Clearwater/Orchard picked up its fifth straight win on Tuesday night — in straight sets. The OC Cyclones traveled to Neligh and swept the Warriors on their home court as they picked up back-to-back wins in the triangular.
"The girls really played well tonight.," said coach Sierra Summers. "We came out with a lot of energy and never let up. We really focused on playing smarter and putting the ball in the open spots. I am very proud of how the girls are continuing to improve their level of play." Neligh-Oakdale opened play with a 2-0 win over Osmond, defeating the Tigers 25-21, 25-15. The Cyclones then topped Osmond 25-12, 25-24 before defeated Neligh-Oakdale 25-18, 25-21 in the all-Antelope County matchup. Clearwater/Orchard: Avery Cheatum 6k, 2a, 7d; Katie Stearns 1k, 1b, 10d, 1sa; Julian Tuttle 3a, 3d, 18sa; Jocee Johnston 7k, 1a, 2b, 8d; Brooke Knievel 1k; 3d; Taylor Sanne 4k, 1a, 3d. Neligh-Oakdale: Paige Furstenau 2k, 3d; Trinity Kurpgeweit 3d; Brooke Frey 2a, Amanda Dietz 4k, 1b, 1d; Shelby Pitzer 3k, 2d; Haley Kerkman 5k, 1a, 6d, 7sa; Aubrie Klabenes 1k, 1b; Claire Whitesel 4a, 1d, 5sa; Kristen Snodgrass 3d, 2sa. The Elkhorn Valley volleyball team won three close sets to defeat Plainview Tuesday evening.
The Lady Falcons won 25-15, 25-17 and 26-24, to win their second-straight match. Hannah Ollendick led the way with 13 kills, three aces, two blocks and seven digs. Sierra Rystrom recorded eight kills, four blocks and eight digs, Amber Miller collected three aces, 13 digs and 26 assists, Kaylee Bacon had three blocks and eight digs, while Olivia Nall added 13 digs. Elkhorn Valley (8-3) hosts a home tournament Saturday starting at 9 a.m. The Neligh-Oakdale junior high football team kicked off its season with a 40-22 victory over Creighton this last week.
The Warriors jumped out to a 34-0 lead after three quarters of play. N-O scored on its first two drives of the game. Aiden Kuester opened the scoring with a 28-yard TD run and followed with a 22-yard touchdown pass from Kuester to Bryson Gadeken. Kuester scored the lone TD in the second quarter on a one-yard plunge. Kuester added 60-yard and one-yard scoring runs to extend the Warriors advantage to 34-0. Carson Whitesel wrapped up the scoring with a 60-yard kickoff return for a TD. Offensive linemen Jacob Henry, Tanner Martinsen, Landon Schrader and Gadeken helped the Warriors gain 283 yards of offense. Kuester rushed for 126 yards and three scores, while also going six-for-eight for 94 yards and a TD. Whitesel ran for 36 yards and caught a pass for six yards, Austin Rudolf rushed for 10 yards, Chase Furstenau ran for seven yards and Gadeken caught six passes for 98 yards and a score. The defense was dominant after forcing four turnovers. Kuester led the defense with 13 tackles, an interception and a fumble recovery. Schrader and Cameron Schindler each recovered a fumble and Austin Rudolf forced a fumble. Neligh-Oakdale (1-0) travels to Tilden to face Elkhorn Valley Monday at 5:30 p.m. Neligh-Oakdale (1-0) 14 8 12 6 - 40 Creighton (0-1) 0 0 0 22 - 22 Neligh-Oakdale - Passing: Aiden Kuester 6-8-0 94 yards. Chase Furstenau 1-3-0 10 yards Rushing: Aiden Kuester 126 yards. Carson Whitesel 36 yards. Austin Rudolf 10 yards. Chase Furstenau seven yards Receiving: Bryson Gadeken 6-98. Carson Whitesel 1-6 Attention football fans: News Channel Nebraska is asking you which game should be aired on October 5.
