Story and photos by Tara Hefferan Newaygo Girls Soccer took to the road Friday night, battling to a 2-2 tie against the Greenville Yellow Jackets. Following a disappointing conference loss just two days prior, Newaygo made some minor adjustments in playing formation against the Jackets. This, along with better teamwork, greater confidence, more urgency in play, gave the Lions a boost in performance, resulting in a highly competitive match. The playing conditions on Friday were rough, as high winds tore through the stadium. The Yellow Jackets started with the wind advantage, working the ball in the direction of the gusts. Their efforts paid off midway through the first half, when Greenville got by Lion Keeper Ella Soules. The Jackets took a 1-0 lead. It appeared that Newaygo’s Lena Wagner answered within minutes, sprinting to meet a through ball sent past Greenville’s defensive line by Landry Hefferan Nordlund. Wagner fired a shot into the left corner of the Jacket’s net. The goal did not stand, however, as it was called for offside. The Lions entered halftime down 0-1, having just one shot on goal versus the Jacket’s six. Retaking the field now with the wind advantage, the Lions wasted little time getting on the board. Hefferan Nordlund dribbled up the right side of the field, sending a perfectly placed cross into the box, where Captain Aby Lauryssens was waiting to pounce. Lauryssens muscled the ball past the Greenville keeper, to bring the Lions level at 1-1. “It felt really amazing, considering the last time I scored, it was my freshman year,” said senior Lauryssens about the goal, adding “I feel like it was a great thing.” Then twelve minutes into the second half, the Lions scored once more. Hefferan Nordlund assisted again, this time sending the ball to Luella Hilden. Hilden struck the ball into the top of the net, where it slipped through the keeper’s hands, putting the Lions in the lead for the first time this season. “I just knew I did not want to lose,” said Hilden. “I did it more for the team than for myself. I want to turn our scores around for the season.” Hilden’s efforts put the Lions ahead 2-1, with twenty-eight minutes of play left. The match remained competitive, with the Lions largely maintaining possession. Then, with eight minutes remaining, the Lions were called for a defensive foul, setting up the Yellow Jackets for a penalty kick. With arms stretched wide, freshman and first-season goalie Soules made herself big. Soules faced the Greenville player with confidence, skillfully stopping the shot and then immediately catching the rebound to deny the goal. As the Newaygo crowd and players erupted into thunderous approval of the difficult saves, the officials charged Soules with moving off her line before the shot was taken. They awarded a second penalty kick, which this time Greenville was able to slot away. This brought the Lions and Yellow Jackets even at 2-2. Eager for their first victory, the Lions redoubled their efforts, threatening Greenville’s offensive space several times. The best opportunity to regain the lead came with just two minutes remaining, when Lauryssens advanced the ball into the box. Readying the shot, Lauryssens was dispossessed from behind, falling in pain just feet from goal. In the end, the Lions were unable to find the final goal needed to secure the win, rounding out the match in a 2-2 tie. In total, keeper Soules made six saves, not counting the disallowed penalty save, all in the first half. Aside from the penalty kicks, Greenville had no other shots against Newaygo in the second half. This is largely due to the efforts of Newaygo’s defensive line, led by Captain Natalie Richardson and Valeria Torres, who worked well with the midfield, led by Rachel Larsen and Wagner, to move the ball away from danger. From Head Coach Matt Painter: “Coming off our last game, where we did not play as a team as well as we would have liked, we were hoping for some improvements tonight. We have girls learning new positions, and it will take time for them to get used to this. Overall, I was proud of how our girls came together throughout the game. As in most games, there were questionable calls and non-calls tonight that potentially impacted the outcome. That being said, we always say, ‘mean no offense, take no offense’ and just move on to the next play, or in this case, the next game!”
The Lions return to action next Wednesday, April 17, away at Tri-County. Newaygo’s record currently stands at 0-2-1 overall, and 0-1-0 in conference play.
