 Clemence, Chase tally hat tricks
Fremont 7 Whitehall 1 The Fremont girls' soccer team traveled to Manisteee on Wednesday afternoon to take on the Vikings in the 2nd round of district play. Fremont's Mia Clemence netted the first goal with 18 minutes in the first half. Whitehall's Ava Garcia responded a minute later on a ball from Kate Beda to knot the game at 1-1. Clemence scored a second goal on an assist from Taylor DeKuiper to make the score 2-1 at the half. Fremont took control of the match during the second half scoring 5 more unanswered goals. Clemence added another goal to make it a hat trick on the night while Riley Chase also scored three goals and McKenna Scott added a single goal. Clemence also had 2 assists and Maddie Mater added 2 assists of her own. Fremont outshot Whitehall 14-4. Fremont's Hallie Snyder made 3 saves in net while Whitehall's keeper Clare Westerlund made 7 saves. The Packers move on to face Montague for the District title and a ticket to Clare for Regional play. Fremont bested the Wildcats in a wild shootout that saw 13 goals finding their way into the net. Fortunately 9 of them came from the Packers. Fremont improves to 14-4-1 overall while Whitehall finishes the season at 7-8-1 overall.
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 KJ Strait has been a part of a basketball resurgence at White Cloud the past two years, helping the team battle for the conference title before finishing in a tie for second. Combining double digit scoring with tenacious defense, Strait has been a mainstay on Coach Jones’ squad, collecting All Conference honors two years in a row. Now he will take his court skills to the next level as he recently signed on to play for the Kuyper College Cougars. We caught up with the recent grad to ask about his decision. What led you to choose Kuyper? On my visit with Kuyper, I fell in love when I walked onto campus. It felt like home. I enjoyed the atmosphere and the people. You were named all conference first team 2 years in a row. What do you see as the biggest adjustment playing at a higher level? The biggest adjustments I see playing at the next level are the fact that there are more athletes that have achieved the same acknowledgements that I have. I will have to work harder than ever and be the best that I can be. Beyond basketball, what field of study will you be pursuing? Long term goal(s)? I will be majoring in Business with a minor in Sports Management. My hope is to become an Athletic director for a college. Who have been your mentors along the way? My mentors have been my parents. They have always supported me throughout the years. They have spent many hours bringing me to the gym. Also, my coaches and teammates that have always pushed me through the toughest times. What will you miss most about your time in WC? I will miss the bond that I have with everyone here and the constant support everyone has given me.
Soccer D3 Manistee The Packers will open post season play in a Wednesday rematch with Whitehall. The first time around the Packers blistered the Vikings 6-0 as Riley Chase and Mia Clemence each tallied a pair of goals with Taylor DeKuiper and Maddie Mater also finding the back of the net. Hallie Snyder collected 5 saves in the shutout. The Vikings righted the ship in the second half and went 5-2 down the stretch, but they have yet to beat a team with a winning record. The Packers are 13-5 and began the season with an 8-0 run with number 8 being the visit to Whitehall. Their last match was a loss to a suddenly resurgent Covenant Christian team. The winner will face the survivor of Hart/Montague Friday at 7pm. Softball D2 at Newaygo Newaygo will face Tri County in the 10am opener on Saturday followed by the Fremont/Sparta matchup. Survivors will play the District Final at 2pm with the winner advancing to the June 8th Regionals at Fremont D3 Montague Grant is scheduled for a play-in game with Kent City on Tuesday with the winner heading back to Montague Saturday for a 10am game with the host Wildcats. Update Kent City defeated Grant 7-1 D4 Marion White Cloud and Holton are heading for Marion Saturday. The Cloud faces the winner of Tuesday’s Pentwater/Mason County Eastern tilt in a 10am game while the Devils will see host Marion at noon. Winners play at 2pm with a chance to advance to the Frankfort Regionals. Baseball D2 at Big Rapids Newaygo will need to post a win over Ludington on Tuesday (5pm Big Rapids) to advance to the 10am Saturday game against Fremont. The noon game features Whitehall and the host Cardinals with the finals at 2pm. Update: Ludington defeated Newaygo 5-4 D2 at Comstock Park Grant will face a tough challenge in the play-in game Tuesday facing off with Sparta at 4:30pm. A win gets them into Saturday's 10am game against Belding. Update: Sparta over Grant 5-1 D4 at Muskegon Catholic Central White Cloud awaits the winner of MCC and Holton for a 10am Saturday game. West Mich Christian and Pentwater fill the other side of the bracket for a noon game with the winners advancing to the 2pm final. Track & Field Fremont and Newaygo athletes will be heading to Hamilton Saturday while White Cloud will compete at Hudsonville.
