New Page 1

Girls earn Big 8, District track & field titles

The Carl Junction girls' track team claimed titles at both the 2010 Big 8 Conference track meet as well as the 2010 District meet. Full stories provided by The Joplin Globe can be found on the cjbulldogs.com Track & Field pages.

District Meet

Carl Junction’s girls won the district track and field championship Saturday and advanced to the sectional round in 11 events.

A 2-3 finish by Korie Johnson and Desiree Felker in the 300-meter hurdles, and a second-place finish in the 4x400-meter relay, the last event of the day, capped Carl Junction’s winning effort.

“It’s the first time we’ve won the district in a long time,” said Carl Junction head coach Frank Pittman. “The seniors have worked real hard. The whole team has.

“I didn’t realize we would score this many points. They’re a consistent bunch,” he said. “I’m very proud of them.”

Big 8 Meet
The Carl Junction girls' track team won the 2010 Big 8 Conference with an impressive 160-point total, easily topping runner-up Monett's 97 points.

The win came at Carl Junction's Bulldog Stadium and was the team's fourth conference title in the past five years.

Winter sports season comes to end for CJ

Carl Junction's Bulldogs teams have completed the 2009-10 winter sports schedule in wrestling, as well as boys' and girls' basketball.

The Wrestling Team took home a 7th place finish at state, including a state runner-up finish by Trenton Landes and third-place wins for Dalton England and Levi Maggard. Landes received his coach's Bulldog Award at the Winter Sports Banquet held in early March.

Girls basketball senior Lauren McRae topped a milestone in scoring, finishing her career with 1,020 points. She was named Big 8 Co-Player of the Year while also receiving First Team honors for All-Big 8 and All-District, and was given the Bulldog Award by Coach Jonathan Wengert. Teammate Mackenzie Valenti, a junior, averaged over 10 points and 6 rebounds per game to garner All-Big 8 Second Team and All-District honors. The Bulldogs finished 9-20.

On the boys' basketball side, the Bulldogs finished 11-15. In their three tournaments, they won the final game each time to claim finishes of second (CJ Classic), fifth (Republic Invitational) and seventh (Kaminsky Classic). Jansen Adams was given the Bulldog Award from Coach Ryan Odaffer, while also receiving First Team All-Big 8 and All-District honors. Jake Stevenson was named Second Team All-Big 8 and joined Adams on the All-District Team.

Lauren McRae tops 1,000!

It was a bittersweet night for Carl Junction's Lauren McRae. The only senior on the team, McRae hit a shot in the second quarter against Webb City to give her 1,000 career points.

She would finish with 28 and a total of 1,020, but her career came to an end with the 79-59 defeat at the hands of the Lady Cardinals in the district semi-finals at Nevada.

Congratulations Lauren on an outstanding career at CJHS!

Pope signs to play tennis

Erica Pope, Carl Junction senior, has signed a letter of intent to continue her tennis career at Seminole State College. For the story, as well as a look at other recent signings, visit the "Around the Pound" section.

CJ wrestlers takes seventh in state

Led by a second place finish from Trenton Landes and third place finishes from Dalton England and Levi Maggard, the CJ wrestling team claimed seventh place in the Missouri Class 2 State Tournament.

Wrestling

Cheerleaders receive invitation to National Competition

Carl Junction's cheerleading squad finished first in their division at the recent UCA Regional Competition, earning the team an invitation to the National Competition.

Here's a big cjbulldogs.com cheer to team members Leah Brown, Adyson Conley, Brianna Davidson, Fallon Hickman, Lauren Joyner, Paige Kreighbaum, Katrina Loar, Heather Meyer, Abby Moody, Samantha Sack, Shaelyn Tatum, Cassie Williams, Chelsea Wilson, Kayley Cabalero, Karissa Hemby, Lindsey Murray, Haley Reynolds, Kayla Runnebaum, Staci Sonntag and Emma Veri.

The cheerleader coaches are Erica Johnson and Molly Miller.

Fall sports season comes to close for CJ

The Bulldogs have put away their Fall sports uniforms for another year, following a variety of victories and sports titles.

The girls' softball team earned a Big 8 Conference crown as well as a district championship. The Big 8 Player of the Year was CJ's Kaitlyn Wilson, while teammate Lauren McRae was named to the All-State Team.

The volleyball team also took home a district title, earning 19 wins.

Big 8 winners on the tennis court included the conference's #1 Doubles team of Erica Pope and Hailey Pope as well as the #6 Singles conference champion, Fien Dobbelaere.