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Pitching, timely hits by hosts sink Pirates
Photos by Cassie Rickert White Cloud hosted Hart in a twin bill to kick off the baseball season. Jayson Ruether was dominant on the hill, as he rang up 12 strikeouts in a 4-3 victory. Ruether gave up 6 hits and two runs over five and two-thirds innings. Mason Cruzan posted the save. White Cloud took the lead in the bottom of the first inning after Landyn McGowen doubled, and Ruether hit a sacrifice fly, each scoring one run. A ground out by Mason Cruzan extended the lead to 3-1 in the bottom of the third inning. Ruether led the team with two runs batted in and McGowen led the team with two hits. In the second game White Cloud woke up the bats and won 8-2. Reece Hewitt provided pop in the middle of the lineup going two for two with three runs batted in. Ruether added two hits. Landyn McGowen was a force on the mound allowing one hit and striking out 6. White Cloud opens up league play against Tri-County on Friday at home. First game starts at 4pm. Fremont Track got off to a great start with both the boys and girls teams sweeping the matchups with Orchard View and Oakridge Victoria Ekkel (100m), Linnea Paige (600m), Kira Manchip (100m Hurdles), Aerie Beecham (Shot Put, Discus) and Rachel Maddox each placed first for the Packers as did the three Fremont relay teams. For the boys Jacob Burns (100m), Sean Pettis (400m, 800m), Carter Sherman (1600m), Cole Lowery (3200), Daniel Romero (110m+300m Hurdles, Long Jump) amd Lucas Bradley (Pole Vault) earned firsts. Coach Somers: “We had a great first outdoor meet. I couldn't be happier with the athletes performance and attitude. As with any first meet we had a lot of season records. Three impressive Prs were Daniel Romero in the 110 hurdles, Sean Pettis in the 400, and Owen Hertel in the Shot Put.” For all results visit https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/meet/523501/results/all Team Scores Boys Fremont 100 - Oakridge 33 Fremont 107 - Orchard View 26 Girls Fremont 80 Oakridge 43 Fremont 103 Orchard View 23 The teams are to compete Friday, April 12 at the Fruitport Trojan Invitational. Front Row (L/R): Waylon Lingeman (Central Montcalm), Wyatt Spalo (Reed City), Isaiah Lake (Chippewa Hills), Trae Zerba (Central Montcalm), Emmett Lingeman (Central Montcalm), CJ Copeland, (Lakeview), Austin Humphrey (Chippewa Hills), Anthony Schultz (Central Montcalm), Coy Hall (Tri-County) 2nd Row (L/R): Hunter Fagon-Moyer (Reed City, Hunter Sellers (Chippewa Hills), Lucas Vail (Lakeview), Jon Koepf (Chippewa Hills), William Berenbrock (Newaygo), Tyler Geer (Chippewa Hills), Isaiah Lentz (Reed City), Logan Goguen (Kent City) 3rd Row (L/R): Elijah Lentz (Reed City), Carson Gorton (Kent City), Brayden Peak (Central Montcalm)< Cameron Perez (Lakeview), Sammy Anderson (Kent City), Isaac Gitchel (Tri-County), Barron Bowman (Reed City), Manny Hernandez (Kent City), Hunter Cassidy (Big Rapids) Not Pictured: Alex Russo (Grant) and Carter Johnson (Reed City) Photo by Brittlyn Rose Photography
