Kansas Pregame Spring Sports Preview 2019

Kansas

Volume 1 2019

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Kansas Pregame Spring Sports Preview, Volume 1

S P R I N G R E V I VA L

Ah, spring! With warmer weather and longer days comes the return to outdoor sports. A spring revival of sorts.

Spring also welcomes the next new addition to the Kansas Pregame suite of publications in the form of the new Spring Sports Preview featuring statewide coverage of baseball, softball and track & field.

In the following pages you’ll find features focused on some of the top spring sports athletes in Kansas and previews broken down by classification and sport.

In early March about two dozen of the state’s top spring sports athletes gathered in a snow covered downtown Salina at the new Sharp Performance gym at 131 S. Santa Fe to celebrate the coming of spring. Those features - “Spring JOHN BAETZ Revival” and “Youth Movement” - start on page nine.

PUBLISHER In addition to our usual slate of features and previews we are excited to partner with long-time sponsor Nex-Tech Wireless to launch a new feature, the “Nex-Tech Wireless Supporting Cast”.

Often at Kansas Pregame our focus is on the star players and the top head coaches who get significant credit for the success of the team, and rightfully so. But no one can do it alone, and the “Nex-Tech Wireless Supporting Cast” will shine the spotlight on those all important contributors behind the scenes. From role players to band members and cheerleaders, from assistant coaches to athletic directors, from team managers to media members and more. Find the first of these new features on page three of this issue. You can nominate a candidate for the “Nex-Tech Wireless Supporting Cast” by emailing us at kansaspregame@gmail.com. Be sure to include information about their activities behind the scenes that contribute to the success of school athletic programs and help us connect with a photo.

Thanks again to Nex-Tech Wireless for helping us make this awesome new feature possible.

And, in case you missed it, in January, Kansas Pregame launched a new website focused on feature coverage of players, coaches and programs in the Sunflower State at www.kansaspregame.com. Find links to e-Editions of back issues of Kansas Pregame, a list of free distribution locations for our hard copies, and in-season sports coverage.

We hope you enjoy the new Kansas Pregame Spring Sports Preview magazine and don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter for more high school sports coverage in the Sunflower State.

Page 1

Kansas Pregame SPRING SPORTS PREVIEW, Vol. 1

John Baetz & Bree McReynolds-Baetz, Publishers Co-owners of Sixteen 60 Publishing Co., publishers of Kansas Pregame Football Magazine, Kansas Pregame Spring Sports Preview, Kansas Pregame Winter Sports Preview, and KansasPregame.com Layout and Design: Becky Rathbun Ad Design: Becky Rathbun; Kayla Kvacik, Kvacik Graphics Contributing writers: Huey Counts, Gallagher Martin, Conor Nicholl Contributing photographer: Everett Royer, KSportsImages.com Acknowledgments: With a project of this size and scope we can’t possibly thank all the contributors, but a special “Thank You!” goes out to the school secretaries, athletic directors, coaches and parents who helped us secure team information and action photos. Thank you to the advertisers who made this possible - without your support this publication would not be a reality.

Mail inquiries to kansaspregame@gmail.com or Kansas Pregame, PO Box 186, Lincoln, KS 67455 Publication date: Volume 1, March 28, 2019

The 2019 Kansas Pregame Spring Sports Preview cover was photographed at the new Sharp Performance location in downtown Salina. For more about Sharp Performance, including gym locations, hours and services offered visit www.sharp-performance.com.

Find digital editions, a list of free Kansas Pregame print distribution locations, and in-season coverage of Kansas high school sports at www.kansaspregame.com.

Find us on Facebook and Twitter

WHAT’S INSIDE 3 Supporting Cast 5 Frog Expansion 7 Princ Recovers 8 Legendary Leo 9 Spring Revival 17 Youth Movement 25 Baseball Previews 33 Softball Previews 37 Track & FIELD Previews For more coverage of Kansas high school sports on the Web visit

KansasPregame.com

EXPERIENCE MATTERS

Accepting nominations for the all new Nex-Tech Wireless Supporting Cast!

Kansas Pregame Spring Sports Preview, Volume 1

Page 2

Photo by Stephanie Meier www.stephaniemeierphotography.com

Photo by Everett Royer, KSportsImages.com

Kansas Pregame and Nex-Tech Wireless are joining forces to recognize the individuals behind the scenes who help area high school sports teams achieve success. Role players, band members and cheerleaders, athletic directors, team managers, assistant coaches, athletic trainers, booster club members and more.

Nominate a key supporting cast member from your community and they might earn recognition in an upcoming issue of Kansas Pregame, on KansasPregame.com and at a Nex-Tech Wireless location.

Submit nominations for the Nex-Tech Wireless Supporting Cast by messaging Kansas Pregame on Facebook or Twitter, emailing kansaspregame@gmail.com, texting or calling (785) 524-6019 or mailing a nomination to PO Box 186, Lincoln, KS 67455.

Be sure to include details about how they support the team behind the scenes, contact info if you have it and other references who can attest to their key role as a member of the team’s Supporting Cast!

“We’re excited to partner with Nex-Tech Wireless to recognize the key students and community members who are an essential part in the success of the team. The success of the athletic teams we cover is more than just the star or the head coach, it’s the community as a whole. Nominate a Supporting Cast member from your community and give them the chance at some much deserved recognition! “ Kansas Pregame Publisher, John Baetz

Kansas Pregame Spring Sports Preview, Volume 1

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Carol Swenson, Statistician and Announcer, McPherson Would it be track season in Kansas without Carol Swenson providing the state’s official leaderboards and tracking Sunflower State record breakers? It would, but fans would likely not be as informed about the progress of athletes on a statewide level and understand how their performances stack up against the all-time marks.

The 2017 KSHSAA Hall of Fame inductee is a former high school activities director, coach and math instructor at McPherson High School and sports information director at McPherson College. He has an incredible fascination for data and records. He devotes countless hours to researching the statistical data he shares on individual competitors and teams, which makes each track meet more interesting and exciting.

For the past 40 years, Swenson has served as the State Track & Field Meet announcer, providing listeners with an incredible range of statistical information. Well known in the track and field community, his voice can be heard at Big XII meets, KSU indoor and outdoor meets, and the KCAC Track & Field and Cross Country Championships.

Swenson compiles and maintains the “All-Time Kansas High School List” and is the compiler and editor of the “All-Time Collegiate Men’s List” in addition to serving as a track and field contributor to a number of the state’s media outlets. For the past 44 years he has served as a

Photo courtesy MidKansasOnline

Nex-Tech Wireless Supporting Cast: Spring 2019

correspondent and statistician for Track & Field News.

Swenson’s passion for research and numbers goes beyond announcing and media reports. He compiled and edited the KSHSAA 100 Year History Books of Kansas High School basketball and track and field as well as the history of state cross country and the KSHSAA Media Relations Guide. He served as the media coordinator at state wrestling and since 2001 he has served as the media and statistics coordinator for the 5A state basketball tournaments.

CAROL SWENSON Swenson is a member of NASPAA (National Association of Sports TRACK STATISTICIAN Public Address Announcers) and has authored several articles for The Voice quarterly magazine.

Swenson is the embodiment of personal commitment to the improvement of the athletic experience for athletes, coaches and fans across Kansas.

Congratulations to Kansas statistician and announcer Carol Swenson for his recognition as a member of the Nex-Tech Wireless Supporting Cast.

Portions of a KSHSAA press release were used for this article.

Melissa Williamson, Student Manager, St. John, Senior Bauer said. “She always brings her best effort - every day.”

Guidance Counselor and Government Teacher Wendy Hacker said Williamson will be missed after she graduates.

“Melissa is one of the most helpful and responsible students with whom I have had the pleasure to work,” Hacker said. “She is self-advocating, communicative and self-motivated. She always looks ahead to see what needs to be done, without prompting from authority.”

MELISSA WILLIAMSON Williamson gets high marks for her personality as well.

STUDENT MANAGER, ST. JOHN “Melissa is an outstanding young lady who always has a positive attitude and a smile on her face,” St. John High School principal Blain White said. “She is always willing to step up and help anyone who needs her assistance.”

With the support off the court from students like Melissa, it’s easy to see why St. John continues their basketball success.

Congratulations to St. John High School Student-Manager Melissa Williamson for her recognition as a member of the Nex-Tech Wireless Supporting Cast.

Photo by Dick Smith

At St. John High School in south central Kansas, basketball is king. Long-time coach Clint Kinnamon has led the Tigers to six of the last seven state tournaments culminating with five appearances in the championship game with three titles and two runner-up finishes along with a third place showing. Kinnamon’s Tigers also finished runner-up in 2008 and won the title in 2007.

Kinnamon is the first to credit the players for the team’s success, but he also knows a championship program requires contributions off the court. One of those key contributors is student manager Melissa Williamson.

Kinnamon described an impressive list of responsibilities for his student manager including prepping water and equipment for practice, sweeping the floor and cleaning up before and after practice, preparing uniforms and packing travel bags for players, taking stats during games, running the clock during practice, taking care of the video equipment and even doing laundry at the hotel during the state tournament.

“She basically takes care of all the small details for the coaching staff, which then allows us to coach,” Kinnamon said.

And according to her teachers, Williamson’s work ethic is evident in the classroom as well.

“Melissa is very conscientious and independent in the classroom,” Social Science teacher Jon When it comes to high school bands in Kansas there are certainly many that are bigger, but KSportsImages.com photographer Everett Royer says there may not be many that are better at firing up the home crowd than the South Gray High School band in Montezuma.

“They’re great and there’s just something about the band at South Gray that gets their crowd going,” Royer said. “They’re always so well prepared and even though they’re a ‘small school’ band they sound as good as their larger class counterparts.”

South Gray boys’ basketball is one of the top programs in Kansas.

Coach Mark Applegate’s teams have won 676 games in his 37 seasons.

After wrapping up an undefeated state championship season in 2018 Applegate made a point to include the band and the fans when giving credit for their success.

“If you’ve ever been to the state tournament (with South Gray in it), the excitement is really high,” Applegate told the Garden City Telegram after being chosen the newpaper’s Coach of the Year for 2018. “Our pep band adds to it. They get wrapped up in the excitement. They just want to be there – every year. ... I can’t say enough about our fans and our pep band. They really add to the excitement and the environment.”

Applegate credits long-time band director James McMillan for the band’s excellent performances and enthusiasm at sporting events.

Seldom in high school sports does a coach give so much credit to the band. Clearly they are

Photo by Everett Royer, KSportsImages.com

South Gray High School Band

a key part of the Rebels’ Supporting Cast.

Congratulations to the South Gray High School Band for their recognition as members of the Nex-Tech Wireless Supporting Cast.

Kansas Pregame Spring Sports Preview, Volume 1

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Salina Regional Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Clinic— your home-field advantage starts here.

Whether you’re an area athlete or a weekend warrior, Salina Regional Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Clinic has everything you need to get you back in the game—and keep you in the game.

Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Timothy Hawkes and sports medicine physician Dr. Matthew Pyle lead an A-team of certified athletic trainers and physical therapists to work with athletes of every level—including five area high schools—to help prevent injuries, enhance performance, or heal through surgery and rehabilitation.

At the school, on the field or in our clinic, Salina Regional Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Clinic is ready whenever and wherever you need us.

Timothy Hawkes, D.O. Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Surgeon

Matthew Pyle, D.O. Sports Medicine Physician

Eric Jusko Certified Athletic Trainer

Evan Bowers Certified Athletic Trainer

Holly VanCleave Certified Athletic Trainer Physical Therapist

Abe Noll Certified Athletic Trainer

520 S. Santa Fe, Ste. 240 • Salina, KS 785-452-7366 • salinaregionalsportsmedicine.com Sadie Teixeria Nurse Practitioner

Kansas Pregame Spring Sports Preview, Volume 1

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Frog Fitness continues expansion in Kansas

By John Baetz Publisher, Kansas Pregame Growing up Rehnan Overmiller heard stories about Smith Center’s football success from his father Mitch. Rehnan’s uncle, Tim Overmiller, was a quarterback for one of Roger Barta’s first teams and went on to play for K-State. Even though he grew up in Louisiana, and now resides in Oklahoma, Rehnan and his family frequently traveled to K-State games during his childhood. His father followed the exploits of former Smith Center football standouts Brooks Barta and Mark Simoneau during the early years of Bill Snyder’s “Miracle in Manhattan” and as a young fan Rehnan cheered for Justin Montgomery and later Braden Wilson who continued the tradition of Smith Center football players who went on to standout playing careers for coach Snyder.

As a young adult, Rehnan stumbled across a unique total body training apparatus know as The Frog. With his own focus on health and fitness and his work as a personal trainer he began using The Frog to offer boot-camps at the small gym where he trained clients in Key West, Florida. After Hurricane Irma drove much of his personal training clientele out of Key West, Rehnan needed to find an alternative career. He would find it in his belief in The Frog.

“I knew The Frog would be a great addition to any athletic training program and I wanted to share it with the coaches in my dad’s hometown,” Rehnan said. “Strength coach Brock Hutchinson, Smith Center’s long-time defensive coordinator, head wrestling coach, and track assistant, was skeptical at first, but once his athletes started using it, he was immediately sold on its value in helping to improve the core strength and flexibility of all athletes in all sports.”

Hutchinson said The Frog improved the team’s overall core strength and is easily adapated to “any sport position or athletic stance you want to train.”

“The Frog is one of the best core workout machines I’ve ever used or had a chance to be in contact with,” Hutchinson said.

Smith Center started with two Frogs and added five more after the football season and are currently in the process of upgrading to the new Bullfrog.

After getting Smith Center outfitted

Left: Rehnan Overmiller demonstrates the versatility of The Frog to an athlete working on a grass practice field in the horizontal position. The wheels are safe for multiple surfaces allowing for use on gym floors, in weight rooms and on grass and turf fields. Right: Overmiller demonstrates The Frog’s uses in the vertical position. The Frog easily switches from horizontal to vertical.

with The Frog, Overmiller was given the opportunity to present to all the athletic directors in the Mid-Continent League. Most were impressed and Trego Community High School was one of the first to add The Frog to their weight room after that meeting.

Thanks to the receipt of a grant from the Heartland Community Foundation the Golden Eagles were able to purchase 10 Frogs for use by coaches and physical education teachers.

“We were able to secure the Frogs through a grant through the Heartland Community Foundation which serves Trego, Ellis and Rooks counties,” Trego principal Shea Rothchild said. “Their home office is in Hays. The application process was all online and very user friendly. We are very grateful to the foundation for their support of this project.”

Trego football coach Pat Haxton likes The Frog’s versatility.

“The best thing is they are appropriate for any ability or age

group,” Haxton said. “I can change bands and use them for any age or strength variations I have in any particular setting.”

Oakley head football coach Jeff Hennick was very excited about The Frog after seeing them in person last August. The Plainsmen were also able to utilize grant funds to purchase five Frogs after receiving approval from the Logan County Community Foundation. Hennick has now also upgraded to the new Bullfrog.

“They are easy to assemble and can be used to develop any athlete no matter what the focus or sport,” Hennick said.

Stockton athletic director, strength coach and long-time wrestling coach, Clint Bedore, said he was excited to add The Frog to their program.

“We decided to add it to our program due to the variety of exercises it allows for,” Bedore said. “Also, it is something new and different. The injury prevention

that it should provide was a plus as well.

I really think our student athletes have enjoyed using it. If you have never used one, you need to try it. In less than five minutes you can get a great complete body workout.”

Smoky Valley weights instructor, head football coach and assistant track coach Tim Lambert added four Frogs to their weight room shortly after seeing a demonstration last summer. Two other members of the Smoky Valley staff later purchased Frogs for personal use.

“It is a great total body workout that emphasizes the core,” Lambert said. “I think it is a great supplement to what we are trying to do in the weight room.”

Thirty of 32 professional football teams, a number of college programs and dozens of high schools have added The Frog to their training programs. For information about how you can add The Frog to your team, or even your home gym, call Rehnan Overmiller at (225) 329-4236.

Frog Fitness is a sponsor of Kansas Pregame.

Kansas Pregame Spring Sports Preview, Volume 1

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FOR PRINC, ROAD TO RECOVERY IS LONG DISTANCE

Autumn Princ’s hip pain left her unable to run for most of last cross country season and surgeries on both hips ends this track season before it starts, but she hopes to be ready to compete when cross country comes back around in the fall. (Photo by Shannon Meier)

By Huey Counts, For Kansas Pregame Sylvan-Lucas distance running standout Autumn Princ will not be able to finish what she started.

But after dealing with hip surgeries that will end up wiping out most of her cross country season and her entire track season, the junior schoolgirl hopes to begin working up to speed in a few short weeks.

Her goal: Standing on the starting line in the fall for the Mustangs’ season-opening cross country event.

After dominating October performances to snare Class 1A state championships to conclude stellar freshman and sophomore seasons, there was a strong buzz this small-town girl would become just the 10th four-time cross country champion in Kansas history.

Just a few months before she started on her quest for a third jewel in her cross country crown, she’d captured a second straight 1A state track championship in the 3,200.

But what only a handful of people knew was that Princ was in pain and that her left hip had been hurting the entire sophomore track season. It’s why she sat out a major chunk of the regular season. It’s the reason she chose not defend her 1,600 state title.

Running hurt. Walking hurt. Riding her bike hurt.

“I took a couple weeks off after track season and thought it would help,” she said. “I didn’t really know if I was getting better, but it felt better when I was not running than it did when I was running. But it was just a constant pain. It hurt no matter what I was doing.”

Her easy summer training runs soon became jogs, then walks, then nothing.

There were visits to different doctors, cortisone shots and x-rays. An MRI showed

a lot of inflammation. She did different stretches, tried icing, anything the doctors said to do, she did religiously.

“I’m not one who takes pain pills and they had me taking 12 ibuprofen a day for a few months to get the inflammation down,” Princ said. “It’s wild to think I was doing that. It didn’t work.

“It was really, really frustrating. I felt like I was running in circles and I was really desperate. I look back now and think ‘I was so stupid last year’.”

With her third cross country season approaching, Princ went to her coach and said she planned to take it easy the first few workouts, but then, “I went and ran the full workout for a couple weeks.”

The first meet was in Tescott, where as a 10th grader she covered the 5-kilometer course in 19 minutes, 9 seconds, an easy winner in a quality field that included runners such as Bennington’s Halle Johnson, now at Wichita State, and Lincoln’s Aubry Donley and Jaycee Vath.

But this time, with her right hip throbbing and a noticeable limp in her gait and her face visibly showing her pain, she placed fourth in a pedestrian clocking of 23:33.

Something needed to change. Joyce Princ said she had taken her daughter to doctors in Osborne, Beloit, Salina and Wichita without much success.

She made a phone call to the Sports Medicine and Performance Center at The University of Kansas Health System and was able to get Autumn an appointment with Dr. Paul Schroeppel, an orthopedic surgeon and orthopedic team physician for the Kansas City Chiefs, in early September “At this point, I was not concerned if she could run,” Joyce Princ said, “I was concerned about her not having to live with the pain all the time.”

The visit in resulted in a diagnosis of femoroacetabular impingement, a condition in which extra bone grows along one or both of the bones that form the hip joint — giving the bones an irregular shape.

Since the bones do not fit together perfectly, they rub against each other during movement, over time causing damage to the joint and causing increasing pain.

She also had a 90 degree tear of her hip labrum, which is cartilage structure that runs along the rim of the hip socket that provides an added cushion and stability to the hip joint.

Schroeppel’s surgery on Sept. 25 was a success but during subsequent follow-up visits, she reported feeling pain in her right hip, but she was not overly worried.

“I expected it was just because I wasn’t walking quite right because of the crutches and maybe I’d been over compensating,” Autumn said. “But it turned out I had an impingement on my right side, too, which isn’t totally uncommon. About one-third of the people have to have an operation on the second hip.”

Her second surgery was on Jan. 1, effectively ended any chance Autumn had to run track this season. “I thought I’d be able to start running again that day, but instead I was having another surgery.”

And now in the middle of March and the first track meet just a couple weeks away, Autumn is doing prescribed physical therapy and looking forward to her next follow-up in Sylvan-Lucas junior long distance runner Autumn early May. If that goes well, as Princ prepares to go in for the first of two hip expected, she will be able to surgeries which will sideline her for this track begin prepping for senior year. season. (Courtesy Photo) “I’m pretty dead set on being ready for the start of cross As far as not getting four consecutive country,” Autumn said. “The doctor said I could end up running cross country but he state cross country championships or maybe not being the runner she was, her said I’m probably not going to be as good perspective is realistic. as I was just because it takes about nine “I’d like to get back into my sport, that’s months after hip surgery to fully heal.” my number one goal,” she said. “But I really Until then, she’ll show up at every track practice and meet to encourage her team- want to end up running longer distances later in my life. I love my long runs commates just as she did during her missed pared to training. Track has never been my cross country season. thing and while I love cross country, (races) “I’ve always been kind of that ‘mom always felt so short.” character’ with track, I really enjoy it,” she said. “That was what I did a lot of my track *Huey Counts is a veteran sportswriter, season last year since I wasn’t running. I distance runner and youth track coach from want everybody to be stretching out and Salina. getting their sunscreen on and all that.”

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Kansas Pregame Spring Sports Preview, Volume 1

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LEO TO RETIRE AFTER FOUR DECADES AT HAYS HIGH

Legendary Hays High baseball coach Frank Leo will retire after nearly 40 years as head coach. (Photo by Nick McQueen, Hays Daily News)

By Conor Nicholl, For Kansas Pregame the end of this spring.

The Hays High baseball complex features a turf infield, grass outfield and lights. HHS has bleachers, a covered press box, bathrooms, multiple mounds with backstops and an indoor facility with several batting cages.

Perched against the wall in the indoor building is a photo from March 28, 1982. The picture shows the ’82 version of the HHS diamond, which bears no resemblance to the current setup. The words “Dream Big” are at the top of the photo. Coach Frank Leo took a glance at the photo in late March.

“We dreamed big, and we got something big,” Leo said.

The 69-year-old Leo and assistant coach Keith Harper have led Hays High to a 556263 record from 1981-2018. Both will retire at

“It’s been a work in progress since 1981,” Leo said. “You look at pictures from 1981 to where it is now, it’s amazing.”

Leo, a New York native, is also the longtime manager of the Hays Larks, one of the nation’s top summer collegiate baseball teams.

Leo has served 36 years as Larks manager and will still manage in the summer.

Leo taught math for 40 years at Hays High and retired in 2014. Dusty Dreher, a former HHS and Fort Hays standout and baseball assistant for the last 16 years, will take over.

Leo said Hays High’s administration wanted to have the head coach in the building.

“I kind of step into a nice spot having such a beautiful facility,” Dreher said. “Him and coach Harper truly have built from the ground

up, from it being just an open pasture.”

Leo, known for his even-keeled personality, grew emotional when he talked about his final season. Hays High has won 17 Western Athletic Conference titles and made 12 state appearances with two second and two third place finishes, the most recent in 2000.

“My passion, my desire, it’s still there,” he said. “I am still healthy. But it’s going to come to an end sooner or later. I have been blessed.”

Leo and his wife Barb have three grown daughters, all married. This year’s team features Leo’s oldest grandchild, freshman

Dylan Dreiling, already a Division I prospect.

Harper’s grandson, Easten Wamser, is a junior. The Indians have seven seniors, notably Palmer Hutchison, Trey Riggs, Willie Sennett and Cody Petersen.

“I tell my seniors every year, ‘This is it for you, I want you to enjoy everyday. Have fun with it, and take it as far as you can,’” Leo said. “I feel like I am a senior graduating. This is my final year, so I am going to do what I have told my seniors.” *Conor Nicholl is a sportswriter from western Kansas who covers teams across the state for multiple outlets.

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KALLI ANDERSON Ah, spring! With warmer weather and longer days comes the return to outdoor sports. A spring revival of sorts. In early March around a dozen of the state’s top spring sports athletes gathered in a snow covered downtown Salina at the new Sharp Performance gym at 131 S. Santa Fe to celebrate the coming of spring. Their features follow: Kalli Anderson, Newton Newton senior sprinter Kalli Anderson credited her parents and Railer coach Tad Remsberg for her success. She is one of 19 children in the Anderson family. The vast majority are adopted.

“It was definitely crazy, because all of us had to be at like different places at different times, and we had a 15-passenger van,” she said. “So two of us would have to sit on the ground, and it was chaotic, but it was awesome.”

Kalli was born in Houston and has lived with the Andersons since she left the hospital. Anderson said her family meant “everything.” Her standard pre-race routine involves first finding her parents in the stands.

“When I was little, I remember telling them that I wanted to quit track and play basketball,” Anderson said. “I am not very good at basketball. But I am so happy that they didn’t let me do that. They let me enjoy it, and take my time enjoying it, too, as well as growing in the sport. Taught me a lot of responsibility, and I love them. I am so, so grateful.”

Anderson said she owed “it all” to Remsberg on the track.

Coach Remsberg is the longtime Newton high school and youth track coach. His son, Kade, was the state’s top runner as a senior and is currently a starting running back at the Air Force Academy.

His daughter, Maggie, is in Anderson’s class and has signed with Division II University of Colorado-Colorado

Page 9

JACELYN BUCK

Photos by Everett Royer, KSportsImages.com

Kansas Pregame Spring Sports Preview, Volume 1

HUNTER CLIFT

S P R I N G R E V I VA L

Springs for track. They helped Newton capture its third straight Class 5A girls’ track crown last spring. Anderson called Maggie “kind of like a big sister.”

“Even if we just had to run a hard race or something, she is always there like, ‘OK, it’s only a minute, we will be fine, we are not going to die,’” Anderson said.

Anderson, with all-time bests of 11.58 in the 100 and 24.82 in the 200, signed with Barton County Community College.

“With me and coach Remsberg, we have a very, very close relationship,” Anderson said, “and I felt like I got that at Barton.”

Coach Remsberg saw talent in Anderson from a young age, even though she did not like the sport. Then, she ran 24 seconds in the 200-meter dash, an elite girls’ time, and started to realize her ability entering high school. As a freshman in the 2016 state meet, Anderson was second in the 100and 200-meter dashes to Leavenworth’s Aarika Lister.

Newton captured the 400-meter relay crown with Anderson, Savannah Simmons, Jen Andres and Taylor Antonowich. The Railers set a state record in 48.16 seconds.

In 2017, Anderson beat Lister in the 100 final. The same Newton quartet again set the state mark with a time of 46.86 in the 400 relay prelims. For the finals, the Railers won the relay and dominated in a time of 47.25 seconds, 2.20 seconds ahead of the field.

“Nobody really knows where Newton is, so nobody really expects anything from us,” Anderson said. “And we knew coming in that we had a talented group, so just coming in and breaking the all-time record and getting a name out there for everybody was awesome.”

Last year, the 100-meter 5A girls was one of the highlighted competitions of the state meet with Lister and Anderson again matching up.

“It was a lot of nerves, because they announced that it was like one of the biggest races ever,” Anderson said.

In the prelims, Lister ran 11.79 and broke the state mark of 11.90 that had stood since 1997. In the finals, Lister went 11.64 to lower her state record, and Anderson posted 11.85 for second.

“Aarika is an amazing runner,” Anderson said. “She has

pushed me all three years, made me work. And just I think it’s my start, my start was so bad. I think if my start would have been there, then it would have been a really good show.”

In the 200, Anderson was second to Blue Valley Southwest freshman Emily Ervin. Newton again won the 400 relay in 47.81, the seventh-fastest time in history.

Remsberg captured the 100 hurdles title and was runner-up in the 300 hurdles. This spring, both Simmons and Antonowich have graduated and compete in Division II collegiate athletics. Anderson knows she and Remsberg need at least top-two state finishes for Newton.

“Just to rack up more points to get another state title,” Anderson said. “So we are just going to try and do the best that we can, and hope our young girls can come up.” Conor Nicholl Jacelyn Buck, Wellington Kevin Hooper served as the highly successful Wichita Wingnuts manager from 2009-15 and thrice earned American Association’s Manager of the Year award. Hooper, currently the minor league infield coordinator for the San Diego Padres, played a key role in the development of Wellington sisters Ryleigh and Jacelyn Buck during his time in Wichita.

Both sisters are infielders, and Jacelyn said Hooper is “really good at explaining things.” The Bucks practiced with Hooper for around five to six years.

“He has done a lot,” Jacelyn said. “He has worked on a lot of small things that a lot of coaches wouldn’t pick up and has really helped me just become a better player.”

Ryleigh Buck earned Kansas Gatorade Softball Player of the Year in 2016. Jacelyn was a key freshman on the squad that went 17-6 and helped Wellington advance to the state tournament for the first time in 21 years. Ryleigh has played for Wichita State the last two springs and collected second team all-conference for the NCAA qualifying squad in 2018.

“It was really fun,” Jacelyn, the youngest of four siblings, said. “I really enjoyed playing with her. She definitely helped me a lot, and definitely with attitude, and just knowing that high school isn’t everything, and that just to enjoy it.”

As well, Jacelyn has become a Division I talent and inked with Louisiana-Monroe last fall. A 5-foot-10 infielder, Jacelyn collected Class 4A, Division I honorable mention all-state by Sports in Kansas and first team all-conference in 2018.

“I just really like being outside, being in the warm weather,” she said. “I like getting to know girls, connecting with them by playing softball.”

Wellington has posted 14-8 and 10-11 marks the last two years under coach T.D. Buck, Ryleigh and Jacelyn’s father, now in his eighth year as coach. continued on page 11

Kansas Pregame Spring Sports Preview, Volume 1

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AUBRY DONLEY continued from page 9 “He is really good,” Jacelyn said. “I have enjoyed it. He really knows the game and helps out, and will stay for extra reps, and he is really fun to be around.”

Buck has also benefited from Mark Griggs and the Wichita Mustangs program. Griggs has played an influential role in many key Wichita area players, including the Buck sisters and his daughter, Emily Griggs, a four-year starting outfielder at LSU. “He knows a ton about softball,” Buck said.

This season, Wellington returns plenty of talent with Jacelyn, pitcher/infielder Brooke McCorkle and infielder Delaney Parkey. McCorkle has signed with Division I Mississippi Valley State, and Parkey with NAIA Bethel College. Parkey batted .348 last year.

“I enjoy playing with my friends,” she said. “Just go out there and have fun, one last year in high school and just enjoy it, take it all in and try and help as many people as I can.”

Conor Nicholl Hunter Clift, Bluestem Last year saw Blake Bevan garner much of the attention surrounding the Leon-Bluestem baseball team.

Bevan broke three school records as a senior, including hits, singles, and RBIs in a season. But he was not the only star on the team. While Bevan was the 2-1A Player of the Year, Hunter Clift made the All-State team as an outfielder.

Clift also etched his name into history, with a school-record 31 stolen bases last spring.

Bluestem is looking for its third straight trip to state and will try to earn the team’s second state championship in the last three seasons.

Clift, who was a sophomore on Bluestem’s 2017 state championship team, is going to enjoy his senior season every step of the way.

“I’ve been playing with my teammates since I was in elementary school,” Clift said. “The chemistry that we’ve had

Page 11

MACIE ECK

Photos by Everett Royer, KSportsImages.com

Kansas Pregame Spring Sports Preview, Volume 1

JORDAN ELLISON

S P R I N G R E V I VA L over the years really helps.”

Bluestem is starting to garner a reputation for making the state tournament, but that will not stop Clift from going out and having fun, playing with his friends in the sport he loves no matter the result.

“We’ve been to the state tournament the last two years so obviously we want to make it back-to-back-to-back,” Clift said, “but really I just want to have fun with all of them, compete, and play hard every game.

“I think we can definitely make it back, we just have to play the way that we play.”

If Bluestem is going to make it back to the state tournament, the Lions will do so with their defense. Clift calls the defense Bluestem’s biggest strength.

“If our pitchers can’t get the job done, we pitch to them and our defense stops all of it,” Clift said. “Our defense is what we’re strong at. We’ve been practicing it day in and day out, and I think we’ll stop a lot of teams that are good at hitting.”

Clift made an immediate impact as a freshman for Bluestem. Now a senior, Clift can look back and appreciate how far he’s grown.

“I struggled freshman year at the plate,” Clift said. “Sophomore and junior year I definitely stepped it up and this year I’m looking for much better.”

Clift can also use the past as a reminder of how hard work pays off.

“I put in a lot of hours hitting off the tee to work on making contact with the ball,” Clift said. “I got back to the fundamentals.”

Clift shines just as bright on a basketball court or football field as he does on the baseball diamond. He earned All-TriValley League honors in all three sports and All-State honors in football and baseball. Clift will continue his athletic career at the college level in basketball for Southwestern. Last year

he was even a state qualifier in the 2A Long Jump, but he doesn’t plan to be a dual-sport participant this spring opting to focus on baseball.

Out of all the sports he plays, Clift is uncertain which is his best sport, but basketball is undoubtedly his favorite sport.

“All the sports I play complement each other,” Clift said.

“Being in condition after basketball season really helps with baseball.”

Bluestem’s baseball coach Grant Bachura had high praise for Clift.

“His multiple sport success is impressive and I can honestly say that he is a great young man,” Bachura said. “He works very hard in the classroom, weight room, and is a very good leader.”

Gallagher Martin Aubry Donley, Lincoln The start of the high school track season is just days away for Aubry Donley and she cannot wait to clear the next hurdle, so to speak.

Lincoln High’s standout senior captured open gold twice at last season’s Kansas State Track and Field Championships, breaking the string in both the 400- and 800-meter Class 2A events.

There’s nowhere to go but up and that would mean winning three individual state championships. Toward that end, the petite senior plans to add another open event in her arsenal.

Based on Donley’s success in cross country, the 1,600 or even the 3,200 would be good options. Then again, she did qualify for state in the 100 back when she was a 10th grader.

But it’s none of those. Nor is it even the 200, which she’s run a few times.

When Lincoln coach Steve Crist fills out his team’s event card for the season opener at St. John’s-Beloit, the plan is for him to pencil in “300-meter hurdles” next to his star senior’s name.

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Kansas Pregame Spring Sports Preview, Volume 1 Hurdles?

Macie Eck, Andale “I just wanted to do something different,” In her sophomore year, Andale’s Macie Eck she said, laughing, “not just a plain running and her club coach Mark Griggs made a deal. event like I already do.”

If Eck had 100 daily swings, she would get Donley’s running career has been anything an award. Since then, Eck has swung nearly but plain. She’s a three-time state placer in every day and often used a Sledge Bat that is both the 800, in which she holds the school designed to help add power. record, and 400, a two-time defending “Hitting with it just everyday builds up that champion in the latter. power and just allows me to hit harder,” Eck And despite not being a fan of distance said. “That really just got me going, and that’s running – “I do not like cross country” -- she how I started getting more home runs my did place second only to teammate Jaycee sophomore year and so ever since then I have Vath last fall at the 1A state cross country used it, and it has helped a lot.” meet.

As a sophomore, Eck, a left-handed hitting Her flashy statistics caught the attention of outfielder, collected first team all-state honors many colleges, one of them being Friends with a .494 batting average with six homers University. During a visit she noticed most of and 37 RBI. As a junior, she delivered a .547 their top girls did several different events. average with 35 RBI. Eck, a Notre Dame signAfter deciding she would sign with Friends, ee, collected AVCTL Division IV MVP honors and was again first team all-state in Class 4A, home of one of the better NAIA track programs in the nation, she figured that hurdling Division I by Sports in Kansas and the Kansas in college might be another way to not only Softball Coaches Association. contribute, but to race on the varsity squad Eck gave significant credit to Griggs, and said right away. he has “played a giant role” in her career.

“It surprised me because I’d never thought “He was always the person who like saw of her as a hurdler,” Crist said. “My first something in me,” Eck said. “He was like, ‘I comment to her was, ‘Have you ever hurdled am going to get you somewhere. I am going to before?’” get you committed.’ He is probably the person She actually only just started working who got me to Notre Dame, and I am forever hurdle technique the past three months, thankful for him.” learning from Sharp Performance trainer Eck’s talent and power helped her commit Cale Sharp. He has no doubts Donley will to Notre Dame as a sophomore. Back then, make an immediate impact in her new event. Eck, who helped the Wichita Mustangs win the “The minute she told me she wanted to do ASA Southern National Championship in 2015, it I was all in,” said Sharp, who was a hurdler didn’t know where she wanted to play. Griggs at Salina Central High and Fort Hays State. asked if she wanted to go to Notre Dame. Eck “You look at her record in the 400 and 800 believed the Irish were a valid option. and obviously she has the endurance, and Eck went to a camp and fell in love with when it comes to the 300 hurdles the endur- South Bend. ance is the hardest thing for many runners.

