The gauntlet has been thrown for Allen Community College’s cross country teams.
The ACC men’s squad has been voted the top NJCAA Division II squad in the nation, as per the first Hill N Dale rankings of 2013.
The women also are ranked third in the country.
The ranking is nice, Allen head coach Vince DeGrado said, but has little bearing on his team’s success.
“It’s nice for the social media sites,” he said, “and it means there’s a respect factor with this team. But I’d rather be ranked No. 1 after eight or nine weeks than to be ranked right now.”
Allen was the unanimous choice among Hill N Dale voters, putting the Red Devils above such cross country powerhouses as Iowa Central, Highland and Johnson County.
Iowa Central’s women were the tops in their poll, also by unanimous vote, in front of Johnson County in second and Allen in third.
“Now it’s up to us to prove it,” he said. “If we’re not racing, we have to prove it in practice.”
Allen’s next race is Sept. 21 at Missouri Southern in Joplin.

LE ROY — A mid-game uprising from the Burlingame High Bearcats proved to be too much for the Southern Coffey County High Titans Friday night — they were edged out 26-24 in Le Roy.
After punching out quick scores in the first half, the Titans went up 16-0 against their opponent. Then things started to turn around.
“Fundamentally, we really broke down in our blocking and tackling,” Head Coach Korey Lankton said.
The Bearcats responded with 20 unanswered points in the second and third quarters. Despite a third-quarter response from the Titans, it wasn’t enough.
“They had a lot of momentum,” Lankton said.
The Titan offensive line struggled to make adjustments against a frequent blitz from their opponent, and that was all she wrote.
“We just didn’t pick it up,” he said.
SCC rushed for 133 yards, and passed for 55. Both teams racked up 10 penalties apiece.
Walker Harred led the Titans in rushing with 105 yards on 18 rushes, followed by Chism Newkirk with 25 yards on seven rushes. Josiah Witteman led in receptions with three catches for 33 yards. Defensively, Newkirk totaled six solo tackles, followed by Harred, Witteman and Brier Johnson with four each.
Burlingame    6-6-8-6—26
SCC    16-0-8-0—24
Burlingame     SCC
Rushing    51-249       29-133
Passing-yards  32        55
Total yards  282      188
Passes 4/7           6/16   

ARMA — It was a showcase of talent for the Humboldt Cubs Friday, as they edged the Northeast-Arma Vikings, 20-14.
“There’s nothing like gametime speed to look at yourself and see what you need to do,” Head Coach K.C. Criss said of his team. While the win wasn’t perfect, he was encouraged by the players’ efforts.
Both teams put up one touchdown in the first half. Alex Murrow hit Hunter Murrow on a 21-yard pass midway through the first to put the Cubs on the board. Arma responded with a 51-yard run and then another 21-yard rush for the endzone to start the second quarter to put the Vikings up 14-6.
On the ensuing kickoff, Bryce Isaac rambled 80 yards for six points. Alex Murrow hit Hunter Murrow yet again with an 18-yard pass to put the Cubs up 20-14.
That was all Humboldt needed.
A scoreless second half sealed the win.
“They played their hearts out, I’m proud of them,” Criss said.
The Cubs rushed for 198 yards and went 6 for 12 passing for 75 yards.
Caleb Vanetta led the team in rushing with 140 yards on 26 carries, Hunter Murrow led in receptions with four receptions for 64 yards.
Humboldt     6-14-0-0—20
NE Arma     6-8-0-0—14
                  Humboldt    NE Arma
First downs     12    8
Rushing        38-198    41-249
Passing-yard     75    13
Total yards    273    262
Passing        6/12     1/11
Fumbles    1    2
Punting    4/29.5    3/38.3

SEDAN — Yates Center High’s Wildcats broke a three-season losing streak in convincing fashion Friday, blasting host Sedan 48-22.
The Wildcats were spearheaded by the legs and arm of senior quarterback Caleb DeNoon, who rushed for 254 yards and three touchdowns, while throwing for 89 more and another score.
“The kids have bought into the new spread offense,” Yates Center coach Ben Wiehn said. “The guys did a great job of creating some running lanes for Caleb.”
Yates Center led 22-0 after one quarter before Sedan closed the gap to 22-14, and twice had possession with a chance to tie.
But the Wildcat defense stiffened after the break, and Yates Center’s offense found its footing again.
Austin McNett added 96 yards and two touchdowns on the ground, while Trevor Chism had 41 yards on two catches and a touchdown. Robert Arnold added 34 yards on three receptions.
Yates Center racked up 498 yards of offense.
On defense, McNett had 12 tackles,  eight solo, with two foumble recoveries. Tony Estes had 10 stops, six solo, and one tackle for loss. Justin Rossillon had two tackles for loss among his five stops. Robert Arnold had six tackles, four of which were for losses.

