Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 63
Since we're writers, we, at SAM love lists. Trust us, we keep and use them every single day. But, how does one determine which articles should be at the top of the yearly list? In the past, we've based it by reader count from our website. This year, we're still relying on reader count, featuring the top-read article by month. We wrote nearly 2,000 articles in 2023 and, while some of our favorites don't appear on the list, we're sure these are a newsworthy representation of the Summerland region....
Circle May 6 on the calendar. Be prepared for increased traffic near Summerland School. Be on alert for selfie-seeking seniors donned in commencement caps and gowns. A graduation ceremony for the class of 2023 will begin at 3 p.m., at the school, situated at 51293 857th Road, near Ewing. The program will begin with a slide show. Summerland band will play the processional. Superintendent Kyle Finke will present the administrative welcome and the senior welcome will be given by the salutatorian....
The Nebraska School Activities Association and the Nebraska State College System recently announced the 16,149 recipients of the 2022-2023 Nebraska State Colleges Multi-Activity Student Award. The award recognizes students in grades 9-12 who participate in at least three NSAA-sanctioned activities during the academic year. Each high school student who participates in at least three NSAA activities will be recognized and awarded a certificate of achievement by the NSAA and the Nebraska state colleges. Activity participation will be tracked using...
Summerland speech team members competing in last Thursday's Class C2 state championship in Kearney finished the season by earning superior ratings. Faith King finished ninth overall after preliminary rounds in informative speaking, with a presentation on nostalgia. King received a total of 143 speaking points out of a possible 150. Judges ranked her third, sixth and first in preliminary round competition. Olga Mendoza finished ninth overall after preliminary rounds in serious prose. She...
Faith King, Olga Mendoza and Adrienne Parker will be among the 1,153 competitors descending on Kearney, Wednesday through Friday, for the 2023 Nebraska School Activities Association State Speech Championships at Kearney High School. The three Bobcat speakers qualified for this week's Class C2 state competition last Wednesday, as 14 Summerland speech team members traveled to Plainview to compete in the C2-3 district speech competition. Seven students broke finals in 10 events. Following the...
Summerland's National Honor Society chapter welcomed new members, Monday, during an induction ceremony. (l-r): Selected for membership are Carter Bergman, Preslie Robertson, Aislynn Kester, Carlee Livingston, Talya Nilson, Kelsey Schlecht and Lydia Robertson. Current members of Summerland NHS include (front row, l-r): Alanna Doll, Adyson Mlnarik, Schlecht, Ellie Dougherty, Nilson, Livingston, Austin Muff, Preslie Robertson; (back row, l-r): Bergman, Adrienne Parker, Kester, Lydia Robertson,...
Ponca exploded after retrieving the opening tip and never looked back, gaining a 62-39 win over Summerland, Friday, Feb. 24, on the Indians' home court. The Indians opened the first quarter with 14 unanswered points until Bobcat senior Hadley Cheatum sunk a last-second basket at the end of the first quarter. The Bobcats settled into play during quarter two, holding Ponca to nine points and held steady with them following the break. But the Indians outscored Summerland 25-15 in the final...
Summerland "speechsters" earned four medals at the Creighton Speech Invite, held Friday, Feb. 17. Champs finals medal winners included Faith King, third, informative speaking and poetry interpretation; Olga Mendoza, third, serious prose and Yuliana Olivan, fourth, entertainment speaking. Award winners in the next-in division included Brandon Pruden, fourth, humorous prose; Carlee Livingston, fourth, entertainment speaking and Adrienne Parker, Audrey Parker, Talya Nilson and Olivan, fourth, oral...
Summerland Public School hosted the Niobrara Valley Conference speech tournament, Wednesday, Feb. 15. The Bobcat "speechsters" placed sixth as a team behind Pope John, Stuart, West Holt, Elgin and St. Mary's. Medal winners from Summerland included: Olga Mendoza, third, serious prose interpretation and poetry interpretation; Yuliana Olivan, third, entertainment speaking; Faith King, fourth, poetry; Adrienne Parker, sixth, persuasive; and Talya Nilson and Irelyn Bearinger, sixth, duet...
