Year in Review, VYPE June 2010

Hello VYPE readers! It has been awhile! I decided to let T-Spoon have the Pre-Game section more often than not. He is a much better writer than I am and his stuff is generally not as “sappy” as mine. At least that is what he tells me.

For the last three year’s I have always written the Pre-Game for our Year In Review Issue. I usually reminisce about all the great stories about kids, teams, coaches and families in the VYPE communities. There is never a shortage of greatness in our area. For the third straight year I am still amazed about the quality of student athletes and the high school programs in our area.

However, this year is a little different…First of all, VYPE is bringing the annual Year in Review a month earlier than in the past. Going forward

our June issue will be dedicated to covering state results from the spring and our Year In Review. Why you ask? (And thank you for asking.) In July VYPE will be issuing our first Football Preview issue. This issue will be a comprehensive look at all the football teams in our area. Nothing but football in this issue! While that by itself is pretty cool, the really cool aspect of the Football Preview, thanks to our friends at Mel Hambelton Ford, is that our Football Preview will benefit every school in the VYPE community. Our friends at Presto, Wendy’s and Wal-Mart will distribute the magazines and a portion of the proceeds will be divided between all the schools. The schools can also sell the magazines in their communities to raise additional money. VYPE is very excited and proud to bring the Football Preview and the fundraising opportunity to the area. Another cool result of the July Football Preview is that our August issue can go more in-depth on the remaining fall sports. We will give football a break in August so we can focus on the other great fall sports in a way we have not been able to in the past. Awesome!

The other reality that makes this Year In Review different and gives me my golden opportunity to be “sappy” is that this is the last issue that some girl named Kylie Cooper will ever be a part of. I know, some of you are saying “finally”. I understand. I have been trying to prepare myself for this for awhile but I am still having a very hard time with it. I am certain that all fathers (sorry moms this one is for dads) hearts sink when their baby girls graduate and look away from the comforts of home, family and dad to go out and discover who they are and what they can be. But, I think dads that have been involved in their daughters athletics are heart ached just a bit more. The beauty and sometimes the curse (for the girl) of being a father to a daughter in athletics is that you spend a lot, and I mean a lot, of time together. You have more quality time to be a dad, a coach, a cheerleader, a motivator and a consoler. It also means you have more time to argue, to be too demanding, to be too competitive, to care too much about winning and losing, to embarrass (for me, this would be yelling at officials) and to be overbearing. I believe dad’s who have daughter’s in sports always suffer from an identity crisis of being a dad and a coach or a coach and a dad. It is not the same with son’s. It is much easier to be both coach and dad with boy’s because the expectation is ever so slightly different. At the end of the day, she is my daughter and that changes almost everything.

So, as I send a daughter off to college to continue to play the game and become her own person, I can’t help but reflect on what has been gained and what has been lost. Gained is a daughter that is ready for the next episode of the “real world” because of what sports has taught her; discipline, competitiveness, teamwork, ambition, humility, confidence, and character. Lost are the hours we spend together as father and daughter. It is not a great trade off but it is one that I am forever grateful for.

John Wooden passed away while I was pondering this “sappy” Pre-Game. Three of his quotes struck me as the lessons I would like my daughter and me to take away from her high school basketball experience:

“A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment.” I know I often failed at this but I hope I got it right more often than not.

“What you are as a person is far more important than what you are as a basketball player.” My daughter is a good basketball player. She is an exceptional person.

“Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think of you.” This is the lesson I hope we both learned the best.

Good luck Ky. Love, Dad

VY

PE

.CO

M ::

JU

NE

20

10

:: H

IGH

SC

HO

OL

SP

OR

TS

55

TM

A LETTER fROM THE PUbLISHER

PREGAME

PregamePregamePregame®

Mike CooperPublisher

CENTRAL KANSAS STAFF

PubLiShER Mike Cooper

EdiToR-iN-ChiEF Tom Witherspoon

GRAPhiC dESiGN Krystal Neuhofel

PhoToGRAPhERS William Purnell, Phil Zivnuska, Jonathan Knight, Scott Sewell, dale Stelz, Steve Adelson, bill Millspaugh

CLiPART iStock Photos

ACCouNT MANAGER doug downs, big Corner Creative

ACCouNT MANAGER Mike Watkins, big Corner Creative

ACCouNT MANAGER david Channel

SALES SuPPoRT/AdMiNiSTRATivE ASSiSTANT Samantha downs

iNTERN becca Page, university of Notre dame

CoNTACT iNFoRMATioNWebsite: www.vype.comMagazine: http://vype.com/centralkansasEditor: [email protected] Advertising: [email protected] CoMMENTS & [email protected]

Sales: 316.218.3579Editorial: 316.209.7228Fax: 316.462.1463Franchising: 800.614.8061Subscriptions: 316.218.3579Address: 11771 West Kellogg Wichita, KS 67209

vype high School Sports Magazine is published monthly by vype high School Sports Magazine Central Kansas. Reproductions in whole or in part without permission are prohibited. vype is not responsible for the return of unsolicited artwork, photography or manuscripts and will not be responsible for holding fees or similar charges. All digital submissions and correspondence will become property of vype. Statements made, implied or expressed in vype do not necessarily represent the editorial position of the publisher.

Editorial disclaimerAll rights reserved. For editorial matters, please contact the editor. The views of contributing writers do not neces-sarily reflect the policies of vype nor that of the publishers.vype has a clear commitment to inviting and publishing corrections of fact and clarifying errors of context. Correc-tions of errors and mistakes are a necessity in obtaining credibility in the magazine. vype supports and encourages our staff and contributing writers and photographers to make any potential error known to our editor.

Advertising disclaimerAll rights reserved. The views and opinions of vype advertisers do not reflect that of vype high School Sports Magazine. in accordance with the NCAA bylaws, vype and its advertisers have complied in all advertisements present in vype.

Coming Soon!

Jack Dresslar KIAAA ScholarshipsI am writing to you in appreciation of Mel Hambelton and VYPE Magazine’s funding of the KIAAA scholarship. This scholarship will help further my education and move me one step closer to reaching my goal of becoming a teacher and coach.

Daniel GeorgeClass of 2010

Conway Springs High School I love the inside cover of the April Vype! Thank you for once again stepping up to support student athletes and our interscholastic program. In this regard, you have provided both financial and publication resources and recognition. Thanks, Mike, you are a great advocate for our kids and asset for the community.

Bill FaflickDirector of Athletics

Wichita Public Schools

I am so pleased and excited that you have committed to assisting with the funding of the Jack Dresslar KIAAA scholarships. Your personal commitments will be incredibly helpful in assisting the athletes of Kansas with their college education. Thank your from all the members of KIAAA.

Charlotte DavisKIAAA Scholarship Coordinator

WSU BasketballThe fourth annual Gregg Marshall Auction and Golf Tournament is over and was a huge success for Shocker basketball! We grossed over $200,000 from this year’s event and those funds give us the additional revenue needed to be competitive in areas such as recruiting and team travel and to help with the success of our team throughout the year. I want to thank you for your generous donation to our auction. Everything you contribute to this function is sincerely appreciated by me, my coaching staff and our players. Because of your generosity, loyalty and support, we will all work very hard in the months to come to make the 2010-11 season a great. one for you!

Gregg MarshallHead Basketball Coach

Wichita State

Career Day With VYPEThank you so much for your participation in the Newton High School Career and Technical Education program. We appreciate you so willingly opening your doors to our student.Also, thank you for your time and commitment to help students make an informed decision regarding their future career options. I hope we can continue our partnerships as we continue to expose students to the world of work.

Joanelle LucasCareer and Technical Education Coordinator

Donna MillsCareer Development Coordinator

Newton High School

6

RantsRantsRants& Raves& Raves& Raves

HIG

H S

CH

OO

L S

PO

RT

S

:: J

UN

E 2

01

0

::

VY

PE

.CO

M

26Wheeler, Young and D1August Rick Wheeler talked about the football turnaround at Heights, Tom Young looked back on his 296-win career and Grissom and Hedgepeth were D1-bound

28Maki, Soccer and VolleyballSeptember Kapaun’s Mackenzie Maki embarked on her second consecutive state cross country title season, and we reported on the soccer and volleyball seasons

32Reno Expansion, Rusher and RodeoOctober Jorden Oden and Buhler built an offensive jugger-naut, the Weekend Rusher was launched online at vype.com and we highlighted the rodeo kids of south central Kansas

34City League Super SophsNovember A loaded sophomore class led our basketball preview, as deep as any class in Wichita and headlined by Heights’ Perry Ellis

38Record Breakers and WrestlersDecember Hutch football set a new state record by winning its sixth consecutive state football title and the area showed its depth of top grapplers in our wrestling report

42Career Coaches and Sunrise BallersJanuary A series of profiles showed that not every coach’s story is highlighted by a state championship, and Sunrise basketball tested its mettle against national powers

46Cheer, Power and Outstanding IndividualsFebruary Cheerleaders and powerlifters took the cover, but on the inside were several profiles on oustanding individu-als both on and off the field

48Undefeated Champs, Spring PreviewsMarch Before springs sports began, Goddard won its fourth state wrestling title in five seasons and five area individuals completed undefeated seasons at state wrestling

50State Hoops and The ListApril Heights won its second consecutive state basketball title, Andover Central girls went undefeated for the second time in three seasons and we announced THE LIST

54The CentennialMay The 100th Kansas high school state track meet was headlined by the athletes featured in our May preview issue

your friend in the digital age®

Community Athletes of the MonthBrought to you by Cox

Cooper Clark, Senior

Campus High SchoolCampus senior Cooper Clark placed in the top five of the Class 6A state cross country meet three consecutive seasons, 2007-2009. Also a two-year varsity baseball player at Campus, Clark will compete in both sports at Baker University on scholarship. He carried a 4.2 GPA and was a senior representative in the National Honor Society. Clark was vice president of the band council as a senior and played in four musical groups at Campus. He volunteers for his church, Special Olympics, Lions Club and Haysville youth baseball.

Restrictions appy. © 2010 Cox Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.

Courtney Rash, Senior

Rose Hill High SchoolRose Hill senior Courtney Rash, a four-year softball letter winner, will continue next year at Cowley College on a softball scholarship. An all-league first baseman, Rash was also a three-year letter winner in basketball. In addition to being a member of National Honor Society, she is a four-year honor student with a 3.97 GPA. Rash is a DARE role model and volunteers at her church’s Sunday school and Bible school. She also sat on student council, volunteers at a local kids’ basketball camp and is a softball umpire.

Cox is proud to support students and communities

in Central Kansas. Whether students are researching

projects in the classroom or checking the latest scores,

they know they can rely on Cox.

Cox.com

HIG

H S

CH

OO

L S

PO

RT

S

:: J

UN

E 2

01

0

::

VY

PE

.CO

M

8

Acrobatic catches, high-flying cheerleaders, screaming coaches, and rambunctious fans. Picture This gives us the opportunity to catch it all for you. If you recognize someone, be sure to tell them that they have earned their spot in VYPE High School Sports.

Fastest In 4A – Kansas’ fastest prepsters resided in Class 4A at the 2010 state track meet. Valley Center’s Joe Fisher held off Trinity Academy’s Morgan Burns and DeSoto’s Jordan Riffel for the 100-meter title (10.67), while riffel closed ground late in the 200-meter to edge out fisher (21.96). The three sprinters, all juniors, return next year.

Photo by William

Purnell

Photo by Phil Zivnuska

Photo by William

Purnell

VY

PE

.CO

M ::

JU

NE

20

10

:: H

IGH

SC

HO

OL

SP

OR

TS

9

P I C T U R E T H I S


Sweeps – Garden Plain’s Kurt Pauly (top left) won four gold medals at the state track meet for the second consecutive year. He once again swept the Class 3A 100, 200 and 400 meter dashes, in addition to anchoring the 4x400 relay championship team. Cunningham’s Ashley Shearer (right) swept the Class 1A jumps, becoming the first girls athlete to accomplish the feat since 2002. McPherson’s Adam Porter (top right) swept the Class 5A 800, 1600 and 3200 meter runs, becoming the third Kansas athlete in state track history to sweep the distance races in consecutive years.

Photo by William

Purnell



800s – Maize’s Danielle Walker (left) won the Class 6A 800-meter (2:15.85) by nearly three seconds, while Northwest’s Daniel Herbert made a late inside move to win the boys 800 (1:55.39), despite being blocked at the finish line (Olathe East runner was disqualified). The El Dorado boys (above) 4x800 relay team won the 4A title, anchored by junior Casey Nightengale (top left).

HIG

H S

CH

OO

L S

PO

RT

S

:: J

UN

E 2

01

0

::

VY

PE

.CO

M

10


Photo by William

Purnell

Photo by William

PurnellPhoto by Phil Zivnuska

L O C K E R T A L KL O C K E R T A L K V

YP

E.C

OM

:: J

UN

E 2

01

0 ::

HIG

H S

CH

OO

L S

PO

RT

S

11

Sign-up for Wichita City League Jr. Football

June 1, 2010- August 1, 2010- Play It Again Sports-West will be signing up Players for the 2010 season. Players entering the 2nd thru 8th grade are eligible to play Jr. Football. Please go to our website www.playitagainsportswichita.com for further details. All players receive new helmets and new shoulder pads to use for the season.

Play It Again Sports-West NEW STORE OPENED

Play It Again Sports-West has opened its new store at Central and Tyler. The store features all the latest equipment both new and ued needed to play football. The new store is located at 8929 W. Central (SW corner of Central and Tyler). 316-729-0300. www.playitagainsportswichita.com

If you are playing football, Play It Again Sports-West is the place to go. The store currently stocks helmets, pads, mouthpieces, shoes, practice pants, socks, receiver’s gloves, blocking dummies, footballs, girdles, chin straps and many other football items.

City League Jr. Football Coaches wanted.

If you are looking to coach Jr. Football this season. Now is the time to sign up. Don’t worry about not having enough players.There are always more players signing up than coaches. We will fill out an entire team with players for you. Please contact Scott Martin at Play It Again Sports-West for details. 729-0300.

NEW Jr. football organization formed for 2010 season

Jr. Grizzlies are the newest Jr. youth football program to enter the Wichita Jr. City Football League. Now taking sign-ups for any youth player entering the 2nd-8th grade. Northwest High School coach Weston Shartz says “we are very much excited about our future players here at Northwest High School getting the opportunity to play Jr. football with an organization like the Jr. Grizzlies”. All sign-ups will be at Play It Again Sports-West from June 5th- July 25th.

CITY LEAGUE JR. FOOTBALL SIGNUPS

PLAY IT AGAIN SPORTS-WEST


12 H I G H S C H O O L S P O R T S :: J U N E 2 0 1 0 :: V Y P E . C O M

Field Champions – Southeast’s Jamillah Bonner (top left) was pressured in the 6A triple jump but won the title by one-half inch (39-7). Southeast’s Jeff Conner (left), who had the longest put of the season, placed third in the shot put at state but won the 6A discus title. El Dorado junior Jamie House (above) closed out her third 4A pole vault state title by setting a 4A state meet record (12-1).

Photo by William

Purnell

Photo by Phil ZivnuskaPhoto by Phil Zivnuska

P L AY E R O F T H E M O N T H

7550 W Village Circle, Suite One • Wichita, KS • 67205316.838.2020 or 800.937.2020www.koc-pa.com

NICK WEAVER, NORTHWEST GOLF

Northwest junior Nick Weaver returned to the golf

course this spring after sitting out his sophomore

season with two broken wrists.

First, Weaver broke his right wrist in December

2008 playing football in the gymnasium. Then two months later in

February 2009, right before golf tryouts and about to get his cast

off, Weaver broke his left wrist playing basketball in gym class. His

left wrist, which he had broken three years ago skateboarding and

had a screw inserted, was in a cast for all of the 2009 golf season.

Weaver, whose home course is Reflection Ridge, started this

season on the junior varsity but played with the Northwest varsity

at the City League meet. He shot 80 at Clapp to finished tied for

twelfth. Weaver, with two fully healed wrists, says he plans to play

several KJGA events this summer.

Kansas Orthopaedic Center, PA and VYPE High School Sports Magazine have teamed together to recognize high school athletes sidelined by injury. Aided by the care of Kansas Orthopaedic Center, these athletes have either made a “comeback” or are in the process of doing so with the goal of competing once again in their respective sport following rehabilitation. KOC wants to honor these athletes for their commitment and hard work to overcome pain, weakness, surgery and/or dysfunction that kept them out of the game.

Nominations for “Comeback Player of the Month” can be emailed to [email protected] or mailed to: VYPE Comeback Player, 11771 W. Kellogg, Wichita, KS, 67209. Nominations should include the athlete’s name, school, sport, head coach, athletic trainer, therapist, physician and the reason why you think they should be awarded the Kansas Orthopaedic Center Comeback Player of the Month award.

Kansas Orthopaedic Center, PA brings highly skilled physicians and health care professionals together in a setting that provides comprehensive orthopaedic care and physical medicine to people throughout the region. Kansas Orthopaedic Center specializes in caring for injuries and disorders that affect the system of bones, muscles, ligaments, tendons, joints and nerves that allow our bodies to move with ease. Most importantly, Kansas Orthopaedic Center offers more than just the latest in medical technology. Our doctors have a personal commitment to meet the needs of their patients. This is the foundation for the high quality of care offered by Kansas Orthopaedic Center. KOC… Providing you the very best in orthopaedic care!



Wichita Sprints – Independent’s Imani Fenner (below) won the Class 3A 200-meter and 100-meter, poking out ahead at the 100 finish line in front of her stumbling teammate Tina Liu, who came back later in the day to win the triple jump title. The Heights 4x100 relay teams swept the 6A titles, to the jubilation of boys anchor Dreamius Smith (right).

Photo by William

PurnellPhoto by W

illiam Purnell

15H I G H S C H O O L S P O R T S :: J U N E 2 0 1 0 :: V Y P E . C O M





Photo by William

Purnell


Photo by William

Purnell





Two Good – Northwest’s Andrew Etheridge (left) followed through in the race he was favored to win, the Class 6A 110 meter hurdles, defeating Maize’s Miles Ukaoma (left;center) and Derby’s Meshach Kennedy (left;right), then surprised in the 300 meter hurdles to win his second gold medal of the meet. Kapaun’s Mackenzie Maki (right) and El Dorado’s Molly Milbourn (above) won two gold medals apiece in the distance races. Milbourn missed winning the Class 4A 800 meter by just .04 seconds, while Maki fell off the pace in the Class 5A 800.


Photo by William

Purnell

Photo by William

Purnell



Photo by Scott Sewell


Photo by Jonathan KnightPhoto by Jonathan Knight

1999 And Now – only twice has the Class 6A state softball title resided outside of the northeastern part of Kansas. Maize won its second state softball title in school history, its first in 6A, and the area’s first in 6A since Wichita Northwest won in 1999. After beating previously undefeated Washburn rural 5-3 in the semifinal, they defeated olathe South 10-4 in the championship game. Pitcher Katlyn Kern won all three games for Maize in the circle.



curfew passLarge groups and full menu until 1am!

Wichita West • Old tOWn Wichita • Wichita eastwww.oldchicago.com

90 Wins, 10 Losses – Andale-Garden Plain softball defeated Bishop Carroll 11-1 in the Class 5A state championship game to win its second title in three seasons. The Indians won their three state games by a combined score 24-4 and finished the season with a 24-1 record. Andale-Garden Plain has won 90 percent of their games from 2007 to 2010, going 90-10. Insetted, Sydnee Eck (left) bats against Carroll in the championship game.




Photo by Dale Stelz




State Baseball – Jake Lovendahl (top right) extended Douglass’ string of postseason upsets through the first round of the 3A state baseball tournament. Despite entering the playoffs with a losing record, Douglass followed up wins over 20-1 Collegiate and 18-2 Medicine Lodge at regionals with an 8-1 win over undefeated and state no. 1-seeded Doniphan County behind Lovendahl’s 13-strikeout performance on the mound. Maize (top left) celebrated an extra-innings 1-0 6A state semifinal win over Lawrence Free State but turned around and lost the championship game 11-3 to Blue Valley, despite run-ruling the same team 10-0 earlier in the month. Carroll’s Denton Howell (right) slid safely into home in the 5A state championship game against Topeka Seaman, but Seaman won 4-3.

Photo by Jonathan KnightPhoto by Jonathan Knight


20



3 In Top 3 – Kapaun golf won the Class 5A state golf title, led by David Auer (above), Jack Cantele (below) and A.J. Gebert (right), each of whom placed in the top three individually.

Photo by Dale Stelz

Photo by Dale Stelz


HIG

H S

CH

OO

L S

PO

RT

S

:: J

UN

E 2

01

0

::

VY

PE

.CO

M

22


Photo by Jonathan Knight

High 5A – Winfield senior Adam Lawrence was the area’s high finisher in Class 5A state singles, placing third with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Hutchinson’s Ryan Hickman.

Return Champs – Collegiate doubles team Miles Dunne and Brandon Somerhalder lost just seven games in four matches at the Class 3-2-1A state tennis tournament to win their second championship (2010, 2008). Collegiate won their third consecutive team state tennis title.

Photo by Jonathan Knight Photo by Jonathan Knight

VY

PE

.CO

M ::

JU

NE

20

10

:: H

IGH

SC

HO

OL

SP

OR

TS

23


Another Norman – Independent freshman Jake Norman lost four games in four matches at the Class 3-2-1A state tennis tournament to win his first singles state title, following his graduated brother, Ryan, a three-time singles champ.


McDoubles – McPherson doubles team Nathan Wohrman and Mark Gayer lost just four games in their first three matches at the Class 5A state tennis tournament before winning the state title 6-4, 6-2 over Hutchinson’s Ben Braun and Ben Fangman.

Team Title – Hutchinson singles player Ryan Hickman placed fourth at the Class 5A state tennis tournament, helping the Salthawks to the team title.




L O C K E R T A L K

Hamstring Injuries & Recovery

JusTin RohRbeRg, PTJustin is a graduate of the Wichita State University Physical Therapy Program. He actively participates in educating future Physical Therapists by serving as a clinical site supervisor for physical therapy students, through the WSU program. In his free time he enjoys spending time with his wife and their two dogs, playing soccer and hunting.

Hamstring injuries are a common injury found in sports requiring athletes to jump and sprint. While any injury takes

time away from the athlete’s participation in practice and games, hamstring injuries can become problematic far into the future if not rehabilitated correctly.

Although not much is known about the etiology of hamstring injuries, many mechanisms have been proposed including muscle weakness, poor flexibility and endurance, lack of warm-up or stretching, and a return to activity too soon after injury. The significance

of the injury depends on the amount of tissue involved. Hamstring injuries can often be graded into three categories. First degree strains involve little to no tearing of muscle fibers and will result in pain with little loss of strength. Grade two strains result in loss of strength and functional use along with pain. Third degree hamstring strains can be both painful or pain free and involve significant tearing of muscles fibers to complete disruption of the muscle.

Rehabilitating a hamstring injury can require a multifaceted approach to return the athlete to competition. Rest is one of the most important factors to allow the body to heal the injury. Sacrificing time to rest early in the season may pay dividends when the athlete tries to return to competition. Rushing back too soon may cause further injury and result in more lost time on the field. Other treatments may include RICE (Rest, ice, compression, elevation), stretching,

and progressive strengthening. Since hamstring strains have the ability to become a chronic problem very easily, additional interventions can be used to increase the success of the rehabilitation. Adding core strengthening, agility drills, and increasing eccentric strength and endurance have been shown to be effective in some research studies to help prevent their reoccurrence and reduce the incidence of injury.

Once a player has sustained a hamstring injury the likelihood of re-injury is often greater than a player that has no history of injury. Occasionally,

there may be more involved than just the hamstring muscles. These may include pelvic alignment or muscle imbalances. If recurrent injuries are continuing to plague an athlete, an evaluation by an orthopaedic surgeon and/or physical therapist may be in order to help locate the cause of the injury and give the player the tools to rehabilitate the injury and return to full participation.

How to stretch a hamstring injury: A simple method to stretch the hamstrings requires only the athlete and a step. Placing the heel of the injured leg on the step with the foot relaxed, slowly bring your chest toward your knee. Keeping a straight spine as you lean forward should produce a stretch throughout the hamstring muscle. If you are stretching an injured hamstring the stretch should be kept pain free. Stretching too far can further aggravate the injury. •

Rushing back too soon may cause further

injury and result in more lost time on the field.


Proudly supporting student athletes who aspire higher.

Ces

sna

Cla

ssro

om C

ham

pion

s

Ryan SchultzMaize High

Ashlynn BezdekAndover High

Cessna Classroom Champions – June 2010

Ryan Schultz – All-state Maize High basketball player Ryan Schultz will continue playing under Steve Eck at Hutchinson Community College next year. Schultz was a member of National Honor Society from his sophomore through senior year, carrying a 3.92 GPA, and scored a 29 on the math portion of the ACT. He served as a math tutor for Maize underclassmen and plans to study biology at Hutch.

Ashlynn Bezdek – Academic all-state basketball player Ashlynn Bezdek of Andover High carried a 3.8 GPA throughout high school. She plans to attend Butler Community College for a year in preparation to study accounting or psychology at Wichita State. While at Andover, Bezdek received the academic fitness award, the President’s award for educational excellence and was an oustanding student in statistics.

Congratulations to Ryan Schultz and Ashlynn Bezdek, Cessna Classroom Champions.


Photogenic – Emily Otte and Valley Center reeled off another 30-win season last fall, but that’s not why this photo was chosen. Whether in an active or static pose, Otte delivers an interesting, if not stoic, expression in every shot the VYPE photo archive has of her.

Photo of the Month

2009-2010

August 2009

HIG

H S

CH

OO

L S

PO

RT

S

:: A

UG

US

T 2

00

9

::

VY

PE

.CO

M

16

VY

PE

.CO

M ::

AU

GU

ST

20

09

:: H

IGH

SC

HO

OL

SP

OR

TS

17

L O C K E R T A L K

A Pall Lifted

VYPE: Where is Heights football now, compared to where it was when you arrived? Rick Wheeler: Heights had been pretty bad – as bad as any team in the state, and the record shows that (77-262, 1962-1998). And I think that we’ve proved that we’re a contender for our league title and district title year in and year out. We’ve played at the state level, too, and while we haven’t been able to win many of those games, we’ve run into some good teams over the years.VYPE: Do you feel like the rebuilding effort at Heights is complete? Is the program where you want it? Rick Wheeler: No, it’s not complete because we haven’t won a state

championship. But I feel like we’re heading in the right direction. It’s all the clichés: It’s baby steps, Rome wasn’t built in a day, things like that. We’re in a situation now, I think, where it’s certainly possible (to win a title). Ten years ago, it wasn’t possible for us to compete at that level year in and year out like we’re doing now. Now, if you’re gonna win a league championship, you have to beat us. If you’re gonna win the district, you have to beat us.VYPE: What are your expectations for the upcoming season? Rick Wheeler: Our expectations are always high. They’re lofty again this year, just like they have been the past six, eight years. We’re awful young. We had 26 seniors last year; only two starters are back on defense and about four or five are back on offense. We’ll get tested awfully hard early,

but I think before the season is over we’ll be a good football team.VYPE: Who are some players that fans should be excited about watching this season? Rick Wheeler: John McClure may not be a fan favorite, except for people who like watching the offensive line, but he should be a dominating player. He’s our right tackle, a great big kid (6-4, 315) and a lot of the action will happen right behind him. Steven Strand (6-2, 180) at wideout is a big-play type player. Another one to look for is Dreamius Smith (6-1, 190). He was a sixth man on our state championship basketball team. He’s a running back, and he’s really talented.VYPE: Your first four games are Bishop

Carroll, Kapaun Mount Carmel, Northwest and Great Bend. How challenging is that? Rick Wheeler: Bishop Carroll traditionally is a very strong program; we’ve had some great games with them over the years. And it should be the same thing this year. They have the No. 1 quarterback in the country (Blake Bell), so you know we’re gonna be tested. Hopefully, our kids will be up for

the challenge.VYPE: Finish the following sentence. When the season is over I’ll be satisfied if…Rick Wheeler: We’re state champions.

“Now, if you’re goNNa wiN a league champioNship, you have to beat us. if you’re goNNa wiN the district, you have to beat us.”

r i c k w h e e l e r b u i l t a f o o t b a l l p r o g r a m w h e r e s u c c e s s h a d b e e N l a c k i N g f o r 4 0 y e a r s o f s c h o o l h i s t o r y . h e i g h t s w e N t f r o m t h e c i t y l e a g u e c e l l a r t o p e r e N N i a l c o N t e N d e r

tm

Coach Rick Wheeler has authored an impressive and dramatic turnaround at Wichita Heights High School. When he arrived at the City League school 11 years ago, Heights football was, to be kind, struggling mightily. Thanks in large part to Wheeler’s leadership and dedication, Falcon football is now a perennial contender in the CL and a force at the state level.

Photo by Walter Dixon

Heights has made four state appearances since 2002 – the only trips in school history. Wheeler, a 44-year-old Kansas City native, was the league’s coach of the year in 2006. He coached at Lincoln High School for four years before taking over at Heights. Prior to that, he was an assistant coach at Heights for six years. An offensive lineman as a player, he was a starter at Butler County and Fort Hays State.

By Kollen LongPhoto b

y Dale Stelz

One Step Closer RICK WHEELER TOLD VYPE IN AUGUST THAT STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS WERE THE GOAL FOR HEIGHTS FOOTBALL. FOLLOWING A 2-4 START, IT LOOKED LIKE THE FALCONS HAD TAKEN A STEP BACKWARD, WHEN THEY WON SIx STRAIGHT TO MAKE THEIR FIRST STATE FOOTBALL TITLE GAME

“Heights had been pretty bad – as bad as any team in the state, and the record shows that (77-262, 1962-1998).

