Eight student-athletes who overcame major health challenges or other tough times and contributed to a high school sports team will be honored with Inspiration Awards during the upcoming Sports Commission Awards sponsored by Elliott Lodging and presented by Blevins Asphalt.
The Sports Commission Awards also on Friday announced finalists in categories for Athlete of the Year, Team of the Year, Performance of the Year as well as all spring sports. The ceremony celebrating the recent high school sports year is set for Tuesday, June 22 at the Ozark Empire Fairgrounds in Springfield.
Organized by the Springfield Sports Commission and the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, the awards show has a 6 p.m. registration, with the ceremony to follow at 7 p.m. Finalists can be found at www.mosportshalloffame.com. For tickets, call 417-889-3100.
The Inspiration Awards will be presented to Pierce City’s Mollie Beeson, Parkview High School’s Lilah Genel, Marshfield’s Morgan Green and Ashlyn Grier, Lebanon’s Bennie Hank Joiner, Reeds Spring’s Victor Kelbaugh, Kickapoo’s Cross Kubik and Joplin’s Camryn Ledford.
Beeson plays softball and volleyball for Mount Vernon despite requiring a prosthetic foot. She was involved in a lawnmower accident at the age of 3. Genel was a junior this past season on Parkview’s cross country and track & field teams. Two years ago, a bullet passed through her upper thigh, just missing her femur and femoral artery.
Green, a sophomore softball pitcher, was diagnosed with leukemia last July. She didn’t get to play last fall, but she contributed to the baseball team this spring and helped in its batting cages. Grier suffered a stroke last summer, and yet made it her mission to return to the volleyball team at Marshfield.
Joiner has Down’s syndrome and inspired the Lebanon wrestling team, competing in exhibition and junior varsity matches. Kelbaugh is wheelchair-bound but has assisted the Reeds Spring’s boys basketball team the past two seasons. In fact, he got to be involved in the tipoff against Monett this past season.
A pitcher for Kickapoo’s baseball team, Kubik has been diagnosed twice with cancer, in 2005 and again in 2020. He was back on the mound this spring despite undergoing chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant last year. Ledford is a para athlete on Joplin’s track and field team. Two years, she won the state 100 meters, 200 meters and 400 meters as a freshman, setting state records in all three events.
All this on a night when more than 200 student-athletes will be recognized in 32 categories. Each individual finalist will receive a commemorative coin with their name engraved atop a protective box.
In Girls Team of the Year category, College Heights Christian Academy’s state championship cross country and track & field teams are finalists along with Lebanon wrestling, Purdy softball, Skyline softball, Springfield Catholic golf, West Plains cross country and Willard volleyball.
Boys Team of the Year finalists are El Dorado Springs track & field, Glendale swimming and diving, Hartville High School basketball, Kickapoo basketball, Lamar football, Marionville baseball, Webb City track and field, and Willard baseball.
Girls Athlete of the Year finalists are Blue Eye’s Riley Arnold, Skyline’s Justine Barb, Bolivar’s Lexi Berry, New Covenant Academy’s Maggie Moore, El Dorado Springs’ Reese Schaaf and Mount Vernon’s Lacy Stokes.
