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2017 Year in Review: Hines and Beshore stockpile gold medals, Lady ’Cats earn trip to state
It was a memorable year for a pair of Nevada High School student-athletes, with sophomore cross country phenom Calli Beshore and freshman swim sensation Ben Hines combining to win 15 golds in 2017.
Beshore, who captured six consecutive gold medals during the rugged cross country season, qualified for the Class 3 State championship meet, held Nov. 4 in Jefferson City.
Beshore was on pace for the top time of her prep career, as her previous personal best in the 5K was a time of 19:36. According to Nevada cross country coach Ryan Watts, Beshore would have shattered that mark at the state meet, with her early pace putting her on-target for a sub 18:45 finish.
Beshore had clocked a time of around 12 minutes and 30 seconds as she neared the two-mile mark of the 3.1 mile race, as a top 10 finish or better was a virtual foregone conclusion.
Watts described what happened next.
“The course loops back around a hill just before the three-mile marker, where I saw Calli sprinting ahead toward the last turn before the final straightaway, with a pack of runners,” recounted Watts. “I cut across the course to see the final sprint, and as the group Calli was in rounded into the final straight from behind the hill — I didn’t see her with them.”
Fearing Beshore suffered an injury, Watts sprinted toward the hill.
“I saw Calli trudging up the hill and, something was obviously wrong,” he said. “I was worried she had pulled a muscle or (suffered) some other kind of injury going around the hill. Then I saw her stumble and I realized that she was on the verge of passing out or collapsing; at which point I ran on the course and caught her and laid her down just off the course. She had given everything she had and her body just couldn’t do anymore from over-excursion. The medical staff came and took her to the medical tent where she stayed until she had recovered.”
Watts said he couldn’t be prouder of Beshore and NHS junior Patience Lockhart, who placed 111th at the state meet.
“Being a great distance runner is the most taxing thing you can ask of an athlete,” said Watts. “To be as great as Calli is, you are basically running as fast as you can for 3.1 miles. That is as hard a thing you can ask your body to do. Good runners run as hard as they can for parts of a race — great runners do it the entire race.”
Watts said Beshore will come back even stronger next season.
“You hate to see such a great season end like this, but I know she will use this to motivate herself to have an even better season next year,” concluded Watts.
Hines dazzles in pool
Nevada High freshman Ben Hines had a remarkable season in the pool, collecting nine gold medals, a pair of silvers and a bronze. Hines’ season culminated at Missouri Class 1 swimming and diving championships Nov. 4-5 in St. Peters, where he eared a runner-up finish in the 50-yard freestyle and a third-place showing in the 100 free. In the 50 free Hines placed third in the prelims with a time of 21.07. He then placed fifth in the 100 free prelims after clocking a 48.09.
On the biggest stage of the season, Nov. 5, Hines clocked a 21.49 en route to his 50 free silver medal finish. In the 100 free finals Hines dropped eight-tenths of a second from his prelim time, with his official time of 47.37 resulting in a bronze medal.
“I felt that Ben did an exceptional job,” said NHS head coach Clayton Wheeler of Hines’ state swim meet performance. “He is very familiar with large meets, but this was, of course, his first high school state meet.”
Wheeler said Hines, who already has a large frame for a prep swimmer, may need to further bulk up as he continues his quest for a state championship gold medal.
“I feel that the deciding factor was age and size,” said Wheeler of Hines’ second-place finish in the 50 free. “The swimmer that placed first, Grant Sloan of Kearney, was a senior and stronger than Ben. I feel if those two factors had been even, Ben would have been out front.”
In addition, Nevada qualified its 200-yard medley, 200 free, and 400 free relay teams. The Tigers 200 medley team, consisting of Braden Russell, Tyler Armstrong, Hines, and Grant Miller, clocked a 1:49.18 in the prelims. While they didn’t qualify for the finals, they did break the previous school record (1:50.79) set in 2014.
Meanwhile Nevada’s 400 free relay team, comprised of Kalen Morris, Armstrong, Russell, and Miller — placed 30th in the prelims, with a time of 3:49.85. The Tigers 200 free relay team — Miller, Russell, Morris, and Hines suffered a disqualification in the prelims due to a turn infraction.
“I think that this year is like the preview to a good movie,” explained Wheeler. “We are getting just a taste of the potential of both Ben and this young team.”
Lady Cats’ vanquish postseason dry spell
It was a banner season on the hardwood for Bronaugh girls basketball, as the Lady Wildcats advanced to the Missouri Class 1 State basketball tournament — snapping a 40-year postseason drought.
Led by seniors Katey Rider and Taylor Stratford, the Lady ’Cats of the Golden Valley Vernon County Conference won eight constructive contests leading up to the state tournament — punctuated with a 42-38 triumph over the Drexel Lady Bobcats in the Class 1 District 6 title game at Drexel in late February.
After dethroning the defending district champs, Bronaugh then advanced to the sectional round of the state tournament, where they faced three-time defending state champion Walnut Grove at the Cardinal Dome in Webb City.
The Lady ’Cats tremendous season came to a close, as Bronaugh (22-6) fell to the tourney favorites, 59-25. Bronaugh was unable to slow Bayley Harman, as the star point guard erupted for 32 points, while knocking down 15-of-20 from the charity stripe.
“She’s the best point guard to-date we have seen, and the tallest,” Bronaugh head coach Daryl Dodson said of the 5-foot-9 Harman, who has the frame of a power forward. “We struggled with their height and physicality.”
Added Dodson: “It’s like I’ve told the girls all year — it’s about winning and learning. And we learned something tonight.”
Dodson’s said he told his squad after the game that he “loves them,” adding they had an “amazing season.”
For Bronaugh, Rider finished with a team-high 10 points. As for Walnut Grove, their quest for a fourth consecutive Class 1 State championship ended in the title game, with a 43-34 loss to Mercer.