CWC/E vs Stuart is currently leading the polls, followed by Neligh-Oakdale vs Madison. The choices are Creighton vs North Central; Chambers/Wheeler Central/Ewing vs Stuart; Neligh-Oakdale vs Madison; and Wayne vs West Point-Beemer. Voters have until Wednesday at 6 p.m. to enter. Click here to cast your vote! The Nebraska School Activities Association announced the district cross country assignments for Class D.
Neligh-Oakdale and Elkhorn Valley both run at Norfolk's Skyview Lake October 11. Other teams competing with the Warriors and Falcons include Ainsworth, Battle Creek, Bloomfield, Boyd County, CWC, Creighton, Crofton, Laurel-Concord-Coleridge, Lutheran High Northeast, Niobrara/Verdigre, Norfolk Catholic, North Central, Osmond, Plainview, Ponca, Randolph, Stuart, Valentine, West Holt, Winnebago and Winside. Two three-set triumphs on Saturday extended the Clearwater/Orchard volleyball team's win streak to three at the Stuart Tournament.
The Lady Cyclones opened the day with a 2-1 win over St Mary's, 25-19, 25-27 and 25-22. JoCee Johnston led OC with 10 kills, two aces, two blocks and 14 digs. Julian Tuttle recorded three aces, 14 digs and 23 assists, Avery Cheatum collected nine kills and 23 digs, Taylor Sanne added four kills, two aces and six digs, while Katie Stearns had 18 digs. In game two, the Green and Black came away with a three-set win over North Central, 25-20, 16-25, 25-14. "It was a great win for the girls," said OC coach Sierra Summers. "They came out competitive and consistent the second game and worked hard to get the win. We are excited to go into the next week and continue our winning streak." Johnston accumulated 13 kills, two aces and four blocks, Cheatum collected 10 kills and 15 digs, Tuttle accounted for seven digs and 31 assists, Sanne pitched in six kills and five digs, while Stearns tallied two aces and three blocks. Clearwater/Orchard (6-6) travels to Neligh to compete in a tri-match against the Lad Warriors and Osmond Tuesday at 5 p.m. A solid team performance guided the Elkhorn Valley girls golf team to a second-place finish at the Plainview Invitational Saturday.
All five Lady Falcon golfers placed in the top-24 and accumulated a team score of 497 to take runner-up honors. West Holt won the team title with a team score of 474. Kim Frey led the squad with a 108 and took seventh-place. Journey Werner recorded a 123 to finish 14th, Erica Brown shot a 125 to place 17th, Angel Qualsit was 22nd with a 141 and Kristi Neirodzik took 24th with a 173. Elkhorn Valley returns to action Thursday at the Wayne Invite. Despite several 30-plus deficits, the Elkhorn Valley football team refused to quit and battled all game, but eventually fell to Osceola/High Plains, 69-38, Friday.
"(It was) 38 against 11 (players) and I was really happy with our effort all the way through," said Elkhorn Valley coach Brendan Dittmer. "In the second quarter we could have went one of two ways. We chose the positive route, we started playing for each other, making plays and all of sudden it was a ball game at halftime." The Falcons fell in an early 26-0 hole through the first quarter of play. Brock Schaecher got Elkhorn Valley on the scoreboard with a four-yard touchdown run. On the ensuing kickoff, Keaton Van Housen took the kickoff to the house, pushing the Stormdogs' lead to 34-6. Following a Van Housen touchdown run, Josh McFarland answered with a five-yard scoring run. Just before the half, Braedyn Ollendick connected on a 38-yard TD pass to Adam Miller, making the score 41-20 at half. Both teams exchanged turnovers to start the second half and Ollendick found Miller for a 34-yard touchdown pass, to draw to within 15 of OHP. "We talked about it at halftime, the way responded midway through the second quarter was all the tale I needed to know about these kids and how hard they are going to fight for me," Dittmer said. "We cut it to 15 in the third and that is exactly what we talked about at halftime. From there, there were a couple of series where we didn't get the plays to go our way and I should've punted at mid-field, but we went for it. It's one of those things you live or die on a gutsy call like that. Van Housen took over after that." After the lead was cut to 