Thomas Peuster can call himself a conference champion after Saturday.

Mexico cross country competed in the North Central Missouri Conference Championships on Saturday at Indian Foothills Golf Course in Marshall, coming away with the boys individual conference title and the girls team title. 

Peuster won the boys 5,000 meters with a time of 17:25.22, and two other boys earned all-conference honors to finish third as a team. The girls had four earn all-conference, led by the finishes of Kalea Henneberry in fourth place and Maggie Ramsey in sixth place, to take the team NCMC title with 43 points — five better than second-place Hannibal. 

After Peuster, Tyler Grimes and Andrew Peuster finished ninth and 10th, respectively, with times of 18:50.66 and 18:53.54 for all-NCMC distinction. Fulton finished in first with 36 points after having four all-conference runners while Mexico had 64 points.

Henneberry had the girls’ best time of 22.14.69, followed by Ramsey’s 22:32.22, Sidney Turlington’s eighth place time of 22:37.33 and Viviana Benjamin’s 10th-place time of 22:54.60. Jordan Wyman was just short of all-conference with a 15th-place time of 23:42.02 — about 10 seconds behind Hannibal’s Jordan Puterbaugh. Fulton’s Emery Mayfield was the NCMC champion after finishing the girls 5,000 meters with a time of 19:36.45.

Football

Mexico loses 28-14 at Moberly in battle for first

There is still one more week to play in the football regular season, but Mexico had a golden opportunity for the district No. 1 seed on Friday.

North Central Missouri Conference foes Mexico and Moberly went in as the top two teams in the Class 3 District 5 standings, and the Bulldogs left Moberly as the No. 2 team after losing 28-14. The Spartans scored all of their points in the first half, rushing for 230 yards.

Head coach Steve Haag said the Bulldogs (3-5, 2-3 NCMC) could’ve win this game but felt Moberly was more hungry for the win. Mexico also had a couple mistakes on offense that loomed large – a fumble that turned into a Moberly touchdown and 13-0 deficit and a touchdown that could’ve been.

“We fumbled the first snap,” Haag said. “We gave them the ball right back. Then we didn’t punch it in on the goal line. Right before half, we are on the one-yard line and don’t get it put in. There were just missed opportunities.”

Mexico ran for 204 yards, with 118 of them being gained by Anthony Shivers. Shivers ran for a 42-yard touchdown in the second quarter to make 21-8 Moberly (4-4, 2-3 NCMC). Ryder Staddie had an eight-yard touchdown in the third quarter to make it 28-14 Moberly.

Haag said reigning all-state player Andrew Runge wasn’t available because of a hip pointer, and defensive lineman Tyler Thoenen was also out. The absence of a player like Runge will definitely be felt, but Haag said he liked how Mexico was still able to run the ball Friday.

“Anytime you have a starter out, especially an all-state kid, it’s going to impact you,” Haag said. “It always helps to have him in there, but we still ran the ball effectively. We just didn’t score enough.”

The Spartans, on the other hand, did score enough as they split the running back duties primarily between four players who all had at least 30 yards. Quarterback Collin Huffman led the team with 81 yards on 11 carries, and Gage St. Clair ran for 61 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries.

Haag said Moberly’s running attack presents problems and displayed what the Spartans had that the Bulldogs didn’t on Friday.

“They kept us off-balance,” Haag said. “They run and pull their linemen. They get a lot of people to the party, and you have to bring that same intensity too. They pull the guys and you have to go fill that gap because someone’s coming. We didn’t do that.

“They took the game a little more seriously. They came out and were ready to play.”
Mexico plays its final regular season game Friday at home against Warrenton (3-5), who lost 35-25 at home to Orchard Farm in Week 8.

Volleyball

Mexico takes third in Eugene Invitational

Mexico had a taste of tournament action before the big one this week.

The Lady Bulldogs will begin play in the Class 3 District 7 Tournament at 7 p.m. Thursday against Bowling Green in Hallsville but faced three teams Saturday in the Eugene Volleyball Invitational. Mexico lost to host Eugene but defeated Russellville and Belle to win third place.

Mexico (8-13-1) defeated Belle in two sets 25-21 and 25-15, piling up 12 service aces that was led by five from Ally Wilson and four from JacLynn Cline. Jessica Stephens had four kills, Tessa Haefling finished with seven digs and Wilson had 10 assists.

The Lady Bulldogs upped their service aces to 18 in a third-place victory (25-19, 22-25, 25-21) against Russellville, with Wilson leading the team again with six and Cline and Aleigha Jackson each following with four. Stephens had a team-high 14 kills, Ali Walotka had 14 digs and Haefling followed with 11, and Wilson picked up 20 assists.

Mexico (3-4 NCMC) will look to bounce back in the North Central Missouri Conference after Thursday’s four-set loss at Marshall by going to conference-leader Hannibal (17-10-1, 6-0 NCMC) on Monday for its regular season finale.

Lady Bulldogs close regular season with sweeping loss at Hannibal

Mexico took a shot at the North Central Missouri Conference leader before starting districts this week.

The Lady Bulldogs were swept on Monday at Hannibal (25-23, 25-18 and 25-10) to finish their regular season with an overall record of 8-14-1 and conference record of 3-5. 

Tessa Haefling led the team with 16 digs, followed by Ally Wilson’s 13 digs, Lizzie Joiner had a team-high 10 assists, Jessica Stephens led with six kills, and Capri'Ona Fountain and JacLynn Cline each had a block assist.

The Lady Bulldogs had a match-high nine kills in the contested first set but also had their most errors at seven.

Mexico goes into the Class 3 District 7 Tournament starting Thursday in Hallsville as the No. 3 seed and will face No. 6 Bowling Green (8-11-4) at 7 p.m.