Cross Country

OAK RIDGE, Mo. -- For Michael Brown, it was all a whirlwind. One day, his 4-year-old son, Nolan, was taking a bath when his wife Elizabeth noticed a hard spot on his stomach. A couple of days later, they learned Nolan had kidney cancer and they were driving to St. Louis, Missouri, for surgery...

The Jackson boys soccer team got a first-half goal and held on the rest of the way to grab a 1-0 victory over host Notre Dame in the championship of the Notre Dame Soccer Fest on Saturday evening in Cape Girardeau. It was the second year in a row the Indians (5-0) claimed the event title, and in the process handed the Bulldogs (4-1) their first loss of the year...

Thanks to two second-place finishes, St. Vincent cross country won both the boys and girls team titles in the largest-ever St. Vincent Invitational at Perry Park Center in Perryville, Missouri, on Wednesday. On the boys side, Joseph Baer came in second with a time of 18 minutes, 5 seconds, as the Indians finished 13 points ahead of second-place Steeleville (Ill.). Corin Carroll was second in the girls race, and St. Vincent edged Valle Catholic and Poplar Bluff by five points...

Saxony Lutheran junior Caleb Cornelius offered up a standout performance as he finished fourth in a field of more than 400 cross country runners at the First to the Finish Kickoff Classic on Saturday in Edwardsville, Illinois. Cornelius ran a 16:40.20 to garner a top-five result, just 11 seconds off the winner, Jackson Stewart of Decatur St. Teresa...

It was like stalking prey. Cape Girardeau Central's Jared Neikirk positioned himself, held his spot and pounced when he saw the opening. At the end, Neikirk got a quality win early in the cross country season as he passed and pulled away from a pair of Jackson runners -- reigning Semoball Awards Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year Ean Buffington and Gage Kinder -- to win the boys senior race at the 23rd Annual Jackson Invitational on Saturday at Jackson City Park...

The Semoball Cup ended up being a battle of the Bulldogs that needed overtime to decide. Megan Heisserer's golden goal to lift Notre Dame to the Class 2 soccer title also happened to clinch the Cup. In the closest finish in the early history of the award, Notre Dame edged Van Buren by 4.79 points in the standings that determine which area school had the most athletically successful school year...

From across Southeast Missouri, people descended upon Cape Girardeau on Saturday night for the region's premier sports awards show. More than 150 student-athletes from 57 area high schools were on hand for the Fourth Annual Semoball Awards presented by SoutheastHEALTH at the Donald C. Bedell Performance Hall on Southeast Missouri State University's River Campus, as awards were handed out in 25 sports categories...

Kendall Barber, Perryville Central Methodist University Men's Track and Field Sam Brennan, Notre Dame Benedictine College Women's basketball Sophia Bright, Jackson Shawnee Community College Softball Abbi Brown, Chaffee Shawnee Community College Softball...

One jump changed so much for Ean Buffington. During the summer before his sophomore year, Buffington was playing a pick-up game of basketball with some of his friends at the Joe Bill Dixon Running Camp. He had been competing in a higher training group and was already running more miles than he probably should have, but he never thought a meaningless game of basketball would change the trajectory of his varsity career...

Notre Dame senior Katie Hanners condensed her thoughts about her junior cross country season into two words: "Very disappointing." For Hanners, a finish a couple places away from all-state status capped a frustrating year, her third on the varsity. "It was not a fun race," Hanners said. ...

Favorite place to run: The Jackson Park Favorite song to run to: "The Greatest" by Sia Favorite memory from the season: Having a dream about the team winning state, and it actually happening Favorite pre-race food: Mac & cheese in a bread bowl Favorite pre-race pep talk: Praying, encouraging each other to run in God's name. Coach Stove is the best encourager!...

After-graduation plans: Serving a 2-year LDS church mission Favorite place to run: City of Marble Hill Favorite song to run to: Go The Distance Favorite memory from the season: Placing fourth at the state meet as a team What has been your greatest accomplishment as an athlete? Running national elite time and placing all-state...

Notre Dame girls cross country finished in the top three for the second straight year as the Bulldogs took second in the Class 3 competition at the MSHSAA State Cross Country Championships in Jefferson City, Missouri. ND was just six points behind the state champs, Bolivar, as senior Katie Hanners finished third with a time of 19 minutes, 17 seconds and Alaina Baumgart was sixth at 19:29...

The graduation of two all-state runners last spring may have lowered some people's expectations for the Jackson girls cross country team in 2016. It certainly did nothing to deter their accomplishment. On Saturday, the Indians won the Class 4 title at the MSHSAA State Cross Country Championships for the first time in school history...

