Cubs set sights beyond B.A. Sports crown

Members of the Bell City volleyball team better be ready to get back to work.

Cubs coach Erin Hoffman, who guided her team to a third-place finish in Class 1 last year, isn't taking it easy on her players after they won their first B.A. Sports Volleyball Classic on Saturday.

"We still have a whole lot of stuff to work on," Hoffman said. "Our biggest hurdle is to get over this win and just keep working as hard for everything else. It was like we hit our peak here [last year]. Hopefully that doesn't happen this year."

Bell City, which reached the semifinals of the event before falling to eventual champ Farmington last year, returns to the court Tuesday at home against Poplar Bluff.

* Woodland, which had finished second to Leopold the previous week in the Woodland tournament, captured the silver (consolation) bracket of the event Saturday with a 25-18, 25-19 decision against Central.

Short-handed Saxony

Saxony Lutheran was the best Class 1 boys cross country team in the field at the Linn Invitational on Saturday, when the Crusaders finished fifth among 18 teams at the meet for small schools.

Saxony also was running a little short-handed with three of its top seven playing for the first-year soccer program at its inaugural event -- a tournament in Joplin, Mo.

The Crusaders inserted freshman Rhett Obermann, who rounded out their scoring with a 93rd-place finish.

The Crusaders, two-time defending state champs in Class 1, scored 148 points while East Newton had 47.

Saxony boys -- 7, Brandon Etzold, 18:16; 12, Peter Winningham, 18:27; 22, Max Wieser, 18:55; 39, Ross Gage, 19:43; 93, Rhett Obermann, 22:14.

Saxony girls -- 27, Deanna Dippold, 23:44.

Dominant Dragons

Ste. Genevieve won both the boys and girls cross country titles at the Perryville Invitational on Saturday.

The Dragons outscored the Central boys 49-90 for the title, while the Ste. Genevieve girls scored 40 to Herculanuem's 49 and Central's 99.

Host Perryville did not field a full team in either race but had the top boys finisher in Montana Geisler.

BOYS

Perryville --1, Montana Geisler, 17:31; 9, William Benline, 18:38; 21, Kenny Stephenson, 19:41.

Central -- 2, Tyler Yeargain, 17:34; 14, Dale Brannock, 19:01; 23, Cole Bradley, 19:48; 25, Greg Sprengel, 20:02; 26, Shawn Owens, 20:08.

GIRLS

Central -- 3, Brittany Moreland, 20:15; 11, Veronica Schabbing, 21:56; 27, Alyx Waterman, 24:24; 28, Rachel Burchyett, 24:29; 30, Charlotte Schaffner, 24:35.

Perryville -- 16, Kendra Schilli, 22:52.

JV -- Central girls placed first; Tiffany Mead was third in 25:24 to lead the team. Central boys finished second; Joey Guidos was 12th in 22:11.

First-time event

Jackson traveled to the inaugural Forest Park Cross County Festival on Saturday. Amy Sterling and Greg Gibson had top-25 finishes in their respective varsity races.

BOYS

Jackson -- 23, Greg Gibson 16:17; 83, Tanner Cline 17:59; 85, Earl Popp 18:32; 105, Blaine Davis 18:33; 117, Cody Green 18:51; 147, Ira King 20:01.

GIRLS

Jackson -- 16, Amy Sterling 20:56; 46. Beth Barton, 22:27; 51, Casey Hatton 22:34; 77, Mandy Craven 23:42; 123, Barbara Gillard 26:37.

JV -- Nicole Parrish finished sixth for the Jackson girls.

Freshmen -- Jackson finished second as a team with four medalists: Diane Strong, eighth; Jordan Whitener, 18th; Trista Guthrie, 21st; and Amber Crites, 14:26.

Too big

After Notre Dame swept the boys and girls varsity and junior varsity championships at the Kelly Invitational on Saturday, Bulldogs coach Bill Davis said he may look into joining the challenging field in the Forest Park race next year.

The Bulldogs boys program in particular needs a push after winning the Class 2 state championship last year, moving to Class 3 this year and loading up with two sophomores and a freshman among their top five.

The Bulldogs scored a near-perfect 16 points to win the boys title. Kelly was second and Oak Ridge third.

BOYS

Notre Dame -- 1, Neil Kanneberg, 17:19.3; 2, Logan Davis, 17:19.8; 3, John Ramsey, 17:58; 4, Wynn McClellan, 18:10; 6, Ben Beussink, 18:33; 9, Richie Bohn, 18:52; 12, Parker Kohlfeld, 19:35.

