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Jadeon Carter from Lincoln, Nebraska, has made a verbal commitment to the University of Missouri for the 2025-26 school year and beyond.

“I chose Missouri because of the academic resources and the athletic resources they provide. The team culture makes it feel like home and all of the staff and swimmers are very supportive of me.”

Carter is a rising senior at Lincoln East High School. He swims year-round with Lincoln Select Swimming and is a Winter U.S. Open qualifier in the 200 backstroke. In high school swimming, he is the reigning Nebraska state champion in the 200 free (1:41.20) and 500 free (4:35.12). He holds school records in the 200 fre, 500 free, and 200 free relay, and he made the Academic All-Conference and Athletic All-Conference state teams.

In club swimming, Carter holds the Midwestern Swimming LSC record in the boys’ 13-14 500 free. This summer, he clocked a handful of LCM best times at Columbia Sectionals, placing 13th in the 200 free (1:58.08, PB), 13th in the 400 free (4:11.33), 7th in the 800 free (8:36.40), 16th in the 100 back (59.76 in prelims, PB), 6th in the 200 back (2:06.44, PB), and 12th in the 200 IM (2:12.90, PB). Two weeks later he competed at Midwestern Swimming Long Course Championships, where he won the 200/400/1500 free, 200 back, and 200 IM, and was runner-up in the 100 back. He picked up new times in the 100 free (55.39), 1500 free (16:47.07), and (50 back (29.33).

Best SCY times:

• 200 free – 1:41.20
• 500 free – 4:34.01
• 1000 free – 9:38.10
• 200 back – 1:50.43
• 100 back – 52.41

Carter will join the Tigers’ class of 2029 with fellow verbal commits Drew Ploof, Ben Madson, and Sebastian Gonzalez Barboza. Mizzou finished 8th out of 10 teams in the men’s meet at the 2024 SEC Championships.

If you have a commitment to report, please send an email with a photo (landscape, or horizontal, looks best) and a quote to [email protected].

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Missouri State football season has arrived and an offseason of looking to the 2025 season and its impending move to Conference USA will be set aside for the Bears’ final season in the Missouri Valley Football Conference and FCS.

Opening day will present quite a challenge.

Missouri State will open its 2024 season at FCS national runner-up Montana on Saturday in Missoula, Montana, at 8 p.m. This is the first time the two teams have met on the gridiron.

Ryan Beard is entering his second season as Missouri State’s head coach. His team will look to build off a 4-7 season while staying focused on this season despite being ineligible for the FCS Playoffs.

Montana finished last season as the FCS national runner-up. The Grizzlies hope to finish the job this season as they enter the season as the No. 3-ranked team in the country.

Check here for live score updates and highlights throughout the night:

Subscribe to ESPN+ to stream Missouri State vs. Montana

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The Bishop family of Festus, Missouri, can smile now, but a few months ago the mood was much more somber as Courtney, Jake and their 3-year-old daughter Hazel said goodbye to a very important member of the family: Hazel’s beloved pacifier.

“It’s not good for her teeth and her jaws and all of that, so we had been trying to wean her off of it for some time,” Jake, 35, said.

Hazel’s beloved pacifier, affectionately known as “Paci,” had been with her for years. Jake knew saying goodbye could come with tears and tantrums, so he searched for creative approaches to ease the transition. He considered options such as cutting off the end of the pacifier, soaking it in vinegar or planting it in a pot.

Instead, Jake chose to give Paci a funeral.

Of course, before the internet, parents used to just take the thing away and deal with the tantrum. But today, for better or worse, young parents like Jake would rather not go to war over a binky. They’re “pacy-fists,” if you will.

“You need them to go through some tough times to really grow as a person but you don’t need to make extra tough times for them,” Jake said. “They’ll have plenty of those coming up.” 

Parents delight in making milestones, but those milestones are often bittersweet because each turning point is a point of no return.

“She’s transitioning to the next stage of her life,” Jake said of Hazel, their first child. “We just got to hold onto those moments and those memories, because it goes fast.”

Hazel hasn’t asked for Paci again since. Although, shortly after the ceremony, Jake dug it up and buried it again in a keepsake box, making dad the one who just can’t let go.