Sports
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November 10, 2016
Oceana's Herald-Journal
Cross Country
B
Volleyball
Shelby 3, Mason Co. Central 0 Pentwater 3, Mason Co. Eastern 0 Walkerville 3, Manistee Catholic 0 Shelby 3, Holton 0 Pentwater 3, Walkerville 0 Shelby 3, Saginaw Valley Lutheran 2 Pentwater 3, Calvary Christian 2
Hart girls 7th @ State Finals Adelyn Ackley wins individual state championship Alayna Ackley finishes 7th for All-State honors Hesperia boys 16th, Walkerville 17th @ State Finals Perrin Kirwin finishes 22nd, earns All-State honors
Adelyn Ackley ascends to the top
Sophomore wins state, sets D-3 course record; Hart girls take 7th as a team
By David Bossick Shoreline Media
BROOKLYN — Adelyn Ackley felt just one thing when she crossed the finish line Saturday during the MHSAA Division 3 state cross country meet at Brooklyn’s Michigan International Speedway. “It was a feeling of relief I’ve never had before,” she said. The Hart sophomore was able to hold off Lansing Catholic junior Olivia Theis by 0.7 seconds for the individual state
championship. Ackley’s time also represented a new state finals record for Division 3 girls. “I wanted to follow second place until the second mile, and then I wanted to give it all I had the last mile,” Ackley said. “I didn’t ever look back. I probably should have at the end just to make sure. I wasn’t sure how far she was behind me.” Out of the eight state championship races, both boys and girls, no other race was as closely contested at the end
than the one between Ackley and Theis. The next closest battle was Caro’s Yami Albrecht winning the boys’ Division 3 title by three seconds over Bridgman’s Brian Njuguna. Ackley was the runner-up a season ago to current Michigan State Spartan and Traverse City St. Francis alum Holly Bullough. Ackley cut 37.6 seconds off of her time from last year at the state meet under the
ACKLEY WINS IT ALL continued on 2b
Wildcats’ Kirwin all-state in Division 4; Hesperia, Walkerville finish 16th & 17th By Andy Roberts Herald-Journal Writer
Jim Cherry • For the Herald-Journal
Hart sophomore Adelyn Ackley (left) keeps pace with Lansing Catholic’s Olivia Theis during the Division 3 state girls cross-country finals Saturday at Michigan International Speedway. Ackley beat Theis by 0.7 seconds to win the individual state championship.
BROOKLYN — Hesperia and Walkerville’s boys teams each turned in top-20 finishes at Saturday’s Division 4 state cross-country meet at Michigan International Speedway. Hesperia took 16th place with 382 points, while Walkerville was 17th with 412. Highlighting the D-4 performances was an all-state run from Walkerville senior Perrin Kirwin, who closed his career with an impressive 22nd-place
D-4 STATE RUNNERS continued on 2b
David Bossick • Shoreline Media
Walkerville senior Perrin Kirwin (bib 934) leads a pack of runners during Saturday’s Division 4 state cross-country finals. Kirwin finished 22nd to earn all-state honors in his final race.