“Notre Dame is a really big family school, and “She has no confidence in herself yet. I I am a really big family person,” she said. think she thought it would come as natural She is the sixth Kansan to play for the Irish, as the 400 and 800 and it hasn’t. But it’s a program that has reached 20 straight NCAA going to. tournaments.

“I just want the season to get here so she “Macie possesses raw physical talent,” vetcan run a race, because even with where her eran Notre Dame coach Deanna Gumpf said in a Signing Day release last December. “She form is now she is going to beat 95 percent has natural power and speed with a massive of the girls out there.”

Indeed, if nothing else, the 5-foot Donley is arm. Macie is a steady presence in the outfield going to be fast even if she approaches each and has the potential to do serious damage offensively. In the tradition of other outfielders hurdle as if it were the high jump. Lincoln is throughout our history, she brings the complete dropping to 1A this season for track, where package to the field.” she boasts the top returning times in both Andale, which co-ops with Garden Plain in the 400 (58.17 seconds) and 800 (2 minutes, softball, finished 18-5 last year and 17-6 two 21 seconds). springs ago but has lost in the first round of Sharp believes Donley’s wheels will allow state both times. Andale-GP has won state her to run her new event in 44 seconds, softball titles in ’08, ’10, ’11 and ’12. maybe even 43. The top returning time in “Trying to get past the first round of state this 1A is by Kinsley’s Rylee Gleason. Her mark year,” Eck said of her goal for the season. is 44.62.

Conor Nicholl “My goal right now is just to get the form Jordan Ellison, Wichita Heights down,” Donley said. “There is a little bit of Wichita Heights’ Jordan Ellison went from a fear factor. Cale thinks that’s why I’m still coming in high over the hurdles because I’m relative unknown to the Sports in Kansas 5A Player of the Year in one season. not quite trusting myself to go over it yet.”

Needless to say, Ellison won’t be sneaking Her coach trusts that she’ll get it all figured out well enough to help score his team state up on anyone this year. Neither will Wichita Heights for that matter. points.

Led by Ellison, Wichita Heights will be seek“She is such a good runner, she will figure ing its fourth straight state appearance and it out. She is one of those, too, that if she puts her mind to it, she’s going to find a way look to build off last year’s fourth-place finish. to do it.”

Huey Counts On the mound and at the plate, Ellison is the

Falcons’ best player.

As a pitcher, Ellison was straight dominant.

In his 11 starts, Ellison won 10 of them. However, it was the one game that he did not win which was perhaps his most impressive.

On May 24, in the first round of the state tournament, Ellison went seven innings without allowing a hit against Maize. But the Falcons couldn’t muster any offense, and Ellison received a no-decision as the game went into extras.

Wichita Heights would go on to win the game in the 12th inning.

To go along with his 10-0 record, Ellison posted a 0.65 ERA in 53 innings pitched. He had twice as many strikeouts (72) as he had hits allowed (34).

Page 12 Before last year, Ellison wasn’t a member of the Heights’ pitching staff. This year he’s the opening-day starter.

“I’ve always pitched a little bit, but never as much as I did last year,” Ellison said.

As ridiculous as his stat line is as a pitcher, Ellison is just as dominant at the plate.

With a batting average of .444, Ellison strikes fear into opposing pitchers. His five home runs last year prove he can hit with power in addition to his consistency.

He also had 27 RBIs and 27 runs scored.

On defense, Ellison can pretty much play anywhere except the outfield. At 6-4, 225, Ellison’s physical gifts have translated to onthe-field success.

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“I can improve my speed and overall IQ,” Ellison said. “I think physically I’m as prepared as I can be and as prepared as I have ever been.”

As a team, Heights is looking to avenge its season-ending loss to rival Bishop Carroll during last year’s state semifinal.

“Losing to them gives us motivation to beat them in the regular season, let alone in the playoffs,” Ellison said. “It’s definitely carried over into the offseason — I don’t like to think about that game.”

Gallagher Martin Tim Lambert, Smoky Valley Smoky Valley senior Timothy Lambert, Jr. admitted track practice can be challenging.

“Sometimes practice is very, very, very frustrating for me, because it’s hard to practice at the same intensity level that you get at a meet,” he said.

Before state last year, Lambert took the necessary precautions. Lambert made sure he didn’t overwork himself and stayed out of the heat.

“Then when you race, you can’t hold back anything,” Lambert said.

Lambert’s meet intensity made him arguably the top story of the 2018 state championships. In Class 4A, Lambert broke two state records, both in the prelims, in the 300-meter hurdles and 200-meter dash. Overall, Lambert won three golds in 100-meter dash, 200 and 300. He signed with Kansas State University track and field in December.

“Run your race just as you have ran it all year long,” Lambert said. “So one big thing for me is that I have to imagine myself in a successful place before I run. So that I can run to the best of my ability and just leave it all out.”

Before state, Lambert believed he could break the state mark in the hurdles. In his first state race, he bested the mark by .08 seconds.

“When I crossed the finish line and saw the time, I knew immediately right then that I broke it,” he said.

The 200 was different. Lambert didn’t know what the record was, and broke the mark by .11 seconds. He completed the race and went off the track and onto the grass at Wichita State University’s Cessna Stadium when the announcer called out the mark.

“I had no idea what my time was compared to the record when I was finished,” Lambert said.

Lambert’s father, Tim, is the successful Smoky Valley football coach who also led St. Francis and Concordia to multiple winning seasons and playoff berths before taking over as head coach of the Vikings.

Coach Lambert, an outstanding quarterback for Smith Center in the mid-80s, utilizes the similar run-heavy wishbone

Page 13

MADISON LUEGER

Photos by Everett Royer, KSportsImages.com

Kansas Pregame Spring Sports Preview, Volume 1

BROOKE MCCORKLE

S P R I N G R E V I VA L look that SC has long used.

For his senior year, Tim, Jr., gained 15 pounds in the offseason. He had a significant improvement to 1,451 rushing yards for a 10-1 team, the Vikings’ first 10-win team since 1992. This spring, Lambert hopes the added muscle will yield another big year.

“When you get stronger, you get faster,” he said.

Conor Nicholl Madison Lueger, Centralia Centralia senior Madison Lueger’s letter jacket tells the story of her exceptional athletic career. The coat is full of state title patches, recognition of her success in volleyball, basketball and track. She has won three straight volleyball team crowns, and helped Centralia basketball to a title in 2016 and third place in ’17.

Lueger’s jacket also features mementos from her back-toback Class 1A javelin titles and state records the last two springs.

“It’s really a tribute to our coaches,” she said. “And I would say the work ethic at Centralia, because that’s kind of the whole idea behind our success is putting in all the extra hours in the summers, and on the weekends, even like volleyball Saturdays.”

As a freshman, Lueger finished third in 1A with a throw of 125 feet, 6 inches, well behind the state mark of 141-6 set

by Clifton-Clyde’s Kortini Hubert in 2015. She set a goal to break the Centralia school record, the 1A state mark and win the title.

“How I did my freshman year placing third and not throwing as well as I would have liked to really pushed me,” she said.

As a sophomore, Lueger broke Hubert’s mark on her very first throw with a toss of 142-4.

“I feel like when you are about to have like a great throw, you just feel like ‘I am going to do it,’” she said. “It’s so much a mental sport, that you have to believe in yourself and have the confidence to do so, and it just feels great, because you are working so hard to accomplish that goal.

“And once you finally break it, it’s the best feeling ever,” she added. “And you set a new goal, and you work hard for that, so it just feels great to be able to do that, have that accomplishment.”

Last season, she again set a new mark with a toss of 1442, also on her first attempt.

“It’s so relieving to do that on the first throw, too, to get that out of the way, and then I just get to relax and have fun the rest of the meet,” she said.

A University of Nebraska track signee, the 5-foot-9 Lueger will finish her final year with legendary coach Kimbrook

Tennal this spring.

Last fall, Lueger was one of the state’s leaders with 4.12 kills per set and hit .319. She earned Class 1A Player of the Year and Tennal was Coach of the Year by the Kansas Volleyball Association. The Panthers went 47-0 last fall.

“That was the greatest feeling ever honestly,” Lueger said.

“Because I have been so close with coach.”

Tennal went 744-49 with the Panthers, according to KVA records. Last fall he battled Stage 3 colon cancer as Centralia won its 15th state title with him on staff. Tennal continually discussed “Dream 15” and has long instilled the Panthers with confidence.

“Everything that we do in drills we do 15,” Lueger said.

Centralia raised more than $15,000 for Tennal’s treatment, and the girls created a chant before every game when they hit the ground and yelled “Tennal tough.” In the spring Tennal is the longtime pole vault coach and also helps Lueger in the javelin. Tennal, whose cancer is currently in remission, is expected to coach this spring and then retire.

“Whenever he found out that he was sick, he was thinking about retiring,” Lueger said. “And I kept telling him, ‘You have to stay my senior year. You have to stay senior year,’ and so him being able to do that and us finishing undefeated state champs to end his coaching career was the greatest feeling ever.”

Conor Nicholl Brooke McCorkle, Wellington Brooke McCorkle is quite possibly the strongest female in Wellington High School history and recently broke several state records. Last year, McCorkle took second at state in clean (175 pounds), bench (200) and overall (630). She became the first Crusader female to lift a combined 600 pounds in squat/bench/clean - and then became the first one to clear 700.

On March 2, she collected the state championship in clean (205), bench (215), was second in squat (325) and first overall (745) in the Powerweight class. The bench and overall marks were new state records as she helped Wellington finish third as a team.

“There was a whole big crowd around me just cheering me on,” McCorkle said. “Girls that I have met in years past through powerlifting or just had met that day and only known them for five minutes, but no matter what, everyone is always cheering you on, and it’s a really great atmosphere.”

Powerlifting has helped McCorkle become one of the state’s most decorated athletes. As a freshman, she helped Wellington reach state softball for the first time in 21 years.

Volleyball had head coaching flux, though McCorkle was a constant. In 2017, the Crusaders, despite never being

Kansas Pregame Spring Sports Preview, Volume 1

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ranked, took third at state volleyball for the best finish in school annals.

After last softball season McCorkle collected Class 4A, Division I all-state honorable mention honors by Sports in Kansas. Overall, she carries a .504 batting average and 1.86 earned-run average in her career.

McCorkle started pitching, her favorite position, at age eight. As a freshman, McCorkle started the second contest of Wellington doubleheaders. The last two seasons, she has opened the first games of doubleheaders in the circle.

She can throw fastball, change, drop curve, screw and rise.

McCorkle earned first team all-league pitcher and honorable mention all-league at first base in 2018.

In 2015, McCorkle set a middle school mark in the discus that had stood since ‘99. She focused on softball early in her high school career, and then started again with discus last spring participating in track & field as a dual-sport athlete with softball as her primary sport. McCorkle finished eighth at 4A state with a throw of 118 feet, 2 inches.

“She has had a really good impact,” softball coach T.D. Buck said of McCorkle. “She is definitely a really good pitcher, so she has helped us a lot through high school, and helped us get a lot of wins.”

McCorkle has signed with Division I Mississippi Valley State and likes the small-town atmosphere. She enjoys math and expects to major in accounting.

“I was looking for a college that I could go and play all four years,” McCorkle said. “And the coaches I just really fell in love with, and just campus as a whole, when I walked on campus, it felt like home.”

Conor Nicholl Jaleesa McWashington, Olathe Northwest Olathe Northwest senior sprinter/jumper Jalessa McWashington is most proud of her ability to balance academics and athletics and excel in both areas. McWashington currently has a GPA well over a 4.0 and believes she is ranked 11th in

a class with more than 500 students. She has performed well in math and science classes, including biology and statistics, and government.

McWashington, leaning toward doing track at the Naval Academy, has received documentation saying she already has enough credits for an associates degree at the end of the school year because of concurrent credit through Johnson County Community College. Last semester, she also became a Certified Nursing Aide and Nutrition Assistant.

McWashington is the oldest of five children and has set a goal to become a pediatrician.

“I am like the example that everyone follows, so I have got to do my best, so that they will do their best,” she said.

McWashington is one of five contestants for the annual “Jabberwock” through the Kansas City Alumnae Chapter of the Delta Sigma Theta (DST) Sorority. McWashington has multiple family members who have been a part of DST. Each of the contests show great moral standards, service and scholarship. McWashington has taken part in various activities, including pageant, volunteer cooking, etiquette class, and college visits.

On the track, McWashington said her jumping ability probably came from her father, Deavon, a talented basketball player from K.C. Piper. Two summers ago, McWashington started doing track year round through The Doors AAU Track and Field in the Kansas City area. She increased her speed training and focused on jumping, weightlifting and better leg strength.

Last May, she set a new school long jump record with a leap of 19-1. Her best triple jump is 39-7, which ranks No. 11 all-time, according to Kansas historian Carol Swenson, and is also an ONW all-time record. McWashington didn’t expect to set marks.

At the 6A state meet, McWashington ran on the 400-meter relay that took second and the 1,600 relay that earned

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seventh. In the long jump, she was seeded first but finished fourth at 17-11.75. In the triple, McWashington was also ranked first and again took fourth with a mark of 38-7.75.

She had to battle back in the triple after two straight fouls to open the competition. McWashington was caught in between events, which sometimes occurs for athletes who qualify in multiple disciplines. She had to run before the long jump.

“Having a two-day competition, I think just took a toll that I wasn’t really expecting,” she said.

On March 16, ONW track coach Mike Stephens tweeted that 40 feet in the triple “is happening this season!” Just eight girls in state history have cleared 40 feet, according to Swenson. McWashington is just off the top-25 list for all-time best long jump.

McWashington is looking forward to this season and again competing in four events.

“I need to be prepared for them all,” she said.

Last summer, McWashington talked with Bobby Carter, who had coached at Nebraska and was at Oral Roberts. In one season at ORU, Carter’s jumpers set 10 school records, won 10 individual Summit League titles and had a pair of NCAA second team All-Americans. McWashington was planning on just visiting Oral Roberts, and Carter went to Navy in September 2018.

McWashington visited Navy last fall and liked the idea of a free education and having the Academy assist with job placement. McWashington’s mother, Nicole, was in the Army.

“It was a big surprise for me,” she said. “I never really gave much thought about going into the armed services.”

Abby Oliver, Wabaunsee Cottonwood Falls-Chase County has long reigned in Class 2-1A softball and set the state record with 94 wins from 2012-’16. The Bulldogs had won titles in ’12-’15 and again in ’17.

In 2017, Chase County defeated Alma-Wabaunsee in the

JALEESA MCWASHINGTON state semifinals, 5-3, the only time the Bulldogs permitted runs at state. CC then run-ruled Ellinwood in the title, and Wabaunsee finished third.

Last season, Wabaunsee won its first two state contests by identical 11-3 scores. In the finals, the Chargers faced Chase County.

This time, the Chargers earned a 15-0 victory in four innings to complete a 20-6 season and the program’s second ever softball title, first since 2007.

“Our bats were on fire,” Oliver said.

An outfielder, Oliver significantly helped with the state championship run with 10 RBI at state, including five apiece in the state semifinals and championship. She was Sports in Kansas (SIK) 2-1A State Tournament Most Outstanding Player.

Overall, Oliver delivered eight state tournament hits, including 3 of 4 with a homer in the championship game for coach Brian Henry. For the year, she batted .452 with four homers and led the squad in triples (six) and RBI (38). Twenty-three of her 38 RBI and 22 of her 38 hits came in May. She batted .420 as a sophomore.

“I kind of struggled through the season with my hitting, but when it came down to state and the pressure, I pulled myself together,” she said.

The softball accolades continued a highly decorated career for Oliver, a Washburn basketball signee and Class 2A Girls Player of the Year by Sports in Kansas this winter. Oliver helped Wabaunsee basketball earn second in ’17 and third this spring.

In volleyball, Oliver joined the squad in ’18 and helped the Chargers to a Class 2A runner-up showing. A-W basketball coach Shanna Perine called Oliver the best leader she has ever coached.

Oliver has long played softball for her dad, Jason, on the VooDoo Dolls, a squad that first formed at the 10-and-under level. While Abby admitted she and her dad had a fair share of heated moments on the diamond, the two have a strong bond. Abby labeled her mom, Kelly, her role model.

“Overall, it was a really good life lesson to have him as a coach, and it was really nice, because we are all really close having him be our coach,” Oliver said.

The team has long had a quartet coined the “4As” – great friends Oliver, senior Alyssa Lohmeyer and juniors Alexis Hafenstine and Autymn Schreiner, who earned 2018 2-1A Softball Player of the Year by Sports in Kansas. All four players were first team all-state in softball by SIK and the state coaches: Schreiner at pitcher, Lohmeyer at catcher, Hafenstine in the infield and Oliver in the outfield.

Infielder Kinsey Stuewe was also first team all-state by both entities. Stuewe will play softball at Allen County Community College. Wabaunsee is heavily stacked this season with all

ABBY OLIVER

Photos by Everett Royer, KSportsImages.com

Page 15

Photo courtesy of coach Mike Stephens

Kansas Pregame Spring Sports Preview, Volume 1

JORDAN SCHIPPERS

S P R I N G R E V I VA L but 24 of its hits coming from non-seniors in ’18.

“Competing together since we were little,” Oliver said. “We kind of comfort each other almost, we make each other feel relaxed in a way.”

Conor Nicholl Jordan Schippers, Colby Few athletes have the speed and power blend of Colby senior Jordan Schippers. A rare athlete who made an immediate impact as a freshman in both football and track, Schippers has impressed on a statewide stage at the Sharp Performance combines, delivered Colby to its best football showings in 25 years, won the Class 3A 200-meter dash last spring and has signed to play football at Division I FCS Western Illinois.

At last year’s Sharp Performance Combine, Schippers earned MVP for athletes in the class of 2019.

“He has been great, and he has always had great advice for me,” Schippers said of Jake Sharp, CEO of Sharp Performance and a former standout at Salina Central and the University of Kansas. “And different training aspects, and the biggest thing that he has done for me is he provided the combines that I have been to the past couple years. And the last one and this year, I was able to show what I had, and what I could do.”

In his career, Schippers played running back in his first three years, though was often used as a receiver. Two years ago, he helped Colby to a 4-0 start, its best first month since 1992, en route to a 6-4 season. Last year, Schippers, in a selfless move, switched to quarterback because of the Eagles’ need at the position.

“Jordan is probably the best kid I have ever met in my life,” Colby football coach Rees McKinney said last fall. “We needed a quarterback. We thought about it, asked him, and he said yes. No questions asked, no arguments, nothing.”

Colby went 8-2, one of the top years in program history. He passed for 524 yards with seven scores and rushed for 812 yards and 16 TDs. “I put a lot of thought into it before the season even started, because I knew we didn’t really have an experienced quarterback,” Schippers said. “And the quarterbacks that we did have were underclassmen, and I think I was just ready to be a leader on the team and sacrifice a few things.”

Defensively, he picked off five passes as a safety.

In his career, Schippers had 3,155 rushing yards and 49 rushing TDs and averaged at least 6.4 yards per carry each fall. He caught 83 career passes for 1,325 yards and 18 TDs. WIU wanted Schippers as a running back, and he picked the Leathernecks over Fort Hays and walk-on offers from Kansas State and KU. Schippers said some of his ability is natural, but he works diligently.

“Made it a point to work hard and be the first in the weight room and go everyday, and just work as hard as I could, and just make my team better,” he said.

In 2016, Schippers took fifth in the 200 as a freshman and ran a leg on the 1,600-meter relay that got second. He qualified in the 100, but did not place. In ’17, Schippers again was fifth in the 200 and qualified in the 100, but did not place.

Last year, Colby moved from 4A to 3A. With three sophomores and Schippers, the 1,600 relay finished third. The 400 relay had no seniors and earned third. Schippers took fourth in the 100 running 11.079, narrowly behind Cherryvale’s Seth Carinder who ran 11.073. In the 200, Schippers was the top seed entering state and the No. 1 runner after prelims.

He won the finals in 22.78 seconds, .08 seconds ahead of second and captured his first state championship.

“Great to finally get on top of the podium,” he said.

Conor Nicholl Wes Shaw, Hillsboro Hillsboro’s Wes Shaw has accomplished more in his career than any high school athlete can expect. As Shaw enters his senior year, in a way he’ll be competing against himself.

Shaw’s final throw in the shot put last season was not only his best, but the best Kansas had ever seen at the state meet in class 2A. He was the only thrower to surpass 60 feet last year and he did it twice. The second time was for state gold with a distance of 60 feet, 11.5 inches.

With a state championship and state record under his belt, Shaw must set hefty goals in order to push himself.

“I’m trying to break the mark every time I throw,” Shaw said.

“I’m looking to get better every meet.”

Shaw has been a contributor to the track team from his first spring at Hillsboro, but he has made strides every year after getting better and stronger.

As a freshman, Shaw’s season-best in the shot put measured in at 48-6.5, which would have been good enough for eighth at state last year. But his personal best shot-up to 54-7 as a sophomore, earning him third place at state.

Now, he is nearly throwing 61 feet.

Shaw contributes the experience he gained as a freshman for his progression heading into his senior season.

“Playing as a freshman gets you into the game faster so you know what to expect,” Shaw said. “Technique and mentality are the areas I’ve improved the most.”

The discus is another event Shaw has had substantial growth in each year. He broke a personal record with a toss of 178 feet, 1 inch at last year’s state meet, which was good enough for second place.

Marion’s Tyler Palic has graduated after breaking the state

Page 16

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Kansas Pregame Spring Sports Preview, Volume 1

WES SHAW

LUKE WOLGAMOTT

record with a throw of 182-6 to deny Shaw two state championships last season. As the heavy favorite to win the discus in 2A, Shaw has even bigger aspirations.

“I want to break the state discus record,” Shaw said. “We [Palic] competed against each other at quite a few meets.”

Like many of the best high school track and field athletes in Kansas, Shaw is a star in football and basketball as well.

Shaw is the leader on the offensive line, and at 6-foot-3 and 250 pounds he makes a good linebacker as well.

In basketball, Shaw has been one of the best players in the Central Kansas League the last two years.

Shaw says playing three sports makes him a better athlete.

“Being a three-sport athlete helps me especially in bas-

ketball with jumping,” Shaw said. “It helps me in track with explosiveness. Football helps my stamina.”

Gallagher Martin Luke Wolgamott, Parson Neosho County Community College signed one of the best hitters in Kansas when Parson’s Luke Wolgamott put pen to paper on his National Letter of Intent last December.

Wolgamott finished last season with an insane .636 batting average which was the best in all of Kansas. He recorded 16 extra-base hits and 25 RBIs and was named the 4A Division II Player of the Year by Sports in Kansas.

Wolgamott is a hard target to miss at first base, standing 6-5 and weighing 220 pounds. His height made him a key player off the bench for the Vikings’ state qualifying basketball team and as a starting center and defensive end for the Parsons football team he helped the Vikings to a seven win improvement last fall where the team recorded by far their best record since 2011.

Wolgamott was also a big reason why Parsons’ baseball team finished third at state last season. According to Wolgamott, Parsons will be looking to take care of unfinished business and the goal is a state title.

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But Parsons should be good enough to go toe-to-toe with any team in its class, and Wolgamott is a big reason why.

“We have a great group of guys who do the right stuff,” Wolgamott said. “Offense will be a power for us this year, and defense will be really good. Where we’ll struggle is pitching because we lost our ace last year. ... If we can find pitching, we can find a state title.”

While Wolgamott is excited for the opportunity to battle for a state championship his senior year, as a four-year starter he admits time flies rather quickly.

“Going into my freshman year, I never imagined the high school career I’d have,” Wolgamott said. “It’s been a heck of a ride.”

Playing early has allowed his maturity at the plate to improve and become one of his biggest strengths.

“Whenever I was a freshman, I would chase pitches I should never have been swinging at,” Wolgamott said. “I didn’t know the counts, I didn’t know how to read pitchers, I didn’t know how to do a lot of that stuff. My coaches have helped me mature through that.”

Wolgamott considers maturity to be one of the most important skills a baseball player can posses.

“Maturity is a big deal in baseball, and in almost every sport,” Wolgamott said. “You have to have your composure in anything you do. You can’t go up to the plate mad, because you’ll just strikeout. You have to have a short memory and have that maturity to just deal with things that don’t absolutely go your way.”

Additionally, there is a major physical improvement that occurs over four years of varsity athletics.

“My hitting and fielding have gotten a lot stronger throughout the years because we have a great strength and conditioning program at Parsons High School,” Wolgamott said.

Parsons coach Gerald Beardmore lauds Wolgamott as a player and says his competitive nature drives his decisions.

“I have never coached a player with so much passion for the game of baseball,” Beardmore said. “Not only does he produce on the field, his work ethic is second to none. He truly wants to be the best player to ever play the game.”

But it’s more than just Wolgamott’s play that has earned Beardmore’s respect.

“Luke is an extension to the coaching staff as well with the knowledge he has gained,” Beardmore said. “I remember driving east on Highway 400 when he was a kid and he would be hitting in the cage his dad set up for him. Hard work and commitment has got him where he is today, along with the help of his parents that have been huge to his progression as a young baseball player.”

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Kansas Pregame Spring Sports Preview, Volume 1 Photos by Everett Royer, KSportsImages.com

YOUTH movement Page 17

The spring sports season, perhaps more than any other, is influenced by the youngest of high school athletes. Freshman and sophomores often play pivotal roles on baseball and softball teams and in track & field athletes compete against measurements as much as opponents. The 13 athletes featured on the following pages represent a “Youth Movement” of sorts. Though now experienced veterans, these athletes got their start early in high school and now they’ll look to achieve even more success as sophomores and juniors.

Isaiah Armstrong, Holcomb Holcomb junior Isaiah Armstrong first ran the open 400 in the first meet of his freshman year and finished in 54 seconds. “At first, it was kind of disappointing, but I just kept going harder in practice, hoping better things would come,” he said.

Armstrong mainly focused on Holcomb’s 1,600 meter relay that eventually finished seventh in Class 4A. Then, he ran a 49-second split. Sophomore year, he started doing the open 400 and kept improving every meet.

“I enjoy how challenging it is, and how challenging the training is for it, and just how you have to push yourself every race,” he said.

Armstrong made a massive jump up the state rankings.

Coaches worked on his pace and improved his form “a lot.”

“For my legs, I was kind of reaching out, and I needed to just let my legs fall back underneath me instead of reaching out,” he said.

On April 23, Holcomb hosted its home meet. The Longhorn coach told Armstrong he had a good chance to set a

school record.

In front of a large group of family, Armstrong posted a 49.07 and bested the school mark previously held by Heath Tucker, who started 21 games as a defensive back for Washburn. Armstrong talked to Tucker’s mother after the meet, and Tucker texted Armstrong, “good job and keep working.”

“It was pretty exciting, because he was a great athlete at Holcomb,” Armstrong said.

Armstrong, a sophomore last spring, was seeded first after regionals with a time of 49.05 seconds.

He qualified first out of prelims in 49.32 in a strong field where the top-seven were separated by just .60 seconds.

In the finals, Arkansas City junior Andrew Wilson, who was ranked sixth after the prelims, won the race in 49.37.

Armstrong took second in 49.90.

“In the prelims, I think I ran a pretty good time, I got first,” he said. “And then he was in lane 8, so he kind of came out of nowhere. But it was still getting runner-up in my first year at state, hoping to come back this year and win it.”

Armstrong, along with three seniors, ran the anchor leg on the 400 meter relay team that posted a gold medal time of 43.03 seconds. He was also the lone non-senior on the 1,600 meter relay that finished eighth. In the 400 relay, Armstrong held off Parsons to win by .03 seconds in a competition where the top-six were within .46 seconds.

“The kid from Parsons was right on my tall, so it was a good feeling,” Armstrong said.

This season, Armstrong returns as one of the state’s top runners, regardless of class, and looks for a stronger showing.

“I kind of start out slower,” he said. “That way, I can save some energy for the last kick, and the last 100, but this season I want to start working on coming out of the blocks a little bit faster.”

Conor Nicholl Taylor Briggs, Chapman To call Chapman sophomore Taylor Briggs a very good runner is an understatement.

Briggs is more than that, much more. She is so dominant, some might even label her a phenom. continued on page 19

Kansas Pregame Spring Sports Preview, Volume 1

Page 18

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Kansas Pregame Spring Sports Preview, Volume 1

ISAIAH ARMSTRONG

continued from page 17 She has competed in two Class 4A state cross country championships and come away with two gold medals.

As a ninth-grader a year ago at the 4A state track championships, in front of thousands of fans at Wichita State’s Cessna Stadium, she toed the line for the 1,600- and 3,200 meter runs as well as ran the anchor leg for her school’s 4x800 relay foursome.

She wrapped up a standout first campaign with a spectacular performance, exiting Cessna with championship medals in all three events, each victory coming by a wide margin.

“It was a really big meet,” the soft-spoken Briggs said, “and I was pretty nervous, especially on the second day because there were so many people there. I just had to remember I was there to do work and focus, and not let the crowd or anything else get to me.”

Nothing did get to her and nobody was really around her in her open events as she had big time drops, claming the 3,200 in 11 minutes, 03.79 seconds and the 1,600 in 5:09.06.

Chapman’s 4x800 team prevailed in 9:42.21.

Entering the 2019 season, the slightly built runner is the 55th-ranked sophomore in the country in the 3,200 and rests at 109th in the 1,600 according to Milesplit.

But neither rankings nor even race finishes are what drive Briggs. She rarely even looks at competitors’ times.

“I ultimately just want to improve my PRs and best times,” she said nonchalantly. “I just want to keep working harder and keep working on getting better. You can always get better so I never say I’m good at anything. And you can always get better if you strive to be better.”

Chapman head track coach Michelle Elliott has known Briggs since the young runner began attending elementary school in the small town. The summer prior to Briggs signing up for seventh-grade cross country is when Elliott got her first inkling someone special would soon be donning a green and white singlet.

“They were doing some workouts and I watched her a little bit and she seemed to enjoy it,” Elliott recalled, “and when she got into the actual season her seventh grade year, I saw the obvious talent she had.

“She immediately showed an ability to go out and dominate a race from a young age. She has no fear of going out and running her race whether it was as a seventh grader or coming in as a freshman in high school or going into state cross country or state track. She is not afraid to be the dominant person out there.”

With her two individual state championships in the book, and with three full seasons in front of her, it would be tempting to begin wondering whether nothing but state gold is in Briggs’ future. That would be a lofty goal except that she enters her second track season rated No. 1 in 4A in her two

Lexi Cobb

TAYLOR BRIGGS

primary events.

Briggs says she doesn’t think about such things, stating, “I just want to go out and do my own thing. Obviously I’ll run against some good competition and I just have to stay focused. I just go into a meet and run and work my hardest.”

Keeping it simple has indeed worked well for Briggs. And as her coach said, “She’s just pretty special.”

Huey Counts Lexi Cobb, Silver Lake Silver Lake junior outfielder Lexi Cobb is well-versed in the Eagles’ storied softball history and can quickly recite many of the key program statistics. In the 30-year history of the program, Silver Lake has reached state 23 times with 13 state titles - including 2018 - all since ’92.

Statistically, the Eagles and Bishop Carroll are the two most dominant softball programs in state annals. Every year, the coaches show the awards and banners earned.

“They tell us, this is the program history,” Cobb said. “This is how good we have been, this is what you are expected to do. It’s just what we know.”

Last year, the backbone for a 23-3 state championship winning squad was two sophomores: Cobb and catcher Daryn Lamprecht along with junior pitcher Abby Pressgrove. Cobb and Lamprecht shared 3A Player of the Year, and Pressgrove was 3A Pitcher of the Year by Sports in Kansas.

This fall, the 5-foot-8 Cobb was a first team all-state 3A volleyball player by the Kansas coaches, and 5-foot-7 Lamprecht earned second team for the state-title winning Eagles. SL has won four state volleyball titles in six years and nine all time.

Last spring, Cobb batted .546 with 21 extra base hits, including six home runs. Lamprecht batted .523 with 16 homers and 36 RBI and is a top-500 national recruit for 2020.

Infielder Hallie Hay and outfielder Ellie Hogle were first team all-state. In January, Hay (.553 average) signed with Johnson County Community College. Hogle batted a team-high .602 as a freshman. The top-five and six of the top-seven hitters return.

A national top-250 softball recruit for the class of 2020, Cobb first committed to Division I Louisiana-Monroe. Then, the coach left, and Cobb looked elsewhere. In club, Cobb played with Top Gun out of Topeka and last season went to Impact Gold in Texas.

“It’s great competition,” Cobb said. “It’s something new.

When you stay around Kansas for so long, you play the same teams over and over when I was on Top Gun, we would play the Wichita Mustangs 13 times in a summer. And so just seeing new teams is really great and refreshing.”

At a Texas tournament this fall, Division I Lamar (Tex.) University watched her play. Cobb had some offers from lower Division Is and Division IIs, and committed to the Cardinals the day after Christmas.

Daryn Lamprecht

LEXI COBB DARYN LAMPRECHT

“I hit three balls off the wall and they were there,” she said.

“And so they invited me down to campus, and I took a tour, they offered and I felt at home.”

Cobb greatly enjoys the outfield, but filled in the circle some with a 5-2 record and 3.76 ERA in nine games. Pressgrove, a Benedictine commit, delivered a 17-1 mark with a 2.38 ERA in 120.1 innings pitched. She batted .438 with three homers and 31 RBI. “I have been an outfielder for most of my life,” Cobb said. “I love it out there. I love chasing down fly balls. I pitch a little bit. I am the second pitcher for the team, but Abby is the one that carries the load, and I let her carry it right on. I love the outfield.”

Conor Nicholl Daryn Lamprecht, Silver Lake On the softball field, Silver Lake junior catcher Daryn Lamprecht performs feats that are clearly observable, such as her raw power. As well, she is apt at skills that are highly valued by coaches and pitchers, though are not easily witnessed.

Last year, Lamprecht, a top-500 recruit for the Class of 2020 and Division I University of Northern Iowa commit, batted .523 with 16 homers and 36 RBI in for the 23-3 Eagles.

Silver Lake defeated Oskaloosa, 8-2, in the championship game behind a big two-out seven-run sixth-inning comeback that included a Lamprecht home run. She set the school record for single season blasts and helped Silver Lake deliver 38 homers, a school mark. The Eagles used #BombSquad as a moniker.

It marked Silver Lake’s first title since 2015 in longtime coach Mark Workman’s final year before retirement. Nick Hamilton has taken over as head coach. Rick Horton is a new assistant coach and Russ Cobb, Lexi Cobb’s father, returns as assistant.

Additionally, Silver Lake excels off the diamond as role models in the classroom and community.

The softball team had a cumulative 3.81 unweighted GPA, fifth nationally, according to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association. Last spring, Lamprecht and her team delivered a special moment when they came to an 11-year-old girls’ birthday party.

The girl “felt like a million bucks” to spend time with the Eagles, according to a Twitter account. Among other Eagles, Cobb had a 3.96 GPA, pitcher Abby Pressgrove a 3.95 GPA, and Lamprecht 3.90 to earn All-American Scholar Athlete.

“The girls around me have the same expectations and the

YOUTH movement

Kansas Pregame Spring Sports Preview, Volume 1

Page 20

same drive to get there that I know they have my back,” Lamprecht said. “And so when I am up on the plate, and we are tied, I know that if I don’t get it, the girl behind me will. So that takes a lot of the pressure off of everyone on the team knowing that we all have each other’s backs.”

Lamprecht has played for 18-and-under Top Gun Gold in Topeka, a squad that won the Top Gun Invitational, placed in the top-5 at the World Fastpitch Championships the last two years and earned a seventh place showing at PGF Platinum Nationals.

One of the key focuses for catchers is pitch framing, a craft Lamprecht has honed in the spring and summer.

“Learning what makes things look like strikes even if they aren’t,” she said.

Lamprecht said “a lot of times” catchers focus on their hands, rather “than their full body movement.”

“That is a big difference,” she said.

Lamprecht’s catching helped Silver Lake collectively deliver a 185/57 strikeout to walk ratio and post a 2.61 earned-run average in 166 innings. Silver Lake led the state in strikeouts, according to the MaxPreps’ statewide lists.

“Getting the ball centered in your shoulders as well as working hard on the wrist and the hand,” Lamprecht said of framing. “So body position is a big one that I have worked in the past.”

Conor Nicholl Tayezhan Crough, Hutchinson Now, Tayezhan Crough could strut.

