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  • BAYARD B-C-D INVITE: Red Raider boys, girls finish atop standings

    Stephen McKay, Sports Writer|May 11, 2015

    BAYARD, Neb. – With the Sidney boys' track team trailing by five points entering the final event of Friday's annual Bayard B-C-D track meet, it was up to the 4x400 relay team to make up the difference. Though they had a slight baton bobble in one exchange, the Raiders' second-place finish in the 4x400 forged a tie for first with Mitchell at 107 points. Bridgeport – a Class C team – took the third spot with 91.5 points. The Sidney girls' team, meanwhile, needed no such late heroics to win their...

  • Raiders start slow in Gering

    Stephen McKay, Sports Writer|May 8, 2015

    The Sidney Red Raiders golf team travelled to picturesque Monument Shadows Golf Course in Gering on Thursday and finished fifth among the nine invited schools. The Scottsbluff Bearcats won the event in a one-hole playoff over Cheyenne Central after each took 316 strokes. Gering (333) and Cheyenne South (349) also finished ahead of Sidney (351). The top individual medal went to Jared Eden of Cheyenne Central, with a 71, which included a 33 on the back nine. He finished comfortably ahead of two...

  • Talking Sports: As competition heats up, reflecting on triumphs

    Stephen McKay, Sports Writer|May 7, 2015

    We’re now one week into May, the biggest month on the spring sports calendar. Saturday begins the local post season with the Peetz Bulldogs heading to Lakewood, Colo. for baseball regionals. There are six days left before the Class D-11 district track meet. One week from today, the Class B-6 track meet will be held and the start of state track in Colorado gets under way. In 11 days, district golf tees up in both Class B and D. There are 15 days to Nebraska state track. State golf in classes B and D are on tap for May 27, and May 25. With all t...

  • COLORADO 1A STATE BASEBALL TOURNAMENT

    Stephen McKay, Sports Writer|May 7, 2015

    The last time the Peetz Bulldogs baseball team played the Community Christian Crusaders, it led or was tied for more than half the game before succumbing 7-3 at Northglenn, Colo. in early April. For the Crusaders, the win over Peetz was just one of the 18 they chalked up this season. They lost just two games. The Bulldogs completed their regular season with a 5-7 mark. After having earned their way into the 2015 CHSSA State Baseball Championships - Class 1A Regionals, the Bulldogs will get one...

  • NORTH CENTRAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIPS: Peetz Bulldogs look to state

    Stephen McKay, Sports Writer|May 6, 2015

    Despite the rain, cold and wind, the Peetz High Bulldogs and the five other teams in the 1A North Central League brought their regular season to an end Tuesday at the league meet in Sterling, Colo. In addition to crowning league champions, the meet was a last chance for athletes to put their names on the qualifying list for the state championships scheduled for next week in Lakewood, Colo. The Bulldogs boys came away with three individual league champions and three relay winners. The Lady Bulldo...

  • Sidney golfers take 2nd at home

    Stephen McKay, Sports Writer|May 5, 2015

    Exactly two weeks before the Class B-4 district tournament, the Sidney High golf team had a final competitive run through at Hillside Golf Course with a small gathering of schools including McCook, North Platte and Ogallala. While the Red Raiders didn't quite manage to play their best as a group, the positive signs continued as they finished second to district favorite McCook by just five strokes. The Bison took 325 shots to win the quad with Sidney taking 330, North Platte 333 and Ogallala 405....

  • MINUTEMAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE MEET: Potter-Dix boys', girls' collect runner-up finishes

    Stephen McKay, Sports Writer|May 4, 2015

    BAYARD – On multiple occasions Saturday morning, Leyton distance runner – and now conference champion – Rhett Dye felt sick to his stomach. But with little warning, Dye laced up his cleats under the hot Bayard sun, put on his game face and ran the race of his life. With Minuteman Athletic Conference titles on the line, local athletes from the eight MAC schools gave all they had at Bayard High School with the hope that they too could earn the title, "Conference Champion." Host Bayard took both th...

  • WESTERN CONFERENCE MEET: Red Raiders sweep conference crowns

    Stephen McKay|May 4, 2015

    SCOTTSBLUFF – The Sidney Red Raiders track teams – boys and girls – are the champions of the Western Conference. Led by event wins by Jake Heeren, Alex Linneman and the 4x800-relay team at Bearcat Stadium in Scottsbluff Friday, the boys reigned supreme atop the the Western Conference after accumulating 158 points to easily out point runner up Scottsbluff's 124. The complete scoring inlcuded Alliance (105.5), Mitchell (102.5), Gering (83.5) and Chadron (62.5). The Sidney girls were powered by fo...

