SPORTS

VARSITY SOCCER
ER blanks Cheboygan in regular season finale 

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Pipre Meteer (19) slips past the diving Boyne goalie for a first period goal. Photo by Kim Eardley Photography
The Elks wrapped up the regular season soccer schedule with a 5-0 shutout over conference rival Cheboygan on the home pitch Monday night. The win gave the Elks a 10-2 record in the first season of play in the Northern Shores Conference and sole possession of second place. The conference title was won by Harbor Springs, as the Rams were undefeated in the NSC with a record of 12-0. The two conference losses suffered by the Elks came in close games against Harbor Springs, falling 2-1 at home and 3-1 on the road against the Rams, a team they could see again in district play. The Elks dominated the rest of the conference, outscoring their opponents 51-1 with nine shutouts.

The Elks celebrated “Senior Night” on Monday, paying tribute to the senior trio of Pipre Meteer, Sofie Bellner and Jane Leahy. The game began with Bellner scoring at the five-minute mark with a rebound goal off a corner kick, Carlee Bingham followed with a goal also off a corner kick. Sierra Boilore put the Elks up 3-0 after beating two Cheboygan defenders then sending the ball into the lower left corner of the net. Bingham notched her second goal, scoring on a one touch shot from 18 yards out that sailed just under the cross bar into the net. The two teams went into halftime with the Elks holding a 4-0 lead. The final goal came with eight minutes remaining in the game courtesy of Pipre Meteer with a rebound goal coming again from a corner kick. 

Boilore was credited with one assist, Natasha Beebe had four saves in the Elk net. “It was good to give all of the girls minutes on the field as we prepare to go into district play,” said Elk varsity soccer coach Andrea Krakow. “We need to figure out how to play with intensity in the second half. The defense continues to work together, we have tried different players on the back line.”

The Elks hosted Boyne City in a conference contest last Thursday and came away with a 5-0 victory. The game was played in nearly 80-degree weather, a stark contrast from the winter mix of rain and sleet when the two squads played in Boyne City back in mid-April.

Meteer was back on the field after being sidelined for two weeks with injury and recorded the lone goal in the first half with a one touch shot that slipped around the diving Boyne keeper. Meteer scored again in the opening minutes of the second half on a rebound goal from a shot by Boilore that deflected off the Rambler keeper. Goals were added by Bingham, Bellner and Boilore, who also had an assist. In net Beebe had zero saves as the Elks controlled the ball for most of the game, outshooting the Ramblers 22-1.

The Elks hosted the Division 2 Marshall Redhawks on Friday evening and suffered a 4-1 loss. Sophie McDonald had the Elk goal late in the first half, then the teams went into halftime with the Elks trailing 2-1. Marshall added two more goals in the second half while holding the Elks scoreless. Boilore had an assist; in net Beebe tallied 13 saves. 

The Lady Elks (11-8) opened Division 4 district play with a first-round game against Glen Lake on Wednesday, played in Elk Rapids. A win would advance the Elks to a semifinal matchup against Harbor Springs, the game to be played at Suttons Bay on Tuesday (5/27) with a 4:30 p.m. starting time. The district championship game will take place at Suttons Bay on Friday (5/29) starting at 6:00 p.m.
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The soccer senior trio of Pipre Meteer, Sofie Bellner and Jane Leahy were honored on Monday night. Photo by Kim Eardley Photography

VARSITY GOLF
Elk golfers win conference in tiebreaker 

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The Elk varsity golf team with the first-place trophy won as the Northern Shores Conference golf champions: Bryce Reid, Coach Hayden Carpenter, Jack Morton, Jack Dupuie, Greyson Cook, Noah Hilley and Blake Springstead. Courtesy photo
The Northern Shores Conference League Championships went down to a tiebreaker after Elk Rapids and Charlevoix finished in a tie for first place with identical scores of 321. The top four scores out of six golfers that make up each varsity squad are combined to determine a team final score. The tiebreaker is the best score of the fifth golfer on each team, and for the Elks it was Bryce Reid shooting an 87, besting the Charlevoix fifth man with a 90, giving the Elks the NSC crown by three strokes.

The eight teams that make up the NSC met at the Harbor Point Golf Club in Harbor Springs last Thursday for the first NSC championships. The final Lake Michigan Conference title from last season was won by St. Francis with a 318, with Charlevoix in a close second place with a 320. The Elks finished in fourth place with a 337. This is a new season, with a new conference and different teams, and history will record that Elk Rapids was the winner of the inaugural Northern Shores Conference golf title. 