In high school track in these parts, he has plenty of reason to walk with a swagger, stick his nose in the air, decide whether he’ll slap hands with his competition after races.

Last spring, the Hutchinson High standout picked up a pair of gold medals at the Class 6A state championships, clocking in at 14.45 seconds in the 110-meter high hurdles and 38.66 in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles.

He was just a sophomore and still fairly new to the hurdle game.

But boasting or showboating isn’t remotely who Crough is, it turns out. He doesn’t even try to intimidate his opponents at the start with a stare or tedious pre-race ritual before sliding into his blocks.

“I try to keep an open, bubbly personality,” the 17-year-old said. “I’m just a kid like them, I just put in my work. I don’t try to carry myself any different than anybody else.

“Before a race I just thank God for giving me the ability to do what I do and I kiss my cross.

I’m just thankful that I’m able to do the things I do.”

Crough wins and wins a lot, often by substantial margins, but afterward he doesn’t scream into the air or plaster Twitter or Instagram with his achievements. He finds his coaches so he

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can immediately find out any flaws they noticed in his races.

“The environment I’m around, the people I’m around, they’re always pushing me to be better and to do my best,” he said.

Imagine two years ago then when, as a freshman, Crough having to be forced to join the track team, let alone tackle the hurdles. He entered his first year of high school as a 5-10, 145-pound kid focused solely on playing football for then-coach Ryan Cornelsen, who was also the school’s track coach.

“He made me do track,” said Crough, who now stands an athletic 6-1, 175 pounds. “He literally made me do track.

Well, he gave me a choice, it was ‘you’re going to do track and play football or you’re not going to do track and you’re not going to be able to play football’.

“So, I figured I didn’t have much of a choice. I figured I’m on the track team.”

Cornelsen, though, did not stop there with his purposeful prodding of his young athlete. While Crough was figuring he’d run the open 200 or 400 and maybe dabble in the longer hurdle race, his coach thrust him into the 110s.

“I did not have a choice,” he said, laughing, “and I had a horrible first meet, my time was like a 16 or 17. It was not just slow, it was slow, slow.”

Still, he was growing to like the event and figured if he was going to run it, he was going to start grinding. He started listening to and mimicking teammate Martavious Johnson, who was a senior Crough’s freshman year and had won the 6A state title in the event as a junior.

“I would just watch him run every single time and I tried to copy what he did,” he said. “I just shaped myself off of his form and the things he taught me. Martavious is the one who pretty much perfected my form. How I hurdle is how he hurdled.”

As his first high school track season marched along, Crough became addicted to perfecting his craft, especially in the 110s. With the help of Hutch hurdle coach Tina Johnson, he shortened his steps from nine to seven to the first jump, which led to a time drop.

When post-season rolled around, he was looking at getting himself on the state podium at Wichita State’s Cessna Stadium and he did, sliding in at fourth in 15:03.

Crough, who is also rated as a three-star prospect in football and has generated Division I interest, is not close to making a decision on which sport he might pursue in college.

He laughed and said, “I get asked that question all the time, it makes my head hurt.”

Now that he’s seen how good he can be in the hurdles, he has given himself little time to rest, competing not only in summer track, where he ran his 110-hurdle PR of 14.12 at the Great American Track and Field Classic last June in

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Kansas Pregame Spring Sports Preview, Volume 1

Autymn Schreiner

GABE GARBER

Lancaster, Texas, but also doing events through the winter months where he chalked up best times of 7.94 in the 60-meter hurdles and 7.13 in the open 60.

“When I finally hit a low 15 and then all of the sudden 14.9, that was a milestone,” Crough said, “and after that I was just obsessed with going faster. I literally never stopped thinking about it.”

While he has put in the necessary work, and then some, to improve, his inspiration comes from his mother, Michelle Apovor, and grandfather, Mark Crough, who filled the role of father.

“She is the woman who taught me to work hard, she’s where I got my work ethic,” said Crough, who has three younger siblings. “When you see how hard I work, that’s how hard my mom works 24/7.

“She’s always so tickled when she comes and watches my races. She has a big bright smile. I don’t have to see it, I can feel it coming down from the stands.”

His goal now is to get the school hurdle marks of 13.93 in the 110s and 37.9 in the 300s and give his mother something a big reason to grin. “Definitely, they will be mine. They will be mine.”

Huey Counts Gabe Garber, Sabetha When Sabetha needed it most, junior Gabe Garber was there for the Bluejays. That statement is equally true for football and baseball.

In football, Garber led Sabetha to its second straight state championship, this time with a perfect 13-0 record, capped off with a 43-42 overtime win against Pratt last November.

Garber has come up clutch many times already in his high school career, including a touchdown throw on 4th and 6 in overtime of last year’s football title game, followed immediately with the game-winning two-point conversion.

In 2017, Garber had the game-winning interception to help Sabetha hold off Marysville, 7-6.

It’s a similar story on the baseball diamond. As the seventh-seed in last May’s state tournament, Sabetha knocked off No. 2 Cherokee-Southeast, No. 3 Marion, and No. 1 Thomas More Prep in the finals to win the first state championship in Sabetha baseball history.

Much like in football, Garber stepped up for the Bluejays.

Garber had two triples in the state championship, resulting in four RBIs and three runs scored. In total, Garber went 8 for 11 with nine RBIs during last year’s state tournament.

It was a run that surprised everyone. Not only did Sabetha knock off the tournament’s top three seeds, it did so by winning every game by at least five runs.

Additionally, the Sabetha baseball program is only entering its third year of existence. Considering the immediate success the program has had in such a short time, players like

Alexis Hafenstine

ALEXIS HAFENSTINE AUTYMN SCHREINER

Garber only know of one goal.

“Our goal every year is to win state, but one game at a time,” Garber said. “Growing up in Sabetha, that’s our goal in every sport.”

While the high school baseball program is still young, according to Garber the community has always supported youth baseball.

“It’s great,” Garber said about the support from the community. “We have a bunch of families willing to put down money toward the baseball program. We have nice facilities because the families love baseball.”

Garber maintained a .552 batting average last year with 48 hits and 34 RBIs. He was named the Player of the Year in 3A

by Sports in Kansas.

Sabetha was led by Garber, a sophomore last year, but he credits the team success to the seniors.

“It all started with a bunch of seniors,” Garber said. “We were led by our seniors and pitchers and it led to a state championship.”

As Garber enters his junior year, he believes finding pitching to replace the talented senior class will be the biggest obstacle to overcome in repeating as state champions.

“We have a good team that’s returning,” Garber said. “It’s definitely not as deep as last year, but we’re still going to be a good team.”

Gallagher Martin Alexis Hafenstine, Wabaunsee Wabaunsee junior Alexis Hafenstine had been an elite defensive specialist in volleyball and a catalyst at the top of the lineup for the Charger softball team. She played a key role in a decision that shaped Wabaunsee sports in the past year.

In the spring of 2017, Hafenstine batted .316 as Wabaunsee took third place in softball. That fall, she averaged 6.7 digs per set for the 15-18 volleyball team. Hafenstine didn’t play basketball, and had a significant increase in her softball numbers as a sophomore.

Known for overall athleticism, Hafenstine batted .425 with a .457 on-base percentage, along with 36 runs scored, and 37 hits, including 34 singles in ‘18. In the field, Hafenstine, an infielder had 84 chances with just one error, the team’s best fielding statistics.

In the 2-1A softball state championship game, Hafenstine set the tone in a 15-0 run-rule victory against defending champion Chase County.

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Hafenstine led off the bottom of the first with a single. She stole second and then went to third when the catcher’s throw sailed into the outfield. The throw from the outfield to third was misplayed, and Hafenstine scored for a 1-0 lead.

“It felt good to come back and give them a taste of their own medicine,” Hafenstine said of the win over Chase County.

Hafenstine had always been a part of the “4As” with seniors Alyssa Lohmeyer and Abby Oliver and junior Autymn Schreiner. The quartet were each first team all-state softball in 2018, but had not played all together for other sports.

Hafenstine and Lohmeyer were two of the team’s best volleyball players.

Oliver ran cross country two years and played tennis as a junior.

Schreiner was on the tennis team, and Hafenstine and Lohmeyer didn’t play basketball.

After a softball tournament, the group was sitting at Buffalo Wild Wings and started to talk about the ’18-19 season. Oliver and Schreiner tried to convince Hafenstine and Lohmeyer to join basketball.

Lohmeyer started to think about it, but Hafenstine didn’t want to. Then, Schreiner said if they played basketball, she would play volleyball.

“Then, Alyssa was like ‘Hmmm, it’s my senior year, I should do it,’” Schreiner said.

Jason Oliver, the team’s longtime summer softball coach, encouraged the girls to support each other.

“We are like, ‘Yeah, we are going to do this,’” Schreiner said.

In the fall, Schreiner was a key reserve in volleyball. Oliver was one of the top hitters.

Lohmeyer and Hafenstine were key starters. The team made a surprise run and finished as Class 2A runner-up.

“Last year, (in the fall of 2017), when we played volleyball, we lost the first round of substate, and it was really disappointing,” Hafenstine said. “And then this year, (in the fall of 2018), we got a new coach, and we got some new girls on our team and came back, and we were just having fun. We weren’t focused on winning. We didn’t hardly think that we would make it that far. We just were having fun together.”

During the recently completed basketball season, Lohmeyer and Hafenstine were the first two players off the bench for an experienced group that took third at 2A state. Oliver was SIK 2A Player of the Year, and Schreiner started at point guard. This spring marks the last time all four of them will play a high school sport together.

“From our parents and everybody, we know that we are good,” Hafenstine said. “But we are not as good as some people could be, so we could always get better, so that’s what we focus on the most.”

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SAM HANKINS

Autymn Schreiner, Wabaunsee Wabaunsee junior Autymn Schreiner pitched when she was younger and then stopped. When she was going into high school, she realized the Chargers had no one in the circle.

Schreiner started to work and develop her craft.

“Pitching is not as bad as I am remember, so I will do it,” she said.

Schreiner is 5-foot-6 with great strength – “really strong,” said Wabaunsee basketball coach Shanna Perine – and has shown great power at the plate and logged a heavy workload in the circle.

In addition to being a standout basketball player, Schreiner has helped the Chargers to a third-place state softball showing as a freshman and the 2-1A state championship last spring. Her freshman year, Schreiner batted .365 with a team-high 12 doubles, along with three triples and a homer.

She logged 107.1 of the team’s 152.2 innings and finished 11-5 with a 3.39 earned-run average.

“She is fearless,” senior teammate Abby Oliver said.

“Nothing scares her. Nothing phases her. She can walk three batters in a row, but it doesn’t ever look like she is phased.

She is always concentrated and focused on what she is doing.”

In 2018, Schreiner collected Sports in Kansas 2-1A Player of the Year honors. In the circle, she finished 8-2 with a 3.08 earned-run average with a 43/24 strikeout to walk ratio in 63.2 innings.

Schreiner throws a fastball, change, drop, screwball, curve and has been working on a rise ball. Sophomore Jordan Magette provided help last year with a 7-2 mark and 4.50 ERA in 56 innings.

Schreiner batted .516 with 47 hits, 28 RBIs and 40 runs scored. Her 19 doubles were just three off the state record.

Schreiner delivered seven triples and three homers.

After two seasons, Schreiner’s 31 doubles are within pace of the state mark of 66 held by McLouth’s Kendall Patterson from 2006-’09.

The Wabaunsee girls have always been tight-knit, great friends and talented in many sports. The “4As” of Schreiner, Oliver, junior Alexis Hafenstine and senior Alyssa Lohmeyer all return. Alma-Wabaunsee, like many small schools, draws from multiple towns.

Lohmeyer and Hafenstine live in Alma, while Oliver and Schreiner are 20 miles east in Maple Hill. Both towns have less than 800 people.

However, the quartet has played together in multiple sports and lifts three days a week in the summer. They have practiced in Maple Hill or gone to the batting cage in Alma.

Sophomore Reagan Kelley (.360 average, team-best six homers), and senior Kinsey Stuewe (.355 average) are also back. Stuewe hit .394 as a sophomore.

JACKSON HARTLEY

Photos by Everett Royer, KSportsImages.com

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“We are all really competitive, and we all really want to win,” Schreiner said. “But we also want to make it fun for the team, and I think that plays a big part in the way we play. We all kind of play the same way, too.”

Conor Nicholl Sam Hankins, Manhattan Manhattan High School’s Sam Hankins has quite the list of accomplishments. Somewhere on that list reads twotime state champion in the javelin. But Hankins is far from finished.

As a freshman, Hankins won 6A with a throw of 204 feet, 10 inches. The following year, Hankins won state with a throw of 212-01. The Manhattan boys’ won the 6A state team title last year for the first time since 2009.

Hankins has accomplished so much already, yet the junior still has two more years to improve. However, his goals coming into high school are still applicable two state championships later.

“My overall goals coming into high school were to contribute to my team, contribute to others through the sport, and compete to win,” Hankins said.

Both of Hankins state-championship throws were impressive, but neither are close to his personal record.

Last season, Hankins had a throw of 220-9, which was a top-five mark amongst high school javelin throwers. Even that wasn’t his best.

On June 29, Hankins set a personal record with a throw of 231-7 in Jena, Germany. Javelin has taken Hankins all across the country and to the Bahamas. Germany, however, is his favorite.

His personal best would be a state record in every classification except 6A. Shawnee Mission South’s Johannes Swanepoel owns the state record with a throw of 238-04 back in 2010.

Whether Hankins has desires of breaking state records or not, the best javelin thrower in Kansas knows he can still improve.

“Self composure and the ability to overcome adversity are two areas anybody can improve, no matter how good you become,” Hankins said.

With that being said, Hankins credits his time at Manhattan High School for the growth he’s already seen the last two years.

“I feel like I have improved greatly on my distances and abilities,” Hankins said, “but most importantly I’ve grown as a person with the help of my coaches and fellow teammates who work together to better themselves and others.”

Hankins has been competing in the javelin throw since adolescence. He and everyone around him knew he had potential from a young age.

“I knew I was good at javelin when I started to be able to compete in the larger meets and win them,” Hankins said. “I

HUNTER HESSELTINE

don’t have a specific meet where I realized I was good, but I know I can be much better than I already am.”

While Hankins still has two more years left at MHS, his future is limitless. He has the potential to throw at the Division I level and his future might not stop there.

But for right now, Hankins is focused on finishing his high school career strong.

“I am very excited to further my academic and athletic career in college,” Hankins said. “I like to accomplish goals one step at a time and then set new ones when the time comes.

So for now I’m set on my high school goals.”

GM Jackson Hartley, Campus Jackson Hartley was a freshman when the Campus High School baseball team, located in the southwest Wichita suburb of Haysville, went 6-14 and finished with just one league win.

As a young but talented team in 2017, Campus had its ups and downs, although the downs were more frequent than the ups.

But as that young and talented team grew over the course of a year, it translated to success in 2018. Fast forward a year to his sophomore season and Campus was a win away from the state finals and finished 16-8.

The Colts were dominant in regional wins over Hutch (10-0) and Junction City (9-0) and opened the state tournament with a 10-6 win over Lawrence Free State before losing to eventual champion Blue Valley 7-0 in the semi-finals.

The Colts were set to play rival Derby for third place, but weather forced officials to cancel the game.

Entering Hartley’s junior year, Campus is expected to contend for another trip to state. This is a Campus team that has failed and succeeded together, and Hartley believes it has made them better.

“It builds character,” Hartley said. “A lot of our guys were their own people, but once we all came together as a team we just clicked.”

Hartley’s career at Campus is only halfway through. But even in two seasons, Hartley has helped build higher expectations for the program.

Last year saw Campus build confidence as the season progressed.

“Going into last year’s season was a little bit different from the first day,” Hartley said. “Our coach had a saying, ‘get over the hump.’ All year we were close and close, and then finally the ball started rolling our way.”

Unlike years past, Campus will be playing with confidence

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Kansas Pregame Spring Sports Preview, Volume 1

from opening day.

“This year everyone is going in with a mindset where we know what we’re capable of doing,” Hartley said. “Our main goal is to make the state finals.”

Hartley believes the team chemistry is Campus’ biggest strength.

“We’re all a big family, we all work together, everyone loves being around each other and going to practice,” Hartley said. “We don’t have one bad spot on the team from top to bottom.”

Hartley enjoyed a breakout sophomore year that saw him named the Ark Valley Chisholm Trail Division I Co-MVP with Salina Central’s Ethan Kickhaefer.

Hartley hit .403 with 31 hits, 28 RBIs, eight doubles and four triples. Also one of the Colts’ top pitchers he went 5-2 on the mound with a 1.50 ERA and 36 strikeouts with only seven walks.

Hartley says he wants to “distance himself” and win league MVP outright. He also wants to improve his batting average to .500.

Still, Hartley wants to see his entire team receiving recognition at the end of the day.

“I want to push those guys to get to the top,” Hartley said.

Hartley has been working hard in the offseason to make all his goals a reality. Since the last day of baseball season, Hartley has been putting in work six days a week.

The offseason hasn’t been easy, but Hartley knows the dedication will be worth it.

“Sometimes it can be hard to get motivated for individual workouts,” Hartley said, “but there will be lots of satisfaction when hard work always pays off.”

Gallagher Martin Hunter Hesseltine, Topeka Seaman Winning a state championship is a feeling Topeka Seaman junior Hunter Hesseltine would like to experience again.

Hesseltine could get another chance considering he plays for one of the most successful baseball programs in Kansas.

Although 2018 was Seaman’s first state title in five years, the Vikings have an incredible streak of 15 consecutive trips to the state tournament. In fact, Seaman has played in a state championship game 12 of the last 20 years.

Seaman capped off last season in style. The Vikings walked-off on St. Thomas Aquinas in the regional finals, walked-off on Blue Valley Southwest in the first round of state, then eliminated city-rival Shawnee Heights in the semifinals.

The season was capped off with a 7-2 win over Bishop Carroll in the state championship.

“We played an in-city rival in the semifinals, took them into extras, and from there we had the confidence to advance and win the state tournament,” Hesseltine said. “I’ll never forget that.”

After playing three straight elimination games that went down to the last inning, Seaman ended the season with a victory that did not require late-game heroics.

JACE KAMINSKA

Photos by Everett Royer, KSportsImages.com

YOUTH YOUTH movement

A three-run homerun from Sam Payne gave the Vikings an early lead they never surrendered.

“We kind of started out rough,” Hesseltine said. “But then Sam hit a homerun to open the doors for us and from there we sailed.”

Hesseltine says the team doesn’t feel any pressure to repeat. He believes if his team plays their game, the Vikings will be the last team standing in 5A again.

“Coach [Steve] Bushnell told us to play as a team, and to do the little things correctly,” Hesseltine said.

The Vikings return nearly all their starters from last year, but losing Jackson Cobb — now a freshman on the University of Kansas baseball team — will be a significant blow.

Headlined by Hesseltine, who recorded 20 strikeouts and three wins with an ERA of 1.51 last season, pitching will be a big strength for Seaman. In fact, Hesseltine, who earned AllCity honors from the Topeka Capital-Journal, is only getting better.

“I’ve usually thrown a slow fastball with a good curve, but I’m throwing a faster fastball with good velocity and learning to control the game,” Hesseltine said.

Hesseltine credits his improvements to former Shawnee Heights and Wichita State star Jordan Cooper.

“A few players from my school told me about him and how much he helped them,” Hesseltine said. “I just wanted to take advantage of that.”

One trick Hesseltine likely won’t have up his sleeve this season is a fake pickoff play executed for an out during last year’s quarterfinal win against Blue Valley Southwest. Video of the play received national coverage and has been viewed over 265,000 times on Twitter.

“It was very cool,” Hesseltine said of the play. “At the time I just thought of it as getting an out, but after the game I realized how well it was really executed and how everyone played a part in it.”

For the upcoming season, the first thing Hesseltine will say is the goal is to repeat as state champions. But that doesn’t mean he shys away from individual goals.

“I want to be First or Second Team All-State, I want to be pitcher of the year, and I want to do what I did last year and be First Team All-City,” Hesseltine said. Gallagher Martin Jace Kaminska, Caney Valley

JAYCEE VATH

Tyro, Kan. has a population of 220. The town, located in Montgomery County, is less than three miles from the Oklahoma border.

Junior Jace Kaminska, who attends nearby Caney Valley, is from a community and school not typically known for baseball. However, the 6-foot-2, 200-pounder is the reigning Class 3A Pitcher of the Year by Sports In Kansas and the Kansas Association of Baseball Coaches and has committed to Wichita State.

Kaminska was also named an honorable mention Underclassmen All-American by Perfect Game, an industry leader.

His parents, Mike and Carrie, are each from nearby Independence, Kan., competed in junior college athletics and then headed to Division II Northwest Missouri State University. Mike was on the NWMSU team for one season, while Carrie was a softball pitcher.

When Jace was in sixth grade, the family had contractors build a 60’ x 40’ barn with a full length cage and portable pitching mound.

“We turned a pasture into a baseball field,” Jace said.

Jace has consistently practiced multiple nights a week in the facility. When Kaminska was a freshman, he hit 86 miles per hour at a baseball camp hosted by Area Code, an industry leader in baseball prospecting. The event opened Kaminska’s eyes.

“I could get some school paid for,” he said.

Last spring, Caney Valley finished 15-9.

Kaminska batted .467 with two homers and 25 RBI and led the team in virtually every offensive category. On the mound, Kaminska, with a fastball, curve and change-up, posted a

Page 24 5-0 mark and 0.40 ERA in 35.1 innings.

He struck out 82 against just 11 walks and allowed only four hits. This season, the Bullpups return every significant player and look to end a long state tournament drought.

Jace’s dad is the head coach. Like many small schools, CV has been handcuffed by KSHSAA’s new pitch count rules that went into effect before the 2017 season.

“We have gotten so close,” Kaminska said of his team that lost 4-2 in last year’s regional final. “The new pitching rules is what kills us, because we don’t have enough pitchers, but we are hoping this year we are going to do it.”

Kaminska has played summer baseball for a squad in Edmond, Okla. Wichita State and Kansas State consistently followed Kaminska, who was hitting between 87 and 90 mph on the radar gun. On the first day of the recruiting period, the Shockers called Kaminska. WSU has an enrollment of 15,081, while KSU is 24,766. Kaminska liked the smaller student body and that WSU does not have football.

“They are more of a baseball school,” he said.

Conor Nicholl Jaycee Vath, Lincoln Jaycee Vath is trying to make a splash on the state level in two of the most competitive events in Kansas girls’ high school track.

A 10th grader at Lincoln High, she is attempting to climb the ladder in a Sunflower State distance field that is stacked with talented young striders.

She’s coming off a cross country season that saw her cruise to the Class 1A individual championship – one year after finishing second at the 2A level as a freshman when Lincoln had a few more students – while helping the school’s four-runner squad to the team crown.

“It was a great experience,” she said. “The team title was more important because I was so proud of everybody for working so hard.”

As Vath prepares for her second go around on the track, she will definitely race with a target on her back after her impressive 2A performance as a rookie a year ago at state.

In front of the huge crowds at Wichita State’s Cessna Stadium, she medaled and knocked out personal bests in both her events, placing third in the 1,600- (5 minutes, 24.45 seconds) and 3,200-meter (11:41.59) races.

Not shabby for somebody who simply hoped

continued on page 32

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By Kansas Pregame Staff Kansas City area high schools have dominated Class 6A baseball for the last several years.

Only the Maize Eagles (2011) have been able to break through the dominance of the Sunflower League and Eastern Kansas League for the past dozen years.

The Campus Colts and Derby Panthers would like to change that in 2019.

Both teams reached the semifinals of the state tournament last year before losing to Blue Valley schools - Campus, 7-0 to Blue Valley, and Derby, 4-3 to Blue Valley Northwest.

Both programs have the talent to compete for the big prize this spring, but CAMPUS looks to be in the prime position. The Colts return eight starters from a 16-8 team that tied for third place at the state tournament in Lawrence.

Senior catcher-third baseman Mateo Martinez and junior utility player Jackson Hartley were named first-team all-state last year by the Kansas Association of Baseball Coaches. Martinez batted .414 with 29 hits and 15 runs batted in, while Hartley hit .403 with 28 RBI, eight doubles and four triples. He was also second-team allstate as a pitcher, with a 5-2 record and 1.50 earned run average and will also be a member of the Kansas Select 2020-2021 team this summer.

Another junior, Tanner Leslie, was named second-team all-state after batting .418 with 41 hits and seven triples. He was also 5-2 on the mound with a 2.71 ERA. Also returning are seniors Cayden Tsidro (DH, .301 BA), Corey Hahn (OFP, .341 BA, 2-1, 1.21 ERA), Rylan Walter (OF, 10 RBI) and Tyler Kahmann (SS, .457, 32 H, 21 RBI) and junior Austin Warkins (1B-P, 13 RBI).

“Expectations are high for the team this season and the kids are hungry for a return trip to Lawrence,” head coach Bryan Clasen said.

Expectations remain high for the DERBY Panthers as well. Coach Todd Olmstead’s team was one run from the state championship game last year and return the entire top of the batting order.

Senior center fielder Jackson Syring was named first-team all-state last season after hitting .459, with 34 hits, 27 runs scored and 36 stolen bases. Junior pitcher and utility player Grant Adler was named second-team all-state.

He was 6-0 on the mound with a 1.75 ERA and batted .300 at the plate.

Joining Syring and Adler from last year’s 17-7 club are seniors Hunter Igo (SS, .382, 27 R), Colten Nelson (P-C, 1-0, 4.42 ERA, .368 BA) and Tyler Farmer (P, 2-0, 0.58 ERA), and sophomore Coleson Syring (LF, .321, four home runs).

“I think we should be able to compete at the plate and on the mound,” Olmstead said. “If some of the new players can fill in the gaps we could be in for an exciting season.”

LAWRENCE-FREE STATE could spoil the fun for Wichita area schools during the postseason.

Mike Hill’s Firebirds return nine players from last year’s 16-7 state tournament team, including several who have signed college letters of intent.

Senior catcher-closer Jake Zenger was first-

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6A Baseball Photo by Adam Suderman, DerbyInformer.com

Kansas Pregame Spring Sports Preview, Volume 1

Jackson Syring Derby, Senior

team all-state last year and signed with Illinois State, while senior first baseman Jake Baker (.377, 26 hits) has signed with KU. Left-handed pitcher Ethan Bradford (8-2, 2.29 ERA) has signed with Nebraska, while outfielder Jaxson Webb and third baseman Peyton Sparks have signed with Fort Hays and Barton County.

Also returning are senior Jake Kallenberger (DH) and juniors Colter Maldonado (SS), Cam Karlin (C) and David Stuart (P, 4-2, 2.30 ERA).

Stuart (2020-2021) and Zenger (2019) were on Kansas Select teams last summer.

OLATHE NORTHWEST qualified for the state tournament last year, but was blanked in the first round by Derby. Six players return from that team for head coach Rick Setter - seniors Sam Righter (P), Grant Howard (C), Wyatt Morgan (1B-DH), Grayson Jones (3B) and Tayler Mahoney (UT), and junior Brevon Lee (OF).

“We believe that we have a great group of new pitchers on the mound that could be strength of the team along with defense,” Setter said. “We lost five out of our top six hitters from last year but we are seeing improvement from our senior class and we look to be more consistent, one through nine, this year.”

SHAWNEE MISSION NORTHWEST reached the state tournament last year, but dropped its opener to finish 13-10. The Cougars lost several seniors from that team, but do have a pair of solid pitchers returning in senior Mark Adamiak (51, 2.33 ERA), a second-team all-state pick last year, and junior Jordan Linderer (2-0, 1.23 ERA).

Senior infielder Austin Bell batted .338 last year, with 24 hits and 13 stolen bases.

“We will be a young team with only a few starters coming back with varsity experience,” coach Domenic Mussat said. “We are are excited for the year as the young guys are wanting the opportunity to play varsity baseball.”

MILL VALLEY could be strong again after finishing 14-9 a year ago and qualifying for the 5A state tournament. Four underclassmen were honorable mention all-state on that team - Jonathan Contreras (Sr., 2B), Nolan Sprague (Sr., P),

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Kansas Pregame Spring Sports Preview, Volume 1

Jared Stuewe

Topeka Seaman, Senior

Photo by Tom Wagner

Photo by Lisa McPherson Photography, www.lisamcphersonphotography.com

5A Baseball

Alex Epp

Maize South, Senior

By Kansas Pregame Staff The SEAMAN Vikings have been the top largeschool baseball program in the state since the start of the 21st century.

The Topeka school has won eight state championships - all under head coach Steve Bushnell - and only St. Mary’s Colgan (12) and Bishop Ward (8) have at least as many.

The Vikings rolled to the Class 5A state title last year in Wichita, knocking off Bishop Carroll, 7-2, in the finals after outlasting rival Shawnee Heights in an eight-inning semifinal.

Nine lettermen return from last year’s 21-4 team, including seniors Sam Payne (3B), Sam Juarez (2B-SS), Brock Hillebert (OF), Grant Smith (OF), Jared Stuewe (P) and Parker Wildeman (P), and juniors Hunter Hesseltine (P-1B) and Blaine Jepson (P).

Wildeman was named second-team all-state last year by the Kansas Association of Baseball Coaches and Payne was an honorable-mention selection. Stuewe (2019), Wildeman (2019), Hesseltine (2020-2021) and Jepson (20202021) were members of Kansas Select teams last summer.

“We’ll return a solid nucleus of players with varsity experience in 2019,” said head coach Steve Bushnell, who has a record of 381-98 in 20 seasons at Seaman. “I believe our pitching can be an area of strength and we to hope to add depth to the staff with the addition of some quality young arms.”

ARKANSAS CITY lost several outstanding players from last year’s 4A-I state championship team - the second title in school history - but still have plenty of talent returning to challenge in 5A. Eleven underclassmen were on the state tournament roster.

Garrett VanDevente, a senior pitcher, was first-

team all-state last year. He will be joined by senior catcher Brice Nittler, who like VanDevente, was also a member of the Kansas Select 2019 team. Haden O’Toole, a sophomore infielder and pitcher, was a member of the Kansas Select 2020-2021 team.

WICHITA HEIGHTS has been knocking on the state championship door for several years and will look to do the same again this season. The Falcons qualified for state in five of the past six years, finishing fourth last year and third in 2016.

The Falcons were 21-4 last year, won the Wichita City League title and won a classic 1-0, 12-inning thriller over Maize in the first round of the state tournament. Returning to lead this year’s team are senior Jordan Ellison (P-C), a Barton County commit, and Tanner Day (1B-P).

Ellison was an all-state pitcher last year and the Sports in Kansas 5A Player of the Year.

BISHOP CARROLL finished 21-3 a year ago, losing to Seaman in the state finals. The Golden Eagles will be led by a pair of second-team allstate players - seniors Brady Bockover (P) and Carson Pracht (3B). Bockover was also picked for the Kansas Select 2019 team last year.

SHAWNEE HEIGHTS just missed reaching the 5A finals last year, dropping a 3-2 decision to Seaman in the semifinals. The Thunderbirds ended up finishing third and were 22-3 overall.

A pair of underclassmen earned honorable-mention all-state honors last year for the T-Birds - outfielder Logan Brede, now a senior, and third baseman Shaun Gomez, now a junior.

Brede was part of the Kansas Select 2019 team.

BLUE VALLEY SOUTHWEST was another team that nearly derailed Seaman’s title hopes last year, but lost a 3-2 first-round game in eight innings. The Timberwolves were 16-7 overall and return first-team all-state selection Blake Steele, a senior, who hit .400.

Also returning for first-year coach Tyler Kincaid are outfielder Zach Guertin (.333, 21 H), second baseman Mack Clark (.240), outfielder Billy Bartlett (.333) and pitcher Quinn Hill (2-0, 1.97 ERA).

The MAIZE Eagles return seven starters from last year’s 14-9 team that lost a 1-0, 12-inning game to Wichita Heights in the first round of the 5A state tournament. Veteran head coach Rocky Helm, who is 370-102 in 20 seasons, will look to a strong senior class to get back to state.

The Eagles will feature seniors Adrian Perez (6-0, 1.83 ERA) and Deriq Doty (3-3, 3.86 ERA) on the mound. Both are also catchers. Junior second basemen Camden Jurgensen (.360, 27 H, 17 SB) had a strong sophomore season.

Joining him are returnees Jordan Helm (SS, Sr., .284), Carson Shively (INF, Sr., 270, 20 H, 19 RBI), Piercen Dooling (OF, Sr., 13 RBI) and Brock McCollough (OF, So., .271). Perez was named second-team all-state, while Helm and Jorgensen earned HM. “We’re very excited for the season and will look for the senior-dominated team to come together and provide the team chemistry needed for a playoff run at the end of the season,” Helm said.

ANDOVER CENTRAL moves to 5A this season after finishing third in the 4A-I state tourney last year with an 18-7 record. Coach Grant Bacon starts his 18th season and will rely on returnees Trey DeGarmo, a junior infielder-pitcher (.304 BA, 3-1, 3.79 ERA), junior infielder Jake Taylor and senior pitcher Gage Horsch.

Page 26 “This spring we expect to have competition for several spots on the varsity level,” Bacon said. “I’m excited for the competition to see who emerges as the leaders of our team.”

DESOTO finished 2018 with a strong 17-5 record, but missed reaching the state tournament. The Wildcats will be young this spring, but feature a couple of talented returnees in senior pitcher Tyler Barkemeyer (3-2, 0.81 ERA) and junior middle-infielder Dylan Nimrod (.412 BA).

“This is by far the youngest and most inexperienced team that we’ve ever had at DeSoto. That being said, this team will be fast and athletic,” coach Joel Thaemert said. “Pitching depth is very good, and defense should be a strength.

The offense may have some growing pains, but the roster is very talented and should improve throughout the season.”

MAIZE SOUTH was 16-6 a year ago, but lost in the regional finals. The Mavericks return three of their top pitchers from that team - senior Alex Epp (7-0, 2.49 ERA), who also hit .410 with 32 hits and 20 runs scored; Hayden Bontrager (3-4, 2.97 ERA), who batted .379 with 25 runs batted in, and Brayden McPheeters (2.40 ERA). Also returning for head coach Chad Christensen are senior outfielder Grant Bumgardner (.324 BA) and junior catcher Tysaac Noland (12 RBI).

Epp, also a shortstop, was named second-team all-state last year, while Bontrager was honorable mention. Both players were on the Kansas Select 2019 team last summer.

MCPHERSON moves up to 5A this season after a 15-7 record last year that ended with a heart-breaking loss to rival Buhler in the regional finals. Five starters return from that team, includ-

ing junior catcher Spencer Whitfield (.289 BA), junior second baseman Jakob Feil (.275 BA), senior shortstop Gabe Hoover (.354, 21 R), senior outfielder-pitch Chandler Wiard (2-1, 1.65 ERA) and senior outfielder Honestee Whittker (.313 BA, 20 H, 22 R).

“We return five starters, but will rely on our youth for innings on the mound,” head coach Heath Gerstner said. “If they can play defense and pitch it fairly well, they can have a shot to return to the state tournament.”

GODDARD had a pair of underclassmen earn all-state honors last year. Senior shortstop Isaiah Cohens was a second-team selection and junior outfielder Blake Mitchel was honorable mention.

Cohens also played for the Kansas Select 2019 team last summer.

ST. THOMAS AQUINAS returns three of its top pitchers from last year’s 14-8 team - seniors Joe Bryant (2-3, 2.69 ERA), Jack Thornhill (4-1, 1.56) and Joe Rost (4-2, 3.89) - but must replace seven of nine offensive positions. Also returning is sophomore infielder Kendall Diggs, who hit .339 last year.

SPRING HILL will be looking to take the next step in the postseason after a close loss in the regional finals ended a 13-9 season. Coach Will Meier welcomes back six players with starting experience - seniors Caleb Pahl, (OF, .286 BA), Jacob Scoma (OF, .435 BA) and Tyson Cheatham (INF, .283) and juniors Zade Parker (OF-P, .375 BA, 27 H), Corbyn Myes (C, .362 BA), Alex Johnson (OF-P, 3-2, 4.50 ERA) and Bear Gardner (3B-P, .385 BA, 1-2, 2.01 ERA).

BASEHOR-LINWOOD’s season ended with a

continued on page 32

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By Kansas Pregame Staff Class 4A baseball takes a new look into the 2019 season.

Gone is the 64-school, two-division system.

Gone is last year’s 4A-I state champion Ark City and third place Andover Central, who are now in 5A. And gone is KC’s Bishop Ward, last year’s runner-up in 4A-II. The Cyclones are now in Class 3A. But, one team back in 4A and ready to make another run at the state championship is IOLA. The Mustangs rolled to a 23-2 record last season and won the 4A-II state title - the school’s first-ever - with an 11-6 victory over Bishop Ward.