Jayson Ruether recently signed a letter of intent to take his baseball skills to Aquinas College. We caught up with the recent White Cloud graduate to pose a few questions. What led you to choose Aquinas? Great Campus and great people The jump to college competition is a huge one. What do you see as the biggest challenges ahead of you on the diamond? Adjusting to the hitters and getting better with the location of my pitches What field of study are you taking up and what are your long term goals career-wise? Forensic Psychology. My goal is to become one of the top in my field and move to an area that needs me. Who have been your mentors along the way. Who helped you hone your baseball skills? My Dad and my brother have always helped me get better and given me constructive feedback What will you miss most about your WC years? I’m going to miss being able to see my best friends and the people who have been a part of my life for all these years.  White Cloud sophomore Giuliano Venditti competing at Regionals N3-MLive is doing a survey on the best area sophomore athletes in Spring sports.While voting ends May 28th we wanted to give a shout out to the student athletes from our coverage area. Kayla Burgess, White Cloud- Softball Grace Evans, Fremont- Soccer Rory Fish, Grant- Baseball Maddie Mater, Fremont- Soccer Linnea Paige, Fremont- Track .Zayden Phillips, Grant- Baseball Alex Scott, Hesperia- Golf Giuliano Venditti, White Cloud- Track  Photos by Cassie Rickert White Cloud 2-15 Reed City 3-4 White Cloud lost a heartbreaker in the first game 3-2. Runs were scarce as a pitching duel came to the forefront. Mason Cruzan pitched five innings, striking out three, and surrendering one run. The Indians were led by leadoff hitter KJ Strait with two hits and three stolen bases. Landyn McGowen had one hit with one RBI. In the nightcap White Cloud exploded offensively winning 15-4. The Indians collected fourteen hits in the game. Jacob Francis, KJ Strait, and Jayson Ruether torched the Coyotes with three hits apiece. Mason Cruzan added two hits. KJ Strait continued being a menace on the bases with three more stolen bases. Jason Ruether earned the win allowing three hits and two runs (zero earned) over three and one-third innings, striking out six.    Senior captains Carson Foondle, Noah Robinson, Degan Wawcszyk, Lloyd Sebright-Johnson  Trysten Tancock looks to clear the bar
Team will compete at State Meet From Coach Reeve: Congrats to the White Cloud Boys' Track and Field team, who won the MHSAA Division 4 Regional Championship in Brethren Saturday, easily outdistancing 2nd place Muskegon West Michigan Catholic by 35.5 points! The boys won 6 events and qualified 13 athletes in 12 out of 17 events for the MHSAA Division 4 State Finals in Hudsonville June 1st, which is the most in school history. Leading the charge was senior Noah Robinson. A day after signing to Muskegon Community College, Noah finished 1st in all four of his events. He started the day by winning the high jump in 6’5”. Next, he joined with Dalton Crawford, Jayden Robinson, and David Higgs to win the 4x200 meter relay in personal best time of 136.00. Two events later, Noah, Dalton, Jayden, and Alex Collard combined for another personal best time of 45.99 to take the victory in the 4x100 meter relay. Noah finished his day by coming home 1st in the 200 meter dash with a time of 23.62. Other victories for White Cloud included senior Lloyd Sebright-Johnson, who won the shot put by a full six feet with a throw of 47’6.75”. Sophomore Giuliano Venditti ran a personal best time of 43.65 to take first in the 300 hurdles. Lloyd followed up his shot put victory with a 2nd place finish in the discus with a personal best throw of 145’1”, while Giuliano also recorded a 2nd place finish in the 110 meter hurdles. His time of 16.99 was just 1/100 of a second off his personal best time of the season.\ As stated earlier, the Indians will be well-represented by 13 athletes in 12 events at the Division 4 State Finals June 1. In addition, those 13 athletes are invited to take part in their 12 events in the Meijer West Michigan All-Star Meet at Reeths Puffer High School. Here they will compete against the best track and field athletes in all divisions in the West Michigan area. Before participating in the MHSAA finals, White Cloud will take its entire team to Mt. Pleasant for the MITCA Division 4 Team State Championship Saturday, May 25. They will face 11 other division 4 schools in a unique event where each team may enter 3 individuals and one relay team in each event and all participants score. The Indians were division 4 state champions in the event in 2022, winning their 1st state championship in school history, and are hoping to do so again this year.