15, the Stormdogs responded with a 30-yard Van Housen scoring run, a Carter Boden TD run and one final Van Housen touchdown. Elkhorn Valley continued to fight as McFarland broke free for a 35-yard score. Bryce Reed sealed the game with a 55-yard touchdown scamper with under seven minutes to go in the contest. The Falcons found pay dirt one final time, as Schaecher scored on a 49-yard scoring pass from Ollendick. OHP's running attack was the key to the win. On 43 carries, the Stormdogs rushed for 371 yards - more than eight yards per carry. Van Housen led the way with 174 yards on the ground, four rushing touchdowns and a kickoff return for a score. Boden added 110 yards rushing and a score. "They're a really good team," Dittmer said. "The Van Housen kid is an absolute stud. I don't know of an eight-man football player who might be better." After a slow start offensively, Elkhorn Valley found its groove starting in the second quarter. The Falcons gained 364 yards of total offense. McFarland rushed for a team-best 141 yards and two TDs, Schaecher accumulated more than a 100 yards of total offense and two scores, Ollendick completed 10 passes for more than 200 yards and three touchdowns and Miller tallied four catches for 88 yards and found the end zone twice. "We knew watching film and in preparation, we could move the ball on them," continued Dittmer. "It was matter of disbelief early in the game and miscues. We missed some catches we normally make and we didn't get the blocking assignments. Once we sured that up, all of sudden our offense took off." Osceola/High Plains (3-1) hosts Cross Country Friday at 7 p.m. Elkorn Valley (1-2) looks to bounce back Friday when Madison comes to Tilden for a 7 p.m. contest. "I told the boys after the game, 2-2 we're a playoff team," Dittmer concluded. "We're not on the outside looking in, we're on the inside of the 32. We need to make sure to use that as motivation moving forward and I think next week could be a step forward for us." Three Antelope County runners broke their school's course records to place in the fiercely-competitive O'Neill Cross Country Invite on Friday afternoon.
Emma Bixler sprinted her way across the finish line in 21:34 for a fourth place medal and a new course record for Neligh-Oakdale. The previous girls record at the O'Neill Invite was 21:53. In the boys race, Cole Belitz placed 5th in a time of 17:55, crushing the former Neligh-Oakdale record at that course, which was 19:00. Sophomore Hunter Bennett of Elkhorn Valley broke his school's course record by 37 seconds, running a time of 18:00 for sixth place. The invitational looked like a repeat of the state meet with last year's Class D champion, Rylee Rice of Ainsworth, winning the girls race, and the 2017 state runner up, Ben Arens of Ainsworth, winning the boys race. Arens also set a new course record for the O'Neill Invite with his time of 16:35. Neligh-Oakdale Coach Rick Eickholt said Emma and Cole's times were both "really impressive." "Especially when you look at the competition they were running against and the people that finished in front of them, you had state champions, you had state medalists, and those were the only people that were in front of us in both the boys and girls races," Eickholt said. The girls race featured 58 runners from 14 schools. Neligh-Oakdale's Hailey Bixler placed 37th in a time of 28:32 There were 103 runners in the boys race. Rounding out the seventh-place Neligh-Oakdale team were 38. Christian Carothers, 21:04; 45. Ashton Higgins, 21:38; 54. Griffin Claussen, 22:22; 58. Cameron Wilkinson, 22:30; 60. Isaias Juarez, 22:47; and junior varsity runners 24. Logan McConnell, 25:43; 28. Jose Luna, 26:26 and 29. Thomas Johnson, 26:50. Elkhorn Valley finished 9th and their team's other placings were 46. Damian Smith, 21:49; 47. Walter Furstenau, 21:57; 50. Reed Bennett, 22:01; 51. Colton Rystrom, 22:05; 55. Brandon Evans, 22:23; and JV runners Dylan Wright, 24:21 and 22. Conner Klein, 25:37. The Warrior and Falcon cross country teams will both travel to Albion next Friday for the Boone Central Invitational. Neligh-Oakdale played its first five-set match of the season on Thursday night as the Warriors wrapped up back-to-back road games.
