Another fun list this week for you to check out. These are our Top-10 Featured Matchups and Events from 2023-2024. Now we understand there were some awesome games that we were not at that would have been worthy of this list, but this list includes the games we were at.
10. Southern Valley vs Maxwell Football on September 7th, 2023- We saw Kody Collins break an eight-man rushing record for Southern Valley Public Schools with 333 yards rushing on 18 carries and six touchdowns. Southern Valley won 66-48. Collins had 211 yards at halftime, As a team they had 395 yards rushing. Maxwell had some good performances too, Jesse Reyes had 240 yards of total offense and four touchdowns. A really fun game. Read the full story here.
9. RPAC Golf- Hitchcock County came away with the team title, shooting a 349, Southwest shot a 383 and captured their first team plaque and runner-up finish, and Southern Valley shot a 385 and placed 3rd. Jack Baker of the Falcons was the title winner with a 77. For Southwest, they hosted this event at Cambridge's Cross Creek Golf Links.  It was a nice team effort for the Roughriders to capture the runner-up plaque, their first one ever. Just a fun day, good golf. It was kind of up-and-down weather, but the athletes played pretty well regardless. Check out the full story here.
8. RPAC Wrestling- This one is an environment one. Hosted at Dundy County Stratton. Shout out to the Tigers, they set us up with a sick spot to do our work. I haven't covered a ton of wrestling in my career, so this year we really got into and we are still learning. Just loud, fun, and competitive. The Trojans of Cambridge and Arapahoe battled until the end for the team title, Cambridge - 156.5 and Arapahoe - 146. Great event. This blog recapped the RPAC Wrestling and Basketball Tournament.
7. State Golf- First have to mention Hitchcock County coming away with the runner-up trophy. And also a pair of Falcons got medals, Jack Baker was a runner-up with a 151, and Brayden Melchert had a 161 for 14th. Southern Valley's Kamden Bose took 5th with a 155. Lake Maloney Golf Course was the site. The first day was just miserable. The weather was bad, then they were rewarded with the second day with 75-degree weather and a light breeze. Great two days to watch RPAC golfers. Read about day one here and day two here.
6. State Volleyball- In State Volleyball we had three conference teams, Cambridge, Southwest, and Wallace make it. Of course, Cambridge made it to the title game before falling to Overton in D2. Just a fun overall season for them. Southwest and Wallace, dropped their opening matches but not without battling hard. It's another great atmosphere, volleyball is so important in Nebraska and to have three teams in the conference get to state was incredible. Read about day one here, day two here, and day three here.
5. D-7 District Track- What a track meet. So many great performances. Eleven RPAC Teams were there, Dundy County Stratton boys dominated the invite as a team and their individuals showed out. As a team, they had 109 points, and won 8 of the 9 events they were in. The Girls were fantastic too, specifically in the 400-meter dash, Clara Spargo of DCS won with a 57.74, and Adi Hunt of Southern Valley took 2nd with a 57.80. JoLie Farr of Cambridge broke the Class D state 100-meter record in. And how about all eight girls in the 100-meter dash qualifying for state? insane! Read that full article recap here.
4. Boys State Basketball- The RPAC had a pair of representatives at state for Boys basketball. Dundy County Stratton in D1, and Maywood-Hayes Center in D2. The Tigers dropped their first-round game against Ainsworth another great season from DCS. For Maywood-Hayes Center, they beat Elm Creek and then SEM before facing Shelton. Again, this is an atmosphere one. Read about Dundy County's first round game here.   And then Maywood-Hayes Center's first game, second game, and title game here.
3. Girls State Basketball- Southern Valley and Paxton qualified for state on the hoops side. Paxton was an 8 seed and lost in the first round in Class D2. Another solid performance, they hung around for a half, but the eventual champions, Overton. Southern Valley made it to the title game, beating EPPJ in the first round, and avenging a loss to GACC, and who could forget Ann Bose's ridiculous inbound pass off the defender's back to result in a layup late in the game? The Eagles ended up losing to Pender in the title game, but what a fun run. Read about Paxton's game here.  You can read about Southern Valley's game one here, game two here, and title game
2. State Wrestling- Like I said earlier, I have not covered a ton of wrestling. And this was my first time at State Wrestling. What an atmosphere. Wrestlers in the RPAC did well, but it this one is so much about the experience. Friday night is insane with all of the fans, music, etc. Just a great event in Omaha. My words here don't do it justice. Read about day one here, day two here, and day three here.
1. State Track- This has quickly become my favorite event to cover. And again a big atmosphere here, but the athletes were awesome. A bunch of school records broke, and some state records broke. Including Adi Hunt of Southern Valley breaking the 100-meter record set a week before at Districts by Cambridge's JoLie Farr. Hunt's time was 12.30 and that was a Class D and Class State Meet Record. Of course, Spargo was awesome again in the 400, winning that event with a state and state meet record time, Ashley Robertson of Wallace won the mile and then on the boy's side there was a ton of good stuff too, but look at Carson Trompke of Cambridge as he won both the mile and two-mile. So many performances, we could go on and on. And with all of that said, Southern Valley girls were the runner-ups! An awesome meet. Read day one here and day two here.
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