They followed that up last summer by winning the Class AA American Legion title.

Coach Mark Percy has the horses for another postseason run. Seven starters return, led by first-team all-state players Derek Bycroft and Calvin Delich. Bycroft was named the Class 4AII Pitcher of the Year last season by the Kansas Association of Baseball Coaches. He posted an 8-0 record, with an 0.73 ERA, and also hit .393, with 29 RBI, 22 runs scored and 17 stolen bases as a shortstop. Delich, a junior, led the team with a .507 batting average, had 31 RBI, 21 stolen bases and 29 runs scored.

Cal Leonard, also a junior, was HM all-state.

He was 4-0 on the mound with a 1.41 ERA and six saves. Also back are senior second baseman Blake Ashmore (.298, 22 R), senior OF/P Kane Rogers (.357, 5.38 ERA, 3-0), junior C/OF Casen Barker and junior first baseman Brady Wiggin (.347, 25 H).

PARSONS had three underclassmen on the all-state team last year as the Vikings went 1510 and finished third in 4A-II. Senior first baseman Luke Wolgamatt was a first-team selection, senior outfielder Jaden Ponce was named to the second team and senior second baseman Noah Proehl was honorable mention.

ANDALE placed three underclassmen on the 4A-I all-state team a year ago - senior outfielder Caleb Hitt (first team), senior designated-hitter Seth Bugner (second team) and senior pitcher Dylan Hahn (HM).

NICKERSON put together a sparkling 21-1 season heading into the state tournament last year, but were upset by eighth-seeded Anderson County, 6-5. The Panthers will rely on returning first-team all-state seniors Carson Cornelius and Tanner Schrag for leadership.

BISHOP MIEGE had 12 seniors on its state tournament roster last year as the Stags finished second to Arkansas City in 4A-I. The OTTAWA Cyclones return six starters from last year’s 12-11 team that qualified for the Class 4A-I state tournament - Chad Bones, Aiden Michel, Isaac Blaine, Jackson Allan, J.D, Van Horn and Colby McCurday.

“We have a lot of younger kids who are going to make an impact this year,” said veteran head coach Shawn Hermann, whose team lost a 4-3 decision to Andover Central in the first round of the state tourney. “I am very excited for the athletic ability to play multiple positions.”

PAOLA is another school that lost a tough firstround game in the state tournament last year.

The Panthers were seeded No. 1, but dropped a 3-2 decision to Tonganoxie. Six players return from that 18-5 team, including seniors Corbin Gant (IF-DH) and Garett Trimmer (P), juniors

Michael Daggett (IF-P), Evan Pueser (C) and Mason Hunter (IF) and sophomore Garrett Williams (OF-P).

“We are excited about the upcoming season,” coach Tony Brummer said. “We lost a strong senior class last year and we are hoping the underclassmen step up to lead as they were taught.”

The PRATT Greenbacks were one of the three better-seeded teams to lose first-round games in the 4A-II tournament last year in Salina. The Greenbacks dropped a 5-2 decision to Parsons to ends its season 20-3.

But plenty of talent returns for Pratt, including two players who earned first-team all-state postseason honors in 4A-II - seniors Travis Theis (SS-P) and Grant Bolen (3B-P). Four other players - seniors Kaden Evert (OF-P), Wyatt Schrag (1B-P) and Nate Kolm (2B), and junior Hunter Huber (C-UT).

“Our strength is in our upperclassman, but we will have some key positions to fill from last year because of the loss of two great seniors,” head coach Ron Hill said. “Our strength should be on the mound, but we’ll have to do a better job at the plate.”

The AUGUSTA Orioles put together a 14-7 season last year, but graduated the majority of its team. Three starters return - seniors J.C, Roberts (C) and Zac Burton (3B) and junior shortstop Jaren Jackson.

“Not a lot of experience coming back, but our talent is good,” said head coach Doug Jefferson.

“There will be a lot of competition in practice for starting spots. Our three returners need to be our leaders on the field and in the dugout.

CHANUTE baseball finished just above .500 last year and return three of their top five hitters from a team coach Zack Murry expects to improve. Top returners for the Blue Comets include senior Corbett Kimberlin, Lane Harvey, Brycen Ellis, Mason Manbeck and opening day starting pitcher Peyton Beck, a junior.

CIRCLE set a school record for wins in a season last year (14) and return all but one starter from that team. Nine seniors and two juniors who started on last year’s 14-8 team are back for head coach Matt Jordan, including all four starting pitchers. Returning starters are Easton Barrier (SS), Aidan Boettcher (2B), Gunner Hutson (3B), Camden Flaming (1B), Brayden Ketley (CF), Kadyn Smith (RF), Brandon Terrones (C), Easton Unruh (P), Braden Hagemann (P), Gavin Carson (P) and Brycen Schoenhofer (P).

CLAY CENTER will look to improve on last year’s 12-9 record with one of the top pitchers in 4A leading the way. Will Rosenow had an impressive sophomore season in 2018, with 64 strikes and just 16 walks in 43 innings. He also hit .386 at the plate.

Rosenow will be joined by returnees’ senior Dylan Swihart, who hit .354 a year ago and junior Jake Ferguson, who batted .400.

“We should be very balanced this year. We will be very deep in pitching and have a solid one through nine on offense,” said head coach Andy Bent. “Will Rosenow will be our ace this year.

He had an ERA in the ones last year and he is throwing 82-85.”

FORT SCOTT had a successful regular season last year (14-6), but lost in the sub-state semifinals. Eight players return for the Tigers, including seniors Matt Campbell (1B), Ty Gor-

Page 27

man (2B), Brady Master (SS) and Alec Michaud (OF); juniors Drake LaRoche (P), Gage Wilson (P) and Brody Knowles (3B) and sophomore Ivan Witt (C). Campbell was first-team all-state 4A-I by the KABC. “We have a great mix of juniors and seniors with a lot of experience coming back, and a couple of guys that are ready to break out and step up at the varsity level,” said coach Josh Regan.

“We have outstanding leadership as well.”

First-year coach Steve Nelson inherits six returning players from a MULVANE squad that finished 12-9 last year. Junior outfielder/pitcher Gage Gerlach hit .365 a year ago, while junior Cole Diffenbaugh, also an outfielder/pitcher, batted .318. Senior pitcher Caleb Heird returns after a 2-0 record on the mound and 0.89 earned run average.

Joining Gerlach, Diffenbaugh and Heird are seniors Nathan Kline (C), Cole Schmidt (P-IF) and Brade Webb (OF).

“We lost a lot of seniors from last year’s team, but we were able to get some of our young kids some experience,” Nelson said. “We are very excited to watch our team grow and look forward to watching them develop and compete.”

TOPEKA HAYDEN returns five starters from last year’s team that was 10-11 in the big-school Centennial League. Junior third baseman/pitcher Andrew Schmidtlein is one of the team leaders after hitting .482 with 20 runs batted in in 2018.

He also was 2-2 on the mound with a 3.34 ERA. Also returning are seniors Parker Jones (OF), Tegan Engroff (IF-P), Rory Annand (2B) and Conner McGehee.

“We have some experience coming back, but will need to continue to develop more pitching and a better practice work ethic,” said head coach Bill Arnold.

WINFIELD returns six starters from last year’s 8-14 team, including senior outfielder-designated hitter Owen Braungardt, who was a Class 4A state wrestling champion at 220 pounds.

Also back are juniors Steele Morin (utility), KC Crandall (IF), Connor Woods (P/IF), Ethan Owen (OF) and Gus Bloyer (C-P).

“We are still relatively young with only one senior with extended experience,” said coach Sean Bennett. “Five of the juniors have started since Day 1 as freshmen, though, so they do have some experience.”

The EL DORADO Wildcats will look to a half-dozen returning seniors to help turn around a program that was 3-18 last year for head coach

4A Baseball Photo by Everett Royer, KSportsImages

Kansas Pregame Spring Sports Preview, Volume 1

Colton Goans

Buhler, Senior

Bill Shaw. Those include Chase Veatch (C), Kaleb Manke (1B), Cody Wittenberg (SS), Jarin Koehler (OF), Parker Johnson (2B) and Evan Dean (P).

“It’ll be a season of blending young players with returning starters,” Shaw said. “Pitching depth must be established.”

The CHAPMAN Irish were 8-13 a year ago, but they are looking for better things this season with eight starters returning, including a large number of experienced upperclassmen for the first time in several years.

First-year coach Judd Liebau will look to senior Gabe Barten as one of his leaders. Barten hit .358 last year and had a 3.50 ERA on the mound. Other returning seniors include Brandon Colson (OF-P), who hit .321 with 14 RBI; Colton Crabe (IF-C) and Cole Martinez (P-C), who had a 1.40 ERA. Four juniors also return - Chance Liebau (IFP), .269, 4.36 ERA; Noah Riegel (OF-P), .297, 2.84 ERA; Wyatt Steppe (OF-P), .317 BA, and Kel Stroud (IF-P), .227.

Three other underclassmen named to 4A allstate teams last year were KC PIPER senior first baseman Brandon Walker (second team, 4A-I), Circle senior second baseman Easton Barrier (HM, 4A-I) and Anderson County junior second baseman Tanner Spencer (second team, 4A-II).

BUHLER sophomore Taiden Hawkinson (P-UT) was a member of the Kansas Select 2020-2021 team and senior Colton Goans earned honorable mention All-State honors from Sports in Kansas.

RUSSELL-VICTORIA welcomes back four senior starters - Walker Braun, Kyler Fritschen, Caden Oberle, and Cooper Windholz - from an 11-9 team. Braun earned All-League honors last year and junior Kirk Huser was second team.

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3A Baseball

Joe Gruber

Sabetha, Senior

By Gallagher Martin and John Baetz The defending 3A state champions lost a lot of production from last year and will have a target on their backs.

But that does not mean the SABETHA Bluejays can’t repeat as state champions. After all, the Bluejays are led by one of the best hitters in Kansas in Gabe Garber, who belted out 48 hits last year on his way to being named the 2018 Sports in Kansas Player of the Year.

While Garber garners most of the attention at the plate, the Bluejays return two of their best pitchers in Joe Gruber and Braden Argabright.

Gruber went 5-1 with an ERA of 2.71 while Argabright is a lethal weapon out of the bullpen, coming off a 3-0 record with three saves and a 0.78 ERA. Both Gruber and Argabright are solid hitters as well. Sabetha head coach Aaron Frey believes if younger guys can step up, the Bluejays should pick up where they left off last year.

“Although we graduated a lot of guys from last year’s state championship team, we have a good core returning,” Frey said. “I look for a lot of guys to step up into starting roles that were taken by last year’s seniors.”

The Bluejays defeated Marion in last year’s

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Page 28

semifinals, 9-4, en route to a 10-5 win over Thomas More Prep in the championship. Marion went on to finish the season 23-3 with a third-place win over Riley County.

MARION should be as good as any team in 3A due in large part to its pitching. The Warriors return 90 percent of their innings pitched from last year.

“Depth on the mound will be key to this year’s team as there are many unknowns among the position players and offensive contriubtors,” Marion head coach Roger Schroeder said.

Top returners for the Warriors, who co-op for baseball with Lost Springs-Centre, include Sam Zinn, INF/P, Sr. (.439, 36 H, 20 RBI, 36 R, 9 SB, 3.74 ERA, 5-1, 33 IP, 40 Ks), Chase Stringer, P, Sr. (2.85 ERA, 7-1, 46 IP, 49 Ks), Luke Lanning, INF, Jr. (.438, 35 H, 35 RBI, 33 R, 2 SB), Evann Heidebrecht, INF/OF, Sr., (.373, 28 H, 26 RBI, 38 R, 16 SB), Cooper Carpenter, INF, Jr. (.339, 20 H, 17 RBI, 16 R), Jaxton Tracy, OF/P, Jr., 2.60 ERA, 6-1, 29 IP, 37 Ks) and Blaine Mermis, P, Sr. (3.88 ERA, 3-0, 21 IP, 22 Ks).

THOMAS MORE PREP-MARIAN of Hays fell one game shy of a state championship last season. TMP fell 10-5 to Sabetha in the title game. The Monarchs went 24-2 after a 2-0 win in the semifinals against Riley County as Chase Werth threw a shutout.

In the first round of the 3A state tournament, Werth hit a game-winning three-run homer for a 5-2 win versus Wellsville. Werth and senior ace Cole Zimmerman both graduated, as well as Tate Garcia, who signed to play baseball at Benedictine, part of massive losses for TMP. Among regular players, junior Brady Kreutzer led the team with a .443 average. Then, the next eight hitters all graduated. Kreutzer is the only one back who had more than 15 at-bats last spring. The pitching staff will be virtually brand new as well. Kreutzer was honorable mention all-state by Sports in Kansas.

This season, TMP turns from one former standout to another as Aaron Breit takes over for Dusty Washburn as head coach. Both Breit

and Washburn were ’04 TMP graduates and excellent high school and college players.

Washburn joined the staff at Fort Hays where he was an All-American first baseman. Breit has coached with the Monarchs the last several springs.

Breit was drafted by the San Diego Padres out of high school and again by the Padres after he played at Garden City Community College. He pitched in the minors from ’06-’11 appearing in 224 games posting a 20-36 record.

RILEY COUNTY is another team to look out for. Last year the Falcons won a school-record 20 games. With five returning starters, Riley County is looking to make a repeat trip to the state tournament.

“They gained great experience by winning their regional and finishing fourth at state,” coach Weston Steiner said. “Their roles will change this year with us graduating a big senior class, but they have worked hard during the offseason and will be ready to compete.”

Top returners for the Falcons include Tristan Kulp, OF, Sr., Tyler Beckman, 3B, Sr., Garrett Harmison, C, Jr., Nic Allen, OF, So., and Connor Holle, 1B, So. First team All-Staters Dalton Engle, Ty Nelson and Tyler Halstead (3A POY) graduated.

A drop from the now defunct 4A-II to 3A will not change ROCK CREEK’s goal of making the state tournament for the sixth straight time.

The Mustangs have deep senior and sophomore classes, led by second team All-State selection Ian Russell. Cam Minihan and Toby Becker were also both All Mid-East League.

The returning Rock Creek pitchers accounted for 77 percent of innings pitched from last year’s team that went 20-3.

Top returning Rock Creek players include Becker P/C, Sr. (23 H, 2 HR, 25 RBI, .418, 3-2, 30 IP, 3.03 ERA, 18 Ks, 6 BB), Minihan SS/2B/P, Sr. (.435, 26 Runs, 12 RBIs, 1-0, 13 IP, 0.00 ERA, 21 Ks, 3 BB), Nate Williams 1B/P, Sr. (.300, 7 RBI, 7 Runs, 2 2B), Brooks Whaley OF/P, So. (.412, 14 Runs, 6 RBI, 4 2B, Karter Carlson OF/P, Sr. (.211, 11 RBI, 5 Runs)

and Russell P/OF, Sr., (6-1, 30 IP, 2.68 ERA, 33 Ks, 8 BB).

Despite missing out on the last two state tournaments, NEMAHA CENTRAL may be ready to contend for state for the first time since its 2016 state championship season.

The Thunder are loaded and return eight of their nine position players. Additionally, the entire pitching staff is back with the exception of two starters.

Nemaha Central is also adding senior Austin Gerety back into the pitching rotation after not pitching his junior year. Nemaha Central went 15-6 last year and is on the rise. “[We] experienced a few growing pains last year with a majority of underclassmen starting so we should be a more experienced team heading into this season,” Nemaha Central head coach Terry Stueve said.

Top Thunder returners include Austin Gerety, 3B/P, Sr. (.541, 33 H, 2 HR, 15 2B, 21 RBI, 21 SB, 36 R), Noe Gauna, OF/, Sr. (.408, 29 H, 16 RBI, 18 SB, 27 R), Luke Reitz, C, Sr. (.377, 23 H, 2 HR, 25 RBI, 7SB, 5 R), Dalton Huerter, OF, So. (.367, 18 H, 11 RBI, 8 SB, 15 R), Tyler Gerety, SS, So. (.329, 25 H, 26 RBI, 6SB, 25 R), Will Bartkoski, 1B/P, Jr. (.278, 15 H, 11 RBI, 12 R, 2.44 ERA, 1-0), Landen Baker, U/P, So. (.258, 8 H, 3 RBI, 10 R, 1.50 ERA, 2-1), Andrew Leonard, OF/P, Jr. (.111, 3 H, 2 RBI, 8 R), Bryce Uphaus, DH, Jr. (.207, 6 H, 5 RBI, 2 R) and Trenton Schmitz, P, Jr. (2.95 ERA, 3-0).

Like Nemaha Central, MAUR HILL is a team that did not qualify for state last year, but has the potential to do so this season.

Maur Hill went 17-4 last year and finished as regional runner-up. Ayden Black is one of the best pitchers in the Northeast Kansas League and went 6-2 with a 1.50 ERA. Black will lead the Ravens all across the diamond after hitting .396 with 19 hits and 26 RBIs in 2018.

“Ayden will lead the way on the mound, at the plate, and handling the catcher duties when not pitching,” Maur Hill head coach Phil Baniewicz said. “The return of Abe Siebenmorgen to the mound after missing a year with an

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Siebenmorgen, a junior, who was injured part of last year year and did not pitch all season, hit .302 with 13 hits and 18 RBIs. Other top returners for Maur Hill include Parker Mispagel, C/OF, Sr. (.426, 20 H, 30 R, 30 RBI, 6 2B, 11 SB) and Tate Vowels 2B/P, Sr. (.385, 10 H, 11 RBI, 2 2B, 6 SB).

Individually, CANEY VALLEY’s Jace Kaminska is the reigning 3A Pitcher of the Year.

Last year, as a sophomore, Kaminska tallied an insane 0.40 ERA en route to a perfect 5-0 record.

As a hitter, Kaminska finished with a .467 batting average, 25 RBIs, two home runs, and 10 stolen bases.

Along with a talented freshman class, Caney Valley returns five other starters outside of Kaminska including Cole Ellis, RHP/C/SS, Sr. (.377, 29 H, 16 RBI, 5 2B, 24 SB, 2.2 ERA, 35 IP, 35 Ks, 9 BB), Jake Ellis, RHP/IF/3B, So. (.309 21 H, 13 RBI, 7 SB, 2.41 ERA, 20.1 IP, 20 Ks, 9 BB), Trent Haberly, CF, Sr. (.293, 17 H, 4 2B, 14 RBI, 1 HR, 12 SB), Trent Riley RHP/ DH, Sr. (.273, 15 H, 13 RBI, 2 2B, 4.88 ERA, 28.2 IP, 30 Ks 17 BB), Grady Postrach, 2B, So. (.206, 13 H, 2 2B, 5 SB).

BELOIT’s Hudson Smith returns after earning All-League honors for the 10-8 Trojans, but gone are three other All-North Central Activities Association first teamers.

CHERRYVALE returns just two players with starting experience from a team that went 1012 last season, but one of them is senior catcher and pitcher Cade Addis.

Addis hit .375 for the Chargers last season

with 27 hits, two home runs and 17 RBIs. He also posted a 2.47 ERA from the mound.

“We are a young team with little varsity experience,” coach Scott John said. “I like the core group of leaders we have to lead the younger guys. I look for this team to compete hard in the TVL this year.”

CIMARRON is looking for significant improvement in just their second year of high school baseball after posting a 5-16 record in 2018. Seven players return with starting experience, including two that earned All-League honors - senior pitcher/infielder Dylan Harrison and sophomore pitcher/infielder Gustavo Cabrera.

“Last year was Cimarron’s first year of high school baseball,” coach Chuck Dirks said. “Our young men learned a lot and now have a lot to prove this year. I am excited about watching these men grow together as a team and playing a game that they all love.”

COUNCIL GROVE graduated eight seniors from a team that went 18-4 last season but does have has six players with starting experience back headlined by returning All-League players Tyson Chizek (P/C/IF, Sr., .450 BA, .624 OBP) and Kane Kormanik (P/1B, Jr., .349 BA, .472 OBP).

“I’m looking for several young pitchers to step up and put us in a position to compete,” Braves coach Matt Wilkens said.

DOUGLASS returns five players with starting experience from a team that won just two games last year. Four of those players hit at least .300 last season and four have some experience pitching.

Page 29 “This is a good senior class to help us continue our rebuilding process,” said coach Brad Reynolds.

ELLSWORTH-WILSON’s Grant Gwinner is back for his senior season after hitting .489 with 22 hits and 16 RBIs to earn first team AllLeague honors as a junior on a 5-13 Bearcat team.

FREDONIA coach Aaron Haselwood returns six players with starting experience from a team that went 7-13 last season including senior short stop Jaden Schmidt who hit .545 with one home run, 19 RBIs and scored 15 runs.

“This will be the first official year for Fredonia baseball after co-oping with Elk Valley for four years,” Haselwood said. “I have a very solid group of seniors and some very dedicated underclassmen that I believe will make a lot of noise in the Tri-Valley League. The community in Fredonia has been hungry for a high school baseball team for years. This year we get to give it to them and we’re going to come out swinging!”

HALSTEAD returns five players with starting experience for first year head coach Danny Driskill, but just two of those are seniors catcher David Schulte and outfielder Bryant Odendahl - for a team that went 5-16 last year.

Driskill said the Dragons will be a “young team, with good young pitching” and expects improvement in seasons to come.

Second year HESSTON coach Skylar Hill welcomes back 14 players who were “major contributors” on last year’s 8-13 team including talented senior outfielder Cameron Cox who hit .514 with 36 hits, nine triples, 34 runs scored and 35 stolen bases last season.

He also recorded 69 strikeouts and a 3.05 earned run average in his work on the mound for the Swathers.

HIAWATHA welcomes back three seniors and three juniors with starting experience for a team that went 6-13 while HILLSBORO-PEABODY-BURNS has just two senior starters returning - Brooks Gardner and George Hanschu - back for a team that was 11-11.

KINGMAN-NORWICH will count on a trio of hitters to avoid a fall back from an 11-9 season after graduating a quality group of seniors.

Junior catcher Garrett Waldschmidt (.414, 24 H, 22 RBI), senior first baseman Brendan McBeth (.385, 25 H, 9 2Bs, 25 RBI) and junior outfielder Gage Oller (.327, 18 H, 22 R, 8 SB) will lead the way while veteran coach Toby Munz develops some young talent.

“The potential is there for this group to compete for a league and regional title,” Munz said.

MINNEAPOLIS returns just three players with starting experience from a team that went 9-12 last year but coach Tyler Konrade is optimistic entering the season.

“I am excited to see the few returners and several younger players step up and compete for starting spots this year,” Konrade said. “If we work hard and come together we have the potential to have a successful season.”

OSAGE CITY returns a few key cogs from last year’s 14-8 squad including Wyatt Green, 3B/P, Sr. (.429, 30 H, 23 RBI, 16 SB), Cole Testerman, SS, Jr. (.317, 20 H, 24 RBI .830 FP), Colton Williams, LHP, Sr. (2.67 ERA, 3-2, 36.2 IP) and Colton Prunty, 2B, Sr. (.343, 23 H, 13 RBI, 14 SB).

SILVER LAKE has three players back that each hit at least .300 with at least 10 RBI from last year’s 14-9 team including Tyler Blaylock, C/DH, Sr. (.361, 20 RBI), Dillon Byrne, OF/P, Sr. (.385, 10 RBI, 20 runs; 2-2, 32 K, 18 BB) and Trent Reamer, OF/P, So., (.333, 11 RBI), but veteran coach Alan Cunningham needs to replace six graduated starters.

It could be a tough year for a young SMOKY VALLEY squad that returns just three players with starting experience from a team that went 6-15 last season. Coach Troy Miller says his primary goal this season is to “get better everyday.”

SOUTHEAST OF SALINE graduated just three seniors off a team that went 17-6 and lost to Marion in the regional championship. Five players that recorded at least 16 hits and at least 10 RBIs are back for the Trojans including All-League players Bryant Banks, Hunter Whittecar, Kyler Berry and Jaxson Gebhardt.

Coach Lane Abert is excited to start just the second season of baseball at SOUTHWESTERN HEIGHTS after posting an 8-13 record in year one. Six players are back with starting experience to help the Mustangs continue the development of this new program.

It will be a youth movement for WICHITA COLLEGIATE which returns just three starters from last year’s 12-10 team.

Junior catcher Connor Allen (.342, 25 H, 1 HR, 23 RBI, 7 R), junior pitcher/infielder Cole Thonrton (.275, 22 H, 9 RBI, 13 R, 48 IP, 1.604 ERA, 37 SO) and senior first baseman Trey Charboneau (.270, 17 H, 12 RBI, 19 R) will lead the way as coach Joe Gehrer works to develop a number of underclassmen.

COLBY catcher Tucker Branum is one class 3A’s top players in the class of 2019 as is BURLINGTON outfielder Brannon Nordstedt.

CONCORDIA returns Honorable Mention All 4A-II outfielder Jacob Williams, but graduated three other players that earned some level of All-State recognition.

Other teams returning All-State players as voted on by the coaches include BAXTER SPRINGS: Landon Abbot, 1B, Sr.; CHENEY: Dawson Winter, UTIL., Sr.; Kauy Kuhn, P, Sr.; FRONTENAC: Kade Chastain, SS, Sr.; HOLCOMB: River Amos, P, Sr.; and WELLSVILLE: Zach Vance, OF, Sr.; Jeff Ebeck, P, Sr.; Tanner Shalkoski, 3B, Sr.; Dawson Donovan, OF, Sr. Perennial power BISHOP WARD will join class 3A after a runner-up finish in 4A-II in ‘18.

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2-1A Baseball

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By Gallagher Martin and Conor Nicholl After falling victim to a stunning 12-6 upset in last year’s opening round of the 2-1A state tournament, ELKHART is back and looking for vengeance.

In fact, the team goal for Elkhart this season is simple.

“We have one goal this year and that is to win a state championship,” Elkhart head coach David Aranda said.

The Wildcats were the No. 1 seed at state last year, but were defeated by Pittsburg’s-St. Mary’s Colgan, the longtime powerhouse and No. 8 seeded squad that entered state with a 7-15 record. Barring another upset, Elkhart will be back in the state tournament with a chance at the No. 1 seed once again.

Elkhart (20-2) returns senior Lane Whisennand, who complemented his .459 batting average with a 7-0 record on the mound.

Whisennand receives most of the attention, but seniors Javier Gomez and Elian Prieto put up similar hitting numbers to Whisennand and are proficient pitchers. Gomez batted .459 and Prieto hit .477. Junior Garrett Hall carried a .328 mark, while four other starters return.

They are senior Sage Hoskinson and three juniors: Chace O’Hair, Emmanuel Moreno and Jaxon Hastings.

With all the returning talent for Elkhart, it’s easy to picture the Wildcats as the early favorites in 2-1A. Elkhart last won the baseball title in 2002 for its only crown. But as last year proved, nothing is guaranteed.

In his 33rd year as head coach, Mike Watt led ST. MARY’S COLGAN to the state finals where their Cindrella run ended at the hands of Spearville in an epic 13-12 final.

Despite entering state with a record under .500, the Panthers won their first two games at state by a combined 14 runs.

With a strong core group of returners, the Panthers have the potential to make state again – but this time they shouldn’t be underdogs.

Colgan has long dominated the state’s smallest baseball classification with recent state titles in 1993, ’97-’99, 2001, ’04-’10 and then ’14-’16. Last year marked the least amount of regular season victories under Watt. He is 601163 overall.

The Panthers routinely play a highly challenging schedule, including several Missouri squads that would be Class 6A in Kansas.

Colgan had five freshmen play in the state title and graduated just two players. The Panthers opened 0-7 last year.

Colgan had 50 of its 62 pitching appearances from non-seniors last season, including Cade Simmons, Parker Wydick, Matthew Lomshek and Gavin Glover. Wydick earned first team all-state honors from SIK. Lomshek batted .310 with four doubles, 16 RBI, 15 steals and a 4-3 record and 3.55 ERA. Simmons batted .378 with six doubles, 17

Page 30 RBI and 11 steals. Wydick carried a 3-3 record and 3.41 ERA in 41 innings and batted .329 with two homers and 13 RBI. Other returners are senior outfielder Luke Orender, junior pitcher Gavin Glover, sophomores Kannon Keller and Gianni Piccini, and part-time starters Blaise Dawson and Andrew Lomshek.

“Expectations for this year are high,” Watt said. “We want to compete for the league championship. A league title is something all CNC schools take great pride in, and we want to play deep into the postseason as well.”

Defending state champions SPEARVILLE went 21-3 and will need to find replacements for Bailey Sites and Alex Fisher, but the cupboard is not bare with Kolby Stein leading the squad. Fisher collected Sports in Kansas Class 2-1A Player of the Year honors after he led the Lancers to their first state baseball title in school history.

Fisher batted .509 with seven homers and 32 RBI and went 6-1 on the mound. In the final against Colgan, Fisher had two triples and a single. WEST ELK’s Cade Miller was the SIK 2-1A Pitcher of the Year and also graduated after he went 10-2 with a 1.68 ERA and .455 ERA. Spearville coach Steve Strain earned SIK classification coach of the year.

Stein had a significant knee injury and didn’t play in basketball, but in a nice gesture from the league coaches, was still named a unanimous honorable mention all-league selection.

In baseball, Stein was a SIK first team allstate selection. Stein carried a .444 average with 12 extra base hits, four homers and 28 RBI. Senior Kyle Muncy delivered a .370 average, the only other returner who batted above .300.

On the mound, Stein went 5-2 with a 1.50 ERA, and sophomore Kenny Zimmerman delivered a 3-0 mark and 0.75 ERA with two saves. Stein worked 28 innings and had a 45/33 strikeout to walk ratio. Zimmerman permitted just four hits with a 19/9 K/BB in 18.2 innings.

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Fellow state qualifier KANSAS CITY CHRISTIAN will also be competing for a state championship. Last year the Panthers went 19-5 and fell in the first round of state. With seven starters returning, including six seniors, the Panthers have the potential to win the whole thing. Senior Briley Barrow collected first team all-state pitching honors by SIK. “We are looking to make a repeat trip to state with seven returning starters and an experienced pitching staff with depth,” Kansas City Christian head coach Jared Barker said. “We have senior leadership and a couple underclassmen that played some innings last year that will get a chance to start. Most of our starters played as freshmen and will be solid in the field and at the plate.”

The Heart of America League will be one of the tougher leagues in Kansas. Marion will be the favorite in the league and perhaps in 3A, but Ell-Saline and Sedgwick will be tough outs in 2-1A. ELL-SALINE made the state semifinals last year before falling to St. Mary’s Colgan. And while Sedgwick missed out on the state tournament, the Cardinal have no plans of doing so again.

SEDGWICK will be led by three talented seniors in pitcher Andrew Hoffsommer, shortstop Hooper Schroeder, and outfielder Colton Smith. The Cardinals also return three additional position players, and if it can find consistent pitching, Sedgwick should contend in the HOA. Hoffsommer went 4-1 with a 3.35 ERA in 31.1 innings.

Schroeder batted .481 with seven doubles and 27 runs scored. Smith hit .404 with 15 RBI. Junior first baseman Mason Lacey hit .304 with 20 RBI. Junior outfielder Kale Schroeder batted .415 with 22 runs scored. Sophomore Nolan Crumrine hit .447 and carried a 6-1 record and a 1.51 ERA with 40 strikeouts in 32.1 innings.

“We expect 2019 to be a big year for Sedgwick baseball,” head coach Doug Mabry said.

www.csbanc.com

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Kansas Pregame Spring Sports Preview, Volume 1 “We return a good portion of last year’s squad that turned out an impressive 15-4 record.”

Also in the HOA, INMAN finished 4-18 and is 12-31 with third-year coach Matt Mikulecky but returns a significant number of key players.

Junior pitcher/outfielder Connor Brown batted .327 with a homer and 13 RBI. Sophomore Derick Johnson batted .309 with three triples and 13 RBI. Sophomore pitcher Landon Snyder batted .295 and went 2-1 with a shutout on the mound. Sophomore Carter Brown hit .286, while sophomore Jayden Leonhardt hit .278.

Sophomore Carson Munoz and junior Ryan Heaton also return.

“I expect to see our team continue to grow and compete in every game,” Mikulecky said.

“We return nearly everyone from last year, with eight guys playing a full season of varsity ball. So what we endured in growing pains and tough losses, we gained in development and experience. At the end of the season, we showed some great upside. Now it’s time to build on that.”

OSKALOOSA may have been the best team in 3A last year not to qualify for state. The Bears were 20-1 heading into the regional championship before a bitter defeat to Wellsville ended their season. Now, Oskaloosa is in 2-1A and is hoping for its second state tournament appearance in the last three years.

“We return 3A First Team shortstop Hunter Reed along with fellow senior starters Justin Shufflebarger and Eli Tarwater,” Oskaloosa head coach Rod Stottlemire said. “I expect fellow senior Gabe Robbins, sophomore Eli King, and a group of promising sophomores and freshmen to see extensive playing time this season.”

Similar to Oskaloosa, MISSION VALLEY was a talented team last season which just missed out on the playoffs. Mission Valley boasts two of the best hitters in the state in Trevor Moore and Cohle Phillips, who both hit over .500.

“Trevor and Cohle will lead us offensively as they are three year and four year starters,” Mission Valley head coach Justin Duncan said.

“Trevor will lead a talented, but inexperienced, pitching staff.”

Few teams lost as much talent as LITTLE RIVER in all-state selections Levi Swenson and Peyton Harvey, but Little River does return one of the best sophomores in 2-1A in Graham Stephens.

Stephens hit .552 with nine doubles, three

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triples, and two home runs at the plate while stealing successfully 27 out of 28 times. As a pitcher, Stephens had 40 strikeouts and an ERA of 2.20.

Stephens and Ellis outfielder Tegan Cain each picked up second team all-state by SIK. They were the only freshmen named first/second team or honorable mention.

Two years ago, Leon-Bluestem defeated Ellis for the 2-1A state title, the first team crown for the Lions in school history. The squads both put together solid 2018 seasons. Bluestem went 14-9 and lost to Spearville in the first round of state in the first year under coach Grant Bachura. Ellis finished 12-6 and is 4812 with fourth-year coach Brent Cain.

For BLUESTEM, the Lions have a number of returners, though graduated its top-two players. Blake Bevan was the Player of the Year by the Kansas coaches after he batted .573. Coy Moran hit .520. On the mound, Bevan went 6-4 with a 2.07 ERA in 54 innings with a 92/8 K/ BB rate.

Senior Hunter Clift leads the returners. He batted .439 with 31 steals and a 2-3 mark with a 3.99 ERA. Senior Hunter Cunningham batted .304 with 12 RBI. Junior Nic Laidler hit .339 with nine steals and finished 3-0 on the mound. Junior Luke Simon batted .254, and junior infielders Braeden Emmons and Kagen Benton both return, along with a pair of pitcher/ outfielders: junior Chris Dawson and sophomore Logan Walden.

“Even though we only lost a couple of seniors, those two made up the majority of our innings pitched and offensive stats,” coach Bachura said. “However, we return a lot of guys that have played since their freshman year and have continued to work hard and get better each and every year. This should be another exciting year for Bluestem Lions baseball!”

ELLIS played a high number of freshmen in key roles after a significant senior class graduated from the second place team. Talon Torline (.234 average) and Thomas Shepard (.311) are the only two seniors back who saw significant playing time. Junior Carter Bollig batted .465 with a 4-1 record and 4.42 ERA. Junior Brian Carbajal hit. 341 with 15 RBI. Tegan Cain led the talented freshman class.

Cain hit .444 with 26 RBI, along with a 4-1 mark and 43 strikeouts on the mound. Konnor Pfeifer batted .278, and Trace Patee hit .268.

Zach Schiel and Austin McGuire were contrib-

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“Our younger players got some valuable experience last year and I think that will help towards our success this year,” coach Cain said.

“We also have some new faces that I expect to step in and help out right away.”

OXFORD went 17-6 under eighth-year coach Kyle Green (92-61). The Wildcats return just two starters, both juniors second base/pitcher Hunter Norland, and junior pitcher/outfielder Andrew Hills.

“We lost a very talented and deep senior class to graduation,” Green said. “The 2017, and 2018 classes were two of the most talented to come through here - four straight regional finals, two trips to the 2-1A state tournament.