  • Peetz advances to regionals

    Stephen McKay|May 1, 2015

    FLEMING, Colo. – The big task before the Peetz High School baseball team at the District 1A North Central championships at Fleming (Colo.) High on Thursday was win game one and punch its ticket to the regional tournament next week. Mission accomplished. Three Bulldogs pitchers combined to throw a one-hitter as Peetz defeated Prairie 5-1 in the district semifinals. The big prize, however, went to the Fleming Wildcats, as they won the district championship later in the day by defeating Peetz, 9...

  • Storm win MAC golf title

    Stephen McKay, Sports Writer|May 1, 2015

    CHAPPELL – The Creek Valley Storm placed four individual golfers in the top five at the MAC Golf Tournament at Chappell Golf Club on Thursday as it won the tournament by a comfortable margin over runner-up South Platte. Unfortunately, Creek Valley and South Platte were the only two teams that were able to field a full team of at least four golfers. The Storm's winning total was 394 with South Platte taking 426. "It was kind of disappointing to have just the two teams with a full compliment of p...

  • Raiders tab Plummer as new C.C coach

    Stephen McKay, Sports Writer|May 1, 2015

    Sidney High School has named Ryan Plummer as the new head coach of the Red Raiders’ cross country program. He takes over from Tony Neels, who has accepted an offer to teach with Gothenburg Public Schools to be closer to family. Plummer, who has been an assistant coach on the varsity basketball team and head coach of the junior varsity team as well as a middle school track coach, has not previously been a cross country coach. He does, however, come to the job with all the right qualifications according to assistant cross country coach Donna W...

  • Talking Sports: Violence leads to odd empty house

    Stephen McKay, Sports Writer|Apr 30, 2015

    Earlier this week the Baltimore Orioles played in front of an empty stadium. Somehow word leaked out that the O’s beat the Chicago White Sox, 8-2. Because of the unrest in the city after the death of Freddie Gray in police custody and the violence that followed, the decision was made to play a major league baseball game in front of an empty house for the first time in history. The powers that be have also decided to move this weekend’s Orioles home series with the Tampa Bay Rays to Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla. – home of the Rays....

  • Sidney track teams sweep 'Best' titles

    Stephen McKay, Sports Writer|Apr 29, 2015

    SCOTTSBLUFF – The Sidney High track and field teams made a clean sweep of the girls' and boys' titles at the Best of the West track meet Tuesday, while the Potter-Dix boys' 4x800 relay team set a school record to establish itself as the team to beat in its class at state next month. The Best of the West is an all-star event of sorts that includes only those athletes who qualified on pervious performances throughout the season. The long list of Sidney qualifiers helped it score 80 points to w...

  • Red Raider golfers take 3rd in Scottsbluff

    Stephen McKay, Sports Writer|Apr 28, 2015

    SCOTTSBLUFF – With Nate Dvorak carding his second straight 80 and three Red Raiders breaking 85 for the first time this season, the Sidney High School golf team finished third in the Scottsbluff Invite at Scotts Bluff Country Club on Monday. Laramie (Wyo.) took 323 strokes to edge out Cheyenne Central by a stroke. The Sidney total was 337. Host Scottsbluff, considered a strong contender for the District B-4 championship, brought only one varsity player as most of the team was at a school e...

  • GEORGE CALVERT INVITE AT MORRILL

    Stephen McKay, Sports Writer|Apr 27, 2015

    MORRILL – Led by a strong performance by its girls' 4x800 meter relay team, both Sidney High track teams finished in the middle of the pack at the George Calvert Invite at Morrill High School on Friday. With the Raiders splitting their squad between Morrill and the Scottsbluff Twilight Invitational, the Raiders entered both meets short-handed. In Morrill, the Raiders boys scored 24 points to finish fifth among the 13 teams competing. The winner was Mitchell with 161 points while runner-up B...

  • Berner wins triple jump for Leyton girls

    Stephen McKay|Apr 27, 2015

    MORRILL – With Kaitlyn Berner leading the way with a win in the triple jump, the Leyton girls' track team finished in sixth place at the George Calvert Invite on Friday. The boys were one spot lower as they wound up in seventh. The Lady Warriors ended their day with 42 points, while the boys garnered 15. Mitchell won both events, with the boys scoring 161 points and the girls 127. While Berner took the triple jump by nearly a foot, she also added points to the Lady Warriors cause by her s...