“No, (the rebuilding process) is not complete because we haven’t won a state championship. But I feel like we’re heading in the right direction. It’s all the clichés: It’s baby steps, Rome wasn’t built in a day, things like that. We’re in a situation now, I think, where it’s certainly possible (to win a title). Ten years ago, it wasn’t possible for us to compete at that level year in and year out like we’re doing now. Now, if you’re gonna win a league championship, you have to beat us. If you’re gonna win the district, you have to beat us.” –Rick Wheeler, told to Kollen Long

F E A T U R E

24 H I G H S C H O O L S P O R T S :: A U G U S T 2 0 0 9 :: V Y P E . C O M 25H I G H S C H O O L S P O R T S :: A U G U S T 2 0 0 9 :: V Y P E . C O M

F E A T U R E

G.A. Young had a way of doing things. Hoops coaching legend Larry Brown calls it playing the right way.

Tom Young, son of G.A. and long on particulars when coach-ing football, owes his career choice to his father. A coach and administrator at Adams High School in Nebraska (which is now Freeman High School), G.A. taught his son many lessons.

“He was always enthused about athletics in general and liked the competition,” Young says. ”More than anything, he stressed you should like what you’re doing. Good coaching is just like good teaching.”

“My dad was quite a teacher with an attention to detail, somewhat of a perfectionist. I guess I’m a little bit like that too.”

Entering the 2009 football season, Young, 60, has posted 296 career wins in 39 years of coaching. With a win in the season opener at Goddard, he will tie Ed Kriwiel for fourth place on the all-time career wins list. Mid-season, he will also likely become the fourth coach in Kansas preps history to reach 300 wins.

Young is the only coach in Kansas preps history who has guided three different programs to state titles: Hanover (1979), Welling-ton (1982) and Derby (1994). In 1994, he did what no program in Class 6A had been able to do in six seasons – beat Lawrence High in the playoffs. Young and Derby ended Lawrence’s streak of five consecutive state titles in dominant fashion, 21-0.

“It was our best talent [at Derby], but it was also the time when our strength program was in place to take advantage of those type of athletes,” he says. “To reach Lawrence’s level at that time, you had to be a pretty special team.”

Young has put his imprint on Kansas football, including its coaching ranks. Wellington football coach Linn Hibbs played quarterback in the 1981 Class 4A state title game for the Young-coached Crusaders. Wellington would win state in 1982, Young’s third and final season there before moving north to Derby.

“We did not have a weight program and Coach Young was one

of the state’s innovators for weight training for strength and speed development,” Hibbs says.

Hibbs, the son of a coach, quickly recognized Young’s talent.“Coach Young was a really smart coach who paid attention

to details – especially on the practice field,” Hibbs remembers. “Coach Young had a great feel for the game. As a quarterback, he provided you with all the information you needed to play. We al-

ways developed a great game plan and we executed it on Friday nights.”

Current Andale assistant coach Ted Easter was a defensive coach forYoung during Derby’s glory years. He has helped guide the Indians to two state champion-ships with a quick-striking defense built on Young’s philosophies.

He remembers attending a brainstorm-ing session with Young at Oklahoma State with current University of Kansas assistant Bill Miller.

“Coach Miller stressed to us that kids made the difference and he always wanted kids who could run on the defensive side,” Easter says. “Coach Young has made his mark on the offensive side, but he’s very solid on both sides of the football.”

Being a player’s coach is one of Young’s biggest strengths, according to Easter.

“I think one thing that stands out for Coach Young is that he never gives up on a kid. He always thinks they can succeed,” Easter says. “He can be tough when he has to, but his best attribute is he’s very patient.”

The program Young built and sustained at Derby was one of the state’s best. He brought a Class 6A football force to the area outside the city of Wichita. He took Derby to three consecutive 6A state title games during an era dominated by col-lege towns and one-horse towns out West. The Panthers were contenders every sea-son.

Young did not want to leave Derby after the 2003 season, his 21st with the Panthers, and just two seasons removed from a state title game appearance in 2002. But a specially-designed retire-ment fund for school employees forced him to leave the Derby district if he wanted to receive the benefits. The retirement program, designed as an incentive for the district to keep good teachers but also to retire them at an ap-propriate juncture, pushed one of the greatest of all time into a new position.

Young traveled northeast to Leavenworth to kick-start a pro-gram which lacked any history of success. He began with a bang in the 2004 season opener, defeat-ing his old rival Lawrence, which Derby had gone up against in the title game in 1993, 1994 and 1995. It was Leavenworth’s first win over Lawrence since 1973. Leaven-worth finished 4-5, their best re-cord in recent history.

But the following season, Leav-enworth didn’t win a game. Young left after just two seasons. It was the first program he had left in de-feat. In retrospect, he admits the move was a gamble.

“I was desperate to leave (Der-by) after I tried to negotiate a way to stay there.

“But there was a miscommu-nication at Leavenworth (about) what my specific duties would be,” he says. “I shoulder the

blame for that. Leavenworth had some potential and talent, but we

fought a losing battle with the numbers game there.”

He quickly rebounded back in his old south central Kansas stomping grounds, building a football powerhouse at a school known for hoops. McPherson High loyal-ists revere him. Young established school records last season for the most wins (10) and playoff wins in a single season (2). McPherson’s only losses in 2008 came against five-time state champion Hutchin-son High.

He’s attracted some elite athletes at a school where basketball is king.

“McPherson, in a lot of ways, has re-energized me,” he says. “I’ve enjoyed my time here from a lot of different perspec-tives. They were very hungry for a suc-cessful program and have put everything in place to allow that to happen. We’ve built a really solid coaching staff that has stayed together.”

YOUNG ADAPTS his offensive philoso-phy to his personnel. During the early days, Hanover played Wishbone offense. The majority of his career has been spent in I-formation with a fullback. But McPher-son has steered to multiple looks and a shotgun snap with quarterback Joel Piper, who set a school record for passing yards in 2008.

Back in the I-form days, Young never would’ve imagined taking one of his teams

to a 7-on-7 tournament in Arkansas and beating perennial football powerhouse Evangel Christian Academy of Shreve-port, La., 22-20. McPherson did that this past summer.

For many years, Young stayed close to the basics with the offensive line, teach-ing blocking angles and line calls. As the years have gone by, he has chosen to del-egate virtually all other coaching tasks to his assistants so he can focus on football’s crucial element.

“One phase I’ve always enjoyed coach-ing is the offensive line schemes when line calls change depending on the defensive front,” says Young. “Everyone has to be on the same page to make things work. We were very fortunate to attract the staff that we did at McPherson. We’ve been very lucky to put things together.”

The plays are the same for Young – in-side zone run, a trap play, a quarterback keeper. But they come from more forma-tions. Young says his strength is placing players in the right spot.

“Unless you are really good like Hutchinson, you strive for offensive bal-ance to make it harder for the defense to defend you,” he says.

In 2007, McPherson gave Hutch its most difficult game, losing 17-7. In 2008, McPherson was not as competitive, losing 68-7. They met back up with Hutch at sub-state, falling 42-21.

Young says Hutchinson’s run of five state championships reminds him of Law-rence’s eight titles in 10 seasons, and he would know, having competed against both dynasties. He says McPherson’s ath-letes have made strides physically to play stronger and faster. He generally believes it takes about four years to get everyone on the same page.

Young enters his fourth season at McPherson with seven starters back on both sides of the ball. Is a fourth state title at his fourth different school waiting in the wings?

“We’re better, but it takes a while to get your strength and conditioning numbers to where a team like Hutchinson is,” Young says. Mac will gun for Hutch once again in district play this October.

“The game itself has changed some,” says Young, a prep head coach since 1972. The coaching time invested is now lon-ger because available technology allows teams to tape all practices and games. But Young has proven his relevance and acu-men, no matter the era. “The preparation and challenge to develop a good team is still the same.”

McPherson coach Tom Young enters his fourth football season back in south central Kansas and seeks his 300th career win this fall

Tom Young, a state champ coach at Hanover, Wellington and Derby, enters the 2009 season with 296 career wins, one short of Ed Kriwiel on the all-time list.

By Jim Misunas / Photos By William Purnell

“McPherson, in a lot of ways, has re-energized me,” he says. “They were very hungry for a successful program and have put everything in place to allow that to happen.”

Still a Winner

McPherson was romped in 2008 by Hutchin-son, 68-7, and at sub-state, 42-21. Young, whose 1994 Derby team ended Lawrence High’s streak of five consecutive state titles, could get a shot at ending the same streak owned by Hutchinson this season.

One Of Five

ENTERING 2009, TOM YOUNG WAS FOUR WINS SHORT OF NO. 300. NOW WITH 304 WINS, YOUNG IS ONE OF FIVE KANSAS HIGH

SCHOOL FOOTBALL COACHES EVER TO WIN 300 GAMES

“My dad was quite a teacher with an attention to detail, somewhat of a perfectionist. I guess I’m a little bit like that, too.”

Young is the only coach in Kansas preps history who has guided three different programs to state titles: Hanover (1979), Wellington (1982) and

Derby (1994). In 1994, he did what no program in Class 6A had been able to do in six seasons – beat Lawrence High in the playoffs. Young and

Derby ended Lawrence’s streak of five consecutive state titles in dominant fashion, 21-0.

“It was our best talent [at Derby], but it was also the time when our strength program was in place to take advantage of those type of

athletes,” he says. “To reach Lawrence’s level at that time, you had to be a pretty special team.”

2009-2010

27

D1: From AVCTL to NCAA

Hutch defensive end Geneo Grissom, verbally committed to Kansas, will become coach Randy Dreiling’s first NCAA Division I signee.

Derby’s Devin Hedgepeth will be depended on in the defensive secondary and also as an offensive playmaker, a new role for him, in 2009.

28 H I G H S C H O O L S P O R T S :: A U G U S T 2 0 0 9 :: V Y P E . C O M

F E A T U R E

29H I G H S C H O O L S P O R T S :: A U G U S T 2 0 0 9 :: V Y P E . C O M

F E A T U R E

EverymanThere isn’t much six-foot-five Geneo Grissom can’t do. He rushes the quarterback, bats down passes, stops the run and can drop back into pass coverageBy Jim Misunas

Hutchinson High’s Geneo Grissom is soft-spoken and polite. He seems anything but an aggressive defensive end for the reigning Class 5A state football champions.

But Hutchinson’s prized 6’5”, 230-pound recruit is one of those players who carries one persona off the field and another on the field. Off the field, Grissom is quick to say, “Yes Sir,” and “No Sir.”

“I am a completely different person on the field,” Grissom said. “I’m full of excitement, constantly yelling to keep our defense fired up.”

Grissom helped lead the Salthawk defense to two playoff shutouts in 2008, including a 38-0 victory over St. Thomas Aquinas in the Class 5A state championship game.

Individually, his college football stock soared over the past year. He attended an elite summer camp at Rose Hill last year that gained him recruiting attention. It’s helped that Hutchinson has captured five consecutive state championships.

His 6’5” frame has potential for gaining even more strength and weight in the future. Grissom caught the eye of Kansas University co-defensive coordinator Bill Miller on film. Grissom knew KU was recruit-ing him, but he didn’t know how serious they were until Miller called with a firm scholarship offer.

“Coach Miller said they’d watched film and that they decided to offer me a scholarship,” Grissom said. “Coach Miller told me they considered me a valuable asset to their football program.”

He made a firm oral commitment to Kansas after a similar scholarship offer from Colorado State. He received recruiting letters from Oklahoma, Michigan, Nebraska and UCLA. Had he waited, Grissom’s recruiting interest would’ve likely peaked.

Amazingly enough, Grissom will be Hutchinson High’s first Division I recruit out of high school in Randy Dreiling’s head-coaching tenure.

“When I visited Lawrence, I felt very comfortable,” Grissom said. “They are developing an up-and-coming football program. I feel very fortunate to have that decision out of the way. It was definitely the right decision for me. I’m thankful and appreciative for the opportunity.”

Grissom is a self-made player. He possessed raw physical skills, but was shy on technique. Assistant coach Scott Yantes has helped Grissom with his footwork.

Yantes said Grissom has put the mental and physical sides together.“What makes Geneo so impressive is how much he’s improved physically,” he said. “His

football knowledge and technique has really improved. His best strength is keeping blockers off him, but he’s also gifted enough that we drop him into pass coverage.”

Former Hutchinson assistant coach Rich Anderson also helped Grissom.“I owe a lot to coach Anderson,” he said. “He was the first coach to really teach me how

to use my hands effectively. He taught me how to do everything the right way defensively, from your first step to keeping a blocker off you.”

Grissom prides himself on knowing the defensive schemes so well that everything be-comes second nature.

“With our defensive scheme, everyone has their job and everyone has his place,” he said. “I always know my job, but I take pride in the fact I’m known as a physical player.”

Grissom had to wait his turn at Hutch High, becoming a regular for the Salthawks last season as a junior. As an underclassman, he learned about work ethic from former Salthawk T.J. Duarte.

“When I was a freshman, I learned a lot from watching T.J. Duarte – he was a beast,” Grissom said. “He was my inspiration to reach my potential.”

Grissom’s favorite play is sacking the quarterback, but he relishes those special tackles that draw attention.

“I’m like most players – everybody loves putting a hit on somebody,” he said. “When I get a ‘de-cleater,’ I get a pretty good adrenaline rush.”

He didn’t grow up in a football family and didn’t have any older brothers to follow. But he grew to love the aggressiveness of football. His father is a Kansas City Chiefs fan and Julius Peppers of the Carolina Panthers and DeMarcus Ware of the Dallas Cowboys are two of his favorite players.

Hutchinson had a 36-game winning streak snapped by Kansas City (Mo.) Rockhurst last year. Grissom said the 2009 season opener, against Rockhurst at home, will be a strong test.

“That’s a great way to start the season, but playing against good teams is something we are used to,” he said. “We have a great program because we push each other to be the best team we can be.”

Two Way PlayOn the field and off the field, offense and defense – Derby’s Devin Hedgepeth is a valuable asset any way you frame itBy Kollen Long

Intense, non-stop investigative reporting has produced a shocking exclusive: Devin Hedgepeth isn’t perfect, after all.

Sometimes he lets his room get a little messy. (We’ll pause here for a collective gasp.)“Yeah, my mom and dad have to get on me for my room and stuff like that,” he said with a chuckle.There you have it: a documented weakness.Otherwise, by all accounts, Hedgepeth is practically a too-good-to-be-true teenager.The Derby High School senior is one of the best football players in the state, likely headed for a

Division I college to play on Saturday afternoons. Of at least equal importance, he also excels in the classroom, where he has earned straight As throughout his academic career.

Coach Brandon Clark, as you’d expect, gushes about his team leader.“Really, there’s not one negative thing to say about him,” Clark said. “He lives his life

right, and he approaches school just like he does athletics: he gives both 100 per-cent.”

“He’s just a great kid. As a parent myself, it’s awesome to see that there are kids like him. If anyone is looking for a role model, Devin is definitely a kid who can play that role.”

Of course, Hedgepeth’s most visible role comes on Friday nights, when he stars as a cornerback for Derby’s tradition-rich football program. On-line scouting reports indicate that colleges were perhaps a little slow to appreciate Hedgepeth’s skills, but Clark certainly saw the star potential early. At the end of his freshman season, Hedgepeth was brought up to gain some experience at the varsity level.

“He did things on the scout team that made our varsity players look a little silly,” Clark recalled.

A three-year starter, Hedgepeth was all-league as a sophomore. (“And to do that, you have to be pretty special,” Clark said.) He followed that up with an all-state junior season.

Clark described Hedgepeth, who is 6 feet and 188 pounds, as a “tremendous football player.”

“He’s got great speed, and he plays very smart,” Clark said. “He’s got great hips for a cornerback, and he’s a huge hitter. We could put him at linebacker if we wanted to.”

As might be expected, given his status at the top of Derby’s senior class, Hedgepeth considers cornerback somewhat of a thinking man’s position.

“I like to think I’m an aggressive corner,” he said. “I like to play press man, and get up in the receivers. But my favorite thing is to play the pass and sit back and read the quarterback and read the offense.”

“It’s kind of a mind game back there.”Clearly, Hedgepeth will be a force from his defensive back position. And, in the

middle of an interview in early July, Clark dropped what could be concerning news for opponents: Derby plans to use Hedgepeth, who has played a little receiver in the past, even more on offense this season.

Hedgepeth could see time at running back and even quarterback.“I’m excited about it because it will help the team out,” Hedgepeth said. “I’m

for whatever makes us better.”Hedgepeth said he has received offers from Kansas State, Air Force,

Colorado State, Texas Christian, Tulsa and Wisconsin. Harvard is also very interested, both Hedgepeth and Clark said.

While Hedgepeth is not leaning toward any particular school, he said that a college’s academic offerings will play a big role in his decision. That’s not surprising, considering he has never received a B at any level of school.

“When I was young, my mom and dad pushed me in the classroom,” Hedgepeth said. “They told me I needed to be an overall person and not just focus on sports. So I’ve always tried to have fun in class and be the best I could be.”

Photo By A

.M. Thom

as

Photo By A.M. Thomas

Photo By William Purnell

Photo By Walter Dixon

Spread: Pages 28-29South Of the Border

FROM DIVISION I OF THE AV-CTL TO DIVISION I FOOTBALL OF THE NCAA, HUTCH’S GENEO GRISSOM AND DERBY’S DEVIN HEDGEPETH BOTH ENDED UP SOUTH OF THE BORDER

“WHAT MAKES GENEO so impressive is how much he’s improved physically,” Yantes said. “His football knowledge and technique has really improved. His best strength is keeping blockers off him, but he’s also gifted enough that we drop him into pass coverage.”

Grissom prides himself on knowing the defensive schemes so well that everything becomes second nature.

“With our defensive scheme, everyone has their job and everyone has his place,” he said. “I always know my job, but I take pride in the fact I’m known as a physical player.” –Jim Misunas

A THREE-YEAR starter, Hedgepeth was all-league as a sophomore. (“And to do that, you have to be pretty special,” Clark said.) He followed that up with an all-state junior season.

Clark described Hedgepeth, who is 6 feet and 188 pounds, as a “tremendous football player.”

“He’s got great speed, and he plays very smart,” Clark said. “He’s got great hips for a cornerback, and he’s a huge hitter. We could put him at linebacker if we wanted to.”

“I like to think I’m an aggressive corner,” he said. “I like to play press man, and get up in the receivers. But my favorite thing is to play the pass and sit back and read the quarterback and read the offense.”

“It’s kind of a mind game back there.” –Dan Page

Year in review

The marquee regular season match-up of 2009 was the Hutch-Rockhurst season opener. The game turned anti-climactic, as Hutch rolled 55-27 against the team which had snapped their 36-game win streak the previous year.

September 4Rockhurst at HutchinsonTen thousand fans should pack Hutchin-son’s Gowans Stadium for this season opener. Rockhurst defeated Hutchinson, 28-21, last September in Kansas City in a match-up of Missouri and Kansas’ de-fending top-class state champs. Hutch, whose 36-game winning streak was snapped in last year’s game, went on the defend its state title, while Rockhurst lost to Blue Springs South, 14-9, in the state quarterfinals, after having defeated the same team at the beginning of the season, 42-14, on ESPN. Neither team wants to start 2009 with a loss.

September 4McPherson at GoddardFour years ago, Goddard and McPher-son switched spots in the Ark Valley-Chisholm Trail League: Goddard moved up to Division I, while McPherson went down to Division II. McPherson, under coach Tom Young, has been a contender ever since; the verdict on Goddard is still out. McPherson returns a core unit from what might have been the second-best team in the state last season (two losses, both to Hutchinson, one at 5A sub-state). Goddard, which got hot late in 2008 with three district wins after starting 0-6, looks to wake up the echoes of 2007, when they made 6A sub-state.

September 18Andover Central at AndoverAndover Central lost to Andover High for the first time in school history last fall, 26-22, its only loss of the season un-til the second round of the playoffs, a 21-20 loss to Topeka Hayden, a game they could have won. Andover rode their one-loss regular season to a playoff win before being blown out at home by Rock Creek in the second round of the playoffs. Where do these programs go from there? Both suffered many losses, but the 4A West appears wide open for either team to take another step. This match-up could weed out which has the best shot.

September 25Hutchinson at DerbyNo one expected Derby’s 30-27 win at Hutchinson last fall – not even the Panther faithful, which let’s just say did not turn out for the 2008 game at Gow-ans Stadium. If both teams can enter the 2009 match-up at 3-0, this will be touted as the state’s biggest game for Week 4. Gone for Derby are Snodgrass and Wilson on offense; gone for Hutch are Stucky and Dreiling on defense. Two things are clear: (1) If Derby can’t find offense to replace last season’s play-makers, they’re in trouble; (2) If Hutch fumbles the ball as they are sometimes prone to do, they’re in trouble.

October 2Southeast at NorthwestThe memory of Southeast’s 4-0 start was erased by their subsequent four-game losing skid, started by Northwest, 17-14, in Week 5. Southeast would lose to North, 42-41, the following week, before being pummelled by Derby and Heights. Northwest, meanwhile, continued a hot streak of seven consecutive wins after their win over Southeast, before Derby ousted them from the state quarterfinals, 55-14. Both teams have something to prove in 2009, as they enter the season favored to battle for the City League title. After their match-up and the City League is decided, however, how relevant will they be in the state playoffs?

October 16Buhler at AndaleAndale again trounced Buhler in district play in 2008, 48-27, but the Crusaders rebounded to win two playoff games, only to lose in the state quarterfinals to Tope-ka Hayden, which then went on to defeat Andale at sub-state. Coach Steve War-ner has built the Buhler program into a winner right under Andale’s microscope, losing to the Indians the last three sea-sons. This could be the year Buhler gets over that hump, though Andale proved its staying power in 2008 by marching to 4A sub-state despite losing 20 starters from the 2007 state title team.

2009 Football Match-Ups

44 H I G H S C H O O L S P O R T S :: A U G U S T 2 0 0 9 :: V Y P E . C O M

F E A T U R E

45H I G H S C H O O L S P O R T S :: A U G U S T 2 0 0 9 :: V Y P E . C O M

F E A T U R E

GENEO GRISSOM TERRORIzED GARDNER-EDGERTON BEHIND THE LINE OF SCRIMMAGE IN THE CLASS 5A STATE CHAMPIONSHIP

GAME. AFTER MARK MANGINO AND HIS STAFF WERE FIRED AT KU, GRISSOM

RENEGED ON HIS COMMITMENT TO THE JAYHAWKS AND SIGNED WITH OU.

H I G H S C H O O L S P O R T S :: J U N E 2 0 1 0 :: V Y P E . C O M


Stiff Arm – James Tipton deters a Wellington defender early in the 2009 football season. Tipton and Andale reigned supreme over area 4A football once again, defeating Buhler in district play and beating Wellington for a second time in the playoffs before losing in the state quarterfinals to Topeka Hayden.

Photo of the Month

2009-2010

September 2009

VY

PE

.CO

M ::

SE

PT

EM

BE

R 2

00

9 ::

HIG

H S

CH

OO

L S

PO

RT

S

TM

HIG

H S

CH

OO

L S

PO

RT

S

:: S

EP

TE

MB

ER

20

09

::

V

YP

E.C

OM

20

Dues PaidEleven-year Conway Springs assistant Matt Biehler gets his shot as head coach of an historic program coming off its sixth state football title since 1998

KL: How has Conway Springs been so successful year in and year out?

Matt Biehler: I feel like it’s basically the way the staff has been together.… The coaches want to be here. They work hard. They’re around in the summer, asking what they can do to help out. You don’t have that continuity and dedication in all staffs. It takes more than one guy to get it done.

KL: How much pressure do you feel taking over a program with such high expectations?

Matt Biehler: There’s always pressure – it makes you more of a competitor. I’ve always enjoyed that part of sports; that’s why I chose to stay in coaching. You get to that point where you’re not playing anymore, but you want to continue on. I love being around the game of football. All the people I’ve met have helped me have a wonderful experience. You’ll always have a little bit of pressure, but when you prepare as fully as you can, it alleviates it a little bit.

KL: What changes, if any, will fans notice now that you’re head coach?

Matt Biehler: Not much. I’ve been here going on my 12th year. Mark Bliss (former head coach who won Conway’s first four state titles, 1998-2003) was very influential on me and a big part of who I am. Greg Rosenhagen (athletic director and former head coach) and coach George – I learned from them. I take a little from all three of those guys. We’re still gonna run the single wing and split 4 defense.

KL: So, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Matt Biehler: Yes. The kids believe in the system. This town loves what we do and is behind us all the way.

KL: You’ve been involved in the strength and conditioning program at Conway Springs. How important is that to the team’s success?

Matt Biehler: It’s huge. For our offense to run efficiently, we feel like we have to outmatch every opponent we play. We’ve got to be the most physical team on the field. We feel like we build that in the weight room every day.

KL: Who replaces Jaydan Bird? Those are big shoes to fill. (The

freshman OU linebacker rushed for more than 2,000 yards and had 87 tackles from his middle linebacker spot in 2008.)

Matt Biehler: We’ve got some kids stepping into that role. There’s a couple seniors, Dakota Davis (5-7, 145) and Alex Worley (5-7, 165). There’s a sophomore, Brian Doffing (5-11, 175), who has been hitting the weights hard and really developing himself. He’s pushing those seniors. We’ll just have to find out when the pads come on. We had a great camp, guys looked really well.

There’s actually another kid, another sophomore, Matt Seiwert, and he’s pushing for time back there as well. He’s 6-1, 230. With those four guys, hopefully we can find the right places for them.

KL: What do you expect from senior quarterback Caleb Brill?

Matt Biehler: He’ll be a great leader. He’s shown that in the weight room this summer. He’s always led by example, but he’s being more vocal this year. We feel like he’s ready for his senior year.

KL: Anything else to add?

Matt Biehler: Our line will be anchored by Mason Pauly (a 5-10, 210-pound guard). He’s just tremendously strong and will be a leader for us. We’re really excited about our offensive line overall.•

By Kollen Long

“There’s always pressure – it makes you more

of a competitor. I’ve always enjoyed that part of

sports; that’s why I chose to stay in coaching.”

Matt Biehler certainly paid his dues, spending 11 seasons as an assistant coach, including defensive coordinator last year, at Conway Springs. The perseverance was rewarded when he was named head coach of the powerhouse football program during the off-season.

Hometown Athlete Monthof the

21

First-Year Veteran

AFTER SPENDING 11 YEARS AS A CONWAY SPRINGS ASSISTANT TO THREE PREVIOUS CARDINAL BOSSES, MATT BIEHLER TOOK OVER THE CONWAY FOOTBALL PROGRAM AS HEAD COACH

“There’s always pressure – it makes you more of a competitor. I’ve always enjoyed that part of sports; that’s why I chose to stay in coaching. You get to that point where you’re not playing anymore, but you want to continue on. I love being around the game of football. All the people I’ve met have helped me have a wonderful experience. You’ll always have a little bit of pressure, but when you prepare as fully as you can, it alleviates it a little bit.” –Matt Biehler, told to Kollen Long

F E A T U R E

HIG

H S

CH

OO

L S

PO

RT

S

:: S

EP

TE

MB

ER

20

09

::

V

YP

E.C

OM

22

By Kim D. Kimbro

Kapaun distance runner Mackenzie Maki moved to Wichita from Montana just in time to become the best in the state of Kansas

When you think of the inner solitude and the desolation that a long distance runner endures after miles of training and the insecurity

felt by being out in front of a pack with everyone chasing, it’s easy to conjure a mental picture of a girl training under the big northwestern sky on the sparse roads between Billings, Montana and Bismarck, North Dakota, only a few hours from the Canadian frontier – yet Mackenzie Maki sees it from a totally different perspective.

Maki, a junior at Kapaun Mt. Carmel and the defending Class 5A girls cross country champion, did come to Kansas from a small town in Montana, but she doesn’t fit the mold of the dark brooding

runner who keeps to herself. For that matter, she doesn’t appear to fit any molds. Maki is gregarious in school, at the track and on the course.

“I came from a school of 600 [in Montana] where there were seven girls on the cross country team and no boys,” Maki says. “It was a whole different world.”

Following her freshman year, Maki and her family moved to Wichita, where her mother had completed

her residency years ago. An opening at an OB-GYN practice attracted them back to the area, and the metropolitan nature of Wichita has been a welcome change.

When Maki got a glowing recommendation from a fellow summer basketball participant about the Crusaders athletic programs before her entering her sophomore year, her first at Kapaun, she decided not to look back.

“I got pretty serious my sophomore year with having a coach that could help me with what to do, and I had a bigger team than with six girls that I had in Montana,” says Maki. “It was really cool to be around people who enjoyed it so much.”

This comes from a girl who said that she went out for cross country in junior high as “kind of a joke.” Her attitude changed a bit when she won the first meet she ever ran in as a seventh grader.

Maki certainly is running with a purpose four years later. She followed up her cross country title last fall with a prolific performance at the state track meet in the distance races. In addition to winning the 1600-meter by 15 seconds and placing second in the 800, Maki stunningly won the 3200-meter by nearly 58 seconds, finishing in a time of 10:53.52.

According to eight-year Kapaun cross country and track coach Damian Smithhisler, she was a welcome addition to the Kapaun cross country program, which perennially finishes among the top teams at state each fall.

“Mackenzie knows exactly what she wants and

that is to be the best,” Smithhisler says. “She will keep plugging away every day to get that and is a very strong-willed individual. I think her attitude keeps her going at it and she will not give up by any means.

“Whenever she gets beat, which isn’t too often, she says, ‘I’m going to get that girl the next time,’ and it makes her work harder.”

Smithhisler is a runner with collegiate

experience and competes in road races and triathlons. He works closely with all of his athletes on the mental part of running.

“I always tell our kids first thing that it is really a race within yourself, and you have to beat the demons in your own head before you can go out to beat someone else,” he says.

Demons aside, Maki doesn’t deal much with them because hers is a more positive approach to being the best.

“On the tough days I just focus on what I want. I try to stay positive and motivated,” she says. “I always know that I have a lot to live up to and that alone keeps me going. Not everyone can run like I can. They can run, but they don’t have that connection that I do with running.”

Connections are important to Maki when it comes to racing, school and life in general. Smithhisler seems astonished by the way she makes friends.

“She is very personable,” he says. “Mackenzie has only been here a year and probably knows more people in the state than I do and I’ve lived here my whole life. When we go to a track meet she is making friends from all over the place and she has been around a lot of different kids this summer.”

At some point someone as gifted as Maki has to reel in that personality and go into full race mode.