The top four Elks combining for the 321 total were Blake Springstead with a 72, Jack Morton scored 82, Greyson Cook tallied an 83 and Noah Hilley finished with 84. The final two Elks were Reid, with the tiebreaking 87 and Jack Dupuie turning in a 94.

The top ten individual golfers had three Elks, with Springstead in second place, Cook tied for seventh and Hilley tied for tenth. Boyne City finished in third place with a 339, followed by Harbor Springs (340), Grayling (353), Cheboygan (380), Kalkaska (413) and Kingsley (436).

The Elks were in Charlevoix on Monday to play in the Jimmy Glynn Rayder Invitational, played at the Belvedere Golf Club. There were 11 squads competing, the Elks finished in fourth place with a 343, two strokes behind Charlevoix with a 341. In first place was St. Francis shooting a 299, Tawas Area finished second with a 305.

The Elk top four were Springstead with a 73, the second-best individual score for the meet, along with Reid (87), Hilley (90), and Cook (93). Rounding out the Elk team was Dupuie (93) and Morton (103).
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The Elks will next play in the Boyne Invitational on Thursday at Boyne Mountain Resort.

VARSITY TRACK AND FIELD
Elk girls win first ever track regional 

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Tabitha Pritchard leaping her way to a medal in the 100m hurdles. Photo by Kim Eardley Photography
The Division 3 Regional Track Meet was held at Charlevoix last Thursday with the Elk Rapids girls team coming in as Regional Champions with a first-place finish for the first time in Elk Rapids school history. The Elk girls took home the regional title hardware tallying 86 points, Standish Sterling finished in second place (77.33) and Harrison was third (75.33).

The boys meet winner was Standish Sterling with 138 points, Charlevoix finished second (127), and the Elks took third place with 96 points. There were 16 teams competing at the regional meet.

In order to qualify for the state finals an athlete must finish first or second in their event or they can equal or beat a State Qualifier (SQ) time that is pre-determined for each event.

The Elk girls had three regional champions with first-place finishes by Hunter Shellenbarger in 400m (1:00.86), Anna Pray for the 800m (2:23.23) and Brynne Schulte running the 1600m (5:22.14). Qualifying for the state finals with second-place finishes were Shellenbarger in 200m (26.88), Schulte for the grueling 3200m run (12:26.46), and the 4x400 relay team (4.25.65) of Leighton Smith, Pray, Joelle Swanson and Shellenbarger.

The Elk boys were regional champions in four events with first-place finishes by Max Ward in both the 110m hurdles (15.18) and 300m hurdles (39.42) along with the 4x400 relay team (3:32.84) of Noah Liggett, Miles Prabhaker, Gavin Hamilton and Ward, and the 4x800 relay foursome (8:19.28) of Keegan Kiel, Qwynn Darnell, Hamilton and Ward. A second-place finish in the 4x100 relay advanced the team of Mason Cannon, Ben Dyste, Connor Carlisle and Keil to the state meet.

There are 15 Elks headed to the Division 3 State Finals this year, 10 from the boys team and five girls, with several athletes competing in multiple events.

The first Northern Shores Conference Championships were held on Wednesday (5/21) in Charlevoix. The Elk track teams have never won a conference title, but the new banner on order to mark the first Elk girls regional win will have room for a pair of Elk track conference wins.

On Tuesday, the 51st Annual John Lober Honor Roll Invitational will take place at TC Central with several Elk track athletes qualifying to compete against some of the top track stars in the area. The Division 3 State Finals will be held at Kent City High School on Saturday, May 31.

Thirty-six-year-old track record falls at regionals
The 4x800 relay time of 8:19.28 is a new Elk school record, crushing the previous record of 8:28.80 set 36 years ago in 1989 by Andre Thibert, Steve Thomas, Kevin Butler and current Elk track coach Cam Ward. The new record names will read K. Keil, Q. Darnell, G. Hamilton, M. Ward, the last name replacing the older, more seasoned C. Ward with an entirely new Ward!

VARSITY TENNIS
Misses state finals by one point

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The sun sets on the Elk tennis team at the regional meet where the Elks missed advancing to the state finals by a single point. Courtesy photo
The Elk varsity girls tennis team had a goal of a fifth straight trip to the tennis state finals this season, but they came up just short at the Division 4 Tennis Regionals held at St. Elizabeth last Thursday. The goal was as close as a team can get to becoming a reality. At any regional meet the winning team and the runner-up team automatically advance to the state finals, along with any team that scores 18 or more points at the regional meet. 

