Sports

Gregg Williams is coaching football again. Or soon will be.

Brendan Blackburn’s midseason surge drew attention from the Missouri High School Baseball Coaches Association. Impressed with Blackburn’s play, the association made him a Class 4 all-state selection.

Once again, the Gregg Williams Foundation raised tens of thousands of dollars to help Excelsior Springs youth. As has been the case for the past few decades, the foundation did so with its annual auction and golf tournament.

Excelsior Springs’ Class 4 state quarterfinal run in baseball produced two all-state honors: one for Lucas Dillman, one for Brendan Blackburn. The honors were among a plethora of awards the Tigers received.

Lucas Dillman repeated himself. An all-state selection in 2021, Dillman received the honor again in 2022.

Excelsior Springs’ softball program has sent another student-athlete from high school to the collegiate ranks. Ariana Reynolds, who graduated in May, recently signed her letter of intent to play at North Central Missouri College in Trenton.

Another former squad member will help coach the Tigerettes. Kayla Ganzer, a 2013 graduate, has agreed to co-coach the Excelsior Springs High School dance team with former Tigerette Emily West, who was profiled last week in The Standard.

Four Tigers received all-district honors in varsity girls soccer. Abby Rash was named to the Class 2 District 8 team.

Chloe Carlyle is spending nearly every weekend this summer in a familiar place: on a softball field. Carlyle, a two-time letter winner in softball at Excelsior Springs High School who catches and is an outfielder for coach Megan Rawie, plays for the 18-and-under Mayhem team.

The Tigerettes have two new coaches – one of them a recent member of that Excelsior Springs High School dance team. Emily West, a 2021 Excelsior Springs graduate, is returning to help the Tigerettes.