“I’m not like a loner or a weirdo before the race, but I stay really focused,” Maki says. “I know that you have that time pre-race which is for getting focused and the time after the race is for goofing around.”

The expectations are high for Maki to repeat as the individual champion after winning state in 2008 by nearly 22 seconds. She could lead the team to a state title after a second-place finish a year ago. But once again, the junior Crusader likes to put it all into simpler terms.

“I really want our girls team to win it this year,” she says. “I think we really have a good shot. And I want my brother to do really well because he (Lukas Maki, a freshman) is running this year. For me, I just want to do my best – run as fast as I can for as long as I can. That is all anyone can really

“I always know that I have a lot to live up to and that alone keeps

me going,” says Maki. “Not everyone can run

like I can. They can run, but they don’t have that

connection that I do with running.”

“She is very personable,” says Smithhisler. “Mackenzie has only been here a year and probably knows more people in the state than I do and I’ve lived here my whole life.”

After winning last fall’s Class 5A state cross country title by nearly 22 seconds, Maki stunningly won the 3200-meter at the state track meet by nearly 58 seconds, finishing in a time of 10:53.52

Two girls runners did run faster than Maki at state at Lawrence Rim Rock Farm last fall, though they ran in the Class 6A race. One of them, Avery Clifton of Washburn Rural, who completed the course in 14:59.91, returns for her senior year.

Two-time defending boys state champ Mulvane returns five of six medalists from 2008, including Nikki Trooien-Smith, Nick Lockwood, Evan Landes, Wyatt James and Josh Hansen.

Defending Class 4A girls individual state champ Molly Milbourn, who was .52 seconds away in the 3200-meter from sweeping the 4A state track distance events last spring, returns for El Dorado.

Sophomores Emily Hornbeck and Amber Green return for Derby, the Class 6A girls defending state champ.

Maize High’s Dani Walker, the defending 800-meter champion, returns after placing third at girls 6A state last fall.

Valley Center seniors Page Miller and Brooke Vining placed third and seventh, respectively, at girls 5A state last season.

Top 10 medalists Cameron Sprague (Hutchinson) and Cliff Kissling (Carroll) return in boys Class 5A.

Carroll freshman Kaelyn Balch showed that Maki will not only have a stiff competitor at state but also in the area this season. Balch defeated Maki by 10 seconds at the Carroll Invitational at Lake Afton on Sept. 5. Maki finished 49 seconds ahead of the third-place finisher.

VY

PE

.CO

M ::

SE

PT

EM

BE

R 2

00

9 ::

HIG

H S

CH

OO

L S

PO

RT

S

23

Maki From Montana

DESPITE EARLY-SEASON LOSSES TO CARROLL’S KAELYN BALCH, MAKI WOULD WORK HER WAY BACK TO THE TOP, WINNING HER

SECOND CONSECUTIVE CLASS 5A STATE CROSS COUNTRY TITLE

This comes from a girl who said that she went out for cross country in junior high in Montana as “kind of a joke.” Her attitude changed a bit when

she won the first meet she ever ran in as a seventh grader. Maki certainly is running with a purpose four years later. She

followed up her cross country title last fall with a prolific performance at the state track meet in the distance races. In addition to winning the

1600-meter by 15 seconds and placing second in the 800, Maki stunningly won the 3200-meter by nearly 58 seconds, finishing in a time of 10:53.52.

–Kim D. Kimbro

2009-2010

29

VY

PE

.CO

M ::

SE

PT

EM

BE

R 2

00

9 ::

HIG

H S

CH

OO

L S

PO

RT

S

27

F E A T U R E

H I G H S C H O O L S P O R T S :: S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 9 :: V Y P E . C O M

her weights and plyometrtics training this offseason.

Hoping to finally return to state, Derby has five

returners and five newcomers, including seniors Tori

Provencio (5-6), Aryal Eden (5-10), Kristin Gurley (5-6),

junior Taylor Littleton (6-0) and sophomore Hayley Ray

(6-0).

Gary Thomason’s Heights Falcons will be shorter this

season, but for goodness’ sakes, what program ever starts

six players over five-foot-ten two consecutive seasons,

let alone one? “We had great team defense last year; this

year, we’ll be a good passing team.” It’s not like they’re

terribly short, though. Junior middle Perri Tucker (6-1) is

long and athletic, hoopster Jhasmin Bowen (6-2) peers

over the net on every jump and Nicole Windar (5-10)

started ten matches as the backup setter last season.

Heights placed fourth at state last season and had

a record of 42-5, leading a City League surge into the

Class 6A state volleyball arena.

They attended the Newton

tournament, where they ended

up in the championship match

against Northwest, an unusual

result as area teams and Kansas

City schools usually dominate

there.

Thomason, originally a

basketball guy who slid into

volleyball coaching with

absolutely no experience before

becoming a college coach at

Redlands (Okla.), enters his 13th

season of coaching and returns

senior libero Lindsay Moss

(5-8), junior hitter Madison Wheeler and junior setter

Juliahana Stockham.

Betsy Martling’s Maize Eagles enter a new era under

their first new head coach since 1991. Martling, a Maize

High graduate, formerly coached one season at Emporia

High. Senior Kirsten Chamberlin (5-6) was a first-team

all-league libero last season. Junior middle Lindsey

Jones (5-9) and sophomore hitter McKenzie Hartzog

(5-9) also return.

Andrea Scheideman’s North Redskins are ready

to move up the standings in the City League as a unified

group. All-league setter Nicole Shaw (5-7) has

led the team in assists for three seasons, passing

to hitters Cayleigh Beshears (5-10) and Tyler

Minnis (5-7). Libero Lexi Thackery (5-8) led the

team in digs last season.

Valerie Most’s Southeast Buffaloes

welcome back their 18-year coach after a season off.

Most sees potential in the team, which includes Jamillah

Bonner, Desiree’ Raines and Cora Gouldner.

Mary Askren’s Campus Colts had one freshman and

four sophomores start in 2008. Junior Morgan Jenning

(5-7) and senior Kayla Cla sphan (5-7) return as setters,

and junior Sami Amos (5-1) had 185 digs. Askren,

entering her seventh season, also returns hitters

Kelsey Thompson (5-10), Tiffany Richter

(5-7) and Angel Campbell (6-0).

Erik Hopper’s South Titans comiled

their best record in 15 years, though

there’s room for more progress.

Hopper, entering his third season, plans

to start up to five or six sophomores.

Sophomore middle Ashley Gramke

(5-11) had 87 kills and 29 blocks

last season. Sophomore hitter Sarah

Loesing (5-10) and junior setter Kaitlyn

Tanner (5-9) also return.

Randi McClellan’s East Aces were

much-improved by season’s end in

2008. Junior Haleigh Lewis (5-11)

had 91 of team’s 100 kills and

48 blocks. Senior Brittany

Walker (5-8) also returns.

VaLLEY CEnTER HORnETS

Coach Bryan Otte jokes that he had more hair

when he started coaching at Moundridge 12 years

ago. What has remained constant is his annual win

total.

Otte didn’t

change things

up in his first

season as

coach of Valley

Center volleyball

in 2008. He

didn’t feel the

jump from Class

2A Moundridge

to Class 5A

Valley Center

warranted it.

It’s difficult

to argue with

his reasons for

remaining the same. He’s the one who won five state

titles at Moundridge and has compiled 395 wins.

“I’m still coaching athletes,” Otte says of the

transition to the higher classification. “I’m still teaching

the same things. I never thought that in the sport of

volleyball it was that big a deal,” says Otte, who took

Valley to the state tournament in his first season.

“For younger coaches trying to prove their name

and get on a streak and string together good seasons,

there’s probably more pressure.

“When I started coaching my first year, I remember

thinking I’d like to 30 matches sometime in my life.

After you’ve strung together some good years, the

pressure is off. You have a good year, then prove it

wasn’t a fluke. After a while, you become comfortable

in what you’re teaching.”

Otte has been teaching some good stuff, and

with a young lineup in 2009, he’s going to have to

be on top of his game. He teaches fast play, which

requires timing and reduction of errors. He’s adjusted

philsophy in recent years with the introduction of rally

scoring (teams formerly could only score on serve in

volleyball). He builds practice drills around five-point

games now, because he feels it’s inevitable in rally

scoring that both teams will get to 20 points in game.

“I liked to old days with side-out scoring. You had

to earn your points.

“I used to run all sorts of funky stuff, because you

could not give up a point [on serve]. If we screwed

up, the scoreboard was still the same. Now, all of a

sudden, the scoreboard moves. It puts all the teams

in a pack.

“It seems un-American, a socialist-type thing, that

we’re going to share points.”

Otte is adjusting fine, though. He’s very happy

with the commitment shown at his new school. In the

wake of the graduation of Brianna Kaiser, who now a

freshman player at Wichita State, Otte looks to be solid

by mid-season. After another 30-win season, senior

middle Cassandra Mayber (5-11) returns, as do

sophomores hitter Ashlyn Driskill (5-11) and setter

Emily Otte (5-5), junior libero Max Williams (5-5) and

Valley Center and Andover Central hope to join Carroll as consistent state-level programs in Class 5A

Carroll & Company

First-team all-league senior Kesley Banwart

returns for Andover Central, which looks

to take the next step by making the state

tournament in Class 5A.

Heights must replace a lineup of six girls

5’10” or taller. Lindsay Moss returns at

libero, playing behind a cast of new height,

including Perri Tucker and Jhasmin Bowen,

both over six feet tall.

Ph

oto

by

William

Pu

rne

ll

Ph

oto

by

William

Pu

rne

ll

Ph

oto

by

William

Pu

rne

ll

All-league senior middle Cassandra

Mayber returns for Valley Center,

which won 30 matches last season

and made the state tournament.

Melissa Bailey (5-10).

andOVER CEnTRaL JaGuaRS

Kelly Cook became a first-year head coach in

2006 at Andover Central, stepping into an excellent

athletic program straight out of college.

But Cook wasn’t given a free ride at Andover

Central. She’s had to build a program.

After going 10-23 in her first season, the Jaguars

won 28 matches in 2007 before going 21-16 last

season.

“I’ve had three years to build the foundation of

a volleyball program, to set expectations, get to

know my players and coaches and learn the type of

program and coach I hope to be,” says Cook, who

played collegiately at Alabama and Kansas State.

“It feels incredible to feel a part of a great school

and community. I’m very thankful for where I’m at

with such outstanding people and high expectations.

I know I’ve been blessed to be where I am.”

After losing the sub-state championship game

to Bishop Carroll in 2008, Andover Central returns

a strong lineup, led by senior first-team all-league

Kelsey Banwart (5-7). Senior Christiana Chastain

(5-8) and tall sophomores Mackenzie Harding

(5-10) and Mackenzie Orchard (5-10) also return.

Cook is pumped that this year’s seniors went all the

way through her program.

BISHOP CaRROLL GOLdEn EaGLES

Carroll’s Emmie Rech is proof that there’s far

more to volleyball than putting tall girls at the net.

Carroll coach Rita Mernagh calls the five-foot-

three setter the team’s quarterback. “She runs all

the plays and decides who’s going to hit. She’s the

one looking at the other team and looking at the

match-ups,” says Mernagh.

Rech will have plenty of options on her passes.

Second-team all-city hitter Nicole Walden (5-10)

is a “dynamic” player, according to Mernagh. Sara

Waterson (6-0) returns from a knee injury with

plenty of height. Megan Hayes (5-8) also returns on

the outside.

Carroll didn’t win the City League last season,

which they have become expected to do, but that

can be crediting to the league’s vast improvement.

Carroll still made the state consolation match at

season’s end.

This year Bishop Carroll will be ready for the

2009 season with a team full of returning seniors

and high hopes for a great finish. Coach Rita

Mernagh has eight returning seniors this season and

she is looking to them to help her make this season

successful.

The goal in 2009 is the same for Carroll, which

also returns Danika Maggard (5-7), Hannah

Henning (5-8), Samantha Boese (5-6) and

Lindsay Oliphant (5-9)

CLaSS 5a VOLLEYBaLL nOTES

Jamie Dibbens’ Newton Railroaders proved

their staying power in 2008 after the graduation of

the state’s top player Camri Zwiesler by winning 26

matches. Casie Ronen (5-9), Sadie Minkevitch

(5-7) and Kate Lehman (6-4) return after making

the sub-state final last season.

Emilee Moss’ West Pioneers continue

rebuilding. Moss, a former coach in Arkansas, enters

her first season, returning senior middle Rainey

Reyes (5-10).

Rhonda Hollis’ Arkansas City Bulldogs are

backed by all-league libero Taylor Graham (5-3),

who had 244 digs last season. Ark City won 10

matches in 2008, doubling its win total from the

previous season. Nicole Fiorentino (5-8), Bevin

Swope (5-10), Christina Pack (5-9) and Samantha

Turner (5-11) return after a year of dedication to

playing the game.

Hilary Stutzman’s Hutchinson Salthawks try

to recover from a six-win season. Stutzman returns

first-team all-league setter Brittany Ronsick (5-4)

in her first season as coach. Junior middle Haley

Wilkens (5-9) also returns.

CLEaRwaTER IndIanSSomething changed in the area a little less

than a decade ago. While volleyball was not a

new sport, girls did begin to be far more serious

about the sport in a competitive way.

Just ask Clearwater coach Ernie Beachey.

Nowhere is this fact more apparent than in Class

4A.

“Recently in the past 10 years, especially

the last five, it’s gotten so competitive,” says

Beachey, whose team has run off an incredibly

consistent streak of seven state appearances

in the past eight seasons. “And once you get to

state, even tougher battles await. It just goes up

five more notches.”

At five notches above the rest, Beachey of

course alludes to St. James, the young dominant

private school of Lenexa.

But south central Kansas is surely not putting

up slouches against the upstart standard in 4A.

Just behind St. James and Topeka Hayden in

the title match last fall was Clearwater, which

defeated Cheney in three games to place third.

Entering his 26th season as coach at

Clearwater, Beachey’s program suddenly arrived

about a decade ago. Over the past four seasons,

they have a record of 140-31. It wasn’t due to

chance. Beachey began attending Gold Medal

Squared volleyball coaching clinics at K-State,

where he was persuaded

to change his coaching

philosophy.

“At first I didn’t buy in. It was radically

different from what I was doing at the time,”

says Beachey. Tall girls were now

supposed to play on the outside,

not in the middle, and it was more

beneficial to have fewer than four

players receiving serve. “They

challenged that kind of thinking.

They argued their points, and very

successfully.”

Beachey does put his players

through drills focused solely on

conditioning, either. “We do little

Foray For 4aClass 4A in south central Kansas has become extremely competitive; there’s no telling who will make the state tournament

Senior first-team all-league setter Karsen Wohler returns

for Clearwater, which has made the state tournament

seven of the last eight seasons.

Ph

oto

by

Dale

Ste

lz

Setter Emmie Rech runs the show for

Carroll, which returns enough height to

make a deep state tournament run in 2009.

Ph

oto

by

William

Pu

rne

ll

Volleyball Report

VYPE FEATURED GODDARD, NORTHWEST, VALLEY CENTER, ANDOVER CENTRAL, CARROLL, CLEARWATER, CIRCLE AND MAIzE SOUTH AND PREVIEWED 39 TOTAL AREA TEAMS IN THE VOLLEYBALL REPORT

Year In review

Valley Center and Cheney showed promise in the preseason. Each would make the Class 4A state tournament, with Cheney under fiFIrst-year coach Sara Lungren placing third. Valley Center’s Cassandra Mayber and Cheney’s Courtney Traxson pictured.

VY

PE

.CO

M ::

SE

PT

EM

BE

R 2

00

9 ::

HIG

H S

CH

OO

L S

PO

RT

S

35

F E A T U R E

The Maize TrioSpencer Hoch, Brendon Moore and Johnson Shaad

What does the national team’s 2-0 win over the world’s No. 1 team Spain in the Confederations Cup mean for U.S. soccer?SH: It shows we’re progressing, and anyone can win on any day.BM: It means we’re getting better. It proved we can compete with the best.JS: U.S. soccer isn’t what everybody says it is. It’s not in the gutter.

What does another loss at Mexico in World Cup qualifying last August mean for U.S. soccer (the U.S. has never won on Mexican soil)?SH: We should play them again.BM: We should play them again in Columbus (Ohio).JS: When they come to the U.S., it’s a different story.

Give one goal for your team this season, and for you as an individual.SH: Be scoreless through the regular season. I want to start every game.BM: Win state. Individually, I want to contribute to winning state.JS: Definitely to win state. I want to have a positive influence on every single game.

Who is your favorite player?SH: France’s Thierry HenryBM: Barcelona’s XaviJS: Liverpool’s Fernando Torres

Give the most admirable attribute of your coach.SH: He mans you up, gets us to work as a team.BM: He teaches team unity and humility.JS: You can talk to him about anything. He’s one of the greatest guys I’ve ever met.

HIG

H S

CH

OO

L S

PO

RT

S

:: S

EP

TE

MB

ER

20

09

::

V

YP

E.C

OM

34

F E A T U R E

Class 6AMaize Eagles

Coach Mike Darrah enters his 14th season fielding his fastest and tallest team to date. With the return of nine starters and one of the state’s best players in Johnson Shaad, Maize is a contender for the state title in 2009.

Six-foot-three Spencer Hoch anchors the defense, accompanied in the back by the speed of all-state junior Bryton Quick and Andrew Schon. Brendon Moore, Cameron Zimmerman and Matt Sherrod will move the ball through the middle.

Six-foot-three Garrett Hoch, who ran a sub 50-second 400-meter

last spring, and Ryan Tatman will execute Darrah’s plan to win with header goals. Goalkeeper Blake Andrews started a couple games late last season as a freshman.

Maize has had close calls in the state tournament over the past decade, including in 2008. The Eagles fell to eventual champ Olathe South 1-0 in the semifinals before blasting Southeast 4-0 in the consolation game. Maize outscored its opponents 74-22 last season. No team from the greater Wichita area has won a Class 6A state title since Northwest in 1995.

Maize gives the area a shot at bringing home a Class 6A state title for the first time since 1995

Southeast BuffaloesSoutheast returns eight starters, which is experience they will

need after the loss of first-team all-state players Taylor Knoll and Trent Remmich. Coach Tom Rhodes has led Southeast to four regional championships in nine seasons.

First-team all-city forward Jordan Saybounkham makes plays anywhere on the field. Alfredo Jimenez and Saybounkam will work off one another up front.

Senior defender Manny Miranda is a strong tackler with the ability to get forward and score. Junior defender Konner Knoll can also make runs out of the back and organizes the defense. Six-foot Adam Ward provides height in the back. Junior GK Merrick Rhodes enters his third season as starter, directing the defense.

Brian Beckman creates scoring chances with his left foot in the midfield, accompanied by six-foot-two Conner Goodman.

East Aces East High returns 10 starters a season after surprising the City

League with an excellent run. Coach Jim Griffis enters his second season as coach in an increasingly competitive league.

Sophomore Joseph Yun was nearly impossible to move off the ball in 2008 and will lead the attack up front with speed and strength. Spencer Crouch, six-foot-two Matt Mally, Derek Good and George PapaMichael hold up the defense in front of returning GK Gary Rodriguez. Farmin Fernandez, Jorge Rodriguez, Diego Herrera and Brayan Godina will work the midfield. State 100-meter medalist Oliver Bradwell brings incredible speed, strength and jumping ability to the front line.

East lost 3-1 to Maize in the regional championship last season.

Heights FalconsAfter placing third at Class 6A state in 2007, Heights followed

up with a three-win season in 2008, losing in the first round of the playoffs. Second-year coach Ryan Kelley welcomes back six starters, however, and Heights got off to a strong start this season with a 4-0 win over North. Heights looks for production from junior Ari Velasquez in the midfield and senior forward Chris Farley. Junior Jose Salgado and sophomore Carter Way also try to increase Heights scoring from a season ago. Seniors Sean Fiscus and Bruce Brandon return to the defense

North RedskinsAfter starting the season 2-6, North won five of their last nine

games to enter 2009 with momentum. Six-foot-two senior Johnathan Guzman returns as North’s leading scorer a season ago. Senior Jesus Gallegos, strong and fearless according to second-year coach Brent Lewis, is also over six feet tall and returns to the defense. Senior GK Cristian Morales returns in goal. Kyle Casey and Levi Kinder also return to the defense. Guzman is accompanied up front by Alan Larios, and Jacob Velasquez returns to the midfield. North hopes to begin competing with the top teams in a very competitive league.

Northwest Grizzlies Northwest’s seventh-place finish in the City League in 2008 was a testament to a drastically improved league. Bobby Bribiesca, coach of the last area team to win a 6A state title in 1995, hopes his team can score more goals in 2009, as the Grizzlies won only one of eight overtime games played last season.

First-team all-city senior GK Jordan Drake leads the defense with great hands and knowledge of the angles. Senior Daniel Amott is the playmaker in the midfield, playing the entire field. He looks to link up with Robert Butler and Robert Rawlings up front.

Class 5AKapaun Crusaders

Kapaun won another City League title in 2008 but missed out on the state tournament, getting upset in the regional final by Winfield.

The league title may have been more of a surprise than the loss to Winfield. After suffering enormous losses from the 2007 roster going into last season, Kapaun was very young. Dividends should pay off in 2009.

Junior defender Logan Benning, first-team all-city as a sophomore, returns with eight other starters. Seniors Alex Lievens, Isaac Huffman and Luke Hanson return with juniors Chris Caire, Tyler Flores, Luke Campbell, Mike Sheets and sophomore Brenden Bombardier. Kapaun looks to contend in Class 5A over the next two seasons.

Coach Alan Shepherd enters his first season back as coach of the boys program. Coach of the Kapaun girls for 19 seasons and the boys from 1990 to 2000, Shepherd returns as the boys coach after coaching the women’s teams at Newman and Friends.

Coach Mike Darrah enters his 14th season at Maize with the return of nine starters following a third-place finish at Class 6A state in 2008.

Jordan SaybounkhamWichita SoutheastWhat does the national team’s 2-0 win over the world’s No. 1 team Spain in the Confederations Cup mean for U.S. soccer?

JS: There is potential in the U.S.

What does another loss at Mexico in World Cup qualifying last August mean for U.S. soccer (the U.S. has never won on Mexican soil)?JS: We have to bounce back from that.

Give one goal for your team this season, and for you as an individual.

JS: We want to reach the final four and win the City League for first time in a long time (1999). I need to step up and be a good leader.

What is your signature move?JS: Bouncing off people and beating them.

Who is your favorite playerJS: Argentina’s Lionel Messi

Give the most admirable attribute of your coach.He pushes us during practice and makes us better than we were before.

Ph

oto

by

A.M

. Th

om

as

Ph

oto

by

A.M

. Th

om

as

Photo by Fred Solis


Soccer Report

MAIzE ENTERED THE 2009 SEASON WITH A STRONG SHOT AT WINNING A CLASS 6A STATE CHAMPIONSHIP, WHILE WICHITA EAST WAS ExPECTED TO BECOME A CONSISTENT AREA CONTENDER. BOTH MAIzE AND EAST WOULD MAKE THE 6A STATE qUARTERFINALS

OTTE DIDN’T CHANGE things up in his first season as coach of Valley Center volleyball in 2008. He didn’t feel the jump from Class 2A Moundridge to Class 5A Valley Center warranted it.

It’s difficult to argue with his reasons for remaining the same. He’s the one who won five state titles at Moundridge and has compiled 395 wins.“I’m still coaching athletes,” Otte says of the transition to the higher classification. “I’m still teaching the same things. I never thought that in

the sport of volleyball it was that big a deal,” says Otte, who took Valley to the state tournament in his first season. –Tom Witherspoon Editor’s note: Otte ended the 2009 season with 432 career wins.

presents

Conway Springs124 W Spring St(620)456-2255

Norwich105 Main St

(620)478-2226

Wichita DowntownKellogg & Main

121 E Kellogg Ave(316)263-6767

Wichita East (Andover)Central & Greenwich11122 E Central Ave

(316)684-4000

WWW.CONWAYBANK.NET

FAMILY OF NORWICH TRACK COACH DON HALL GETS HELP FROM COMMUNITY AFTER

LOSING HOME IN TORNADO

A disaster is bringing a community together to lend a helping hand to their neighbors. People poured into Norwich High School on May 16 to give emotional and monetary support to the Hall family, who had lost their Belmont home six days earlier to an EF-2 tornado.

“I looked over and then I saw that my house was not there,” said Laurie Hall.But that was the least of Laurie’s concerns, as she ran through a pasture to get to the

rubble that used to be her home.“All I could think about when I saw that house, was that there was no way that they

would be alive when I got there,” said Hall.Hall knew her husband and two daughters were in their Kingman County home, when the

tornado destroyed it. They had taken cover in the basement.“I think I probably aged about 20 years in a 20 minute time span,” said Laurie.But then, overwhelming relief came when her husband drove up with their two girls. They

had made it through the tornado unharmed, and had just left to check on a neighbor.“I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t stand, I was just so thankful that they were there,” said

Laurie.“We were all alright, so that was really all that mattered at that point,” said Don, a social

studies teacher and the head track coach at Norwich High School.But the Halls had lost their home. Don was the first to see the damage when he opened

the basement door.“I finally got it pried open and that’s when all I could see was the blue sky above,” said

Don.The community immediately sprang into action, helping the family find a place to stay

and holding a fundraiser less than a week after the storm. Neighbors were also at the Halls’ home throughout the week, helping clean up the debris strewn across their property.

“There isn’t a day that has gone by that we don’t have what we need right now to get by,” said Laurie.

Now with the help of their friends and even complete strangers, the Halls are confident and grateful that they’ll be fine. Days later Don was already back to work. That Thursday, he coached the track team at the Heart of the Plains League track meet, which Norwich hosted.

“We’ll pick up from here, and we’re strong, so we’ll make it through it,” said Don. –Stephanie Diffin reported this story on May 16 for KAKE 10 News

Donations can be made to the Don Hall Family at the Norwich High School at 209 North Parkway, Norwich, KS 67118. The Norwich Christian Church at 339 Main Street, Norwich, KS 67118, is also collecting donations.

CONWAY SPRINGS TENNISSenior Stratton Lange and junior Kayl Barkley of Conway Springs

teamed up in mid May to make the Class 3-2-1A state doubles final, finishing as state runner-up to champs Miles Dunne and Brandon Somerhalder of Wichita Collegiate. Lange and Barkley were the only public school competitors to make the Class 3-2-1A state single or doubles semifinals.

Lange made the state doubles semifinals in each of the past three seasons, each with a different partner. This was his first appearance in a state final.

Conway Springs placed fourth as a team at the Class 3-2-1A state tournament after placing second the previous two seasons.

EAST: 9300 E. 29th St. North | Suite 205 | www.osmcypress.com | WEST: 750 North Socora, Suite 200

Let our team help you

never miss a play. With

our collaborative team of

physicians and physical

therapists focused on easing

your symptoms, gaining

function and independence

so you can return to the

activities that you value the

most. It’s a whole new ball

game with the addition

of physical therapy into our

practice. Offering a high level

of prevention and care for all

your athletic needs. Call our

staff for a healthy start to your

championship season, they’re

in a league of their own.

CALL 316.219.8299or call toll free at 888.397.7362

Tarun Bhargava, M.D.Knee & Hip Arthroplasty

and Arthroscopy

Phillip F. Hagan, M.D.Arthroscopic Knee Surgery,

Shoulder Surgery, andSports Medicine

Bradley W. Bruner, M.D.Arthroscopic Knee Surgery

and Sports Medicine

James Joseph Jr., M.D.Total Joint Reconstruction

of Knees and Hips

Never miss a play

BASEBALL.VYPE.4.10.final.indd 1 4/4/10 7:37:15 PM

presents

Conway Springs124 W Spring St(620)456-2255

Norwich105 Main St

(620)478-2226

Wichita DowntownKellogg & Main

121 E Kellogg Ave(316)263-6767

Wichita East (Andover)Central & Greenwich11122 E Central Ave

(316)684-4000

WWW.CONWAYBANK.NET

FAMILY OF NORWICH TRACK COACH DON HALL GETS HELP FROM COMMUNITY AFTER

LOSING HOME IN TORNADO

A disaster is bringing a community together to lend a helping hand to their neighbors. People poured into Norwich High School on May 16 to give emotional and monetary support to the Hall family, who had lost their Belmont home six days earlier to an EF-2 tornado.

“I looked over and then I saw that my house was not there,” said Laurie Hall.But that was the least of Laurie’s concerns, as she ran through a pasture to get to the

rubble that used to be her home.“All I could think about when I saw that house, was that there was no way that they

would be alive when I got there,” said Hall.Hall knew her husband and two daughters were in their Kingman County home, when the

tornado destroyed it. They had taken cover in the basement.“I think I probably aged about 20 years in a 20 minute time span,” said Laurie.But then, overwhelming relief came when her husband drove up with their two girls. They

had made it through the tornado unharmed, and had just left to check on a neighbor.“I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t stand, I was just so thankful that they were there,” said

Laurie.“We were all alright, so that was really all that mattered at that point,” said Don, a social

studies teacher and the head track coach at Norwich High School.But the Halls had lost their home. Don was the first to see the damage when he opened

the basement door.“I finally got it pried open and that’s when all I could see was the blue sky above,” said

Don.The community immediately sprang into action, helping the family find a place to stay

and holding a fundraiser less than a week after the storm. Neighbors were also at the Halls’ home throughout the week, helping clean up the debris strewn across their property.

“There isn’t a day that has gone by that we don’t have what we need right now to get by,” said Laurie.

Now with the help of their friends and even complete strangers, the Halls are confident and grateful that they’ll be fine. Days later Don was already back to work. That Thursday, he coached the track team at the Heart of the Plains League track meet, which Norwich hosted.

“We’ll pick up from here, and we’re strong, so we’ll make it through it,” said Don. –Stephanie Diffin reported this story on May 16 for KAKE 10 News

Donations can be made to the Don Hall Family at the Norwich High School at 209 North Parkway, Norwich, KS 67118. The Norwich Christian Church at 339 Main Street, Norwich, KS 67118, is also collecting donations.

