Mississippi
Full-strength Cedar Rapids Washington rolls to MVC Super Meet team title
CEDAR RAPIDS — They all showed up and showed out.
The Cedar Rapids Washington girls’ golf team showed the potential of its best lineup.
The Warriors had their top team available and carded a total of 322, winning the title at the Mississippi Valley Conference Super Meet on Monday at Ellis Golf Course. Washington topped runner-up Western Dubuque by eight strokes, while Linn-Mar’s Morgan Rupp shot 1-under 71 for medalist honors.
“It’s nice to see them playing their game,” Washington assistant coach Ronnie Blocklinger said. “They’re having fun.”
The Warriors’ Mya Messenger placed third with 76 and Jane Petersen was two shots back for fifth. Messenger and Lily Belle Barker juggle both varsity golf and tennis in the spring, causing some scheduling conflicts.
Everybody was on hand.
“I think we have great potential and we’re firing on all cylinders and at full strength,” Messenger said. “We’ve all been working really hard over the winter.
“It also helps that we’re a tight-knit group. We’ve brought everyone in and all were firing today on our A-Game.”
Good camaraderie and strong chemistry also play a big part in success. The relationships extend beyond rounds, putting greens and driving ranges. Petersen said her best friends are on the team and most of the golfers have fun together on the course.
“It’s not just best team score-wise,” Petersen said. “I think we have a great team connection. I love the girls.”
Messenger, listed as the team’s No. 3 golfer, led Washington this round. She tallied three birdies, including the Nos. 11 and 16 holes for an even-par 36 on the back nine.
Attention to her short game allowed her to perform well, despite the chilly and windy conditions.
“I know my teammates and I have been out weekends and after practice and stayed late to focus on our short game — our putting and chipping,” Messenger said. “I really worked hard on that and focused on that today to convert on a lot of birdie putts and getting up and down better than I have been.
“I got up and down a lot on the back nine. I had a couple birdies that helped my round. I gave myself a little cushion to where if I did bogey I wouldn’t have too much stress.”
Washington placed all four of its scorers in the top 15 of the individual standings. In addition to Messenger and Petersen in the top five, Barker posted an 83 for 12th and freshman Shaylin Munson rounded out the foursome with an 85.
“At this point, I think we can make a run for state,” said Petersen, who was the Class 4A state runner-up last season. “It’s just really exciting to have four scores and a fifth, if we need it, which is amazing.”
Linn-Mar’s Morgan Rupp is MVC Super Meet medalist
Rupp shared medalist honors with Messenger at the MVC Super Meet a year ago. She was the only golfer to break 75, sinking an 8-foot putt on her final hole and breaking par.
“The difference between even par and 1-under is quite a bit,” the Lions’ 2023 4A state champion said. “It feels like it’s more than one stroke, at least. I told myself to make this. End with a birdie and you’ll feel better about your round.”
It was the second of bookend birdies to her round. She birdied No. 16 to start the meet. She added two more on the front, notching birdies on the Nos. 5 and 9.
Rupp won by four strokes over Iowa City Liberty’s runner-up Isabella Pettersen. The field had eight of the top 25 ranked golfers, according to Bound’s combined adjusted averages.
“I feel like this is a really good win for me,” Rupp said. “There are a lot of really good players in this meet. The field is stacked. I’m proud of the score I put up.”
