Opportunity to qualify for state finals is next
for G-A cross country team members
The Galesburg-Augusta boys and girls cross country teams completed the regular season at the Gobles Little Guys Invitational October 19 and now team members will be aiming to qualify for the Individual State Finals at the regionals October 26 at Portage Central.
Cross Country Finals qualification will include a minimum of seven individual qualifiers from each Regional race. All individuals receiving a top 15 medal at the regionals qualify for the Individual State Finals. If the number of individual medalists is less than seven, then the additional qualifiers (up to seven) will be taken from the individual runners following 15th place.
The lower peninsula Division 3 and 4 State Finals will be held November 2 at 9:30 a.m. at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn.
Both G-A teams did not have enough runners to score as a team at the Gobles Little Guys Invite, but G-A senior Landen Bouchard finished fourth out of a field of 121 runners.
The G-A senior, who set G-A’s school record three times this year, finished with a time of 17:54.48.
Ram senior Carter Stevens also enjoyed a top 10 finish with a time of 18:12.39 in 10th place.
Ellesa Callender, with a time of 27:16.50 in 64th place, and Claire Callender, with a time of 27:17.43, in 65th place, were the two G-A participants in the girls race.
Holland Black River won the boys race with 34 points and Niles won the girls race with 48 points.
G-A did not have enough runners to score as a team in the two-mile middle school boys race won by Kalamazoo Hackett with 19 points.
Vinny Finedell was the first Ram to finish, posting a time of 15:46.71 in 32nd place.
The Rams also did not have enough runners to score as a team in the middle school girls race, however G-A eighth grader Sophia Dohm finished third out of a field of 52 runners with a time of 14:53.63.
Gobles Little Guys Invitational
Men
G-A Results
4-Landen Bouchard, 17:54.48, 10-Carter Stevens, 18:12.3945-Ashton Dingee, 20:04.62, 48-Nick Stevens, 20:11.44
Women
G-A Results
64-Ellesa Callender, 27:16.50, 65-27:17.43
2-Mile Middle School Race
Boys
G-A Results
32-Vinny Finedell, 15:46.71, 40-Cameron Kuhse, 17:24.98, 47-Colten Tiller, 19:39.21, 48-Matthew Chichester, 19:46.44
Girls
G-A Results
3-Sophia Dohm, 14:53.63, 23-Neva Freed, 16:42.54
Pictured from left is Nick Stevens, Carter Stevens, Ashton Dingee, Landen Bouchard and Knighten Rockwell leaving Delton-Kellogg for Galesburg-Augusta High School with the game ball for homecoming later that night at G-A High School.
(Photo by Audre Balanda)G-A settles for 2nd place at
Constantine Tournament;
host district tournament
The Galesburg-Augusta varsity volleyball team claimed a second place trophy at the Constantine Tournament October 19.
G-A coach Jonica Klimp said many teams dropped out about a week before the event, leaving just four teams to compete.
G-A started strong against a competitive Centreville team in pool, earning a split.
The Rams went 2-3 in bracket play before losing in two games to Constantine in the finals.
The Ram coach felt her team was aggressive serving, which led to more service errors. She hopes to reduce the number of service errors by the time the team begins district tournament play.
Senior Jaidyn Klimp had an impressive day, leading the team in kills (47), blocks (7), and digs (34).
Suzanne Nichols had 65 assists to go with 26 digs, Lili Thompson added 20 digs and Lily Gilbert contributed 19 digs and 15 kills.
G-A winds down the regular season October 28 in a road game at Climax-Scotts before the district tournament begins November 4 at G-A High School. Besides G-A, Comstock, Decatur, Kalamazoo Christian, Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic and Lawton are in the district. The top seeds are seeded and then using a formula the rest of the bracket will be set. The brackets will be revealed October 27.