CONWAY SPRINGS TENNISSenior Stratton Lange and junior Kayl Barkley of Conway Springs

teamed up in mid May to make the Class 3-2-1A state doubles final, finishing as state runner-up to champs Miles Dunne and Brandon Somerhalder of Wichita Collegiate. Lange and Barkley were the only public school competitors to make the Class 3-2-1A state single or doubles semifinals.

Lange made the state doubles semifinals in each of the past three seasons, each with a different partner. This was his first appearance in a state final.

Conway Springs placed fourth as a team at the Class 3-2-1A state tournament after placing second the previous two seasons.


TV Star – ESPNU showed up for the Carroll-Kapaun football game, which turned into a classic. After Carroll stuffed Kapaun’s two-point conversion attempt to maintain its late 36-34 lead for the win, Carroll quarterback Blake Bell talked it over with ESPN’s Tom Luginbill.

Photo of the Month

2009-2010

October2009

HIG

H S

CH

OO

L S

PO

RT

S

:: O

CT

OB

ER

20

09

::

V

YP

E.C

OM

28

F E A T U R E

29H I G H S C H O O L S P O R T S :: O C T O B E R 2 0 0 9 :: V Y P E . C O MH I G H S C H O O L S P O R T S :: O C T O B E R 2 0 0 9 :: V Y P E . C O M

Photo by W

illiam Purnell ome playoff time, though, they will

have an absolute gamer running things. Blake Bell went to Hawaii this summer for a quarterbacks camp,

but it’s not obvious. He’s stayed humble. All expenses were paid, he rubbed shoulders with pros, his every need was met, any and all instruction was offered in a catering manner. But he’s not a prima donna. The nation has talked about him as the top high school quarterback in the Class of 2010, yet the 6-6 stud quarterback still buckles his 5-10 backup wideout’s chin strap, as he did against Northwest early in the game during a timeout. He spent the summer throwing balls on college campuses, yet when drives stagnated on Friday night because guys were dropping balls over the middle, he looked to the sideline for the next play call, clapped his hands, patted the rear end of the wideout who dropped the ball and lined up for the next play. His teammates like and respect him. The time will come after many blowout wins this year when Bell will have to will the offense to march up field against a very good team. The West in Class 5A is insanely loaded this year. Hutchinson is king, with excellent teams at McPherson, Salina Central and Salina South behind them. Carroll will win its district, thus will play a second-place team from another district. With Central and South in one district and Hutch and McPherson in one district, two really good teams will be second-place district teams. Carroll’s first playoff game will be very tough, and they will gradually get tougher. Bell and Carroll will be challenged; it’s just a matter of time. Have confidence in this, though. Bell will lower his shoulder and fight for yardage. I was sort of shocked by how often Carroll runs draws with Bell in the shotgun. Bell responds; he doesn’t shy away from hits. He’s downright tough in goal line situations. Among national quarterback

prospects being recruited for their throwing arm, this is very unusual. Bell is not taking the “I don’t want to get hurt and lose my scholarship offer” course. He’s not just a Division I recruit; he’s a high school football player. (I say the exact same about Northwest’s Demarcus Robinson. What an absolute workhorse. He combines sturdy leg strength with excellent speed.) With 6:03 remaining in the second quarter against Northwest, Bell powered right for a five-yard score to take the lead 13-7. Carroll recovered an onside kick, which was a turning point in the game, taking the vigor out of Northwest’s defensive play for the remainder of the half. In another goal line situation with 5:11 remaining, Bell rolled out right after a fake handoff and lobbed a touchdown pass off his back foot to tight end John Mies. He put it in his bread basket. After hitting every hand on the offense on the sideline between series, Bell took the field and found Brandon Weber up the sideline, airing it out 26 yards. The Carroll sideline was whooping it up after that with 2:06 remaining. Just 31 seconds later, Northwest turned the ball over. Bell scampered for a big run, then Blake Rollins did the same. Two plays, and another score. Carroll led 32-7, and the game looked like it might be a runaway. But it wasn’t, and it’s a shame Carroll won’t be tested in a tight situation again any time soon. This series of events late in the third quarter won’t get the job done at some point this season: false start, two

incompletions, false start, blocked punt on own two-yard line. This is why the game was closer than it should have been. But Bell did what he’s going to have to do in the playoffs by leading his team on a late fourth-quarter scoring drive. Once again, he ran it in himself on the goal line. Blake Bell’s no Jimmy Clausen. And that’s a good thing. “Last year (Blake) had a bunch of wide receivers around him who made him look better,” Schuckman told me at Wednesday’s practice. “What I want from Blake is to make eveyone around him better. This year he needs to make a bunch of young wide receivers better. “When it comes time for him to put us on his shoulders, he needs to be able to do that and that’s hard to say in football, but we’re going to need him to make us better.” Bell was doing a lot of different stuff this summer, playing the way many instructors told him to play. Now he’s playing for Carroll coaches again, and he’s doing what they ask of him. Just watch every time he puts his head down on the goal line. That’s good stuff.

Excerpts from the past month’s Weekend Rusher, editor Tom Witherspoon’s online weekly Sunday column wrapping up the week in high school football

C

Photo by Steve A

delson

To the delight of his fans, Blake Bell stepped his game up against Northwest in Week 2, scoring a late touchdown to win 39-29. But will he be challenged again before the Class 5A playoffs begin? I didn’t think so in the September 13 edition of the Weekend Rusher.

Excerpt, September 13 Rusher

Read the Weekend Rusher every Sunday night at vype.com/centralkansas for insight and analysis on local preps.

Weekend Rusher

THE WEEKEND RUSHER, AN ExTENDED ONLINE COLUMN WITH FEATURES, NOTES, AUDIO, VIDEO AND OTHER INTERESTING ITEMS ABOUT HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL, WILL RETURN IN AUGUST. HERE’S A SAMPLING FROM 2009 WHICH VYPE PUBLISHED IN THE OCTOBER ISSUE

HUTCH’S TOUCHDOWN DERBY – VYPE PREVIEWED THE MUCH-ANTICIPATED HUTCH-DERBY RE-MATCH IN THE WEEK 3 WEEKEND RUSHER, A YEAR AFTER DERBY HAD SHOCKED THE SIx-TIME CHAMPS, 30-27, IN 2008. HUTCH REASSERTED ITSELF IN 2009, 49-14, IN A GAME ExTENDED TO SATURDAY DUE TO TORRENTIAL WEATHER.

With 6:03 remaining in the second quarter against Northwest, Bell powered right for a five-yard score to take the lead 13-7. Carroll recovered an onside kick, which was a turning point in the game, taking the vigor out of Northwest’s defensive play for the remainder of the half.

In another goal line situation with 5:11 remaining, Bell rolled out right after a fake handoff and lobbed a touchdown pass off his back foot to tight end John Mies. He put it in his bread basket.

After hitting every hand on the offense on the sideline between series, Bell took the field and found Brandon Weber up the sideline, airing it out 26 yards. The Carroll sideline was whooping it up after that with 2:06 remaining.

Just 31 seconds later, Northwest turned the ball over. Bell scampered for a big run, then Blake Rollins did the same. Two plays, and another score. Carroll led 32-7, and the game looked like it might be a runaway. –Tom Witherspoon

www.PuRe-foRMance.coM316-393-1129

2009-2010

33

down, having won just seven games the previous

three seasons going into 2006. A turnaround

was immediate in Warner’s first season, as the

Crusaders came out on top in seven games in

2006 alone.

This is Year Four, frequently a big one for

coaches trying to build a powerhouse. The kids

in the program have been Warner’s kids for four

years. There are no more leftovers, no one left

who needs convincing.

Oden was Warner’s for five days a week, two

and a half hours a day this past offseason. After

gaining 1,312 rushing yards in 2008, which

was the fourth-best single season in school

history, Oden set his sights on the school record.

He reviewed the playbook all year, studied

defenses with the offensive line and developed

an appetite for weights. The kid didn’t even start

lifting until his sophomore year.

Jon Becker’s school-record 1,465 rushing

yards set in 1993 didn’t look like they’d last

before district play at press time. Oden’s mother,

Dawn, who promised to quit smoking cigarettes

if he broke the record, probably thought she at

least would have been safe until Halloween. Not

a chance.

Senior quarterback Jake Reffner

hasn’t thrown the ball a ton this season,

but he can throw a touchdown pass

with his repaired right shoulder if need

be – and if Oden hasn’t already

broken for a 60-yard score. In the

season’s first three weeks, Reffner

completed 12 passes, five of

which were for touchdowns.

Reffner earned his leadership role.

He played defensive back and wide

receiver through terrible pain last season.

He found out afterward that he had a torn

labrum. It’s intact and effective now, and Reffner

is also the team’s second leading rusher.

Reffner and one of his offensive linemen,

senior Taylor Morris, steer away from the gaudy

stats, however, when trying to explain Buhler’s

success. While the Crusaders started winning

three years ago and even won two playoff games

last season, the team has found new chemistry

in 2009.

“There was leadership last year, but it was

negative,” says Reffner. “If something bad

happens (now), we come back to the huddle

and say, ‘Let’s make something good happen.’”

Each player interviewed goes back to the fact

that all the work they’ve put in over the past year

has been together. The work load and process

seem to have increased in focus and intensity.

Players in the Buhler program have never

been so prepared.

“Every day all year we’re looking at what

could possibly happen from a defense,”

says Morris, “how we should react. The

HIG

H S

CH

OO

L S

PO

RT

S

:: O

CT

OB

ER

20

09

::

V

YP

E.C

OM

34

VY

PE

.CO

M ::

OC

TO

BE

R 2

00

9 ::

HIG

H S

CH

OO

L S

PO

RT

S

35

F E A T U R E

L et’s review the numbers. Buhler totaled 658 yards of offense in

a 52-27 season opening win

over Andover, and it wasn’t a fluke. They

followed up by compiling 579 yards in

Week 2 at Abilene, a 56-13 win. Then they

scored 50 the next week in the first half

against Augusta.

In Week 4, the football gods were kind

to Buhler’s opponent, sparing coach Steve Warner from benching his first team in the

second half against El Dorado by sending

lightning. Buhler led 57-0 at half when play

was suspended due to inclement weather;

both parties wisely agreed to end the

onslaught. Warner could run only so many

more quarterback sneaks.

Upon first glance at each week’s box

score through those opening weeks, one

name popped off the page: Jorden Oden.

The senior three-year starter at running

back gained over 200 yards

rushing the first three weeks

of the season, including 330

against Andover. In Week 4

against El Dorado when he

came up short of 200 at 184

yards, we found out how to

stop him: Cancel the second

half.

Assuredly, though, on paper

is where Oden appears most

impressive. In person, he

is 5’8” and slightly rotund.

When Warner saw a video

interview of him on a local

preps website, he saw a little of

himself on camera.

“He kind of looked like he

had my gut because he sort of

slouches when standing,” says

Warner, “but when he gets in

the open field, he is very fast.”

Oden is seeing acres of

open field this season, as the

building program he is a member of is

coming into its own. The Buhler offense

is in the midst of a season of unusual

dominance.

It wasn’t that long ago when Buhler was

struggling to win games. Football was way

Buhler is winning by outrageous deficits behind a prolific rushing attack led by Jorden Oden, as coach Steve Warner tries to build another Reno County powerhouse

Finally,

it’s easy to

once again

talk about

the Hutch

offense.

They scored

55 against

Rockhurst;

41 in three

quarters against Salina South; 49 against Derby by midway

through the third quarter; and 56 against Salina Central in

the second and third quarters.

But what about the defense, which in the August

football preview I wrote wouldn’t be the same following the

graduation of Forrest Stucky and Nate Dreiling? Well, the

Hutch defense might be even better this year. The first-team

defense allowed just two touchdowns combined to Salina

South, Derby and Salina Central. Credit goes to the physically

dominant defensive line, and the most athletic defensive

secondary I’ve seen at Hutch in three years.

However, I will repeat a line included in the football

preview about McPherson and coach Tom Young. He ended

Lawrence’s streak of five consecutive football titles with a

state title win at Derby in 1994. In a potential fourth meeting

with Hutch in two seasons on Nov. 20 at sub-state, surely

one of the master game planners in Kansas preps history

will give himself the opportunity to end another five-title

streak. –TW

By Tom Witherspoon

In Week 4 against El Dorado when Oden

came up short of 200 at 184 yards, we found out how to stop him: Cancel

the second half.

“I’ve never had a kid like Wimer block at wide receiver like he does,” says Warner, “driving them all the way downfield into

the end zone.”

Buhler running back Jorden Oden started

the season with a bang, gaining 330 yards

against Andover. His streak of 200-yard

games ended in Week 4 only because

lightning ended the game at halftime.

Photos by Bill M

illspaug

h

Quarterback Jake Reffner played the 2008

season at defensive back and wideout

with a torn labrum. Intact and effective,

he’s leading a potent attack at Buhler this

season.

As far as I could see when Vype went to press, 2009’s

best prep football match-ups were slated for October 16

right in our backyard. The situation will likely repeat itself

on November 20, date of sub-state football games. After

finishing one-two in their districts, these teams cannot meet

again in the playoffs until sub-state: Andale vs. Buhler;

Conway Springs vs. Garden Plain; McPherson vs. Hutchinson.

Buhler scored 48 points or more in each of the first

five weeks of the season. Andale has maintained its area

supremacy in Class 4A for the fourth consecutive season with

convincing wins over Rose Hill and Wellington.

Andale has had Buhler’s number, ending their season in

the 2006 and 2007 playoffs and pounding them by three

touchdowns in district play a year ago.

Buhler, however, hasn’t had a team like this. The

Crusaders scored 249 of their 263 points in the first five

weeks of the season before the fourth quarter.

For seven of the past eight seasons, the West has been

represented in the Class 3A state championship game by

Conway Springs or Garden Plain, towns separated by 21

miles on Highway 49.

Expect a repeat sub-state match-up, despite a new cast

of characters. Playing many sophomores and juniors, having

lost Jaydan Bird and having a first-year coach, Conway is

still in the midst of another dominant run. And Garden Plain,

well, I’m beginning to think they’ll never lose another regular

season game, unless it’s against Conway.

Two Power-Packed FridaysIf these district match-ups re-materialize at sub-state in November, it will be a sportswriter’s nightmare to decide where to go

Lineman B.J. Finney and Andale

look to continue their winning streak

against Buhler.

Hank Schmedemann may be the most

punishing offensive lineman at Hutch.

Cory Misak is one sophomore contributing this season

at Conway. Following a three-gold-medal state track

performance, Kurt Pauly runs out of a prolific Garden

Plain backfield.

A Good Oden

THE FUTURE LOOKED BRIGHT FOR BUHLER FOOTBALL AFTER THE FIRST HALF OF THE 2009 FOOTBALL SEASON AS RUNNING BACK

JORDEN ODEN RAN FOR WELL OVER 1,000 YARDS

Buhler totaled 658 yards of offense in a 52-27 season opening win over Andover, and it wasn’t a fluke. They followed up by compiling 579 yards in Week 2 at Abilene, a 56-13 win. Then they scored 50 the next week in the

first half against Augusta. Buhler led 57-0 over El Dorado at half when play was suspended due to

inclement weather; both parties wisely agreed to end the onslaught. Warner could run only so many more quarterback sneaks.

Upon first glance at each week’s box score through those opening weeks, one name popped off the page: Jorden Oden.

Spread: Pages 38-39

Year In review

39H I G H S C H O O L S P O R T S :: O C T O B E R 2 0 0 9 :: V Y P E . C O M

HIG

H S

CH

OO

L S

PO

RT

S

:: O

CT

OB

ER

20

09

::

V

YP

E.C

OM

38

F E A T U R E F E A T U R E

On the surface, South, North and West have just a lot of losses. But everyday their coaches are trying to get to their kids to believe in a program.

By Jeffrey Lutz

SouthWatch a football practice at South and it looks as if you’re

watching something big-time. The Titans are working out on a brand new turf field, installed at the beginning of this season. They have shiny blue helmets that look as if they could belong to a major college team. The practice jerseys appear just as fresh.

Maybe that’s the first step in making South a major City League football program – just looking like one. The Titans don’t have the strong football tradition of North and West, but it’s never too late to begin developing one.

South hasn’t had a winning season since 1996, when it finished 5-4. Its last playoff appearance was in 1971. In going 16-96 in the last 12-plus seasons, the Titans have seen four head coaches walk the sidelines at Carpenter Stadium.

What’s keeping South from a better fate in the standings appears to be as simple as talent. They have it, just not enough to compete with heavyweights such as Bishop Carroll, Heights and Northwest, who frequently turn out Division I athletes. The Titans appear to have everything else, though. Especially an eager first-year coach, Cory Brack, who seems ready, willing and able to bring success to South’s football program.

Brack is involved. He watches intently during practice as the Titans work on offensive plays and defensive positioning. He blows his whistle when the play is over, ready for the players to try it again. When each drill is over, an assistant coach blows an airhorn and players move onto something else.

Every player is participating in practice. The junior varsity players are at the opposite end of the field, running option plays. The punter is booming kicks down the sideline. The varsity players are rotating in and out of drills. Practice is fluid. Players are, for the most part, going full speed. They’re running between drills as Brack attempts to get production from every minute of practice.

South isn’t among the City League elite. The Titans haven’t had

a player like Bryce or Arthur Brown to even temporarily make them a threat, like East did in recent years. They’ve had good quarterbacks, good running backs and good wide receivers, but something has always been missing. This doesn’t look to be the year South breaks into the upper division of the league. It might not happen next year, either. But the Titans could be on the verge, as evidenced by a victory over Southeast this season. And it could happen sooner than we think.

NorthSix North football players line up about a foot from each

other and bend down to take their mark in anticipation of a hotly contested race. Another player stands 50 yards away, waiting to give the signal to go.

The winner of the race makes it look easy, sailing through the makeshift finish line as his competitors sprint behind him, unable to catch up.

The scene is indicative of what North’s football team could be, but is an even better indication of where the Redskins come up short. They have talent, speed athleticism. Just not enough. That’s why North has found it difficult to climb into the top half of the City League football standings.

It’s not as if the Redskins have always lacked an abundance of talent. Their heyday was the 1970s, when they made six playoff appearances. Even as recently as 2003, they reached the Class 6A playoffs behind quarterback Elbert Mack, now a reserve defensive back for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

That season was an outlier, though -- North’s only winning season since 1992. The Redskins have gone 9-42 since 2003 and have had six coaches since 1995. Third-year coach Tom Beason doesn’t want to add to those negative statistics and appears dedicated to making the Redskins a City League force once again.

Beason doesn’t have the numbers to work with. At a practice in early October, 80 players were present to

comprise the varsity and junior varsity teams. That’s about 10 percent of the male students at North.

Still, Beason is trying to establish leadership, though it’s sometimes apparent that his patience is running thin. The unquestioned on-field leader is quarterback Grail Brewster, who does his part by yelling, “Hurry up! Quit walking!” to late players who aren’t hustling to join practice.

The lack of depth at North is apparent on this Wednesday afternoon, the day before the Redskins will lose 35-6 to Heights. Often, up to 30 players aren’t participating while starters run through drills. When those players finally do join the action, it’s as the scout team offense.

Since so many North players play on offense and defense, scout teams are used and the first team doesn’t get repetitions against equally skilled players. For a team already near the bottom of the standings, that is irreversibly damaging.

It may be an uphill battle to contention for North, but the promise shown in one 50-yard race gives hope that an abundance of talent may someday return to the school.

West

Practice has started, but one player arrives late. He knows the punishment – running. He jogs the predetermined path at a normal pace, but it’s not good enough for coach Heath Henderson who yells as the player approaches the practice field, “Why are you walking?”

Three more show up late and suffer the same fate – running. When they believe they’re out of the line of vision of the coaches, they begin to walk. Only they’re not out of the line of vision, and one coach approaches them, giving them a verbal admonishment before leading them in a series of up-downs.

The tardy Pioneers give West’s coaching staff a chance to attempt to instill discipline on a team that has been lacking in that department in recent years. Besides difference-making talent, discipline represents West’s most glaring need for improvement.

Like North, West did once enjoy glory years. The top two coaching winners in City League history, Ed Kriwiel and Weston Schartz, both had long, successful tenures at West. Schartz, who left for Northwest in 2002, led the Pioneers to an 84-59 record, five playoff berths and a 6A title game appearance.

Since, West is 14-54 and has had three coaches. Unlike his predecessor, Henderson has stuck it out for a second season. If he’s still working on discipline, he seems to have made strides in organization. During practices he often refers to a schedule, so drills transition smoothly and players seem to know what’s going on.

The drawback to that is that there often isn’t enough time to get things right. Instead of perfecting drills, West simply stops them when time is up. On this day, the Pioneers seem to be attempting to work on as many things as possible in advance of their Friday game.

Also like North, the Pioneers are practicing on a grass field. The bond issue promised new turf fields for every public City League school, but North and West won’t receive theirs this season. That means two schools already struggling to stay relevant in football are at yet another disadvantage.

The coaches at West are doing their best not to be negatively affected by that, however. They continue to push players, looking to instill discipline and accountability. Watching West’s players during organized stretching and the huddle that follows, the Pioneers look to be united in the face of another rough season. Maybe the plan of Henderson and company is slowly beginning to work.•

First-year South coach Cory Brack got a win over

Southeast this season, as he is in search of the program’s first

winning season since 1996.

Coach Heath Henderson followed up West High’s

winless 2007 season with wins in his first two seasons

as coach, but it remains an uphill battle.

North High has earned a playoff appearance in the past decade, but

coach Tom Beason and the Redskins haven’t had a winning season since.

Phot

o b

y A

mb

er M

eyer

s

Phot

o b

y W

illia

m P

urne

ll

Photo by W

alter Dixon


Remember the (Old) Titans

DID WE KNOW THAT SOUTH WAS ON ITS WAY TO BREAKING ITS STREAK OF LOSING SEASONS AND MISSING THE PLAYOFFS WHEN THEY SHOWED PROMISE ON THE PRACTICE FIELD EARLY IN THE 2009 SEASON?

Watch a football practice at South and it looks as if you’re watching something big-time. The Titans are working out on a brand new turf field, installed at the beginning of this season. They have shiny blue helmets that look as if they could belong to a major college team. The practice jerseys appear just as fresh.

Maybe that’s the first step.South hasn’t had a winning season since 1996, when it finished 5-4.

Its last playoff appearance was in 1971. In going 16-96 in the last 12-plus seasons, the Titans have seen four head coaches walk the sidelines at Carpenter Stadium. –Jeff Lutz

VY

PE

.CO

M ::

OC

TO

BE

R 2

00

9 ::

HIG

H S

CH

OO

L S

PO

RT

S

41

F E A T U R E

HIG

H S

CH

OO

L S

PO

RT

S

:: O

CT

OB

ER

20

09

::

V

YP

E.C

OM

40

F E A T U R E

Rodeo Profiles

Get to know 6 local kids who are competing nationally in the sport of rodeo

By Jim Misunas

For every Kansas high school rodeo competitor, there’s typically a brother, father or grandfather who started the family tradition. Ty Jones-Davis owes part of his rodeo tradition to his mother – a four-time national

qualifier.All of the Kansas cowboys and cowgirls started their

careers with the time-honored tradition of sheep riding, commonly called mutton busting.

A sense of family is at the heart of rodeo, and is what makes competing so much fun. Rodeos require long drives, making time to get to know one another.

“The entire family is involved with rodeo,” says Valley Center’s Missy Kupfersmith. “Everyone in my family rodeos so we can all go together. Nearly every weekend, we’re at a high school rodeo with my parents, for a two- to six-hour truck ride, staying in a trailer for two nights. We become very close.”

Kupfersmith’s father, Brian, and a brother, Curtis, were team ropers.

“I started because my brother loved doing it,” she

says. “My first rodeo memories are from sheep riding in Kingman at the Heartland Youth Rodeo Association.”

Kupfersmith has learned the thrill of adrenaline pumping and winning just like any other athlete. She started as a youngster in goat-tail tying, which led to

goat tying. The horse runs 100

yards; Missy steps off while he’s running, runs to the goat’s flank and ties it.

She scored the most points in Kansas through fall and spring qualifying and finished 26th nationally at Farmington, N.M.

“It was awesome to have all my hard work finally pay off. I was a little more nervous than at normal rodeos because there’s hundreds of people watching and so much more at stake.”

She plans to attend Kansas State University on an academic scholarship, but still hasn’t decided whether to compete with the school’s rodeo team.

“I’ll probably change my mind a million times before then,” she says.

“Nearly every weekend, we’re at a high school rodeo with my parents, for a two- to six-hour truck ride, staying in a trailer for two nights. We become very close.”

GOAT TYING

Kingman’s Travis Tetrick is following in his family’s footsteps. A brother, Will, was a four-time national qualifier and a sister, Becky, was a three-time qualifier.

His father, Bill, competed in bull riding and bareback riding. The family’s ranching operation involves raising cows and calves alongside farming.

“Family is a big part of rodeo because my parents and grandparents have watched all of us compete,” Tetrick says. “Rodeo is what I grew up with. It all started with sheep riding. I’ll always remember winning that first belt buckle for first place.”

Tetrick has placed ninth and 15th the past two years at nationals with his teammate Dalton Davis of Holcomb in boys cutting. The cutting event involved herding three cows from a herd within two minutes. Competitors are scored on how well the horse performs and how well the rider performs. Tetrick stays busy by competing in

three categories with three horses

– cutting (Bobby Bo Ban), team roping (Pocco) and calf roping (Bobbi).

His favorite event is team roping because it involves working with a well-trained horse as well as a partner. His experience paid off in a ninth-place finish in 2009 at Farmington, N.M.

“My first year, it was tough at nationals, but it was still fun,” he says. “I was a little nervous that first year. This year, I was a little more comfortable. Competing at nationals is about posting good consistent scores in each round.”

He plays high school golf, but otherwise stays busy year-round with rodeo training and competition.

“It’s a terrific honor to win state in Kansas and represent your state in nationals,” Tetrick says.

“Rodeo is what I grew up with. It all started with sheep riding. I’ll always remember winning that first belt buckle for first place.”

CUTTING A UNIQUE PATH

Rodeo’s not always just about what goes on in the ring, though. There are queens, too.

Goddard’s Maggie Longabaugh has competed in rodeo for a number of years, but ended up in nationals as a rodeo queen. A friend, Courtney Dehoff of Lawrence, thought she had the right personality to be a queen candidate.

Dehoff showed her the fine points of clothes, modeling and the personal interview. Among 43 queen candidates at nationals, she ranked top 10 in personality and 11th in speech for a 25th-place finish.

“It was scary because I’d never been around that environment,” says Longabaugh. “But it was also nice to be around girls who were going through the same

emotions. They knew the stress of trying to look your best all the time.”

She competes in barrel racing and poles on her horses Tal and Polo.

“Nationals helped me develop confidence in myself,” she says. “I matured a lot. I learned a lot about time management.”

She plans on competing in rodeo at Pratt Community College.

“But it was also nice to be around girls who were going through the same emotions. They knew the stress of trying to look your best all the time.”

A RODEO QUEENMissy Kupfersmith

Travis Tetrick

Maggie Longabaugh

Home On the Range

NOT EVERY HIGH SCHOOL KID PLAYS HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS. VYPE TOOK A TRIP INTO THE COUNTRY TO FIND THE AREA’S TOP HIGH SCHOOL-AGED RODEO COMPETITORS

Ty Jones-Davis of Abbyville learned at an early age how dangerous rodeo could be when he was was kicked in the head at just 8 years old. But he’s learned to persevere. He serves as a student director for Kansas high school team roping with Kingman’s Travis Tetrick.

“For a long time, Ty rode with a helmet,” said his mother Betty. “But when he got older, he said, ‘Cowboys do not wear helmets. They wear a hat.’”

The third-generation cowboy boasts of a proud cowboy heritage. “Family is very important – rodeo is all we’ve ever done together,”

Betty says. “We are pretty rodeo-oriented.”


Denied – The Maize boys soccer team put together one of its best seasons in school history (17-2) but couldn’t figure out one team, Dodge City, which dealt the Eagles its only two losses of the season, including a 2-1 final at Maize in the state quarterfinals.

Photo of the Month

2009-2010

November2009

HIG

H S

CH

OO

L S

PO

RT

S

:: N

OV

EM

BE

R 2

00

9

::

VY

PE

.CO

M

20

VY

PE

.CO

M ::

NO

VE

MB

ER

20

09

:: H

IGH

SC

HO

OL

SP

OR

TS

21

F E A T U R E

t’s 2012 and 7-foot senior Perry Ellis is leading Wichita Heights to its fourth consecutive Class 6A basketball title.

