Ben Hines is second to none. After collecting a silver and bronze as a freshman at last year’s Missouri Class 1 state swim meet Hines, a Nevada High School sophomore, returned to the pool with a vengeance this season. Motivated by the near-gold medal misses in the 50 and 100-yard freestyle at last year’s showcase prep event, Hines has remained on a mission to capture state championship gold...

BELLEVUE, Neb. — A 21-point road loss to Bellevue University on Saturday extended the Cottey Comets’ losing skid to five games. The transition from two-year JUCO to four-year NAIA competition has not gone smoothly thus far for the Comet basketball team, with Cottey losing by an average of 29 points per game. Despite the 21-point loss, Cottey was able to hold Bellevue (6-1) well under their season-average of 95 points per contest...

ST. PETERS, Missouri — Nevada High School sophomore Ben Hines captured gold medals in the 50 and 100-yard freestyle at Saturday's Missouri Class 1 State Swimming and Diving Championships. After placing first in the prelims in both the 50 and 100-yard freestyle on Friday, Hines returned to the pool for today's showcase event, dominating the 50-free competition — leading wire-to-wire en route to a gold medal and school-record time 20.74. ...

A new season is almost upon the Nevada High School boys basketball team. Coming off a successful 21-5 campaign, and consecutive appearances in the Class 4 District 12 championship game, fifth-year head coach Shaun Gray has much to be excited about. His roster includes versatile 6-foot-6 junior forward Dalton Gayman, 6-5 senior swing-man Matt Thompson, and standout sophomore point guard Logan Applegate...

Nevada High School’s winter sports student-athletes were recognized at the school’s “Meet the Players” assembly Thursday evening at Wynn Gym. Programs sharing the spotlight, were Nevada High boys and girls basketball, wrestling, girls swimming, and the NHS cheer team...

Former Nevada High School superstar hoopster Clay Gayman had a highly-productive collegiate debut with NCAA Division I Abilene Christian University on Tuesday. Gayman, a 6-foot-6 220 pound small forward, dropped in 11 points, connecting on 4-of-7 field goal attempts, to go along with four steals, three rebounds, two assists, and a block — in just 10 minutes of court-time, as ACU rolled to a 107-54 home-victory over Arlington Baptist University...

Worn down by a frenetic full-court pressure defense, the Cottey Comet basketball team succumbed to the University of St. Mary Spires, 68-46, in their home-opener Wednesday evening at Hinkhouse Center. The Spires opened the contest on an 11-0 run, and led 20-10 after one quarter of play. St. Mary then increased its advantage to 29-13 midway through the second, with Cottey closing the half on a 7-3 run...

Nevada High School junior Calli Beshore collected a 66th-place finish at the Missouri Class 3 State Cross Country Championships, held Nov. 3 in Jefferson City. An official time of 22:01 in the girls 5K, 3.1 mile run capped an ultra-successful season for Beshore. Taking home the gold medal, was Living Word Christian Academy’s Mercedes Schrour (19:36)...

The Nevada Middle School seventh and eighth-grade basketball teams rolled to a pair of victories over Butler on Monday night. The Nevada eight-grade team came out on top, 33-26, while the seventh-grade Lady Tigers thrashed the visiting Lady Bears, 41-2...

Eleven-year-old Nevada native Emree Cameron concluded the U.S. Kids Golf Kansas City Fall Tour with a bang. Cameron, a Nevada Middle School sixth-grader, won the tour championship en route to “Player of the Year” accolades. A five-time U.S. Kids Golf Player of the Year, and four-time U.S. ...

DUBUQUE, Iowa — Double-digit road-losses to Clarke University and Graceland University at the Holiday Inn Express Tip Off Classic dropped the Cottey Comet basketball team to 0-3 on the young season. The Comets were throttled by Clarke (Iowa), 91-38 on Friday, and defeated by Graceland (Iowa), 77-62 Saturday...

A quartet of Nevada High School volleyball players were recently tabbed as Class 3 All-District 13 selections. Nevada senior middle and outside hitters Sydney Ernsbarger and Adrian Bond were named as First-Team All-District selections — while Nevada senior setter Hailey Jackson and junior outside hitter Stacy Pennington were tabbed to the Second-Team...