Facing Niobrara/Verdigre in Verdigre, the Cougars gave Neligh-Oakdale a scare in the 25-14, 26-24, 13-25, 25-15, 15-5 win. Neligh-Oakdale jumped out early against the host, but the Cougars showed they are better than their 1-7 record. NV stole the second set from the Warriors and rode the momentum to a big third-set victory for the 2-1 lead. The third set started out slow for the Warriors as the Cougars sprinted out to a 6-1 advantage, but Neligh-Oakdale knotted the score at 7-all with senior Haley Kerkman's serving causing fits for N/V. It was a back-and-forth battle until the Cougars went on an 8-2 run as the Warriors struggled to keep their spikes in bound or get their serves over the net. Senior Megan Cook ended the third set with a hard kill for a dominating 25-13 set win. In the fourth set, Neligh-Oakdale pulled ahead early with a 4-0 advantage, but three straight Warrior errors allowed N/V right back in the set. The Warriors started to find a rhythm at 10-6 when Kerkman landed a kill through a pair of Cougar blockers. Neligh-Oakdale started swinging hard from the front row with Kerkman, Trinity Kurpgeweit and Shelby Pitzer offering tough shots, which led to Cougar errors. Claire Whitesel dropped an ace for the 22-13 lead as Neligh-Oakdale pulled away to even the match at 2-all. Neligh-Oakdale set the tone early in the final set and played its best volleyball of the night. Kerkman powered a kill across the court for the first point and grabbed the second with a long tip across the court to the opposite corner, sending the crowd to their feet. Pitzer gave the Warriors the 3-1 lead when a let serve caught the Cougars off-guard, and the ace dropped. Aubrie Klabenes connected on a key block to go up 4-1. Back-to-back Cougar errors led to more conservative play as the Warriors increased their aggressiveness at the net. Kerkman added the 14th point of the set with a kill to the middle of the court and a hit out by the Cougars closed the match. Neligh-Oakdale moved to 7-1 with the win but dropped in power points due to a win over a third-tier team. The Warriors will be back in action Tuesday as they host Osmond and Antelope County rival, Clearwater/Orchard. Stats are not available at this time. After dropping four consecutive sets coming into the match, the Elkhorn Valley volleyball team surged past North Central, 3-1, Thursday.
The Lady Falcons dropped the first set, 25-21, before winning the next three sets, 25-17, 25-16 and 25-18. Olivia Nall led the team with 11 kills and 21 digs for a double-double. Hannah Ollendick recorded eight kills, five aces and 20 digs, Sierra Rystrom had a team-high 13 kills and three blocks, Haley Fleetwood accounted for seven aces and 14 digs and Amber Miller tallied three aces, three kills, 13 digs and 34 assists. Elkhorn Valley (7-3) hosts Plainview Tuesday. Trailing 2-1, the Elgin Public/Pope John volleyball team rallied to defeat Creighton in five sets Thursday.
The Lady Wolfpack captured the first set, 25-17, before dropping the next two sets, 27-25 and 25-18. EPPJ tied the match at two sets a piece with a 25-20 fourth-set victory. In the fifth set, the Lady Wolfpack surged past the Lady Bulldogs, 15-8, to win the match. Kaylee Martinsen had a big day for EPPJ, collecting a match-high 21 kills and six aces, to go along with five blocks and 18 digs. Kirsten Krebs recorded 12 kills, four blocks and 10 digs, Kayce Kallhoff accounted 10 kills, six blocks and 15 digs, Grace Rittscher tallied a team-high 34 digs, Anna Heilhecker added 30 digs and Allyson Wemhoff had a double-double with 11 digs and 41 assists. Elgin Public/Pope John (5-5) travels to Cedar Rapids for a tri-match Thursday starting at 5:30 p.m. A 32-0 hole in the first quarter was too much for the Elgin Public/Pope John football team to overcome, as the Wolfpack fell to Central Valley, 72-22, Thursday.