Harbor Springs won regionals with a first-place tally of 27 points and St. Francis was the runner-up team with a second-place score of 26 points. Elk Rapids finished in third place with 17 points, just a single point away from advancing to their fifth consecutive state finals meet.

“I am really proud of these girls. They worked hard in a strange, wet and cold season. We did what we could with the time we had and came up one point short. I’m very proud to have coached this team,” said Elk varsity tennis coach Keith Schulte.

The Elks made the championship match in three flights; second seeded singles Remy Croftchik, along with the first seed doubles tandem of Gaby Morton and Josephine Lorenz, falling in a three-set championship match and the number two doubles duo of Chole Taylor and Maggie Best also lost in a three-set championship round.

The Elks had four flights make the semifinals, but none would move into the championship round, although each flight battled hard on the court. There were two semifinal losses in singles play from first seed Anneka Croftchik and fourth seeded Braelyn Nelson along with two semifinal losses in doubles competition from third seed Olivia Cargill and Leilani Sigrah and the fourth seeded LeAnn Simon and Colette Felker.
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Congratulations to the Elk girls tennis players and coaches on a great season with a near trip to the state finals. Elk Pride!

VARSITY BASEBALL AND SOFTBALL
History made and droughts snapped by Elks on diamonds this week 

The new Northern Shores Conference that Elk Rapids sports teams are competing in this year allows for a slew of “history making moments” throughout the school year. The 2024-25 team in any sport that wins the conference title will forever be enshrined on various school banners and trophies as the first team to win the NSC crown, no matter which of the eight schools that make up the NSC accomplishes the feat.
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The Elk Rapids varsity baseball and softball teams are both in strong positions to win the Northern Shores Conference title this first season. The Elk baseball team was tied with Kingsley for first place and then split a doubleheader, leaving both squads with conference records of 9-1 with four games to play. The Elks improved to 11-1 with a sweep of Grayling and had the final two NSC games against Charlevoix postponed until Thursday. Kingsley also improved to 11-1 with a sweep of Kalkaska, then the Stags traveled to Boyne City on Tuesday for the final two conference games with the Ramblers. Kingsley won the opener 12-1 but dropped the second game 2-1 to finish with a conference record of 12-2. The Elks can win the conference with a sweep of Charlevoix on Thursday and a split with the Rayders will make the Elks co-champions with the Stags.

The Lady Elks varsity softball team has been on a tear this season, tallying an 18-game win streak and were 10-0 in conference play including sweep of Kingsley team that was tied with the Elks for first in the conference with records of 8-0.

The Elks traveled to Grayling and won the first game 12-1 over the Vikings but stumbled in game two and suffered a 3-1 loss, ending the winning streak at 18 games and setting their NSC record at 11-1 with a final conference doubleheader at Charlevoix scheduled for Thursday.

Kingsley won two conference games at Kalkaska for a 10-2 NSC record then headed to Boyne City for their final two conference games on Tuesday. The Ramblers downed the Stags in game one 16-5, then blew a big lead in game two giving the Stags a 17-12 win and final 11-3 NSC record. The Lady Elks can win the conference by taking one of two games at Charlevoix on Thursday, and even if they were to lose twice to the Rayders, they would be co-champions with the Stags.

History can be made by Elk baseball and Elk softball this week – they both just have to win. They don’t need help from any other teams, as they both control their own destiny. Along with the “history making” accomplishment there comes an “end of the drought” event.

Elk baseball has not won a conference title in 17 years, the last time was in 2008. The Elk softball has a longer conference drought, the last one came 22 years ago back in 2003. The last time both teams recorded conference titles together was 27 years ago in 1998.

Now is the time, history will be made, and conference drought streaks will be snapped. This begins a new year for Elk Rapids softball and baseball. Go to Charlevoix, and to quote the late Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis, “Just win, baby!”

VARSITY BASEBALL
Elks get conference wins

Cancellations and weather have played havoc with the Elk varsity baseball schedule leaving the Elks with a single doubleheader against conference rival Grayling last Thursday. The Elks swept the Vikings 11-2 in the first game and 12-1 in the nightcap to improve to 11-1 in Northern Shores Conference play. 
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Alex Barber started on the mound in game one, lasting five innings allowing three hits, two earned runs with nine Ks and six walks. Nathan Barton pitched the final inning and gave up two hits with no harm done. The Elks led 3-2 after one inning and Grayling would not score again. The Elks added single runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings then erupted for five runs in the sixth inning. The Elks tallied 13 hits, led by Braden Fluty with three hits including a double and a homer, his second of the season, to go with four RBIs, Jayden Hresko, Ethan Draper and Dom Fortuna each doubled in the game.