Ellis scores 33 points in the title game at Koch Arena, edging out Southeast, led by senior Gavin Thurman, who tallies 28 points and grabs 10 rebounds. While seniors Nathan Jackson and Jalen Love also led East to state, the Blue Aces fell to Southeast in the semifinals. Northwest lost in the first round, but seniors Spencer Gaels, June Johnson and Craig Nicholson are all headed for college ball, as well. While seniors are known to win City League titles, it’s hard not to talk about the city’s sophomores going into the 2009-10 season. It’s unclear where some of them can take their teams this year, but the possibilities of where they’ll be in two seasons are limitless. Perry Ellis enters his sophomore season at Heights, making the prospect of a state four-peat tantalizing. But Heights’ title a year ago wouldn’t have been achieved without the leadership of seniors Dorrian Roberts and Austin Bahner. The CL has perpetually been an upperclassman’s league.“If you have a program, you’re constantly thinking ahead and trying to anticipate what kids will be able to do,” Heights coach Joe Auer says. “But primarily you better stay in the moment. Nothing is promised, nothing is guaranteed, nothing can be taken for granted. “Seniors don’t care what happens two years from now. Juniors are mostly concerned about right here, right now, so you better keep most of your focus on what’s right in front of your face.” But it’s easy to imagine how good the current group of sophomores can be. In addition to Ellis, Thurman, Jackson, Love, Gaels, Johnson and Nicholson are Heights’ Terrence Moore and Southeast’s Kevin Gunter. There were murmurs around the league about these kids even before they entered their freshman seasons last

November. Granted, however, there wouldn’t be nearly as much talk about so many underclassmen if Ellis hadn’t led his team to a state title as a freshman, averaging a double-double (19 ppg, 12 rpg). The other sophomores have built reputations around strong play in AAU and MAYB tournaments during the summer. Since many in Wichita have yet to see them play, we don’t know their limitations. We can project them to do amazing things during their final three high school seasons. It’s possible that Love, who has already drawn attention from Division I schools, would be the headliner of the Class of 2012 if not for Ellis. He’ll have a chance to show that this season when he takes on an expanded role with the Aces. He is the son of former City League star Bob Love and has had many relatives play in the league. “He’s a very heady ballplayer,” East coach Ron Allen said of Love, a guard. “He’s had a real good early education of how the game should be played from his dad and his uncles and everyone who has been around him.” Gaels, Johnson and Nicholson were forced to grow up early last season, when Northwest struggled to gain traction in the City League and coach Chris Collins had to rely on younger players. Though they had to endure a 3-18 season a year ago, the experience they gained is invaluable, according to Collins. “You see a kid and you wonder, ‘If this kid could just get it, maybe some good things can happen,’” Collins said. “I have no doubts in my mind that those three are going to be special young men, and I’m not just talking about on the court. If I do my job, they’re going to blossom.” Thurman represents the great unknown of the Class of 2012. He played sparingly as a freshman, despite suiting up for Southeast’s varsity team for most games, including the state tournament. But the Buffaloes had a deep frontcourt, and the 6-foot-6 Thurman didn’t crack the rotation. This year, Thurman should transition into the starting lineup. When Thurman went to Stucky Middle School and Ellis to Brooks, the two had back-and-forth battles which sometimes favored Thurman. This season, Thurman and Gunter will team to form another

formidable post game for the Golden Buffaloes. “They grew up together,” Southeast coach Carl Taylor said of Thurman and Gunter. “They’re going to have to play. They’re going to have to grow up on the job. They did well this summer. They’re much better. Not where I want them to be, but they’ll be all right.” It’s not traditional for sophomores to lead the league. Some of the CL’s all-time greats, such as Ricky Ross, Antoine Carr and Adrian Griffin, didn’t make the all-city team as sophomores. The last three-time all-city player was Rashad Washington, who wrapped up his standout two-sport career at Southeast in 1997. While Ellis has a chance to be the first-ever four-time all-city basketball player, the other sophomores could have a difficult time cracking the first team. Heights juniors Evan Wessel and Dreamius Smith and several upperclassmen at East and Southeast will have their say. “Traditionally it’s a league whose outcome is determined by veteran guards almost every year,” Auer says. “Veteran guard play, players who have experience under their belt who have proven that they can win – that usually is the driving force behind success in this league. I don’t think this year will be any different.” Because of summer basketball and recruiting services which seem to rank players at younger ages each year, more attention than before is drawn to high school underclassmen. That’s especially true in Wichita because of Ellis, who had scholarship offers from the likes of Kansas, Oklahoma, Memphis and Kentucky after just one season playing preps. “Perry, he’s the only one that’s done it on the floor in a City League season,” Auer says. “But we were hearing about this group of guys before they ever got to high school. “When (City League coaches) were interviewed last year, coaches said ‘He’s got to go out and prove it,’ when asked about Perry. Everybody has to earn their own success. But anytime a league has a guy who’s getting a lot of attention, everybody benefits from that. But everybody will succeed and achieve based on their own merits.” •

By Tom Witherspoon Andover Central coach Jesse Herrmann knows the difference between sophomores and seniors. After a deep state tournament run in 2007, Central underwent a youth movement, devoting significant minutes to sophomore players Marshall Miller and Randall Vautravers. Flashes of excellence were there, but so was inconsistency. “The biggest difference between coaching seniors and sophomores is maturity. Both mentally and physically,” says Herrmann. “Two years makes a huge difference in development. This group of seniors we have this year knows exactly what to expect and how to handle success and failure much better than they did two years ago. “The best thing about sophomores with talent is that they turn into seniors with talent.” Central went 15-8 in 2007-8, losing by wide margins some nights. Some inconsistent play continued in 2008-9 early in the season, then all of a sudden they took off. Following a loss in the championship of their mid-season tournament to Goddard, they won 10 of the next 11 games, including a first-round win over Liberal at 5A state. Logically, the best seems still yet to come for Miller, Vautravers and Mark Anderson, now seniors. The same is the case for two other suburban Wichita teams. Look no further than the girls team at Andover Central. Four-year starting point guard Tiffany Bias is finally a senior, looking to compete at state again after missing out last year. Across town, Kylie Cooper and Andover High missed out on the state tournament in her junior season a year ago, getting upset in the sub-state final by Rose Hill. They’re hoping a year’s experience makes the difference.

I

Photo by W

illiam Purnell

Photo by Scott Sew

ell

Senior Marshall Miller and Andover Central have been building toward this season for three years.

By Jeff Lutz

WWW.PURE-FORMANCE.COM316-393-1129

Super Sophs

PERRY ELLIS LED A CONTINGENT OF TALENTED CITY LEAGUE SOPHOMORES INTO THE 2009-10 BASKETBALL SEASON It’s 2012 and 7-foot senior Perry Ellis is leading Wichita Heights to its fourth consecutive Class 6A basketball title.

Ellis scores 33 points in the title game at Koch Arena, edging out Southeast, led by senior Gavin Thurman, who tallies 28 points and grabs 10 rebounds.

While seniors Nathan Jackson and Jalen Love also led East to state, the Blue Aces fell to Southeast in the semifinals. Northwest lost in the first round, but seniors Spencer Gaels, June Johnson and Craig Nicholson are all headed for college ball, as well.

While seniors are known to win City League titles, it’s hard not to talk about the city’s sophomores going into the 2009-10 season. It’s unclear where some of them can take their teams this year, but the possibilities of where they’ll be in two seasons are limitless. –Jeff Lutz

The Point Man

BLAKE JABLONSKI LED WICHITA COLLEGIATE TO AN UNDEFEATED FOOTBALL SEASON AS qUARTERBACK, MONTHS AFTER LEADING THE BASKETBALL TEAM TO ITS OWN UNDEFEATED SEASON

Platonic Point – Blake Jablonski rolls out of the pocket in a regular season game last fall and points to the heavens, where he most frequently found his favorite target, Brett LeMaster.

Jablonski and LeMaster’s hook-up to start the half for the second consecutive time iced the game early against a program which had lost three games in the past four seasons, but more shocking was their legacy still taking shape. Between football and basketball, Jablonksi, LeMaster and their senior classmates were about to win their 36th consecutive game, and their 45th in the past 46.

Jablonski, the general of Spartan football’s spread offense, compiling 2,448 passing yards and 31 TDs in the regular season, both new school records, also led the Collegiate charge last winter to an undefeated 26-0 basketball season and a Class 3A state title, draining long-range, quick-release three-pointers to average 17 points per game. When Collegiate’s football season ends, he and his classmates will return to the hardwood, clear to us now not the only surface on which they can be unbeatable. –Tom Witherspoon

2009-2010

35

6 H I G H S C H O O L S P O R T S :: N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 9 :: V Y P E . C O M


7H I G H S C H O O L S P O R T S :: N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 9 :: V Y P E . C O M

Before returning to the basketball court to attend to unfinished postseason business, Sadie Clark (top

right) and Ashia Woods (top center) led Wichita Collegiate to the Class 3A state volleyball title. The Spartans were the only local volleyball champ, though the area had strong representation at the other tournaments: Meghan Dugan and Valley Center (bottom left, purple), Jordan Rehm and Rose Hill (same photo, white) and Merissa Quick and Cheney (bottom center, red) in 4A; Casie Ronen and Newton (center, No. 5), Chelsea Helena and Kapaun (top left, blue) and Sara Waterson and Carroll (top left, No. 13) in 5A; and Natalie Henning and Maize (far right, No. 5) and Alaina Shine and Northwest (bottom right).

Title: State Volleyball

Subtitle: WICHITA COLLEGIATE WON ITS FIRST STATE VOLLEYBALL TITLE IN SCHOOL HISTORY, COMPILING A 40-1 RECORD

Spread: Pages 38-39

Year In review



Carroll Cross Country – Bishop Carroll, Class 5A State Champs – Bottom row, left to right, Anthony Arion,

Andy Schepis, Cliff Kissling, James Hampton, Logan Sageser, David Thor. Top row, left to right, Spencer Stanley, Henry Merth, Gage Garcia, Spencer Bailly.

Courtesy photo

Three In A Row – Five Mulvane runners placed in the top 11 at the Class 4A state cross country meet to complete their most dominant championship run,

their third in a row. Left to right, coach Dale Landes, Nick Lockwood, Wyatt James, Josh Hansen, Evan Landes, Nikki Trooien-Smith, Trevor Sherping, Jake James and assistant Brad Canfield.

Courtesy photo

Berean Cross Country – Berean Academy, Class 2A State Champs – Left

to right, Josiah Busenitz, Daniel Claassen, Arlan Newby, Steven Busenitz, Michael Claassen, Lane Holmes, Justin Claassen, coach Mark Anderson.

Courtesy photo

3-2-1A Singles Champ – Caroline Lincoln of Independent

won the Class 3-2-1A state singles title, winning the semifinal and final matches in straight sets to end the season with a 35-3 record.

Courtesy photo

4A Doubles Champ – Stephanie Shogren and Madelyn Weaver of Hesston compiled a 35-2 record this season, winning the Class 4A state doubles title.

Courtesy photo

3-2-1A Doubles Champs – Collegiate doubles partners Grace LeMaster and Jillian Johnson led the Spartans to

the Class 3-2-1A state team title by winning their championship match in dramatic fashion. After dropping the first set, they ended up winning the doubles title with an 11-9 third-set win.

Courtesy photo




Three In A Row THE MULVANE BOYS WON THEIR THIRD CONSECUTIVE STATE CROSS COUNTRY TITLE, WHILE THE CARROLL AND BEREAN BOYS ALSO WON STATE CROSS COUNTRY TITLES. INDEPENDENT’S CAROLINE LINCOLN (SINGLES), COLLEGIATE’S GRACE LEMASTER AND JILLIAN JOHNSON AND HESSTON’S STEPHANIE SHOGREN AND MADELYN WEAVER ALSO WON STATE TENNIS TITLES


Staisha Miller-DiazWest High School-Sophomore

freshman and sophomore letter winner. Hole in one on Sim # 15!

named MVP of girls golf team at South High (last season)

Home course: Arthur B. SimWhat do you like about your home course? not a tough course

but still challenging. There are holes that push you to do your best.

Favorite hole: #2. It is an easy par

Toughest hole: #17. It is a long par 5

Kyle WrightNorth High-Junior

As a Junior, 3rd at regionals. Sophomore year,

6th in City League

Home course: Arthur B. SimFavorite hole: #7 – only par 5 on front. Pretty

easy. It can make or break you

Toughest hole: #12 Tough par 3.

Long and big green



Court Marshall – Andover Central trounced rival Andover in December by 26 points, led by Marshall Miller with 24 points. Central went on to beat Andover two more times, including in the sub-state championship, 47-46, though it required a last-minute comeback.

Photo of the Month

2009-2010

December2009

VY

PE

.CO

M ::

DE

CE

MB

ER

20

09

:: H

IGH

SC

HO

OL

SP

OR

TS

17

F E A T U R E

HIG

H S

CH

OO

L S

PO

RT

S

:: D

EC

EM

BE

R 2

00

9

::

VY

PE

.CO

M

16

In a league of theIr own, hutchInson holds a record wIth no end In sIght

The field-level proceedings at the end of the game were as any other year, disconcerted, starkly contrasted to the organized blitz of offense and defense Hutchinson had just rained

down in the Class 5A state title game. Gardner-Edgerton became the fifth victim since mid-season of 2009 to meet Hutch undefeated and leave with a giant mar on their record. After defeating 12 opponents by a 38-point average margin of victory, Gardner was crushed by 38, 52-14. For those of you scoring at home, that’s a 76-point turnaround.

Family and friends of the Salthawks filtered through the gates to celebrate on the Welch Stadium turf, site of three of Hutch’s last four state championships, their home away from home, hemming in those champions they wished to congratulate at midfield. Television crews scrambled to interview Gardner coach Marvin Diener, as KSHSAA football director Rick Bowden awarded him the runner-up trophy. Diener has four of them now, alongside his six championships.

Hutch then hoisted their own sixth title, all consecutive, breaking the Kansas record against the coach they could not beat when the program’s title streak began. Diener’s Salina Central teams handled Hutch in 2004 and 2005. If a five-title legacy still needed closure, this was it. Indeed, vintage – the program’s rally call this season chosen by coach Randy Dreiling and printed on the cover of each week’s home game program.

The rematch with Diener brought to light the streak’s length of time. Defensive end Justin Goetz, a consensus first-team all-stater in 2009 and Hutchinson’s career sacks leader, had a brother who lost both games to Diener and Central. They weren’t close. Diener implanted the memory of his victories in the Salthawks to come. Four years later, it was Justin’s turn.

“(Those losses) were hard for my mom, my brother

and family,” Goetz said on Friday after his final pregame team meeting, “to see my brother working so hard in the weight room and looking up to him as a hero – to see him

By Tom WitherspoonPhotos by William Purnell

lose that way.”The compliment on the other end of the defensive

line for the 6’3”, 210-pound Goetz was Geneo Grissom, a 6’5”, 225-pound, Justin Tuck-framed future Division I player. After coaches tried and failed for 13 games to find routes over and around them, writers debated in press rooms over which deserved Top 11 honors.

Looking beyond their literal frames and figurative motors at their stats, there are minor discrepancies.

According to Hutch High’s tackle chart points system, Goetz ranked as the team’s No. 1 defender, Grissom No. 2, but only because Goetz returned three interceptions for touchdowns, one of which he owed to his counterpart. Grissom batted a Frank Arbanas pass into the air in the season opener against Rockhurst, and Goetz ran under it and took it 24 yards to increase Hutch’s lead to 35-14 just 23 seconds in the second quarter. Tone-setter, anyone? Surely we knew then that not even Gardner stood a chance after that clobbering.

Offensive coaches from week to week picked their poison. A week after Goetz tallied 10 tackles, three for a loss, two pressures and two sacks of Blake Bell against Carroll, Gardner’s Bubba Starling ran away from Goetz into Grissom’s grasp. Grissom racked up nine tackles, four for a loss, three pressures and two sacks in the title game.

The two combined for 150 tackles this season as defensive linemen. They had 47 tackles for a loss and 17 sacks. Good Lord.

As if that stone wall on defense was fair, Hutch boasted yin and yang on offense, too. Hutch offensive coordinator Dustin Delaney called them Thunder and Lightning.

Hutch fullback Josh Smith was also a consensus first-team all-state selection. He rushed for 1,933 yards this season, sitting out the last quarter and a half in most games.

But arguing for him as a Top 11 pick is easier than saying he’s a more valuable player than his teammate Deveon Dinwiddie. How can you choose one and not the other?

Dinwiddie rushed for 1,600 yards, including 11.1 per carry. He returned eight kickoffs against teams who dared kick to him, averaging 43 yards per return. He scored four special teams touchdowns.

Each scored 34 total touchdowns in 2009. The balance in their production is not a coincidence. The defensive game plan which fanned defenders out to the edges

to deny Dinwiddie from turning the corner proved vulnerable to Smith’s power up the middle. If defenders stacked it up in the box too tightly, Dinwiddie always won one on one.

If all else failed, Hutch actually threw the ball, usually to Dinwiddie. Hutchinson completed 15 passes this season, five to Dinwiddie, four of which were touchdowns. On third down and eight yards to go, down 14-13 with under three minutes remaining in the first half of the title game,

Josh Smith and Deveon Dinwiddie rushed for over 8,000 career yards. Dinwiddie ended his career with nine state championship game TDs.

Defensive coordinator Scott Yantes bookended his defensive line with the two best ends in the state, Justin Goetz and Geneo Grissom.

Justin Goetz

Geneo Grissom

Deveon Dinwiddie scored on

36 percent of the times he held

the ball against Gardner.

The two combined for 150 tackles this season as defensive

linemen. They had 47 tackles for a loss and 17 sacks. Good Lord.

Record Breakers

HUTCHINSON BEAT GARDNER-EDGERTON 52-14 FOR ITS SIxTH CONSECUTIVE STATE FOOTBALL TITLE, BREAKING THE OLD STATE RECORD

Photo by Steve A

delson

DEVEON DINWIDDE (25) CONGRATULATED JOSH SMITH (32) AFTER ONE OF HIS FIVE TOUCHDOWNS AGAINST CARROLL, THEN BLOCKED FOR HIM IN THE TITLE GAME AGAINST GARDNER-EDGERTON. DINWIDDIE SCORE FIVE TOUCHDOWNS OF HIS OWN AGAINST GARDNER.

IN WINNING SIx straight titles, Hutch has run power football yet never employed the state’s leading rusher. They could have, but outrageous individual statistics and championship football do not jive.

They play offense like they play defense – fast, physical, in groups and from all directions. Nine different players had a rush of 29 yards or more this year. Eight had interceptions. Eleven had sacks.

Cameras and reporters weeded out coach Dreiling from the crowd after the trophy presentation. They asked him questions the gist of which he has learned by rote. Dreiling could write a grammar book on postgame interviews, tweaking the annual edition with a new chapter on how to offer thoughtful answers to statements of the obvious.

“We got down, which is unusual,” Dreiling said to the cameras.Very unusual. In addition to not having lost a playoff game since 2003 and

winning a playoff game by no less than 21 points since 2006, Hutchinson had not trailed in a state playoff game since Wichita Northwest led 21-7 in the first round of 2006. (Hutch won 49-21.) Gardner did the unthinkable for 9:12 of the second quarter. –Tom Witherspoon

2009-2010

39

(1,426 rushing, 17 TD)

18. Ross Lovett, Hutch

(6-5, 260 OL)

19. Tyler Rayl, Wellington (6-4, 240 OL/DL)

20. Dyllon Knox, Kapaun (1,321 rushing, 15 TD, 3 INT)

21. Caleb Brill, Conway Springs (37 TD, 5 INT)

22. Brandon Weber, Carroll (1,107 yards, 14 TD)

23. Joseph Randle, Southeast (1,107 rushing, 69 T)

24. Jonathan Truman, Kapaun (14 TFL, 6 SK)

25. Miguel Johns, Newton (1,752 all,

15 TD, 4 INT)

26. John McClure, Heights (6-4, 315 OL)

27. Roman Davidson, Buhler (72 SOLO, 6 TFL)

28. Seth Klausmeyer, Garden Plain (1,701 all, 16 TD)

29. Morgan Burns, W Trinity (1,415 rushing, 23 TD)

30. Max Martinez, Carroll (85 T, team leader)

31. Derek Racette, H Trinity (3,264 total, 65 T, 4 INT)

32. Parker Johnson, McPherson (6-1,

233 C/DT)

33. Shay Wooten, Salina Central (59 SOLO, 5 INT)

34. Blake Withrow, Garden Plain (592 receiving, 9 TD)

35. Brock Heithaus, Northwest (6-1, 275 OL/DL)

36. Cameron Fisher, Goddard (515 receiving in 6 games)

37. Tyler Nance, Carroll (663 receiving, 10 TD)

38. Boston Stiverson, Andover Central (6-5, 280 OL/DL)

39. Jason Seibel, Salina South (2,057 total, 21 TD)

40. Tanner Engweiler, H Trinity (2,368 all, 21 TD)

Tyler Rayl

Derek Racette

Roman Davidson

F E A T U R E

21H I G H S C H O O L S P O R T S :: D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 9 :: V Y P E . C O M

1. Blake Bell, Carroll (3,591 total, 54 TD)

2. Deveon Dinwiddie, Hutch (2,498 all, 34 TD)

3. Justin Goetz, Hutch (9.5 SK, 23 TFL, 3 INT)

4. Geneo Grissom, Hutch (7.5 SK, 24 TFL)

5. Josh Smith, Hutch (1,933 rushing, 34 TD)

6. Devin Hedgepeth, Derby (929 receiving, 3 INT)

7. Tim Chadd, Carroll (22 TFL, 4 SK, 4 FTO)

8. B.J. Finney, Andale (6-5, 280 OL/DL)

9. Demarcus Robinson, Northwest (1,762 rushing, 21 TD)

10. Blake Jablonski, Collegiate (3,889 passing, 48 TD)

11. Ben Heeney, Hutch (83 T, 10 TFL, 3 INT)

12. Joel Piper, McPherson (1,979 passing, 67%)

13. Jorden Oden,

Buhler (2,559 rushing, 40 TD)

14. Brett LeMaster, Collegiate (2,425 all, 27 TD)

15. Ben Croitoru, Andover (1,490 rushing, 19 TD)

16. Zerrance Brickhouse, Heights (11 SK, 13 TFL, 62 UT)

17. Dreamius Smith, Heights

The format has switched up in 2009. Based on my game notes and the votes of 51 area coaches, I have selected the

top 50 11-man players and top 8 eight-man players in the Vype coverage area, which includes 65 high school football

teams. Final decisions on all picks were made by the editor.

Blake Bell

Ross Lovett

Demarcus RobinsonH

IGH

SC

HO

OL

SP

OR

TS

::

DE

CE

MB

ER

2

00

9

::

VY

PE

.CO

M

20

F E A T U R E

forcing two three-and-outs. They didn’t have them right where they wanted them, but they were in the ball game.

But a second-consecutive turnover after their second of the two stops sunk them. Smith took over for the three-score lead.

Three touchdowns away – that was a commendable performance against Hutch this season.

Salina Central in league play, McPherson and Hays in district play, Carroll at sub-state and finally Gardner-Edgerton at state entered their games against Hutchinson undefeated and left realizing something that Hutch’s outrageous success has pushed from our minds.

“What I don’t like about what we do, is that Olathe North won a state championship yesterday and went undefeated, and no one is talking about them because they expect them to do it again,” Dreiling said the day after his program’s state-record sixth consecutive title win, after he’d had time to reflect. “People forget about just how hard it is to get there.”

It took Dreiling seven seasons to get there, eight to win it. Only this season, his 13th at Hutch, did he turn over the play calling duties to his four-year student of the triple option, offensive coordinator Dustin Delaney. They sat down together in Dreiling’s backyard shack the night before the Rockhurst game, and the two had scripted the first 10 plays, and there was one discrepancy. That was finally good enough.

When Dreiling, a defensive coordinator at Salina South, finally got to focus on implementing his beloved triple option when he took the Hutch job, he had defensive coordinator Scott Yantes to handle the defense from the start. Yantes has coached eight all-state defensive linemen, terrors like Forrest Stucky, Grissom and Goetz.

Former Trinity Catholic head coach Bo Frondorf joined them two years later to coach the defensive secondary. Dreiling, Yantes and Frondorf frequently have meetings of the minds on the sideline; the conversation is one-sided. Guess who dominates? Yantes and Frondorf have opposite manners from Dreiling, though they are just

as intent on excellence. After Frondorf’s defensive backs gave up five

downfield completions of 20 yards or more to Starling in the first half of the championship game, topping out at 44, Gardner’s longest completion of the second half was nine yards. James Jones had his second interception of the game 42 yards downfield to start the half. Starling threw five incompletions which hit the ground 35 yards downfield or more. Frondorf, who has coached seven all-state defensive backs, made the right adjustments.

How much more do you want to know? Dave Armbrust, who coordinated some excellent defenses at Ark City 1989-2003, has been linebackers coach since the first title year, 2004. Rich Anderson, one of the best minds in the history of Kansas football and a two-time state champ head coach at Pratt, retired from teaching this year after being part of the first five title teams. He came back from Idaho for No. 6; it’s hard to stay away from winners.

If building one of the nation’s best football programs were a math equation, algebra couldn’t solve it. Calculus, which takes into account multiple variables over time, is the closest parallel for the discipline instituted at Hutch.

The program has required a lot of people to provide a lot of input since Dreiling arrived in 1997. As any salesman grinding through the work day knows, it requires a special personality to ask another person to see what you see when it’s not in their agenda. Dreiling had to connect a lot of dots on his own when he took over the state’s worst large-classification football program. He didn’t have to get the ball rolling; he had to start an avalanche.

But Dreiling doesn’t have a problem with asking someone to do something for him. Life has been laid out for him as a sacrificial team effort from the start.

His father, Verlin, asked him to carry full brick clamps in both hands for the family business starting at five years old. Someone had to get the bricks to the foot of the scaffolding. At seven, he was transferring the bricks

The Eddy’ s

OF VYPE’S FOOTBALL PLAYERS OF THE YEAR, 42 OF 58 GRADUATED. FOR A COMPLETE LIST OF WHERE THE GRADUATES ARE GOING TO COLLEGE, GO TO VYPE.COM/CENTRALKANSAS

Year IN review

32 V Y P E . C O M :: D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 9 :: H I G H S C H O O L S P O R T S

VY

PE

.CO

M ::

DE

CE

MB

ER

20

09

:: H

IGH

SC

HO

OL

SP

OR

TS

33

G A M E P L A N

MH: You went 50-0 last year. You’re expected not just to win a 4A crown this year, but perhaps to go undefeated again. Is there any pressure to meet these expectations?

Chase Nitcher: I don’t feel any pressure at all. I think I felt more pressure last year than this year.

MH: Why do you feel less pressure this year?

Chase Nitcher: Just because I just wanted to win one at least, and I finally got over that hurdle.

MH: How do you think that’s going to be, wrestling more at a middle weight?

Chase Nitcher: I don’t think there’s going to be any difference. I think it doesn’t matter what weight you are, if you’re the better wrestler, you’re going to win anyway.

MH: You had a difficult offseason, with the death of your dad this summer. Is that tough experience a motivational factor for your final season?

Chase Nitcher: My offseason, of course that’s a main part of my motivation, but I always want to do the best I can and win state. It’s up to myself to do what I want to do.

MH: Do you know what to expect moving down to 4A this season?

Chase Nitcher: Kind of. We go to a bunch of dual tournaments with 4A teams (in past years). It’s going to be different. We don’t know who’s

going to be at our weight and what it’s going to be like. There’s a lot more schools in 4A than 5A.

MH: There are a lot of wrestlers who work hard. Some may even work as hard as you and have similar experience. What gives you the edge over these guys?

Chase Nitcher: I think it’s the fact that we’ve had the best practice partners since we started wrestling. One with (state champion teammate, Cade Blair), and we’ve had kids around the state like Tyler Caldwell (former Goddard state champion) and Seth Mertens (former Valley Center standout) in our practice room for us to wrestle around with since we’ve been five or six years old.

MH: How are you feeling about your expectations this season?

Cade Blair: My expectations are high, but I don’t really feel any pressure because I’ve been doing this for so long that it just doesn’t seem that bad.

MH: Are you expecting any new challenges at your new weight?

Cade Blair: Kind of, but not really. I wrestled 155 at Kids State and I beat the people there. It really doesn’t matter what weight you’re at.

MH: Are you motivated by anything in particular this season? Cade Blair: We set goals, and I like to go off my goals and work hard enough to achieve them.

MH: What specific goals do you have this year?

Cade Blair: Win state and go undefeated.

MH: Two years ago, you made the unexpected run to win your first state championship, barely qualifying for the state tournament, then winning it all. Since then you’ve had a target on your back. Can you tell me how you got to the level your at now after flying under the radar as a sophomore?

Cade Blair: It’s just hard work. If you’re in better shape than your opponent, you’re going to beat them in close matches. If you work harder than everybody else, that puts you ahead of everybody.

MH: How have practices been going?

Cade Blair: Practices have been tough this year, because I think (Valley Center head coach Brian Shelton) knows that we’re going to be one of the top contenders at state.”

MH: What is your proudest moment of being in the Valley Center wrestling program?

Cade Blair: If we win state this year as a team, that’ll be what I’m most proud of, but so far, probably my sophomore year because everybody thought I was the underdog and nobody expected me to (win state).

MH: Sometimes it looks really easy for you. How do you stay dialed in when you dominate most of your opponents?

Cade Blair: I just don’t like to lose. •

By Matthew Heilman

TM

curfew passLarge groups and full menu until 1am!

Wichita West • Old tOWn Wichita • Wichita eastwww.oldchicago.com

Photo by W

illiam Purnell

After establishing himself as one of the state’s top wrestlers as a freshman and sophomore, Valley Center senior Chase Nitcher put it all together as a junior to make an undefeated state championship run last season. Expectations are high for Nitcher and the Hornets, ranked No. 1 in Class 4A. Nitcher moves up from 125 pounds to 135 this season. His teammate, two-time state champ Cade Blair, moves up to the 152-pound divi-sion after compiling a 45-1 record at 140 last season.

A Full Nest

Valley Center’s top two Hornets combined to lose only one match last season


Blair And Nitcher VALLEY CENTER WRESTLER CHASE NITCHER ENTERED 2009-10 COMING OFF AN UNDEFEATED SEASON; TEAMMATE CADE BLAIR WOULD COMPLETE HIS OWN UNDEFEATED SEASON THIS YEAR. THE TWO COMBINED FOR FIVE STATE TITLES IN THEIR CAREERS

“(My goal is to) win state and go undefeated.“It’s just hard work. If you’re in better shape than your opponent, you’re

going to beat them in close matches. If you work harder than everybody else, that puts you ahead of everybody.” –Cade Blair, told to Matthew Heilman

43

GAME PLAN

VY

PE

.CO

M ::

DE

CE

MB

ER

20

09

:: H

IGH

SC

HO

OL

SP

OR

TSH

IGH

SC

HO

OL

SP

OR

TS

::

D

EC

EM

BE

R 2

00

9

::

VY

PE

.CO

M

GAME PLAN

42

The door is open this year for Goddard’s league cohort Derby to become a champion once again. Coach Bill Ross enters his ninth season hoping for Derby

High’s first state wrestling title since 1986. Despite defeating Goddard in their regular-season dual last season, Derby placed second as a team at state in 2008-9 for the second consecutive season behind Goddard.

“We’ve been the team that doesn’t have individual superstars,” says Ross, whose team had seven state placers in addition to two state champs last season. “We’re just a bunch of blue-collar workers.”

That same ethic will put them at the top of the title race this season. Six former state placers and three other state qualifiers return. But Ross is right. No superstars stick out. There are no former state champs on this season’s roster. A couple of kids will have to step up to win titles, much like Derby’s Alex Feldkamp did at state a year ago with his state-championship upset of Wichita Heights’ Chase Nelson at 171 pounds.

