SPORTS

VARSITY FOOTBALL
Elks first loss of season 48-0 

Brendan Shockley (22) gets the handoff from quarterback Chase DeArment (2). Photo by Kim Eardley Photography

The Elks headed to Charlevoix on Friday looking to start the season at 4-0 for the first time since the undefeated 2010 regular season. The Rayders also entered the game with a perfect 3-0 record and came away still unbeaten after handing the Elks a 48-0 drubbing. The game began with the Elks receiving the opening kickoff and putting together a solid, eight play drive that covered 60 yards to the Rayder 30-yard line. An Elk fumble turned the ball over to Charlevoix, they marched into the endzone in five plays, capping off with a 33-yard run. Leading 6-0 after one quarter, the Rayders pulled away in the second, scoring on runs of 61, 52 and 41 yards, taking a 27-0 lead with two minutes remaining in the first half. The Elks came to life with quarterback Chase DeArment finding John Vanderheide open for a 48-yard pickup at the Charlevoix 18. With an eye on the clock the Elks moved closer to scoring in five plays with DeArment throwing a 10-yard pass to Ryan McGuire, the big tight end rumbled toward the endzone before being dragged down at the Rayder one. The Elks were out of timeouts, and on fourth down there was time for just one more play, but the Rayders picked off the Elk pass in the endzone to end the first half. In the third quarter Charlevoix added two more touchdowns, setting the running clock in motion with a 41-0 lead. The Rayders tacked on a final TD in the fourth quarter for the 48-0 final.

“We had chances, we had several drives that ended in mistakes that we have been working on to clean up,” said Elk varsity head coach Nate Butte. “There were some breakdowns on defense that gave up big plays. Our mistakes started to snowball, which we couldn’t dig ourselves out of. I told the team to let this one stew over the weekend, remember what it feels like, then be ready to move on to our next game with Mancelona.”

DeArment threw for 186 yards on 11-20 passing with two interceptions, Declan Shockley ran eight times for 16 yards, the Elks were minus 10 yards rushing as a team. Leading the receivers was Vanderheide with 91 yards on five catches for 91 yards, Mason Barnhard caught four passes tallying 46 yards, including a diving 13-yard catch that had the referee asking the Rayder chain gang “How on earth did he catch that?”
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“This game was a wakeup call, we are a better team that what the score showed,” said Butte. Elk Rapids (3-1, 1-1 LD) finish a three-game road trip stretch at Mancelona on Friday with a Northern Michigan Football Conference-Leaders Division battle against the Ironmen. The Elks have faced off against the Ironmen 43 times in school history, leading with an overall record of 24-28-1, but Mancelona has won the last three meetings. The 43 games are a tie with Kalkaska for the most times the Elks have faced a single opponent.

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VARSITY VOLLEYBALL
Remains unbeaten at home

Caroline Best (8) gets a hand up for a quick kill before the East Jordan defense can react. Photo by Kim Eardley Photography

The Elk varsity volleyballers held their second home meet of the season on Tuesday, hosting East Jordan in a Lake Michigan Conference contest. The Elks dispatched the Red Devils in three sets, winning the first 25-11, holding off the determined East Jordan squad to take the second set 25-22, then closed out the meet with a 25-15 third set win.

Morgan Bergquist had 12 kills, Caroline Best tallied six kills, nine digs and four aces, Rhielynn Skrocki added six kills, Mattea Ball totaled 11 digs and Ryleigh Yocom rang up 27 assists in the win. The Elks are 2-0 at home with a pair of sweeps over conference rivals. 

Last Thursday the Elks traveled to Glen Lake for a non-conference meet and left with a three-set sweep of the Lakers in a battle (25-19, 25-22, 27-25).

Lexi Moore had seven kills, Bergquist also had seven kills to go with five blocks, Ryleigh Yocom had 21 assists and 18 digs and Ball sent back three kills with five digs.
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Elk Rapids (12-9-1, 2-1 LMC) hosts Benzie Central in a non-conference meet on Thursday, then take to the road with a meet against LMC rival Grayling on Tuesday.

