Sports Ink. May 2018

S 1 SPORTS INK

A magazine focusing on all things sports in northwest Kansas

MAY 2018

Sky’sthe limit

FHSU vaulting duo pushing each other to new heights

The Hays Daily News

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WHO’S THAT?

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES IN NORTHWEST KANSAS.

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ETHAN LANG

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TMP-Marian junior

VAULTING DUO

FHSU VAULTERS PUSH EACH OTHER TO BE BETTER IN OUTDOOR SEASON.

SPORTS INK. CONTRIBUTORS: NICK MCQUEEN NMCQUEEN@DAILYNEWS.NET, JOLIE GREEN JGREEN@DAILYNEWS.NET; RICK PETERSON JR., RPETERSON@DAILYNEWS.NET ON THE COVER: FHSU’S SAM DREILING AND JAKE MORROW PRACTICE AT

A junior runner for the Thomas More 3UHS 0DULDQ ER\V¡ WUDFN DQG ÀHOG WHDP Lang got off to a hot start to the 2018 spring season. In an April 10 meet at Ellsworth, Lang captured a win the 800-meter run, was second in the 1,600-meter run and ran a leg in the 1,600- and 3,200-meter relays, with each claiming gold medals as the Monarch boys captured the team title. Lang also won the 800 at Russell, taking third in the 1,600 and the Monarchs’ 3,200 relay captured gold in the event as well.

FHSU’S INDOOR TRAINING FACILITY EARLIER THIS MONTH.

Volume 8, Issue 3 Sports Ink. is published and distributed by The Hays Daily News. Copyright Š 2018 News Publishing Co. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. Sports Ink. is a registered trademark of The Hays Daily News, 507 Main, Hays, KS 67601 (785) 628-1081.

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A few captured attention

I

’m still new to Northwest Kansas and have been getting a grasp on the top teams and individual performers in the area. Here’s five athletes in Hays who have caught my attention and might be worth keeping an eye on this spring.

title. He followed it up with a 72 to win the McPherson Invitational and lift the Indians to a runner-up finish.

McCrae was one of the leaders on the Indians’ team that finished fourth in state last year. He’s also a solid soccer and basketball player for Hays.

Ethan Lang, TMP, track and field Ethan Nunnery, Hays High, track and field Lang has been on a roll for the Thomas After sitting out last year’s More Prep-Marian boys’ track and field season with track team to start the For starters a knee injury, Nunnery is season. making up for lost time.

The junior won the Nunnery is currently at 800 in the Alex Francis the top of the area honor Classic, Russell Invitaroll list for triple jump. The tional and Ellsworth senior made school history Invitational. He also earned top three finishwith a leap of 47 feet, 7 3/4 inches in the Alex Francis Classic. es in the 1,600 at each of those meets.

He looks primed to best his eighth-place His top time in the 800 was a 2:05.57 at state finish in triple jump as a sophomore.

Ellsworth.

In soccer, Nunnery set the Indians’ Tradgon McCrae, Hays High, golf goal-scoring record last fall and was a key McCrae is off to a fantastic start this spring, contributor in basketball. claiming individual titles in the Indians’ first two meets.

Adell Riedel, TMP, track and field The junior fired a 75 to win the Garden Riedel has dominated in her first track seaCity Invitational and carry Hays to a team son for the Monarchs after transferring from

Rick

Peterson Jr.

Trego Community.

In TMP’s first three meets, the sophomore went a perfect six-for-six while competing in 800 and 1,600-meter runs. She swept those events in the Alex Francis Classic, the Russell Invitational and Ellsworth Invitational.

Her best times during the first three meets were a 2:25.27 in the 800 and a 5:36:00 in the 1,600.

Riedel placed fourth in both the 800 and 1,600 at state as a freshman for Trego. She also runs cross country and plays basketball.

Kayla Vitztum, TMP, soccer, track and field Another multi-sport star, Vitztum has been a goal-scoring machine for the Monarchs.

Vitztum scored 10 goals during TMP’s first five games to lead the Monarchs to a 4-1 start.

TMP earned a runner-up finish in the Class 4-1A playoffs last year.

