BRANCH COUNTY ― The sport of soccer continues to grow each year here in Branch County, with only two high schools in the county without a boys or girls’ team.
The Big 8 conference was able to add a girls program this year with the addition of Stockbridge as a new league member. With five teams in total, the Big 8 was finally able to award their own conference championship while also awarding all-conference honors for the first time as well.
This year, the fate of the Big 8 conference ran through the little town with the big heart as the Quincy Orioles took home the inaugural girls soccer conference championship with a perfect record of 8-0 in the conference. Springport finished in second place at 5-2-1, followed by Bronson (4-3-1), who continues to make massive improvements to the program. The teams from Maple Valley and Stockbridge tied for fourth place with identical 1-7 Big 8 records.
Quincy dominated in the first full Big 8 season with six all-conference first team honorees, including the league Most Valuable Player (MVP) in sophomore Laura Bostic.
Bostic, who also earned Michigan High School Soccer Coaches Association (MIHSSCA) All-State Honorable Mention honors, led the Orioles from her midfielder spot with a team high 44 goals and 13 assists.
Also earning Big 8 All Conference First Team honors for the champions from Quincy was forward Kenzie Maynard who finished second on the team with 20 goals and eight assists, second on the team, midfielder Yoselin Beltran, midfielder McKenna Bowerman, defenseman Kaylyn Brenner and defenseman Ella Bartell.
Also earning first team all-conference honors from right here in Branch County was Bronson midfielder Journey Smith.
Joining the seven Branch County athletes with first team honors was Mia Heisler, Hattie Gray, and Ciarra Brock of Springport, along with Grace Lackey of Stockbridge.
Branch County had two goalkeepers earn Big 8 honorable mention recognition as Bronson keeper Elizabeth Ortiz and Quincy keeper Danica Swift were both honored. Joining the goalkeeper duo with honorable mention honors from Branch County was defenseman Ciaira Paul of Quincy.
Also earning honorable mention recognition for the 2025 season was Claire Seume of Maple Valley, Kylee Grimmett of Springport and Rose Beaureguard of Stockbridge.
Springport takes Big 8 boys golf title, Quincy finishes second
BRANCH COUNTY – Last year, the Big 8 boys golf season saw the Union City Chargers capture the programs first Big 8 boys golf conference championship in school history, holding off the hard charging Quincy Orioles and Springport for the title.
This season, those two teams were having none of that, as it was a two-horse race the entire 2025 campaign, with Springport taking home the conference title with a record of 12-0 in league play. Quincy finished in second place at 10-2, followed by Stockbridge at 8-4. Union City finished in fourth place at 6-6, followed by Concord, Bronson, and Maple Valley to round out the standings. The Reading Rangers do not field a boys golf team.
Taking home Big 8 MVP honors for the 2025 boys golf season was Springport’s Max Argumedo, who was joined on the first team by teammates Brody Baum in third place, Rayna Salazar in eighth place and Stone Overweg in tenth place.
Quincy had three golfers finish inside the top 10 this season, led by league runner-up Braylon Estlow in second place. Also earning all-conference honors for the Orioles was Brydan Wible, who took fifth place while teammate Jax Sargent finished in seventh place.
Union City had one golfer earn top 10 status this season as sophomore Blayne Crance finished in sixth place.
Rounding out the top 10 end of season standings was Wyatt Loso of Stockbridge in fourth place and Lieyton Bauman of Concord in ninth place.
This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Historic first Big 8 all-conference girls soccer team led by Quincy’s Laura Bostic
Reporting by Troy Tennyson, Coldwater Daily Reporter / Coldwater Daily Reporter
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