The Cougars took the early momentum by jumping out to a big first-quarter lead. Two touchdowns in the second quarter and one in the third was all EPPJ mustered offensively, as the Wolfpack was held to just 171 yards of total offense. Conor Ramold led EPPJ with 75 yards on the ground. Cory Romej rushed for a TD, while Hunter Reestman completed four passes for 67 yards and a TD pass to R.J. Lierman. Lierman also recorded a pic-six with a 25-yard interception return for a touchdown. Elgin Public/Pope John (1-2) looks to bounce back Friday against Plainview at 7 p.m. In the Clearwater/Orchard football team's first game since its loss to Creighton, the Cyclones cruised to a 58-6 victory over West Holt Thursday at Clearwater.
"It wasn't the prettiest game really," said OC mentor Jeff Shabram. "We wanted to work on some different things and I thought that was a positive for us." The Cyclones were dominant in all facets of the game. OC outgained the Huskies, 463 yards to 117 yards. "At first we kind of got off to a slow start," senior Jacob Long stated. "We decided to ramp it up a little bit. In the second half, we came out and started playing better. It worked out how we wanted this game to go." OC opened the game by blocking West Holt's punt on its first drive. It took one play for Eli Macke to find the end zone on an 18-yard run. On the ensuing Husky punt, Blake Hoke appeared to spring free for a touchdown, but a penalty negated the score and the Cyclones later punted. Penalties continued to plague OC in its next drive, but the Cyclones stilled scored on a 19-yard touchdown pass from Chris Kester to Long. The Green and Black opened things up in the second quarter. Two Long TD receptions, a Macke scoring run and a sack by Donnie Nolze in the end zone for a safety, gave OC a 36-0 advantage heading into the break. "We had some early penalties that brought some scores back," Shabram recalled. "We settled in and realized the goal we want to do for each series and each possession. They played hard and did well. The blockers up front did well and the runners ran hard." At halftime, the Cyclones had outgained the Huskies, 332-44. "We had some big plays and big chunk yardage plays in the first half," Shabram continued. "We made some nice plays in the passing game and run plays were nice too. You want to start fast and keep going fast. That's what we're going to keep working on each week." Long did most of the work on OC's opening drive of the third quarter. The senior running back rushed for 64 yards on the drive and wrapped things up with a seven-yard scoring run. Following a fumble recovery by Codey Snider on West Holt's first drive of the third, Austin Pokorny scored on an one-yard touchdown plunge to extend the Cyclones' lead to 58-0. The Huskies broke the goose egg in the scoring column midway through the fourth. On a fourth-and-long, Jakeem Brown found a wide-open Nate Wallinger, who ran 53-yards for a score. The two squads exchanged fumbles to end the game as the Cyclones kept West Holt winless on the year. Long led the way for OC with more than 200 yards of total offense and four TDs. Macke rushed for 123 yards and three scores and Kester threw for nearly 200 yards and three touchdowns. "It's a great way for our team to keep building on top of each other," Long said. "I took what I got and kept running with it. We have so many kids that can do it on any given night and tonight was my night." The Cyclone defense gave up just 64 yards on the ground to the Huskies, recovered two fumbles and blocked a punt. "We've been working on defense a lot because of the Creighton game," Long added. "We knew we needed to get a lot of work done. That's why we came out here and played the way we did today, because of all the work we put in." West Holt (0-3) travels to Ainsworth Thursday at 7 p.m. Clearwater/Orchard (2-1) heads to Greenley to face Central Valley Friday at 7 p.m. "We need to fix some mistakes penalties wise and scheme wise," Shabram concluded. "We start district play and know we're playing every week. This is district time and hopefully these guys grasp and seize that moment and play every play like it's their last." Strong serving at the right time helped the Neligh-Oakdale volleyball team to pick up a road victory on Tuesday night.