Vitztum also competed in TMP’s opening track meet, finishing second in the 100-meter hurdles in the Alex Francis Classic with a time of 16.96.

The senior is also a volleyball and basketball star for the Monarchs. She signed with Newman for volleyball last November.

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Who’s That?

Notable performances in northwest Kansas Helen Giefer Giefer, a standout junior distance runner for the Trego Community High School girls’ WUDFN DQG ÆHOG WHDP VHW D new school record in the 3,200-meter run at the Triplains Invitational on April 10. Giefer won the event in 11 minutes, 30.75 seconds, nearly two minutes ahead of runner-up and sister, Sybil, a sophomore. Helen Giefer also won the 1,600 at Triplains, helping the Golden Eagles to 100 points and the team championship. She also is one of four siblings on the track team this season, along with Bernard, a senior, sybil and Wyndhomm, a freshman.

Jordan Schippers Schippers, through two weeks of the track season, already is a top sprinter in the entire state as a member the Colby High School track team.

Schippers ran a 22.53-second 200-meter dash at the Norton Invitational, placing him second through April 10 in the state, regardless RI FODVVLÆFDWLRQ 6FKLSSHUV ÆQLVKHG ÆIWK LQ &ODVV $ LQ the event as a sophomore, running a 22.58. The junior also ran a season-best 11.15 in the 100-meter dash as of April 10, winning at Norton.

Tradgon McCrae McCrae, a junior on the Hays High School golf team, started his season with two wins for the IndiDQV +H ÆUHG D WR ZLQ WKH Garden City Invitational to open the season at Buffalo Dunes Golf Course, helping +D\V +LJK WR D ÆUVW SODFH WHDP ÆQLVK $ ZHHN ODWHU 0F&UDH ÆQLVKHG ZLWK D ÆUVW SODFH (two-over) to lead Hays High to D VHFRQG SODFH WHDP ÆQLVK ZLWK a 313 at McPherson’s Turkey Creek Golf Course. McCrae and the Indians are coming off a season where WKH\ ÆQLVKHG IRXUWK LQ &ODVV $

Dayton Pomeroy In a struggle of a season for the Fort Hays State University baseball team, Pomeroy is a bright spot.

Through April 10, the Tiger senior had 12 home runs, 37 RBIs and was among the MIAA’s and nation’s best deep ball hitters. Pomeroy was batting .281 in 33 games started with nine doubles and a triple with 26 runs scored.

PUSHING limits S6

- By RICK PETERSON JR.

ust when Sam Dreiling’s pole vaulting career at Fort Hays State University was about to reach its peak, Dreiling was forced to put the sport on hold due to a freak accident.

Heading into his junior season, Dreiling was involved in an ATV accident last summer that left him with a broken neck and sev-

J

eral fractured vertebrae.

Refusing to give up his passion, Dreiling vowed to return to form. “(Pole vaulting is) just in me so much,” Dreiling said. “I love it so much. I just don’t want to not be able to do it.

“I always kind of really knew that I was going to get there no matter what. That was my mindset: I’m going to do it – no ifs,

ands or buts.”

Fortunately, Dreiling didn’t have to look far for motivation.

The Tigers boast two of the top vaulters in Division II with Dreiling and Jake Morrow, whose heights served as a gauge for Dreiling as he recovered both mentally and physically from the accident.

- continued on page 8

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S8 “If we’re being completely honest, I would say most people probably wouldn’t have been able to come back from that, or they would have had a lot of mental obstacles,” Morrow said of Dreiling’s recovery. “But Sam’s very physically and mentally tough. I don’t think I was ever worried. I knew he was going to bounce back. He’s a unique guy in that regard.”

So is Morrow, who recovered from his own injury challenges and near-misses to find success with the Tigers.

With both Dreiling and Morrow back healthy, the vaulters have pushed each other to new heights this year, claiming All-America status along the way.

“We bring out the best in each other,” Morrow said.

JOLIE GREEN, Sports Ink. Sam Dreiling practices in the indoor facility at FHSU.