Our numbers as a whole will be down this year. We have 12 boys out, and this is what I would call a rebuilding year with only two starters returning. We have some good baseball classes coming, but they’re in junior high and below right now. The kids we do have back are great young men who will work their tails off this year.”

BENNINGTON went 12-9 last year but graduated Sports in Kansas honorable mention all-state players Devin Feil (.509 BA, 28 H, 14 RBI, 30 R, 6 2B, 2 3B, 1 HR) and Dylan Fry (.432, 32H, 17 RBI, 26 R, 7 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR).

Senior Layne Wilton is back for his final season after hitting .333 with 18 hits, 18 RBI and 25 runs scored while junior Tyler Stanley hit .292 with 19 hits, 15 RBI and 23 runs scored.

FLINTHILLS was 12-10, brings back the entire team and graduated just one senior over the last two seasons. Junior Jack Donner led the team with a .526 average, and junior Cody McNeil batted .443. Senior Dylan Steinhauer went 7-2 with a 3.23 ERA on the mound.

“If we can stay healthy we should be decent,” coach Erik Sorum said.

SYRACUSE was 11-11 and returns six players, led by outfielder Evan Westeman, the lone senior returning starter back.

“We have a young team with very limited pitching experience,” coach Dustin Doze said.

“Our development in our pitching staff will dictate whether we win games or not.”

WABAUNSEE returns their top hitter from a team that went 8-14. Logan Brown is back for his senior year after he hit .516 with 33 hits including nine doubles, six triples and a homer and drove in 33 runs. He earned second team 2-1A all-state honors from Sports in Kansas for

his efforts.

Junior Jackson Frank earned honorable mention after he hit .351 with 13 hits and 9 RBI in 17 games while also posting a 2-2 record from the mound with 21 strikeouts.

NORTHERN HEIGHTS went 6-16 and OLATHE-HERITAGE CHRISTIAN finished 6-14. For NH, senior Marcus Waters hit .403, and junior utility Tee Preisner batted .482. HC returns two seniors in key roles: catcher Austin Hamm and pitcher/third baseman Isaac Burrell.

REPUBLIC COUNTY welcomes new coach Faron Kraft for the first year of the program.

“With this being our inaugural year of baseball at Republic County there are a lot of uncertains,” Kraft said. “But with that there is a lot of excitement. We will be very young with the majority of our team being freshman and sophomores. Our main goal this season is to show steady improvement as season goes and put ourselves in a position to compete in the playoffs.”

COLONY-CREST was 3-18 in the initial spring for coach Roland Weir.

Senior Hayden Hermreck was a first team allleague first baseman. Senior Jacob Hollerman is the top returning pitcher.

Sophomores Stratton McGhee and Kobey Miller round out the top-three pitchers from last season. Seniors Bryce Atzbach and Ryan Culler, junior Evan Bain and sophomore Tyson Hermreck are also back.

LINCOLN-SYLVAN-LUCAS returns five players with starting experience for a team that went 5-16 last season. Lincoln seniors Drew Biggs, Connor O’Hare and Hunter Meier are joined by Sylvan-Lucas senior Cade Uhl and Lincoln junior Zach Obermueller to provide the Leopards a good group of experienced players. Biggs, O’Hare and Uhl return with a number of innings from the mound giving the Leopards three quality pitching options.

ATCHISON COUNTY finished 0-19 in the first season under Paul Courter and returns two seniors: catcher/pitcher Levi Navinskey and outfielder Vernon Siard.

Other 2-1A returners who earned either second team all-state or honorable mention from SIK include ROSSVILLE senior Cody Dyche (in 3A last year), CEDAR VALE-DEXTER junior Devin Caitlin and CHASE COUNTY senior Hunter Groh.

Kansas Pregame Spring Sports Preview, Volume 1 Quinton Hall (Sr, P) and Isaac Ammann (Jr., OF).

The BLUE VALLEY Tigers won the 6A state title with pitching, allowing just two runs in three games. One of 6A’s top pitchers returns in senior Jay Long, a member of the Kansas Select 2019 team last summer. BLUE VALLEY NORTHWEST, last year’s runner-up, returns second-team all-state selection Sean Roseborough.

Big things are expected from the LIBERAL Redskins, who move up from Class 5A. The two-time defending WAC champions were 16-6 last year and return starters at every position, including the mound.

Key returnees include WAC Player of the Year, senior catcher Francisco Terrazas, who threw out 14 of 26 runners trying to steal. He also batted .339 with 20 RBI at the plate. Junior Braxton Hyde returns on the mound after an 8-1 year with a 0.62 ERA and HM all-state honors. He also hit .333 and scored 19 runs.

Senior shortstop Cesar Burciaga also returns after hitting .431 with 25 RBI and 26 runs scored. He was first-team All-WAC. Junior second baseman Elijah McCarter (.348, 16 RBI, 27 R) and center fielder Syris Dunlap (.346, 18 SB) also return after earning second-team All-WAC honors.

Also back for the Redskins are seniors Alex Yanez (OF-3B-P), Brodie Warren (3B-1B-P), Daylan Thompson (OF), Ethan Green (OF) and Javier Bojorquez (P-1B-3B).

GARDNER-EDGERTON will look to improve on last year’s 11-10 record with six players returning - Corbin Schrack (SS), Hayden Dyer (3B), Gage Gulley (C), Davyn Johnson (OF), Colten Cassida (OF) and Logan Anderson (1B).

“We have a good nucleus of players returning with varsity experience,” head coach Corey Schrack said. “We will rely on young pitchers to get it done at the varsity level.”

OLATHE EAST has a new coach in Blake Iles, who will be counting on sophomore outfielder-pitcher Grant Strong for a big season.

“We don’t have a lot of varsity experience, but we have some guys who are ready to compete,” he said. “It’s a close group of guys who have had some success playing together.”

OLATHE WEST returns its entire team for veteran coach Rick Sabath. The Owls were 10-12 in their first-ever season in 2018.

One of those returning is sophomore third baseman Ryan Sauter, who was honorable mention all-state in 5A last year.

WICHITA EAST was 10-11 a year ago, but the Blue Aces are looking for better things this spring. Casey Steward batted .424 with 24 runs batted in; Sam Loerke hit .339 and scored 27 runs; and Matt Graber batted .345.

“We have a good core of returning players, most of which have been playing varsity for two or three years,” head coach Rick Bensch said. “I don’t see why we shouldn’t compete at the top of our league (GWAL) and hope to host a regional.”

WICHITA NORTH and WICHITA SOUTH will both be looking to move up the GWAL ladder this spring.

North was 5-16 a year ago and will look to seniors Tayton Jenkins (OF) and Kevin Ramos (INF) and junior Connor Chamberlain

Youth Movement continued from page 24 to squeak onto one of the eight podium spots.

“I just knew that if I’d do what I could do, that nobody would get mad at me. If I didn’t get on the podium it wouldn’t be a big deal, it would just make me work harder.”

This season she’ll see some new competition because of the drop to 1A. She enters with the top marks in the division in both the 1,600 and 3,200 and resides among the top 35 among all Kansas classes.

If nothing else, Vath’s coach is confident his distance standout will put in the necessary work to improve. She’s rarely the smoothest runner in a race, that’s not her style.

She’s a grinder.

“I remember the quote from (Steve) Prefontaine,” Steve Crist, Lincoln’s veteran coach, said. “He said, ‘I don’t run to win, I run to see who has the most guts’. That’s kind of the

Page 32 (1B) for leadership on and off the field.

“My hope is that we make a jump this year based on who we have returning and young players who are ready to step up,” head coach Randy Griffitts said.

South was 1-19 with a very young team (only three seniors on roster). The Titans have several players who gained valuable experience last year - seniors Santos Limon (P-C-3B), Tyler Anton (P-2B-LF). Payton Collins (3B-CF) and Austin Mullen (OF); juniors Spencer Reynolds (P-1B) and Zack Trenkamp (INF-OF) and sophomores Joel Townsley (P-INF) and Santiago Limon (INF-P-C).

KANSAS CITY-WYANDOTTE could make a big jump in the win column this season. The Bulldogs will have a senior-dominated team this spring with several players returning from a 3-14 squad who started for at least two seasons.

Those returning for Wyandotte include seniors Jose Castro (OF), Tony Chananikorn (OF), Antonio Lopez (2B-P), Jayro Silvan (3B), Charles Thomas (OF-P) and Fernando Villegas (1B-P), plus juniors Rashad Graves (OF-P) and David Rios (SS-P).

One of the top pitchers in 6A will be JUNCTION CITY’s Thane McDaniel, who earned first-team all-state honors as a junior last season. MANHATTAN features two players who were on Kansas Select teams last summer - infielder Zac Cox (2019 team) and Dayne Aschenbrenner (2020-2021 team). WASHBURN RURAL also has two players on those teams - catcher-first basemen Payton Smith (2019 team) and Brady Patterson (2020-2021 team).

LEAVENWORTH’s Ja’Hawn Byrd was a second-team all-state pick last year as a sophomore outfielder.

GARDEN CITY went 5-16 last year and will count on top returner Cooper Thayer to help the Buffs improve this season.

5A Baseball continued from page 26

tough 4-3 loss to KC Piper in nine innings last year, but the Bobcats return eight starters from that 10-11 team - seniors Jackson Jennings (P-OF, .344 BA, 21 H), Matthew McKnight (P-OF, .321 BA, .344 ERA) and Colby Kimberlin (2B); juniors Chase Torkelson (P-C, .358 BA, 50.1 IP, 2.36 ERA), Mason Capper (P-C-1B, 17 H), Hardy Bergman (INF-OF, 17 H) and Wyatt Wagner (P-INF, .323, 20 H, 3.50 ERA) and sophomore Chandler Miller (P-OF, .361 BA, 26 H, 25 R).

“This is a close group that has already played a lot of baseball together and wants to achieve more,” said coach Andrew See. The EMPORIA Spartans will be looking to improve on last year’s 10-12 record, with eighth players with starting experience back, including seniors Hayden Baumwart (IF-OF-P-C, .284 BA, 4-2, 3.34 ERA) and Jace Stewart (IF-OF, .387 BA, 16 RBI).

The Spartans also return a talented junior class that received valuable experience last year as sophomores. Cade Kohlmeier (OF-P, 2-1, 2.37 ERA) was a member of the Kansas Select 20202021 team. Also back are Beau Baumgardner (OF-C, .318 BA, .977 FP), John Miller (OF, .295), Skyler Beatty (P-IF-OF-C), Skyler Douglas (IF-P, .316 BA) and Riley Wagner (IF-P, .306).

“I am excited to see the growth in our team,” head coach Andy Markowitz said. “We were three outs away from a regional championship, and this team is eager to get back and produce a different outcome.”

KAPAUN MT. CARMEL was 9-12 last season. Four starters return - seniors Braden Barr (P-OF) and Michael Phillips (1B-C), junior Jackson Bezdek (2B) and sophomore Tiger Jones (SS).

“The key to the season will be developing chemistry and trust,” coach Ryan Burr said.

“There is talent, much of it young, but potential depends on how the team comes together.”

LANSING is expected to be much improved from last year’s Basehor-Linwood, Junior 8-13 record. Nine play-

ers with starting experience return, including five seniors who earned postseason honors in ‘18 - Daktoa Sill (OF, .419 BA) and Caleb Adams (OF-P, .328 BA) on the first team and Claye Howard (2B, .356 BA), Payton Basler (SS-P, .297 BA) and Derrick Williamson (P, 4-5, 1.76 ERA) on the second team.

“This will be the most experienced team we have had with 10 seniors and our entire pitching staff back from a year ago that is deeper and stronger,” head coach Michael Basler said. “This team has the most talent of any I’ve coached at Lansing and could have a chance to get to Wichita for the Class 5A state tourney.”

EISENHOWER will look to improve on last year’s 5-15 mark with four starters returning for coach Cary Dinkel - Wade Reynolds (3B), Collin Macke (OF), Chance Omli (OF) and Andrew Wisner (C). Reynolds was honrable mention all-state last year.

HIGHLAND PARK first-year coach Rob Brown will be counting on three returning seniors to lead the Scots this season - Malachi Stepp (OF-P), Kenny Hartzell (C-3B) and Zavier Austin (3B-OF).

“This year’s team will be about finding nine guys who can connect on the field to make some good things happen,” Brown said.

“We have some experience back that will be able to lead on and off the field the right way. Hopefully a few athletes we have out will allow us to play fast fun baseball.”

Junior outfielder Tyler Gates returns for WICHITA NORTHWEST. Gates was named 6A all-state last year and was a member of the Kansas Select 2020-2021 team last summer.

SALINA CENTRAL graduated several key players from last year’s 14-7 team including co-AVCTL I MVP Ethan Kickhaefer who was 6-0 on the mound with 44 strikeouts and also hit .351.

Seniors Ben Driver and Brogen Richardson will lead the Mustangs this season. Richardson hit .375 with 27 hits last year, including 11 for extra bases, while Driver batted .328 with 21 hits and 20 runs scored.

SALINA SOUTH posted a .500 record last year with a roster that featured eight seniors but the Cougars do return three of their top four hit producers and four of their top six RBI producers from last year’s squad. The Cougars also return their top pithcer in senior Cole Wassenberg who was 4-2 last year with a 3.80 ERA and 34 strikeouts with 19 walks.

way Jaycee runs. She’s going to go out and push the pace and if you outlast her then great, but you’re going to have to work to outlast her.”

She says she won’t spend much time figuring out who’s who in 1A, but admits she’s “a little nervous” about the class switch. Still, it really won’t affect her race style.

“I like setting time goals,” she said. “If I’m running my hardest and somebody else is running their hardest and they beat me there is nothing I can do. If I reach my time, I’ll be proud of myself.”

Crist has watched Vath quickly develop into a high schooler who has her sights set on school records set by former standout Jenna Farris, who ran 5:16.88 in the 1,600 and 11:37.01 in the 3,200.

“She is so competitive,” he said. “She is a kid that just likes to compete. It’s one of those situations where you don’t know

if she really knows how good she can be.

“I don’t think beating Jenna’s records was something Jaycee ever thought was a possibility until after last season.

And we had a meeting the other day and that’s what she put down on her goal cards.”

Crist thinks he can put together state-caliber type 4x800 and 4x400 relays built around Vath and senior teammate Aubry Donley, a state champion last year in the 400 and 800.

If those don’t come to fruition, he wouldn’t be against Vath taking a shot at the 800.

“I think it would be an awfully good race for her,” Crist said, “simply because she is so competitive. If she decided to do it, she would be all in. I just think it scares her a bit because it is run right close to the 3,200 and she doesn’t want to affect that.”

Huey Counts

Courtesy Photo

6A Baseball continued from page 25

Chase Torkelson

Kansas Pregame Spring Sports Preview, Volume 1

By Conor Nicholl, For Kansas Pregame In ’17, Derby lost to Olathe South in the first As normal, the 6A state tournament was domi- round of state. In ’16, Derby fell to Olathe East nated by the eastern side of the state. Lawrence in the first round. In ’15, the Panthers lost to Free State, Washburn Rural, Olathe Northwest Olathe Northwest in the first round of state. In and Olathe North were the four semifinalists. ’14, the Panthers fell to Olathe East at state. In Free State defeated Rural in one semifinal, and ’13, Derby defeated Lawrence Free State in the NW beat North. Free State bested NW, 8-3, in first round and eventually finished fourth. the championship and went 17-7 for the state Six starters return including senior catcher title. Free State was the rare eight seed that won Tatum Haney (.397, 15 RBI), senior SS Madi state. Rural beat North for third place.

Young (.494, 1 HR, 30 RBI, 26 SB), and junior FREE STATE won its first-ever softball title be- left fielder Mariah Wheeler (.487, 3 HR, 30 RBI). hind sophomore Tatum Clopton and senior Sara Senior center fielder Courtney Cline hit .364 Roszak, both shared State Tournament Most with 24 runs scored and 14 steals. Sophomore Outstanding Player honors by Sports in Kansas. pitcher Paige Paxton went 6-1 with a 1.53 ERA Coach Lee Ice was 6A SIK Coach of the Year. and a save. Sophomore designated player AmIt marked the first state softball title for the city ber Howe hit .581 with two homers and 15 RBI. of Lawrence since Lawrence High won in 1977.

“We are returning a strong core of veteran playThe last team west of Topeka to win a 6A soft- ers and looking to reload some key positions,” ball title was Maize in 2010, the only one since Weve said. “We are going to compete for the Wichita Northwest in 1999. league title along with looking to improve upon DERBY has consistently been to the state tour- our state appearance from last year.” nament with longtime coach Christy Weve. The WASHBURN RURAL returns standout junior Panthers went 20-3 and Weve is 232-102 enter- pitcher Kasey Hamilton and sophomore infielder ing her 16th year with Derby. Last year, Derby Olivia Bruno. Both were first team all-state Class lost to Olathe NW, 6-4, in the first round at state.

5A Softball Photo by Dan Loving

with 16 stolen bases and 50 runs scored. Junior pitcher/outfielder Jaycee Ginter hit .345 with three homers and 18 RBI, and went 9-0 with a 1.51 ERA in the circle.

Junior third baseman Aniya Holt batted .559 with eight homers, 40 RBI and 37 runs scored.

At state, Holt finished 10 of 11 with two homers and nine RBI. Senior Paige Petefish went 14-0 with a 1.00 ERA. Senior catcher/second baseman Sydney Wellshear batted .397 with six homers and 32 RBI with 32 runs scored. Petefish and Fischer have both signed with Central Missouri. Petefish was Sports in Kansas Class 5A Pitcher of the Maize, Junior Year with 106 strikeouts in 70 innings.

SH had six first team all-state selections by the Kansas coaches. Among returners, Petefish, Fischer, Holt, Ginter were all first team all-state picks.

At state, Shawnee Heights beat Maize South, 13-3, in the first round, then 6-3 against Mill Valley in the semifinals and 11-0 versus Carroll in the championship. Against Maize South, SH hit five home runs.

“We lost three starters from last year’s team, so we have some holes to fill,” Griffith said. “Our goal is to get better everyday.”

BISHOP CARROLL went 22-3 and finished as Hays, Senior state runner-up to Shawnee Heights with Topeka Seaman beating Mill Valley for third. BC coach

By Conor Nicholl, For Kansas Pregame SHAWNEE HEIGHTS has gone 25-0 back- Steve Harshberger is 115-6 in his sixth year with to-back years, won its second straight Class 5A the Golden Eagles and 21st overall. Carroll won state title and is loaded for another run. SH has five state titles from ’11-’15 and 13 overall.

The Golden Eagles have a host of returners won 50 straight games, the longest current winwith senior pitcher/first baseman Kaylin Watkins, ning streak in Kansas softball.

The T-Birds have earned national preseason senior shortstop Izzy Marcotte, senior centerattention under second-year coach Tara Griffith fielder Hadley Kerschen, senior third baseman and are ranked fifth in the country by USA Today. Ally Vonfeldt, junior pitcher Reagan Smith, junior SH returns six acclaimed players, including five second baseman Kennedee Lara, sophomore seniors. Griffith stepped in and replaced coach second baseman Gabby Eck, and sophomore Steve Giddens. She served as an assistant for right fielder Bryant Peppard.

MAIZE SOUTH graduated just three players off 15 years at Washburn Rural and one season at Washburn University. Overall, SH batted .452 a 13-10 team and brings back Lauren Johnson, who has signed with Wichita State. and allowed just 21 earned runs.

MAIZE’s Jenny Meirowsky is one of the top Senior outfielder Lexi Coulter batted .321 with 19 runs scored. Senior shortstop Abbey Fischer softball coaches in the Wichita area and has hit .494 with three homers and 34 RBI, along coached multiple Division I players. She is in her

Page 33

6A by the Kansas coaches.

GARDEN CITY took third place in 6A two seasons ago and was the only non-Olathe team to win a game at state in a season where ONW beat OE for the title. That spring, Garden City went 19-6 for the best state finish in program history. Last year, GC finished 15-6.

Coach Trina Moquett is 101-33 with the Buffaloes and is 179-78 overall. Junior pitcher/middle infielder Yazmin Vargas is a two-time second team all-state selection. She batted .579 with two homers, 10 triples, eight doubles, 31 RBI, 17 steals and 37 runs scored. Overall, she was 5-1 with a 2.75 ERA in the circle.

Senior pitcher/outfielder Hailey Dart hit .439 with a homer, five doubles, 11 steals, 27 runs scored and a 10-5 record with a 1.79 ERA. Senior first baseman Taylor Terpstra batted .350 with six steals and 16 runs scored. Senior catcher Erykah Foster batted .356 with six doubles, 21 RBI and 23 runs scored.

Senior middle infielder Lauren Koster hit .400 with eight steals. Senior middle infielder/outfielder Ryleigh Whitehurst batted .326 with three steals and three runs scored. Senior outfielder Raegan Nordby batted .353 with 13 doubles.

Dart and Terpstra were both honorable mention all-state by the Kansas coaches.

“This year’s team has six seniors who have been to two state tournaments, and were contributors to our highest finish in school history,” Moquett said. “We have a good mix or experience and young talent to be highly competitive and get back to the state tournament.”

LIBERAL went 8-12 last year and has firstyear coach Tom McClure. Overall, he is entering

6A Softball

his third year as a coach and stands at 17-21. He came over from Hugoton.

Senior pitcher/utility Meaghan McClure batted .386 with one homer, 19 RBI and 14 steals. She went 14-6 with a 3.98 ERA and 141 strikeouts to earn first team all-conference in the GWAC with Hugoton. Sophomore catcher Millyzient McClure batted .489 with four homers, 16 RBI and 38 steals and earned honorable mention GWAC at Hugoton. Sophomore Nohemi Gomez was also honorable mention all-league. Sophomore shortstop Eyleen Vasquez batted .278, and junior catcher/first baseman Lacie Lanning hit .296. Senior pitcher/second baseman Kaeleah Chaloupek was a key contributor.

“Moving in, I already knew this team had some good talent,” McClure said. “Adding Meaghan and Milly to go along with Kaeleah and the rest of the lineup, could make for a really good season.

We will have to get everyone to buy in and go outplay the talent. WAC has some good teams and some hidden gems of talent, but if we can score some wins then I think this team could flip the switch. Having two good pitchers who have started since freshman year helps, and with a roster filled with speed and athleticism.”

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Kansas Pregame Spring Sports Preview, Volume 1 “Will be a fun turnover this season with lots of talent heading into 2019,” Burnett said.

ANDALE-GARDEN PLAIN has lost in the

By Conor Nicholl, For Kansas Pregame first round of the state tournament the last two In last year’s regional, BALDWIN was the third seasons, went 18-5 last year and is 35-11 in the seed and beat No. 2 seed Osawatomie and No. first two seasons under coach Chuck Schrader.

1 Santa Fe Trail. Baldwin drew the No. 6 seed in Overall, he has an 184-75 record in 13 years. the 4A-II state tournament and won the chamSenior outfielder Macie Eck is one of the state’s pionship. The Bulldogs won three close games. top players and has signed with Notre Dame.

Baldwin defeated Burlington, 12-7, in eight Eck hit over .500 with four homers last spring innings in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, and was first team all-state in Class 4A, Division I Baldwin defeated Girard, 6-5, and beat Galena, by the Kansas coaches and earned league MVP. 12-10, in the finals. Baldwin finished 18-7 moving Junior shortstop Madison Grimes hit .380 with coach Chad Scoby to 71-58 overall. a .467 on-base percentage with 21 runs scored, Senior outfielder Audrey Flowers hit .571 with 18 RBIs and 18 stolen bases. Junior catcher two HRs and 34 RBIs. Senior pitcher/DH Kayla Abby Gordon, a standout in volleyball and basKurtz batted .316 with an 8-4 record and 3.41 ketball for Garden Plain’s 2A state winning volERA. Junior pitcher Shelby Jones went 7-3 with leyball and basketball teams this year, hit .423 a 5.55 earned-run average. Sophomore catcher/ with six homers and 30 RBIs. shortstop Emma Grossoehme batted .410 with Junior Rachel Choate went 11-3 with a 2.88 one homer and 22 RBI with 13 stolen bases.

ERA with 81 strikeouts. Sophomore second INDEPENDENCE earned 4A-I runner-up after baseman Kyla Eck batted .440 with a .542 ona 5-4 finals loss in eight innings to Andover Cen- base percentage with 30 runs, 26 stolen bases tral. The Bulldogs’ lone loss of the year in a 24-1 and 21 RBIs. season. Third-year coach Danny Burnett is 45-3 “We will be replacing five senior starters,” in two years. Senior pitcher/second baseman Schrader said. “We will build around two-time Morgan Mavers, senior third baseman Tayler all-state selection Macie Eck, who returns along Howland, senior first baseman Sydney Rinck, with four other all league players.” senior catcher/outfielder Katy Chapman, and MULVANE went 8-13 in the first year under junior outfielder Laney Wood are back.

Jesse Kollmeyer. Overall, he is 31-30 in three years. Senior shortstop/pitcher Addison Seier Full Service Financial Institution batted .409 with one homer, a 3-2 record and 3.50 earned-run average. Junior utilityman KayUlysses dran Russell batted .452. Sophomore infielder 112 E. Grant 1.800.825.7661 Brooklyn Payne hit .313. gpcu.org AUGUSTA has won state titles in 2000, ’06, ’14-15. Last year, the Orioles went 20-2 in the Member NCUA

4A Softball

5A Softball continued from page 33 14th year with a record of 236-60. Last season, Maize went 17-4 and was regional runner-up.

Maize returns just two players, both juniors, with centerfielder Sophia Buzard and infielder McKensy Glass. Maize will again host the Class 5A state tournament this year.

“After graduating seven starters last season, we will be rebuilding this year,” Meirowsky said.

“But I have many girls that are excited about filling big shoes.”

BASEHOR-LINWOOD went 8-13 for coach Susan Mayberry. She enters her 22nd year of coaching with B-L and has a record of 315-152.

Overall, she is in her 28th year of coaching.

“Right now we are looking for genuine leadership,” Mayberry said. “We have some players. It will be a matter of them stepping up and being consistent. Building the team up instead of tearing the team apart.”

DESOTO went 3-18 with coach Junelle Woolery. She has been with the softball team for 13 years, eight as head coach and five as an assistant. Junior Jordan Diehl is back after she batted .275 with 10 steals. Sophomore second/third baseman Avery Karlin hit .323. Junior Morgan Wickizer hit .250.

“We are young, but have a positive outlook coming into the season,” Woolery said. “Our goal is to respect the game of softball by giving our best every night we step on the diamond.”

HAYS HIGH bumped back up to Class 5A after several years in Class 4A-I. Last year, HHS went 11-11 and lost to Abilene in the regional final. The

Indians return all their top players.

Kaitlyn Brown and Reanna Harman were first team all-WAC selections in 2018. Brown batted .479, and Harman hit .400. Brown was a second team all-state selection by Sports in Kansas.

HHS had three second team all-league picks in Madelyn Waddell, Mackenzie Fagan and Jaysa Wichers, who was the team’s top pitcher and has signed to play volleyball with Coffeyville Community College. Waddell batted .373, Wichers hit .356 and Fagan carried a .338 average.

For coach Erin Wagner, this year’s squad has four seniors: Wichers, Brown, Fagan and Brittani Park. Waddell and Harman are juniors, part of a five-member class that also has Cassidy Prough, Ainsley Fagan, and Macee Altman. In the regional final, Brown finished with three hits, and Wichers delivered two.

ST. THOMAS AQUINAS has first year coach Mila Ellsworth and returns six key players. Junior Sydney Taylor batted .296, junior Easton Head hit .390, sophomore Madison Byerley hit .344, sophomore Stevie Meade batted .324. Junior Lexi Fender was at .267, and junior Kari Holzrichter hit .418.

“We have a young team,” Ellsworth said. “We are looking forward to seeing these girls play together as a team.”

GREAT BEND went 8-13 in 2018 and return two first team all-WAC players with junior outfielder Aleah Urban and junior infielder Shailey Clark. Senior catcher Kaylee Unruh returns after second team honors. GB graduated Olivia Urban and Baylee Beck, both second team all-WAC.

Page 34 first year with coach Jamie VanDever and was regional runner-up. The Orioles return first team senior pitcher Gracie Johnston, a Missouri State signing, the first Division I signing in school softball history. Johnston went 10-2, was first team all-league, first team all-metro, second team allstate and league MVP. Johnston had four shutouts in 10 starts, including a perfect game against McPherson and an 18-strikeout performance. Senior third baseman Kourtney Divine batted .434 and was a first team all-league and second team all-state.

Senior center fielder Bailey Pennycuff was a first team all-league pick with a .443 average.

Junior catcher Sophie Johnston batted .391 with a first team all-league nod. Sophomore shortstop Jadyn Jackson batted .439 and was first team all-league and second team all-state. Morgan Pennycuff, a pitcher/outfielder, went 10-0 and batted .475 with a first team all-league selection.

TOPEKA HAYDEN finished 8-13 and has coach Carvel Reynoldson in his second year with the program. Overall, he has a 56-44 record.

Junior catcher Sydney Hillmer batted .313 with two HRs and 22 RBI. Sophomore first baseman Lauren Vanderslice returns, along with junior second baseman Rosie Anguiano (.393 BA).

Senior shortstop Victoria Gutierrez hit .293 with seven RBI. Junior third baseman Bailey Thompson is also back. Sophomore left fielder Lauren Cook hit .349, while sophomore utility player Nevaeh Banks batted .382.

CIRCLE enjoyed a nice season with a 14-7 mark for coach Jean Gibbs, who is 101-225 entering her 13th year with the program.

Senior third baseman Hunter Dreifort hit .426 with 26 hits. Junior shortstop Devin Ingrim hit

.281 with 13 RBI. Senior second baseman Jessie Nibarger hit .295 with 27 runs scored. Senior catcher/first baseman Jordan Hammer batted .356 with 17 RBI. Junior outfielder Cheyenne Collins carried a .345 average with 29 runs.

CLEARWATER went 7-11 and third-year coach Tyler Hampton is 11-31. Sophomore shortstop Ireland Cotton batted .310 with 10 RBI. Junior first baseman Madison Simoneau batted .446 with a homer and 24 RBI. Sophomore outfielder Briona Woods batted .444 with four HRs and 25 RBI with 28 runs scored. Sophomore utility Emma Willis hit .443 with a HR and 20 RBI. Sophomore catcher Makenzie Haslett hit .343 with four HRs and 24 RBI. Sophomore Macie McCray is back in the circle.

IOLA finished 6-15 and coach Chris Wiede is 25-37 in his fourth year. Junior outfielder Nissa Fountain batted .491 with two homers and 18 RBI. Senior first baseman Paige Burrough batted .371. Junior shortstop/outfield Kelsey Morrison averaged .339 with one homer and 17 RBI. Sophomore outfielder/shortstop Becca Sprague, sophomore catcher Lauryn Holloway, junior second baseman/outfielder Sadrie Overall, junior outfielder Gabby Richard and pitcher Jenna Miller (4-2, 3.59 ERA) are also back.

Six starters return for WELLINGTON led by senior Division I softball commits Jacelyn Buck, who hit .457 with four HR and 18 RBI, and Brooke McCorkle who hit .522, with two HR and 31 RBI. Rylee Rusk batted .410 with four HR and 24 RBI with 29 runs scored. Delaney Parkey batted .348, McKenna Jones hit .333, and Lexi Clift hit .383.

ULYSSES returns all-league infielder Gina Ballesteros, also the GC Telegram basketball POY.

By Conor Nicholl, For Kansas Pregame SILVER LAKE headlines Class 3A after a 23-3 record and a state title. Longtime successful coach Mark Workman retired, and Nick Hamilton, in his seventh season at the school, takes over as head coach. The Eagles have won 13 state titles. Silver Lake has senior first baseman Hallie Hay, senior pitcher/center fielder Abby Pressgrove, junior catcher Daryn Lamprecht, junior pitcher/center fielder Lexi Cobb, and sophomore left fielder Ellie Hogle.

Cobb and Lamprecht shared Class 3A Player of the Year, and Pressgrove was 3A Pitcher of the Year, according to Sports in Kansas. Cobb has committed to Lamar (Tex.) University, and Lamprecht with University of Northern Iowa, both Division I schools. Last year, Lamprecht set the school mark for individual single season homers with 16, and SL also bettered the single season team record for homers. Silver Lake beat Oskaloosa, 8-2, in the championship game.

Hay signed with Johnson County Community College after a .553 average, and Hogle led the team with a .602 average as six of the top-seven hitters are back. Pressgrove has signed with Benedictine. All five players were first team allstate by Sports in Kansas.

“After finishing strong last season, the team is looking to pick up where they left off,” Hamilton said. “Returning the top five in the batting lineup will help and adding several girls who played

several varsity innings will add some depth to the lineup. Senior Brooke Lindstrom and Juniors Taylor Burkhardt and Amber Martinek will help fill spots left open by last year’s seniors.”

Silver Lake is again the state favorite, but several solid programs move down from bigger classes. Galena, Holton, Kingman, Smoky Valley and Santa Fe Trail were previously in 4A, Division II. GALENA made an upset-filled run to the 4A-II state title contest last spring and became the first girls’ team in school history in any sport to win a game at a state tournament.

HAVEN was the top seed entering the 3A state tournament last year under Darin Ashworth, one of the state’s most successful softball coaches.

Ashworth paced the Wildcats to a 24-2 mark and third-place finish. Osage City finished fourth.

Ashworth, who also won a baseball title with Elkhart in 2002, has a 187-58 record in 12 seasons with Haven. The Wildcats were runner-up in 4A-II in ’16 and ’17, and lost to Silver Lake in the first round of the state in ’14 and ’15.

Haven brings back senior first baseman/ pitcher Abby Hartung, senior left fielder Sierra Nisly, junior catcher Kaylie Kincaid, junior center fielder Kylie Hefling, sophomore pitcher/infielder Brooke Brawner and sophomore pitcher/infielder Maguire Estill, who was first team all-state 3A by the state coaches. She posted an 18-1 record and 1.21 ERA. Hefling and Brawner combined for 81 runs scored, while Estill drove in 61 RBI and Kincaid had 33 RBI. Estill finished with five homers and 17 doubles.

“Hartung and Nisly give the middle of the order some veteran leadership,” Ashworth said.

3A Softball

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Page 35 day lineup.”

SCOTT CITY finished 15-3 under fifth-year coach Erin Myers (52-27 record). Six returners are back, headlined by senior catcher/second baseman Aspyn Nix (.368 BA). Junior outfielder Shelby Patton hit .306, and junior third baseman/ designated hitter Gabby Martinez hit .398 Junior pitcher/first baseman Lyndi Rumford batted .400.

Junior outfielder Amanda Lara hit .395, and Kailtyn Wolkensdofer batted .456.

“We lost a few good sticks from the line up from last year and our #1 pitcher,” Myers said. “However, this team is up for the challenge to defend our GWAC title.”

SMOKY VALLEY went 13-10 and also qualified for the 4A-II state tournament. Coach Chris McClure is 206-194 in 20 years. Junior outfielder/pitcher Lauren Barnes is back along with five seniors: first baseman Addison Haiden, second baseman Lana Clark, shortstop Kira Haxton and third baseman Emmie Ryals, and left fielder Lindsey Gerlach.

“We return a lot of experience, especially on the infield,” McClure said. “We will need to develop a second pitcher and have players fill the spots open due to graduation.”

New ST. MARYS head coach Bob Quintanilla welcomes back a number of key pieces from last year’s 13-9 team including first team Sports in Kansas 3A all-stater Josie Harrison who hit .462 with 36 hits, 31 RBI and three homers. Harrison was also the team’s top pitcher going 12-8 in the circle with 2.69 ERA and 106 strikeouts.

She is joined by fellow senior Peyton Hurla who earned honorable mention all-state after hitting .357 with 25 hits and 24 runs scored. In all, the Bears return their top eight batting averages from last season.

LYONS coach Marlin Clark has multiple state tournament showings with the Lions and is 182155 in 15 years, including a 13-9 mark in ‘18.

Five starters return: senior pitcher Logan Griffit, senior catcher Ashley Fierro, junior outfielder Daci Stover, sophomore second baseman Emily Robl and sophomore outfielder Brianna Russell.

“Our battery will be experienced, but will be inexperienced elsewhere,” Clark said. “We lost four seniors. Our sophomores will have to step it up a notch, and several freshman coming into the season will really have to work hard.”

BAXTER SPRINGS went 11-8 and fifth-year coach Tim Yeargin is 45-37 overall and 36-25 entering his fourth season with the Lions. Sophomore outfielder Kennedy Krokroskia, sophomore

Osage City, Senior

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Kansas Pregame Spring Sports Preview, Volume 1 SANTA FE TRAIL won just 17 games in the interesting. We would like another opportunity to first two years with Brenda Dahl and then went win a State title.”