Weight Name Class Record School 106 1. Carter Johnson (12), 36-6 – Reed City 2. Hunter Cassidy (9), 22-12 - Big Rapids 3. Kody Hazen (10), 3-1 – Chippewa Hills 4. Donovan Vogel (9), 14-13 – Kent City 113 1. Isaac Gitchel (9), 29-4 – Tri-County 2. Emmanuel Hernandez (12), 34-11 – Kent City 3. Teddy MacGregor (11), 11-11 – Chippewa Hills 4. Kaydyn Beham (9), 30-11 – Lakeview 120 1. Sammy Anderson (10), 38-6 – Kent City 2. Barron Bowman (10), 31-11 – Reed City 3. Westin Miedema (12), 25-13 – Lakeview 4. Xander Antor (10), 24-19 – Tri-County 126 1. Cameron Perez (11), 40-3– Lakeview 2. Alex Russo (11), 32-5 – Grant 3. Adrionn Lucas (12), 19-8– Chippewa Hills 4. Hunter Gustinis (9), 19-14 – Kent City 132 1. Carson Gorton (12), 43-3 – Kent City 2. Brayden Peak (10), 28-9 – Central Montcalm 3. Kashton Atwood (10), 33-13 – Grant 4. Tristan Van Timmeran (9), 19-6 – Tri-County 138 1. Logan Goguen (12), 39-7 – Kent City 2. Elijah Lentz (12), 33-12 – Reed City 3. Dawson Kilpatrick (12), 26-11 – Big Rapids 4. Raymondy Irwin (11), 21-10 – Chippewa Hills 144 1. Tyler Geer (12), 28-3– Chippewa Hills 2. Izaiah Lentz (12), 33-9– Reed City 3. Jayden Loomis-Sandison (10), 17-7 – Kent City 4. Will Bellamy (11), 20-22 – Tri-County 150 1. Jon Koepf (11), 30-1 – Chippewa Hills 2. William Berenborck (12), 29-9 – Newaygo 3. Derek Rodenburg (11), 39-8 – Kent City 4. Gabe Wolverton (9), 17-18– Reed City 157 1. Hunter Sellers (12), 29-1– Chippewa Hills 2. Lucas Vai (10), 35-10l – Lakeview 3. Andrew Kiaunis (10), 32-12 – Reed City 4. Brett Wismar(12), 30-14 – Newaygo 165 1. Coy Hall (12), 31-13 – Tri-County 2. Hunter Fagon -Moyer (11), 30-14 – Reed City 3. Max Heitzman ((12) 29-13 – Grant 4. Gavin Culver (12), 19-16 – Newaygo 175 1. Austin Humphrey (11), 23=5 – Chippewa Hills 2. Anthony Schultz (11), 32-8 – Central Montcalm 3. Landen Johnson (11), 37-6 – Lakeview 4. Jacob Hawkins(10), 30-13 – Tri-County 190 1. Emmett Lingeman (10), 36-3 – Central Montcalm 2. CJ Copeland (11), 33-5 – Lakeview 3. Brenden Avery (10), 14-13 – Tri-County 4. Austin Davenport (9), 7-14 – Reed City 215 1. Trae Zerba (10, 22-1 – Central Montcalm 2. Isaiah Lake (12,) 20-10 - Chippewa Hills 3. Hunter Crosby (12), 24-12 – Grant 4. Dan Cummings (11) 11-20 – Tri-County 285 1. Waylon Lingeman (11), 34-2 – Central Montcalm 2. Wyatt Spalo (11,) 37-3 – Reed City 3. Ray Culver (12), 27-13 – Tri-County 4. Wyatt Orr (10), 14-15 – Lakeview Front Row (L/R): Tatyana Gomez (Tri-County), Zoey Moyer (Chippewa Hills), Olivia Rackowski (Chippewa Hills), Nolana Davis (Grant), Yadira Lara (Grant), Dakota Rahe (Newaygo), Allison Cook (Newaygo) Back Row (L/R): Liyah Slagter (Big Rapids), Sophia Blackwell (Big Rapids), Irati Maro (Big Rapids), Lexis Golden (Big Rapids), Chloe Coar (Tri-County), Cadence Holtzlander (Tri-County), Tamya Johnson (Tri-County), Violet Bellamy (Tri-County), Jocelyn Olds (Tr-County), Brian Cheatham (Tri-County) Photo by Brittlyn Rose Photography
Tri County swept through the conference season and made it into Regional competition behind a strong group of 6 underclassmen and a pair of seniors who filled the All Conference teams. Newaygo amd Grant each placed a pair on the first team with Lions Allison Cook and Dakota Rahe joining Yadira Lara and Nolana Davis of the Tigers. Grant’s Luella Higgins and Sydney Biegelle of Newaygo received Honorable Mention. Name Grade School First Team Briana Cheatham 10 Tri County Jocelynn Olds 10 Tri County Violet Bellamy 10 Tri County Tamya Johnson 11 Tri County Cadence Holtzlander 11 Tri County Chloe Coar 11 Tri County Lexis Golden 11 Big Rapids Irati Marro 12 Big Rapids Sophia Blackwell 11 Liyah Slagter 10 Big Rapids Allison Cook 12 Newaygo Dakota Rahe 11 Newaygo Yadira Lara 11 Grant Nolana Davis 11 Grant Olivia Raczkowski 12 Chippewa Hills Tatyana Gomez 12 Tri County Zoey Moyer 11 Chippewa Hills Honorable Mention Alessia Bowman 12 Big Rapids Elaina Werner 11 Chippewa Hills Luella Higgins 9 Grant Sydney Biegelle 12 Newaygo Isabella Johns 12 Tri-County |
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