In the biggest wrestling headline of the offseason, coach Greg Buckbee left the Emporia program after winning the 2008-9 state title to return to coaching at Class 5A Arkansas City. Buckbee also won a state title as coach at Ark City in 2003. He made the switch for reasons of family, reported the Emporia Gazette last May.

Ark City has not won a state title since 2003, though they have continued to be outstanding in the lower weight classes over the years. This season is no different. Buckbee returns defending champ senior Garrett Jones (31-6, 119) and state runners-up sophomore Colby Waters (103, 28-5) and senior Kash Biddle (130, 30-8), who is a three-time state placer.•

D e r b y i s i n t h e h u n t f o r i t s f i r s t t e a m s t a t e t i t l e s i n c e 1 9 8 6

DerbyReturning State Placers

Travis Reinhart, JR (125, 5th)

Bradley Little, JR (130, 3rd)

Skylar McComb, JR (130, 4th 2008)Cody Shavlik, SR (140, 4th)

Vontez Curry, SR (145, 6th)

Cole Carpenter, SR (189, 4th)

Returning State Qualifiers

Collin Summers, SO (112)Brady Heincker, SO (119)

Shawn Marlatt, SO (215)

Ark CityReturning State Placers

Colby Waters, SO (103, 2nd)

Garrett Jones, SR (119, Champ)

Kash Biddle, SR (130, 2nd)


Sterling Terry, JR (135)

CAmpusReturning State Placers

Dalton Miller, SR (112, 4th)

Cody Beasley, JR (119, 6th)

Returning State Qualifers

Jason Harper, JR (125)

WinfielDReturning State Placers

Vance Oliver, SR (135, 2nd)

Garrett Hoover, SR (171, 5th)


Brandon Pate, JR (189)

CentrAl burDenReturning State Placers

Ky Biddle, SO (119, 3rd)

Tyler McMichael, SO (130, 6th)

DouglAssReturning State Placers

Cody Huffman, SR (285, 2nd)


Daylen Zaldivar, SR (112)

Colt Castlebury, SO (160)

rose HillReturning State Placers

Zac Sparr, SR (119, 3rd)

mulvAneReturning State Qualifers

Josh Langstaff, SO (103)

Caleb White, SO (112)

Michael Bird, SO (145)

Jack Deffenbaugh, SR (152)

Dylan Hagerman, SR (160)

CHApArrAlReturning State Qualifiers

John Siale, JR (215)

Cody Shavlik leads the area’s deepest returning roster at Derby, which welcomes backs six state placers, though no champions.

Garrett Jones is Ark City’s lone returning state champion, following his stirring upset of Andover Central’s Jake Gentzler at state last February.

Vance Oliver looks to win a state title a year after placing second at 135 pounds for Winfield.

Dalton Miller is the top returning state placer for Campus, a program which has built a repuation in the last couple of seasons.

Rose Hill senior Zac Sparr, with a classic surname for a wrestler, has placed third or better at state since his

freshman year.

Derby Drought

IN THE EARLY-GOING, DERBY WAS POISED FOR ITS FIRST STATE WRESTLING TITLE SINCE 1986. THE PANTHERS WOULD END ANOTHER STRONG SEASON IN SECOND, HOWEVER, BEHIND RIVAL GODDARD

The door is open this year for Goddard’s league cohort Derby to become a champion once again. Coach Bill Ross enters his ninth season hoping for Derby High’s first state wrestling title since 1986. Despite defeating Goddard in their regular-season dual last season, Derby placed second as a team at state in 2008-9 for the second consecutive season behind Goddard.

“We’ve been the team that doesn’t have individual superstars,” says Ross, whose team had seven state placers in addition to two state champs last season. “We’re just a bunch of blue-collar workers.” –Tom Witherspoon



You DO

have a CHOICE

in physical therapyAt Physical Therapy Services we have more EXPERIENCED

THERAPISTS all under INDEPENDENT MANAGEMENT. What does this mean to you, the patient?

1. Provides you with a CHOICE in your care and treatment2. HIGHEST possible QUALITY in care and treatment3. Individualized, ONE-ON-ONE care4. Extremely COST EFFECTIVEPhysical Therapy Services maintains CLOSE COMMUNICATION with your physician. We are COMMITTED to the philosophy of more QUALITY TIME WITH PATIENTS and not group therapy.

physical therapy servicesTreating PATIENTS, not just SYMPTOMS

316-858-11779300 E. 29th St. N. Ste 206

Wichita, KS 67226

316-219-84847111 E. 21st N. Ste D

Wichita, KS 67206

Jill Austin P.T. - Roseann Cade P.T. - Karl Glick P.T. - Steve Vequist P.T. - Julie Nelson P.T.


Bench Defender – North High basketball coach Gary Squires from the sideline implores one of his players to defend the jump shot of East High guard Jalen Love.

Photo of the Month

2009-2010

January2010

VY

PE

.CO

M ::

JA

NU

AR

Y 2

01

0 ::

HIG

H S

CH

OO

L S

PO

RT

S

29

F E A T U R E

HIG

H S

CH

OO

L S

PO

RT

S

:: J

AN

UA

RY

20

10

::

V

YP

E.C

OM

28

By Travis Mounts

Momentum means a lot in sports, and when you don’t have any, it’s hard to get things going.

That’s the case these days for the Attica football program, which has just three wins in the past three seasons. That record includes winless seasons in 2007 and 2009. The Bulldogs’ closest contest this past fall was an 18-0 loss to Pretty Prairie.

Coach Lance Vandeveer has seen good times and tough since the 1991-92 school year when he came to Attica, a small Class 1A school that competes in 8-man Division II football. Attica qualified for the playoffs every season but two in the 1990s. “We had some competitive teams,” says Vandeveer, who arrived at Attica three years after the Bulldogs’ undefeated state championship season in 1988. Vandeveer led the Bulldogs as far as sub-state one year, losing to Baileyville by just two points.

The mighty struggles for Bulldog football have come in the past decade. Soon after he left in 1999, Attica fell into a 33-game losing streak. Vandeveer returned as athletic director, assistant football coach and assistant principal in 2006. The Bulldogs broke the streak, Vandeveer became head coach again in 2007, but the losses have piled up.

Attica is located on U.S. Highway 160 in western Harper County, a 20-minute drive from Harper, Anthony and Medicine Lodge. Vandeveer’s lifetime has revolved around towns along Highway 160. A senior on the 1977 8-man state championship team at Sharon High (west of Attica), Vandeveer first coached at Protection High for three years, beginning in 1984, the season after Protection won its final state football title. When Vandeveer left Attica in 1999, he became head coach for six years at Ashland, another town off Highway 160,

west of Protection.These are formerly

football rich towns. During the years 1976-88, Ashland, Sharon, Protection and Attica combined for six state titles.

Over the past decade, football in the region has struggled as district population numbers wane. Attica, one of the four schools still in existence (Sharon closed in 1987, Protection consolidated with Coldwater into South Central in 1999), is a case in point. Just nine boys showed up for Attica’s first week of practice last fall, although the roster eventually grew to 13. Vandeveer had two starters returning, but one was injured and the other moved out of state.

Opposing teams were more experienced. They were bigger, too. The Bulldogs played several freshmen and sophomores, and a couple of younger players weighed less than 100 pounds.

“It was a long year,” says Vandeveer. Though Attica doesn’t have many kids, they have quality. Defensive lineman John Blick was first-team all-league, and Mike Loreg and Anthony Summers were second-team, Jacob Summers honorable mention. “But give the kids credit. They didn’t quit.”

The Attica High student body numbers just over 40 kids. There are seven students each in the freshman and senior classes this school year. There are 146 students in the entire school district.

The school co-ops with the middle school football program at Argonia, 29 miles to the east on Highway 160, to get kids experience playing the game. Before that, the younger kids played flag football.

Without a junior varsity program, up-and-coming players at Attica face older, bigger players rather than going against players their own size. It’s much harder to practice when you have only enough players to line up on one side of the ball.

“It gets old going half-line in practice. You can’t simulate what other teams do,” Vandeveer says.

In 1991, there were 32 boys on the football team, and at least 20 on the roster throughout the decade. In 1990, the town had 716 residents. That number was down to 636 by 2000, and as of July 2008 the town had fewer than 590 people.

It’s a struggle to find players, and not just for football. Bret Ricke, who owns the local grocery store, is a Rule 10 head coach for girls basketball and track and field. He has 10 players in the high school girls program this season.

Vandeveer, in addition to his current football and administrative duties at Attica, teaches industrial arts, assists head track coach Bret Ricke and coaches middle school boys basketball. Ricke, who was a senior on the Bulldogs’ 1988 state championship team, has assisted with football in the past. Ricke’s sister, Karma, is head

coach of the volleyball team. Finding coaches is hard. Outside of his first year,

Vandeveer has always had just one assistant football coach. One of his former players at Attica, Clay McDaniel, assisted him this past season after spending one season as head coach at Argonia.

A small staff limits Vandeveer’s choices. There are three Rule 10 coaches on staff, the Rickes and Toni Dark.

Despite the challenges that Ricke faces as both a coach and a business owner in a small town, he said he always knew that he would end up back in Attica. Like Vandeveer, he grew up in Sharon, but spent his junior and senior years attending Attica High after Sharon closed.

“I’m just a small town guy,” Ricke says. “I always wanted a lot of kids (he has five) and wanted to raise them in a small town.” Kids can run free in a town like Attica, he says. They get lots of individual attention in school.

They don’t have to ride miles on a bus to schools in another district.

Ricke says Vandeveer made a sacrifice to come back to Attica, where the football program had taken a nose dive.

“He gave up a lot to come back. I look at what he left. He left a heck of a program in Ashland,” said Ricke. “He sacrificed a lot just to do that.”

When the Bulldogs finally broke their 33-game skid, “it was like we won the Super Bowl,” remembers Vandeveer.

Getting kids to believe they can win is the biggest challenge.

“That was one of the hardest things I saw when we came back,” says Vandeveer. “We used to have that attitude that we were going to kick your butt, that we had as much of a chance as the other guy.”

“When you get beat all the time,” he continued, stopping mid-sentence, “some of these kids hadn’t won a game their entire careers.

“That’s the biggest fight, getting them to believe they’ve got a chance every night. I remember my coach telling me you’ll learn more losing than you ever will winning.

“It’s still a lot more fun winning.”

Brent Pfeifer fends for family time alongside his myriad duties at Maize SouthBy Taylor Eldridge

The customary morning announcements are broadcast at Maize South High School, but the monotonous routine is broken by the ringing voice of a child.

It turns out this, too, is routine. “That’s little Pfeifer,” South junior Emily Martin says.Little Pfeifer, the second-grader who has attained

celebrity status among Maize South students, shares an innate likeness to his father, South jack of all positions Brent Pfeifer.

Little Pfeifer is star, but his responsibilities to the South students are nothing compared to big Pfeifer, head football coach and athletic director.

Brent Pfeifer lets his son tag along each morning until he goes to elementary school. Father and son have attracted many surrogate family members, according to Pfeifer.

“I like to include the things that I like to do with my jobs and the kids that I coach,” Pfeifer says. “I try to include those kids in my family. I think it’s good for the

Lance Vandeveer is holding on to the Attica High athletics program by a string

Lance Vandeveer (back row, far right) had 14 players this past fall on his Attica High football team, one of which he lost to injury. Vandeveer is athletic director, football coach, assistant principal, middle school boys basketball coach and assistant track coach, in addition to teaching industrial arts at Class 1A Attica.

Under Pressure

THERE AREN’T MANY GAMES BETWEEN LATE DECEMBER AND EARLY JANUARY, SO VYPE LOOKED AT THE BIG PICTURE, PROFILING FIGURES IN THE COACHING AND ADMINISTRATIVE RANKS WHO ARE UP AGAINST IT ON A DAILY BASIS

Vandeveer’s lifetime has revolved around towns along Highway 160. A senior on the 1977 8-man state championship team at Sharon High (west of Attica), Vandeveer first coached at Protection High for three years, beginning in 1984, the season after Protection won its final state football title. When Vandeveer left Attica in 1999, he became head coach for six years at Ashland, another town off Highway 160, west of Protection.

These are formerly football rich towns. During the years 1976-88, Ashland, Sharon, Protection and Attica combined for six state titles. –Tom Witherspoon

Photo by Steve A

delson

The Big One

BISHOP CARROLL FOOTBALL REMAINED ON THE CUSP OF A STATE TITLE FOLLOWING THE 2009 SEASON. TITLE ExPECTATIONS AND PRESSURE,

HOWEVER, ARE THINGS ALAN SCHUCKMAN WELCOMES

“We’ve won a lot of big games since I’ve been at Carroll,” says Schuckman. “I feel like we do things the right way and I have no regrets as a head coach.

Sure, I’d like to be state champs, but I feel like we’ve had a lot of success over my coaching career and I’m not going to let that drag me down.”

Few active coaches have won more games than Schuckman (134), but he is the first one to say wins are only a slice of what makes up a successful coach.

–Taylor Eldridge

HIG

H S

CH

OO

L S

PO

RT

S

:: J

AN

UA

RY

20

10

::

V

YP

E.C

OM

32

F E A T U R E

Fifteen years have passed since Alan Schuckman took over a program in despair.

The Bishop Carroll football team never had been steady winners. In fact, for the last 15 pre-Shuckman years, the Golden Eagles produced two winning seasons in the City League.

Six coaches shuffled through the program. There was no reason to expect Schuckman would be any different.

But by his third season, Schuckman had more league titles – two – than Carroll had in its previous 30 years.

The rest is becoming history. Carroll became a state contender long before Blake Bell ever threw a touchdown pass. Bell was the centerpiece of this season’s latest league title team

(Schuckman’s ninth), but the Eagles haven’t lost more than one game per season in league play in the past decade.

The consistency of Bishop Carroll football remains absolute under Schuckman’s reign.

“I’d rather be at a place expecting to win, than hoping to win,” Schuckman says. “Call it pressure, but I definitely feel like every time we tee it up Friday night we’re going to win.”

Carroll football now has expectations – state championship expectations.

Schuckman’s elevation of the program is the sole reason Carroll now expects a title; it’s a blemish on his record he can also hang his hat on.

“We’ve won a lot of big games since I’ve been at Carroll,” says Schuckman. “I feel like we do things the right way and I have no regrets as a head coach. Sure, I’d like to be state champs, but I feel like we’ve had a lot of success over my coaching career and I’m not going to let that drag me down.”

Few active coaches have won more

games than Schuckman (134), but he is the first one to say wins are only a slice of what makes up a successful coach.

Coaches are educators first, according to Schuckman, who is also assistant principal at Carroll. He doesn’t look at his players as just names on the depth chart. He takes a personal interest in making sure that when his players graduate from Bishop Carroll, they are well-rounded individuals.

“If you look at our program, it’s more developing the whole person,” Schuckman says. “It’s getting kids to achieve as football players, as a person, academically and spiritually. Those four things are how I gauge our program.

“I feel like if you improve in all of those areas, you’re going to win football games.”

It’s a process that requires belief and action from multiple leaders in the program.

Dusty Trail and Jim Nance, his offensive and defensive coordinators, have been on board for fourteen years.

“Our job is to win football games,

By Taylor Eldridge

Alan Schuckman and his sidekicks aren’t going to stop until they get there

“I’d rather be at a

place expecting to

win, than hoping to

win,” Schuckman says.

“Call it pressure, but

I definitely feel like

every time we tee it

up Friday night we’re

going to win.”

Alan Schuckman, Dusty Trail and Jim

Nance have coached together at Bishop

Carroll for 14 years.

www.pure-formance.com316-393-1129

VY

PE

.CO

M ::

JA

NU

AR

Y 2

01

0 ::

HIG

H S

CH

OO

L S

PO

RT

S

33

F E A T U R E

By Les Anderson

but winning isn’t what we’re there for,” Nance says. “If you don’t have the first three things in line, you will not be a part of this program. The kids know he (Schuckman) means that. He could care less about winning games if the kid himself isn’t receiving an education.”

Holding every player in the program up to those standards is no easy task – Schuckman says he has around 150 students’ grades to track. It’s a necessary process in doing things the right way.

But don’t think Schuckman is dodging any questions. Success isn’t measured just by triumphs off the field.

“We expect to win,” says Schuckman, whose team lost to Hutch at Class 5A sub-state last November. “We spend all this time and energy and effort away from our families as coaches and our kids do the same thing. We expect to win. We’re not doing this to compete and have fun. We’re doing it to win.”

And it’s not like they’re not winning. Carroll has reached sub-state four times

under Schuckman. The Eagles have 20 players at the next level, including seven at FBS schools. Carroll played this past season on national and state-wide television. They played in front of four crowds of over 6,000 this season

alone.When Schuckman retires, it will be as

one of the most successful coaches in state history. But will it include a state title?

“I don’t think Alan’s career should be scarred if he doesn’t win a state title,” says Nance. “His success comes from the last 15 years of building Carroll into a program that was down in the dumps to building a tradition and pride in the Catholic community. His career is going to be highlighted by those good things he’s done.”

Depending on your definition of

winning big, Schuckman already may have done it. That won’t stop him from leaving no doubt.

“Not winning kind of leads to a little bit of unfinished business,” says Nance, “a little sour taste in your mouth. We all want to get there. I think Alan and Dusty and me, we all have unfinished business and we’re not going to stop until we get there.” •

“We all want to get

there,” says Nance. “I

think Alan and Dusty

and me, we all have

unfinished business

and we’re not going

to stop until we get

there.”

Mike Smith and Greg Rosenhagen applied for the head football job at Valley Center in 1993.

Rosenhagen had been an assistant for the Hornets the previous three seasons. Smith was the defensive coordinator at Garden City, which had been state runner-up twice to juggernaut Lawrence. In two agonizingly close losses, Smith’s defenses gave up nine points in

1990, and 10 points in 1991.Smith was hired as head coach. Rosenhagen

agreed to serve as his defensive coordinator. In retrospect, Rosenhagen says it was one of the best decisions of his teaching and coaching career.

The Hornets went 3-6 in the program’s first year under Smith, losing their three district games by one, two and three points. The

toughest loss came to Kapaun Mount Carmel on a field goal when the clock was stopped with one second remaining. Most people at Carroll Field — especially the Valley Center players, coaches and fans — thought the clock had run out.

Smith was upset with the loss, Rosenhagen recalls, but he didn’t dwell on it. Instead, he says, Smith used it as a motivator for both

Photo by W

alter Dixon

Jim nance, carroll defensive coordinator

Photo by W

illiam Purnell

2009-2010

43

VY

PE

.CO

M ::

JA

NU

AR

Y 2

01

0 ::

HIG

H S

CH

OO

L S

PO

RT

S

37

F E A T U R E

HIG

H S

CH

OO

L S

PO

RT

S

:: J

AN

UA

RY

20

10

::

V

YP

E.C

OM

36

F E A T U R E

Derby football defensive coordinator Joel Applebee is a guy who thrives in his support role as a coach and official. He can’t stay away from the arena of competition.

Applebee fell in love with competition at young age while growing up in Russell. He was a three-sport athlete playing football, basketball and baseball in high school. It was in his blood to be a competitor; his grandfather was a Little All-American at Tulsa in the early 1930s.

He wasn’t his grandfather, though. Wins didn’t come easy. During his four years playing prep football, Russell never made the state playoffs, falling short in districts each season.

After he graduated in 1994, Applebee tried to walk-on as a baseball catcher at Kansas State. After two weeks of practice with the Wildcats, he was cut from the team. Many athletes have been in his shoes.

Applebee turned the disappointment into opportunity, focusing harder on his academics, particularly his major in Business Education. After graduating in 1998, he received a position at Junction City High School where he taught business and coached football and baseball.

With further aspirations to coach, Applebee decided to return to school and earn his physical education certificate and a Master’s degree.

“I always knew I wanted to be in education, and coaching just came along with it,” Applebee says.

Along with an overwhelming load of classes, he taught undergraduate courses at Fort Hays State and was an assistant football coach at his alma mater, Russell High.

Upon completion of his graduate studies, a position was open at Derby High School just as his cousin, Brandon Clark, took over the Derby football job.

Applebee took the job and became Clark’s defensive coordinator.

“Coach Clark and I always wanted to coach together since we were kids,” Applebee says. “We said whoever got the job first had to hire the other.”

The two instantly began brewing a plan to take a team which went winless in 2005 back to elite status. Since taking the job in 2006, the Derby defense has improved gradually over four seasons. His first season was rough, coaching a defense that was giving up 39 points per game, but he knew that the players had the desire to win and work harder everyday.

In 2007, Derby lowered their opponents to 29 points per game.

“You have to be able to attack, understand the offense’s scheme, and most importantly trust the guy next to you,” Applebee says.

This past season the defense had their best year with Applebee, giving up 15 points per game.

According to Applebee, the Derby staff has stressed fundamentals as the most essential asset to the success of the team. He believes this kind of thinking is just starting to show up.

“They have gotten to the point where they don’t have to think, they just react,” says Applebee.

Applebee can’t stay off the sidelines after football season. In addition to zero-hour offseason duties in the weightroom, the aroma of competition draws him to another role in athletics, officiating. He officiates high school and junior college basketball in the wintertime.

Both Applebee patriarchs had a strong influence on him. He follows in his father’s footsteps, too. Monty Applebee has officiated for 40 years in Kansas. He is the coordinator of basketball officials for the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference.

Applebee says his father is his biggest critic.

“I enjoy it (officiating), I’m the type of guy that can’t stay still long,” Applebee says. “I love just being around competition and trying to do my best at it.”

Applebee sometimes officiates prep games with schools and players that he has coached against in football, but he says he maintains a professional attitude.

“When I step on the court as an official, I don’t think about who the teams are or their records.”

His experience as an official tends to keep him in check as a coach, as well.

“I am respectful as a coach to the officials, but I have expectations for them to act professional.”•

Joel Applebee brings the perspective of a coach to three generations of athletics involvement

By Dan Page

Joel Applebee is the defensive coordinator at Derby High, in addition to being a high

school and junior college basketball referee.

Photo by Bill M

illspaug

h

You make an admittedly silly mistake, given the pronunciation all the cool kids use these days, and refer to the young man’s nickname as Master C.

“No, no, Masta C,” he politely corrects.Masta C, then, more formally known as

Christian Lyle, is a junior at Hutchinson High School and representative of one of the top feel-good, if somewhat hidden, stories in Kansas prep sports.

Even the casual fan likely knows of Hutchinson’s well-documented dominance on the football field. In late November, the Salthawks thumped Gardner-Edgerton 52-14 to win their record sixth consecutive state championship.

Running backs Deveon Dinwiddie and Josh Smith, quarterback Cooper Bell, linebacker Tyler Fee – they were the stars of the team.

But a few lesser-known students, the guys behind the guys, played an important role, too. They were anonymous stars: the managers.

Assistant coach Bret Eckert leads the group, which is made up of enthusiastic, hardworking special needs students. Eckert, who teaches adaptive physical education, says managing is the perfect way to involve the teenagers.

“It’s been phenomenal to see how those kids bond with our football players,” he says. “It gives them a real sense of identity because they are a part of the football team. It helps them in school with their classes. They’re more attentive because they know if they’re not they won’t be able to participate (with the team as managers).

“A lot of the kids at school know them because they’re managers, too. They walk down the hallways and it’s like they’re rock stars. Everybody knows who they are.”

Lyle, who is in charge of the managers, described helping out the team as an “awesome” experience. He calls Eckert a “great guy” and said he feels fortunate to contribute to the school’s tradition, even though he doesn’t score touchdowns or make tackles.

“Man, it’s thrilling to be a part of a team that achieves a state record,” he said. “The players, they’re awesome.

“I couldn’t really do all that stuff on the field anyways. I’m not fit for football. I’m just a scrawny piece of flesh compared to those bulky guys.”

That Eckert is in charge of the managers is certainly fitting. An outgoing and friendly 45-year-old, he has spent much of his career working behind the scenes as an assistant for several of the most-accomplished coaches in the business.

Consider that Eckert has worked under Bill Freeman and Dick Purdy at Lawrence High School; Gary Kornelson at Liberal

High School; and now Randy Dreiling at Hutchinson.

In his 20-year career, he has coached for teams that played in 12 state championship games, winning nine: two at

Lawrence, one at Liberal and the six at Hutchinson.

Eckert, married with a 10-year-old son, said that he has picked up coaching tips and life lessons from each of the greats he has worked for. A sampling:

On Freeman: “Just an unbelievable human being in terms of the way he treated kids and how fair he was. His approach was so simple, but it worked.”

On Purdy: “It was always ‘Be positive, be positive, be positive.’ Practice was so clean and brisk. Everything moved 100 miles per hour. It was coaching on the go.”

On Kornelson: “Well, gosh, he means a lot to me because he gave me my first big break. What I love about coach Kornelson is that he is so passionate about what he does, be it football, track or field or whatever.”

On Dreiling: “He is just a no-nonsense kind of guy. His style is, ‘This is the way it’s gonna be and this is the way we’re gonna do it.’ Obviously, it’s worked.”

While most of his career has been spent as a loyal assistant, Eckert was the head coach at Fredonia for two years, from 1994 to 1996, before arriving in Hutchinson. The Fredonia team went 5-4 his first season, 3-6 his second.

Eckert seems ambivalent about his time in Fredonia.

“I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything,” he said. “I learned a lot about football and a lot about myself. I learned what being a head coach is all about. You think it’s just calling the plays on Friday night and all the glory and accolades that go along with it, but there’s a lot that goes with it, especially at a small school.

“I grew up a lot. It was something I needed to do.”

Not that Eckert hasn’t experienced success as a head coach. He guided the Hutchinson track team – both boys and girls – to state championships in 2004.

“We had a lot of talent, so there was a lot of pressure on me not to mess it up,” he said with a chuckle. “It was an unbelievable experience.”

Eckert brings a unique perspective to the story of Hutchinson’s success in the football program, given that he was a coach in 1996 – before Dreiling arrived. The team was 0-9 that season. Eckert marvels at how Dreiling turned around not just the football team, but the athletic culture in Hutchinson.

“The attitude needed to be changed, that was the biggest thing,” he said. “Hutch was known as a place where kids always underachieved. Coach Dreiling, because he was demanding, because of the way he carries himself, really changed that.

“It was hard to get the kids to buy in at first, but once they did, the ball really started rolling, and it’s been outstanding.”

Although modest, Eckert has definitely been a key component to the success story at Hutch. In addition to handling the managers, he is also the coach of the junior varsity team, which has been undefeated for five seasons in a row and has a winning streak fast approaching 40 games.

Eckert is a longtime junior college basketball official, and during what he calls “windshield time,” the hours spent driving to games, he reflects on his coaching career.

“It’s been an incredible ride,” he said. “I have a hard time putting it into words. It’s just been phenomenal.”•

By Kollen Long

Hutch football assistant Bret Eckert always looms on the edge of the sideline, readying the kick and punt teams and

coordinating the team managers.

It’s Good To Be Here

HUTCHINSON FOOTBALL ASSISTANT BRET ECKERT HAS BEEN A CONTRIBUTOR IN MANY FORTUNATE SITUATIONS OVER THE YEARS, WINNING NINE STATE TITLES FOR FOUR LEGENDARY COACHES

On Bill Freeman: “Just an unbelievable human being in terms of the way he treated kids and how fair he was. His approach was so simple, but it worked.”

On Dick Purdy: “It was always ‘Be positive, be positive, be positive.’ Practice was so clean and brisk. Everything moved 100 miles per hour. It was coaching on the go.”

On Gary Cornelson: “Well, gosh, he means a lot to me because he gave me my first big break. What I love about coach Cornelson is that he is so passionate about what he does, be it football, track or field or whatever.”

On Randy Dreiling: “He is just a no-nonsense kind of guy. His style is, ‘This is the way it’s gonna be and this is the way we’re gonna do it.’ Obviously, it’s worked.” –Bret Eckert, told to Kollen Long

Former Derby defensive coordinator Joel Applebee, also profiled in this series, was hired in May 2010 as new head football coach at Mill Valley.

Year In review

43

GAME PLAN

VY

PE

.CO

M ::

JA

NU

AR

Y 2

01

0 ::

HIG

H S

CH

OO

L S

PO

RT

SHIG

H S

CH

OO

L S

PO

RT

S

::

JA

NU

AR

Y 2

01

0

::

VY

PE

.CO

M

42

TM

By Tom Witherspoon

ack in November, a week and a half before the high school basketball season

began in Kansas, Sunrise Christian Academy enjoyed late-game heroics in the Fantasy of Lights basketball tournament. The Sunrise boys won on Nov. 27 in Wichita Falls, Texas over Lewisville Hebron (Texas), 41-40 on Leon Cooper’s buzzer-beating three-pointer.

As we watched state football title games over Thanksgiving Weekend, Sunrise, a Bel Aire-based Christian school not

sanctioned by KSHSAA and thus not subject to their travel restrictions, was developing a reputation abroad.

Sunrise next dispatched Lubbock Estacado (Texas) at the Wichita Falls tournament. Estacado was the state runner-up in Texas Class 3A last season and in late December was ranked No. 6 in Class 3A.

Cooper scored 25 points in the 50-47 victory over Estacado, whose junior point guard Kevin Wagner is committed to Texas Tech.

Yet the real Sunrise still hadn’t

stood up. They saved the best for last. In the tournament championship, the Buffaloes won 48-41 over Mansfield Timberview (Texas), last season a state semifinalist in Texas Class 4A and as of December ranked in the top 25 of 4A.

There are approximately 250 schools in Texas Class 4A alone, each with between 900 and 2100 students. Sunrise basketball coach and athletic director Kyle Lindsted approximates that Sunrise has close to 200 students.

Cooper, a native of the Bahamas, was named Most

Sunrise Christian Academy’s strong regional basketball reputation will be on the line at home in Kansas at the Hillsboro boys mid-season tournament

Bahamian Leon Cooper (No. 11) and Nigerian Raphael Akpejiori (dunking) lead an international all-star team at Sunrise Christian Academy.