Constantine Tournament
G-A Stat Leaders
Jaidyn Klimp - 3 aces, 47 kills, 34 digs, 7 blocks, 1 assist
Suzanne Nichols - 4 aces, 4 kills, 26 digs, 1 block, 65 assists
Megan Ranes - 7 aces, 7 kills, 5 digs, 1 block
Lily Gilbert - 2 aces, 15 kills, 19 digs, 4 blocks
Lili Thompson - 7 aces, 3 kills, 20 digs, 2 assists
Rhyann Wilson - 6 aces, 10 kills, 8 digs, 1 block, 25 assists
Samantha Mobley - 10 digs
BreAnna Keene - 1 ace, 8 kills, 3 digs
Grace Gibson - 8 kills, 13 digs, 1 assist
Addison Born - 1 kill, 15 digs, 1 assist
Charlotte Lockner - 1 ace, 1 kill, 1 dig, 1 assist
Lady Rams Enjoy Strong Performance
in Win Over Coloma
The Ram coach said Coloma was a strong hitting team similar to her unit, but the team answered with a consistent and strong effort in all three games.
Jaidyn Klimp had 13 kills, 14 digs and six blocks, Suzanne Nichols totaled 23 assists and 14 digs and Addison Born had 10 digs.
G-A Def. Coloma, 25-21, 25-13, 25-22
G-A Stat Leaders
Jaidyn Klimp - 13 kills, 14 digs, 6 blocks, 3 assists
Suzanne Nichols - 2 aces, 3 kills, 14 digs, 2 blocks, 23 assists
Megan Ranes - 2 kills, 1 assist
Lily Gilbert - 6 aces, 5 kills, 5 digs
Lili Thompson - 1 ace, 1 kill, 7 digs
Rhyann Wilson - 3 kills
Samantha Mobley - 2 aces, 3 digs
BreAnna Keene - 2 digs
Grace Gibson - 2 kills, 6 digs, 1 assist
Addison Born - 10 digs, 1 assist
Charlotte Lockner - 1 kill, 1 assist
G-A Places 3rd in SAC Division
The Galesburg-Augusta varsity volleyball team finished third overall in the SAC Central Division by downing Holland Black River in four games October 15 at G-A High School.
G-A had a strong start, winning the first set 25-8, however the River Rats made some adjustments and were able to secure a 27-25 win in the second game. The Lady Rams answered with two strong games to secure the win by winning the final two sets, 26-16 and 25-22.
Jaidyn Klimp totaled 19 kills to go with 12 digs and five blocks, Suzanne Nichols had a strong match setting with 40 assists, Megan Ranes added 14 kills and Lily Gilbert had a team high seven aces.
G-A Def. Holland Black River, 25-8, 25-27, 25-16, 25-22
G-A Stat Leaders
Jaidyn Klimp - 2 aces, 19 kills, 12 digs, 5 blocks
Suzanne Nichols - 6 aces, 1 kill, 9 digs, 1 block, 40 assists
Megan Ranes - 2 aces, 14 kills, 5 digs, 1 block, 1 assist
Lily Gilbert - 7 aces, 5 kills, 9 digs, 2 assists
Lily Thompson - 4 aces, 1 kill, 9 digs
Rhyann Wilson - 1 ace, 3 kills, 4 assists
Samantha Mobley -2 digs
BreAnna Keene - 2 kills
Grace Gibson - 3 kills, 2 digs
Addison Born - 7 digs
Charlotte Lockner - 1 kill, 1 dig, 1 assist
Comets deal Rams crushing defeat
By Dale Martin
Any hopes for a winning season and possible post season playoff berth slipped through the hands of the Rams in a 32-27 loss to Coloma last Friday at Coloma.
Coloma scored two first quarter touchdowns, the first a 69-yard run by Zacorius Tanner and the second on a lateral and 40-yard pass from Tanner to Lucadis Fonseca. Maverick Kraemer added a two-point conversion run, giving the hosts a 14-0 lead.