SPORTS COMMISSION AWARDS-FINALISTS
GIRLS TENNIS
- Lexi Berry & Megan Roberts – Bolivar High School
- McKenna Cox & Taylor Reese – Willow Springs High School
- Elsie Crawford – Republic High School
- Lucy Huang – Glendale High School
- Erin Jarvis – Springfield Catholic High School
- Melissa Peralta-Sanchez – Ozark High School
- Lexi Phipps – Lamar High School
GIRLS GOLF
- Lily Allman – McDonald County High School
- Hailey Bryant – Carthage High School
- Lyla Louderbaugh — Springfield Catholic High School
- Kyleigh Pfitzner — Springfield Catholic High School
- Brooke Wagner — Logan-Rogersville High School
- Raegan Zibilski — Springfield Catholic High School
BOYS SWIMMING & DIVING
- Gabriel Austin – Kickapoo High School
- Lucas Chadwell – Glendale High School
- Caleb Chrestman – Ozark High School
- Ben Hines – Nevada High School
- Michael Jasinski – Glendale High School
- Colin McNew – Glendale High School
GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY
- Riley Arnold – Blue Eye High School
- Alicen Ashley — Nixa High School
- Klaire Brown – Kickapoo High School
- Jennalee Dunn – Joplin High School
- Brayden Kantola – West Plains High School
- Jordan Kantola – West Plains High School
BOYS CROSS COUNTRY
- Daelen Ackley – El Dorado Springs High School
- Tyler Harris – Kickapoo High School
- Joe Kremp – Lamar High School
- Sam Shuman – Spokane High School
- Riley Simpson – West Plains High School
SOFTBALL
- Haidyn Berry — Webb City High School
- Katie Brooks – Bolivar High School
- Ella Dougherty — Skyline High School
- Ellie Facklam — Kickapoo High School
- Jayden LaBarge — Kickapoo High School
- Madeline McCall — McDonald County High School
- Chloe Merced — Kickapoo High School
- Halle Miles — Logan-Rogersville High School
- Lauren Schallert — Purdy High School
BOYS SOCCER
- Luke Courtney – Kickapoo High School
- Carlton Epps – Branson High School
- Jack Gintz – Glendale High School
- Dillon Holesapple – Ozark High School
- Camden Meyer – Glendale High School
- Joshua Patino — Monett High School
- Alberto Robledo – Neosho High School
VOLLEYBALL
- Maddy Bushnell — Willard High School
- Jaycee Fixsen — Nixa High School
- Sydney Golden – Nixa High School
- Salma Lewis – Carl Junction High School
- Kate Owen – Kickapoo High School
- Payton Van Veen – Willard High School
FOOTBALL – OFFENSE SKILL POSITIONS
- Patrick Carlton – Carthage High School
- Cooper Ezard – Camdenton High School
- Jericho Farris – Cassville High School
- Titus Seley – West Plains High School
- Case Tucker – Lamar High School
- Devrin Weathers – Webb City High School
FOOTBALL DEFENSE – LINEBACKERS & DEFENSIVE BACKS
- Zach Coenen – Cassville High School
- Luke Gall – Carthage High School
- Connor Lair – West Plains High School
- Treghan Parker – Webb City High School
- Steven Ward – Nixa High School
- Austin Wilkerson – Lamar High School
FOOTBALL-LINEMEN
- John Gholson – Nixa High School
- Grant Goltra – Webb City High School
- Aiden Logan – Carthage High School
- Jack Roweton – Bolivar High School
- Tristan Wilson – Lebanon High School
- Rylan Wooldridge – Lamar High School
WINTER SPORTS
GIRLS SWIMMING & DIVING
- Maddie Atwood – Logan-Rogersville High School
- Emma Lacey – Carl Junction High School
- Karissa Metzger – Republic High School
- Chloe Miller – Carl Junction High School
- Ashlyn Moore – Kickapoo High School
- Maggie Moore – New Covenant Academy
GIRLS WRESTLING
- Halea Bartel – Lebanon High School
- Breyna Crahan – Nixa High School
- Catherine Dutton – Central High School
- Ashlyn Eli – Nixa High School
- Annie Moore — Cassville High School
- Skyler Maverick – Buffalo High School
BOYS WRESTLING – LOWER WEIGHTS
- Elias Barrientos – Monett High School
- Christian Finley – Willard High School
- Zan Fugitt – Nixa High School
- Kyshin Isringhausen – Branson High School
- Tyson Moore – Bolivar High School
- Brady Roark – Seneca High School
- Braxton Strick – Ozark High School
BOYS WRESTLING – UPPER WEIGHTS
- Cayden Auch – Neosho High School
- Jesse Cassatt – Carl Junction High School
- John Golson – Nixa High School
- Daylon Kannengieter – Marshfield High School
- Jeremiah Larson – Neosho High School
- Hunter Tennison – Ozark High School
- Ethan Umfleet – Monett High School
GIRLS BASKETBALL
- Bug Bailey – Hollister High School
- Kaemyn Bekemeier – Republic High School
- Makaiya Brooks – Central High School
- Faith Gilkey – Walnut Grove High School
- Indya Green – Kickapoo High School
- Bella Fontleroy – Kickapoo High School
- Ashton Judd – West Plains High School
- Lacy Stokes – Mount Vernon High School