Nevada High School senior Cameron Holcomb has taken the next step in her softball career, signing a letter-of-intent with the Neosho (Kan.) Community College Panthers. Flanked by her mom and younger sister, Holcomb put pen to paper at the heavily attended signing ceremony Thursday afternoon at the Nevada High Media Center...

Like the seventh-grade squad, the Nevada Middle School eighth-grade hoopsters were also victorious in their season opener — edging El Dorado Springs 42-37 Thursday night in El Do. Nevada led 14-13 after one quarter of play, and trailed 21-19 at the break. ...

Lakyn Applegate poured in 19 points as the Nevada Lady Tigers seventh-grade basketball team rolled to a 43-23 season-opening victory over El Dorado Springs Thursday night. Nevada led 8-0 at the conclusion of the opening frame, and 16-11 halftime advantage. The Lady Tigers led 26-17 after three quarters of play, and then pulled away in the fourth — outscoring the hosts 17-6, accounting for the final 20-point margin...

The lengthy application/acceptance process is over, and now Cottey Comet sports programs have turned their full attention to the competition at-hand. To briefly summarize, Cottey College made the jump from the two-year National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) to the four-year National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA)...

The Nevada Lady Tigers are locked and-loaded. Head coach Brent Bartlett’s squad returns virtually its entire roster from last season’s 18-win state tournament team. After a slow start, the Lady Tigers got red-hot during the latter portion of their schedule, defeating Pleasant Hill in the district championship game before being knocked off in the sectional round of the Class 4 state tournament by Osage, 48-45...

The Cottey Comet volleyball team dispatched visiting Manhattan (Kan.) Christian College in a three-set sweep (25-17, 25-19, 25-21) Tuesday night at Hinkhouse Center. The emphatic victory also completed the season-sweep of MCC, as the Comets defeated them in five sets in an Aug. 31 neutral-site match, and also knocked them off in four sets on Sept. 11 in Manhattan...

Editor’s note: The top two teams, as well as the top 15 finishers outside of those teams, advanced to the upcoming state championship meet in Jefferson City. Nevada High School star distance runner Calli Beshore will be making her third consecutive trip to the Class 3 state cross country meet...

The Cottey Comet cross country team wrapped its season on Saturday, competing at the Ozark Christian College Last Chance Meet. Cottey concluded on a high-note, as junior distance runner Christi-Anne Beatty captured a first-place finish, clocking a 20:34 in the women’s 5K (3.1 mile run)...

A magnificent season in the pool continued for Ben Hines over the weekend, as the Nevada High School sophomore claimed gold medals in the 50 and 100-yard freestyle events at the Southwest Missouri (SWMO) Swimming and Diving Championships in Springfield...

The Cottey Comet basketball team made its season, and NAIA, debut Saturday in St. Louis, falling to the Harris–Stowe State University Hornets, 83-49. Cottey opened the contest ice cold from the field, and trailed 22-5 at the conclusion of the opening frame. The Comets eventually rebounded from their first quarter struggles, outscoring the hosts 18-17 in the second quarter to pull within 39-23 at the half...

REEDS SPRING — A 28-point first quarter deficit proved too much for the Nevada Tigers to overcome in Friday night’s 51-14 Class 3 District 6 playoff loss to the Reeds Spring Wolves. Seventh-seeded Nevada (1-9) moved the ball deep into Reeds Spring territory on its opening drive, but was undone by a critical holding penalty, eventually turning it over on downs...

The silver lining related to a tough ending to the Nevada Lady Tiger volleyball season came via Friday’s release of Big 8 (West) Conference postseason accolades. Champions of the Big 8 West division, Nevada was rewarded for their excellent play with a pair of first-team, second-team and honorable mention selections. In addition, Nevada senior middle hitter Sydney Ernsbarger was tabbed as the Big 8 West division Player of the Year...

The Hume Lady Hornets’ volleyball season came to a close with a three-set loss in the semifinals of the Class 1 District 10 Tournament in Adrian on Wednesday. The third-seeded Lady Hornets knocked off sixth-seeded Ballard in opening-round action Tuesday. ...