CANEY — A pair of Yates Center High golfers shot career-best scores for the Wildcats Thursday.
Becky Wendland’s 106 earned her a tie for 16th place at the Caney Valley invitational. Marlana Buchanan shot a 114 to tie for 23rd.
“Both girls said this was their career best scores, so I am pleased,” Wildcat head coach Kevin Barnes said. “Putting was a weakness for them today, but I expected that. Hopefully as the season goes on, they will get the feel for grass greens better.”
Caney took top team score with a 378. Tambrelee McNair of Girard was the top individual golfer.

COLONY — Brent Smith figured his young Crest High squad would take some lumps this year. Its first such learning experience came Thursday at the hands of visiting Pleasanton.
The Blu-Jays held Crest out of the end zone, while slowly but steadily keeping up the pressure in a  48-0 win.
The loss came in Crest’s season opener. The Lancers return to action Friday at home against Marmaton Valley in the school’s annual homecoming game.
“We just don’t have many kids with varsity experience,” Smith said. “But we have to go through this in order to get better. We’ll be all right.”
Pleasanton led 14-0 after one quarter and 22-0 at halftime. The Blu-Jays scored twice in a five-minute stretch in the third quarter to push their lead to 36-0.
Two more touchdowns, the second with 6:33 left in the game, ended the contest via Kansas’ eight-man mercy rule.
Clayton Miller led the Lancer rushing attack with 54 yards on 11 carries, followed by Codi Vermillion’s 40 yards on 14 carries. Austin Green was 1 of 7 passing, a 22-yard toss to Brandon Brallier. The Lancers rushed for 121 yards as a team.
Miller led the Lancer defense with 11 tackles. Landon Stephens added two sacks. Braden McGhee and Kellen Ramsey added one sack each.
“We showed our inexperience and youth, but we will improve as the season goes on,” Smith said.
Pleasanton    14-8-14-12—48
Crest    0-0-0-0—0
 

INDEPENDENCE — It took a while for Iola Middle School’s eighth-grade volleyball team to find its footing Thursday.
But when they did, the Ponies were downright unstoppable.
Iola dropped its first match against Independence, 25-14, 25-13, before responding in a big way, thumping Coffeyville, 25-9, 25-11, in the team’s season opener.
Iola’s seventh-graders followed a similar pattern, dropping a 25-20, 25-15 decision to their hosts from Independence before defeating Coffeyville, 25-10, 25-12.
“First-game jitters got the best of us,” eighth-grade head coach Terri Carlin said. “We didn’t really play that bad. We just had too many little mistakes overall. We were a little flat and didn’t serve or hit tough enough.”
Scout Rush had two aces and two kills, while Madison Carlin had four assists. Emma Weseloh added three assists and an ace, while Katie Bauer and Colbi Riley added three and two kills, respectively.

THE COFFEYVILLE game was an entirely different story.
“The girls came out ready to play in this match,” Carlin said. “We were doing everything better and stronger. There was more communication and enthusiasm.”
Bauer delivered 15 straight service points during one stretch, to go with two aces and two kills. Rush had seven ace serves, two kills and an assist. Madison Carlin had five ace serves and four assists. Riley had four kills, an ace and a block. Weseloh had four assists. Karly McGuffin delivered a kill. Sophie Whitney came off the bench with several nice passes, Carlin said. “She also made all of her serves.”

THE seventh-graders were hampered by a 60 percent service percentage in their opener against Independence, said head coach Stacy Sprague. “This combined with first-night nerves and fundamental passing errors left us short.”
Still, the Ponies showed reason for hope. Piper Moore was successful on 92 percent of her serves, while Mia Aronson was good at a 75 percent clip. Jayden Jackson was good on 63 percent of her serves. Aronson and Moore each had an ace.
Sprague praised Aronson, Jackson and Moore.
“I’m extremely proud of how these players stepped up and led the team,” she said.
Iola delivered 12 aces in its win over Coffeyville, led by Moore with five, Jackson with four and Kayla Simmons, Kendra Sprague and Aronson with one each.
“The girls worked together and moved better on the floor,” Sprague said. “The girls served much better and we made some adjustments to the lineup by having Macie (Martin) and Kayla come off the bench to serve.”
Iola hosts Royster Middle School of Chanute Tuesday.

