2025 Spring Sports Recap
- Evan Jones
- Jun 8
- 6 min read
It seems like it was just yesterday that we were attending the first track and golf meets of the season, but when we look at the calendar, it's already June. These RPAC athletes had fantastic weather for nearly every event, allowing them to give their best efforts, and it paid off.
There were 107 state track qualifiers, 23 state golf qualifiers, and the Maxwell-St. Pat's baseball team also had a solid season too.
Track
From the fire of the gun, the track season was breaking records left and right. Whether it was meet records, school records, or even a state record, they were dropping like flies. It was so fun to see. The kids competed hard at each and every meet and pushed each other. After the races, it was so fun to watch them all celebrate each other and hug or high-five. That speaks about the conference as a whole.
While we could discuss every aspect of the season, and it would take days to compile, we will touch on a handful of highlights.
Sutherland hosted the RPAC Meet this year and did a fantastic job. They kept the 16-school meet moving, and everything went off without a hitch! Dundy County Stratton ran away with the team titles, and 16 RPAC Records were broken.
Adi Hunt of Southern Valley set a new 100-meter dash record with a time of 12.23.
Clara Spargo of DCS set a new 200-meter dash record with a time of 25.08.
Clara Spargo of DCS set a new 400-meter dash record (also a state record) with a time of 55.94.
Addison Richards of MHC set a new 800-meter run record with a time of 2:23.56.
Ashley Robertson of Wallace set a new 1600-meter run record (this broke Mackenzie's RPAC record) with a time of 5:30.72.
Ashley Robertson of Wallace set a new 3200-meter run record with a time of 11:49.97.
Abi Spargo of DCS set a new 300-meter hurdle record with a time of 45.12.
DCS girls set a new 4x100-meter relay record, with Emily Schack, Abi Spargo, Emma Baldeh, and Clara Spargo achieving a time of 51.03.
Arapahoe girls set a new 4x400-meter relay record with Sawyer Shafer, Ruby McCune, Suttyn Shafer, and Desi Farner running a time of 4:10.23.
MHC girls 4x800-meter relay set a new meet record with Reagan Stengel, Karissa Stengel, Caylie Softley, and Addison Richards running a time of 9:53.90.
Kennedy Bailey of DCS set a new meet record in shot put with a throw of 43'1".
Kennedy Bailey of DCS set a new meet record in discus with a toss of 136'1".
Will Cacy of Arapahoe set a new meet record in the 400-meter dash with a time of 49.49.
DCS boys 4x400-meter relay set a new meet record with August Shaw, Blaine Aldridge, Kevin Garvia, and Ethan Latta running a time of 3:30.82.
Ethan Latta of DCS set a new meet record in the high jump with a jump of 6'6".
Zavier Mitchell of Alma set a new meet record in the long jump with a jump of 21'8".
Clara Spargo of DCS had her name on three state records throughout the season. For the 100-meter dash, Spargo set a new state record at the Chase County Invite on April 22nd with a time of 12.24, and held that until it was broken at the state meet. At the Don Stine Invite on April 12th, Spargo set the state record in the 200-meter dash with a time of 24.86. In the 200-meter dash finals at state, Spargo broke that record with a time of 24.63. In the 400-meter dash, Spargo set a new state record at RPAC on May 2nd in Sutherland with a time of 55.94.
Now for the state meet.
DCS took home their first-ever State Championship Titles for both the boys and girls. It was so much fun to watch them celebrate this accomplishment on the podium.
The RPAC relay teams represented at Burke.
The MHC girls 4x400-meter relay of Blayklee Farr, Addison Richards, Reagan Stengel, and Ava Messersmith took home gold with a time of 4:06.82. Arapahoe took the silver with a time of 4:08.22, which was run by Sawyer Shafer, Ruby McCune, Suttyn Shafer, and Desi Farner. Cambridge also placed 5th with a time of 4:12.82, which was run by Jensyn Weiss, Joslyn Holtze, JoLie Farr, and Rachel Harris.
