Rick Peck
Special to McDonald County Press
McDonald County High School hosted its annual fall sports banquet Nov. 10 honoring members of the cross country, football, soccer, softball and volleyball teams.
Honors began with the presentation of academic awards to members of the five teams with grade point averages of 3.5 or higher. Those receiving academic awards were cross country runners Zeke Bates, Cole Cooper, Truman Craig, Alexander Guadarrama, Parker Owens, Matthew Sedillos, Colton Tweedy, Conner Wolff, Dakota Bunch, Cassadi Dowd, Emily High, Saylor Jones, Kylie Littlefield and Ruthie Bates; volleyball members Ankney Jayci, Bailey Tyson, Lauren Goff, Michela Wells, Bailey Rickett, and Brittney Stone; softball members Hanna Schmit, Abbie Hardage, Kenzie Stephens, Cloee Helm, Sarah Padilla, Hannah Leonard, Chloe Anderson, Kali McClain, Lakota Wolf and Skyler Wright; soccer members
See banquet page 3B
Chance Cawood, Elias Gallegos and Uriel Lazaro; and football members Dagan Stites, Daniel De Santiago, Cole DelosSantos, Dylan Teague, Bucky Harrell, Will Dean, Seth Atkins and Timber Bowers.
Following the presentation of academic awards, teams broke into individual groups for recaps of their respective season and the presentation of awards.
Softball
The Lady Mustangs softball team was the bright spot of the fall sports. McDonald County won its first Big 8 Conference title in any sport with a perfect 7-0 record in conference play. The Lady Mustangs finished the season with an overall record of 16-12.
Winners of the individual awards were Paige Jones, Most Valuable Player; Cloee Helm, Defensive Player of the Year; Kylie Helm, Offensive Player of the Year; Abbie Hardage, Most Improved; and Chloe Anderson, Heart and Hustle Award and Four-Year Commitment.
Cross Country
The highlight of the cross country season was Emily High qualifying for sectionals and the state meet. High finished 69th out of 165 runners in Class 4 at state.
Winners of individual awards were (boys winner listed first) Cole Cooper and Kylie Littlefield, Award for Excellence in Leadership; Wes Bethel and Emily High, Low Points; Colton Tweedy and Emily High, Most Improved; Caleb Curtis and Alexis Tuttle, Outstanding Newcomers; and Cooper, High, Littlefield and Dakota Bunch, Four-Year Commitment.
Volleyball
McDonald County upset Webb City in the first round of the Missouri Class 4 District 12 Volleyball Tournament to advance to the semifinals before falling to Carthage to end its 2015 season with a 14-15-1 record.
Winners of individual awards were Lauren Goff, Leading Service Percentage, Leading Serve Receiver and Most Digs; Destiny Arnall, Most Aces, Most Assists and Hustle Award; Brittney Stone, Most Kills and Four-Year Commitment; Bailey Rickett, Leading Kill Percentage; Bailey Tyson, Leading Dig Percentage; Lindsey Limore, Most Improved; Michela Wells, Team Player and Four-Year Commitment; and Alex Gross, Natalie Jones Award.
Football
Injuries took a toll on the Mustangs football team, but one highlight was Daniel De Santiago leading all Class 4 schools in the state in tackles. McDonald County finished the season with a 1-9 record.
Winners of individual awards were Daniel DeSantiago, John O'Brien Award, Defensive Player of the Year and Four-year Commitment; Isrreal De Santiago, Offensive Player of the Year; Mark Kailbourn, Special Teams Play of the Year; Cole DelosSantos, Most Improved; Jamie Hanke, Big Stick Award; Jarrett Sanny, Four-Year Commitment; Seth Shockley, Four-Year Commitment; Nathan Stramel, Four-Year Commitment; Seth Atkins, Four-Year Commitment; Elijah Curtis, Four-Year Commitment; Caleb Spears, Four-Year Commitment; and Jon Blevins, Four-Year Commitment.
Soccer
The McDonald County soccer team provided several highlights in its first year of existence, including winning the Cassville Tournament to open the season.
A 1-0 win over Webb City in the team's final game gave the Mustangs a very respectable 7-9 record in its first year. McDonald County did not compete in the state playoffs this year, but will be eligible in 2016 when district assignments are made for the next two years.
Winners of individual awards were Yonathan Rodriguez, Most Valuable Player; Edly Lihpai, Defensive Most Valuable Player; Alfredo Sanchez, Freshman of the Year; Jose Rodriguez, Most Improved; Cesar Santillan, Hustle Award; and Alex Garcia, Goal of the Year (overtime winner versus Aurora).
Sports on 11/19/2015