Sports
June 3, 2021 | B1
TSnews
Owls sweep 2A State track titles
Garden Plain girls defend 2019 championship By Travis Mounts TSnews news@tsnews.com The Garden Plain girls and boys track and field teams put on an impressive display at the Class 2A State track and field meet on Saturday, sweeping their way to both team championships. The girls’ performance was absolutely dominating. The Owls scored 108 points on their way to the victory, and in the process defended the title they won in 2019. There were no spring sports in Kansas in 2020, due to the pandemic. Garden Plain head girls coach Eric Rockers was surprised at the Owls’ margin of victory – 60 points. “I knew we had a shot to bring home a trophy. The girls performed really, really well,” he said. “I was a little bit shocked.” The boys team won convincingly, too, scoring 73 points to beat runner-up Kansas Christian by 29 points.
Head boys coach Andrew Bergkamp was pleased with the win, and a bit surprised by how many points the Owls won by. “I though it was going to be a tight competition. The team just over-performed,” he said. The Lady Owls won their team title by dominating multiple events. Brooke Hammond and Haidyn Thompson ran side-by-side in the finals of both the 100 and 200 meters, and finished first and second, respectively, in both events. Hammond set the standard for the Owls, with four gold medals on the day. She also won the 400 meters, setting the top time while competing in the slower heat. And she anchored the 4x100 relay team that won gold. Thompson and Allison Catlin both were on that team. Catlin won three gold medals. She was the winner in both the 100-meter and 300-meter hurdles. Teammate Celia Puetz made it to the medal stand in both races as well, placing fourth in the 100 hurdles and sixth in the 300 hurdles. Catlin anchored the 4x400 relay, running with Alli Puetz, Celia Puetz and Sydney Puetz. The Owls placed fourth. Sydney Puetz also earned an individual medal, taking fifth in the 1600. Other Garden Plain medalists were
Travis Mounts/TSnews
Allison Catlin, left, and Celia Puetz race toward the finish line in the 100-meter hurdles finals on Saturday in the Class 2A State track and field meet. Catlin won the race and set a new school record as well, while Puetz made it to the medal stand as well with a fourthplace finish. The points helped Garden Plain win the team title.
Jack Haukap prepares for one of his throws in the shot put finals. He won the event, and Garden Plain teammate Luke Hillman placed second by beating
Madysen Zoglman, fourth in javelin; Sophie Smith, fifth in triple jump; Christia Rose Gorges, sixth in pole vault; and Naomi Dooley, sixth in discus. The girls set new school records in three events – Catlin in the 300 hurdles, Hammond in the 200, and the 4x100 relay team. Arden Rex paced the boys by winning three gold medals, one on the track, one jumping and one throwing. He won the 200, high jump and javelin. In addition, Rex was second in the 400. Jack Haukap earned two individual medals, including a first in shot put. He also was seventh in high jump. Luke Hillman took second in shot put, finishing right behind Haukap. Hillman came in as the 13th seed, and at State threw nearly 5 feet farther than he did at the regional meet, blowing past his previous personal best. Will Tice gave the Owls another 1-2 finish, this time in javelin as Rex and Tice took the top two spots. Tice beat his previous best distance by about 12 feet. Tyler Dreiling made it to the medal stand by placing seventh in discus.
Travis Mounts/TSnews
See OWLS, Page B3
Cardinals win State softball By Michael Buhler TSnews
The glow of the Cheney Cardinals winning the Class 3A State softball championship still hasn’t worn off for head coach Matthew Johnson. “I’m still on cloud nine,” Johnson said Tuesday morning. “It was a great ride and it’s a tremendous feeling. I’ve coached a lot of sports and a lot of games and this has been probably the most rewarding championship that I’ve been involved with for sure.” The Cardinals won the State title last Friday evening in thrilling fashion, downing Silver Lake 1-0 in Manhattan. Korri Lies tossed a seven-hit shutout and struck out seven while freshman Jailyn Adolph hit a home run – her first all season – to lead off the bottom of the sixth inning for the game’s only run. “Jailyn’s eyes and smile were as big as could be coming around second base,” Johnson said. “It was just like she couldn’t
even believe it herself.” With Cheney up 1-0 in the top of the seventh, Silver Lake’s Reagan Money slid into third and had a chance to score the tying run when the throw sailed past third baseman Kylee Scheer. However, Scheer chased down the ball and threw it to catcher Lexi Lorenz, who tagged Money out at the plate to end the game. “After that final out it was crazy,” Lorenz said. “Everyone was screaming and running and jumping. I held that ball in my glove for a good amount of time just taking pictures without taking it off. After we won, the first person I ran to was Korri. “Korri and I have played together on the same team since I can remember. I have caught for her for a good amount of years and I wouldn’t want to catch for anyone else.” Lies dominated in the circle all season and continued to do so at State, striking out 31 batters over three games and allowing just seven runs – and only two combined in the semifinals and champi-
Stephanie McKennon/TSnews
Jailyn Adolph throws her hands in the air after hitting a solo home run in the sixth inning of Friday’s game in Manhattan. It proved to be the winning run, as Cheney beat Silver Lake 1-0.
Stephanie McKennon/TSnews
Halley Jones races toward home during Cheney’s Class 3A championship game against Silver Lake. Jones was called out, but Cheney won the title.
onship game. “She’s been a workhorse all year,” Johnson said. “This is her sport, it’s her passion and it’s the thing she loves to do. She’s been phenomenal all year.” For the year, Lies tossed three no-hitters and several more shutouts. Not only that, but she also performed well at the plate at State, getting the game-winning hit in the Cardinals’ come-from-behind win against Rock Creek in the quarterfinal last Thursday.
“She did it all for us,” Johnson said. “She just had a really, really phenomenal tournament. I’m not sure if Class 3A has a player of the year, but...I certainly would say that she would be worthy of that honor.” Lorenz also had more words of praise for Lies. “She is the most hard-working girl I’ve ever met,” Lorenz said. “She puts
See CARDINALS, Page B3