Local schools triumph at regionals Falcons gut out win over Eagles
By Andy Roberts Herald-Journal Writer
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hat 2
atch 4
MOUNT PLEASANT — On a night that saw neither team able to assert its will over the other, Pentwater’s regional semifinal match against Calvary Christian came down to who made fewer mistakes. The Falcons were that team, staving off a terrific effort from Calvary to eke out a five-game win, 13-25, 25-22, 27-25, 20-25, 15-13. The win was Pentwater’s second straight regional semifinal win to go the distance and earned the Falcons another shot at Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart, the team that’s knocked them out the last three years. A raucous crowd, particularly on the Calvary Christian side, brought a big-time feel to the vital match, and Falcons’ coach Kerry Newberg said she felt it affected her team’s play despite their experience at this level of tournament action. “It was almost like the deer in the headlights for the first two sets,” Newberg said. “They could not shake it out of them. I can’t blame inexperience. We kind of went away from the game plan tonight. We had to battle it out.” Despite not having its best, Pentwater did display some remarkable guts, especially after the Eagles dominated the first game. The Falcons came right out and grabbed a 6-0 lead in game two. Calvary, also up for a battle, stormed back to tie the game a couple of times, but Pentwater staved off the surge, getting two kills from Linnea McDonough to finish off the second game. Game three was possibly the most heartpounding, but it didn’t appear that’s where things were headed when Pentwater grabbed a 20-9 lead. However, the Eagles, coming out of a timeout, dominated play and forced Newberg to call timeout twice. Calvary managed to survive three game points and even had the chance for one itself, at 25-24, but committed three straight errors to end the game. It was emblematic of the night, as both teams gave their all despite not having their best. “I never felt comfortable all night,” Newberg said. “I don’t think the girls did either. They battled it out, but we never got into a groove. I give the girls a lot of credit. They were tired, but they fought it out.” Even after letting game three slip away, Calvary wasn’t ready to fade, and took advantage of several Pentwater miscues to squeeze out a 25-20 win. That sent the match to the fifth and
Andy Roberts • Oceana’s Herald-Journal
Shelby players celebrate a kill by Jaren Smith (8) during Tuesday’s regional semifinal match against Saginaw Valley Lutheran, played at Beal City. The Tigers won the match in four games. Andy Roberts • Oceana’s Herald-Journal
Pentwater players Linnea McDonough (left) and Terra Cluchey field a ball in the back row during Tuesday night’s regional semifinal match at Mt. Pleasant Scared Heart. The Falcons won in five games.
final game. Fittingly, that one was back and forth to the end, too. Calvary led most of the way, holding a 13-11 advantage at one point before Taylor Wilkinson delivered a massive kill. A two-hit violation on Calvary, one of several called against the Eagles on the night, tied the game up, and junior Allison McGregor’s ace put the Falcons at match point. An attack error by Calvary ended the match. After the victory, Pentwater’s bench celebrated briefly but seemed to move quickly into exhale mode, glad to have survived a huge chal-
FALCONS GUT OUT REGIONAL WIN continued on 2b
THURSDAY, NOV. 10
TUESDAY, NOV. 15
Pentwater vs. Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart, Regional Finals, at Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart, 6:30 p.m. Shelby vs. Morley-Stanwood, Regional Finals, at Beal City, 7 p.m.
Shelby @ Quarterfinals, Saginaw Nouvel Catholic, 7 p.m. (if necessary) Pentwater @ Quarterfinals, Buckley, 7 p.m. (if necessary)
Volleyball
Volleyball
Smith carries Tigers to win
By Andy Roberts Herald-Journal Writer
BEAL CITY — Shelby and Saginaw Valley Lutheran would probably have been evenly matched on a normal night for each team. Luckily for the Tigers, Tuesday was far from a normal night for junior Jaren Smith. Despite tweaking her knee during game two, Smith dominated Tuesday’s regional semifinal match against the Chargers, ripping off 22 kills as the Tigers picked up the win, 2521, 17-25, 25-20, 25-17. Smith also had 18 digs, second on the team, in an overwhelming performance. “Just from my perspective on the bench, Jaren Smith took over the whole match,” Shelby coach Tom Weirich said after Shelby advanced to its first regional final under his leadership. “I don’t think they were quite ready for that. Jaren, I always say, is just a freak of nature. She does things that, it’s not coaching, I’ll tell you that right now. She shows up with an ability no one else in this
Andy Roberts • Oceana’s Herald-Journal
Shelby junior McKenna Peters (right) lofts the ball against defense from Saginaw Valley Lutheran’s Katie Engelhardt (5) and Alisha Schuman during Tuesday’s regional semifinal match at Beal City. Shelby won in four games.
gym tonight has.” on Lutheran errors. The night got off to a slow “It was just the bigness of the start for Shelby, which fell game,” Weirich said. “We had behind 7-2 and looked out of a long bus ride over, and we’d sync offensively. At one point TIGERS ADVANCE TO the Tigers were down 11-5 and REGIONAL FINALS had scored three of their points continued on 2b