Sports

From left to right, Jackson Heights' Xavier Fritz, Dalton Chartier and Royal Valley's Ninahii Frisby lead a pack of runners at a recent meet in Hoyt. All three turned in solid performances again at Horton last Thursday, helping their teams to fourth and fifth-place finishes respectively.

Cobras, Panthers get taste of postseason in tough Horton meet

Competition is heating up for area cross country teams with regionals drawing near and both Jackson Heights and Royal Valley got a taste of that in the Horton Invitational last Thursday. One of the largest meets of the season (along with the following meet in Sabetha), Horton served as sort of a...

Jackson County teams set to see tough postseason competition

With less than a month until postseason competition starts, area teams learned their fates last week as regional and sub-state assignments were announced. Following the classification changes the previous week, that meant there was plenty of shifting for area teams regarding postseason...

Cobra Hannah Williams (shown above, at right) blocks a ball back onto Oskaloosa's side of the net during a match on Tuesday. Williams was a force in the middle and helped JHHS sweep both McLouth and Oskaloosa in the home matches.

Jackson Heights volleyball breaks out of funk with pair of wins at home

Since a big breakthrough at the Lyndon tournament more than two weeks ago, the Jackson Heights volleyball team has been stuck in a rut. To be fair, the Cobras have also faced three of the top four teams in the Northeast Kansas League in their matches following that tournament, but the coaches and...

Holton's Justin Pool (shown above, middle) fights for some extra yardage, while teammates Justin Wells (#76, at left) and Will Wright (#9) work to clear a path for the running back in Friday's game at Hiawatha.

Big first half helps Wildcats soar over Red Hawks on the road

From the way the game started on Friday, it looked like the Holton football team was primed to open up and roll to a big victory on the road in Hiawatha. While the Wildcats took a commanding 27-0 lead into halftime, they got bogged down in a quagmire in the second half as sloppy play persisted in...

RV football picks up big homecoming win against Santa Fe Trail

Redemption is not easy to come by, but the Royal Valley football team made it look pretty simple in a non-league match-up against Santa Fe Trail on Friday night. The Panthers likely weren’t lacking motivation on homecoming night, but the sting of two losses in the team’s previous two meetings (...

Holton's Courtney Boswell (shown above, back left) and Shari Riley (back right) look on as teammate Ashlyn Weilert (front) dives forward to return a serve in a match against Sabetha. That trio has anchored the back row for the Wildcats' strong defense, which helped the team to a sweep of Jeff West in its most recent matches.

Wildcat volleyball gets two key league wins over visiting Jeff West

In the span of a week now, the Holton volleyball team has faced off against the top three teams in the Big Seven League standings (prior to Tuesday night). With the Wildcats dropping three of four matches to Sabetha and Nemaha Central last week, that forced the team to discuss some hard truths...

Jackson Heights' Hanna Davault (shown above, at right) looks to pass late in Thursday's race while Royal Valley's Kiikto Thomas (left) comes up from behind. Davault and the Cobras made some strong debuts in the team's first meet of the season.

Young Cobras start cross country season off on right foot

For the Jackson Heights cross country team, it might have felt like the competition had a head start in Thursday’s Holton Invitational. Most of the teams at the meet, in fact, were running in their second race of the season, while the Cobras were getting set for their first. For a young team like...

Panther Noah Hart (shown above, at right) springs free for a big run thanks to a block from teammate Nick Ehrhart (middle). Hart and his teammates piled up the offense on Friday on the way to a 61-6 victory over Hiawatha.

Efficient offensive attack leads RVHS football to big win over Hiawatha in first league contest

On Friday night, it seemed like the only thing that could stop the Royal Valley football team in its home opener against Hiawatha was the clock. From the opening kick, the Panthers took charge and never looked back, scoring on their first nine possessions on the way to a 61-6 victory to start...

Holton running back Will Wright (shown above, at left) tries to elude a defender in early game action against Silver Lake on Friday. Wright and the Wildcat offense had a big night, but came up a little short in a 23-22 overtime loss to the Eagles.

HHS football stumbles in OT in battle of perennial state contenders

When it comes to cinema, there is an unspoken truth that sequels are never better than the original. If last Friday’s football game between Silver Lake and Holton was any indication, then the same principle clearly does not apply to the realm of sports. The season-opener in Holton between the...

Royal Valley's Mary Broxterman (shown above, front right) and Kate Hanson (back right) go up for a block in the second match against Nemaha Central on Tuesday. The Thunder were equally strong at the net and gave RVHS fits before escaping with a sweep on the road.

Panther volleyball comes close, but can't escape Thunder in key league matches

With the Panthers hosting their first home matches of the volleyball season on Tuesday, there was already a great deal of excitement leading up to the night’s action. The fact that RVHS was doing so against perennial Big Seven League contender Nemaha Central only added to the hype. Both Royal...