHS boys were 20th.
CARTHAGE HIGHLIGHTS
Carthage’s Miguel Solano took first in the boys 800 in 1:56.
Also for the Tigers, Daryl Martin finished third in the 110 hurdles and was fourth in the 300 hurdles, Micah Lindsey placed fourth in the shot put and seventh in the discus and Michael Lanyon took fifth in the 2000 steeplechase.
The Tigers were third in the 4×400 relay and eighth in the 4×800 relay.
For the Carthage girls, Lexa Youngblood placed fourth in the 400 and fifth in the 200, Chasity Straw finished fifth in the discus and Ada Roughton finished sixth in the triple jump.
The CHS girls finished seventh in the 4×400 relay and eighth in the 4×800 relay.
Carthage’s boys finished ninth in the standings, while the CHS girls were 16th.
The Webb City Cardinals set a tone very early on during their Central Ozark Conference game Tuesday against the host Carthage Tigers at historic Joe Becker Stadium.
Webb City leadoff man Sam Weller hit a single to right to open the game and then on his first offering from Carthage starter Nolan Brown, Cy Darnell connected on a two-run home run to left to open the scoring.
The Cardinals plated one run in the sixth, two in the first, second and fifth, three in the third, and four in the seventh on their way to a commanding 14-1 win over their historical rival.
“That’s going to jump-start your offense any time you get a hit from your first guy and then second guy first pitch boom home run,” Webb City coach Andrew Doennig said. “That’s great to see out of Cy. He’s swinging it well.”
Darnell finished 3-for-4 at the plate with his opening two-run homer, a RBI single in the fifth, and a bunt single in the seventh extending his hitting streak to nine games. He worked a walk in the second and was denied a potential extra-base hit and surefire RBI on a diving catch from Carthage junior right fielder Mason Adams in the third.
Joe Becker’s right field area has long been a source of nightmares for right fielders at every level from prep school to professional, but definitely not for Adams on Tuesday.
Adams’ two great catches in right, the first against Darnell and the second against Shaun Hunt in the fifth that denied the Cardinals more scoreboard damage, proved to be the highlights for the Tigers during a game when they committed six errors, including three alone in the second.
Adams’ play in right inspired the utmost respect from their opponents Tuesday.
“Oh man, that kid, that was tremendous,” Doennig said. “This is a very, very difficult place to right field. Number one, because of the sun. Number two, because of that hill. He made two diving catches. Very good outfield plays by that kid.”
Webb City starter Kaylor Darnell earned the win with five shutout innings, then Cy Darnell and Gage Chapman pitched the sixth and seventh, respectively.
“Kaylor wasn’t as sharp as last time but he battled through it and did a good job,” Doennig said. “Cy, that’s the first time he’s been on the mound ever in a game like this, so that’s just something that we’ve wanted to do for a while, and we had an opportunity to do it. Gage, he’s another senior that we’ve had limited opportunities to come in with him being our center fielder and whatnot. It’s all about getting these guys on the mound, getting them prepared, and getting them some innings to help us later on down the road.”
Kaylor Darnell allowed no runs on one hit and had three strikeouts and three walks over five innings, Cy Darnell allowed one run (earned) on two hits with no strikeouts and one walk in his one inning, and Chapman allowed one hit and struck out two and walked one in his one inning. Cy Darnell and Chapman each finished with 19 pitches during their mound time.
The Cardinals scored their 14 runs on 15 hits and six Carthage errors, with Chapman and Weller RBI singles in the third, a Drew Vonder Haar double in the fourth, a Kenley Hood RBI triple in the sixth, and a Weller RBI double and a Hunt RBI single in the seventh among their other offensive highlights.
Weller and Cy Darnell each finished with three RBI, while Weller, Cy Darnell, Hood, William Hayes, and Chapman each scored two runs.
Webb City improved to 11-6 overall and 4-0 COC, and the Cardinals are back on the road Thursday against COC foe Nixa, one of the elite high school baseball programs in Missouri.
“If it’s Carthage or Joplin or whoever it is, all wins are good wins,” Doennig said. “They’re not easy and you can’t take any of them for granted. We got another game Thursday with Nixa, arguably they’re the best team in our conference and maybe the best team in this area. They’re very well-coached, a good team, and just looking forward to the opportunity to play those guys on Thursday.”
The Missouri High School Baseball Coaches Association released the latest rankings Tuesday and Webb City’s next three opponents make up half of the top six teams in Class 6 — fourth-ranked Rock Bridge (17-2), fifth-ranked Francis Howell (15-5), and sixth-ranked Nixa (14-2).