Having cerebral palsy doesn't mean Alexis Johnson is the only cross country runner that falls during a race. It just makes it more likely to occur. So much so that as a seventh-grader at Oak Ridge competing for the first time, Johnson fell in all five races. At a meet hosted by Kelly on a flat course in Benton, Missouri, she tripped twice over a tree branch. She kept getting back up and finishing the race, but it was discouraging at times...

The Notre Dame girls cross country team, running on its home course, had three of the top 10 finishers in winning the Class 3 District 1 meet Saturday. Junior Alaina Baumgart led the Bulldogs with a fourth-place finish in 20 minutes, 21 seconds. Sophomore Bailey Beussink finished seventh in 20:46, while senior Katie Hanners (20:51) was eighth. Sophomore Claire Fenneweld and senior Alleigh Emmendorfer finished 17th and 18th, respectively, to round out the Bulldogs' winning score of 48...

The Jackson girls cross country team had six of its seven runners finish in the top 10 to help the Indians clinch the Class 4 District 1 championship on Saturday at Jackson City Park. Jackson sophomore Kaylee Wilson was the first runner to cross the finish line in 19 minutes, 47.56 seconds. Senior Megan Barnum came in third place (19:59.38) followed by sophomore Kennedy Bauer (20:06.08) as the Indians finished 51 points ahead of Lindbergh in the team standings to take the district title...

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - The Kennett high school cross country teams competed at the Heartland Conference Championship meet Tuesday in Cape Girardeau. The Kennett boys cross country team finished sixth in the 13-team field with a team score of 147. Woodland's boys placed first with a team score of 27 points. Zalma (67) took second, Saxony Lutheran (77) took third, Oak Ridge (84) took fourth, Meadow Heights (145) took fifth, Richland (195) was seventh and Leopold (222) was eighth...

The Woodland boys and girls cross country teams both brought home the title from the SEMO Small Schools Conference Meet at Cape County Park North. Cheyenne Wells was the first runner to cross the finish line in 22 minutes, 58 seconds to lead the Cardinals, who finished 10 points ahead of Chaffee in the girls' division. Alyssa Lunsford followed Wells and was the second runner to cross the finish line in 24:05 for the Red Devils...

For the third straight meet, the Cape Central boys swimming team took first place, this time defeating 19 other teams, including last year's state champion, at the Springfield Invitational on Saturday in Springfield, Missouri. The Tigers won eight of 12 events, and Brogan Davis was involved in four of those swims. He won the 200 individual medley, the 100 freestyle and was a part of two relay teams that claimed first-place finishes...

DEXTER, Mo. -- Katie Hanners got a surprise at the finish line Thursday during the SEMO North Conference cross country championships. It was her winning time of 18 minutes, 30 seconds. "That's been my biggest goal to run in the 18s," the Notre Dame senior said. "I never realized I was going to be that far under 19...

The Cape Girardeau Central boys swimming team beat the defending state champions Saturday en route to its first-ever first-place finish at the CoMo Invitational in Columbia, Missouri. The Tigers broke six school records and five meet records along the way as they defeated Rock Bridge, the reigning champs. Rock Bridge finished third and Blue Spring South was second, 40 points behind Central's 281 score...

The fourth-seeded Dexter volleyball team may have proven that Monday night's loss to top-seeded Advance was just a fluke, as the Bearcats dealt a vengeful 25-22, 25-15 victory to the Hornets in Thursday's semifinals of the Stoddard County Activities Association Conference tournament in Puxico, Missouri...

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - The Kennett high school cross country team received one of its toughest tests of the season when it competed at the Notre Dame Invitational Saturday. The meet took place on Notre Dame’s recently redesigned cross country course that features long gentle downhills, sharp downhills, long gentle uphills, sharp uphills, long flats and four switchbacks...

Cape Girardeau Central's Brogan Davis claimed MVP honors Saturday after he was involved in four record-breaking swims and led the Tigers to a first-place finish at the Cape Rock Invitational. Davis broke meet records in the 200 individual medley and 100 butterfly along with the 200 medley relay and 200 freestyle relay. Sam Hahs swam in both those relays, as well, and finished second behind Davis in the 100 butterfly. He set a meet record in the 100 breaststroke...

Katie Hanners went out quick Saturday, so when the Notre Dame cross country runner ran the first mile in a stellar time, she turned to teammate Alaina Baumgart and proclaimed, "Today is the day." The day to set a personal record and win the Notre Dame Cross Country Invitational. Baumgart had captured the girls title last fall. This year it was Hanners' turn...