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The Rising Star Acrobatic Club has sent groups to international competitions before, but none quite matched up to the recent trip to the World Age Group Championships in Wroclaw, Poland. The trio of MacKenzie Porter, Chelcea Riegel and Krissy Weidmaier finished 15th overall in the 12-19 Girls Group competition July 6-12.

“It is such an honor,” Rising Star coach Linda Porter said. “When we went as 11-16 year olds, we got fifth in the world, but the kind of level we were doing was more entry level. When you go to 12-19 you are actually at elite-level competition. There is only one level higher, and that is senior. To get 15th in the world with consideration given to the fact that it is one of the most highly competed in events is great. We had 26 competitors in our division, and those are the best of every country.

“We went as USA 2, and the other trio (USA 1) took sixth. When you look at the fact we were USA 2, we did a phenomenal job. That other trio had been before. This was our first time to ever compete at this level, 12-19.”

While the Rising Star Acrobatic Club just had a 12-19-year-old group return from the World Age Group Championships in Wroclaw, Poland, the team also has pairs and groups competing at the 2010 National Championships in Kissimmee, Fla., Saturday, July 24, to Wednesday, July 28.

“Over the weekend we had great news, since our junior elite 12-19 group (MacKenzie Porter, Chelcea Riegel and Krissy Weidmaier) was chosen to represent the United States at the World Championships. They were chosen for the 2010-11 12-19 team also,” Linda Porter said. “Even though they didn’t compete here they were given that honor. Our 11-16 team (Halie Kimmel, Kelli Weidmaier and Mariah Wilkin) that had made the team in December had to try out again, and they were selected. Again, we will have six members on the national team. We are really excited about that.”

Anyone who has followed the Kearney Purple Wave swim team this year knows the damage Elias Amparano has done in the water. He continued his sterling summer season with a dominant performance in the finals of the Northland Conference Championships at Springs Aquatic Center on Thursday, July 22.

Amparano won three individual events and was part of two winning relays as the Purple Wave finished in third place behind Riss Lake — which won for the third straight year — and New Mark.

“This was the third year in a row,” Purple Wave coach Nancy Mabrey said. “The kids swam really well and we were pleased. Going into the meet, we were trying to judge where we were compared to the other teams, and we weren’t sure we were actually going to finish in that position. We thought maybe we would finish fourth.

Ted Graves is finally coming home.

For more than 25 years, Graves has lived in Liberty. Now he has the chance to do the one thing he’s always wanted to do — coach high school athletes in his home town.

“I’ve always thought in the back of my mind that it would be great getting into the Liberty district,” Graves said. “Better late than never.”

Shane Woods experienced something few players ever get the chance to when he played with the Kansas City Wizards U16 junior team two years ago. So when the call did not come to rejoin the team the following year, Woods was understandably down.

“I just sat and sat and waited for a phone call that never came,” said Woods, who will be a junior this fall at Kearney. “It broke my heart as I just sat there and waited. No phone call came. I was just so out of it. I thought, ‘Now I have to go tryout for another team.’”

No one would have blamed him if he decided it just was not for him anymore.

Area shooter Provow aims to stay on top of his game

Most old-timers don’t celebrate their 75th birthdays at the trap range. Then again, Norman Provow is far from the average 75-year-old.

Shooters from all over the world will gather in Sparta, Ill., in August for the Grand American Trapshooting Championships. The event is the premier trapshooting competition in the world and will feature shooters from as far as Europe. There will be some local flavor in Sparta as well.

Kearney residents Jeff Bengtson and Mike Torres will be making their second and first trips to the event, respectively.

“My last time there was my first time I shot it,” Bengtson said. “Your nerves are in a knot. You know you are going to be there with the best in the world. I think this year I will do better because I have shot enough registered events in the last year to put my nerves at bay for this. Driving into this huge, 1,600 acre complex is awe inspiring. You can walk down the row of vendors, and you might see a former world champion talking to a normal person.”

Things have a funny way of coming together. Take the case of former Kearney teammates Kyle Jackson and Trent Kohlstaedt. The two were thousands of miles apart during the school year when Jackson played at the University of Kentucky and Kohlstaedt suited up for Northwest Missouri State University.

The two were reunited this summer in St. Joseph with the town’s MINK League team, the St. Joseph Mustangs. Kohlstaedt wound up with the Mustangs thanks to his assistant coach at Northwest — Matt Johnson.“He asked me if I wanted to play,” Kohlstaedt said.

Meanwhile, Jackson put in a call to former Metropolitan Community College-Maple Woods teammate Ryan Hook.

During the last two meets, Kearney Purple Wave records have been rewritten seven times. In a July 1, meet with Sherwood, five different records fell on the Purple Wave’s way to a 959-206 win.

The boys’ 9-10 200-meter medley relay of Corbin Anderson, Brady Baldwin, Austin Wolfe and Evan Holt, the 11-12 boys’ 200 medley of Ben Mattes, Ryan Hoffman, Elias Amparano and Spencer Steward and the girls’ 15-18 200 medley relay of MacKenzie Porter, Rebecca Amparano, Rachel Amparano and Morgan Uhlman all set new records at the meet. Elias and Rebecca Amparano also set records in the 50 butterfly in the boys 11-12 division and girls 15-18 division, respectively.

While no Kearney golfer hoisted a trophy at the Missouri Junior Amateur Championship July 6-7, it did not stop the town from making a good showing. Three local golfers finished in the top five in their age groups at Paradise Pointe Golf Complex in Smithville.

Defending junior champion Ryan Zech finished in a tie for fifth at 3-under-par during the two days in the 14-18 division. Incoming freshman Adam Lechner finished alone in fifth place with a score of 4-over-par in the 14-15 division, and Pierce Moling finished tied for third in the 12-13 division with a two-day total of 18-over-par. Recent Kearney graduate Kyle Smith posted back-to-back 76s to finish tied for 42nd place.