Neligh-Oakdale defeated Randolph 25-23, 25-22, 17-25, 25-14. The Warriors move 6-1 with the win and are sixth in power points in Class D1. It was the first time Neligh-Oakdale defeated a Randolph team since 2012. Senior Haley Kerkman put down seven aces, including four straight the first time she served on the night. The Warriors were down 5-0 to start the first set. Kerkman aced her first four serves to knot the score at 5-all. Randolph jumped ahead and stayed a point or two in front of Warriors nearly the entire first set. Randolph was up 23-21 when a Cardinal service error followed by a Kerkman kill tied the set at 23-all. Randolph looked to pull back ahead when Kerkman hit a long ball to the backrow, but the Cardinals were called for a touch, giving Neligh-Oakdale the late 24-23 lead. Randolph called a timeout just as Claire Whitesel was about to serve set point. After the short break, Whitesel sent a perfect serve over the net to set up one of the better volleys from the Cardinals. Senior libero Kristen Snodgrass popped up the dig to Whitesel who found Kerkman for her one of nine kills — this time across the court into the deep left corner for the set point. Kerkman and Shelby Pitzer led the Warriors with nine kills each. Kerkman added seven digs, seven ace serves and seven set assists. Pitzer added seven digs and five set assists. Whitesel had 10 digs, six set assists and four aces, while Kristen Snodgrass picked up 19 digs. Neligh-Oakdale: Paige Furstenau 4k, 6d, 2sa; Trinity Kurpgeweit 3k, 2a, 10d, 2sa; Brooke Frey 1k, 1a; Shelby Pitzer 9k, 5a, 7d; Haley Kerkman 9k, 7a, 7d, 7sa; Emma Boggs 1k, 1d; Claire Whitesel 1k, 4a, 10d, 6sa; Kristen Snodgrass 1k, 1a, 19d, 6sa. The Clearwater/Orchard volleyball team got back on track Tuesday in a big three-set victory over Creighton.
"We are beyond proud of the girls will to win tonight," said OC coach Sierra Summers. "They came out competitive and never gave up. They worked hard in all aspects of the game." The Lady Cyclone opened the match with a hard-fought 25-22 win in set one. OC took an all important 2-0 lead with a 25-17 triumph in set two. The Lady Bulldogs did not give up and battled in the third set, but came up short as the Lady Cyclones won the set, 26-24, and the match. Creighton's Ashtyn Fritz had a team-best eight kills and 10 digs to go along with an ace and a block. Maycee Zimmerer collected 15 assists, six digs and two kills, Kirsten Adams accumulated seven kills, and four blocks and Clarissa Becker accounted for an ace and eight digs. OC was led by JoCee Johnston with eight kills and 10 blocks. Katie Stearns tallied four kills, two aces and 11 digs, Avery Cheatum had five kills, two aces and seven digs, Taylor Sanne had 12 digs and Julian Tuttle recorded a double-double with 13 digs and 16 assists. Creighton (4-2) hosts Elgin Public/Pope John Thursday. Clearwater/Orchard (4-6) competes at the Stuart Tournament Saturday at 9 a.m. "(We are) Looking forward to continuing the energy and fast paced game play into the weekend and the rest of the season," Summers concluded. A solid team performance propelled the Elkhorn Valley girls golf team to a 219-264 triumph over Stanton Tuesday at Antelope County Country Club.
Journey Werner led the Lady Falcons with a team-low 50. Kim Frey shot a 52, Erica Brown recorded a 57, Angel Qualset had a 60 and Kristi Nierodzik tallied a 65. Elkhorn Valley hits the links Saturday at 9 a.m. at the Plainview Invitational. At the lone home meet of the 2018 season, the Neligh-Oakdale cross country team held its Parents Night after the N-O Invitational.
All of the runners and their parents were honored in front of a packed crowd. Check out all the cross country runners with their parents in the photo gallery. Monday's Neligh-Oakdale cross country invite featured several top runners from the area and they did not disappoint the crowd at the Antelope County Country Club.
