Fall Sports Season Recap

Photo by Sarah Elizabeth via Uplash.

With December fast approaching, the autumn sports season is drawing to a close. First and foremost, congratulations to all our athletes for a great season. You should  be proud that  you made it through. Being a student athlete is very challenging, whatever the results, it’s important to recognize your dedication and efforts. This article is a recap of the fall team sports season for our William Jewell Cardinals.

Football: What a season it was for the football team, which got off to a strong start with 3 straight conference wins. It’s worth mentioning that the Cardinals had their best season in 10 years, with an overall record of 5-6. Indeed, these very encouraging results bode well for the coming years, which will hopefully enable the Cardinals to have a winning record and reach the postseason phase. In addition, the Cardinals have also made a name for themselves this season with 4 GLVC player of the week awards won, as well as a career high of 1000 rushing yards in one season for our running back, Keaundre McCullough.

Volleyball: The women’s volleyball team had a difficult season with disappointing results. With an overall record of 7-22 and 1-12 in conference, the season failed to live up to expectations, despite a conference victory over Missouri S&T on Oct. 11. Although this season was marked by lack of success and doubt, Samantha Thompson and Bella Laporta showed exceptional leadership by leading the team with very strong performances. Thompson reached the impressive milestone of 2000 career assists, a huge achievement. As for  Laporta, she was very effective offensively, with 409 kills this season. Well done to them both!

Women’s soccer: Head coach Emily Key and her staff can be proud of the women’s soccer team that has had its best season since 2018. This season could mark the start of a new era for this talented team, which won 4 games this season. Although they did not win, these 4 victories are a clear improvement on previous seasons. In fact, this team is full of potential, driven by attacking talents such as Lux Sands, with 6 goals and two assists, and Riley Frasure-Smith, with 3 goals and 4 assists. Although they didn’t make it to the conference tournament, they can be proud of their season.

Men’s soccer: The men’s soccer team is one of the great success stories of the fall season. In a season marked by very promising results, the team came close to qualifying for the GLVC conference tournament.  It was head Coach Eddie Horn’s best season since he arrived at Jewell 5 years ago, as well as the program’s best season since 2012, with an overall record of 5-8-4. What’s more, this success is partly due to Zach Nichols, a very talented forward whose 6 goals and 1 assist led the team. Let’s hope this momentum carries the team to an even better season next year.

In summation, this fall season has been full of surprises with ups and downs for every team. But it’s important to recognize the efforts, despite the final results. Congratulations to all the student athletes who work hard every day to be as good as they can be – and good luck to all the sports preparing to compete in the spring. Go Cardinals!