Draper took the hill in game two, throwing five innings, allowing just two hits and earned one with five walks and six strikeouts. The Elks led 12-0 after five innings and just five hits, Barber had a double, Draper doubled with two RBIs. The Elks drew 12 walks and struck out just three times while playing an error-free game defensively. The Elks owned the base paths, racking up 21 steals; Barber tallied four, and Fluty, Fortuna, Hresko and Barton each stole three times.

Elk Rapids (15-9, 11-1 NSC) will play the final conference doubleheader at Charlevoix on Thursday, then are scheduled to play the regular season finale in Gaylord on Friday.

The Elks begin Division 3 district play against Harbor Springs on Tuesday (5/27) playing in Mancelona. A win will advance the Elks to district semifinal on Saturday (5/31) against the host Ironmen. The district championship game will take place on Saturday (5/31) in Mancelona.

VARSITY SOFTBALL
Softballers lose one to Vikings, remain in first place 

The Lady Elks had an 18-game winning streak snapped and lost the first conference game this season at Grayling with a split against the Vikings last Thursday. The Elks won the opener 12-1 but fell 3-1 in the nightcap.
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Coraline Rainey pitched a complete game one, allowing three hits, one earned run with six strikeouts and four walks. The Elks had 14 hits, led by Rhielynn Skrocki with three hits including a home run. Rainey had three hits with a double. The Elks broke a scoreless tie, scoring six runs in the fourth inning then added six more runs in the sixth inning. Rainey was on the mound for the Elks. She struck out six and walked four.

In game two Jillian Moazeni started on the hill, throwing 4.1 innings, giving up four hits, three earned runs and fanned five with three walks. Rainey pitched to the final two batters and fanned both. The Elks scattered six hits and managed one run in the fourth inning. Grayling scored two in the first inning then added a run in the third and kept the normally potent Elk offense from scoring.

The Lady Elks played a conference doubleheader at Kingsley with first place in the Northern Shores Conference at stake. The two teams came into the game with identical 8-0 conference records and both have a goal of winning the first NSC title. 

The Elks moved into sole possession of first place with a sweep of the Stags, winning game one 6-5 and taking the nightcap 3-1 in extra innings. Skrocki was the starting pitcher for the opener, throwing one inning, allowing three hits, one earned run with two strikeouts. Rainey pitched five innings, allowing three hits, four unearned runs with five Ks and two walks. A two-run dinger by Haleigh Yocom gave the Elks a 2-0 lead, Kingsley got one run back, leaving the Elks ahead 2-1 after one inning. The teams both scored a run in the second inning, the Elks tacked on three runs in the third to increase their advantage to 5-2. The Stags came back with three runs in the fourth, tying the game at 5-5.

In the top of the fifth Moazeni patiently drew a leadoff walk, took second base on a wild pitch and moved to third on a fielder’s choice groundball by Rainey. The next Elk batter was Amanda McCann, who laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt scoring Moazeni and giving the Elks a 6-5 lead. Rainey struck out the Stags in order to end the fifth, then finished them off in the sixth inning with two strikeouts and a groundout and secured the win for Elk Rapids. Brooke Fluty led the team with two hits, including a triple.

In the nightcap Rainey pitched all 6.2 innings, giving up four hits, one unearned run and striking out nine with two walks. Fluty led off with a triple and scored on an RBI single from Skrocki for a 1-0 Elk lead. The Stags were held scoreless over the next five innings and were down to their last out in the bottom of the sixth, but remained alive with back-to-back singles, then took advantage of an Elk error to score a run and tie the game at 1-1 at the end of regulation.

In the top of the seventh McCann started on second base, as per the extra inning rules. Payton Friess laced a single into right field and took second on the throw in with McCann advancing to third. The next two Elk batters were out on attempted bunts, Fluty rapped a single to leftfield scoring both runners and put the Elks ahead 3-2 lead. Rainey struck out the first Stag, got the second Stag to ground out, and tallied the third out on a caught foul tip that ending the game. Elk Rapids earned the sweep and sole possession of first place in the NSC.

“This team is a group of athletic, gritty players who just want to play and win. They don’t accept losing,” said Elk varsity softball coach Erin Merchant. “They understand the game, what to do in any situation, and they are aggressive and very supportive of each other. They play like my teams did back in the late 1990s!”

The Lady Elks (24-4, 10-0 NSC) play the final conference twinbill at Charlevoix on Thursday, followed by the final home game of the season against TC Central on Friday. The Lady Elks will close out the regular season with a doubleheader at Buckley on Tuesday.