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VARSITY EQUESTRIAN TEAM 
Team working hard to win a spot to Regionals 

Jason Jansen, with Barron and Mr. Chocolate Liberty, and Katie Gorno with Sasha and Scared Investment.

Mark your calendars for the weekend of September 25 and 26 to come cheer on the Elk Rapids varsity equestrian team riding where the Great Lakes Equestrian Festival Jumping Events are located off Bates Road in Williamsburg. 

The Elk Rapids team has been working hard taking lessons and attending two weekend shows per month since May to gear up for the Michigan Interscholastic Horseman’s Association (MIHA) High School Competition. There are four divisions A, B, C and D, depending on the number of riders. The first and second highest points will head to regionals in each division. There are currently 11 schools challenging each other for points to win a spot to head to Regionals in Ludington October 1 and 2.  

The Elks team consists of two riders competing in the D division (1-2 riders. This year we have returning junior Katie Gorno and her two horses, Sasha for the speed events and Scared Investment for the equitation patterns. Her returning teammate, sophomore Jason Jansen, with his speed horse Barron and pleasure horse Mr. Chocolate Liberty. The team will have support from two grooms, sophomore Lillian Khun and freshman Nora Wnek.
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The Elks cover all disciplines Saddle Seat, Hunt Seat, Jumping. Western and Gymkhana both days. Showmanship begins the day at 9:30 a.m., with riding classes in the afternoon followed by the speed events at the end of the day. Come join us at the prestigious Flint Fields Horse Park that has generously donated the use of the facilities and maintenance of the arenas for both days! Our team welcomes you to come watch and cheer them on to victory. Go Elks! Photo and text submitted by Head Coach Sandy Jansen.

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VARSITY TENNIS
Elk boys tennis is on the court

The Elk boys tennis team took the road for the season opener at Harbor Springs last Thursday. At the end of the day the Elks were swept 8-0, although they lost by default three matches, the singles fourth seed and the doubles third and fourth seeds, due to lack of players.

The final score recap is not the real story here, the biggest accomplishment is what the tennis program overcame to play in Harbor last Thursday. The boys tennis team lost 13 players and two coaches after last season. A lack of numbers and a coach had the program in danger of being canceled for this season, and possibly even longer. A week before practice was to begin, Jon Johnstone stepped up to take the head tennis coach position that had been vacant the entire summer, but he had to wait for school board approval. Once this formality was complete, Coach Johnstone had the team practicing for the first scheduled meet against the Rams.

“We lost all matches, although the games were a lot closer than the score indicated,” said Coach Joe Johnston, “We came away with a lot of positives with several areas that need improvement. I couldn’t be happier with our team and the progress that has been made thus far.”

The lineup card for singles competition was freshman Landon Johnstone playing at first seed, senior Maceo Gulch, a foreign exchange student from Germany, competing at the second seed, and veteran junior Elizabeth Pike was the number three seed. In doubles play, second year sophomore Robbie Doherty and freshman Edison Pike played at the number one seed, freshman Easton Merchant and senior Miriam Ribera, a foreign exchange student from Spain, were the number two seed. The final flight scores weren’t that important at Harbor Springs but make no mistake they will be as the season progresses. Standing out last Thursday was that the Elk Rapids boys tennis team went on the road to compete, and the season officially began. That is Elk Pride!
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The Elks were next scheduled to face Traverse City West in their home opener on Wednesday (9/21).

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VARSITY SOCCER
Sabres snap Elks win streak at eight games

Spencer Ball (1) skies upward to play the ball off his chest. Photo by Kim Eardley Photography

The Elks sought a ninth straight win on Monday, playing against TC Christian at the Keystone Complex in Traverse City. The Sabres had been eliminated by the Elks in the last two district final games, including a dramatic shootout last season, and were looking for some revenge in this non-conference contest. The Sabres would be the team to prevail, snapping the Elk eight game win streak with a 3-2 win.

TC Christian scored first early in the game on a penalty kick, Spencer Ball dribbled inside the box to score, tying the game at 1-1. In the second half, the Sabres took the lead with a line drive goal into the upper right corner of the net. With just under 20 minutes remaining in the game Jayden Hresko scored on a tap-in from close range, knotting the score at 2-2. TC Christian scored a final goal to secure the win as the clock ran down on the Elks.