Webb City, receiving votes in Class 5, hosts both Rock Bridge and Francis Howell on Saturday.
Carthage sophomore Bradyn Tate reached on a walk to start the sixth and sophomore Langston Morgan and senior Clay Kinder loaded the bases with Tigers on consecutive singles. Tate then scored Carthage’s lone run on a 6-3 double play turned against Ty Perry, avoiding the run-rule and extending the game to the full seven.
Tate, Morgan, Kinder, and Ethan Stark each had one of the Tigers’ four hits.
Brown took the loss with seven runs (two earned) allowed on six hits with one strikeout and two walks over three innings, while Brodie Cole allowed seven runs (five earned) on eight hits with two strikeouts and two walks during his four innings of relief.
Carthage fell to 3-14 overall and 0-4 COC, and the Tigers will attempt to end their six-game losing streak when they travel to Republic on Wednesday.
The Carthage Tigers defeated the Joplin Eagles 7-2 in a Central Ozark Conference boys tennis dual on Tuesday at the JHS Athletic Complex.
“The team has improved since last year’s match against Carthage, a team with a depth of four seniors on their varsity squad,” Joplin coach Aaron Stump said. “We won two matches, compared to none in last season’s dual. We also had some longer, more competitive matches with more games won.”
At No. 1 doubles, Joplin’s Adam Badr and Josiah Hazlewood defeated Charles Snow and Joshua Rivera 8-4.
“Adam and Josiah played well and communicated effectively,” Stump said. “They set up points with good serves and had a strong showing.”
Carthage’s Silas Laytham and Danilo Lopez-Gramajo beat Michael Mancipe-Roman Venturella 8-1 at No. 2 doubles, while William Wallace and Eli Scott defeated Joplin’s Leif Garrity-Hunter Merkley 8-1 at No. 3 doubles.
At No. 1 singles, Carthage’s Snow defeated Badr 8-5, while Laytham topped Hazlewood 8-2 at No. 2 singles.
Joplin’s Garrity defeated Rivera 8-3 at No. 3 singles.
“Leif did a great job placing the ball when he needed to close out points, and he had consistent play throughout the match,” Stump said.
Carthage won the final three singles matches, as Lopez-Gramajo defeated Merkley 8-4, Wallace beat Venturella 8-2 and Scott topped Chapel Braman 8-3.
Joplin hosts Willard on Thursday. Carthage hosts Neosho next Tuesday.
The talent and depth of the Joplin High School boys track and field squad was on full-display on Wednesday night.
The Eagles won 10 events and finished second in six others en route to capturing the team championship at their own Joplin Invitational at JHS.
With a top-three finish in all but one event, Joplin’s boys won the team title with 251.5 points. Webb City took second with 193.5 points. There were eight full squads competing.
The top four girls teams were Carthage (163), Webb City (134.5), Joplin (132.66) and Carl Junction (113.33).
Joplin’s Quin Renfro is pictured during the 4×100 relay on Wednesday night. Photo by Sloan Uebinger.
JOPLIN HIGHLIGHTS
In an impressive showing, the Joplin boys had 24 top-three performances.
The Eagles won two relays — the 4×100 and the 4×200. The team of Quin Renfro, Davin Thomas, Orion Norris and Noah Soriano won the 4×100 in 43.25 seconds, while Tayshaun Palmer, Norris, Fredy Cerrato-Martinez and Thomas won the 4×200 in 1:33.
The Eagles were third in the 4×400, with Cerrato-Martinez, Jamohn Smith, Logan Bever and Palmer competing.
Joplin sophomore Chance Tindall won two events— the 1600 in 4:42 and the 3200 in 10:48.
Eagles senior standout Hobbs Campbell won the 800-meter run in 1:56.65, just short of the school record time of 1:56.04.
Next, Joplin had the top three finishers in the 200-meter dash—Soriano (21.84), Norris (23.23) and Thomas (23.76).
The Eagles also took first and second in the 110 hurdles, with Cordell Washington first and Avarus Kuhn-Wofford second.
Kuhn-Wofford also won the 300 hurdles, with Ben Sotlar third.
A freshman, Washington won the high jump by clearing 1.82 meters. He also took third in the triple jump.
Dontrell Holt won the shot put (15.33m), while Neil Barstow was the runner-up in the discus and fourth in the shot put.
Soriano and Bever placed second and fourth, respectively, in the pole vault, while Soriano was second in the long jump, with Aidan Sampson fourth.