Photo by K

eith Ow

ens

Photo by Steve R

asmussen


Exchanging the Program

SUNRISE CHRISTIAN ACADEMY PUT A NATIONALLY COMPETITIVE BASKETBALL TEAM ON THE COURT THIS PAST SEASON BEHIND

THE PLAY OF INTERNATIONAL ExCHANGE STUDENTS LEON COOPER AND RAPHAEL AKPEJIORI

MID-SEASON CHAMPS – VYPE PREVIEWED THE JANUARY MID-SEASON TOURNAMENTS. THE DERBY BOYS (MAqUIEz TUCKER PICTURED) UPSET THE FIELD AT THE MCPHERSON

TOURNAMENT, WHILE THE ANDOVER CENTRAL GIRLS (MADDIE CHAPIN PICTURED) BEAT BISHOP MIEGE IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP OF THE NEWTON TOURNAMENT. CENTRAL WOULD GO UNDEFEATED ON THE WAY TO THEIR SECOND STATE TITLE IN THREE SEASONS, WHILE DERBY WOULD LOSE IN THE FIRST ROUND OF SUB-STATE.

Sunrise saved the best for last. In the tournament championship, the Buffaloes won 48-41 over Mansfield Timberview (Texas), last season a state semifinalist in Texas Class 4A and as of December ranked in the top 25 of 4A.

There are approximately 250 schools in Texas Class 4A alone, each with between 900 and 2100 students. Sunrise basketball coach and athletic director Kyle Lindsted approximates that Sunrise has close to 200 students.

“The average fan that follows us in the newspaper doesn’t know what we’re doing. Nobody knows,” said Lindsted over Christmas break. “There are people in our own backyard that don’t know anything about us, but people in Texas know we’re good.” –Tom Witherspoon


MAYB is proud to partner with

Nationals are August

5th-8th:

Girls- Stillwater/OKC area

Boys- Newton/Wichita area



W

After winning the Class 6A 125-pound state title, Heights’ Daniel Deshazer completed one of his signature back-flips.

Photo of the Month

2009-2010

February 2010

TM

HIG

H S

CH

OO

L S

PO

RT

S

:: F

EB

RU

AR

Y 2

01

0

::

VY

PE

.CO

M

26

Photo by Bill M

illspaug

h

Kurt Kinnamon has continued the storied basketball tradition at McPherson High

Basketball and teaching are richly ingrained in Kinnamon’s blood. His parents were teachers and he played

for an unbeaten state basketball champion (1982) at St. John High

School under Loren Wiens.

Kansas’ Coach ‘K’

JM: What is your regular teaching job?

KK: I teach sixth- and seventh-grade social studies at McPherson Middle School. I am very fortunate to be allowed to teach the age of kids that I enjoy.

JM: What other coaches influenced you through the years?

KK: College coaches Gary Bargen (Hutchinson Community College) and Roger Trimmell (McPherson College) did a great job of teaching the game to me. I was an assistant for one year under Phil Anderson at Lyons and saw the time and effort being a head coach requires. I was fortunate to see how Mike Henson ran the McPherson program and learned a lot from him through observation.

JM: Doesn’t your relationship with North Carolina coach Roy Williams go quite a ways back?

KK: When Coach Williams came to Kansas

University, I began to work his camps and was able to work every camp he held at Kansas. He would do a tremendous amount of teaching in a coaching meeting. I still work his camp in North Carolina and he has never been too busy for a high school coach with a load of questions. Coach Bill Self and his staff are the same way at KU. If you have questions, they are more than willing to sit down and talk basketball. That is why Kansas basketball is so special to me.

JM: What is your offensive philosophy?

KK: Offensively, we always try to play as fast as we can without turning the ball over.

JM: What is your defensive philosophy?

KK: Defensively, if we can pressure the ball and create turnovers, we are going to

have an advantage of getting easier shots and hopefully will have more offensive possessions.

JM: What was your favorite coaching rivalry?

KK: I have always enjoyed the rivalry with Phil Anderson and Hutchinson. Probably the most fun that I have had on the sideline happened against Hutchinson. We scored against Coach Anderson’s team with one of his own set plays. He looked down at me and I just cracked up. The look on his face was priceless.

JM: Winning three state titles is obviously a career highlight. Can you name another memorable coaching moment?

KK: Obviously, winning three state championships has been special but a game that really sticks in my mind was a game against Hutchinson (2000) in the Roundhouse. We had a couple of starters out and it had been a long week. We ended up beating them at the buzzer with a kid who really worked to make himself a better player (Melvin Kirk) hitting a follow shot off an airball. I don’t know if I have ever heard the Roundhouse louder.

JM: How does McPherson play the game the ‘right’ way?

KK: I am really proud of the way that our kids play, but that starts at a very young age with our youth programs and through our camps. When they get to high school, these kids have watched and learned a lot from the groups that played before them. We are demanding of them as individuals and as a team. We are always quick to praise a group that is willing to make the extra pass and play the way they know we want them to.

JM: Why do you change your practices at the end of the year?

KK: I am a little gun shy toward the end of the season. Our practices are as short as anyone in the state. We get our work done in an hour and fifteen minutes. I want them to be fresh, but part of that is I have seen too many ankles get sprained when a coach said, “Do it one more time.”

JM: What is it like to have brother Clint coaching at St. John High School?

KK: There is a certain sibling rivalry between

Clint and myself. The only place people will see it out in the open is when we are playing golf. We pull for each other as much as possible. He is the first person that I call when I can’t figure something out and I am probably the first person that he calls. We always call on Tuesday and Friday nights to see how each other has done.

JM: What was is like in 2007 when McPherson and St. John were both playing for state championships?

KK: We were playing Highland Park in the state finals that year. We ended up losing and I can remember the tears following the loss – then the tears of joy in finding out that my little brother had won his game. Without question, St. John winning a state title in 2007

was a highlight for me. That was a night of probably the strangest emotions that I have ever felt in basketball. I was extremely proud of him and his team.

JM: After more than 30 years, why do you stay in coaching?

KK: I love what I am doing. Every time I come down the tunnel at the Roundhouse I get a chill down my spine. I have always told my coaches when that feeling goes away, it is time to find something else to do.•

Kurt Kinnamon knows all about following a coaching legend. The McPherson High basketball coach followed Bullpup Hall of Famer Mike Henson, who captured four state championships. Henson followed Jay Frazier, a fellow Kansas Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Famer, who won 409 games and three state titles in 26 years at McPherson High. All Kinnamon did his first year (1996) was capture a state title, followed by two more championships (1999) and (2003). The Bullpups have featured just three basketball coaches over the past 52 years.

Kansas’ Coach ‘K’VYPE INTERVIEWED MCPHERSON COACH

KURT KINNAMON A MONTH BEFORE YET ANOTHER STATE BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT BERTH FOR THE BULLPUPS

“Obviously, winning three state championships has been special but a game that really sticks in my mind was a game against Hutchinson (2000) in the Roundhouse. We had a couple of starters out and it had been a long week. We ended up beating them at the buzzer with a kid who really worked to make himself a better player (Melvin Kirk) hitting a follow shot off an airball. I don’t know if I have ever heard the Roundhouse louder.” –Kurt Kinnamon, told to Jim Misunas

Who’s the Best?GODDARD WOULD WIN ITS FOURTH CLASS 6A STATE TITLE IN FIVE SEASONS LATER IN THE MONTH, BUT IN FEBRUARY WE DREW A DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE STATE’S BEST DUAL TEAMS AND TOURNAMENT TEAMS

The team with more individual champ wrestlers and enough depth in the medal rounds will win the bracket-style state meet, but the team with the most quality spread throughout the weight classes would win a mythical dual state meet.

The Goddard and Derby teams of 2008-9 prove the point. Goddard had four kids favored to win titles, three which did; they had three others which medalled. Derby had two championship wrestlers, and seven other medalists. Goddard won the team state title. Derby had at least as much depth as Goddard but was beaten by 25 points.

Will the same story line flesh out this February? It will be very close. Goddard uncharacteristically depends this season on depth rather than a trove of champs; they have nine potential medalists, as opposed to the seven last year. Derby is the same animal as in 2009, with eight potential medalists. Neither team has a lock for an individual championship; both have incredible depth. –Tom Witherspoon

VY

PE

.CO

M ::

FE

BR

UA

RY

20

10

:: H

IGH

SC

HO

OL

SP

OR

TS

29

F E A T U R E

HIG

H S

CH

OO

L S

PO

RT

S

:: F

EB

RU

AR

Y 2

01

0

::

VY

PE

.CO

M

28

By Matthew Heilman and Tom Witherspoonvery year in Kansas, late February is set for the state wrestling meet. Wrestlers fight their way through their weight class. The best in each class finds his way to the top

of the award podium. A tournament official drapes a medal around his neck and hands over a giant, awkward placard displaying the bracket from which he was the last left standing. A playoff bracket undoubtedly determines the best individual wrestler. That’s logical. Beat all comers, and you’re the best. The ceremony is deserved. A wrestler who survives the state meet’s intense two-day stretch unscathed deserves the honor of being named state champion. But the process for determining the best team in each class isn’t so clear-cut. The state meet determines a team champion based on each team’s aggregate of all their individual scores. Thus, a team top-heavy with multiple individual champs has a great shot to win a team title. The teams with the most medalists (top six in each weight class) finish near the top. Is there a better way to choose a team champ? There’s certainly another way. Wrestling duals, the other main form of team competition in wrestling, match up two teams head to head in all 14 weight classes. The winner is determined based on point totals gained from all the matches. Teams with excellent depth in all the weight classes prevail. Excellent dual teams are brought back to the pack in bracket-style tournaments, which measure how

many overall individual medalists a team has rather than depth. A study of the top dual and bracket tournament results from the 2009-10 wrestling season raises the question, “Who is the best team in the state?” The answer depends on the format you prefer. To start the season on Dec. 5, Derby, then ranked No. 1 in Class 6A, scorched their way through the Valley

E

HoW sHoulD We DeTerMine THe TeaM sTaTe cHaMpion? Break DoWn THe Duals anD TournaMenTs BeTWeen THe sTaTe’s Top TeaMs THis year anD iT’s confusing.

Goddard’s Josh Hicks and Valley Center’s Titus Hopper, both favored to medal at 215 pounds at state, square off in early January at the Derby tournament. Hicks won the Derby title.

Goddard coach Brett Means, right, and assistant Tim Fisher, left, congratulate 103-pounder Kaleb Bonilla after his Derby win. “I tell the kids if they take care of their individual part, the team part will take care of itself,” says Means.

Phot

o b

y W

illia

m P

urne

ll

W 2009-2010

47

F E A T U R E

VY

PE

.CO

M ::

FE

BR

UA

RY

20

10

:: H

IGH

SC

HO

OL

SP

OR

TS

37

F E A T U R E

HIG

H S

CH

OO

L S

PO

RT

S

:: F

EB

RU

AR

Y 2

01

0

::

VY

PE

.CO

M

36

Cheerleaders are no longer standing on the sidelines; they’re part of a high-flying, Competitive sport

i, my name is Baylee and I’m a cheerleader.” It’s an innocent enough statement, but associated with a certain stereotype.

Since ESPN began airing college nationals competitions, cheerleaders have been forging a new identity: They’re competitors, too. The connotations that follow being a cheerleader are painfully outdated: “We’re ditzy,” says Andover senior Baylee Clifton, a former gymnast who turned to cheerleading; “We’re stupid. We can’t do any other sport. Whenever I say I’m a cheerleader, I feel like I look stupid.” Cheerleaders feel slighted by other sports, stiff-armed to the sideline where they’ve been doing herkies for decades. Truth is, cheerleading is a sport, and its popularity is accelerating. The stereotype is crumbling throughout Football Land. However, Sue Brummer, owner of a local cheerleading club, says that the state of Kansas is one of the states still behind the times. “Kansas is really only one of the few states that are looking at it from a different point of view,” says Brummer, owner of Cheer Eclipse, located in northwest Wichita. “It seems like Kansas is very unaware of the degree of difficulty of things

going on. When we’re on a road, you say you’re a cheerleader and you get the same respect as any other athlete.” In advanced cheerleading states like Texas and Florida, the epitome of high school jockdom – a football player – can also go out for cheer. “If you say you’re a cheerleader down there, you’re looked at the same as a state champion wrestler here,” says Cody Boyer, who cheers for Cheer Eclipse, in addition to being a varsity football player at North High. Strict rules enacted by the member schools of the KSHSAA stint the growth of competitive cheer in Kansas. Stunting is now allowed, precluding all the spectacular tosses and exhibitions of strength on college game days. No one is arguing that cheerleading in its form at Kansas high schools should be accepted as a sport. “All you do is just sit there and yell for your team,” Clifton says. The world of competitive cheer is not unlocked on Tuesday and Friday nights. That’s why many girls have stepped into club gymnasiums. “After doing competitive cheer, I think school cheerleading is boring just because you stand there and you cheer and you’re not constantly moving,” says Katelynn Hurlbutt, a Valley Center sophomore that doesn’t cheer for her high school and cheers club at Cheer Fusion. “We can’t throw baskets and there are a lot of things you can’t do on a gym floor like you can on a cheer floor.” Club cheer’s popularity is at an all-time high. There are now seven cheer centers in the Wichita area. Future cheerleaders are starting as early as 3 years old. How Texas-like. “When you get girls in here that young that are just die-hard cheerleaders and are in the gym every day, it’s amazing how they progress,” says Kristen Mountain, who five years ago opened Cheer Fusion in east Wichita. “Some of those girls are now 7, 8 and 9 and their throwing skills are what you would see in high school girls. That’s just crazy, but it’s what you see nowadays.” Twenty hours a week in the gym is now the requirement for the elite teams. The hours of conditioning, training and weightlifting are all condensed into a two-and-a-half minute routine. Crossover athletes are the first to testify to the strength and toughness required to last an entire cheer practice. “I’ve never puked at a wrestling or a football practice,” says Boyer. “I’ve puked at multiple cheerleading ones.” Too much information, but effective testimony. Kelsey Phillips, a junior at

Andover High, has noticed a difference in the physical specimen of cheerleaders

compared to other athletes. “If you look out on the mat,

almost every girl has a six-pack,” Phillips says. “The

girls on the competitive mat are the strongest girls at my school. People are starting

to realize it.” Cheerleaders

are first-class athletes. Clifton proves it on the

track: at the 2009 state track meet she placed sixth in

the 200-meter dash (27.07) and seventh in the 100 (12.91). But can the reverse be said

about other athletes? “We can do their sports,”

Hurlbutt says. “We won’t be the best at it or the most talented, but we can do it just because of our

conditioning. I want to see them try to do flips and tosses because it’s way harder than anyone expects.” Another little known fact is cheerleading is one of the most dangerous sports. According to Kate Torgovnick in her book Cheer!, in 2006 alone close to 25,000 cheerleaders went to the emergency room. Any cheerleader will be quick to rattle off a list of injuries sustained: “I have bruises and cuts all over my body,” Phillips says. Hence, the KSHSAA’s decision to disallowing stunting on high school cheer squads. Those who dismiss cheerleading as an afterthought likely have never seen a competitive meet. Teams choreograph high-risk routines to compete against other teams trying to do the same. Pushing the envelope means more and more risk and hard work, enough to qualify it as a sport, right? The stakes are too high for cheerleaders to ponder the question when they take the mat. “Once you get on the mat, you’re shaking and your adrenaline is up,” Hurlbutt says. “Then the lights come on and you can’t see anything. There’s no feeling like it. And then when you make that final pose and the crowd goes wild, it’s an amazing feeling. You finally get to breathe.” Kansas may be a little

behind the times, but that hasn’t stopped the growth of Wichita’s two most popular teams, Cheer Eclipse and Cheer Fusion. Eclipse recently

received its fourth straight bid to

By Taylor Eldridge

Not What It Seems – andover’s Baylee Clifton is a placer in the sprints at the state track meet, but she devotes most of her competitive time to cheerleading. Wichita heights’ lewis taylor became a state-level hurdler after becoming a powerlifter as a sophomore.

Couple Cody Boyer of north high and alexa ferris of goddard cheer competitively for Cheer eclipse. Boyer also played football for the Redskins.

Year In review V

YP

E.C

OM

:: F

EB

RU

AR

Y 2

01

0 ::

HIG

H S

CH

OO

L S

PO

RT

S

41

F E A T U R E

Perfect tenOn the field of play, it’s near impossible to be perfect, but Diandra Milliner channels her speed, strength and coordination to do just that

By Taylor Eldridge

It is difficult, if not impossible, to define perfection in sports.No standard of flawlessness exists. Coaches grind out

acceptable performances with their teams, always chasing the illusion of the “perfect game.”

Athletes strive to be excellent, though few ever commit themselves fully to attaining it; many scathe the surface. The time commitment and work ethic needed for perfection weed out the majority.

Only the courageous get to the summit.One such challenger is waiting, barely out of eyesight, on

the farthest side of a spacious floor on the second level of the Heskett Center on the campus of Wichita State University.

It’s another marrow-chilling evening in January all observers have escaped for a gymnasium activity – only it’s not a basketball game. All eyes are centered on the main attraction, Maize junior Diandra Milliner, or ‘D’, as she’s known locally and nationally in gymnastics circles.

The pressure of an entire crowd anticipating greatness is not lost on Milliner; she recognizes the importance of her upcoming vault. The New Year Invitational is her final competition in Wichita before she heads off next year to compete at the University of Alabama.

But the task is not daunting to her because, plainly put, Milliner has long been in pursuit of perfection.

“She understands that perfection is the goal,” her longtime trainer Mark Folger says later. “It’s a hard thing to do. Nobody’s perfect. You’re trying the best to get it as close to perfect as possible. And that’s how she trains. That’s what sets her apart.”

THE DEFINABLE quality of perfection is what makes gymnastics unique in the world of sports.

A panel of two judges has in front of them the components of the elusive “Perfect Ten”, and it’s up to the gymnasts to piece them together. It is unlike any other sport, in that appearance goes hand-in-hand with executing the skill.

“In football, if you get a touchdown, you get a touchdown,” Milliner explains. “It’s not like they’re judging you on what you look like while you got it.”

Milliner, 17, has just the right mix of explosive ability and showmanship.

While many teenage girls favor monotonous techno or rap music for their floor routines, Milliner boldly performs to a Michael Jackson mix. Where other accomplished gymnasts fall victim to stale performances, Milliner flourishes.

“I think I loved doing it all along,” Milliner says of performing. “I mostly like the competitions. Practicing is not too great because you don’t really get to show off as much. I like showing off in front of a ton of people.” She is fearless, but only because she is assured in

her abilities.That’s the result of over 20 hours a week in the gym

practicing – for the end goal.“Usually after I get a trick, I just keep going for it until there’s

nothing else I can fix on it,” Milliner says. “I just try to do my best.”

More often than not, Milliner’s best flirts with brilliance.

MILLINER DIDN’T always possess her electric speed and springboard legs, which are rarely paralleled at her age.

Folger, who has run Folger’s Gymnastics in Andover with his wife, Penny, since 1986, recalls when Reuben and Traci Milliner came to him looking to channel their 6-year-old daughter’s abundance of energy into an organized activity.

“At that age,” Folger says, “she was the slowest runner on the team.”

For the next 11 years, Milliner clocked countless hours in the gym training with Folger. “I spent so much time with him, I probably spent more time with him than my actual family,” Milliner says.

Always the competitor, Milliner started training to win. But through her rapid progression, winning didn’t always satisfy Milliner’s competitive needs.

She would squeeze a 9.4 rating out of a routine worth 9.3, yet Milliner kept pestering Folger about what it would take to be perfect.

“I’m always thinking about what I can do better,” Milliner says. “Asking my coaches what was wrong with it and what I can do to get a better score next time.”

At the 2009 Junior Olympic Championships, Milliner reached for the pinnacle of success, scoring a 9.8 in the vault competition to be named the national champion in vault at the top division – Level 10, Senior A.

“It has been phenomenal to watch her grow,” says Folger. “She has continued to improve as she went through the levels. She was a good Level 5. She was a good Level 6 and a great Level 7, 8 and 9. But she’s been even better than that as a Level 10. Other girls, they hit a point where maybe they struggle at the higher levels – she’s been the opposite.”

THE QUESTIONS about the Olympics are inevitable, but they still annoy Milliner.

People assume it is the only next logical step for her, but many are not educated in the world of gymnastics.

Right now, collegiate gymnastics is quickly becoming the popular route for the elite gymnasts. Milliner chose at the start of her high school career not to pursue the Olympics, instead preparing for college. The Olympics don’t offer a college

F E A T U R E

HIG

H S

CH

OO

L S

PO

RT

S

:: F

EB

RU

AR

Y 2

01

0

::

VY

PE

.CO

M

40

Stepping

“She understands that perfection

is the goal,” says trainer Mark

Folger. “It’s a hard thing to do.

Nobody’s perfect.”

Diandra Milliner with her parents, Reuben and Traci, and coach Mark Folger (left) after her final competition in Wichita.

Outeducation.

She is set to attend Alabama, arguably the most prestigious college gymnastics program in the country. “It’s looking like the best decision she’s ever made,” says Folger. Milliner expects to graduate from Maize early and enroll at Alabama for the 2011 spring semester.

BACK ON that wintry night, Milliner is prepping for her final vault.

The length of a basketball court separates the onlookers from where the vault competition is set up. Some spectators have come prepared with binoculars; others settle to wince, anxious to see the capabilities of Milliner.

Folger knew the potential for the upcoming vault, so he scheduled Milliner to be the last competitor in the last event of the night – the grand finale. Afterwards, Milliner would describe the vault as just “a blur.”

While she spiraled through the air, the crowd couldn’t help but stand up. Milliner never lost control of her body, gracefully planting her feet and cementing her finish with a stick.

After the competition, judge Angela Wagle told Milliner she had goosebumps watching the vault.

“Her height was outstanding,” Wagle said. “She soared through the sky. Nobody does that difficult of a vault. It came from a lay-out with a one-and-a-half twist. That meant she was doing a full lay-out flip, while she twisted one and a half times in the air – and she stuck her landing.”

Milliner had finally ended her pursuit. She achieved the Perfect Ten.”

KeePing the game in PersPectiveImperfection on the soccer field wasn’t as big a deal after stepping off it to witness one of the world’s all-time worst natural disasters

By Harold Bechard

No one enjoys losing. Trenton Thiessen, a senior at Berean Academy, is no exemption.

But since his return from the earthquake-ravaged country of Haiti, Thiessen has gained a different perspective on this whole winning and losing business.

While most Americans have watched the devastation on television or read about it in newspapers from the comfort of their home, the 18-year-old Thiessen experienced it – first-hand.

Thiessen touched down in Haiti as part of a 21-member Haiti Lifeline Ministries team on Jan. 6, six days before the earthquake which claimed hundreds of thousands of lives.

He came back with plenty of stories to tell from a harrowing four-day ordeal. He took part in the rescue of nearly 80 babies and children from an orphanage near Port-au-Prince, the epicenter of disaster’s death toll. On his way out of the country, he was enveloped in a near-riot at the city’s airport as thousands of panic-stricken people tried to find a way out.

It makes what happened three months ago on the soccer field at Circle High School in Towanda seem rather trivial.

Thiessen, a senior defender on the Berean Academy soccer team, was part of a memorable postseason run by the Warriors, who knocked off larger schools such as Augusta, Topeka Hayden, Independence and DeSoto, before losing a heartbreaking 3-2 decision to St. James Academy in the Class 4-3-2-1A state championship game.

The Warriors, a Class 2A school, finished the season with a 15-5 record. Although the loss to St. James was a difficult one, Thiessen is proud of what his team accomplished.

“I was disappointed we lost, but I was happy we made it to state. That was an accomplishment, to me,” says Thiessen, who was a three-year starter for the Warriors and also participates in track and field. “To win would have been icing on the cake, but it wasn’t something I had to have to be happy.

“I know a lot of my friends were much more disappointed

than I was, but I thought it was quite an accomplishment just to get there.”

Those high school memories were all but forgotten on the day of the Haiti earthquake. A 7.0 magnitude registered on the Richter scale. The earth rumbled through the impoverished country.

THE CENTER of the quake, located about 10 miles southwest of Port-au-Prince, was the strongest to hit the country in nearly

240 years. Thiessen was working at an orphanage seven miles north of the capital city. The first week of the mission had gone as planned. It was Thiessen’s first trip to Haiti and he was enjoying the interaction with the children – especially on the soccer field.

Thiessen was considered a good high school player. These kids…well, they had been playing their whole lives. “I played a lot of soccer with the kids there and they’re pretty good,” he said. “They made me look like an idiot.

“When (the earthquake) first started, I thought it was a big truck. I was inside the building and when I realized what it was, I ran outside and yelled at everyone else to get out,” Thiessen said. “Once I got outside, it was shaking and so loud to the point, I really thought I was going to die. I didn’t think there was any way I was going to live through that situation.

“Being from Kansas, you’re not very prepared for earthquakes, but with a tornado, you think, ‘Oh, I can go to a basement. I will be safer there.’ But, with an earthquake, I was thinking, ‘There’s nowhere I can go where I’m not going to die.’”

It was in the midst of this chaos when Thiessen’s thoughts turned to the babies in the nursery on the second floor. He said he was able to race in just one time during the quake and scooped up three infants in his arms. Two other men grabbed some as well. The remainder of the children got out of the building after the quake ended. Thiessen then ran through the boys’ dorm and a couple other buildings to see if anyone remained.

When asked what led him to enter the building during the quake, Thiessen replied, ”I would have to say God gave me a second opportunity to help people. That was obviously the reason I went to Haiti and when I first figured out it was an earthquake, believe me, I was the first one out of that building. And later, when I thought about it, it really annoyed me because I go there to help people and then there’s an earthquake and the first person I’m helping is myself.

“And, I was really thankful that God reminded me of those little kids. Because, once I was outside and knew I was going to die, or at least in my mind I knew I was going to die, and God

“Being from Kansas, you’re not very prepared for earthquakes, but with a tornado, you think, ‘Oh, I can go to a basement. I will be safer there.’ But, with an earthquake, I was thinking, ‘There’s nowhere I can go where

I’m not going to die.’”

Thiessen and Berean placed second in the Class 4-3-2-1A state soccer tournament. Two months later, Thiessen was in Haiti.


Sports In Their Own Right

CHEERLEADERING AND POWERLIFTING ARE MORE THAN JUST BACKGROUND ACTIVITIES, THEY’RE SPORTS

SUE BRUMMER, OWNER of a local cheerleading club, says that the state of Kansas is one of the states still behind the times.

“Kansas is really only one of the few states that are looking at it from a different point of view,” says Brummer, owner of Cheer Eclipse, located in northwest Wichita. “It seems like Kansas is very unaware of the degree of difficulty of things going on. When we’re on a road, you say you’re a cheerleader and you get the same respect as any other athlete.”

“IT DOES SHOW a commitment level when a school walks in with 20-30 kids that strength and power are important. You can see why a lot of these kids are the all-state or Shrine Bowl type players.

“I don’t know any meet that we go to that the football coach is not somewhat involved with the powerlifting program,” Adelhardt says. “There are kids out there that never lift a weight that are pretty good athletes, but there are kids that work their tail off in the weight room and aren’t very good athletes.”

Outstanding Individuals

DIANDRA MILLINER AND TRENTON THIESSEN WERE THE SUBJECTS OF TWO OF OUR MOST INTERESTING PROFILES OF THE YEAR

“SHE UNDERSTANDS THAT perfection is the goal,” her longtime trainer Mark Folger says later. “It’s a hard thing to do. Nobody’s perfect. You’re trying the best to get it as close to perfect as possible. And that’s how she trains. That’s what sets her apart.”

WHILE MOST AMERICANS have watched the devastation on television or read about it in newspapers from the comfort of their home, the 18-year-old Thiessen experienced it – first-hand.

Thiessen touched down in Haiti as part of a 21-member Haiti Lifeline Ministries team on Jan. 6, six days before the earthquake which claimed hundreds of thousands of lives.

He came back with plenty of stories to tell from a harrowing four-day ordeal.

Berean soccer player Trenton Thiessen went to

Haiti on a missions trip in January, six days before the disastrous earthquake.


W

Super Fans – The Cheney boys showed up in a loud way for the Cheney girls’ run to the Class 4A state basketball championship. Not sure why the four on the right are poised with the bow and arrow, but the one on the left is rocking the daisy dukes.

Photo of the Month

2009-2010

March2010

Four Of FiveRIGHT WHEN IT LOOKED LIKE GODDARD WAS

GOING TO BE KNOCKED OFF, KALEB BONILLA, TREY HOULDEN AND DALTON BEARD WON TITLES IN THE CLUTCH TO CLINCH GODDARD’S FOURTH CLASS 6A STATE TITLE IN FIVE SEASONS

Undefeated State ChampionsB.J. FINNEY, DANIEL DESHAzER, DYLON WALKER , DALTON MILLER AND CADE BLAIR RAISED THEIR ARMS IN TRIUMPH AS THE AREA’S UNDEFEATED STATE CHAMPIONS THIS SEASON


7H I G H S C H O O L S P O R T S :: M A R C H 2 0 1 0 :: V Y P E . C O M6

Heavy Wait -A year after losing the Class 6A 285-pound state final to Olathe North’s Lucas Vincent, Trey Page won the 2010 state championship over Dodge City’s Jesse Trent. The 5-0 decision was the Northwest Grizzly senior’s closest match at state. Page finished the season 28-1. Andale senior B.J. Finney, responsible for Page’s one loss this season, got revenge in the Class 4A state semifinal against Columbus’ Tank Burns, beating the defending champ 3-1 in overtime after losing to him in the 2009 state final. Finney pinned Augusta’s Luke Henning to win the state title and finish an undefeated 34-0 season.

Photo by William Purnell

6 H I G H S C H O O L S P O R T S :: M A R C H 2 0 1 0 :: V Y P E . C O M

B.J. Finney

Photo by Bill Millspaugh

UNDeFeateD -Heights’ Daniel DeShazer cruised back to the top of the medal stand in 2010, winning the 6A 125-pound state title 11-4 over Ross Whitmore of Shawnee Mission Northwest. DeShazer finished the season undefeated at 24-0. Valley Center’s Cade Blair closed out a 45-0 season with a 6-1 decision over Chanute’s Sam Son to win the 4A 152-pound title. Dylon Walker of El Dorado powered to the 4A 189-pound title, winning the semifinal by pin before earning a major decision over Clay Center’s Zach Anderson in the final to finish the season at 36-0.

