Canton-Galva
Cross Country—Canton-Galva enjoyed two Top-10 finishes in Thursday’s boys’ race at Herington.
Morgan Becker finished second with a time of 18 minutes, 9 seconds, while Christian Darrah was eighth in a personal-best 18:39.
“Both of the boys keep improving a little each week, and it was great to see Christian break his PR from last season,” coach Lyle Silsby said. “All their hard work in practice, and in the offseason, is really showing, and I know Morgan is now determined to break his PR from last season as well.”
In the girls’ race, Sofia Boningsegna missed medaling by one place, finishing 11th in 24:47.
In the junior varsity boys’ race, Hayden Lance was sixth (20:33), Ethan Unruh 11th (personal-best 22:16) and Andrew Prieb 28th (29:21).
In the junior varsity girls’ race, Sarah Kendall was second (34:10).
Volleyball—The Eagles swept two teams Tuesday, defeating Wakefield (25-17, 25-23) and Rural Vista (26-24, 25-16).
“It was senior night, and our seniors did not disappoint,” coach Cloe Hedlund said. “They came out with passion and determination all night long. We were very consistent when the ball was on our side of the court, and that resulted in two victories. We are beyond proud of the way these ladies played tonight; they were a great example of playing as a unit and competing as one.”
Centre
Volleyball— The Cougars lost twice to Elyria Christian in a double dual Tuesday.
Centre lost Match 1 in three sets (21-25, 27-25, 25-20). Carly Deines had three service aces. Samantha Espinoza and Alyssa Espinoza recorded 10 kills each. Alyssa Espinoza led the team with 12 assists.
Centre lost Match 2 (27-25, 25-23). Alyssa Espinoza had five service aces and eight assists. She and Samantha Espinoza led the attack with eight kills apiece.
“We are continuing to cover tips and moving to the pass,” coach Karen Nickel said. “We definitely struggled to get excited about things on the court, and we had trouble adjusting to hitters. Overall, it was a great learning experience, and our girls never gave up.”
The Cougars went 1-2 at the tournament Centre hosted Saturday, Sept. 14, losing to Rural Vista (25-13, 25-19) and Wichita Home School (25-20, 27-25), then concluding with a three-set victory over Marion (25-22, 17-25, 25-22).
“Our girls came out to play,” Nickel said. “We did many things well, like talking and seeing (and) covering tips. We are still struggling to get in our positions for coverage in the back row and being able to line up with their hitters.”
Goessel
Cross Country—Jerah Schmidt led the Bluebirds at the Bennington Invitational Thursday, finishing sixth among a field of 62 runners with a time of 18 minutes, 32.2 seconds. Jacob Schrag also medalled, finishing 13th in 20:11.6.
Rounding out the boys’ team were: Dawson Duerksen 22nd (20:56.3), Brendon Hicks 30th (21:45.5), Timothy Schrag 31st (21:51.1), Jaime Fabrellas 33rd (21:58.5), Ben Olson 39th (22:58.5), Dustyn Gagnon 42nd (23:39.1), Joey Lapp 47th (24:07.9), Sam Herrel 48th (24:28.1), David Sawyer 49th (24:28.4) and Skyler Wuest 52nd (25:59.2).
As a team, the boys placed second.
“The warm conditions and fast start due to quality competition again taxed many of our younger runners who are still learning how to run a 5-k, and we all are hoping for the cool fall air to arrive soon,” coach Brian Lightner said. “Times were not where we wanted them, but the kids did a nice job of competing in the race and putting in a good effort.”
Elyse Boden paced the girls, earning the ninth-place medal among a field of 51 runners in 24:08.4. Porclein Unruh was 36th (28:17.3), Katelyn Olson 45th (31:05.5) and Alyssa Boden 50th (34:31.3)
“The girls today set the tone for the day by their effort and determination to give their best effort on the not-so-ideal condition for this day,” Lightner said. “Each one of them was completely spent after their race and did they best they could on this day.”
Football—The Bluebirds shutout Wakefield Friday, 50-0.
Goessel rolled up 444 yards of offense, including 409 yards rushing.
Quarterback Dylan Lindeman carried the ball five times for 105 yards and two touchdowns, distances of 43- and 8-yards, respectively. Kale Funk recorded 13 carries for 104 yards and two touchdowns, from 4- and 14-yards out. Jacob Hagewood also surpassed the century-mark, carrying the ball 10 times for 103 yards and two touchdowns, from 48- and 5-yards out. Luke Wiens, meanwhile, recorded five carries for 101 yards and one touchdown—a 61-yard score in the third quarter.