"It's really nice," said Neligh-Oakdale senior Cole Beltiz on the community support at Monday's race. "We only have one meet here (in Neligh) and when we do have it, the volleyball team and football team come out. A lot of the staff are working the race and cheering us on. You notice as you go through the race, they (the fans) make tunnels here and there. You notice you speed up and that's good and bad, because you don't want to kill yourself. It's nice having a bunch of people out here, cheering for you and it makes the race go a little faster." The dynamic Warrior duo of Belitz and Emma Bixler won the boys and girls races, respectively. "They both ran extremely well," stated Neligh-Oakdale mentor Rick Eickholt. "It's due in part to what they put in over the summer. They both did a lot of work over the summer and it's showing right now. Both Cole and Emma were able to finish in front of a couple of runners they had never previously beaten. That's due in large part to the amount of work they did in the offseason and the work they continue to do now." Neligh-Oakdale's boys team placed third with 40 points, followed by Elkhorn Valley with 77 team points. Osmond won the boys team title with 26 points and the Boyd County girls team recorded a perfect score to win the girls' crown. Emma Bixler opened the day by winning the girls race with a time 0f 20:00. "It's more special because I feel like I am representing this whole town and everybody in the town that supports cross country," Emma Bixler said on winning the home invite. "It's nice to show that Neligh means business and knows what they are doing." The junior runner ran a very methodical race to claim the top honors. "I made sure I was right next to the girl that was in second the whole first half of the race," Emma Bixler added. "I knew if I lost sight of her, I would lose sight of first place and would be discouraged to pick it up at the end. When I eventually passed her, I knew I couldn't let her get me or else I would have a problem sprinting at the end." Hailey Bixler finished 12th with a time of 24:56 and Sydney Olson was 17th with a time of 28:50. Niobrara/Verdigre's Andrea Sucha was ninth for the Lady Cougars. The boys race was more contested. Elkhorn Valley sophomore Hunter Bennett took the early lead, but Belitz slowly made his move. "The last few meets I didn't start out that fast and Hunter (Bennett) started off pretty quick," Belitz recalled. "You don't want to get too far behind, so I had to start off a little faster than I would've liked. He definitely pushed me throughout the entire race. That last 1,000 (meters) I was closing in and I was pretty close. I gave it everything I had left and maybe I had a little bit more left, but he wasn't too far behind. It was a good race." The senior Warrior finally passed Bennett to claim first and a new school record with a time of 16:37, followed by the sophomore Falcon with a time of 16:42. "Finishing second was pretty good and it was a good race between me and Cole (Belitz)," Bennett noted. "I can't wait to see him again and I think it will be closer next time." Medalist for Neligh-Oakdale included Griffin Claussen in 10th (18:26), Christian Carothers in 13th (18:49), Ashton Higgins in 16th (19:00) and Cameron Wilkinson in 19th (19:03). Brandon Evans (19:01), Damien Smith (19:02) and Reed Bennett (19:10) each medaled for Elkhorn Valley. "The boys' times were really good," said Elkhorn Valley coach Janet Rood. "I think we all started out a little too fast in our mile times and we were running out of gas by the end of the race." Both Neligh-Oakdale and Elkhorn Valley travel to the O'Neill Invitational Friday. "They did well today and all ran well," concluded Rood. "I think we're going to continue to improve and I look forward to Friday's meet in O'Neill. I think we'll have a good showing there." Barely a month into the season and the Elkhorn Valley girls golf team has had a busy start to the 2018 campaign.
Last week the Lady Falcons took third in a tri-match against Battle Creek and Wayne. Elkhorn Valley had a 272 team score led by Kim Frey's 62. Erica Brown shot a 63, Angel Qualset recorded a 69, Kristi Neirodzik scored a 77 and Journey Werner had a 78. The Lady Falcons placed seventh at the Pierce Invite with a 516 team score. Werner placed 20th to lead Elkhorn Valley with a 118. Frey shot a 131, followed by Brown's 132, Qualset's 135 and Neirodzik's 160. With a 532 team score, the Lady Falcons placed sixth at the West Holt Invite. Brown was 25th with a 130, followed by Qualset in 29th with a 133, Frey was 32nd with a 134, Neirodzik placed 34th with a 135 and Werner finished 44th with a 156. At the Wayne Invite, Frey shot a team-low 119. Brown recorded a 138, Neirodzik scored a 146, Qualset had a 149 and Werner tallied a 152. Elkhorn Valley returns to action Friday at the Plainview Invite. Elkhorn Valley sophomore Hunter Bennett had a solid showing at a very tough invitational this past week.