  • SCOTTSBLUFF TWILIGHT INVITATIONAL: Raiders' relay team breaks school mark

    Stephen McKay, Sports Writer|Apr 27, 2015

    SCOTTSBLUFF – For 23 years the record stood. If it doesn't fall again in the next 30 days by the same group who broke it on Friday, it just may last another two decades or more. With the help of a third record-setting day this season by the Sidney High boys' 4x800-relay team, the Red Raiders garnered 105 points to finish third at Twilight Invitational at Bearcat Stadium in Scottsbluff on Friday. Rapid City Stevens (S.D.) took top honors with 122 points while host Scottsbluff was second with 119....

  • Sidney golfers take 5th in Gothenburg

    Stephen McKay|Apr 24, 2015

    GOTHENBURG, Neb. – The Sidney High School golf team – along with 14 other schools – took on the rolling hills, tall rough and fierce winds of the links-style Wild Horse Golf Club on Thursday and wound up in fifth place. McCook took top honors with 315 strokes, while the Bearcats of Scottsbluff finished four back in second. Wahoo Neumann (320) and North Platte (328) also finished ahead of Sidney (342). In the individual competition, the Scottsbluff's Jonah Wright scored an even-par 72 to finish o...

  • Talking Sports: Double 'no-nos' pretty special feat

    Stephen McKay, Sports Writer|Apr 23, 2015

    Eat your heart out Ernie Lombardi. There have been a few interesting local sports stories of note over that past week. Tuesday’s Peetz baseball game, which was played in front of no more than 20 onlookers, has to top the list. Congratulations to Peetz Bulldogs’ catcher Brian Roelle. How many baseball catchers – at any level – can say they caught two no-hitters on the same afternoon? It must be a pretty small club. In a doubleheader in Weldona, Colo., on Tuesday, Peetz pitchers Bradey Holtz and Cody Wilson each threw a no hitter as the Bulldogs...

  • SIDNEY GOLF AT GOTHENBURG

    Stephen McKay, Sports Writer|Apr 23, 2015

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  • Peetz posts twin no-hitters

    Stephen McKay, Sports Writer|Apr 22, 2015

    WELDONA, Colo. – On any normal day, watching Logan Sircy go 3-for-3 with two walks, six RBI, five runs scored and a grand slam would be the most notable achievement in just about any baseball game. But Tuesday was no ordinary afternoon. While Sircy was the hitting star of game one, a pair of five-inning no-hitters tossed by Peetz hurlers Bradey Holtz and Cody Wilson outshined even the most dominant of offensive performances. In its final games of the regular season, Peetz swept past the W...

  • Sidney CC, track coach Neels heading east

    Stephen McKay|Apr 21, 2015

    For any regular attendee of Sidney High School track and field or cross country meets, the sight of coach Tony Neels running to different parts of the course offering encouragement and split times to his runners has been a familiar sight for more than a decade. Unfortunately, the Raiders will soon have to do without their energetic coach. Tony and Suzanne Neels, along with their three young children, recently announced they are moving east to take teaching positions with Gothenburg Public...

  • Legion baseball teams plan camp, fundraisers

    Stephen McKay, Sports Writer|Apr 21, 2015

    The Sidney American Legion baseball program will be holding three fundraisers in advance of its season opener on May 24. First up, the Legion, in conjunction with the Cheyenne County Community Center, will hold a baseball camp at Legion Field this Sunday, April 26. The camp will be broken into three different sessions based on age or position. From 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m., Session 1 will be held for those between 7-10 years old. For children between 11-14, Session 3 will run from 3:30-5:30 p.m. In between, an hour-long Session 2 will focus...

  • Sidney teams face tough foes at Invite

    Stephen McKay, Sports Writer|Apr 17, 2015

    GOTHENBURG, Neb. – Both the boys and girls track and field teams had another strong meet as the Red Raiders went up against a field of strong Class A and B teams at the Dutch Zorn Invite on Thursday afternoon. The girls finished in a tie for third with Ogallala by scoring 80 points, while Holdrege (148) and Gothenburg (83) were the top two teams. The boys' total of 85 points put them in fourth place. District B-6 rival McCook won the boys competition with 124 points with Holdrege (99) and O...

  • Hail, hail the game is canceled

    Stephen McKay, Sports Writer|Apr 16, 2015

    The Peetz High School baseball game on Wednesday afternoon was canceled after two innings when a hail storm interrupted play.... Full story

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