Aiden Scourten took second in the 400, while Thomas, Palmer and Renfro finished third, fourth and fifth in the 100, again showing off the team’s depth.
Joplin senior Hobbs Campbell won the 800-meter run at Wednesday’s Joplin Invitational. Photo by Jason Peake.
Ian Horton and Grey Edwards finished third and fourth in the 800, while Parker Durham took third in the 3200.
Drew VanGilder and Draven VanGilder finished third and fourth, respectively, in the javelin and Cerrato-Martinez was fifth in the triple jump.
Next, Joplin’s girls won three events.
The Eagles won the 4×100 relay in 50.83 seconds, with Phia Vogel, Abigayle Lowery, Abigail Eckert and Brylee Strickland competing.
The team of Micah Holden, Aubrey Strickland, Kendall Nyarango and Allie Keizer took second in the 4×400.
Also for the JHS girls, Aubrey Strickland won the 100-meter hurdles in 16.8 seconds and teammate Maria Loum was the runner-up.
Kirsten Thom (49.96) and Aubrey Strickland (51.46) were first and second in the 300 hurdles.
Brylee Strickland was the runner-up in both the 100 and 200, with teammate Lowery fourth in both events. Ava Werberger-Doll and Annabelle Rutledge finished second and third in the 1600, while Rutlege was also fifth in the 3200.
Also for the JHS girls, Vogel and Nyarango placed fourth and fifth in the long jump, Aubrey Strickland finished fifth in the triple jump, Holden was fifth in the pole vault and Claire Jasper placed fifth in the shot put.
Carthage’s Jaidyn Brunnert competes in the hurdles at the Joplin Invitational. Photo by Sloan Uebinger.
CARTHAGE HIGHLIGHTS
Carthage’s Joey Hettinger is pictured during Wednesday’s Joplin Invitational. At right is Webb City’s Kylie Jennings. Photo by Sloan Uebinger.
Also possessing plenty of depth, the Carthage girls won six events en route to capturing the team title.
Carthage’s 4×400 relay team of Ashleigh Rowden, Evelyn Carrol, Maggie Boyd and Lexa Youngblood took first with a time of 4:27.
Carthage was second in the other relays. Competing in the 4×100 were Ashlyn Brust, Youngblood, Ada Roughton and Joey Hettinger. The 4×200 featured Brust, Rowden, Trisha Kanas and Roughton, while Boyd, Carrol, Lauren Choate and Grace Brown competed in the 4×800.
A senior, Hettinger took first in two individual events—the high jump and the long jump.
Boyd won the 800 in 2:34 and Youngblood took first in the 400 in 1:03 and was also third in the 200 in 26.79.
Chasity Straw won the discus (29.33m), while Karlie Nichols, Shaw and Lilly Holmes finished 2-3-4 in the shot put.
Roughton took second in the triple jump and third in the long jump, while Carrol placed third in the high jump and Katy Witherspoon took third in the 3200 and fifth in the 1600. Jaidyn Brunnert finished sixth in both hurdle races.
For the Carthage boys, Caleb Fewin placed second in the 3200 and was also third in the 1600.
The Tigers were third in the 4×800 relay, with Fewin, Skuylor Honeycutt, Xander Vazquez and Michael Lanyon competing, while the 4×400 finished fourth and featured Indiana Gray, Vazquez, Welle Welle and Lanyon.
WEBB CITY HIGHLIGHTS
Webb City’s boys won six events and finished second in five others on their way to the runner-up team finish.
The Cardinals won two relays and finished second in two others.
Webb City’s 4×400 relay featuring Jadon Brisco, Noah Moss, Mason Hedger and Gabe Johnson won in 3:37. The team of Hedger, Dakota Grove, Atticus Luzander and Evan Stevens won the 4×800 in 8:32.
The 4×100 and 4×200 relays both took second and featured Jordan Thornburg, William Headrick, Johnson and William Wolfe.
Wolfe and Thornburg took first and second, respectively, in the 100-meter dash. Wolfe crossed the line at 10.86 seconds, with Thornburg recording a time of 11.06.
Justin Allen won the pole vault, with Brisco third and Carson Farmer fifth in the same event. Nathaniel Miller won the discus (40.5m) and Trey Roets won the javelin (51.65m).
Pictured is Webb City’s Atticus Luzadder.
Tucker Liberatore was second in the javelin, Hedger was the runner-up in the 800, with Grove fifth in the same event. Joseph DeGraffenreid was the runner-up in the high jump.