On the final play of the quarter Kraemer was sacked by the Ram defense causing a fumble that was scooped up by Nolan Brewer who raced 53 yards for Galesburg-Augusta’s first score.
On the second play of the second quarter Kraemer rushed for a gain of eight yards but lost the ball when tackled and Brewer was in position to pick up his second fumble recovery of the game.
G-A was unable to move the ball and was forced to punt the ball back to the Comets.
Owen Pfeiffer’s kick was fumbled at the ten yard line and Ethan Thomas fell on the ball giving the Rams a first down at the Coloma ten yard line.
Brewer was sacked for a 6 yard loss on the first play but connected with Giovanni Evans for a touchdown on the next play. G-A narrowed the Coloma lead to 14-12 going into halftime.
The Rams wasted little time as they took the second half kickoff and moved 48 yards in five plays to take the lead.
A big play of the drive was a third and six, 40-yard pass from Brewer to Jeremiah Mann, giving G-A a first down at the Coloma four-yard line. Brewer bulled his way in for the touchdown from the two and then passed to Thomas for the two-point conversion, giving the Rams a 20-14 lead.
The lead didn’t last long as the Comets went on a 9 play, 62-yard drive with Kraemer covering the final five for the tying score.
After a G-A three and out on its next possession the Comets mounted a seven play drive that carried over into the fourth quarter.
The 87-yard drive was completed with Dylan Groendyk going the final 28 yards and Coloma had retaken the lead, 26-20.
G-A again was unable to sustain a drive and punted the ball back to the Comets.
Their 12-play drive, all on the ground, covered 92 yards and Tanner’s 2 yard run seamed to put the game on ice for Coloma.
Now trailing 32-20 with three minutes on the clock, the Rams needed a miracle.
An eleven yard end run by Brewer, a botched play that Brewer turned into a 49-yard run and an eleven-yard loss on a quarterback sack found G-A at the Comets’ 31-yard line. Brewer then tossed a perfect pass into the corner of the endzone where Mann fought off the defender for a Ram touchdown. Pfeiffer’s point after kick gave the Ram faithful a glimmer of hope with 1:35 to play and a 32-27 deficit.
Pfeiffer made the perfect onside kick with Mann recovering it for the Rams at the Comet 49-yard line.
A 12-yard completion to Mann gave the Rams a first down at the Coloma 22-yard line. Unfortunately, two incomplete passes, two short runs and a holding penalty weren’t enough and the game ended with G-A dropping a 32-27 heart breaker.
The G-A rushing attack was held to 114 yards with Brewer picking up 47 yards and Jonah Ranes 38 yards. Brewer completed 10 passes for 148 yards with Mann making 6 catches for 105 yards.
Ranes led the defense with 17 tackles. Mann and Brewer each made 9 and Dominic Corsi made 8.
The Rams (3-5) will finish the 2024 season on October 25 with Senior Night at Maskill Field with South Haven as their opponent.
Coach Bill Maskill sculpture dedication will take place in 2025
The Climax Crescent has learned the sculpture of legendary late long time Galesburg-Augusta football coach Billl Maskill Kalamazoo artist Joshua Diedrich made, will not be completed at the foundry in time for the final regular season game at G-A October 25.
G-A Athletic Director Mike Woodard said the plan is for a ceremony to be held at the first home game of the 2025 football season.
Hall of Fame recognition for Bill Maskill Jr.
A 1967 graduate of Galesburg-Augusta High School, Maskill arrived at Midwestern State in the Spring of 2002.
Maskill, the son of legendary and Hall of Fame long time G-A football coach Bill Maskill, is Midwestern State University’s all-time leader with 160 wins, while leading the Mustangs to five Lone Star Conference championships with nine NCAA Division II postseason appearances.
Maskill, who recently retired, directed the Mustangs to 19 winning seasons, including in each of his first 17 years in Wichita Falls.
The Climax Crescent will have expanded coverage on this story in the November 1 issue.