Adyson Conley qualified for the state golf tournament. CJ's Cross Country runners were well-represented at the state meet, including Cameron Pittman on the boys' side and the entire girls team of Chelo Falkner, Casey Keeling, Lauren Clement, Candice Aton, Emily Keeter, Sagan Graskemper and Morgan Prather.

The boys' soccer team won the Thomas Jefferson Cavalier Classic.

District Champions!

Volleyball team wins Missouri Class 3 District 12 Tournament

Carl Junction, the district's top-seeded volleyball team, bounced back from an opening 25-20 loss to beat No. 2 McDonald County 25-9, 25-20 and claim the Class 3 District 12 Tournament on Tuesday night.

Carl Junction (19-11-2) advances to sectional competition. They'll meet the winner of District 11 at 3:00 in Marshfield on Saturday afternoon, 10/31.

In semifinals, Carl Junction nipped No. 4 Nevada 25-19, 19-25, 25-23 and McDonald County eliminated No. 3 East Newton 25-10, 25-20.

Leaders for Carl Junction in the final included Mackenzie Valenti (16 kills), Katelyn Joyner (21 assists), Harlee Stutesman (10 digs) and Emily Zimmerman (three blocks).

For McDonald County, Shaye Buttram had 15 assists, Ryan Parsons seven kills and two blocks and Callie Shaver eight digs.

Carl Junction coach Sarah Wall credited the Bulldogs’ two seniors, Desiree Felker and Korie Johnson, with helping turn the final around.

“They stepped up and the girls rallied around them,” Wall said. “Felker was aggressive at the net. Johnson was receiving serves very well and was making all the passes.”

District Champions!

Softball team wins Missouri Class 3 District 12 Tournament

Carl Junction, the number-two seed in the District 12 tournament, stunned the McDonald County Mustangs 3-1 in ten innings to win the 2009 district title. The win was the 20th of the season for the Bulldogs to go with 8 losses, including two defeats that came earlier in the year at the hands of the Mustangs.

But this time, when it mattered most, victory belonged to the Bulldogs.

State Sectional Game Result:
Republic 6, Carl Junction 1

For five-plus innings, each team had opportunities to score but CJ pitcher Jessica Sullivan and Mac County pitcher Kaily Harvey continued to find ways to stave off the rallies.

With the game still scoreless after five and a half innings, McDonald County did everything but push a run across in the bottom of the sixth. The Mustangs’ leadoff hitter hit a rope off of right fielder Sami Thomas’s glove, rolling to the wall. But Thomas retrieved the ball, fired it to second baseman Maddie Stevenson, and Stevenson threw a peg to Kaitlyn Wilson at third to get the hitter who was attempting to leg out a triple.

Harvey, the Mustangs’ clean-up hitter, followed with a sharp single to left. Sagan Graskemper then hauled in a Mustangs blast near the left field foul pole, and Sullivan snared a come-backer to the mound to send the game to the seventh still scoreless.

The Bulldogs then got the hit they had been looking for all night off of Harvey. With one out, Lauren McRae lined a home run over the fence in right-center, breaking the scoreless tie in a heartbeat and igniting a mob scene at home as her teammates congratulated her after her trip around the bases.

McDonald County wouldn’t give up, however, and the Mustangs kicked and ran themselves back into the game in their half of the seventh. With runners on second and third and the Bulldogs only a strike away from victory, the McDonald County hitter lined an infield single off of Sullivan’s glove tying the game at 1-1.

Sullivan retired the next hitter to send the game into extra innings.

With neither team unable to score in the eighth or ninth innings, the game pushed on past the two-hour mark and into the tenth inning.

McRae found herself in the middle of the excitement again, lining a single and putting the pressure on the McDonald County defense. McRae stole second and headed on to third base on a wild pitch, which also brought a walk to Kaitlyn Wilson. Wilson advanced to second on the play.

Graskemper followed with a looper to right-center, but the Mustangs’ center fielder made a great sliding catch to keep the runners frozen at second and third.

Kelsey Wilson came to the plate and with the crowd growing anxious, she smacked a one-out double over the center fielder’s head, scoring both McRae and Kaitlyn Wilson to put the Bulldogs up 3-1.

The Mustangs attempted a rally in their half of the tenth, getting a baserunner and bringing the tying run to the plate with only one out. But Sullivan retired the final two hitters, including Harvey, and the game-winning celebration near the center of the diamond was on.

Junior High volleyball teams finish season undefeated