Kelly -- 5, Cody Kearn, 18:25; 7, Justin Reinagel, 18:42.

Meadow Heights -- 8, Terry Haffner, 18:42; 27, Blake Mungle, 23:49.

Oak Ridge -- 10, Garrette Light, 19:10; 13, Dustin Owens, 19:52; 15, Walter Ruesler, 20:16.

Advance -- 11, Nate Middleton, 19:17.

GIRLS

Notre Dame -- 1, Tori Pfau, 21:28; 2, Jessica Banda, 25:05; 5, Jessica Brandon, 25:05; 6, Lauren Castleman, 25:06; 7, Emily Messmer, 25:45; 8, Abbie Messmer, 26:48; 9, Lindsay Boyd, 27:30.

Kelly -- 3, Tara Johnson, 24:55.

Meadow Heights --10, Tora Jordan, 31:55.

JV -- Notre Dame boys placed first; Dylan Klaffner placed first in 18:31, and Geon Gyu Min was second in 18:55. Notre Dame girls placed first; Kara Longman was fifth, following the individual winner from Doniphan, Erin Owens of Oak Ridge, Jessica Kidd of Delta and Beth Payne of Meadow Heights.

Peyton's place

The Marquette Relays is a team event but Central swimmer Peyton Waggener had a good week with state cuts in the 200-meter freestyle and 100 breaststroke.

"The 200 free was a surprise because he really swam a fast time and to do it this early in the season," Central coach Dayna Powell said. "Peyton has been real consistent in the breaststroke."

Central results -- 900 progression relay, fourth (Peyton Waggener, 200 free; Jake Meyer, 200 free; Sam Gramling, 500 free); 300 backstroke relay, sixth (Gramling, Meyer, Hunter Givens).

Double dip

Notre Dame swam in two St. Louis area events this weekend, finishing fourth among eight teams at the University City Relays on Friday and placing fifth Saturday at the Ladue Invitational

Ladue Invitational

Notre Dame -- 200 medley relay, fifth (Aaron Tomaszewski, Logan Bollinger, Jordan Voss, Edward Doyle), 1:54.89; 50 free, Doyle, fifth, 25:14; 100 fly, Bollinger, third, 58.84; 100 breast, Voss, seventh, 1:13.05; 200 free relay, fifth (Nick McCrate, Bollinger, Voss, Doyle), 1:40.40.

Perfect Tigers

The Central tennis team improved to 9-0 with two wins Saturday, sweeping Oakville 7-0 and topping Lindbergh 5-2.

Christen Edmonds took over the No. 1 spot in the four singles/three doubles format and won her two matches there. The doubles team of Sarah Ford and Lindsey Pingel, state qualifiers last year, also swept their matches.

CENTRAL 7, OAKVILLE 0

Singles

1, Christen Edmonds (C) def. Karpel, 6-3, 6-0.

2, Kristen Ford (C) def. Brendel, 6-0, 6-2.

3, Claire Segar (C) def. Wheeler, 7-5, 6-1.

4, Carsen Bahn (C) def. Macklin 6-0, 1-6, (11-9).

Doubles

1, Sarah Ford-Lindsey Pingel (C) def. Malden-Reiling, 6-1, 6-0.

2, Brooke Morris-Sami Gross (C) def. Kruchowski-Thomas, 6-2, 6-2.

3, Lauren Tobin-Karrie Moll (C) def. Ranzetta-Hahn, 6-4, 6-3.

JV winners -- Kristi Lazarova-Paige Kinder.

CENTRAL 5, LINDBERGH 2

Singles

1, Edmonds (C) def. Raineri, 6-1, 6-1.

2, Gier (L) def. K. Ford, 6-0, 6-3.

3, Segar (C) def. Livingstone, 6-2, 6-2.

4, Bahn (C) def. Marian 6-3, 6-7, (13-11).

Doubles

1, S. Ford-Pingel (C) def. McMullen-Scott, 6-0, 6-0.

2, Brooke Morris-Sami Gross (C) def. Gallagher-Zeller, 6-3, 6-3.

3, Lauren Tobin-Karrie Moll (C) def. Momeni-Martins, 6-3, 4-6, (8-5).

JV winners -- Kristi Lazarova-Paige Kinder.

-- From staff reports