16-6 last year and is 33-28 overall in her tenure.

KINGMAN lost to Holton in the first round of the Junior shortstop Marrit Mead has a .471 average 4A-II state tournament and finished 17-4. Thirdwith three homers, 22 RBI and 19 stolen bases year coach Ross Bruggeman is 34-9 with the and was second all-state 4A-II by the Kansas Eagles. Junior pitcher Carlie Kelley batted .405 coaches. Senior third baseman Kailey Cashier with two homers and 21 RBI with 32 runs scored. hit .425 with three homers and 26 RBI. Sopho- She went 10-3 with 4.00 ERA with 80.1 innings. more Addie Hinterweger hit .383 and went 5-4 in Sophomore pitcher/utility player Janelle Belt the circle. Sophomore second baseman Adalea went 6-0 with a 3.81 ERA. Senior catcher Bailey O’Flaherty also returns.

Taylor hit .479 with 29 RBIs. Senior first baseGALENA was the No. 8 seed in the 4A-II Di- man Brianne Garrison batted .439 with 27 RBI. vision II tournament last year and entered state Sophomore second baseman Alyson Knowith a 12-10 mark with coach Jacoby Martin, in blauch batted .286 with a homer with 17 runs his first year with the program. In the regional fi- scored. Sophomore shortstop/utility player Anna nal, Galena beat top-seeded Baxter Springs, 12- Livingston hit .382 with 17 runs. Senior third 0. The Bulldogs faced undefeated Clay Center in baseman Hayley Belt batted .286, senior outthe first round of state and won 6-0. fielder Macey Maloney hit .414 with 30 RBI and In the semifinals, Galena beat No. 5 seed 14 steals. Senior outfielder Alexa Smith batted Holton, 1-0. In the championship, the Bulldogs .426 with 31 RBI. Sophomore designated player/ lost, 12-10, to sixth-seeded Baldwin. Senior outfielder Paige Crouch hit .379. pitcher Madison Cox threw two shutouts in the “We return most of our production from last regionals and two at state for second team all- year and have a veteran team,” Bruggeman state honors by the coaches. said. “This senior class has five members who Galena returns Cox, senior outfielders Davin have started since their freshman or sophomore Downey and Jodie Howard, and sophomore in- year and the team broke through with a 4A-II fielder Riley McNemar.

State Tournament appearance for the first time “We are excited to get the season going and last year. We’re looking to continue getting better make another run deep into the postseason,” each day and to play our best softball at the end Martin said. of the season.”

HOLTON finished 19-6, and coach John OSAGE CITY took fourth in 3A with a 19-7 William Deitrich is 165-71 in 12 seasons with record. OC lost to Silver Lake in the semifinals.

Holton, and 404-162 in 29 years of coaching. Coach Tammy Serna is 240-157 in 18 years. OC The Wildcats have a number of returners. Senior returns virtually all of its starting lineup. Sophfirst baseman Lauryn Moore hit .300 with a HR. omore pitcher Hayden Serna batted .389 with Junior pitcher Jewel Lutz carried a .465 aver- a 16-6 record in 121.2 innings. Senior catcher age with seven homers, 18 extra base hits and Shana Bolyard batted .326. went 9-2 with 4.06 ERA with 46 strikeouts in the The entire infield returns with junior first basecircle. Junior catcher/shortstop Bailey Flewelling man Kate Heiserman (.290 average), second batted .506 with 27 extra base hits with seven baseman Lesile Hultgren (.308), senior shorthomers and a 1.036 slugging percentage. stop Aliks Serna (.477) and junior third baseman Junior outfielder Savanna Booth batted .329.

Jordan Sage (.243). Sophomore outfielder TayJunior third baseman Kinleigh Rhodd hit .359 lin Kirkpatrick batted .365, and junior outfielder with two homers. Junior outfielder Addie Degen- Taylor Lamb and senior outfielder Katie Farmer hardt hit .256 with two doubles. Sophomore sec- return. Sophomore designated hitter/utility player ond baseman Ally Beard batted .333 with eight Dani Kearns is back. extra base hits with 19 hits. Sophomore des“The coaching staff is excited for the 2019 ignated player/first baseman Abby Boeckman season, as we will be returning a majority of our batted .566 and two homers in just 19 at-bats. starting lineup from last year’s 3A state qualifySophomore outfielder/designated player Paige ing team,” Serna said. “We are fortunate to have Crouch hit .379. strong senior leadership returning and with the “Schedule might be the most challenging we incoming freshmen and newcomers joining our have played since I have been at Holton,” De- program, we will definitely see the competition itrich said. “New classifications will make things factor playing a part in determining our opening

Maguire Estill

Aliks Serna

Camryn Compton Riverton, Junior

infielder Allie Fry, junior pitcher Hannah Horn, senior infielder Olivia Roller, senior outfielder Abbey Underhill, and junior infielders Dalainy Anderson and Jenna Lawson return.

“We return numerous solid players to the starting lineup and add an intriguing freshman class,” Yeargin said. “I am excited to see how our overall athleticism plays out for the upcoming year.”

RIVERTON was the No. 8 seed in the 3A state tournament and lost in the first round to Haven and finished 14-10. Coach Brian Mitchell is 401continued on page 47

Spring

April 12, 2019

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2-1A Softball

Junior Makenzie Higgs carried a .451 mark with 17 extra base hits, including six homers.

Sophomore Audrey Tubach batted .375, senior Danae Reyer hit .341 and junior Madison Kinkaid

By Conor Nicholl, For Kansas Pregame ALMA-WABAUNSEE headlines Class 2-1A hit .286. Tubach was second team all-state with after a 20-6 season and state title. The Chargers a 13-6 mark, 3.09 earned-run average with a return all but one player, including its highly dec- 127/30 strikeout to walk ratio in 138.1 innings. orated foursome of seniors Abby Oliver (OF) and She threw all but 14.1 of the team’s innings.

BLUESTEM finished 20-6 and took third in Alyssa Lohmeyer (C), and juniors Autymn Sch2-1A with a semifinals loss to Wabaunsee. Mireiner (P) and Alexis Hafenstine (IF).

The quartet and senior first baseman Kinsey chelle Womacks enters her fifth season with a Stuewe are all returning first team all-state se- current record of 70-20. She helped the Lions lections by the Kansas Coaches and Sports in earn its first state berth in 2016. Bluestem gradKansas (SIK). Schreiner was the 2-1A Player of uated 2-1A Sports in Kansas Pitcher of the Year the Year by SIK, Oliver was state tournament Ashley Jurging, who signed with Allen County Community College.

Most Outstanding Player by SIK. She batted .547 with 17 extra base hits, includSchreiner, a pitcher/shortstop, hit .516 with 47 hits, with 29 for extra bases, with an 8-2 record ing six homers, with 29 RBI. Overall, she went and 3.08 earned-run average. Sophomore pitch- 10-4 and struck out 129 batters in 75 innings.

Senior shortstop Natalie Bevan, senior first er Jordan Magette was an excellent second opbaseman Paige Fisher, sophomore pitcher/intion in the circle with a 7-2 record.

Oliver batted .452 with 38 hits, half for ex- fielder Kyndall Clevenger, junior catcher Andrea tra base hits, with 38 RBI and 32 runs scored. Harlan, sophomore catcher/outfielder Delaney Stuewe hit .355 with 27 hits, 10 for extra bas- Beavers and sophomore outfielder Abbi Hill are es, with 20 RBI and 16 runs scored. Lohmeyer returning starters.

“We will be young again this season, however carried a .377 average with 29 hits, 18 for extra they have never disappointed me with their work bases, 19 RBI and eight runs scored.

Hafenstine, who is expected to play third, bat- ethic,” Womacks said. “We have some building ted .425 at the top of the order with 29 steals to do, but I’m sure they are up to the challenge.”

UDALL, with state titles in ’06 and ’11 and a and 36 runs scored. A-W only lost in league play, including twice to Silver Lake, the 3A champion. fourth-place showing last year with a 24-2 mark “High expectations after graduating only one under coach Jack Kistler, has long been a consenior from a state championship team,” coach sistent state power. Kistler is 385-50 with Udall Brian Henry, who is 173-205 in 18 seasons, and has coached the Eagles 19 seasons.

Udall returns three senior starters: shortstop said. “With the core coming back, they should expect to compete in the always tough Mid-East Madison Loos, senior first baseman Laurynn League. If everything comes together another Jones and senior third baseman Miranda Mercer. Junior second baseman Lizzy Tharp is back, trip to state tourney is not out of the question.”

COTTONWOOD FALLS-CHASE COUNTY along with sophomore Emma Enderud and has long been the 2-1A stalwart and finished as sophomore catcher Aubry Eilers.

“We have solid pitching and catching this year,” state runner-up last year. CC has won state in 2012-’15 and ’17. Chase County faces Wabaun- Kistler said. “We also have several girls in new see in the season opener this year. The Bulldogs positions this year, but we’re confident that they went 18-7 last year under longtime coach Brian can handle the job at hand.”

SOUTH HAVEN went 15-8 last season and is Potter and batted .386 as a team. The top-five 42-21 with fourth-year coach Twaila Wiley. SH and six of the top seven hitters are back.

Junior infielder Cece Lockmiller was a second returns six starters. Senior pitcher Cynae Wiley team all-state pick from the Kansas coaches and was second team all-state by the Kansas coachled with a .484 average. Junior catcher Laken es. Wiley has a .491 average with 63 steals and Vandegrift was a first team all-state pick and a 1.37 ERA with a 211/20 strikeout to walk ratio.

Senior catcher/third baseman Mariah Meyer, carried a .471 average with three homers and 30 RBI, two behind Lockmiller for the team lead. and junior catcher/third baseman Brittney Byers Sophomore Brylee Potter was an all-state pick return. Junior second baseman Cabrie Dvorak, junior right fielder Erica Cullens and sophomore and batted .456 with 16 extra base hits.

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center fielder Leah Bowlby.

“I’m really excited about this season,” Wiley said. “We’ve got some talented new blood and some awesome leadership returning which should make for a fantastic year!”

FLINTHILLS finished 17-6 under coach Kent Harms. Junior shortstop/center fielder Nyah Brown hit .385. Senior first baseman Taylor Bisbee batted .388. Junior catcher Sarah Hinnen batted .492. Sophomore third baseman Kylee Weis batted .333. Junior outfielder Kadyn Nuncio hit .359. Junior outfielder Lyndee Martin, and junior pitcher Sarah Sorum returns.

MEDICINE LODGE lost to Bluestem in the first round of state and went 13-9 in the first year under Becky Catlin. ML has a host of returners, including senior catcher Madison England, who batted .481 with a defensive percentage of .994, both team-bests. Junior outfielder Jaycee Patton batted .434, and senior shortstop Kyla Alojacin hit .403. Rylee Waller starts at infielder and designated player and batted .388.

Junior infielder Aaliyah Armstrong hit .370, and junior outfielder Grace Bedwell batted .357.

Junior pitcher/first baseman Tori Fischer hit .351 with a 4.11 earned-run average. Senior third baseman Brooklyn Hernandez hit .333, and junior outfielder Danielle Bedwell batted .250.

“Last year was definitely a building year for us both on the field and mentally,” Catlin said. “We suffered several key injuries early and fought hard to be a contender at post season time. We lost a key senior pitcher, but are coming back with a strong group of upper classroom and plenty of young blood to push them hard.”

REPUBLIC COUNTY went 16-7 last season and won its own regional before it lost to Wabaunsee in the first round of the state tournament. Coach Stephanie Mettlen is in her eighth season as head coach with a record of 65-69.

The Buffs return senior outfielder Jony Dahl (.271 average), junior shortstop Emma Morris (.247), along with junior pitcher Kansas Cole.

She batted .243. Junior third baseman Sadee Graves carried a .356 average, and catcher Sydney Lewellyn hit .221.

“We bring back several juniors and a senior

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with a lot of experience,” Mettlen said. “We will be very competitive at the 2A level.”

UNIONTOWN went 17-6 and has Paula Coyan, who has coached 12 years overall, seven with Uniontown. Coyan returns several seniors, including first baseman Danielle Young, pitcher Maddie Ard, and catcher Makenzee Franklin.

Junior SS/OF Sivanah McAnulty and sophomore OF Karleigh Schoenberger are also back.

“I am excited about the team I will be working with this spring,” Coyan said. “I have an enthusiastic group of girls that will work hard to make it a successful season.”

INMAN went 5-15 and could enjoy a nice turnaround this year has first-year coach Bre Ryan.

The Teutons return a number of players. Senior pitcher Kennedy Shober hit .361 with 18 RBI and 23 runs scored. Senior third base Macy DeWitt batted .556 with 25 hits and 28 runs. Senior shortstop Hannah Lucas carried a .340 average with 10 RBI and 13 runs scored. Senior rightfielder Grace Regehr hit .136 in limited time.

Junior catcher Rachel Harman batted .411 with 23 hits. Junior second baseman Hope Schriner carried a .283 average with 27 runs, while junior left fielder Emma Froese batted .270 with 13 runs. Junior outfielder Ashtyn Schroeder was injured last year, though batted .378 with 19 runs scored as a freshman.

“This year we have a great group of returners that will be leaders on the field for us, and there are some underclassmen that I expect will step up and help us to have a successful season,” Ryan said. “As with any new head coach, there will be changes that the players have to adjust to, but I am excited to get out on the field in a few weeks and get to work!”

ELLIS went 8-11 with coach Bob Mickelson, who is 32-24 entering his fifth season with the Railroaders. Senior first baseman August Sinclair batted .438, and senior shortstop Cora Milborne delivered a .357 average and 23 steals.

Junior Peyton Reese batted .440 with 17 steals.

Junior catcher Grace Beisner went 6-4 in the circle. Junior outfielders Clara Crawford (.351 average) and Cheyenne Born (.333) are back. continued on page 47

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6A Track

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Horyna (1,600), Audrey Gilmore (400), Grace Crossman (TJ) and Machia Mullens, who finished seventh in the javelin. Katiara Polvon also returns in the high, long and triple jumps.

By the time Tayezhan Crough is finished at HUTCHINSON, he may go down as one of the greatest hurdlers in Kansas prep history.

Crough brought home state titles in the 110 highs (14.45) and 300 intermediates (38.66) last year as a sophomore. The Salthawks will also look to seniors Taylon Mendenhal (discus) and Davian Vigil (100, 200), junior Noah Cole (1,600, 3,200) and sophomore Ezekial Seamster (100, 200) for points.

On the girls’ side, senior Jayla Bynum, an Indiana State track signee, is one of the top throwers in the state, after winning a title in the 6A shot put (42-4 1/4) and finishing second in the discus (123-3) and ninth in the javelin.

Eleecya Birney, a junior, was third in the 400, fourth in the 100 and was part of thr sixth-place 400-relay team and eighth-place 1,600-relay team along with junior Andryce Jackson. Carter McFaden (TJ, LJ), a senior, and sophomore Morgan Meier (800) also return.

“Both the boys and girls look to compete at a very high level this year,” said first year head coach Andrew Schroter. “We bring back a good core of athletes on both sides who are eager to build on the recent success of the program.”

The Mill Valley and Leavenworth girls finished fourth and sixth, respectively, in the 5A team race last year, but have moved up to Class 6A this year.

MILL VALLEY returns senior Delaney Kemp, who had a big state meet last year, finishing third in the 1,600 and 3,200, seventh in the 800 and ran a leg on the second-place 3,200-relay team. She was joined on the relay team by returnees’ Molly Haymaker, a senior, and sophomore Molly Ricker. Haymaker was also fifth in the 3,200 and Ricker sixth in the 800 last year.

Also returning for the Jaguars are seniors Mya Johnston (4th in LJ, 2nd in TJ), Lydia McDaneld (5th in LJ, 5th in TJ), Adelle Warford (3rd in javelin) and Kemerling Platt (8th in javelin), and juniors Morgan Koca (7th in 3,200) and Loren Thomas (7th in HJ).

LEAVENWORTH features one of the top young sprinters in the state in sophomore Wynter Ramos, who won four medals last year as a freshman, finishing 4th in 5A in the 100, third in the 200, third in the 400 and ran a leg on the second-place 400-relay team. Joining her on the 400 relay team are returnees Keshyliah Jackson and Saniyah Hammonds.

All four members of the eighth-place 3,200-relay team also return - sophomores Katelyn Havner, Adriana Carnoali, Elizabeth Finnigan and junior Madailein Walter-Sherrets.

LAWRENCE-FREE STATE’s boys had state qualifiers in the 3,200 (junior Charlie Johnson) and long jump (senior Jaxson Malone), while senior Malachi Starr and sophomore Tyler Bowden and Malachi Starr will provide depth in the sprints and sprint relays this spring. The Firebird girls had senior Emma Hertig finish sixth in the 800, while Julia Larkin (3,200), Liliana King-Wilson (110 hudrles, 300 hurdles, high jump) and Kala Ewing (discus) were state qualifiers. Larkin, Hertig, Anna Riley and Erin

Deron Dudley

Wichita South, Senior

Destiny Ray

Shawnee Mission East, Senior

Photo by Everett Royer, KSportsImages.com

second to Manhattan in the boys’ race last year, scoring 66 points. The Cougars return senior Spencer Kaleko, who placed sixth in the 800 and seventh in the 3,200 relay along with senior Jackson Burnett and junior Ryder Jarrett.

Payton Carder, a senior, was a member of the state-champion 1,600 relay team, while senior Chanley Taylor was second in the tiple jump and senior Ben Harrell eighth in the 1,600.

The OLATHE NORTHWEST girls had a strong state meet last year, scoring 61 points and finishing second to Lawrence. Maddie Richter, a senior, returns after placing second in the high jump (5-8) and long jump (18-11) and fifth in the 200 (26.00). Macy McKee, also a senior, was fourth in the 100 hurdles and seventh in the 300 hurdles. Jaleesa McWashington (LJ and TJ) and Josie Morgan (both hurdles) also qualified for state and return along with seniors Lindsey Heller (TJ, JAV) and Ainsley Heise (JAV), and junior Bre Geary (100, 200).

The ONW boys have several returnees from last year’s state meet - seniors Mario Hanson (fourth in long jump), Chris George (100), Cole Morris (800), Connor Boyd (SP) and juniors Dallin Armstrong and Deverion Goree in the high jump. Also back are seniors Andrew Tracy (800), Jack Schaal (800), junior Jordan Roland (TJ) and sophomore Logan Read (1,600).

“We are very excited about the upcoming season on both the girls and boys sides,” said head coach Mike Stephens. “The girls are coming off a second-place finish at the state meet and have a lot of senior returners. On the boys side, we are looking build off of a good finish at the state meet (10th) and have some good senior leadership along with some talented underclassmen.”

SHAWNEE MISSION EAST was right behind Olathe Northwest in the girls’ team standings with 55.5 points and a third-place finish. Destiny Ray, now a senior, led the way with third-place finishes in the 100 and 200. She also anchored the third-place 400-relay team. Kara McCaskey, a senior, and junior Eleanor Hlobik were members of the fourth-place 3,200-relay team, while senior high jumper Carly Hendrickson was seventh.

The LIBERAL track and field program is legendary with its 14 consecutive state titles for boys from 1991-2004 and 10 in 11 years for the girls from 1994-2004. The Redskins have now moved up to Class 6A after the boys finished third in the 5A team race last spring.

The boys team will be trying to find new talent to replace Dusty Torres, Austin Mullens, and Tyrique Chandler, who scored 95 percent of the points at the state meet last year. The best chance will come in the long distances with much experience there and young talented jumpers. If Syris Dunlap runs track as well as plays baseball, LHS can be a threat in the sprints as well.

The boys return Josh Arafol, who was second in the 800 in 2017 and also joined returnees Antonio Borunda, Javier Carillo, Alex Lopez, on last year’s eighth-place 3,200 relay team. The Redkins will also count on Malcom Wiltshire and Jaylin Staten for points in the long and triple jumps, and Joel Obando and Xavier Perez in the distance events.

The girls feature state meet returnees Katie

Taylor Savolt

Garden City, Senior Photo by Everett Royer, KSportsImages.com

By Kansas Pregame Staff Lawrence and Manhattan, two arch-rival high schools who have had their share of battles over the years, brought home state titles last year in Class 6A. The Lawrence girls won their fourth state title ever with 82 points - 21 in front of Olathe Northwest - while Manhattan’s boys claimed just its second-ever team championship. The Indians scored 76 points, with Shawnee Mission Northwest coming in second with 66.

This could be the start of a long run of success for the LAWRENCE girls. The Lions had 19 state qualifiers on their roster at state last spring in Wichita and only one was a senior.

Evann Seratte, now a senior, is expected to be one of the main leaders for the Lions after helping score 29 points at the state meet, with a first-place finish in the 800 (2:16.09) and a second in the 400 (58.39). She also ran legs on the second-place 1,600-relay team and sixth-place 3,200-relay team.

All four members of the state-champion 400-relay team (47.90) were underclassmen last year - juniors Ashley Wildeman and Asjah Harris and sophomores Isabella Kirkwood and Amaya Harris. Asjah Harris was also second in the 100 and a member of the second-place 1,600-relay team, along with sophomore Ozi Ajekwu. Amaya Harris placed sixth in the javelin as well.

There’s more.

Hannah Stewart, now a senior, was also a member of the 1,600-relay team, and finished third in the 800 and ran a leg on the sixth-place 3,200-relay. Senior Layne Prescott and sophomore Jayden Wilson ran on the 3,200-relay team; while seniors Josie Hickerson (second in pole vault), Chisom Ajekwu (third in shot put), Baylee Unruh (second in javelin) and Krissy Howard (fifth in shot put) also scored points last year at the state meet as underclassmen.

MANHATTAN’s boys lost a lot of point production to graduation last year, but return one of the nation’s top javelin throwers in junior Sam Hankins, who won the 6A title last year as a sophomore with a throw of 212-01. James Higgs also returns after finished third in the discus and sixth in the shot put as a junior. Daniel Harkins is back as a sophomore after finishing fourth in the 3,200 and seventh in the 1,600 at state.

Also returning for the Indians from the state meet are seniors Suman Wang (fourth in 400 relay), Max Lansdowne (seventh in 300 hurdles) Jaylon Liggons (LJ); junior Declan Weixleman (1,600 relay) and sophomores Julian Avile (sixth in 3,200 relay) and Lorenzo Wilhoite (100, 200).

The Manhattan girls will look to senior Clara Mayfield for points once again. Mayfield was busy at the state track meet last year, finishing fourth in the 1,600, fifth in the 3,200 and eighth in the 800. She also ran a leg on the third-place 3,200-relay team, along with returning seniors Madeline Purdom, Ella Rosenkranz and Emily Keeley, who also ran the 800 and 1,600. Senior triple jumper Reese Thaemert also returns, along with sophomores Jasmine Johnson (100, 200), Bonnie Hagerty (HJ) and Taylor Clausen (javelin).

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5A Track

Isaac Mitchell

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Salina South, Senior

Kindel Nordhus

Bishop Carroll, Senior

By Kansas Pregame Staff Bishop Carroll and Newton simply overwhelmed the opposition with both quality and quantity last year at the Class 5A state track meet.

Carroll’s boys and Newton’s girls sent 40 qualifiers to the state meet and combined to score 206 points to bring home state titles. The 119 points scored by Carroll and 87 by Newton were the two best totals by any of the 12 team champions.

BISHOP CARROLL won its third state title ever with its deep roster. The Golden Eagles did win four individual events - Joseph Holthusen in the 110 and 300 hurdles, Jason Irwin in the 800 and Ethan Hull in the pole vault - but also had five second-place finishes and scored in 13 of 18 events.

Carroll qualified 23 athletes to last year’s state meet and, although the nine seniors scored the majority of the points, the team still has plenty of firepower returning. Senior distance runner Matt Harding ran on the second-place 3,200-relay team and was eighth in the 3,200; senior Kody Marvin was seventh in the 300 hurdles; junior Skylar Hampton and senior Paul Eck were on the third-place 400-relay team; senior Connor Klausmeyer ran on the 3,200-relay team; Hull won the pole vault and August McCormick was second, both as juniors; and Jack Ebright was second in the triple jump as a junior.

The Bishop Carroll girls return a pair of state champions in senior Taylor Linn in the pole vault and senior Kindel Nordhus, who won the 300 hurdles. Nordhus also finished third in the 100 hurdles and ran on the third-place 400-relay team. In addition to Linn and Nordhus, the Golden Eagles had nine other underclassmen

score points in the state meet last year. Isabella Hohl, now a senior, was the busiest. She was eighth in the 100, fifth in the 200 and ran a leg on the 400-relay team and fifth-place 1,600-relay team.

Also scoring points for the Carroll girls were seniors Claire Winter (3,200, 3,200-relay), and Tere Engelbrecht (100 hurdles); juniors Christia Sponsel (300 hurdles, 1,600 relay), Adrie Nordhus (1600 relay) and Grace Gorges (3,200 relay) and sophomores Sage Fornshell (400 relay), Ellie Berenson (1,600 relay) and Raimi Carroll (3,200 relay).

The NEWTON girls used its stable of sprinters to claim its third consecutive 5A state championship. The Railers scored 87 points to outdistance runner-up St. James Academy, who finished with 76.

The Railers claimed just one individual state title and one relay - Maggie Remsberg won the 100 hurdles (15.06) and the 400-relay team brought home gold medals - but the point total was boosted by a 2-3 finish in the 100, 2-4 in the 200 and 3-4 finish in the triple jump. The 1,600-relay team also placed second.

Remsberg, the daughter of head coach Tad Remsberg, also placed second in the 300 hurdles (45.69) and long jump (17-4), and was a member of the runner-up 1,600 relay team.

Her teammate Kalli Anderson, who will be one of the top sprinters in Kansas this spring, placed second in the 5A 100 (11.91) and 200 (25.10) last year and ran on the winning 400-relay team (47.81).

Also returning for the girls are Savannah Garcia, who was third in the triple jump, along with Amanda Dorrell (SP), Alexis Valle-Ponds (100), Azeneth Ramos (HJ), Myriah Nicholson (400 relay) and Alaina Stucky and Megan Bartel from the 3,200-relay team.

Returning for the Newton boys will be Damarius Peterson, who was second in the 5A shot put, Malicai Coleman (LJ), Zach Garcia (HJ), Jerik Ochoa (100 hurdles, 300 hurdles), Ethan Entz (Discus), and Noah Massanari and Elijah Edwards from the 3,200-relay team.

“Our boys team will be stronger this season after coming off a rebuilding year with a young team,” head coach Tad Remsberg said. “Our girls will be very good again as we return several very talented athletes.”

The SHAWNEE HEIGHTS boys scored 79 points last year at the state meet, which is usually good enough to win a state title. It gave the Thunderbirds a second-place finish behind Bishop Carroll. Point producers returning from that team include juniors Logan Golder, who was second in the 400 (49.07); Davion Gardenhire, who was fourth in the 200 (22.62) and seventh in the 100; and Chase Ecklund, who was fifth in the javelin. Golder and Gardenhire were also members of the state-champion 1,600-relay team (3:22.73). Also returning are Nolan Slusser (distance), John Tetuan (throws) and Keyon Downing (hurdles, HJ).

The Thunderbird girls have a good one in sophomore Shelby Butterfield, who was third in the long jump (17-6 1/2), fourth in the 300 hurdles (46.33) and sixth in the triple jump last year at the state meet. Taegon Black, a senior, placed sixth in the shot put. Others returning for SHHS are Alisiara Hobbs (dis-

Page 38

tance), Rylie Oshel (sprints, javelin, PV), Cara Lowe (sprints), Kylie Phillips (distance), Katie Roberts (sprints), Emily Metzger (sprints) and Katelynn Thomas (hurdles).

“I am excited about this group this year, we return a few key athletes and they all have a great work ethic,” head coach Brad Nicks said.

“We have outstanding leadership and I am excited for the improvement that we will see

by May.” ST. JAMES ACADEMY’s girls finished second to Newton at last year’s state meet with 76 points. It was the third consecutive runner-up finish by the Thunder.

Katherine Moore will be one of the top athletes in 5A after a dazzling sophomore season.

Moore won the state title in the 400 (56.80), ancored the state-champion 1,600- and 3,200-relay teams, and finished second in the 800. Sarah Murrow, now a senior, was second in the 1,600 (5:10.72) and 3,200 (11:05.27).

The Thunder also had Hannah Robinson place third in the 800 and seventh in the 1,600 and will again count on points from Gabi Taylor (100), Alexis Streeter (200), Mary O’Connor (3,200) and Hannah Wallin (TJ).

“Our biggest challenge is to replace a wealth of talent from last year’s seniors, including Emma Gossman, Ashley Wurtenburger, Mary Goetz, and Jilli Jones,” said girls coach Greg Bomhoff. “But, with a mix of veteran leadership and some great young talent, we are looking forward to a great season culminating in another memorable state weekend.”

On the boys’ side, the top returnees for St. James are Hudson Manning (300 hurdles), Juan Ballesteros (800), Aidan Jones (400), John Matulis, (1600), Jack Moore (3,200), Jack Albright (HJ), Wyatt Grable (SP, DIS) and Thomas Stark (javelin).

“We have had great senior leadership and commitment during the offseason and are very excited about where the guys program is headed,” coach Matt Joshi said. “We look forward to being a balanced group that can compete in every event.”

PITTSBURG’s girls finished third at state last year with 70 points. The Purple Dragons feature one of the top athletes in 5A in junior Faith Turner, who won the long jump (17-4 3/4) and triple jump (38-3 3/4) last season, and also placed sixth in the 100 and ran a leg on the fourth-place 1,600-relay team.

Turner will be joined by state returnees junior Laken Robinson, who finished fifth in the high jump, senior Arely Rodriguez, who was fifth in the discus, and juniors Susana Canales and Vanessa Yaghmour and sophomore Emma Lawson who were members of the fifth-place 3,200-relay team.

The Pittsburg boys return four athletes who scored points last season at the state meet seniors Brett Freeman and Dylan Jordan who were members of the fourth-place 400-relay team, senior Joel Kafka, who was fifth in both the high jump and pole vault, and junior Carlos Salas, who was a member of the fourth-place 3,200-relay team and seventh-place 1,600-relay team.

BLUE VALLEY SOUTHWEST’s girls placed fifth in the state meet last year, while the boys were eighth. Leading the girls will be sopho-

more Emily Ervin, who won the 200 meter dash (25.06) last year and was second in the 400 and ran a leg on the third-place 1,600 meter relay team. Joining Irvin are seniors Rachel Kelly (100 hurdles), Briana Lowe (second in javelin and fifth in pole vault) and Hannah Turner (fifth in 400); junior Samantha Schnitta (javelin) and sophomores Amiah Simmons (300 hurdles, fifth in 100 hurdles) and Lauren Heck (HJ, TJ, fourth in 100 hurdles, sixth in 300 hurdles). Turner was also a member of the third-place 1,600- and 3,200-relay teams, along with sophomore Alex Ogren (1,600 relay), junior McKenna Polus (3,200 relay) and sophomore Gigi Loffredo (3,200 relay).

The Timberwolve boys welcome back seniors Andrew Lawrence (800), Jack Lapke (PV), Luke Rafanan (LJ), Nik Tanner (100), Mitch Sailer (800) and Jack Lawrence (800), as well as C.J. Kneisler (400), Christian Buehler (1,600, 3,200) and Adam Marshall (400, 800). Andrew Lawrence was also a member of the third-place 3,200-relay team and fifth-place 1,600-relay team. Jack Lawrence (1,600) and Sailor (3,200) were also on those relay teams.

“We have some really good returning athletes who will hopefully continue their success and have some other young athletes to help filll the void left by our graduating seniors,” head coach Staci Lowe said.

SPRING HILL looks to move up the ladder in Class 5A with seniors Jordan Norman (200), Chase Rooney (300 hurdles), Skylar Burke (3,200), Brennen Feeback (Long Jump), Brenden Meek (Shot Put) and sophomore Cody Powell (Pole Vault) returning for the boys.

Tommie O’Leary is also expected to score points in the pole vault and also distance events.

Isabel Williams, who won the Class 4A 200 last year as a freshman, will now test herself against the best in 5A. Also returning for the Bronco girls are Madeline Rivers, who was a 4A state champion in the high jump, Kalia Woodhead (3,200), Caitlyn Rexroat (Discus), Madeline Belcher (Javelin), Alli Frank (HJ, TJ) and a group of sophomores who made up the 400- and 1,600-relay teams and Madeline Belcher.

“Our school changing to 5A this season will bring new challenges,” head coach Brad Reinking said. “We are starting to get a good number of kids out so we are competitive as a team. Our girls team has been young and I’m really looking forward to seeing how they all come together this season. We also have a big, well-rounded senior class of boys this season. We are expecting big things from them.”

ANDOVER senior Asher Moen finished second in the 3,200-meter run last year at the state meet and will also run the 1,600 run and 3,200 relay this spring. Joining him will be seniors Remington Tee (1,600 relay), Josh Jackson (1,600 relay, 3,200 relay); juniors Payton Henry (400 relay), Austin Henry (400 relay) and Ryan Kinnane (3,200 relay, 3,200); and sophomore Ethan Richardson (400 relay), Jared McDavitt (1,600 relay, 400) and Sam McDavitt (3,200 relay, 800, 1,600).

Returning on the girls’ side for head coach Mike Lee are senior Sarah McDavitt (3,200 recontinued on page 48

Kansas Pregame Spring Sports Preview, Volume 1

Page 39

“We have some real quality performers on both the boy’s and girl’s teams,” Simpson said. “We should have a lot of individual success. If some of our younger athletes continue to improve, we could have some team success.”

Aimee Davis of CLEARWATER is one of the top distance runners in Class 4A not named Taylor Briggs. Davis, a junior, finished second in the 3,200, fourth in the 1,600 and was also on the state-qualifying 3,200-relay team last year at state. She placed third in the state cross country meet in 2017 as well. The Indians will also look to Kylee Harman (800-3,200R-1,600R), Bethany McGuire (1,600R) and Sadie Daniels (sprints) for points this spring.

On the boys’ side, Cole Bixler-Large qualified as part of the 1,600- and 3,200-relays and the 800-meter run (1:58.70). Also back are Logan Mount (1,600R), Zach Trotter (3,200R) and Justin Craig (sprints).

“We had quite a few younger kids gain varsity experience last year,” coach Jeff Cornwell said.

“If things go well, that experience should pay off with improved performances this season.”

HAYDEN will look to improve its status in 4A and the Centennial League with a large group of returnees - Quinn Alexander, Luis Martinez, Jayden Rainer, Jordan Rainer and Diego Carr in the sprints; Dawson Adams, James Gillin and Brandon Tinoco in the middle distances; Tanner Newkirk in distance, and Jack Konrade (400-LJTJ), Evan Prohaska (J-DP-D), Jack Konrade (400-LJ-TJ), Will DeVador (J-SP) and Brandon Appelhanz (SP-D) in the throws.

Leading the Wildcat girls are Kyra Bauer (200400-LJ), Dejah Miller (sprints), Heather Thummel (JAV-SP-D), Gwyn Arnold (JAV) and Alexa Scheer (JAV).

EUDORA’s girls will be boosted by a cross country team that finished second in last fall’s state meet in Wamego. Reagan and Riley Hiebert will run the 1,600 and 3,200, Mia Manley is back in the pole vault and Chloe Hernandez will do the high jump.

The boys return three members of the school-record 1,600-relay team and their top pole vaulters. Returning are Caleb Zimmerman (110 hurdles), Alaneon Ford (200), Garret Durr (PV), Keagan Shockley (100), Colby Lawhorn (400) and Bobby Lounsbury (400-800).

“We are excited about the incoming freshman class for boys and girls,” said head coach Joe Pickett. “And we have good potential for success in the distance events following a state runner-up

4A Track Photo by Everett Royer, KSportsImages.com

“We are looking forward to upcoming season as we have some solid returners and a great group of upper class leadership,” head coach Mike Smith said.

BUHLER’s boys will be looking for another state title after claiming the 4A cross country championship last fall. Freshman Tanner Lindahl was the state medalist, while Rand Lohrentz, Cordel Hendricks and Hayden Keller all finished in the Top 20. The top track returnee is Ryan Neill, who helped the Crusaders score points in the 400, 800, 1,600 relay and 3,200 relay last season, including times of 49.71 in the 400 and 1:59.80 in the 800.

