There are two truths in the sporting world.
Everyone wants to be first.
Secondly, everyone wants to be the best.
These two words are interchangeable at times, yet both descriptions have very different meanings. It isn’t hard to be the first. Come up with something new, run with it, and make it public. There you are the first.

But, to be the best you must be creative and better the efforts of those who came before you.  Really, being the best doesn’t always mean being the first, but rather it’s about being fresh, putting some effort into, and reaching for higher goals. Being the first and being the best is very rarely accomplished at the same time.
Yet, this week Kayla Cheadle has accomplished both.
Looking for new and innovative ways to explore the realm of RBHS athletics, the BearingNews sports staff set out to publish more than just wrap-ups of the most recent games. We have conceived the idea of naming our Athlete of the Week, a RBHS student-athlete who has exceed above the competition throughout the past week. Following individual nominations, the athletes were voted on by a panel of three staff writers and one editor. The ballots were tallied and the winner named.
This week, senior girls’ basketball player Kayla Cheadle is the BearingNews Athlete of the Week. She has accomplished the feat: both the first and the best.
Below are the top two vote getters and two honorable mention student athletes. Total votes appear next to their names with first place votes in parentheses.
 
1st Place 
Kayla Cheadle: 18 votes (3)
On a court full of seven D-1 basketball recruits, the volleyball recruit was the difference maker last Friday. Cheadle helped the #20 Lady Bruins (13-2) to a win over nationally ranked #17 Edwardsville (Ill.) in the USA TODAY rankings. Cheadle, who scored 12 points on all 3’s, also played a part in RBHS’s win over then-#15 Whitney Young last Monday. Cheadle can help the Lady Bruins in the coming weeks and their potential match-up with Missouri rival and US #1 Incarnate Word.
2nd Place
Sam Crane: 12 votes (1)
Crane’s 4-0 victory over Jeff City’s Logan Moriaty in Hickman’s wrestling tournament couldn’t propel the Bruins to higher than fourth place, but it did serve as revenge for Moriaty’s 7-6 victory in Jeff City earlier this month.
Honorable Mention:
Jackson Dubinski: 3 votes
Dubinski helped the Bruins to the finals of the 39th Culver’s Classic and saved them from the first-round exit they had last year. Though the Bruins eventually lost to the rapidly surging Lee’s Summit West Titans, the long tourney run will help set the team up for success heading into this week’s matchup with Hickman.
Kelley Tackett: 3 votes
Tackett was named “Swimmer of the Meet” at the City of Roses swimming tournament this past weekend. She set an event record in the 200-yard freestyle, and helped the Bruins finish third overall.
By Brett Stover and Brayden Parker