 
Despite limited numbers Cloud Places 4th at Regionals; 5 athletes heading to State Meet Photos by Brent Foondle From Coach Dakin: The Varsity Girls competed in Brethren on Saturday and placed 4th in the Regional meet. Due to injury, only 13 athletes were healthy to compete. The Tenacious Thirteen brought home 28 medals. Freshman Justice Dixon led all with first place in the 100 M dash with a time of 13.31, 2nd place in the 200 M (28.15). She also anchored the 1st place 4X100 team of Mariah Edwards, Hailee Brown and Gabriella Dakin which qualified for the state meet on June 1st and the 4x200 with a PR time of 1:57 for 3rd place. Andrea Feldpausch took 2nd in the high jump with a state qualifying 4”10 jump and 3rd in the 2-mile (14.08). She also anchored the 4x400(with Isabella Shockley, Caedance Traynor and Ryleigh Balke) and the 4x800 (with Kacie Kailing, Isabella Shockley and Charlotte Karnes) which both took 6th place medals. In the 100 M Hurdles, Ryleigh Balke finished 4th (18.66) and Caedance Traynor took 5th with a PR time of 18.99. Traynor also medaled in the 300 M hurdles (56.93). Shaylia Richardson earned a medal in the shot put while senior Samantha Kukal threw her best of her career (81’7) to earn 6th place in the discus. Mariah Edwards and Gabriella Dakin also medaled in the long jump with Edwards’ 14’4.75 (3rd place) and Dakin’s 14’4 (5th place). Annie Feldpausch, Justice Dixon, Mariah Edwards, Hailee Brown and Gabriella Dakin will continue on to the MHSAA Division 4 State Meet. Congratulations ladies!
  Photo by Cassie Rickert
Tuesday's first game against Morley Stanwood was a heartbreaker for White Cloud, as they lost the lead late in a 2-1 defeat. Jayson Ruether struck out 10 batters on the day allowing two hits and two runs over six innings. Landyn McGowen and Reece Hewitt each had one hit for the Indians. In game two, the Cloud woke up the bats winning 11-2. Landyn McGowen earned the win giving up two runs, striking out five over five innings. Reece Hewitt and Kevin Strait led the Indians each collecting two hits for the Indians.  Aby Lauryssens uses her head to keep the ball from the Tiger attacker Story and photos by Tara Hefferan In soccer, a “derby” is a match played between locally rival teams. Monday night was the Newaygo County derby, as neighbors Newaygo Lions and Grant Tigers went toe-to-toe in the first round of the CSAA Conference Tournament. The Lions emerged victorious, in a 2-1 win over the Tigers. The first half of the match was largely back-and-forth, with the Lions and Tigers each taking turns in possession. With more shot attempts, Grant broke through first when Tiger Danica Baker slotted the ball to the left of Lion Keeper Ella Soules. The match stood with the Tigers in a 1-0 lead at halftime. The Lions entered the second half with intensity and offensive pressure. Less than five minutes in, the Lions got on the board after Grant fumbled an attempt to clear the ball away from goal. As the ball deflected around the box, Landry Hefferan Nordlund pounced at the penalty spot, sending a banger into the middle upper section of the net. The game stood at 1-1 with 35 minutes left to play.  Landry Hefferan Nordlund pressures Bella Welch  Keeper Ella Soules stops the shot As the minutes ticked by and the end of the game was imminent, the crowd began murmuring about an overtime period and possible penalty shootout. CSAA Conference Tournament games cannot end in a tie. A winner must emerge. The crowd’s nervous anticipation was for naught, however. With just three minutes of time remaining, the Lions clinched the game winner. The play unfolded with Lena Wagner stealing the ball near the edge of the Tigers’ box. Dribbling past the defense and into the center, Wagner fired a shot into the upper right corner, bringing the Lions ahead 2-1. Despite a valiant effort, Grant was unable to answer with another goal of their own. Over the 80 minutes, Lion Keeper Ella Soules faced 20 shots total, with 12 on goal, stopping all but 1. The Lions put up 8 shots total, with 4 on goal.  Lena Wagner celebrates the goal Commenting on the match, Grant Head Coach Daisy Gomez de Leon said, “Playing Newaygo is our favorite game. Once again, the Tigers outshot the Lions, and like before, we struggled to find the net. Before the 1st half ended, Danica Baker scored the single goal of the game for the Tigers. This was her first high school goal. The Lions capitalized on our back line scramble and scored their second goal and secured the win with very little time left on the clock. Can't wait for next time.”
Newaygo Head Coach Matt Painter said, “After over a week of injuries and illness, we finally had our core players back together tonight. In the first half we seemed tentative and struggled to string passes together to build much of an attack. Grant played tough defense and was just quicker to the ball. In the second half, our girls started to find their offensive groove a bit more and just refused to give up. Eventually that grit paid off, and we were able to come away with the win. As we move through this conference tournament and into districts next week, we hope to continue to build on that never give up attitude!” Newaygo will face Big Rapids next in Round 2 of the CSAA Conference Tournament. The game will be played in Big Rapids, on Wednesday, May 15 at 6:00 PM.  Rachel Larsen accepts congratulations from Lions fans |
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