The Elks took 18 shots in the game. “They know they had to score, and they didn’t do it,” said Elk varsity soccer coach Nate Plum. “They are beating themselves up. We will just be ready to go for our next game.” The two squads could meet again in district play, hosted by Elk Rapids. 

The Elks played host to an improved Kalkaska soccer team on Monday, with the Blazers looking to snap a long losing streak against the LMC rival Elks. A sixth consecutive Lake Michigan Conference title is on the line this season for Elk Rapids, giving every team in the conference extra motivation when they play against the Elks. Facing the Blazers, the Elks took care of business with a 7-0 shutout victory and remain undefeated at 5-0 in conference play at the midway point of the conference schedule.

Noah Hilley, Alex Smith, Alex Barber and Owen Spencer took care of the goal scoring, assists went to Barber and Spencer, each with two, and Smith with one. Koa West was keeper for the first half with three saves, Lugin took over the net for the second half, tallying three saves.
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Boyne City visited Elk Rapids for a LMC game last Thursday, the Elks blanked the Ramblers 2-0 in a hard-fought battle. Ball scored the two Elk goals, Hresko and Carson Peterson both had an assist. Lugin had two saves in goal. Elk Rapids (9-5-1, 5-0 LMC) take to the road with conference games at Charlevoix on Thursday, then to Harbor Springs on Monday.

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VARSITY CROSS COUNTRY
Girls win Kalkaska invite – boys take second 

The Elk girls dominate the Kalkaska Invite, taking 7 of the top 10 finish spots. Courtesy photo

The Elk boys cross country team relaxes after a close second place finish in Kalkaska. Courtesy photo

The Elk cross country teams were one of six schools competing at the Kalkaska Invitational on Monday. The Elk girls continued to add hardware to the trophy case, dominating the meet with a first place 15. Frankfort was a distant second with 69, Grayling came in third with a 92. The Elks boys finished in second place with a 47, just edged out by Petoskey St. Michael in first with a 44. Frankfort took third place with a 73.

A herd of Elk girls owned the top five finish positions courtesy of Brynne Schulte (1-20:54.04), Kendall Standfest (2-21:05.20), Hunter Schellenbarger (3-21:43.15), Anna Pray (4-21:43.40) and Joelle Swanson (5-21:57.94). The Elks also took seventh place by Jaida Schulte (22:09.58) and ninth place from Eva Pray (22:14.40), giving the girls seven of the top 10 spots.

The boys’ fastest five were Caleb Kerfoot (6-18:07.30), Max Ward (7-18:16.84), Christian Kerfoot (9-18:29.82), Seth Brown (12-18:41.55) and Qwynn Darnell (13-18:345.43 PR).

A 10-day break in the Elk cross country schedule was negated when the team picked up a spot in the Ottawa Hills Invitational, a 28-team race of bigger schools that took place in Grand Rapids last Friday. The Elks girls let teams know they belonged at the meet with a fourth-place finish overall, and the Elk boys made some noise with a tenth-place finish.

Freshman phenom Brynne Schulte earned a medal, leading the Elk girls with a fourth-place personal record finish (19:09.04), Kendall Standfest took home a medal with personal record finish (20.49.0) at number 17.

The top 25 finishers received medal hardware. The duo was joined by Anna Pray (41st, 21:34.3), Hunter Schellenbarger (43rd, 21:40.5) and Joelle Swanson (47th, 21:47.9).

The Elk boys top five were Christian Kerfoot (42nd,18:15.8), Max Ward (44th,18:21.3), Caleb Kerfoot (67th,18:51.1), Qwynn Darnell (75th,19:03.8 PR) and Seth Brown (77th,19:08.9).

The girls are running fifth in the state and the Ottawa race had all the big teams, so they are running beyond expectations,” said Elk cross country coach Cam Ward. “The boys are running great and with this cold weather coming this weekend they will be setting PRs and moving up in state rankings. They are currently at 11th.”
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The Elks will next compete with 40 teams at the Cadillac Bandeen Viking Invitational on Saturday.

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