“EVERY MEET COMES WITH A LITTLE BIT OF EXCITEMENT AND NERVOUSNESS, JUST WANTING TO COMPETE AND WANTING TO DO YOUR BEST.” - SAM DREILING, FHSU VAULTER

Constant competition Dreiling and Morrow are both consistent 16-foot vaulters, and it depends on the day who is jumping higher.

They’ve both already set NCAA Division II provisional marks for the outdoor season. Dreiling cleared 16 feet, 9 ¼ inches at Fort Hays State’s home meet on March 30 while Morrow took runner-up in the meet at 16 feet, 7 ¼ inches.

“I would say without a doubt, having a teammate like Sam constantly to practice with is a huge benefit,” Morrow said. “When we go to nationals, a lot of people only see that kind of caliber once or twice in the season. Me and Sam compete against each other every week.

“I think it’s relative, because we jump with each other all the time. It only makes sense that we have really similar outcomes, just because our work ethic and commitment are really, really similar. So the product of that isn’t surprising.”

“He has a good jump, I have a good jump,” Dreiling added. “It just keeps feeding off itself.

“Neither one of us are satisfied with where we’re at. We just want to go higher.”

The competitiveness between the two carries over in other aspects of training.

“It’s not necessarily a bad competitiveness, some people attribute it that way,” Morrow said. “We run 40-yard dashes. I might run like a 4.5 and then he might run one a little faster and then we’ll just go back and forth, back and forth.

“We always try to push each other in that regard.”

S9 Returning to full strength Dreiling suffered the injury on June 10, when the ATV he was driving went crashing into a ditch. He fractured his C5 and six other vertebrae in his upper back.

“When I was in the hospital that night in the ER, I was pretty calm because I knew I could move my appendages,” Dreiling said. “I was calm, up until they said, ‘Here are the options. We could ship him here or here.’ That’s when I started to get a little worried.

Like, ‘Hey, what exactly is wrong?”

Dreiling was in a neck brace for about two months after the injury.

“When they pulled it off, my first question was, ‘So I can get back to pole vaulting, right?’ The doctors were just kind of like, ‘Woah, not yet.’ ” Dreiling finally resumed vaulting on Oct. 1.

“Mentally was the hardest part,” he said. “The first time back from vaulting I had to stand back there on the runway and convince myself that it’s not going to hurt and that I could just do it. The hardest part of coming back from the recovery was coming back to focus.”

“I remember in the beginning of the first semester he just had some mental obstacles to have faith that his back isn’t going to get out of whack when he takes a vault,” Morrow said. “But he pushed through it just fine and he rarely, rarely complained. I think I only heard him complain once about his neck hurting the whole past indoor and outdoor season.”

Dreiling leaned on Morrow during his recovery.

“Coming into this year, I was like, ‘All right, Jake’s doing really good and I need to be right back there.’ It made me push myself to get back there and be competitive with him,” Dreiling said.

“Once winter break was over, Jake came back and he and I were jumping at pretty similar heights. And that’s when I’m like, “All right, now it’s go time.’”

The results soon followed with both Dreiling and Morrow qualifying for the national indoor meet last month in Pittsburg. They capitalized on the opportunity with All-America honors.

Morrow tied a school indoor record and placed sixth nationally with a vault of 16 feet, 10 ¾, while Dreiling claimed eighth with a height 16 feet, 6 ¾.

- continued on page 10

“WHEN WE GO TO NATIONALS, A LOT OF PEOPLE ONLY SEE THAT KIND OF CALIBER ONCE OR TWICE IN THE SEASON. ME AND SAM COMPETE AGAINST EACH OTHER EVERY WEEK.” - JAKE MORROW, FHSU VAULTER

JOLIE GREEN, Sports Ink. Jake Morrow practices in the indoor facility at FHSU.

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JOLIE GREEN, jgreen@dailynews.net Sam Dreiling and Jake Morrow run through drills at the indoor training facility.

“It was really special for me, because that was nine months to the day after I broke my neck,” Dreiling said. “It honestly wouldn’t have been the same without (Morrow) standing right there next to me on the podium.”

Dreiling was equally thrilled to see Morrow tie the school record.