The MHC girls 4x800-meter relay ran a time of 9:49.12, which was run by Caylie Softley, Karissa Stengel, Reagan Stengel, and Addison Richards.
The DCS girls 4x100-meter relay took gold, setting a new state meet record this year with a time of 49.50, which was run by Kennedy Bailey, Abi Spargo, Emma Baldeh, and Clara Spargo. The Cambridge 4x100-meter relay took the 8th place medal with a time of 51.73, which was run by Brooklyn Holtze, Rachel Harris, Joslyn Holtze, and JoLie Farr.
The DCS boys 4x100-meter relay set a new state meet record with a time of 42.88, which earned them gold. That relay was run by Kevin Garcia, Blaine Aldridge, Ethan Latta, and Laken Wissink. That relay crew also set a new state record at the DCS Twilight meet on May 9th with a time of 42.57.
In the 4x400-meter relay, DCS placed 3rd with a time of 3:30.30, which was run by August Shaw, Kevin Garcia, Noah Zoltenko, and Ethan Latta. Arapahoe placed 4th with a time of 3:30.83, which was run by Hayden Sich, Alex Diaz, Grayson Koller, and Will Cacy.
Gold Medalists
Zavier Mitchell - Alma - Class C Long Jump - 22’6.5”
Clara Spargo - DCS - Class D (Received four gold medals as she was on the 4x100 relay)
100-meter dash - 12.51
200-meter dash - 24.63
400-meter dash - 56.30
Gage Hammond - Southwest - Class D Pole Vault - 13'6"
Laken Wissink - DCS - Class D
100-meter dash - 11.07
200-meter dash - 21.87
Ashley Roberston - Wallace - Class D 1600-meter run - 5:20.24
Brock Bailey - DCS - Class D
Shot Put - 59'0"
Discus - 164'4"
Kael Garrett - Medicine Valley - Class D 1600-meter run - 4:35.37
Abi Spargo - DCS - Class D 300-meter hurdles - 44.90
Will Cacy - Arapahoe - Class D 400-meter dash - 48.93
Kennedy Bailey - DCS - Class D
Shot Put - 43'4.25"
Discus - 133'9"
DCS Girls 4x100
MHC Girls 4x400
MHC Girls 4x800
DCS Boys 4x100
One last thing... Kennedy Bailey of DCS took home the All-Class Gold in shot put.
Golf
For RPAC Golf, Alma was the team title winner with a 343, and all five of their golfers took home medals. This is Alma's 9th RPAC Title, and their first since 2022. From 2008 to 2013, they won six straight, and they had another one in 2019.
Jack Baker of Hitchcock County was the individual winner with a 71. His 2nd straight RPAC Title, and Hitchcock County's third straight individual to win the title.
For state golf, you couldn't have asked for better golf weather. No wind in Nebraska? That is unheard of, but the golfers were able to capitalize on that for their two-day tournament.
There were six medalists, which was awesome to see. Brayden Melchert of Hitchcock County and Dante Horner of DCS tied for 13th, Grady Dempcy of Sutherland, Jack Baker of Hitchcock County, and Houston Billeter of Southwest tied for 9th, and Micah Gerlach of Cambridge tied for 1st, forcing a play-off that took four rounds to break the tie. Gerlach finished as the State Runner-up.
That playoff. That was so fun to see. Micah displayed an impressive amount of grit and competitiveness, hitting some clutch shots late in his round and during the playoff holes. It was great fun to watch him compete while fellow RPAC schools and a handful of others watched the playoff.
Baseball
Maxwell-St. Pat's once again combined to play baseball again this season. They had a record of 3-6 and battled hard all season long. They had a team batting average of .250, an on-base percentage of .384, 42 runs, and 33 RBIs. It is really unique to have one of our RPAC Member schools have a baseball program.
Needless to say, it was a spring to remember, and I think the spring of 2025 will be talked about for a long, long time.