BURLINGTON — Marmaton Valley High’s Ashtynn Louk earned a 15th-place medal Thursday in the Burlington Cross Country Invitational, while Yates Center High’s Drake Busteed took second place on the boys’ side.
Louk ran the 4K girls course in 19 minutes, 50 seconds. Busteed finished second in the 5K boys race with a time of 18:48.
On the boys’ side,  Marmaton Valley’s Garrett Booth finished 35th. He finished in 23:49.
Casey Allen led the Marmaton Valley junior varsity girls squad, finishing her 4K race in 20:20. Cody Wilson finished 10th among JV boys at 17:26.
Yates Center’s Brett Holloway followed Busteed in the varsity boys race, finishing fifth with a time of 19:31.
Hayden Splechter finished ninth in the boys junior varsity with a time of 17:12. Kim Younsic was 13th at 17:43.
Sabrina Arell finished 10th among JV girls with a time of 23:54.
Hadley Splechter won the boys seventh-grade division with a time of 5:48.
Colin Bedell won the boys eighth-grade group with a time of 5:41.

CHETOPA — The Marmaton Valley Wildcats received a rude awakening from the Chetopa Hornets, just days after losing head coach Kent Houk.
The game ended at halftime 46-0, in accordance with the Kansas eight-man football mercy rule. Head Coach Kent Houk announced his resignation Wednesday evening.
The Hornets opened the onslaught in a big way for the first quarter, racking up 32 points. They finished off the Wildcats with another 14 in the second.
The Wildcats suffered at their own hand as well — they racked up nine penalties for 80 yards.
While all coaches agreed there is “a lot of improvement” that needs to be done, they also agreed it can be fixed.
Sage Hall led Marmaton Valley in rushing yards, with 90 on 14 carries, followed by Micheal Genn with 15 carries for 64 yards — he had the sole reception for the Wildcats for 12 yards.

GARNETT — Humboldt High’s junior varsity boys took home second in the team’s first cross country meet of the season.
Sophomore Tanner Orth led the way with a seventh-place finish, completing the 5K run with a time of 21 minutes, 22 seconds. Ronny Jarred followed in 10th at 21:43, while Ethan Bartlett was 14th in 22:48.
Christian Sallee led the JV girls, finishing her 4K run in 22:51 for 28th place. Kolbyn Allen was 30th at 22:58.
Joe Kline and Jules Jones both took home top-10 finishes in the freshman boys race. Kline finished sixth at 17:28, while Jones was ninth at 17:53.
Wyatt Seuffert placed second among eighth-grade boys, finishing the 3200-meter run in 13:21. Josh Vanatta was ninth at 15:27. Brady Slocum was 11th at 16:22.
“For our first meet, I was pleased with the way everyone ran,” Humboldt head coach Eric Carlson said. “This is always a tough meet in regard to course, weather and competition. We won’t see a course this challenging until the KU Rim Rock race.”
Humboldt’s results follow:
JV boys (5K)
7. Tanner Orth, 21:22
10. Ronny Jarred, 21:43
14. Ethan Bartlett, 22:48
22. Dillon Aikins, 23:39
46. Rayden Goltry, 26:11
62. Tristan Bruneau, 30:56
67. Layne Gonzalez, 34:39
68. Dawson Mauk, 35:09
70. Jimmy Mangold, 37:33
71. James Clark, 48:21
JV girls (4K)
28. Christian Sallee, 22:51
30. Kolbyn Allen, 22:58
56. Kendra McNutt, 27:20
57. Morgan Lea, 27:27
61. Morgan Wilson, 30:02
65. Hailey Dixon, 32:25
9th boys (4K)
6. Joe Kline, 17:28
9. Jules Jones, 17:53
24. Miah Schieman, 22:38
26. Jason Mangold, 22:48
8th boys (3200)
2. Wyatt Seufert, 13:21
9. Josh Vanatta, 15:27
11. Brady Slocum, 16:22