BOYS BASKETBALL
- Anton Brookshire – Kickapoo High School
- Isaac Haney – Kickapoo High School
- Zach Howell – Springfield Catholic High School
- Drew McMillin – Republic High School
- Aminu Mohammed – Greenwood Laboratory School
- Ryce Piper – Hartville High School
- Kyle Pock – Bolivar High School
- Colin Ruffin –Nixa High School
BOYS TENNIS
Gavin Brown, Branson High School
Ian Ding, Thomas Jefferson Independent
Nate Fletcher, Greenwood Laboratory School
Caden Lingenfelser, Willard High School
Evan Rea, Nevada High School
Alex Shunyakov, Central High School
BOYS GOLF
Aiden Asby, Bolivar High School
Max Bowman, Glendale High School
Fielding Campbell, Joplin High School
Christian Cooper, Spokane High School
Adam Floyd, Glendale High School
William Satterlee, Joplin High School
Owen Swearingen, Nevada High School
GIRLS TRACK
Tia Cupp, Sarcoxie High School
Sydney Johnson, Ozark High School
Addison Lawrence, College Heights Christian School
Alanza Montez, Carl Junction High School
Brianna Utecht, Marshfield High School
Kyla Warren, Blue Eye High School
GIRLS FIELD EVENTS
Emily Beres, Webb City High School
Cali Essick, Branson High School
Sadie Heisner, Mount Vernon High School
Taylor Mayo, Kickapoo High School
Madison Ponder, Skyline High School
Kyren Postlewait, Cassville High School
BOYS TRACK
Daelen Ackley, El Dorado Springs High School
Colsen Conway, Branson High School
Angel Dickerson, Camdenton High School
Riley Simpson, West Plains High School
Peter Wormek, Camdenton High School
BOYS FIELD EVENTS
Luke Brumit, Webb City High School
Donovan Fowler, Joplin High School
Mekhi Garrard, Webb City High School
Brendan Jewell, Carl Junction High School
Marshall Swadley, Willard High School
GIRLS SOCCER
Abby Bilbao, Kickapoo High School
Kaya Cocanougher, Nixa High School
Carla Fronaberger, Republic High School
Abby Harrison, Nixa High School
Sabrina Jones, Kickapoo High School
Macie Stephens, Glendale High School
BASS FISHING
Payton Evans & Bryse Dodson, Ava High School
Hunter Driskell & Bobby Lindholm, Clever High School
Brock Pearce & Preston Trapp, Diggins
Gage and Kendall Meadors, Logan Rogersville High School
Kyren Hepko & Luke Rasmussen, Seymore High School
BASEBALL
Ryker Harrington, Republic High School
Treghan Parker, Webb City High School
Jeremy Rader, Springfield Catholic High School
Landon Richards, Hollister High School
Dalen Stewart, Willard High School
GIRLS PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR
Lexi Berry & Megan Roberts, Bolivar High School
Maggie Moore, New Covenant Academy
Lacy Stokes, Mount Vernon High School
Lilly Whitten, Skyline High School
Reagan Zibilski, Springfield Catholic High School
BOYS PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR
Donovyn Fowler, Joplin High School
Luke Gall, Carthage High School
Daylon Kanengieter, Marshfield High School
Drew McMillin, Republic High School
Ty Pinon, Skyline High School
Marshall Swadley, Willard High School
GIRLS TEAM OF THE YEAR
College Heights Christian Cross Country
College Heights Christian Track & Field
Lebanon High School Wrestling
Purdy High School Softball
Skyline High School Softball
Springfield Catholic High School Golf
West Plains High School Cross Country
Willard High School Volleyball
BOYS TEAM OF THE YEAR
El Dorado Springs Track & Field
Glendale High School Swimming & Diving
Hartville High School Basketball
Kickapoo High School Basketball
Lamar High School Football
Marionville High School Baseball
Webb City Track & Field
Willard High School Baseball
GIRLS ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Riley Arnold, Blue Eye High School
Justine Barb, Skyline High School
Lexi Berry, Bolivar High School
Maggie Moore, New Covenant Academy
Reese Schaaf, El Dorado Springs High School
Lacy Stokes, Mount Vernon High School
BOYS ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
John Gholson, Nixa High School
Daylon Kanengieter, Marshfield High School
Treghan Parker, Webb City High School
Jamen Smith, Buffalo High School
Hunter Tennison, Ozark High School
Case Tucker, Lamar High School
INSPIRATION AWARDS
Mollie Beeson – Pierce City High School (softball)
Lilah Genel – Parkview High School (track & field)
Ashlyn Grier – Marshfield High School (volleyball)
Morgan Green – Marshfield High School (softball)
Bennie Hank Joiner – Lebanon High School (wrestling)
Victor Kelbaugh – Reeds Spring High School (basketball)
Cross Kubik – Kickapoo High School (baseball)
Camryn Ledford – Joplin High School (track & field)
Springfield Sports Commission Award – CoxHealth
Springfield Sports Commission Award – Mercy
