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.
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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. 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. 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. 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. The White Cloud Boys’ Track and Field Team is no stranger to competing against bigger teams. Being the smallest team in the conference does that to you. But last Friday at Chippewa Hills the Indians showed that they are not afraid to “fight above their weight", finishing 3rd out of 11 schools in the CSAA Championship. Coach Tod Reeve couldn't have been more excited about his athletes efforts. “What an exciting night for the Indians," he stated. “We posted 19 personal bests and 4 seasonal bests on the night, and defeated three teams who had bested us in the dual meet season. I am very proud of our athletes and look forward to seeing what we can do against similar - sized schools next Saturday at the Division 33-4 Regionals in Brethren.” Leading the Indians once again were their senior captains Noah Robinson and Lloyd Sebright-Johnson. Noah continued to obliterate the school record in the high jump that he tied last year at 6’5”. Friday night he cleared 6’8" to win the league title and raise the school record for the third time this year. Noah also finished third in the 200 dash with a personal best time of 23.21, and anchored the 4 x 100 and 4 x 200 relay teams to sixth and 3rd place finishes, respectively. Not to be outdone, Lloyd won the shot put event by throwing 49’1”, and came back in the discus to finish 2nd with a season’s best throw of 139’4” after entering the event seeded sixth. Other stellar performances included junior Jayden Robinson, who finished third in the long jump with a leap of 19’7 ½ “, a personal best by over a foot. The 4 x 800 team of Coleson Cruzan, Carson Foondle, Kaleb Canning, and Wyatt Karnes lowered their season best time by 8 seconds to finish third overall in 8:49.30. As stated above, the Indians will take part in the Division 33-4 Regional next Saturday in Brethren, site of their regional victory two years ago. The following Saturday, White Cloud will once again travel to Mt. Pleasant to participate in the MITCA Division 4 Team State Championship. The Indians won their first state title at that event two years ago, and are looking to vie for the title again this year. By Coach Jana Dakin Photos by Brent Foondle Justice Dixon was the team leader with 9.75 points (.25 from All-Conference) with an impressive showing in the 100 M dash with a 3rd place 13.3 and a 7th place 200 M 29.07. She also anchored the 3rd place 4x100 team of Mariah Edwards, Hailee Brown and Gabriella Dakin which PR’d at 53.8. The same team also PR’d in the 4x200 with a time of 1:58. Annie Feldpausch earned 2nd place honors in the High Jump with 4’10. Ryleigh Balke came back after an almost season-ending injury to place 5th in the 100 H with a season best 18.42. Payton Bird held on to 8th place in the discus with a throw of 76’2. Other notable performances were Molly Francis with a PR in the mile (7:11), Gabriella’s PR 200 (29.3), Caedy Traynor’s PR 100 H (19.02), and Hailee Brown’s PR long jump (13’8). Annie Feldpausch also anchored the 4x400 for the first time improving their time by several seconds. The ladies travel to Brethren on Saturday to compete at Regionals where we should earn several medals! Good Luck ladies. Story by Tara Hefferan Photos by Jerry Nordlund Battling injury and illness, Newaygo Lions Soccer has faced a rough patch in recent days, with losses to both Montague and Grant. Their fortunes changed on Wednesday night, however, with the Lions earning a convincing 5-1 win over the Kent City Eagles. The first 40 minutes of the match were a back and forth between the Lions and Eagles, with neither team able to net a goal. The score was 0-0 at halftime. Within two minutes of returning from break, the Eagles scored the first goal of the match. The Lions continued to battle and were able to answer with a goal of their own about midway through the second-half. On the right side of the box, Ella Soules made a short pass forward to Lena Wagner. Wagner then sent a cross to Luella Hilden, who slid the ball to the left of the Eagles’ Keeper. Newaygo was tied 1-1. Less than two minutes later, Rachel Larsen intercepted a fumbled Eagles’ attempt to clear the ball. Larsen dribbled forward a couple steps, then launched a shot to the right of keeper, bringing the Lions ahead 2-0. Soules was next to get on the board, intercepting a pass at the 18-yard line. Soules took a touch, then sent the ball in low, to the right of the Keeper. Goal four came with just over six minutes of time remaining. Wagner passed the ball to Serena Jeong, who then made a short pass to Larsen, who moved to the center of the box. Larsen again sent a strong shot into goal, beating the Keeper for a second time. The fifth and final goal of the night came after Evalyn Foster made a short pass to Jeong, again on the right side of the box. Jeong threaded the ball between two defenders into the center of the box, where Larsen met it. For the hat trick, Larsen blasted the ball into the upper left corner of the net. Natalie Richardson was in goal for the Lions. Richardson faced nine shots, with five of those on goal. She stopped all but one.