The Crusader girls will also receive the benefit of a strong cross country season, which saw them finish third at the state meet. Amaleigh Mattison, Megan Miller, Brityn Bobo and Emma Wilson all placed 21st through 29th at state.

“We’re optimistic; we have a very strong freshman class coming up,” head coach Willie Adkins said. “On the guys side, they had a freshman state champion in cross country, along with a team state championship. On the girls, there were many freshman developing on the cross country team which placed third. The boys have a shot at winning state track, and the girls could as well.”

The BALDWIN Bulldogs, who have won a combined nine state titles under head coach Mike Spielman, including six this decade, will look to challenge in the boys’ division with seniors Jacob Bailey (3,200), Quinn Nichols (SP), Matt Jackson (100-200) and Devin Owings (TJ). The girls feature senior Kayla Kurtz, who placed second in the javelin (142-11) last year, along with seniors Kate Ogle (JAV), Carly Lindenmeyer (LJ) and Natalie Beiter (800), sophomore Ambrynn Stewart (800) and freshman Jana Landreth (1,600).

“We have some great seniors on the boys’ team who will give us some leadership during the season,” Spielman said. “And we have some girls who can score high at the state meet. We should be very competitive this season with this group.”

ABILENE’s top returnee is junior Sydney Burton, who brought home the gold medal in the 800-meter run last year at the state meet.

Burton also ran on the 3,200-relay team. Also on the relay team are returnees Abby Barnes, Beth Holmes and Savannah Stout. Holmes qualified for the 300 hurdles as well.

Others expected to score points for the Cowgirls are senior Zoe Cooper (PV), juniors Mckeena McGivney (PV), Annie Bathurst (distance), Shiann Olberding (TJ-PV), sophomores Allison Liby (JAV) and Bailey Rock (middle distance).

Boys’ state qualifiers returning for the Cowboys include seniors Preston Boyd (JAV), Dakotah Whiteley (PV), Dylan Scherbring (100-400R), Zach Schultze (3,200R), Damien Hartman (400R-3,200R) and Lucas Cook (400R-3,200R), plus junior Christian Radabaugh (400R-3,200R).

Head coach Steve Simpson will also look for points this season from seniors Christian Stevens (JAV), Zach Juhl (JAV), Josiah Schwarz (JAV), Braydon Surrite (PV); juniors Kade Funston (SP-DIS), Jonathan Ritchie (hurdles), Triston Stover (hurdles) and sophomores Grant Heintz (HJ-TJ), Caleb Burt (LJ-TJ) and Trey tovar (LJ-TJ).

Matthew Everett Winfield, Senior

Photo by Everett Royer, KSportsImages.com

By Kansas Pregame Staff Andale continued its decade of success at the state track meet in 2018 and Buhler’s boys won their third state title ever in Class 4A. The Andale girls won the state championship for the second straight year last May in Wichita and have combined with the boys to win six titles since 2013.

ANDALE scored 90 points in the state meet at Cessna Stadium to outdistance runner-up Paola (74 points), while the Buhler boys got individual titles from Braden Rose (shot put and javelin) and Clay Eckert (110 hurdles) to total 53 points and win over Kansas City Piper.

Andale’s girls do bring back talent, including junior Elle Eck, who was part of the winning 400 and 1,600 meter relays teams last year. Both teams should be solid once again in 2019, with 16 of the 20 state qualifiers returning for the boys and 15 of 19 for the girls.

CHAPMAN sophomore Taylor Briggs won two individual events - the 1,600 (5:09.06) and 3,200 (11:03.78) - in dominating fashion as a freshman and anchored the Irish’s gold medal 3,200-relay team. The Chapman sensation has already won a pair of state cross country titles as well.

Two members of that 3,200-relay team - juniors Madison Smith and McKenna Kirkpatrick - return, along with senior Madeline Elliott (3,200) and sophomore Macy Bliss (DIS-SP).

In addition to Briggs, Chapman also features a talented distance runner on the boys’ side in senior Aaron Mondrow, who was sixth in the 1,600 and seventh in the 3,200 last year. Joining him will be three returnees from the 1,600-relay team - seniors Anthony Wasylk, Blake Vercher and Izek Jackson - as well as senior Shaun Blocker (400) and sophomore Eli Winde (800-TJ).

“This year we have a strong core of athletes coming back with state meet experience,” Chapman coach Michelle Elliott said. “I’m looking forward to building on these successes.”

Abbee Rhodes is back for her senior year at AUGUSTA after winning the shot put last season with a throw of 42-6 3/4 and finishing fourth in the discus. Ashlynn Doebele of BURLINGTON, a senior, was second in the long jump and fourth in the triple jump. On the boys’ side, KC PIPER senior Devon Marshall returns after finishes of third in the 200 and fourth in the 100; Matthew Oglesby of GALENA was fourth in the 3,200 and fifth in the 1,600, while Davonte Yates of PARSONS returns in the triple jump (second) and long jump (third).

The PAOLA Panthers return one of the top hurdlers in the state in senior Carson Eilts, who finished second in the 300 hurdles to Lambert last season and third in the 100 highs. Seth Richmond, a senior, will also provide depth in the hurdles, while Lawrence Free State transfer Cole Phillips was a state qualifier in the 400 last year in 6A. The Panther boys allso return senior Jeff Schwartz (JAV), juniors Evan Phillips (LJ), Lamont Hill (TJ), Ryan Wokutch (100-200-relays), Connor Hasz (100-LJ-TJ), Preston Martin (PV) and sophomore Darian Hudgeons (3,200).

Junior sprinter Sophie Jones leads the girls’ returnees after finishing second in both the 200 and 400 last year. Also back are seniors Amanda Meeks (100 hurdles) and Alyssa Henness (sprints-relays-LJ) and sophomores Haley Schlup (TJ) and Marina Johnson (800-relays).

Sophie Jones

Paola, Junior

finish in 4A girls cross country.”

WAMEGO’s Red Raiders have a new coach in Weston Moody, who welcomes back three boys and three girls who qualified for the state meet last year. On the boys’ side, there’s Bristol Swan in the high jump, Marcquiece Cade in the 110 hurdles and 400, and Steve Roudybush in the 110 and 300 hurdles. The girls feature Kynzie Underwood (100-300H), Victoria Pettay (HJ) and Eli Artzer (middle distance, distance).

The Red Raiders will also look to these boys to score points at meets this spring - Brady Blanka, Nic DeGreeff, Grant Warren in the throws; Ty Cooper, Jaren Johnson and Doug Roudybush in the sprints and jumps; Marquise Cade, Steven Roudybush and Bristol Swann in the sprints, jumps and hurdles; Nick Price in the 400 and 1,600, Caleb Seah in the 400, 800 and jumps, and Jacob White in the distance races.

Competing for the girls include Maci Beachler, Clara Carter, Victoria Pettay and Kenzie Cooper

continued on page 44

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Kansas Pregame Spring Sports Preview, Volume 1

By Conor Nicholl, For Kansas Pregame Nemaha Central easily won the girls’ state title with 77 points, while Sterling was second with 46.5. Beloit took third with 40.5, and Cheney fourth at 39 points. It marked NC’s first-ever girls’ track title.

For the boys, Scott City won with 74 points, with Garden Plain second at 45, Kingman with 42 and Colby at 34.

SCOTT CITY, with 24th year coach Jim Turner, returns multiple elite athletes, led by Marshall Faurot. SC boys won regionals and state. The Beaver girls were fourth at regional and seventh at state. Faurot is one of the state’s best pole vaulters and one of the country’s top multi-event high schoolers. He and Cheney senior Layne Cheney, Senior Needham lead 3A’s top returners. For the girls, Needham won the 100 hurdles (15.18) and 300 hurdles (45.68), was third in the 200 and eighth in the 100.

Faurot has signed with University of South Dakota and has led the Beavers to a pair of team titles and a runner-up showing. Last year, Faurot took second in the pole vault with a mark of 15 feet. He was second in the high jump at 6-4, and second in the 110 hurdles at 14.89.

In non-state competition, Faurot has vaulted 16 feet and cleared 6-6 in the high jump, both elite marks. Faurot chose USD over Kansas, Michigan, Washington State and Wisconsin, according to Western Kansas News. Faurot will vault Hesston, Senior under South Dakota coach Derek Miles, who had the No. 1 pole vault squad in the nation at the end of 2018.

Senior Wyatt Hayes is a three-sport standout and has signed with Division II powerhouse University of Nebraska-Kearney for wrestling. He won three state titles with first place in the 800 in 2:00.02. He also ran on winning 1,600 relay (3:25.95) and 3,200 relay (8:09.51).

Senior Jack Thomas has battled a torn labrum in his hip and was limited to just the 3,200 relay last year. Thomas was the state champion in the 3,200 as a freshman and second as a sophomore. Senior Parker Vulgamore was fifth in the javelin (173-7). Junior Brandon Winderlin was Wellsville, Senior second in the 400 relay (43.73) and first in the

Photo by Everett Royer, KSportsImages.com

3A Track

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1,600 relay (3:25.95).

Junior Kaden Wren was third in the 400 (51.01) and ran on the two gold-medal relays. Sophomore Loren Faurot was eighth in the pole vault at 13-6. Sophomore Isaac Tarango is back after he was on the 1,600 relay.

The Scott City girls return multiple talented athletes. Senior Dulce Ayala ran on the 1,600 relay that was first in 4:06.59. She was on the 3,200 relay that took fourth in 9:58.57. Junior Madison Shapland was eighth in the pole vault with a mark of 9-6. Junior Emily Weathers took seventh in the 400 at 1:01.96. Shapland and Weathers were both on the 1,600 relay, and Weathers and junior Piper Wasinger both ran on the 3,200 relay.

“We have a good mix of experience and youth for the girls and the boys,” Turner said.

NEMAHA CENTRAL, with 29th year coach Jon Thomas, finished third in state with the boys, first in state with the girls. Both squads return significant talent.

Senior Jacy Dalinghaus, who has signed to play college basketball at Cloud County, was first in the javelin at 134-3. She took fourth in the discus at 126-7, and was second in the shot put at 39-3.75.

Senior Ashley Hammes qualified for the 100 hurdles. Junior Alleigh Kramer was fourth in the long jump at 16-6.25, second in the 200 at 26.24, third in the 100 at 12.6 and ran on the 400 relay that was sixth in 51.02.

Sophomore Hannah Macke was ninth in the 800 (2:29.21) and then was on all three relay teams. The 400 took fourth while the other two did not place. Junior Michelle Olberding ran on the 1,600 relay, and junior Aydan Bass was on the longer two relays.

For the boys, senior Dalton Schmelzle took fifth in the triple jump at 42-10. Senior Matthew Baumgartner qualified in the triple jump, junior Dylan Schultejans reached state in the pole vault, and sophomore Nathan Deters was a shot put qualifier.

“The boys’ squad graduated a large number of seniors who were part of four successful seasons earning three third place state trophies and

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Page 40 will be in a rebuild mode,” Thomas said. “The girls lost two seniors that scored a number of points the last two years on state championship teams, but several points return and there are some newcomers who have an opportunity to contribute this year.”

Sixth-year CHAPARRAL coach Justin Burke is in his last year before joining the football staff at Maize South. His son, senior Jake Burke returns after he qualified for state in the triple jump. Senior Jamie Manning qualified in the pole vault.

On the girls’ side, Sophie Francis took second in the 300 hurdles and third in the 100 hurdles.

Junior Audrey Bebermeyer was fourth in the pole vault. Sophomore Chloe Eslinger was sixth in the 800 run, and Eslinger and Faith Gates return from the 3,200 relay. “Our girls could have a really nice season, led by sophomores Sophie Francis and Chloe Eslinger and junior Audrey Bebermeyer,” Burke said.

BELOIT is a consistent state contender with 12th year coach Ryan Isbell. The girls finished third at regional and third at state. While thrower Sydney Johnson is now competing at Missouri, the Trojans return plenty of experience. Beloit is long known for successful throwing, and senior Sydney Barrett was 12th in the javelin last year.

Junior Hannah Burks captured the 3,200 title in 11:43.65 and was fourth in the 1,600 at 5:33.85. She ran on the qualifying 3,200 relay that returns all four runners. Along with Burks, the quartet had junior Hayley Burks, sophomore Reagan Eilert, and senior Khylie Mihm. Hayley Burks was also seventh in the 3,200. Senior Blaise Spangler took fifth in the pole vault with a 10-foot mark.

Senior Colin Chandler will look to improve on last year’s fifth place finish in the boy’s shot put.

“We always enter the season with high individual and team expectations,” Isbell said. “We have a high number of returning athletes that are great role models and will continue to set the bar at a high level. How well the young kids develop and staying away from sickness and injury will determine how well we do as a team.”

ROYAL VALLEY sophomore Morgan Harvey qualified in the 100 and was third in the triple

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As a freshman, RILEY COUNTY’s Ames Burton was seventh in the shot put and second in the discus. SOUTHWESTERN HEIGHTS junior Wyatt Packard took third in the pole vault. RUSSELL sophomore Renee’ Nichol was eighth in the long jump and eighth in the triple jump.

“With a small group of upperclassmen returning our large group of young kids will get a chance to compete at the varsity level,” Russell coach Jordan Echer said. “Sophomore Renee’ Nichol was last year’s only state qualifier. I am excited to see the improvement she has made going into this season.”

HOLCOMB and ROCK CREEK also moved down from 4A. For Holcomb, junior Isaiah Armstrong was second in the 400 to Arkansas City’s Andrew Wilson. He helped the 400 relay take first in 43.03 and the 1,600 relay earn eighth. For Rock Creek, the girls’ 1,600 relay was seventh with a quartet of non-seniors: sophomores Grace Fike, Lauren Gill, Evie Gill and junior Sierra Saenz. Grace Fike was fifth in the long jump, and junior Nolan Churchman qualified in high jump.

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Page 41

St. Marys to seventh in the 3,200 relay. Sophomore Bailey Wichman took fourth in the triple jump. For the boys, the 400 relay was sixth in 44.38 and senior Reece Hurla is the only one back. Sophomore Isiah Holz was eighth in the long jump.

THOMAS MORE PREP-MARIAN returns all four members of its sixth-place 3,200 relay with Ethan Lang, Lucas Lang, Garrett Pfeifer and Blayne Riedel. Ethan Lang also qualified in the 1,600. Jenna Rome took seventh in the high jump, and Paris Wolf, a Fort Hays track signee, was sixth in the long jump.

The Monarch girls also return all four members of its 3,200 relay that also earned sixth: Kaira Urban, Julia Werth, Emily Schippers and Adell Riedel. Riedel finished eighth in the 800, while Werth was 11th in the same event. Urban, Schippers and Riedel also qualified on the 1,600 relay.

“We have a number of returning experienced athletes mixed with some young talent that are excited to compete at a high level on both the boys and girls teams,” coach James Harris said.

The HALSTEAD boys were fourth at league and regional and 17th in 3A state. The girls were tenth in league, 12th in regional and 36th at state.

The 3,200 relay took second and returns three of the runners, all seniors, with Braden Gerber, Josh Talbott and Andrew O’Brien. Gerber ran on the 1,600 relay that finished eighth, and Talbott was fifth in the 800. For the girls, the 1,600 relay was fourth and returns sophomore Madison McClain and Kareena Garber. Senior Shaeley Day qualified in the throws as a sophomore.

“The Dragons qualified five out of six relays for state a season ago and return the core of those relays,” coach Jason Grider said. “The distance and middle distance on the boys and girls side should be tough again this year and the throws on both the boys and girls side should be much improved and very competitive.”

HESSTON brings back junior Elise Kaiser. She was fourth in the 400, tenth in the 100 hurdles, sixth for the 400 relay and fifth for the 1,600 relay. Junior Celbi Richardson took fourth in the shot put, and tenth in the discus.

The previously mentioned Parker Roth will lead

Photo by Everett Royer, KSportsImages.com

Kansas Pregame Spring Sports Preview, Volume 1 jump. Senior Mary Broxterman qualified in the On the boys’ side, senior Jordan Schippers 200 and 300 hurdles and junior Chloe Richter was fourth in the 100 and captured the 200. Jureached state in the 1,600. Broxterman was also nior Brysen Metcalf was fourth in the 800. Junior part of the qualifying 1,600 relay. Sophomore Ivy Calvin Stapp also qualified in the 100. Those Fink reached state in the high jump, and senior three and senior Luis Madrid formed the 400 McKenzi Hegemann qualified in the pole vault. relay that finished third. While and junior Ryan Senior Mika Kitchkommie was fifth in the 100.

Voss replaced Madrid in the 1,600 relay that The boys’ sprints could be great races with earned a third place finish. Senior Xavier Slaven Hesston’s Parker Roth and Colby’s Jordan was seventh in the shot put, and junior Aaron Schippers back for their senior seasons. Schip- Kurth qualified in the event. pers won the 200 and was fourth in the 100 while KINGMAN senior Josie Albin is the team’s top Roth was runner-up in both. But both sprinters returning girl. She ran on the 3,200 relay that will likely be chasing SMOKY VALLEY senior finished ninth and tied for ninth in the pole vault.

Tim Lambert who drops to 3A after dominating Senior Seth Siemens also qualified in the 200 4A state last year, winning the 100 (10.82) and and was fourth in the 400. Senior Owen Pearce 200 dashes (22.11) and 300 hurdles (37.95). won the 3,200 (9:35.45), was third in the 1,600, CONCORDIA also dropped down from 4A and and reached state in the 800. Senior Teagan graduated four-year standouts Cydney Berg- Flanagan took third in the 3,200 and fourth in mann and Jessica Williams for coach Austin the 1,600. All three relays had no seniors. The Kingsbury. The 400 relay took second and re- 400 was ninth, the 1,600 took fifth and the 3,200 turns senior Emma Wahlmeier and sophomore was third.

Sierra Gropp. Sophomore Chloe Conway was BURLINGTON moved down from 4A after the also a high jump state qualifier. Williams took girls finished 11th with 20 points. Senior Ashlynn third in the event.

Doebele was second in the long jump, fourth in COLBY has boys’ coach Gordon Rasmussen the triple jump and sixth in the 200 and 400. The (42 years) and girls’ coach Lesley Wagoner (20 3,200 relay was eighth. years). Sophomore Lara Murdock was third in HOLTON, with 30th-year coach Mark Middlethe 800 in 2:24.04. The top-13 competitors were mist, also bumped to 3A from 4A. Senior Regan all non-seniors. WELLSVILLE senior Paige Mc- Baum qualified in the 100 hurdles, as did sophoDaniel won the race in 2:20.44. more Saydee Tanking in the javelin. Sophomore McDaniel captured the 1,600 and Murdock was Canon Karn reached state in the triple jump. second in 5:24.10 to 5:29.13. Colby took ninth in “Our boys and girls squad will be very young,” the 400 relay and returns junior Hallie Vaughn Middlemist said. and senior Nicolette Stapp. Vaughn and MurGIRARD has coach Matt Logue, in his 23rd dock both ran on the 1,600 relay that was second year. The Trojans dropped down from 4A. Corto Scott City. The 3,200 relay finished third and mick Logue was eighth in the 3,200 in 9:59, and has three of the four back: Murdock, sophomore Carter Doherty qualified in the shot put.

Danielle Schroeder and junior Jill Stephens. SaHUGOTON also moved down from 4A. Senior betha and Cimarron went 1-2 in the event with Jacob Eckert was a qualifier in the 800. Senior no seniors. Cimarron junior Clara Bartlett was Ethan Fox reached state in the 1,600 and was second in the 800 (2:22.85). fifth in the 3,200. The 1,600 relay was fifth, too.

Senior Morgan Clinesmith was a qualifier in the Eckert helped the 3,200 relay finish second. Hugirls’ 1,600. Those two, along with sophomore goton took fourth in 4A boys with 34 points.

Macy Fugitt and sophomore Courtney ClineST. MARYS returns half the 1,600 relay that smith, formed the 3,200 relay. Fugitt also qual- was sixth. Junior Ellena Layton and senior ified in the high jump. Sophomore Seth Ridenour Reagan Hurla are back. Seniors Rachel Hutley was sixth in the 100. and Erica Shults and junior Callie Perry helped

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Kansas Pregame Spring Sports Preview, Volume 1

By Conor Nicholl, For Kansas Pregame Last year, Bennington swept both state titles.

The girls easily won with 73.5 points, well ahead of runner-up Valley Heights at 48. Kiowa County took third with 39, with Moundridge fourth with 37, Kinsley fifth at 36, and Ellis sixth with 33.

Lincoln was seventh with 32, and Bluestem took eighth at 30.

Bennington, Maranatha Academy and Valley Heights have consistently led the way in 2A girls since 2011. The Bulldogs won in ’11, Maranatha Academy in ’12-’15, Valley Heights captured crowns in ‘16-’17, and Bennington won the title last year.

For the boys, Bennington edged out Stanton County, 59.5-53. Smith Center finished third with 42, Yates Center took fourth with 40. St. Ellis, Senior Francis was fifth with 36.5, and Meade took sixth with 36. The Bennington boys ended Plainville’s run of boys’ crowns. Plainville captured titles in ’12-’13 and ’17.

Class 2A is headlined by several record breakers, including Moundridge girls’ 400 relay led by senior Jamya O’Quinn, Kinsley senior hurdler Rylee Gleason, Yates Center senior Hadley Splechter, and Hillsboro senior thrower Wes Shaw. Splechter, has won seven state titles between cross country and track, and signed to Kansas State. Trego senior distance runner Helen Giefer has also signed with the Wildcats.

BENNINGTON graduated standout distance runner Halle Johnson, but return several athletes. Sophomore Jasey Downing was a state Yates Center, Senior qualifier in the 100 and 200. Sophomore Peyton Piepho was fourth in the 3,200. Junior Auston

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2A Track

Page 42 400 meter, and junior Isaiah Barrera was fifth in the 3,200 and qualified in the 800 and 1,600.

Junior Francis Corrales reached state in the 1,600. The Trojans captured the 400 relay gold, and Aleman and senior Trey Summers return from the event. In the 1,600 relay, Stanton County finished second and brings back Aleman and Summers. The 3,200 relay took ninth.

Summers was third in the pole vault. Bennington senior Ryan Stanley won the event but the next six finishers were all non-seniors, including HILL CITY sophomore Jayce Hamel as runner-up. SC senior Duane Jones took sixth.

Aleman was eighth in the discus in a heavy non-senior field.

MARION’s Tyler Palic graduated after he broke the discus record with a throw of 182-6,

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Cassie Waldschmidt

Carr qualified in the 100 hurdles, and junior Chloe Stanley finished third in the 300 hurdles.

The 400 relay, with Downing, Carr and Stanley, was second. As well, Stanley and sophomore Regan Robinson ran on the 1,600 relay that finished third. The 3,200 relay earned second and included Piepho and Robinson. Stanley tied for fourth in the pole vault.

On the boys’ side, junior Javon Allen finished third in the 100 and was second in the 200. Allen was the only non-senior on the runner-up showing in the 400 relay. Sophomore Daniel Watson is one of the few returners back with a fourth place finish in the pole vault.

STANTON COUNTY graduated a number of scorers, mainly sprinter Devin Berens. Senior Miguel Aleman is back after he qualified in the

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HILLSBORO coach Dennis Boldt has coached the Trojan track teams for 29 years. In addition to Shaw, the girls return junior Roxano Nieto, sophomores Iris Klein and Kinsey Kleiner. Sophomore Jessica Saunders was sixth in the shot put and fourth in the discus. Senior Josiah Driggers was sixth in the long jump. “We return five of the top seven scorers on both girls and boys teams and have great anticipation of everyone improving this season,” Boldt said.

MEADE returns senior Ethan Thompson, the runner-up to Splechter in the 1,600 (4:30.78) and 3,200 (9:41.59) and fourth place finisher in the 800 (2:03.03). Sophomore Vance Shewey was runner-up in the high jump (6-4). The girls return three runners from the runner-up 1,600 relay that also finished fourth in the 3,200 relay Corbyn Carr, Cali Keith and Hayden Bachman and swapped out Carr for senior Katey Wilhelm to get fourth in the 400 meter relay.

MEDICINE LODGE returns soph. Madelyn Hernandez, sixth in the 100 hurdles and tenth in the high jump. REPUBLIC COUNTY has sophomore Emily Jensik. She took eighth in the 100 hurdles and fourth in the 300 hurdles. Senior Jerrick Baxa was third in the javelin.

JEFFERSON COUNTY NORTH girls return three of four girls from the qualifying 1,600 relay with senior Kaitlyn Schneider, junior Josie Weishaar and sophomore Kassidy Robertson.

The 3,200 relay was third with Schneider, Robertson and senior Rose Wendling back.

The JCN boys took fourth in the 400 relay (44.49) and has the Budys, senior Kyle and junior Logan, back. The 1,600 relay was eighth after a disqualification in the finals, and the 3,200 relay finished fifth with Budy, junior Boyd Tweed and sophomore Trevor Pentlin.

HOXIE, who dominated the event for years and holds the 1A girls record, had one senior and three freshmen - Baylee McKenna, Emily Dierks and Ayleen Dimas - on the state title squad (9:59.14). In addition, the Hoxie girls finished fifth in the 1,600 relay with McKenna, Dimas and junior Macy Schamberger back. SeGood Luck to the Herington Railers in the Hope, Kansas Upcoming Miltonvale, Kansas Herington, Kansas Season!

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2A Track

nior Trinity Balluch was sixth in the discus, and junior Jared Kennedy was tenth in high jump.

“We have a good group of athletes returning this year that we can be very competitive with (boys and girls),” coach Lichelle Baar said. “The girls are looking to bring home the league trophy again this year and more hardware home from state. The boys will also have an opportunity to really compete this year as a team.”

OAKLEY has coach Jason Robben, who has spent two decades with the Plainsmen. Oakley returns junior Jordyn Lowrie, a state qualifier in the 400 dash, and junior Danielle Allison, who qualified in the 800.

The 1,600 relay with Lowrie, Allison and junior Kylie Park, qualified. Lowrie took sixth in the high jump. For the boys, Kade Hemmert took eighth in the 300 hurdles and helped the 1,600 relay to seventh place showing. The 3,200 relay took second and had just one senior with Hemmert, Wyatt Abell and Cody Zimmerman back.

UNIONTOWN coach Jackie Hall has coached for 37 seasons and returns sophomore Paige Mason, a state qualifier in the high jump, and sophomore Samantha Hampton, a qualifier in the javelin. CANTON-GALVA, with coach Tina McMannis, brings back junior Katie Fielder, the runner-up in the 100 to O’Quinn. Fielder finished eighth in the 200. Junior Latia Moddelmog was eighth in the high jump, and junior Kinser Colgin qualified in the triple jump.

“Our team had three strong athletes compete at the 2018 Kansas state track meet in Colgin, Moddelmog, and Fiedler,” Hall said. “I’m expecting them to improve on those performances this year and lead our strong group of incoming freshmen.”

REPUBLIC COUNTY sophomore Emily Jensik is back after placing fourth in the 300 hurdles and eighth in the 100 hurdles as a freshman.

NESS CITY’s John Pfannenstiel is back to try and improve on his fifth place finish in the javelin while teammate Tiana Epperson will try

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Page 43

GOOD LUCK

Kansas Pregame Spring Sports Preview, Volume 1 ahead of Gleason. McIntrye qualified in the 300 but the next seven finishers were juniors.

Grant Thierolf has coached more than 30 hurdles.

Sophomore Carrie Roe is back after she years with football and track for the Warriors, but retired before the 2018 season from foot- qualified in the shot put. Joe Stegman is in his ball. He continues to lead the track program, first season as Herington’s head coach. Senior Makenzie Shippy did not qualify for state last that returns several standouts.

Senior Emily Hess was a qualifier in the 100 season but as a freshman was second in the hurdles. She ran on the 400 relay that qualified 800 and third in the 1,600. As a sophomore, she for state. The 1,600 relay returns three runners took third in the 800 and third in the 1,600.

“We have a solid group returning on the girls with sophomores Anne Baliel and Abigail Stuchlik and senior Maria Stuchlik. Anne Baliel was side,” Stegman said. “We have some high level sixth in the pole vault, and Hess took seventh competitors that have done a great job of leadin the long jump. ing the younger athletes. Our boys’ team will be Senior Colton Mercer is back after he ran on young but I am sure they will get stronger as the the 1,600 relay that finished ninth, and senior season progresses.”

Noah Dalrymple was a qualifier in the high In distance, Splechter and Giefer are two of jump. the best returning athletes in Kansas. Splechter “We will be very young on both the boys and won a rare four state titles last spring. girls teams, but we look to have a great season,” In 2017, YATES CENTER’s Splechter set the Thierolf said. “It will be enjoyable to watch our 2A record in the 1,600 with a time of 4:21.70. teams get better as the season moves along, Last year, he held off Meade’s Ethan Thompson and hopefully we will be at our best in May.” to win 4:28.33 to 4:30.78.

MOUNDRIDGE senior Jayma O’Quinn capThe distance events should be highly comtured the 100-meter dash in 12.42 and the 200 petitive. Three of the top-four boys in the 1,600 in 25.99. Junior Josalyn O’Quinn was a state were non-seniors. In the 3,200, Splechter ran qualifier in the 100. Both O’Quinns ran on the 9:36 and beat Thompson by nearly six seconds.

400 relay that broke the 2A record in the prelims Ten of the top-11 in the 3,200 were non-sein a time of 49.63. The previous mark was 49.96 niors. Splechter ran the anchor on the winning

by Ness City in 2002. In the finals, the Wildcats 3,200 relay (8:19.09) and was the only non-sewon by more than a second in 50.62. nior for YC. He captured the 800 in 1:58.36, KINSLEY’s Rylee Gleason was second to while Meade’s Thompson finished fourth.

O’Quinn in the 200. The top-four and six of the TREGO’s Giefer was sixth in the 800, second top eight at state were non-seniors in the event. in the 1,600 and won the 3,200 in 11:13.24.

Gleason took second in the 100 hurdles in an VALLEY HEIGHTS graduated standout Kayla event that had just one senior in the top eight.

Smith, but returns junior Samantha Vermetten, However, Gleason set a state record in the who was eighth in the 400, fifth in the 800, 300 hurdle prelims when she ran 44.75, and fourth in the 1,600 and eighth in the 3,200. bested the record of 44.82 set by Moundridge’s For the boys, Hillsboro’s Shaw, the heavy Peri Lange in 2016. In the finals, Gleason again favorite entering the 2A shot put, fouled on his lowered her record, this time posting a 44.62. first two attempts. Then, he uncorked a throw of Gleason ran the anchor for the winning 1,600 51-5.25 on his third attempt, good enough for relay that bested Meade 4:11.695 to 4:11.697. the championship.

In addition to Gleason, sophomore Rylie Miller On his fifth throw, Shaw went 60-11.50 and and junior Josena Frame return. broke the state mark of 59-10.25 set one year HERINGTON senior Kloie McIntyre returns prior by Levi Armon. Shaw was second in the after she won the 100 hurdles in 15.42, .04 discus at 178-1.

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2A Track

Hesston Maxwell

Photo by Susan Mueller, Herington Times

Smith Center, Senior

Kloie McIntyre

Herington, Senior

to improve on runner-up finishes in the shot and javelin and an eighth place finish in the discus.

Former ROSSVILLE standout Mindy Wilson is in the first year coaching her alma mater after running track at Fort Hays. Wilson returns senior Trevor Johnson. He was seventh in the 100 (11.26) and sixth in the 200 (23.31). Sophomore Julia Streit qualified in the 3,200, and junior Meagan Huston qualified in the 1,600. “We have a good group of athletes returning and a good class of freshmen coming in that will help our team be successful this year,” Wilson said.

For BLUESTEM, junior Destiny Masters was second in the high jump (5-4), fifth in the long jump, fifth in the 100 hurdles, and eighth in the 100 meter dash. Senior Addy Emmons qualified in the 200 and 400. Sophomore Torrence Lovesee qualified in the 400.

Sophomore Kayleigh Bruce was ninth in the 800. Emmons, Bruce, Lovesee and junior Emma Young qualified in the 1,600 relay. The girls won the regional and were eighth at state.

“We have a great group of athletes returning and are looking forward to competing this sea-

Page 44

son and continuing to improve on our marks and times,” said second-year coach Joe Burgardt.

ELLIS senior Cassie Waldschmidt is back after placing second in the 400 (58.62), third in the 200 (26.63) and seventh in the 100 (13). Sophomores Chaselyn Jimenez and Maci Kohl were just freshmen with Waldschmidt on the third place 4x100.

ELLSWORTH dropped down from 3A for new coach Nick Rodriguez. Shaylee Leiker was seventh in the 100 in 12.81, and sixth in the 400 (60.74). Lakyn Tenbrink was ninth in high jump.

INMAN returns sophomore Dantlie Raney.

She qualified in the 800 and 1,600 with tenth and seventh place finishes, respectively. Junior Nichola Martisko qualified in the 3,200. Senior Jaxon Eddy qualified in the high jump, and senior Mason Thiessen reached state in the shot put.

ELL-SALINE sophomore Treyton Peterson was sixth in the 800 meter run (2:03.4) and senior Nick Davenport was fifth in the discus (1468) and could qualify in the shot.

PLAINVILLE junior Aubree Dewey is back after an impressive year. A three-sport all-state athlete, she qualified in the 100 and 200 meter dashes and took third in the 400. Junior Jersey Kaiser was fourth in the 100 hurdles and seventh in the 300s. The 400 relay, with Kaiser and Dewey, was seventh. Sophomore Brooklyn Staab qualified in the high jump and was second in the discus (1174). Junior Jared Casey is back for the boys after he went 53-3 at regionals and took third in the shot put at state with a throw of 49-9.25.

SMITH CENTER should excel in the field events with junior pole vaulter Bree Frieling looking for another championship, and javelin throwers Gracen Hutchinson (fourth girls) and Hesston Maxwell (second boys) back for senior seasons.

STERLING girls return senior Grace Rowland, who won both the long jump (16-11.5) and triple jump (36-10.75) in class 3A. Rowland was also part of the 400 relay that was third. Sophomore Kayla Morris was ninth in the 300 hurdles and seventh in the high jump.

On the boys’ side sophomore high jumper Tyus Wilson is back after winning the event in class 3A clearing 6-6.

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4A Track continued from page 39 in the sprints and jumps; Rone Eveland and Jessica McIntyre in the throws; Kynzie Underwood and Kyle Jones in the hurdles and sprints; Abby Faulkner and Mallie Nowlin in the sprints; Marenn Blanka and Sarah Shaffer in the distance races; Ashlyn Zachgo in the jumps and middle distances and McKale Stockebrand in the jumps.

“We have a lot of returning letterman and hope to have more kids out this year,” Moody said. “We have a couple seniors who are planning on competing in track and field at the next level, so I am very excited for this upcoming season.”

One of the state’s longest coaching runs continues at EL DORADO as Gary Melcher starts his 39th year as the head coach (and 45th overall).

Ezekiel Kemboi, a senior, returns after finishing eighth in the 800 and running on the 3,200-relay team with returnees Christian Price and Dylan Wittum. Also back are Jake Johnson (hurdles), Dalton Manning (middle distance), Garrett Meyer (jumps) and Kade Winn (sprints) for the boys, and Karley Faudere, Kallie Hutchinson, Cierra Johnson and Elexus Mickle in the throws for the girls.

“We return a core group of distance runners on the boys side and will continue to be an area

of strength, but need to become competitive in other event areas,” Melcher said. “We return several throwers on the girls side who were competitive last season and should more than hold their own with another year of experience.”

The ATCHISON Redmen return two athletes with state meet experience from last year - Alex Martin (200) for the boys and Adalynn Collins (1,600 and 3,200) for the girls. Redmen boys expected to add depth this season are Steven Jolly (400), Christian Arnold (110 hurdles), Nick Funk (SP-D), Hannibal Vick (800) and Amari Rawls (300 hurdles).

“I’m looking forward to a fantastic season of growth and improvement,” coach Nicholas Stillwell said. “ We will have some excellent upperclassmen leadership who will really help our new members buy in, trust, and enjoy the process.”

ROSE HILL will go with the youth movement after several point producers were lost to graduation. Travis Jones (relays, sprints) and Lathe Cobb (hurdles) return for the boys and April Carney (sprints), Aubrie Thomison (hurdles) and Haley Thrush (middle distance, long jump) return for the girls.

The MULVANE Wildcats return three of four runners from their state-qualifying boys’ 400-relay team - Drew Ellis, C.J. Johnson and Cole Diffenbaugh - and the same for the girls’ 3,200-relay, with Anna Moon, Campbell Williams and Josie Russell.