Moss, Jace Jones and Dalton Riggs were third, fourth and fifth in the 100 hurdles, with Moss taking fourth in the 300 hurdles.
Grayson Smith finished third in the long jump, Julian Andrae took fourth in the triple jump and Ryan Reid was fourth in the high jump.
Dalton Thurlo was third in the shot put, with Eric Lathan fifth. Devin Turner was fourth in the discus and Malique McCarter took fifth in the javelin.
Webb City’s girls won four events.
Winning individual events for the Webb City girls were Brooke Hedger (1600), Emily Countryman (3200) and Dawsyn Decker (shot put).
Hedger recorded a time of 5:48 in the 1600, while Countryman crossed the line at 12:46 in the 3200. Miller was the runner-up to her teammate in the 3200. Decker’s toss went 10.28 meters.
Webb City’s girls won the 4×800 relay in 10:35 and featured Rachel Miller, Hedger, Countryman and Abi Street.
The Cardinals were third in the 4×200 and fourth in the 4×100. Sydney Brisco, Khloe Rhuems, Hannah Frazier and Alyssa Morena ran the 4×200, with Kylie Jennings, Chase Stilley, Moreno and Frazier running the 4×100.
Also for the Webb City girls, Stilley took second in the high jump, Essence Robinson was second in the long jump, Alix Davis was third in the pole vault and Aspen White took third in the 800.
Robinson and Jennings finished third and fourth, respectively, in the 400, Kristina Bundy placed fourth in the 1600, Aubree Lassiter took fifth in the discus and Bryleigh Webb and Riley Hanes were fourth and fifth in the javelin.
CARL JUNCTION HIGHLIGHTS
Carl Junction sophomore sprinter Sydney Ward won two events — the 100-meter dash in 12.23 seconds and the 200 in 25.01.
CJ’s Acadia Badgley and Brooke Jasperson took first and second in the pole vault, while Bella Montez and Madilyn Olds were the top two finishers in the javelin.
Also for the CJ girls, Abigail Wilson was third in the triple jump, Sloan Uebinger took fourth in the 100 hurdles and Montez was fourth in the 300 hurdles.
Fifth-place finishers were Olivia Battagler (100), Zoie Weibel (400), Delaney Harris (800) and Montez (100 H).
The Carl Junction girls won the 4×200 (names unavailable) and were fifth in the 4×100.
Carl Junction’s boys 4×100 relay team of Dexter Merrell, Colton Talken, Ryder Pyles and Jaxton Wobken took fourth.
Talken took fourth in the 200, Tony Stewart was fourth in the 400, Jonah Younge placed fifth in the high jump and Donnie Keith took fifth in the discus.
Carl Junction’s Sydney Ward and Joplin’s Brylee Strickland are pictured during the 100-meter dash on Wednesday at the Joplin Invitational. Photo by Sloan Uebinger.
THOMAS JEFFERSON HIGHLIGHTS
Thomas Jefferson’s Kip Atteberry was the runner-up in the 1600, while Braden Honeywell-Lynch took fifth in both the 1600 and 3200.
Tyler Brouhard finished sixth in the 100 and seventh in the 200, while Sheraz Anis was seventh in the 300 hurdles.
Lannah Grigg had the top performance for the Thomas Jefferson girls by finishing second in the discus.
Thomas Jefferson’s girls finished fourth in the 4×800 relay, with Macie Shifferd, Nico Carlson, Samantha Seto and Sarah Mueller competing.
Carlson and Gabriella Hiebert placed fourth and fifth in the high jump, while Shifferd took fourth in the 3200.
OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
Nevada’s Drew Beachler won the long jump (6.5m) and teammate Jack Cheaney won the triple jump (12.66m).
The only girls event that wasn’t won by an athlete from Carthage, Webb City, Carl Junction or Joplin was the triple jump, which was won by Pittsburg’s Dessie Gorley.
JOPLIN INVITATIONAL
Boys team standings: Joplin 251.5, Webb City 193.5, Nevada 95, Pittsburg 59, Carl Junction 31, Carthage 28, Thomas Jefferson 24, Exeter 10.
Girls team standings: Carthage 163, Webb City 134.5, Joplin 132.66, Carl Junction 113.33, Pittsburg 79, Nevada 36.5, Thomas Jefferson 33, Exeter 5.
Webb City’s Aspen White and Carl Junction’s Delaney Harris compete in the 800 on Wednesday at Joplin High School. Photo by Jason Peake.
Joplin High School hosted a track and field invite on Wednesday. Pictured above is the boys 400-meter dash.
