Cross Country
On Sept. 6 at Marysville, it was a beautiful day for a 2-mile run and the Nemaha Central Middle School cross country runners were all ready to compete.
Coming in first place for the girls 2-mile run was 7th grader Emersyn Novotny with a time of 13:44.96. Brooklyn Korber, 8th grader came in with a 22nd place finish.
For our boys stats, Will Martin, 8th grade, was victorious with a 1st place finish with a time of 11:00.89. Will Martin achieved a new middle school record and currently holds the fastest time in the state of Kansas for middle schoolers.
Ethan Jost, 8th grade, placed 4th. Keagan Richards, 7th grade, came in 7th place right before Dustin Knowles, 8th grade. Seventh grader Sawyer Edelman came in 24th. The hard work of the middle school cross country boys paid off, and they won the meet.
Article by Ashton Johnson.
The Nemaha Central Cross Country team had a very successful day of running at Jackson Heights on September 15th. First of all the boys team took first in the entire meet. “The meet was hard, but we persevered and pushed through,” Abbott Sullivan, 8th grade, said.
The 8th graders earned the following individual placings: Will Martin, 1st; Milo Heinen, 9th; Abbott Sullivan, 10th, Ethan Jost 13th, Dustin Knowles, 29th. The 7th graders earned the following: Keagan Richards,17th, Glen Strathman, 31st, Sawyer Edelman, 37th.
While the girls did not have enough to place as a team, individually they did very well at Jackson Heights with Emersyn Novotony, 7th grade, earning 3rd place and Brooklyn Korber, 8th grade, getting 12th.
Article by Will Martin
Football
The Nemaha Central Middle School football team started the 2025 season on Sept. 4 at Hiawatha.
The Redhawks scored on their first play while the Thunder struggled to score. Hiawatha went on to score 28 points in the first half and NCMS put up 6 points
In the second half NCMS started making big plays, but unfortunately, the final score was 12 to 36, leading to Nemaha Central Middle School's first loss of the season.
“I think we put up a pretty good fight and we all played pretty hard, but it just wasn't enough to come out with a win,” Levi Holthaus, 8th grade, said.
Article by Heston Kramer.
On Sept. 11, 2025, the Nemaha Central Middle School football team won the home opener against Perry-Lecompton, ending the program’s two year losing streak. During the opening kick NC’s Brent Pfanenstiel, 8th grade, ran the ball all the way to the end zone, giving the Thunder an early lead. After a penalty, NC was stuck on a 3rd and 10 when Pfanenstiel scored another touchdown. Right before the half, Kristian De Los Rios, 8th grade, batted the ball into his teammate Landry Hiltgen's, 7th grade, hands who ran it in for a defensive touchdown. NC was winning with the score 22-8 at halftime.
“I was happy with how the team did, and we all did our job. The touchdown I scored also felt amazing, I felt so hyped up!” said Dayton Hernandez, 7th grade. After several successful possessions, the Thunder ended up winning the game with the victory score 42-20.
Article By: Kristian De Los Rios
Volleyball
On Sept. 4 the Nemaha Central Middle School (NCMS) Thunder volleyball team went to Hiawatha to take on the Redhawks. During the 8th grade A-team matches, Hiawatha gained a 6-point lead, but NCMS then came back to win both sets, 25-20, 25-23. The B-team lost their first set 13-25, but came back strong in the next two sets, winning 25-14, 15-13. The 7th grade A-team won both their games, 25-13, 25-18. The 7th grade B-team tried their best, but in the end lost 19-25,17-25.
Article by Audrey Sudbeck
On Sept. 8, the Nemaha Central Middle School (NCMS) Thunder volleyball team battled the Silver Lake Eagles. The 8th grade A-team fell short in two sets, 16-25, 19-25. On the other hand, the 8th grade B-team defeated the Eagles, 25-22, 25-23.
The 7th grade A-team started off rocky, losing the first set 23-25. Then they caught back up, winning the next two, 25-21, 15-7. Despite their best efforts, the 7th grade B-team lost in two sets 24-26,17-25.
“I think that we played our hardest even though we lost. We learned ways we can be better, and I think we could work on serve-receiving, also talking. I’m hoping that we can get them back in the tournament,” Lillian Deters, 8th grade, said.
Article by Emmie Monier
On Sept. 13, both eighth and seventh grade A-teams for Nemaha Central Middle School volleyball traveled to Axtell for a tournament. The eighth grade placed second overall while the seventh grade didn’t place. The eighth grade team won its first three games against Valley Heights, Linn, and Frankfort. In the championship match, the eighth grade lost in a hard fought game against SPPS.
“I think we played our hardest and we came really close to winning. We have improved dramatically since our first games of the season,” Maggie Sudbeck, 8th grade, said.
However, the seventh grade team lost their first games against SPPS and Axtell, and won their last game against Doniphan West. Despite the outcome, they had the opportunity to get better at serve receive and defense against more competitive teams.
Article by Tatum Snyder
The Nemaha Central Middle School volleyball team played the Holton Wildcats on Monday, Sept. 15. The girls were thrilled to step on the court to battle the Wildcats.
The 8th grade A-team won in two sets, 25-21, 25-20, while the B-team won in three sets, 25-27, 25-19, 15-11.“We won, but we were all pretty tired from over the weekend,” Emmie Monier, 8th, a main middle hitter, said.
The teams worked well together and communicated while being in the correct positions. This helped them to be successful in their games.“The first set our serve receive was not too good, the second set we did better and in the third set we fixed our mistakes and won.
The 7th grade A-team was excited to face the Wildcats, but unfortunately the odds were not in their favor. They lost in two sets, 16-25, 14-25. On the other hand, the 7th grade B-team pulled through and won in three sets, 18-25, 26-24,15-6.
The 7th grade as a team said they need to work on getting the passes and serve receive. “Overall, I think we could do a lot better than we had,” Remi Bergman, who plays 7th grade A-team, said. The 7th grade teams worked together, but will continue to get even better overtime.
Article by Ava Madrid