WINFIELD senior Matthew Everett is back to try and improve on his second place discus throw.

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Page 45

1A Track Photo by Everett Royer, KSportsImages.com

HUTCHINSON-CENTRAL CHRISTIAN returns junior Josie Ibarra for eighth-year coach Jason Hett. Ibarra took fourth in 2:30.95 and helped the 400 relay team finish fifth in 52.90.

The Cougars had no seniors, including Ibarra, on the 1,600 relay that finished No. 14. The 3,200 relay, also with Ibarra, was tenth in 10:45.61.

Junior Krysten Bartlett was second in the shot put (39-7), and junior Kylee Bartlett was a multievent qualifier.

“Both the girls and boys team return a strong core group on the track and on the field that will compete for medals this season,” Hett said.

GOLDEN PLAINS has 21st year coach Travis Smith, who has served 12 years as head coach.

GP won a regional title before the strong state finish. GP returns senior KayCee Miller, who based on the regional seedings, was ranked outside the top-five entering state in the long jump.

She won with a leap of 17 feet. She took fifth in the 200-meter dash in a time of 26.65.

Ashley Stoll, a sophomore, was fifth in the 400 with a time of 60.50. Brooke Stoll, a sophomore and Ashley’s twin, was eighth in the 800 in a time of 2:36.49. The 1,600-meter relay also won with Miller, the Stolls and junior Mabel Lugo in a time of 4:07.03. The 400 relay, with the same quartet, was fourth in 51.27.

For the boys, Harley Weese (300 hurdles) and Dylan Spresser (TJ) were state qualifiers.

“The GP girls return four state placers from 2018,” Smith said. “They have an excellent chance to continue their success from the year before. With the leadership of senior KayCee Miller, the girls team could push for a top three finish this year. The GP boys return several young athletes with some incoming freshman that could make them very competitive this year.”

LINCOLN, which captured the 1A state girls’ cross-country state title in the fall, the first team state championship in any sport in 40 years, has 18th year coach Steve Crist, who leads cross country, girls’ basketball and track. Aubry Donley was first in the 400 with a time of 58.17 and the 800 in 2:21.37. Jaycee Vath took third in 5:24.45 in the 1,600 and third in the 3,200 in 11:41.59.

Sophomore Tyler Good could emerge as a potential state qualifier in the sprints and long jump.

“Our boys’ team will be very young again this year,” Crist said. “Hopefully we will get good numbers out and the boys will continue to work hard and improve. If they stick with it they should have a solid team in a couple of years.”

THUNDER RIDGE returns plenty of talent, headlined by sprinter Brandon Grauerholz and senior jumper Mariah Stauffer, a Fort Hays signee. Grauerholz took fourth in the 200 (23.85) and helped the 1,600 relay finish seventh. Stauffer earned fourth in the high jump with a leap of 5-2.

Junior Jaden Boden qualified in the 400, while junior Brenna Kirchhoff was a qualifier in the 300 hurdles. The 1,600 relay had no seniors and took fourth with Boden, Kirchhoff, junior Caley Panter and senior Layne Pettijohn. The 3,200 relay was sixth with Boden, Pettijohn, Panter and Davis.

KIOWA COUNTY returns a host of state qualifiers from last year’s 2A state meet, led by senior Sabrina Thomas. She captured the shot put state title (38-0.5) and the discus (127-5). Junior Kellie Rhodes finished fourth, while senior Casey Erickson was fifth. Senior Hailey Shaffer was eighth in the 800.

Afftin Conway

Osborne, Senior

Photo by Everett Royer, KSportsImages.com

in the 300 hurdles. The Panthers had just one senior on the 400 relay and took third with Jones and Kramer on the relay. The 1,600 relay, with no seniors and Kramer, Jones, Koch and junior Kennedy Becker, took second. Becker finished sixth in the long jump.

On the boys’ side, Centralia brings back several key returners. Senior Isaac Gore was fifth in the 400 (53.14). Junior Kamble Haverkamp took eighth in the 800. All three relays had just one senior, and the 400 took fifth, the 1,600 was third and the 3,200 finished 12th. Daegan Steinlage was fourth in the shot put (47.5.5) and fourth in the discus (149-4), while Derek VanDorn was sixth in the discus (143-2).

“Both teams have the potential to do very well this season,” Centralia coach Dusty Thompson said. “We have to replace some great seniors from last year, but with some very good athletes returning and a good group of underclassmen to bring competition to practice, I’m excited to see if we can make it all fit together by May.” NORTHERN VALLEY had another standout meet from Paige Baird last season. She was second in the 200 meters in 26.50, and won the 400 in 59.95. She was third in the 100 hurdles in 15.58 and second in the 300 hurdles with 45.35.

Baird, a Fort Hays volleyball signee, is a senior.

On the boys’ side, Caden Bach returns for his senior season after winning the javelin (189-8) and the high jump (6-6) and Nic Stutsman is back after getting second in the pole vault (13-6) The girls had a high number of non-senior champions last year. OSBORNE senior Afftin Conway won the 100 (12.41) and was third in the 200 (26.75). She also took second in the 100 hurdles (15.16) and captured the 300 hurdles (44.86). NORWICH junior Tori Poe was second in the 100 (12.50) and won the 200 (26.26). She took eighth in the 400 (1:02.09) and was tenth in the long jump. Osborne junior Darrien Holloway won the 110 (14.78) and 300 (40.6) hurdles an was fourth in the 100 meter dash (11.5).

LAKESIDE girls graduated standout Rachel Miller and have a new coach with Jessica Cunningham. Sophomore Tanna Cunningham returns after a sixth place showing in the 100, fourth in the 100 hurdles and fifth in the 300 hurdles, and senior Megan Larocque was a qualifier in the 400. Lakeside returns three standouts from the winning 400 relay: Cunningham, sophomore Courtney Baetz and senior Janica Pearce.

The 1,600 and 3,200 relays also qualified. Senior Caleb Hake reached state in the javelin.

Caden Bach

Northern Valley, Senior Photo by Everett Royer, KSportsImages.com

By Conor Nicholl, For Kansas Pregame On the girls’ side, Hanover captured the state championship with 65 points, with Centralia second at 49, and Lakeside third with 43. Osborne was fourth at 40, while Northern Valley, Montezuma-South Gray, Axtell, Golden Plains, Hutchinson-Central Christian and Sylvan-Lucas all tallied at least 29 points. It marked Hanover’s first-ever girls’ state track title.

Hanover is again among the state favorites with senior Macy Doebele, and Centralia has senior thrower Madison Lueger, senior pole vaulter Breanna Schmitz and a host of returning middle-distance runners. It’s highly likely the two Twin Valley League rivals will again battle out for a state title. Lueger is the two-time javelin state champion, and Schmitz won the pole vault. Centralia girls captured state in ’16 and ’17.

The Twin Valley League has long dominated the 1A girls’ meet with Blue Rapids-Valley Heights taking the title in ’14 and Linn in ’15. The last non-TVL team to win a girls’ title was Norwich in ’13. The Centralia boys have a number of returners, too, and will be a strong contender.

South Gray won with 77, followed by Centralia with 63, Beloit-St. John’s with 55, Pike Valley at 52 and Osborne with 44 to round out the top-five.

SG took significant graduation losses, especially sprinter Craig Griebel and thrower Gilbert Peters.

SG has captured back-to-back 1A boys’ crowns, while Hanover won in ’15 and Centralia in ’14.

HANOVER had four non-seniors on the 400 relay that took second last year to Lakeside.

The Wildcat quartet was juniors Tianna Lohse, MaKenna Jueneman, Taeghan Zabokrtsky and senior Macy Doebele. Additionally, Doebele and Lohse helped the 1,600 relay take third, and Lohse/Jueneman helped the 3,200 relay win the state title in 10:16.52. Doebele was also third in the long jump and won the triple jump (35-9).

Zabokrtsky was seventh in the triple, and Lohse finished fourth in the javelin.

The top-five finishers in javelin were all non-seniors, paced by CENTRALIA’s Madison Lueger, a Nebraska signee. Lueger, a senior this season, has set and then re-set the 1A state javelin mark the last two years and threw 144-2 to easily win state last spring. Lueger was also fifth in the shot put (36-7.75) In addition to Lueger, Centralia brings back junior Morgan Kramer, who was fourth in the 100 meter dash (12.82), and senior Maegan Koch qualified for the 400.

Junior Emma Holthaus was a state qualifier in the 3,200. Tamra Jones, a senior, finished sixth

Paige Baird

Northern Valley, Senior Three of the four runners on the qualifying 400 and 1,600 relay were non-seniors last season.

All four runners on the 3,200 relay that took ninth were non-seniors. Senior Hannah Melton qualified in the pole vault.

Erickson took third in the long jump and had the highest finish among non-seniors. Senior Brooke Oberle also qualified in the long jump.

Senior Brecken VandenHoek ran on multiple relays and was ninth in the triple jump.

PIKE VALLEY, under 32nd-year coach Gary Loring, took big graduation losses from sprinter Lane Peters and distance runner Anton Reeves.

Seniors Tristyn Garman and Brody Carlgren are back after helping the relay teams win medals, including a state title in the 1,600 relay (3:29.63).

LA CROSSE, with 10th year coach Jon Webster, returns Kalen Thielenhaus in the shot put and Hunter Morgan in the javelin for the boys, and Cali Riley in the 400 for the girls. GREELEY COUNTY, with third year coach Andrew Helfrich, had multiple key graduations, but returns senior

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1A Track

no qualifiers last year, but Carley Chrisler was fifth in the 100 and sixth in the 200 at regional.

SOUTHERN CLOUD coach Tyler Williams has coached the Warriors for seven years. Senior Jocelyn Buller was 12th at state last season in the 3,200 in a time of 13:55.01. The boys’ had no qualifiers, but Blake Gumm (100) and Carson Bellows (HJ) were both fifth at regionals.

For STAFFORD, senior Cayden Brozek was seventh in the 3,200 and 13th in the 1,600. SATANTA’s Janie Lutz has spent 10 years as assistant track coach and nine years as head track coach. Sophomore Sicely Jackson was 13th in the 100, took sixth in the 200 and fourth in the 400. She also ran on the 400 relay that was seventh. Sophomore Ella Burrows qualified in the 3,200 relay. For the boys, senior Brandon Salas was a qualifier in the 400. ST. FRANCIS senior Jordan Raby is one of the state’s top sprinters.

He was second in the 400 at 50.34 and is the only one of the top-four who was a non-senior last year. Raby and junior Brady Dinkel are back from the state title winning 1,600 relay that won in 3:26.59. Raby helped the SF 4X1 relay earn fourth. Soph. Adam Krein returns from the relay.

ATTICA’s Blake Harnden is back for his senior season after winning the triple jump at 435.5 and sophomore Samantha Dark was ninth in pole vault. ARGONIA senior Zach Haxton placed eighth in the 1,600 and 3,200.

The SYLVAN-LUCAS girls graduated talented thrower Logan Batchman, now at Fort Hays, but do return senior sprinter Delaney Herold who was seventh in the 200 and eighth in the 100.

GOOD LUCK

Kansas Pregame Spring Sports Preview, Volume 1 fied for the high jump. On the boys’ side, Cody Thomas qualified in the 3,200, and junior Sebasti Blankley reached state in the pole vault. BURLAaron Vasquez. He was 12th in the 1,600 in INGAME returns Trevin Lewis, Lucas Masters, 4:54, and fourth in the 3,200 relay in 8:39 and Austin Tyson and Cole Thomas from the 3,200 ran on the 1,600 relay. Junior Fabel Yanez was relay, and Seth Greenwood from the 400 relay, tenth in the 3,200 in 10:50, and sophomore Seth and Emmie Punches from the girls’ 3,200.

MADISON/HAMILTON has third-year boys’ Williams was also on the 1,600 relay.

Junior Ella Roberts is back for DIGHTON after coach Alex McMillian and third-year girls’ coach she qualified for the shot put and discus, and Ashley Cahoone. The state-qualifying 400 relay junior Marcus Rowe qualified in the 200 meter had just one senior and returns junior Taylor Wildash. Sophomore Blaine Whipple was also a re- liams and seniors Sydney Talkington and Emily Farrow. Farrow also qualified in the high jump, turning qualifier in the 110 and 300 hurdles.

OTIS-BISON brings back juniors Cristen Trapp and Talkington in the triple jump and javelin. For and Maddie Wiltse and senior Sheridan Ewy the boys, junior Nasun Wasson qualified in the from the state-qualifying 3,200 relay. Trapp also 100 and 200 dashes, and ran on the 400 and qualified in the triple jump. O-B boys took third in 1,600 relay qualifying teams. Hamilton sophthe 400 relay and had three non-seniors: junior omore Kelton Buettner took eighth in the 110 Jacob Olivarez, sophomore Jayce Kohls and hurdles and qualified in the long and high jumps.

HOPE’s talented and experienced girls that senior Maitland Wiltse. Senior Luke Higgason is have excelled in volleyball, basketball and powback after a seventh place finish in the discus.

HARTFORD returns all of its qualifiers from the erlifting return a number of state qualifiers. Se3,200 relay team with senior Shelbi Metcalfe, ju- nior Jessyka Barten qualified in the 1,600 and niors Bailey Darbyshire and Lindsay Torrens and was seventh in the 3,200. She also ran on the sophomore Halee Heathman. Darbyshire quali- 3,200 relay that qualified. Sophomore Meghan Brockmeier reached state in the high jump, and junior Holly Brockmeier was a rare qualifier in all three throwing disciplines. She was fourth in the shot put (36-1.5), eighth in the javelin (118-6) and tenth in discus (100-1).

Ninth-year NATOMA coach Kurt Grafel leads one of the state’s smallest teams. The Tigers had

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Page 46 The Mustang boys return senior JC Huehl who placed 10th in the 1,600 and ninth in the 3,200.

He’ll join forces with younger brother Jonah, junior Beau Batchman and Sam Princ to try and qualify in the 3,200 relay again this year.

TROY junior Morgan Masters is back after getting second in the girls’ LJ (16-9). TESCOTT senior Dillon McCosh qualified in the 400. ROCK HILLS seniors Zane Colson and Dereck Gillett are half of the runner-up 400 relay and, if healthy, Rylee Whelchel is one of 1A’s top sprinters.

STOCKTON graduated all state qualifiers but sophomore Troy Rogers and senior Jalen Basart who made up half of the seventh place 400 relay.

WALLACE CO. returns junior discus thrower Haylee Hennick from a sixth place finish and qualifers Aubrey Kuhlman (LJ, Jr.) and Leah Ayers (PV, Jr.). On the boys’ side senior Trever Medina returns after a runner-up finish in the triple jump (42-9) and long jump (20-10.25) and fourth place in the 400. Senior Trevor Fischer is back after a third place finish in the 3,200 and fourth place in the 1,600. WASHINGTON COUNTY sophomore Mia Cardenas was ninth in the shot put (33-10.5) and last in the discus at 1A state as a freshman but has much room for improvement as her throws were several feet under her personal best. WHEATLAND seniors Zach Gillespie and Mikayla Heier both qualified for state last year. Gillespie was 14th in the 800 and Heier tied for ninth in the high jump.

CLIFTON-CLYDE returns placers for both squads with Brant Douglas (sprints), Christian Seifert (hurdles) and key pieces of multiple boys’ relays and Maycee Callihan (throws).

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Kansas Pregame Spring Sports Preview, Volume 1 3A Softball continued from page 35 127 in 24 years with titles in ’09, ’10, ’16 and ’17.

Riverton returns five starters. Senior Kenzie Lee, who plays first base/third base/outfielder, batted .360 with two homers and 20 RBI. Junior shortstop Camryn Compton hit .452 with seven HRs and 30 RBI. Junior pitcher Jayden Phillips batted .256 with an 11-5 record and 4.92 ERA. Junior second baseman Madison Strup batted .291, sophomore third baseman Kenzie Houser hit .293 with 23 RBI. ROYAL VALLEY went 14-7 and is 68-17 with fifth-year coach Corey Katzer. RV soph. Mae Joselin is one of the state’s top players. She batted .429 and went 7-1 with a 2.54 ERA in 60.2 innings.

Other returners include catcher/outfielder Emily Albright (.352 BA), senior first baseman Eryn Daugherty (.353), Alexis Hancock, a catcher/designated player/right fielder (.329), and junior third basemen Mackenzie Ogden, a second team all-state pick who batted .563.

RV will have plenty of reinforcements with junior infielder Cassidy Parks and junior pitcher/first baseman Abigail Harding. Parks missed all her sophomore year except the opener because of a season-long illness. Harding didn’t play her sophomore season because of ankle surgery.

“I am excited for the upcoming season,” Katzer said. “Our overall numbers will be way up, and we are getting back a couple of players who were poised to have breakout seasons as sophomores but due to illness and injury lost that opportunity. I know that they are extremely anxious to get out on the field and prove what they can do.”

HOISINGTON finished 10-11 and is 75-42 under seventh-year coach Gary Boxberger. The Cardinals, who co-op with nearby Central Plains, have junior Taylor Boxberger, who batted .362 with 14 RBI and a 10-11 record in the circle. Junior second baseman Jenna Urban batted .369 with 23 runs and 21 RBI. Senior third baseman Trinity Dolezal hit .385 with 17 RBI and 17 runs scored. Senior outfielder Bailee Bacher hit .392 with 23 RBI and 28 runs scored. Junior outfielder Brooke Steinert batted .403 with 21 RBI and 19 runs scored.

Sophomore outfielder Keeley Wolf hit .365 with 22 runs scored, and senior outfielder Riley Brungardt batted .259. Returners also include Destiny Hurley, Rachel Lamatsch and Callie Zink.

“With a solid group returning players with varsity experience and incoming players we expect to improve on last year’s record,” coach Boxberger said. “The players all worked hard in the off season and expect to have a successful high school season.”

ROCK CREEK went 10-11 and has 20th-year coach Jeri Brummett, and returns senior outfielders Laney Scott and Leighton Herrman, and junior infielder Sydney Montgomery is also back.

“We are in a little bit of a rebuilding year with some exceptional young talents that are sure to make and impact,” Brummett said. “We will have a lot of new faces for the 2019 spring season.”

HALSTEAD went 3-18 and has first-year coach Eileen Vlamis. The Dragons return soph. utility player Brittley Day, senior pitcher/outfielder Callie Conside, and senior first baseman Solle Werner.

“I am excited for this season,” Vlamis said. “We have three returning starters, but we have several freshmen coming out that are ready to step up and fill in.”

SABETHA finished 6-15 and is 11-31 in the first two years under coach Lauren Massey - also the first two years of the program. The Bluejays return eight players. Senior Trista Argabright enjoyed a standout season with a .475 average with two HRs and 29 RBI. She also delivered 13 doubles, scored 20 runs and threw out 30 percent of would-be base stealers. Junior Maggi Hughes batted .453 with two HRs and 25 RBI with 26 runs scored and 10 stolen bases.

Junior Rachel Kramer hit .348 with six doubles and went 3-6 in the circle. Senior pitcher/outfielder Hillary Krebs batted .279 with 14 RBI, 14 runs scored and a 3-4 record. Senior outfielder Brooklyn Bauman hit .250 with five of her 12 hits for doubles.

Senior pitcher/first baseman Lexie Phillips is also back. Sophomore Hattie Lukert had a .267 average with seven steals. Sophomore outfielder Melinna Schumann hit .246 with 15 runs scored.

“We return several starters, with several JV players ready to push for varsity playing time as well,” Massey said. “Our league and schedule are difficult, but we have a group of girls who have been with us from the beginning and ready to take the next step in our program’s development. As always, pitching and defense will be a key to us taking that step.”

CHAPARRAL finished 3-18 and has first-year coach Morgan Grippin. However, the Roadrunners return eight starters, paced by sophomore pitcher Ella Holden, and four seniors: shortstop Maggie Mathes, outfielder J’Lynee Stolsworth, first baseman Cheyenne Shelton and outfielder Missy Barker.

Additionally, junior Grace Brannon and sophomore Mercades Smith are back as utility players, and sophomore Mia Smith returns at third base.

“The team returns most the players from last season and we look to improve on our defensive abilities and look to improve on our offensive numbers,” Grippin said.

Page 47 2-1A Softball continued from page 35 Sophomore catcher Morgan Bittel batted .414, and sophomore third baseman Tessa Cuccia hit .333.

“Our youth showed last year in close games, so hopefully our experience will show up this year,” Mickelson said. “We should be real solid defensively as we return the entire infield.”

HILLSBORO finished 12-11 and was a regional runner-up. Kalee Cross takes over the program with six returning starters, including three seniors: Cheyenne Bernhardt, Kylee Martin, and Maria Nieto. Bernhardt, who plays multiple positions at pitcher, catcher, second base and outfielder, batted .360 with 12 runs scored and delivered a 2-3 record and 6.92 ERA. Martin, a third baseman/outfielder, batted .338 with 19 RBIs and 19 runs scored. Nieto hit .381.

Junior Ava Weisback batted .375 with 27 RBI. Sophomore shortstop/pitcher Dani Klein hit .423 with 33 hits, two homers and 20 RBI. She went 1-0 with a 4.01 ERA in the circle. Sophomore outfielder Tuesday Weisback hit .241 with 10 runs scored.

“We will be a relatively young team but I am looking for us to compete well,” Cross said. “We have several starters returning, two of which earned CKL all-league recognition. We have a few key positions to fill this season but I believe our players will step up and meet those needs.”

Annie Dellasega takes over a PITTSBURG-COLGAN program that finished 6-14 but returns eight starters, the majority of them seniors: catcher Ella Battitori, pitcher/third baseman Olivia Brynds, first baseman Kate Radell, second baseman/third baseman Delaney Cedeno, SS Sophia Piccini, and OF Annie Snow. Additionally, sophomore Kaitlin Crossland and junior Taylor Wixon are back.

“I am very excited to be beginning my first year as head coach with this group of girls,” Dellasega said. “They are a hardworking fun group of kids to work with. The seniors have worked hard all throughout their career and I am hoping for a successful year on and off the field with this group.”

SYLVAN-LUCAS finished 10-10 with coach Linda Haring, who is 211-218 in 23 years with the Mustangs. S-L will this year combine with LINCOLN and S-L-L brings back eight total starters, six seniors: pitcher/infielder Dharma Couse, catcher/outfielder Hannah Wolting, pitcher/infielder Taegen Walter, infielders Aundrea Haberer, Mikayla Breneman, and Kylie Rahmeier, sophomore pitcher Brecken Obermueller and junior Paige Ringler.

“Seven returning seniors bring four years of varsity game experience to the field,” Haring said.

“Being just one run away from a state trip last year should motivate these players to up their game so they can make the postseason this year. Two returning senior pitchers bring strength on the mound and Lincoln girls joining the squad bring more pitching, catching, and batting power.”

CENTRAL BURDEN finished 10-7 and has fifth-year coach Bruce Hafenstein. Senior pitcher Mickey Foley headlines a group that returns seven starters and lost just one senior. Hafenstein believes six freshmen are capable of starting. One key starter is out after she suffered an injury in basketball.

“This year should be good for us,” Hafenstein said.

SOUTHERN LYON COUNTY has first year coach Chelsea Peters in the inaugural year for the program. “We are thrilled to begin a softball program in our district this season,” Peters said. “We are looking forward to developing a strong team this inaugural season!”

RICHMOND-CENTRAL HEIGHTS was 3-18 last year and has coach Lea Stegner, who is 37-47 in six years overall, 31-45 in five seasons with CH. The Vikings have six returners back with senior shortstop/outfielder Charlize Robertson, sophomore first baseman/catcher Dakota Pendelton, senior pitcher/utility Layla Bones, sophomore middle infielder Mary Roehel, third baseman/outfielder Kathleen Lickteig, and second baseman/outfielder Emily Hemreck. “We will be a young team this year,” Stegner said. “We will be working on fundamentals and getting better as the season goes on.”

3A Track continued from page 41 who qualified for the 100 and 200 meter dashes, and junior Lexie Wood competed in the triple jump. As well, senior Ashley Babcock qualified in the shot put and javelin. For the boys, senior Trey Sides is the only Panther who didn’t graduate from the fifth-place 400 relay. Sides also ran on the 1,600 relay that finished seventh.

HIAWATHA has 12th year boys’ coach Ben Kettler and should see marked improvement this season. Sophomore Katherine Madsen was sixth in the 1,600 and eighth in the 3,200, and senior Elizabeth Kettler took second in the

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3,200. Sophomore Claire Geiger qualified in the 100 hurdles. Sophomore Justin Hodge was seventh in the 1,600 and 3,200. Senior Liam Jones qualified in the 3,200. Senior Broderick Jones was sixth in the discus.

“We will not have a large team in numbers but will have a lot of great talent in the kids that we have,” Kettler said. “We also have a great freshman class of boys and girls coming in that will be able to help out immediately.”

HOISINGTON senior Maleigha Schmidt finished second in the pole vault, and senior Xavier Robinson was second in the long jump.

SABETHA’s girls won the 3,200 relay (10:16.79) with sophomore Hattie Lukert, junior Nicole Kuenzi and seniors Hunter Lowdermilk and Skylar McAfee. MINNEAPOLIS girls finished seventh in the 400 relay with four non-seniors: Natalie Borman, Courtney Forte, Karisma Vignery and Zoie Shupe.

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Kansas Pregame Spring Sports Preview, Volume 1 6A Track continued from page 37 Fagan all return from the state-qualifying 3,200-relay team.

“This year we will have a larger senior class and more veterans than recent teams,” head coach Jordan Rose said. “We are looking forward to continue building their strength and speed while also continuing to work toward a positive team dynamic.”

OLATHE SOUTH’s boys return junior Myles Nash, who finished fourth in the high jump; senior A.J. Shields, who placed sixth in the 300 hurdles, and senior Damian Tolbert, who placed eighth in the discus. Logan Woodside, a junior, was eighth in the 400 and ran on the fifth-place 1,600-relay team with Tyler Wilson, a junior. Wilson was also a member of the fourth-place 3,200 relay.

On the girls’ side, junior Dani Winslow is back after finishing third in the high jump, fourth in the 300 hurdles and running on the third-place 1,600-relay team. Angelina Butler, a junior, was sixth in the discus; senior Izzy Pierce was eighth in the triple jump and a member of the 1,600 relay team, and junior Sophie Reed placed eighth in the 200 and was on the 1,600-relay team.

Hailey Pittman, a senior, is the fourth returning member of the 1,600 relay, and was also on the state-qualifying 400-relay team with Reed and seniors Riley Degner and Chidinma Ndubuisi.

The relay team had the fourth-best qualifying time for the finals, but was disqualified for a zone violation.

“We should have a very strong boys and girls track team,” coach Matt Bohm said. “We have some good young athletes who will be good additions to our returning varsity athletes.”

SHAWNEE MISSION NORTH returns 1,600-meter state champion Asher Molina (4:23.10), a senior, who also finished second in the boys’ 3,200. Head coach Aaron Davidson also expects state-qualifiers Jaden Reed (100), Blake Taylor (800) and Keagan Stiers (3,200) to have good springs, along with Billy Conaway and Kaleb Young. Katie Kasunic will lead the way on the girls’ side in the 1,600 and 3,200.

“Our boys team has some pretty high potential if we can put the pieces together,” Davidson said.

“We have a strong senior class that will carry us.”

WICHITA SOUTH’s boys finished third in the 6A team race two years ago and have had the individual 100-meter champion for two years in a row. Deron Dudley, now a senior, was the state’s fastest boy last year with a time of 10.59 seconds in the 100. He also ran a leg on the state-champion 400-relay (41.62) and finished eighth in the 200.

Nicomas Craig, a senior, also qualified for the 100 and 200 at state and was member of the state-title 400 relay, along with Dudley and senior Jon Avery. Junior discus thrower Trey Sowersby also returns.

For the South girls, junior Hollie Stewart was fourth in the discus, senior Shaunquez Martin qualified in the high jump and 400, and senior Daegiona Wilson will compete in the 800 and 1,600.

“The boys have several returning athletes and a lot of outstanding talent coming up. We should be in a good shape this season to equal what we’ve accomplished the last few years,” coach Cody Dickman said. “The girls are returning state qualifiers, placers and outstanding senior leadership.

We are excited about the possibilities the season holds.”

The OLATHE NORTH girls tied for fourth place in the team standings last year at state. Kaiya McKie placed third in the 100 hurdles as a freshman, senior Brea Turner was fifth in the 100 hurdles and qualified for the long jump, while senior Kadaisha Mpwo qualified in the 100, while junior Sarah Whitaker (3,200) and junior Zoey Schillinger (800, 1,600) was part of the state-championship 3200-relay team.

For the boys, senior Cade Heikes was second in the 1,600 last year at state, senior Joey Guzman was third in the 3,200 and 11th in the 1,600, and senior Jackson Caldwell was ninth in the 3,200.

Brian Beach (1,600, 3,200) was in the top five in the last two state cross country meets, while Daymonn Sanchez is expected to score points in the short sprints.

“We’ll see how everything shakes out at the end of the year, but we’re excited because we have a lot of kids that are working hard and trying to get a little bit better every day,” head coach Levin Huseman said. “We think we have a lot of talent and are hoping for the best.”

DERBY welcomes back senior Migc Aiyanyou, who finished ninth in the long jump last year and also runs the 100, 200 and 400. Andrew Kennedy returns to compete in the hurdles, Dan Archer and Tyler Dorsey in the shot put, Matt Harden in the pole vault and Adin Gilmore in the 1,600 and 3,200. Bradon Unkel was a member of the state-qualifying 3,200-relay team last year.

The Panther girls feature sophomore Aneesa Abdul-Hameed, who finished sixth in the 400, ninth in the 100 and is one of three returnees - junior Sadie Svymbersky and sophomore Ashlyn Struble the others - from a state qualifying 1,600-relay team. Struble also runs the 1,600 and 3,200, and Svymbersky the 100, 200 and 400. Macie Ediger (discus), Erika Hernandez (300 hurdles), Nalah Stokes (LJ), Jadyn Young (SQ, javelin) and state qualifiers Kaylee Curtis, Bridget McAdam and Lexi Silva also return.

“We will have a young team that has great potential,” head coach Mitch Pontious said. “I’m excited to see them grow and begin to reach their potential. Additionally, we have a few veterans that have proven themselves, and have been working hard in the off-season.”

Other underclassmen who won individual state titles last year at the state meet include junior Samuel Macklin of SHAWNEE MISSION SOUTH in the long jump (22-9 1/4) for the boys and sophomore Kendra Wait of GARDNER-EDGERTON in the 100 (12.15), senior Keiana Newman of JUNCTION CITY in the 100 hurdles (14.75) and Taylor Savolt of GARDEN CITY in the 300 hurdles (45.05) for the girls. Savolt was also fifth in the long jump and is a Fort Hays State track signee.

Newman was also third in the 300 hurdles and Wait was third in the pole vault and fourth in the 200.

Riley Beach of BLUE VALLEY NW will be a contender in the girls’ 1,600 and 3,200 after finishing third in both in ‘18. Hunter Wilcox of BLUE VALLEY is back after finishing second in the boys’ 800.

Page 48 5A Track continued from page 37 lay), junior Isabel McNulty (200) and Lidia DiLollo (100 hurdles) and sophomore Ellie Braynock (3,200 relay, 1,600).

Terry Robinson of LANSING finished sixth as a sophomore in the 800 and also was a member of the 1,600 relay and 3,200 relay at state. Liam Neidig, a junior, joined Robinson on both relay teams, while senior Nate Baker and sophomore Jake Jackson were on the 3,200 team.

Rachel Fairbanks, a senior, ran on the 400- and 1,600-relay teams at the state meet, and was joined on the 400 team by senior Daphne Clemens and sophomore Zaiylah Bronson and the 1,600 team by sophomore Cora Reed. Karli Schmidt, a junior, qualified in the high jump.

“We have a very young team on both sides, with a lot of our best athletes being juniors and sophomores,” head coach Dylan Brown said. “Hopefully that bodes well for not just for this year, but in the future.”

While there is not a lot of depth and the overall numbers are not large, SALINA CENTRAL returns several state qualifiers. Reagan Geishler (fourth in javelin; sixth in discus), Destiny Jackson (seventh in shot put), Elizabeth Collins (seventh in PV) and Phoebe Helton (PV) are back in field events, while both Kadyn Cobb (800, 3200 relay) and Brianna Torres (3200) have two years of state experience. Newcomers Cora White and Peyton Griffin should have immediate impact.

On the guys’s side, Riley Counts (400) and Keishaun McDaniel (TJ) should improve on last year’s state efforts, while Blake Olmsted (PV) looks to return for second time after missing last season with hand injury.

SALINA SOUTH head coach Justin Ebert has a state champion returning in senior Isaac Mitchell, who brought home the gold medal in the javelin (193-1) last year. Jayden Miller (discus), Keetan Munsell (1,600, 3,200) and Brandon Rectenwald (800) also return for their senior year after state experience. Kyle Quill (400) and Cai Calvert (HJ) are expected to have solid springs.

On the girls’ side for the Cougars, senior Georgia Bell and junior Victoria Maxton both return in the pole vault after tying for third place last spring. Camdyn Schreiber (1,600), a senior, and junior Lauren Raubenstine (LJ, TJ) also return.

Emily Fuhr returns for her junior season at DESOTO after finishing second in the discus and third in the shot put, while Linnea Searls returns in the jumps and 3,200 relay.

The boys should have a strong middle distance crew, which has been bolstered by the addition of sub-2:00 half-miler Keegan Sturgy, a transfer from Iowa. Also back for the Wildcat boys are Sam Hubert (1,600, 3,200), Graham Hudelson (400), Connor Flynn (TJ) and Maertin Searcy (300 hurdles).

BONNER SPRINGS will look to senior Nasjon Porter for a big spring after Porter finished sixth in the long jump and seventh in the triple jump last year at the state meet. Kaleb Wilson returns as well (1,600, 3,200), as does Kortland Hervey (HJ), DeVante Washington (100, LJ) and Mykael White (3,200).

Kim Whetstone, a junior, returns for the girls in the 100 and long jump, along with Shelby Cox (hurdles), Sailor Herron (1,600, 3,200) and Reyven McDonald (shot put).

“We look forward to seeing what our returning state medalists and athletes do this season and how our young and upcoming athletes continue to grow,” said coaches Jake Wike (girls) and Kyle Razak (boys). “We had a lot of young athletes contribute to our varsity program last year and we feel like this year will be more of the same.

“It will be interesting to see what happens in a new league (going from Kaw Valley to Frontier) with some strong programs.”

Brian Parker will lead the KANSAS CITY SCHLAGLE boys this spring. He joined fellow returnee Kendall Brewer (junior) to help finish second in the 400 relay at last year’s state meet. He will also compete in the long jump, high jump and triple jump for the Stallions.

Schlagle also returns seniors Paul Beasley (SP) and Tyionne Gilmore (HJ), juniors Kendall Brewer (LJ), Jaylin Richardson (LB, HJ, sprints), Daniel Stillwell (800), Jonah Andrews (800), Jose Olguin (1,600) and Manowa Ngenzirabona (110 HH, SP, discus). Tyrese Cannon, a freshman, is expected to score points in the triple jump.

Camille Evans, a junior, returns for the girls after finishing 10th in the 200 and 11th in the 100 last year at state. She will be joined by juniors Tynica Gilmore (sprints, jumps, relays), Ishante Suttington (sprints, relays), Anya Suttington (sprints, relays) and sophomores Tyana Evans (hurdles, relays) and Tylieea Wallace (shot put, discus). Freshman sprinter Armanie Blacksure is expected to help score points in her events.

“Last year we had a ton of kids who competed very well, but were just scratching the surface of their potential,” said coaches Al Hobson (boys) and Reggie Jones (girls). “We believe this year we have the athletes to potentially win a league championship and also compete at a high level at state.”

The TURNER Golden Bears from Kansas City will be led by senior Reneaux Jackson in the javelin and Andy Apgar in the distance races for the boys and Krystian Conway (400, relays) and Cyra Chronister (distance races) for the girls.

One of the state’s top 4A athletes last year - junior Emma Ruddle of MCPHERSON - will compete in 5A this season. Ruddle brought home gold medals in the 4A 100 hurdles (14.36) and 100 dash (12.37) last spring for the Bullpups.

KAPAUN MT. CARMEL has a pair of state champions returning in Jacob Schmitz in the boys’ discus (165-9) and Emma Wondra in the girls’ high jump (5-4). VALLEY CENTER features junior Libby Schurle, who won the girls’ javelin last year and senior Larry Wilson, who was second in the boys’ 200 and third in the 100.

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