“I told Jake at the middle of indoor season that one of us is going to get the indoor school record,” he said. “It came down to the national meet and when he got it, I was so relieved.”

Vaulting background Morrow, a native of Grand Island, Neb., didn’t start to find pole vaulting success until his junior and senior seasons in high school.

“I actually kind of gave up on pole vault my freshman and sophomore year and tried to hurdle because I just couldn’t make the varsity team those two years for pole vault,” he said. “My junior year, I think I got seventh place in state. I think I only went 13-6, but

I think I knew in the back of my head that I kind of just started getting serious with the event.”

He was recruited by former FHSU track and field head coach Dennis Weber.

“It was a four-year process to get to the All-American caliber,” Morrow said. “My freshman and sophomore year, I placed at every conference meet. Going into my junior year, I was kind of excited because I felt like I should have been at the same level that I am now. But I pulled my hamstring a whole bunch my junior year and I had tendinitis and plantar fasciitis in my foot. I kind of got my junior year taken away from me via injury.

“I was pretty motivated to finish my senior year the right way because I felt like my junior year should have gone a lot better than it did.”

Morrow came agonizingly close to reaching nationals on two occassions before breaking through as a senior.

“I remember my sophomore year

I missed the indoor nationals by a centimeter,” Morrow said. “They took 16 and I was 17th my sophomore and junior year, so I was really excited to finally even get into it for my senior year. It was just icing on the cake to compete the way I did.”

“I’m a big goal setter. You set these goals and it takes years to achieve them, so it’s a good feeling once you finally reach those.”

Pole vaulting was instilled in Dreiling from an early age from his father, Mark.

“I was probably 10 or 11 when I first picked it up,” said Dreiling, a Gorham native. “My dad actually came home with pole vault pits one day that were old and outdated. We set them up and found a piece of PCV pipe and dug a hole in the ground. I tried attempting to vault. Both my older brothers, they had vaulted a little bit already and they all started kind of showing me what to do. It kind of just took off from there.

S 11 “I realized within a year of doing it, that I was as good, if not better than my older brother. That was kind of a real driving factor of, ‘Well, I’m going to keep going just to prove that I’m better.”

After becoming a standout for Victoria, Dreiling began weighing his college choices.

“Actually, Fort Hays wasn’t on my radar at all because I knew I wanted to do engineering, so I was looking at engineering schools like K-State and Wichita,” he said. “But at the same time, I was kind of looking at anywhere that would let me keep vaulting.

“My mom actually suggested that I take a look at Fort Hays and we found out they had a 3-2 program that would allow me to transfer to K-State.

Once I found that out, I started to look here and talked to coach Weber, who offered me a scholarship. After that, it was a done deal, like, ‘I got three more guaranteed years of pole vault, I’m going to take it.”

Dreiling will transfer next fall to Kansas State and vault for the Wildcats. He credited his Tiger coaches for aiding his development, including

COURTESY PHOTO Sam Dreiling, pole vault coach Randy Stanley and Jake Morrow at the NCAA Division II Indoor National Championships in March in Pittsburg.

FHSU head coach Jason McCullough and Tigers’ pole vaulting coach Randy

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“They have helped me so much with the training,” Dreiling said. “Coach Randy, we understand each other’s wave lengths. I can sit there and make a sound and be like, ‘Randy, I don’t know exactly what I’m feeling.’ And he’ll be like, ‘Ok, I know that one, try this.’ And it will work.

“It’s great having somebody that understands where you’re at and has pole vaulted before and understands exactly where you’re stuck at.”

Future goals After a banner indoor season, Morrow and Dreiling are setting their sights on a strong finish to their Tiger careers.

“I’d like to get back to nationals again,” Morrow said. “Without a doubt, I wouldn’t be upset if I finished top eight. I managed to tie the indoor school record and I’d like to do something with the outdoor too.”

“Every meet comes with a little bit of excitement and nervousness, just wanting to compete and wanting to do your best,” Dreiling said. “At the same time, it’s kind of the mentality of I’ll take what I can get. If I happen to have a bad day I’m not going to let it affect the rest of my week.”

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