With the win, the Lions move to 3-4-0 in conference play, and 5-6-1 overall. Next week begins the CSAA Conference Tournament. The Lions will play rival Grant on Monday, May 13 at 4:30 PM in Grant. Krepps goal the difference
Grant visited long time nemesis Newaygo Monday and snapped a three game skid with a narrow 1-0 win. Coach Gomez de Leon: ”The Newaygo vs Grant game is always a fun one. As someone who grew up locally and won a conference title with newaygo... I know how fun it is to play a Rivalry game. No one knows that feeling better than the players. "Our team is coping with some hurt players and some season ending injuries. But the group of girls we have is very coachable and adaptable. Almost all players can play different positions which comes in handy given the circumstances. We had defenders playing forward, wings playing defense, and so on. But today the Tigers wanted it and outshot Newaygo. Lily Krepps with the only goal of the game secured the Tigers the win. But it is important to give Bella Welch, our command center , some credit for orchestrating plays. Nolana Davis, our center back, also had a good performance as a striker getting some shots on net and defending the long ball from the opponent." Grant (3-2-1, 4-6-1) willhost Reed City Wednesday while Newaygo (2-4-0, 4-6-1) visits Kent City. Photos by Cassie Rickert White Cloud 4-13 Lakeview 3-6 The White Cloud Varsity baseball team took Tuesday's game 1 in dramatic fashion, with a 4-3 walk-off victory over Lakeview. The game was tied at three in the bottom of the seventh when Joel Nichols singled, scoring the game winner. Jayson Ruether pitched a gem going 5 innings striking out 12. Mason Cruzan earned the win in relief pitching two innings of shutout ball striking out three. Cruzan led the Indians in hits going 2 for 3 with 1 RBI. Landyn McGowen, Brycen Knight and Joel Nichols each drove in one run for White Cloud. The Indians woke up the bats in game 2 scoring 13 runs in a rout over Lakeview 13-6. Edgar Rodriguez was scorching from the plate going 3-3 with 1 RBI. Landyn McGowen went 2-5 with 3 RBI'S. Reece Hewitt went 1-3 with 3 RBI's. Landyn McGowen earned the win with a solid outing on the mound pitching 4 innings striking out 6 with no earned runs. Kevin Strait secured the save pitching 3 innings and striking out 3. White Cloud 5-8 Kent City 4-2
Jayson Ruether was dominant on the moundmin the openerposting 12 strikeouts in White Cloud Varsity Indians's 5-4 victory over Kent City on Friday. Ruether allowed six hits and four runs over six and one-third innings while walking one. In the top of the seventh, White Cloud broke up the 3-3 tie when Reece Hewitt doubled, scoring one run. A pickle steal allowed the Indians to score another run which proved to be enough. Mason Cruzan collected the save. White Cloud collected nine hits in the game. McGowen provided pop in the middle of the lineup, and led the Indians with two runs batted in. The number three hitter went 2-for-4 on the day. McGowen, Kevin Strait, and Hewitt each collected two hits for White Cloud Varsity Indians. In game 2 Jacob Francis collected three hits in four at bats, as White Cloud defeated Kent City 8-2 on. Francis doubled in the second inning, singled in the fifth inning, and doubled in the seventh inning. White Cloud scored six runs in the fifth inning on the way to victory. Kevin Strait tripled, scoring one run, Landyn McGowen singled, scoring one run, Reece Hewitt doubled, scoring two runs, and Francis singled, scoring two runs. The Indians got on the board in the top of the second inning after Francis doubled, and Joel Nichols grounded out, each scoring one run. McGowen earned the win for White Cloud. McGowen surrendered four hits and two runs over six innings, striking out four and walking five. Mason Cruzan collected the save. White Cloud collected 12 hits in the game. McGowen, Francis, and Hewitt each collected three hits for the Indians. White Cloud ended the game in dramatic fashion turning a triple play. |
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