Through the air, Lindeman was 2-for-5 for 35 yards.
Eddie Gaeddert led the defense with seven solo tackles. Goessel limited Wakefield to 83 yards of offense.
Volleyball—The Bluebirds split two matches with non-league opponents Thursday, losing to Sedgwick (25-10, 25-10) and defeating Douglass (18-25, 25-12, 25-21).
Tuesday, the Bluebirds split two league matches at Herington. Goessel lost to Little River (26-28, 25-13, 25-13), then defeated Peabody-Burns (25-15, 25-23).
The Bluebirds are 6-6 on the season.
Hillsboro
Cross Country—Emersyn Funk paced the Trojans at Herington Thursday with a third-place finish in the girls’ race with a time of 22 minutes, 45.2 seconds. Ainsley Duell was 14th (24:56.6), Moriah Jost 16th (26:07.9) and Millie Sechrist 25th (30:31.5).
Meanwhile, Caleb Diener finished sixth in the boys’ race in 18:32.4.
Rounding out the boys’ team were: Pedro Nieto 16th (19:49.4), Tristan Reed 28th (21:09.9), Nick Cunningham 34th (23:20.2), Josh Diener 42nd (24:58.9), Nathan Lopez 44th (25:35.3) and Jason Latham 45th (26:25.2).
Football—The Trojans lost to Haven Friday, 34-21. Following a 14-14 halftime tie, Haven outscored Hillsboro 14-7 in the third quarter and added another touchdown in the fourth quarter to bring it to the final spread.
Hillsboro recorded 265 yards of offense, finding most of its success in the passing game. Trojan quarterback Matthew Potucek was 14-for-28 for 238 yards and two touchdowns, including a 51-yard touchdown pass to Hunter Hein in the second quarter and a 10-yard strike to Hein in the third quarter. Hein hauled in four receptions for 134 yards.
Potucek led the rushing effort with 12 carries for 25 yards and one touchdown—an 11-yard run to open scoring in the game.
Hillsboro recorded four turnovers in the game.
Marion
Cross Country—Heidi Grimmett won the girls’ race at Herington Thursday, crossing the finish line in 22 minutes, 7.5 seconds, and trimming 20 seconds from her time the week before.
“Heidi Grimmett led our runners, winning the meet and running a very good race,” coach Grant Thierolf said. “She competed well and ran a very smart race.”
Bethany Grimmett finished 27th in 31:02.5, and Alfwenna Meyer 31st in 31:36.1.
Meanwhile, Tristen Dye paced the boys, finishing 20th in 19:59.8. Completing the team were: Christopher Berry 23rd (20:17.5), Colton Boudreaux 26th (20:48.7), Nathan Shields 30th (21:58.9) and Hayden Mendoza 38th (23:52.9).
Overall, Thierolf said he was pleased with the Warriors’ progress.
“We had a much better day at Herington this week,” he said. “It was good to see our athletes run faster this week at a meet where the course was more challenging and the weather was more of a factor.”
Football—Marion earned its first win of the season, defeating Douglass Friday, 22-0.
Volleyball—(Seperate document with pics and cutlines)
Marion placed third in the Spikefest tournament the Warriors hosted Saturday.
The Warriors went 2-1 in pool play, defeating Sterling (21-25, 26-24, 25-18), losing to eventual-champion Lyons (25-17, 25-19) and defeating Centre (25-15, 25-14).
“We played Lyons right after a hard-fought battle against Sterling,” coach Kris Burkholder said. “We were tired, and we lost steam in that match.”
Marion’s two pool play victories came against opponents the Warriors lost to last week.
In bracket play, Marion lost to Halstead in the semifinals (25-21, 25-17).
That pitted the Warriors against Eureka in the third-place match. Marion won in two sets (25-21, 25-14).
“Against Halstead we made some mistakes at key times in that match which shifted the momentum, and that hurt us,” Burkholder said. “That was a disappointing loss for our team because we wanted to be playing in that championship game and have a chance to play Lyons again. However, I was proud of our team for coming out strong against Eureka. We were determined to place third.”
Jayden May was selected to the all-tournament team.
The Warriors dropped two league contests at Sterling Tuesday, losing to Sterling (25-17, 25-16) and Inman (23-25, 25-20, 25-19).