Summerland girls' basketball team members surround head coach Greg Appleby, Thursday, during an emotional video tribute, featuring former and current players, following the Lady Bobcat's home basketball game. Appleby, who will retire at the end of this school year, coached basketball for 24 years, including head and assistant coaching stints at Trenton, Ewing and Summerland. Between Ewing and Summerland squads, an Appleby-led team has appeared in conference tournament finales 13 times,...
Fourteen members of the Summerland speech team competed at the West Holt Invitational on Saturday, coming in seventh of 18 teams. Earning top honors in entertainment speaking was Yulianna (Julie) Olivan, who earned a first-place rating from both judges in preliminary rounds and also from both judges in the final round. She earned 197 of a possible 200 rating points. Other medal winners were as follows: Faith King, fourth, poetry interpretation; Olga Mendoza, fourth, serious prose and sixth,...
SUBMITTED ARTICLE Summerland hosted its own speech invitational, Saturday. A dozen teams competed in the meet. Summerland placed fourth behind West Holt, 318 points; Stuart, 258 points; and Elgin Pope John, 214 points. Summerland earned 158 points and O'Neill St. Mary's was fifth with 152. Other schools competing were Stanton, Neligh-Oakdale, Creighton, Verdigre, Wheeler Central, Boyd County and Rock County. Olga Mendoza earned the gold medal in serious prose. Two Bobcat speakers placed second,...
Ten members of the Summerland speech team competed at the Practice Makes "Perfekt" Invitational at Wisner-Pilger High School, Jan. 14. The Bobcats earned sixth place as a team behind Twin River, Wisner-Pilger, Homer, Laurel-Concord-Coleridge and Archbishop Bergan. Scribner-Snyder was seventh, followed by West Point-Beemer, North Bend, Stanton, Pender, South Sioux City, Wakefield and Allen Consolidated. Senior speaker Olga Mendoza took top honors in serious prose while Yulianna Olivan and Alanna...
Adyson Mlnarik scored 27 points in Summerland's 44-33 win over North Central, in a Jan. 5 home contest. While the Lady Cats only shot 27% and 28% from the 3- and 2-point range, they went 14 of 18 at the charity stripe. Stats v North Central: Lydia Robertson: 2p, 7r, 1to Preslie Robertson: 2p, 2r, 1d, 1s, 1a Mlnarik: 27p, 7r, 2to, 10d, 3s, 1bl Ashley Pischel: 2p, 2r, 1d Hadley Cheatum: 9p, 8r, 3to, 5d, 1s, 3a, 1bl Emily Ahlers: 2p, 1r, 1s Harper Klabenes: 3r, 2to, 1d, 1s, 1a Olga Mendoza:...
Members of the Summerland speech team compete and judge, Saturday, at the Stuart Novice Speech Tournament. The novice oral interpretation of drama team participated in the meet. Varsity speakers Adrienne Parker and Olga Mendoza judged events. Attending were Sydni McConnell, Parker, Irelyn Bearinger, Mendoza, Emma King and Brandon Pruden....
The Summerland Lady Bobcats advance to 7-1 on the season following two wins last week at the Summerland Holiday Invite. On Dec. 28, the Cats pounced on CWC, claiming a 61-24 win. Adyson Mlnarik scored 24 points and Lydia Robertson hit 20 to pace Summerland. The win set up a championship match against West Holt. In a low-scoring affair, Summerland earned a 32-25 hard-fought battle against the Lady Huskies. Senior Hadley Cheatum led the Bobcats with a double-double, scoring 14 points and grabbing...