The Falcons placed ninth at a team with 147 points. Norfolk Catholic won the meet with 24 points. Bennett placed sixth at the meet with a time of 18:16 to lead Elkhorn Valley. The Elgin Public/Pope John and Elkhorn Valley volleyball teams competed at the Howells-Dodge tournament and both teams went 1-2 Saturday.
The two Antelope County squads faced off in their second match of the day and it was the Lady Wolfpack coming away with a two-set victory, 25-17 and 25-23. The Lady Falcons opened the day with a two-set win over Howells-Dodge, 25-20 and 25-15, before falling to EPPJ and Shelby-Rising City in two sets each. After falling to Howells-Dodge to start the day, the Lady Wolfpack bounced back to defeat Elkhorn Valley, but ended the day with a three-set loss to Shelby-Rising City, 23-25, 25-16 and 25-20. In the three matches, Kaylee Martinsen led EPPJ with 16 kills, two aces, 11 blocks and 20 digs. Ally Wemhoff accumulated 23 digs and 54 assists, Kayce Kallhoff had 11 kills, four blocks and two aces, Grace Rittscher accounted for 23 digs, Ally Selting pitched in 23 digs and Anna Heilhecker tallied 40 digs. For the Lady Falcons, Hannah Ollendick recorded 18 kills and 30 digs, Sierra Rystrom contributed 15 kills and two blocks, Haley Fleetwood had four aces and 24 digs, Kaylee Bacon blocked four attack attempts, Olivia Nall accumulated 37 digs and Amber Miller added 35 digs and 23 assists. Elgin Public/Pope John (4-5) travels to Creighton Thursday at 7:30 p.m. Elkhorn Valley (6-3) hosts North Central Thursday. A sluggish start by the Elgin Public/Pope John football team cost the Wolfpack in Friday's 46-16 defeat to Chambers/Wheeler Central.
The Renegades claimed a 32-0 lead after the first three quarters of play. The Wolfpack found the end zone twice in the final stanza, but the deficit was too much to overcome. EPPJ turned the ball over four times in its first loss of the season. Hunter Reestman led the Wolfpack with 91 yards of total offense and two rushing touchdowns. Conor Ramold and Kyle Schumacher rushed for 48 yards each. Elgin Public/Pope John (1-1) travels to Central Valley Thursday at 7 p.m. In its fourth match of the week, the Clearwater/Orchard volleyball team dropped a hard-fought match to Central Valley, 3-0, Friday.
"The girls battled hard and never gave up," said OC coach Sierra Summers. "We had a long week with four games, but we played competitively. Granted we wish the outcome was different, we have lots of positives to look at." The Lady Cyclones lost all three sets, 25-17, 26-24 and 25-19. Avery Cheatum and Katie Stearns each tallied nine kills for OC. Julian Tuttle recorded three aces, 17 assists and six digs, JoCee Johnston had four blocks and Taylor Sanne added 15 digs. Clearwater/Orchard (3-6) travels to Creighton Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. After suffering its first defeat of the year, the Elkhorn Valley volleyball team got back on track with a 3-0 triumph over Niobrara/Verdigre Thursday.
The Lady Falcons cruised to a 25-5 first set victory. After winning set two, 25-17, Elkhorn Valley won the match with a 25-8 set win in the third. The Lady Falcons were an astounding 98 percent serving on the match, with 13 aces. Amber Miller had a well-rounded match with seven kills, five aces and 13 assists. Kaylee Bacon accounted for four aces, Hannah Ollendick had 15 kills, 16 digs and two blocks, Haley Fleetwood compiled 12 assists and seven digs and Sierra Rystrom added six kills. Elkhorn Valley (5-1) plays in the Howell-Dodge Tournament today at 9 a.m. |
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