Webb City’s Mason Hedger and Joplin’s Ian Horton compete in the 800 on Wednesday. Photo by Jason Peake.
Runners, including Joplin’s Hobbs Campbell (center), compete in the 800-meter run.
Joplin’s Harry Satterlee carded a 4-under-par 68 to capture medalist honors at Thursday’s Joplin Invitational at Twin Hills Golf and Country Club.
A junior, Satterlee shot an even-par 36 on the front nine and fired an impressive 32 (4-under) on the back nine to finish in first place individually.
Carthage senior Max Templeman was the runner-up with a 1-over-par 73 (35-38).
Carl Junction sophomore Jack Spencer finished third with a 75 (39-36) and Carthage senior Britt Coy took fourth with a 77 (38-39).
Recording identical scores of 79 were Neosho’s Collier Hendricks and Webb City’s Braxten Cahoon and Cooper Forth.
Tying for eighth place were Carl Junction’s Tommy Walker (80) and Webb City’s Levi Lassiter (80) and Joplin’s Hobbs Campbell (81) took 10th.
Rounding out the top 15 individuals were Carl Junction’s Jacob Teeter (82), Carthage’s Owen Derryberry (83), Seneca’s Eli Olson (84), Carl Junction’s Logan Lowry (85) and Carthage’s Colson Brust (87).
Joplin’s Ian Surbrugg (88) and Dylan Bozarth (88) and Seneca’s Jace Wilson (88) tied for 16th place, while Lamar’s Koen Littlejohn (92) was 19th. Carl Junction’s Austin Baker (93), Carthage’s Ben Nicholas (93) and Webb City’s Jack Good (93) tied for 20th place.
Carthage won the team championship with a four-person score of 320.
Carl Junction (322) and Joplin (325) were a close second and third in the team standings and Webb City was fourth with a 331.
Rounding out the team standings were Seneca (373), Neosho (377), Clever (396), Joplin JV (425), Nevada (431) and Lamar (438). Purdy had three golfers competing.
It was the first 18-hole event for most of the local teams.
Joplin will host the Horton Smith Tournament on Monday at Schifferdecker Golf Course.
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Joplin, Carl Junction, Carthage and McDonald County were among the teams competing at the Girls Night Out track and field invitational on Wednesday at JFK Stadium.
The meet featured female athletes from 33 schools.
Carl Junction’s Sydney Ward won two events — the 100-meter dash in 12.65 seconds and the 200 in 25.62 seconds.
Carl Junction’s Acadia Badgley and Joplin’s Maria Loum placed second and third, respectively, in the pole vault. Both cleared 3.04 meters.
Also for the Bulldogs, Brooke Jasperson tied for 10th in the pole vault.
Joplin’s Allie Keizer finished sixth in the 1600 with a time of 5:33, while teammate Brylee Strickland placed fifth in the 200 with a time of 25.82 seconds. Strickland was also seventh in the 400 with a time of 1:01.
Joplin’s 4×100 relay team of Phia Vogel, Abigayle Lowery, Abigail Eckert and Strickland took sixth in 51.88 seconds.
Also for the Eagles, Kirsten Thom and Aubrey Strickland took 10th and 12th in the 300 hurdles.
Carthage’s 4×400 relay team of Aven Willis, Evelyn Carrol, Maggie Boyd and Lexa Youngblood finished sixth in 4:22.
Also for the Tigers, Joey Hettinger placed sixth in the high jump, Boyd finished seventh in the 800, Karlie Nichols and Lilly Holmes took 10th and 11th in the shot put and Youngblood was 13th in the 200.
McDonald County’s top performers were Lacey Nix (10th in the pole vault) and Corina Holland (11th in the 400).
The top five teams were Blue Springs, Hickman, Helias Catholic, Republic and Kickapoo.
Burgi previously coached at McDonald County, Joplin and Hollister and played collegiately at Missouri Southern State University in Joplin.
On Saturday, trailing Nixa entering the final event of the 4×400, Neosho’s relay of freshman William Ebbinghaus, sophomore Isaiah Keezer, senior Isaiah Green and junior Izaiah Hill rallied past the field down the back stretch with a winning time of 3 minutes and 26 seconds and secured the program’s first district track title since 1979.
Carthage’s Micah Lindsey won two events. A senior, Lindsey won the shot put with a school record toss of 56 feet even. Lindsey also won the discus with a toss of 149-3.
McAuley’s Michael Parrigon took second in the 1600 with a time of 4:42. He was also fourth in the 800.