The Lady Bobcats advance to 5-1 on the season following Monday’s 49-40 win against St. Mary’s. Coach Greg Appleby said while his team feels good about its start to the season, the group needs to improve with offensive execution. “We really played well defensively on the night and executed our defensive game plan. We were able to keep their top three scorers under control and, offensively, we attacked the basket well and were able to get to the free throw line.” Ady Mlnarik had finished with 26...
Summerland's girls basketball team defeated Riverside in an impressive fashion, 56-22, in a Tuesday home, non-conference game. Coach Greg Appleby said, "Our girls played well in sprinting out to a 47-7 halftime lead. Our pressure defense created a lot of problems for Riverside and we were able to convert into points." Two Bobcat players finished in double digits, as Adyson Mlnarik scored 19 points and Hadley Cheatum added a dozen. Appleby said his squad's schedule gets "more difficult over the n...
Fitting in, finding acceptance and making critical choices - as told by a group of misfits struggling with the consequences of bullying - is the message of Summerland's 2022 play production, "Freak." Monique, played by senior Brynna Umphress, describes a scene she faces each day at 10:43 in "the scariest place on earth," the school hallway. The constant torment wears on her psyche. The character says, "I know I should just suck it up and ignore it. Just pretend ... What did I do? What makes me...
Summerland's play production team competed in two contests last week, bringing home first- and fourth-place awards. On Nov. 15, the team traveled to Neligh to compete in the Niobrara Valley Conference meet, where they ended in fourth. Eight students received honorable mention acting awards, including Faith King, Lenora Kester, Carlee Livingston, Alanna Doll, Julie Olivan, Bryna Umphress, Olga Mendoza and Ashley Melcher. After making adjustments, the team competed in the Eagle Invite, Saturday,...
As a freshman, Olga Mendoza watched several Latinx students receive scholarships from the Gallery of Stars, presented during the annual Latino Youth Summit, held at Central Community College in Columbus. At the time, she thought, "I can't wait until I'm a senior. I want that scholarship." Last Wednesday, as Mendoza and other Summerland students who attended the summit gathered for a photo, the Summerland senior received a surprise. Jane Shanahan, with the Jesusita and Santos Courage and...
Alec Thiele, son of Jim and Leenda Thiele, and Hadley Cheatum, daughter of Dana and Rachael Cheatum, of Page, were named 2022 homecoming king and queen for Summerland School. The announcement was made during halftime of the Bobcats game against Lutheran High Northeast, Sept. 16. Other senior members of the court included Emily Ahlers, Lena Bolling, Harper Klabenes, Olga Mendoza, Ashley Pischel, Trevor Thomson, Kendrick Schroeder, Joe Ahlers and Kellen Mlnarik. Junior class attendents were...
From a young age, every student dreams of the day he or she will graduate. They can't wait to meet the day that all the hard work, tears and challenging tests and homework assignments lead to. For the Summerland Class of 2023, that day is approaching faster than they know. Members of the senior class want to unite together and make lasting memories before they go their separate ways for postsecondary education. Summerland senior, Olga Mendoza, came up with the idea for a senior spotlight...
Two Lady Bobcats will represent Summerland in four events in the 2022 Nebraska State Activities Association Class C Track and Field Championships. Bailey Ahlers and Hadley Cheatum qualified for the state's best of the best, Thursday, at the Class C5 district track meet, in Atkinson. The Lady Cats finished seventh in team standings, scoring 42 points. Battle Creek claimed the team title with 104 points. Ahlers, a freshman, cleared 5' 1" in the long jump, a personal record. The jump placed her...
Four members of the Summerland girls' track and field team earned medals, Thursday, at the Tom Martin/Wausa Invitational held in Pierce. The Bobcat squad finished seventh, scoring 41 points. Pierce won the 12-field meet,with 112 points Hadley Cheatum sprinted to a gold medal in the 300m hurdles. She crossed the finish line in the 300m hurdles nearly a second ahead of the second-place finisher, Abrielle Nelson of Wausa. Cheatum finished second in two races. In the 400m, she ran 1:00.76, while in...