Mississippi Valley Conference girls’ golf Super Meet
At Ellis Golf Course
(Par 72)
Teams – 1. C.R. Washington 322, 2. Western Dubuque 330, 3. Dubuque Wahlert 339, 4. Cedar Falls 340, 5. Linn-Mar 344, 6. C.R. Xavier 363, 7. Iowa City High 374, 8. Iowa City Liberty 375, 9. Dubuque Senior 381, 10. Waterloo West 390, 11. C.R. Prairie 406, 12. Iowa City West 415, 13. Dubuque Hempstead 417, 14. C.R. Kennedy 470, 15. C.R. Jefferson 471
Individuals – 1. Morgan Rupp (LM), 71, 2. Isabella Pettersen (ICL), 75, 3. Mya Messenger (CRW), 76, 4. Molly Ratchford (CF), 77, 5. Jane Petersen (CRW), 78
C.R. WASHINGTON (322): Messenger 76, Petersen 78, Lily Belle Barker 83, Shaylin Munson 85
LINN-MAR (344): Rupp 71, Gabby Mercure 90, Jayden Schumacher 91, Riya Anand 92
C.R. XAVIER (363): Mehar Julka 80, Meehar Julka 89, Lauren Kram 95, Josie Kramer 99
CITY HIGH (374): Haleigh Nelson 84, Hannah Cronk 92, Tully Campion 97, Olivia Neuzil 101
I.C. LIBERTY (375): Pettersen 75, Leona Rupp 91, Ella Burns 104, Sydney Hested 105
C.R. PRAIRIE (406): Kylie Wachtl 80, Morgan Burhans 96, Malian Armour 115, Millie Manternach 115
I.C. WEST (415): Whitney Noeller 101, Gretchen Van Iddekinge 102, Sophie Bodin 105, Lily Schmid 107
C.R. KENNEDY (470): Ellie Nurre 85, Aliya Ballard 117, Audrey Ingraham 130, Paige Maas 138
C.R. JEFFERSON (471): Ava Erger 104, Rachel Johnson 113, Peyton Kindrade 125, Kiyaree Cooper 129, Aiyana Moeller 129
Comments: kj.pilcher@thegazette.com
HOOVER, AL — Mississippi State baseball had a chance to bust a myth in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals against Georgia.
MSU hasn’t had issues beating the bad and average teams but has struggled to get wins against the top teams.
A win for No. 8 seed MSU over No. 1 Georgia could’ve extinguished that, but Georgia (44-12) won 5-3 on May 21 at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium to eliminate MSU (40-17).
That leaves Mississippi State 9-14 in Quad 1 games, the type of matchups it will need to win to make a run to the College World Series. And four of those Quad 1 wins are against Ole Miss. Mississippi State is 31-3 in Quads 2-4.
“Their spirits are up,” Mississippi State coach Brian O’Connor said. “Obviously they’re disappointed about today. But they really, really believe in each other. And I feel like this team has the skill and want-to to play for a long time.”
Mississippi State had three weeks to prove it can consistently win against elite teams. Its last three series of the regular season were all Quad 1 — at Texas, home against Auburn and at Texas A&M.
Mississippi State lost all three of those series but didn’t get swept in any of them.
However, Mississippi State has been competitive in just about every game. It’s only been run-ruled once, May 9 against Auburn. Six of the 14 Quad 1 losses are by one run and three of them are by two runs.
“We’re playing well,” Mississippi State designated hitter Noah Sullivan said. “We’re all excited. We want to play at home, and hopefully that does happen. But I mean, this game, it is what it is. We didn’t do enough on both sides, and it just is what it is. We’ll move forward, get back to work and see what happens.”
Brian O’Connor believes Mississippi State will host regional
O’Connor said after the loss to Georgia that he believes Mississippi State will be one of the 16 NCAA Tournament teams to host a regional.
D1Baseball had Mississippi State as the No. 14 national seed before the loss to Georgia, and Baseball America projected Mississippi State as the No. 13 seed.
“I hope on Sunday the committee feels that we are worthy of that,” O’Connor said. “I know our fan base and the community of Starkville will do an incredible job hosting a regional welcoming the other teams. And I believe this team has earned the right to be able to do that.”
MSU hasn’t hosted a regional since 2021, the year it won the program’s only national championship.
The regional hosts will be announced May 24 before the full bracket reveal on May 25.
“We’re right there,” O’Connor said. “We just need to be a little bit better starting next weekend in those tight ball games.”
Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for The Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@usatodayco.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.
The SEC regular season champion Georgia Bulldogs (43-12, 23-7 SEC) begin the SEC Tournament against the Mississippi State Bulldogs in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament. Mississippi State is 40-16 (16-14 SEC) entering their matchup with Georgia. Mississippi State is coming off a 12-2 run-rule win in seven innings over Missouri.
The Bulldogs enters the SEC Tournament having won 11 of their last 12 games. Georgia leads the nation in home runs. Georgia catcher Daniel Jackson was recently named as the SEC player of the year.
“We’re planning on going with our regular routine,” Georgia baseball manager Wes Johnson said ahead of the SEC Tournament. “From a pitching standpoint on Thursday, we have a lot of guys who will be ready to throw. I’ll see who wins the first few games before we announce exactly what we’re planning to do, but we’re staying with it. We’ve got guys on bullpen schedules, as if we’re playing a Thursday, Friday, Saturday series.”
No. 1 seed Georgia and No. 8 seed Mississippi State met three times during the regular season with Georgia earning a road sweep at Mississippi State.
Watch Georgia vs Mississippi State live on Fubo (free trial)
Here’s how to watch the Georgia vs Mississippi State game today, including time, TV schedule, and streaming information:
What channel is Georgia vs Mississippi State on today?
TV Channel: SEC Network
Livestream: Fubo (free trial)
Georgia vs Mississippi State will broadcast nationally on SEC Network in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament. Tom Hart and Dave Neal are alternating play-by-play duties throughout the SEC Tournament alongside analysts Todd Walker, Lance Cormier, Chris Burke and Kyle Peterson, who will be calling games from the booth at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium. Streaming options for the game include FUBO, which offers a free trial to new subscribers.
Georgia vs Mississippi State time today
- Date: Thursday, May 21
- Start time: 4 p.m. ET
The Georgia vs Mississippi State game starts at 4 p.m. from Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in Hoover, Alabama.
Georgia vs Mississippi State prediction, College World Series odds
Odds courtesy of BetMGM as of Wednesday, May 20
We predict Georgia will defeat Mississippi State to advance in the SEC Tournament. Georgia swept Mississippi State during the regular season and has been elite against SEC opponents this season, so we can’t pick against UGA.
Georgia (plus-1000) and Mississippi State (plus-1000) both have top-five best odds to win the College World Series. Georgia and Mississippi State are only behind Texas (plus-900), Georgia Tech (plus-600) and UCLA (plus-550).
We occasionally recommend interesting products and services. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. USA TODAY Network newsrooms operate independently, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.
Mississippi
Death investigation underway after Columbia Academy graduate taken off life support in Florida
PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WDAM) – A death investigation has been opened after deputies in Florida responded to a life-threatening call involving a recent Columbia Academy graduate.
WDAM’s sister station, WJHG, reported that the Bay County Sheriff’s Office said Shannon Thomas Tanner, 19, was expected to be taken off of life support Wednesday after being declared brain dead.
According to the incident report obtained by WJHG, on Sunday, May 18, deputies arrived at a home in Panama City Beach and were told that Tanner had been drinking alcohol.
The report says an investigator asked someone at the home what happened, with the person telling the investigator that Tanner was “drinking too much.” EMS reportedly treated Tanner on scene.
BCSO is investigating the death of a 19-year-old from Mississippi
The cause of the medical emergency has not been confirmed, and the investigation is ongoing.
According to a GoFundMe set up to help with funeral expenses, Tanner was on his senior trip after graduating from Columbia Academy.
Columbia Academy made a Facebook post expressing its condolences for the family, saying the recent graduate was “the kind of person who can make anyone laugh, light up a room with his personality and dance moves, and make others feel valued simply by being himself.”
Return to WDAM 7 for updates on this developing story.
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Copyright 2026 WDAM. All rights reserved.
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