Photo by William PurnellPhoto by Bill Millspaugh


Cade Blair

Dylon Walker

HIG

H S

CH

OO

L S

PO

RT

S

::

MA

RC

H 2

01

0

::

VY

PE

.CO

M

44

TM

45

GAME PLAN

VY

PE

.CO

M ::

MA

RC

H 2

01

0 ::

HIG

H S

CH

OO

L S

PO

RT

S

Class 6A TeamsGoddard (22-3, Tom Campa, AVCTL 1)Top PlayersLevi Meyer, C: Senior batted .373 with 8 extra-base hits,16 RBI and 40 total bases; 1 error and 13 caught stolen basesTory Stoffregen, OF: Senior batted .328 with 21 runs scored and 13 RBI; 30 putouts defensivelyCameron Fisher, P: Senior compiled 3.42 ERA and 15 strikeouts in 14.1 innings pitchedGabe Cook, SS: Junior hit 4 doubles; 50 assists and 8 errors defensively Devin Welch, P: Junior had 0.59 ERA, 41 strikeouts, 1.04 WHIP and 7-0 record in 35.2 innings pitchedDalton Demel, 3B: Senior batted .355 with 9 extra-base hits, 21 runs scored and 18 RBI; 25 assists and 4 errors2009 season: Won rubber game with Maize High in the state consolation game 8-6 to place third in Class 6A.2010 key: Welch, the only returner who pitched over 15 innings in 2009, will give Goddard the opportunity to win the first game of any doubleheader and the first game of the state tournament – the most valuable asset in high school baseball. Must replace four of their top five in total bases.

Maize (20-4-1, Rocky Helm, AVCTL 1)Top PlayersBlake Sturgeon, 2B: Senior batted .458 with 12 extra-base hits and 13 stolen bases; 43 assists and 4 errors defensivelyDillon Ayres, 3B/P: Senior batted .429 with .556 on-base percentage; 1.02 ERA and 15 strikeouts in 13.2 innings pitchedDillon Karens, P/3B: Senior compiled 2.88 ERA and 40 strikeouts in 41.1 innings pitchedShaun Reid, SS: Senior batted .369 with

7 extra-base hits; 44 assists and 5

errors defensivelyGage Byers, 3B/P: Junior batted .354 with 8 extra-base hits; 1.75 ERA and 26 strikeouts in 20 innings pitchedTory Bell, C/1B: Junior batted .327 with 9 extra-base hits, including 3 homerunsRoss Cunningham, OF: Senior batted .308 with 10 extra-base hits2009 season: Lost to Goddard in state consolation game. MLB draft pick Garrett Gould led team in slugging and pitching.2010 key: After giving up 22 runs in three games at 2009 state and 17 runs in a May doubleheader on a northeastern Kansas road trip, even with Gould on the staff, Maize must allow fewer runs in the big games.

W. Northwest (18-4-1, Travis Stockam, City League)Top PlayersBob Arens, C: Senior batted .507 with 15 extra-base hits and 32 RBIBrandon Phillips, P/3B: Senior compiled 2.19 ERA and 45 strikeouts in 48 innings pitched; Batted .394 with 5 HREthan Chadick, P/IF: Senior batted .333 and compiled 4.26 ERA in 24.2 innings pitchedJared Warren, 2B/SS: Senior batted .426 with 22 RBI, 6 doubles and 22 runs scored; 41 assists and 3 errors defensivelyTaylor Herrington, 2B/OF: Batted .419 with 7 extra-base hits in 15 gamesTevin Kendall, OF/P: Batted .412 with 26 runs scored and 19 RBI2009 season: Made second state tournament in three seasons. Ended in first round to SM West, 8-4.2010 key: Replace run production lost to graduation of Erik Harbutz and Shaun Williams. Improve pitching and defense against teams outside City League.

W. Heights (11-9, Jeff Topping, City League)

Top PlayersDylan Fensky, 1B; Nate Welch, C/IF; Brant Baker, CF; Cody Kaufman, LF; Sam Beham, RF; Justin Akin, P; Jeff Welch, P2009 season: Regional runner-up and placed fourth in City League2010 key: Shore up a young and inexperienced pitching staff.

W. North (11-11, Kyle Sanders, City League)Top PlayersLogan Lassley, P; Colin Donner, P2009 season: Beat Dodge City but lost 11-0 to Maize in regional final.2010 key: Kyle Sanders, 23 years the coach at North, builds from scratch with no returning starters.

W. East (9-12, Ryan Bensch, City League)Top PlayersAaron Malone (9 EBH, 21 RBI, 25 R); Daniel Silva (6 EBH, 20 RBI, 19 R); Doug Jenkins (13 RBI, 15 R); Nick Ragias (4 DBL); Drew Plaxton; Gage Fairleigh; Jordan Knox 2009 season: Lost first round of regionals to Garden City.2010 key: Three freshmen started in 2009. Continue to build on experience, led by four-year starter Aaron Malone.

Derby (8-13, J.B. Nicholson, AVCTL 1)Top PlayersZach Steadman, CF (.442 BA); Tyler Lankford, P/SS (3.11 ERA, 59 K, 47.1 IP); Jordan Jenkins, P/3B (3.99 ERA, 46 K, 45.2 IP, .317 BA); Taylor Warkins, P/RF (.303 BA, 29 TB); Kaleb Conelley, C; Jordan Hicks, P; Zack Ashford, P/SS; Cris Roman, P/2B (.338 BA, 7 EBH)2009 season: Lost first round of regionals to Heights.2010 key: Find offensive production with seven returning starters after scoring 4.1 runs per game in 2009 league play.

BASEBALL

Goddard junior pitcher Devin Welch, a 2010 preseason Louisville Slugger all-American, compiled a 0.59 ERA, 41 strikeouts, 1.04 WHIP and 7-0 record in 35.2 innings pitched in 2009. The Lions won 22 games and placed third at Class 6A state.Photo by William Purnell

Northwest senior catcher

Bob Arens batted .507 with 15 extra-base hits and 32 RBI in 2009. The Grizzlies batted .439 as a team and won 18 games on their way to a second state appearance in three seasons.Photo by William Purnell

Derby senior pitcher and third baseman Jordan Jenkins compiled a 3.99 ERA and 46 strikeouts in 45.2 innings pitched, while batting .317. The Panthers look to increase their run production after

winning eight games and losing to Heights in the first round of regionals in 2009.Photo by William Purnell

Maize senior shortstop Shaun Reid batted .369 with 7 extra-base hits in 2009.

Defensively he threw out 44 baserunners and committed only 5

errors. The Eagles won 20 games and

placed fourth at 6A state, losing 8-6 to Goddard in the consolation game.Photo by Ryan McGeeney

www.pure-forMance.coM316-393-1129

Baseball PreviewVYPE RELEASED ITS LARGEST BASEBALL PREVIEW TO DATE,

COMPILING INFORMATION ON 41 AREA TEAMS AND PUBLISHING 12 INDIVIDUAL PLAYER PHOTOS

W 2009-2010

49

Year in review


NO. 1 – ALL FIVE ENDED THE SEASON NO. 1, AND UNDEFEATED: ANDALE’S B.J. FINNEY (34-0); VALLEY CENTER’S CADE BLAIR (45-0); EL DORADO’S DYLON WALKER (36-0); CAMPUS’ DALTON MILLER (38-0); AND WICHITA HEIGHTS’ DANIEL DESHAzER (24-0).

Spring On the East Side PRIVATE SCHOOLS ON THE EAST SIDE BOASTED THE MARqUEE PLAYER IN BASEBALL, SOFTBALL AND GIRLS SOCCER ENTERING THE 2010 SPRING SPORTS SEASON – TYLER COUGHENOUR, HALEY MCGREGOR AND CAROLINE KASTOR

“HE’S BASEBALL SAVVY,” Nesmith says. “Tyler understands the game at a young age. I think his upside is tremendous. Once he focuses on baseball year-round, I think he’s just going to get better in all aspects of the game.

Which makes another point – Coughenour enjoyed life outside baseball. He grew up playing the game of soccer. At Collegiate the past two years, he was a staple on the football field. All-league on defense, offense and special teams as a junior, he was primarily a linebacker and kicker this past fall on the Class 3A state championship football team.

But baseball is his pastime.MCGREGOR WAS A prodigy from the start in Kansas high school

softball. Her accomplishments at Independent since moving to Wichita before her freshman year have been astounding. She’s a three-time all-state shortstop; Independent has won the Central Plains League all three years; Independent, a fledgling program when she arrived, placed fourth at Class 3A state her freshman year, second her sophomore year; she’s batted in 68 runs in three seasons and batted over or near a .400 average.

WITH THE ONLY Division I destination in the state being Lawrence, Cole says players on his 14-and-under team all set KU as their goal.

“They look up and have aspirations of going to KU,” he says. “They also look up to Whitney and Caroline and the Cliftons as role models. They admire them and want to have that success.”

HIG

H S

CH

OO

L S

PO

RT

S

:: M

AR

CH

20

10

::

V

YP

E.C

OM

34

35

H I G H S C H O O L S P O R T S :: M A R C H 2 0 1 0 :: V Y P E . C O M

By Taylor Eldridge

Tyler Coughenour has been

spending ample time in the

dugout since he was locked up in

a baby carriage.

As an infant, Tyler’s father, Dean, was

known for bringing him to his softball

games. The baby on the bench was

always a hit.

By the time he could walk,

Coughenour was soaking in his two

older brothers’ little league games.

“He’s been on a baseball field his

whole life,” Dean says. “He was pretty

much the kid that was running around

with the ball and the glove, trying to talk

anybody into playing catch with him. If

he couldn’t find anyone, he would just

throw it up and catch it. He would do

that for hours.”

Chalk lines, freshly-trimmed grass

and the ping of aluminum wire Tyler

Coughenour. Always have – long before

he became the most dominant hitter at

the Class 3A level at Wichita Collegiate

and earned a baseball scholarship at

Cowley College.

“He’s ahead of the game. Before it

happens, he’s already thought about

everything that could happen.”

-Mike Gehrer, Coughenour’s

summer coach

Coughenour doesn’t know how much

baseball he has watched in 18 years.

He sums it up this way: “I’ve seen

pretty much anything that can happen

on a baseball field.”

That didn’t come from just playing

the game. Coughenour spent hundreds

of hours watching his father and two

brothers play, aside from being glued to

games on the tube.

Every possible bounce of a ground

ball, early arrival and late exit for extra

batting practice, scenarios for the next

play – these things occupy his mind.

“What’s the count, if runners are on,

if this guy is going to steal, or going

to bunt,” Coughenour describes his

thought process.

Last year when Collegiate coach

Trent Nesmith had a vacancy at catcher,

Coughenour offered to switch from his

infield position even though he had

never caught before.

“He has always been on a baseball

field when it was baseball season,”

Nesmith says. “When you’re around the

game for a long time, you understand

the nuances of the different positions.

You understand the offensive approach.”

A team player, Coughenour will return

to his home at shortstop this season.

“It kind of comes natural after being

around it all my life,” he says.

“I’ve always said I’m going to play

baseball as long as I can, then play

old man softball, and then golf.”

-Tyler Coughenour

Coaches tell Coughenour that if he

can hit a baseball, he can keep playing

the game for as long as he wants to.

If his junior season at Collegiate

proved anything, it was that he can

crush a baseball.

Coughenour’s 2009 stat line: .524

batting average, 46 runs batted in,

35 runs scored, 10 home runs, 1.175

slugging percentage.

Nesmith plans to bat him third in

the lineup and use him at pitcher if

necessary. Might as well.

“He’s baseball savvy,” Nesmith says.

“Tyler understands the game at a young

age. I think his upside is tremendous.

Once he focuses on baseball year-

round, I think he’s just going to get

better in all aspects of the game.”

Which makes another point –

Coughenour enjoyed life outside

baseball. He grew up playing the game

of soccer. At Collegiate the past two

years, he was a staple on the football

field. All-league on defense, offense

and special teams as a junior, he was

primarily a linebacker and kicker

this past fall on the Class 3A state

championship football team.

But baseball is his pastime.

“I’m just glad to be where I am right

now,” Coughenour says. “I want to play

baseball as long as I can.”

Nesmith is intrigued to see what

Coughenour can do when put in a

strictly baseball environment at Cowley.

“He’s going to be around the same

type – guys that are there to get an

education and to see how far they can

go with baseball,” Nesmith says. “They

all aspire to play Division I baseball and

get drafted. I think when you get in that

environment, I think he will enjoy it and

he’ll relish it.”

“I know you see tons of athletes

that have all the talent in the world,”

Dean Coughenour says. “Then you go

and see kids that got no talent, but all

the work ethic in the world. And very

occasionally, you’ll come across the kid

that has both work ethic and talent and

that’s Tyler.” •

Collegiate’s versatile tyler Coughenour understands the game of baseball – and hopes to make it big-time at Cowley College next year

Photo by Bob

Hovey

Collegiate’s Tyler Coughenour (pictured last summer

with the Wichita Reds) hit 10 homeruns last season.

Spring On the East Side Means

the Players Have Come To Play

Caroline Kastor,

Kapaun

Haley McGregor,

Independent

Tyler Coughenour,

Collegiate

HIG

H S

CH

OO

L S

PO

RT

S

:: M

AR

CH

20

10

::

V

YP

E.C

OM

36

F E A T U R E

n The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck famously fictionalized the wretched circumstances of Oklahomans in the Great

Depression. The Joads are broke and desperate, the land won’t produce because of the drought – so they pack up and head for California, where they’re told there are jobs aplenty and anything will grow. Historically, however, athletics in the state of Oklahoma have not suffered much drought and have never stopped growing. It’s up for debate whether the Joads made a wise decision to head west; California didn’t work out too well for them. If one of their boys had been a football player, maybe they wouldn’t have left. Oklahoma University in Norman didn’t feel much adversity. In 1929, even before Rockne had built his football house in South Bend, the Sooners had expanded Memorial Stadium to capacity seating of 32,000. Now a Californian, by way of Kansas, is heading to OU. The Independent School’s Haley McGregor, who grew up in southern California and whose parents are natives, moved to Wichita in 2006 and will play softball on scholarship at OU next year. Two of the three other OU softball signees for the 2010-11 season also hail from California, one of whom is McGregor’s best friend, Brittany Williams. McGregor remains close to her California roots; she returned to the Valencia area last summer to play her final season of travel ball with the So Cal Pumas and Williams. “I went out there and lived with her and played travel together. We’ve

played together from the time we were 10,” says McGregor. “We started out hating each other, for some reason; she was catcher, I was at third base. We butted heads at first but now we’re like sisters.” Since compiling a streak of five consecutive College World Series appearances from 2000-2004, including a national championship in 2000, OU softball has been ousted from the regional final or the super regional each year since. McGregor and Williams, though they have no idea where they’ll play on the field, will work to turn that tide. “She likes recruiting shortstops,” McGregor says of OU coach Patty Gasso, “She wants to get the best athletes on the field so she can move them anywhere. Maybe (I’ll play shortstop). I don’t know if I’m fast enough.” McGregor was a prodigy from the start in Kansas high school softball. Her accomplishments at Independent since moving to Wichita before her freshman year have been astounding. She’s a three-time all-state shortstop; Independent has won the Central Plains League all three years; Independent, a fledgling program when she arrived, placed fourth at Class 3A state her freshman year, second her sophomore year; she’s batted in 68 runs in three seasons and batted over or near a .400 average. Her natural ability shines through. Her father, Jay, wrestled and played baseball and rugby at Long Beach State. Jay played two years of baseball in the Boston Red Sox’ farm system. Her grandparents both were baseball and softball players. Mom, Jeanne,

was a state champion swimmer. Her brother, J.J., plays hockey for Connecticut College; sister, Kelly, currently plays softball at Jacksonville State. McGregor is not focused solely on softball. On her recruiting trip to OU, they didn’t touch on the topic of softball as much as other merits of the university. “We didn’t talk about that at all,” says McGregor, who likes writing English papers, thus planning to major in journalism. “It was more about the history of the school. “Of all the schools I was looking at, it felt like the right one. I went on visits to all the different schools,” continues McGregor, who says she had offers from Virginia Tech and South Florida, as well. “It stood out to me; I could see myself on that campus.” McGregor, who batted .378 with 10 doubles, three homeruns and 16 RBI last season, can be seen for one more year playing softball in Wichita at The Independent School. Then, it’s off to OU, and after that, possibly a return to California. Wherever life leads her, it’s sure to have an ending on the end of spectrum opposite the Joads. “The first couple weeks (at OU) will be pretty tough,” she admits, “just because it’s a whole different level – travel ball to college, a whole different world. When I get a handle on it, hopefully I’ll do well.”•

By Tom Witherspoon

I

Haley McGreGor HailinG froM california Was a prodiGious sofTBall player aT independenT froM THe sTarT; nexT, sHe Heads To ou

Independent’s Haley McGregor batted .378 with 10 doubles, three homeruns and 16 RBI last season.

The future isn’t iffy for Kapaun Mount Carmel soccer’s Caroline Kastor as she enters her senior season. The recruiting process is over. It ended just as it had for the other top players in the Wichita area the last two years –

with a scholarship to KU.The decision is simple. If you are a dominant goal scorer from

Wichita, you go play for Kansas University.No other college even comes close, according to Kastor.“When you’re little, you always want to go to North Carolina

because they’re the best,” Kastor says. “But in high school, you start getting more realistic. I started going to KU’s summer camp and I didn’t really want to go anywhere else after that.

“I didn’t really feel like I wanted to look anywhere else. I got letters from other places, but I felt really comfortable with KU.”

Next year when Kastor is on scholarship with the Jayhawks, she will represent the third straight year that KU coach Mark Francis has signed the Wichita area’s top talent.

“KU is seeing the writing on the wall,” Kastor’s high school coach at Kapaun, Alan Shepherd, says. “We don’t have the talent pool as a K.C. or St. Louis has, but we’ve got some good talent in Wichita, and I think some of the other major colleges need to be taking a look at it.

“KU sees what talent we’ve had and they’re taking advantage of it.”

Francis’ signing of Andover High twins, Kelsey and Kortney Clifton, set the tone in 2008. That same year, Goddard’s Whitney Berry verbally committed to KU. She signed in 2009 and earned second-team all-Big 12 honors last fall as a freshman.

The pipeline was forged and the Jayhawks, the only Division I college soccer program in Kansas, now have the inside track on much of the top talent in Wichita. Francis says the recruiting success in Wichita was a chain reaction.

“I know that helped us getting Whitney,” Francis said. “I think getting the Cliftons helped getting Whitney, and I think getting Whitney helped getting Caroline.

“I think that gives us an edge in recruiting. The younger kids all know them, so they’re going, ‘Well, Whitney went to KU.’ When Wichita is putting out as many quality kids as they are, we want to make sure we’re in the mix and we’re on the forefront.”

Which raises the question of how did Wichita suddenly become a hotbed for soccer talent?

“The talent is growing by the moment,” says Jeff Cole, who coached Kastor, Berry and the Cliftons on his summer club team, River City Fire. “What helps is the coaches are finally starting to recognize that and are starting to come into Wichita and recruit our kids. The coaching has gotten better here in the Wichita area, as far as some of the club coaches and that helps out, as well.”

Cole holds the key to the majority of the Wichita area talent. His last two teams with players matriculating to college have sent a total of 15 players to the next level.

He encourages his players to attend the summer camps put on by the KU coaches. The players take frequent unofficial visits to tour the facilities and become comfortable with the coaches.

With the only Division I destination in the state being Lawrence, Cole says players on his 14-and-under team all set KU as their goal.

“They look up and have aspirations of going to KU,” he says. “They also look up to Whitney and Caroline and the Cliftons as role models. They admire them and want to have that success.”

The pull from KU on future recruits is apparent in the lower classes. Maize junior Kelsey Lyden, who has verbally committed to KU, cited her former club teammates as the main draw to the Jayhawks.

“Ever since Whitney and the Cliftons went there, I wanted to go up there,” Lyden said. “I’ve kind of looked up to them, since

I’ve been the youngest girl on the team. I looked at some other colleges, but KU just stuck. Once you get there and find out for yourself, it’s the only place to go.”

It’s a credit to Francis, who has worked to make KU the giant that it is in recruiting Wichita. It has locked him up a prospect in Kastor, whose skills transfer favorably to the college game.

“She’s got all the tools that a soccer player would want,” Shepherd said.

Cole added: “There’s a difference between fast and quick and she is quick. Right off her first step, she is gone. Then she’s fast. That’s what has her breaking way from defenders.”

Francis concluded: “Technically, she’s good enough to keep the ball and dribble and beat an opponent. She’s a very technically sound player.”

Others have begun to take notice of KU’s affinity for Wichita players – Heights’ senior forward Selby Polley recently signed to play with Baylor next season.

After seeing Polley play, Baylor coach Marci Jobson said: “Definitely, we want to be in that area as much as we can and get some of those kids. There’s some good talent there. It’s a very good soccer area.”

Wichita girls are forging their way to the forefront of major college soccer recruiting. While the increase in Division I prospects in recent years is nice, Shepherd still sees talent go unrecruited by Division I colleges.

“I think it’s just about taking baby steps,” Shepherd says. “I think the more Caroline’s, and the more Whitney’s, and the more Clifton’s – the more kids we get out there – people are going to start to take a better look at Wichita.”

Until then, KU will continue to have their pick of the local prospects.

“I just felt really comfortable with KU,” Kastor said. “Already knowing that some of the girls up there I would know, made the decision pretty easy.”

HIG

H S

CH

OO

L S

PO

RT

S

:: M

AR

CH

20

10

::

V

YP

E.C

OM

38

F E A T U R E

KU’s recruitment of each of Wichita’s top players the last three years highlights a new college soccer pipelineBy Taylor Eldridge

Kapaun senior Caroline Kastor scored 45 goals and

pxassed 9 assists in 2009. Kapaun has made the

Class 5-4-3-2-1A state final four three consecutive

seasons.



W

Bring ‘Em Right Back – It doesn’t seem right to call them veterans, but they are. The entire Heights starting lineup, including (left to right) underclassmen E.J. Dobbins, Dreamius Smith, Perry Ellis, Evan Wessel and Terrance Moore (hidden behind Wessel) returns next year to defend their two consecutive state titles.

Photo of the Month

2009-2010

April2010

2010 State Basketball Champions

THERE WAS NO talk in the Heights locker room this season of back-to-back state titles – until after the culmination of the rare achievement in Class 6A when the Falcons had dismantled Blue Valley Northwest 56-40 in the 2010 state championship.

A year after capping a 24-1 record in 2008-9 with the program’s first state title since 1977, Heights didn’t lose this season after Christmas break, compiling a 23-2 record in 2009-10 using a business-like attitude.

THE SCORES COLLEGIATE posted at state were eye-opening. The Spartan boys rolled to a 72-32 victory over Minneapolis in the Class 3A final, tying the state record for widest margin of victory in a state championship

game. That jaw-dropper followed a 24-point semifinal win over Rossville and a 42-point opening round victory over the

tournament’s cinderella, 13-10 Council Grove. It was like a Duke-Pine Bluff match-up.FOUR TIMES LEWIS Wiebe has thought he was on the brink of a state championship at Berean Academy. The Warriors lost in

the state title game in 1995 and 1999, then lost state semifinal games in 2004 in double overtime and in 2005 in overtime. Wiebe, head boys basketball coach at Berean for 16 years, finally broke through this season, defeating St. Mary’s-Colgan

44-32 in the Class 2A championship to finish 25-1.THE JAGUARS HAVE been no strangers to Division I talent. Just two years ago, Bailey Gee led Central to an undefeated state

title season before heading off to Missouri. Tiffany Bias, an Oklahoma State signee, helped Central reel off another undefeated title year in 2009-10.

Bias was what made the Jaguars go, leading them to a 25-0 record and a 44-36 victory over St. Thomas Aquinas to capture their first title in Class 5A.

ALL SEASON 6’3” post Merissa quick had been the Cardinals’ trump card. Few teams could match her inside presence on either end of the court. In eight games this season, she blocked five or more shots. quick was the piece that allowed Cheney to contend for a state title.

She broke her left foot, however, late in Cheney’s 64-52 state semifinal win over undefeated Holton. Cheney entered the title game against undefeated defending champ Concordia without their leading rebounder and shot blocker and second-leading scorer.

But Cheney pulled off a mammoth upset, 52-49 over Concordia for the 4A title. –Taylor Eldridge

W 2009-2010

51

Year end review


THE LISTOF VYPE’S BASKETBALL PLAYERS OF THE YEAR, 14 OF 29 BOYS AND 14 OF 27 GIRLS RETURN FOR THE 2010-11 SEASON. FOR A COMPLETE LIST OF WHERE THE GRADUATES ARE GOING TO COLLEGE, GO TO VYPE.COM/CENTRALKANSAS

TM

HIG

H S

CH

OO

L S

PO

RT

S

:: A

PR

IL 2

01

0

::

VY

PE

.CO

M

26

Prime Time Zero-Sum GameJoe Auer waited 20 years to win a state title at Heights. Now he’s won two 6A titles in a row with a concentration of exceptional talent in the underclasses.

Using two distinct styles of play, Stana Jefferson’s Andover Central Jaguars have put up a zero in the loss column two of the past three seasons.

TE: How did playing without junior 6-4 point guard Evan Wessel before Christmas break speed up the maturation process of your brand-new starting backcourt, E.J. Dobbins and Terrence Moore? JA: That really forced everyone to have a sense of urgency early in the season. To not look any further than our current game, our current

practice. When you lose your starting point guard, there are a lot of questions, and I think it really forced us to focus in all six of our pre-Christmas games. In the end, that early-season focus had a lot to do with our long-term success.

TE: During that stretch run of games to the title, you said your job was already done when the game started. What did you mean by that?

JA: I told the kids before every game that my job is done. I’ve been in charge of the practices

and preparations. The games are about the players. Basketball is a game of transitions. The game doesn’t stop and that’s what makes it the greatest game in the world. We don’t want our kids looking over their shoulder at the bench every 45 seconds. We want them to play the game and trust each other.

TE: You rarely went outside of a seven-man rotation. How did this group avoid fatigue and foul trouble? JA: Our kids are really intelligent on defense. They don’t foul. They understand that the key is making people shoot contested shots. A lot of teams reach and foul and over-gamble and put their opponent on the free throw line. That levels the playing field. We really pride ourselves in playing clean defense and good position defense and good help-side defense.TE: You were a successful

basketball coach before last season. You also took Heights’ baseball team to the state tournament nine times before, but you had never won a state title in all of those years. Now you have two, what has that been like? JA: For having to wait so long and being so close so many times, it’s really allowed me to enjoy what

we are doing right now, to really appreciate just how special it is. I know championships don’t grow on trees. Most coaches will go their whole career without a state championship. Now that I’ve got to win it, I am enjoying every single second of it. I’m having the time of my life. But you don’t coach to win state championships. If I was in it for that, then I would have quit a long time ago because it was crushing to get that close that many times and not win it. You’re in it because you love working with kids and you love the relationship you develop with the team. •

TE: After winning a state title with that great senior class in 2008, the reigns were essentially handed over to the senior class this year, members who had contributed to the title win in 2008 but who came up short of the state tournament last year. How much was the team motivated by that experience?

SJ: We kind of struggled there to

find new roles and figure out who was where and how we were going to play. We took some bad hits that season and it didn’t quite work out like we would have liked it to. When we left the gym in Winfield (in March 2009 after a sub-state loss to Bishop Carroll), the girls walked out and said, “This is never going to happen again.” Then the work they put in during the summer, I knew they were going to come out on top.

TE: The thing I always admired watching Tiffany Bias play is she is able to be that superstar and still is just one of the teammates. How does she do that? SJ: She’s super-oriented about

team. Nothing about Tiffany Bias is “I” anything. She doesn’t care how many steals she gets. She doesn’t care how many points she gets. It’s all about, “Does my team win, or does my team not win?” She’ll do anything that it takes to elevate the team’s level. She’ll do anything she has to do for the team to win.

TE: Both years you’ve won the state

title (2008 and 2010), the state’s best player (Bailey Gee and Bias) has been on your team. They weren’t bad building blocks. SJ: I’ve been totally fortunate in having great talent. The thing with great talent is you have to be able to have that great talent be coachable. There are a lot of teams out there with great players, but for some reason, they can’t seem to get on the same page and get to the state championship. That was the thing that did it for our teams. They weren’t only great talents or great athletes, but they were also coachable and the only thing on their mind was, “What can I do to make the team win?” It was all

about the team.

TE: The pressure to win with them had to be high, though. What was that like? SJ: There was a point a couple of years ago I started letting the pressure getting to me and the girls probably saw that, I’m sure. You get to a point where you learn

not to take any day for granted. The girls that I’ve been able to coach have been so fun and so pleasant that every day in practice was just awesome. To get them to enjoy it and get them to believe in what I’m doing is what makes managing that great talent a lot easier.”

TE: Some might argue you didn’t have the most talent on your roster this year. How did this team overcome some of its deficiencies? SJ: Defense is a proven factor to me. If you get a team to play together and believe in each other, you can overcome about any obstacle that’s put forth. This team really proved that to me this year. •

L O C K E R T A L K

VY

PE

.CO

M ::

AP

RIL

20

10

:: H

IGH

SC

HO

OL

SP

OR

TS

27

By Taylor Eldridge

By Taylor Eldridge

“If I was in it for that,” says Auer, “then I would have quit a long time ago because it was crushing to get that close that many times and

“There are a lot of teams out there with great players, but for some rea-son, they can’t seem to get on the same page and get to the state cham-

Title RichANDOVER CENTRAL’S STANA JEFFERSON HAS TWO UNDEFEATED SEASONS IN THREE YEARS, WHILE HEIGHTS’ JOE AUER HAS LOST JUST THREE GAMES THE PAST TWO SEASONS

VY

PE

.CO

M ::

AP

RIL

20

10

:: H

IGH

SC

HO

OL

SP

OR

TS

29

F E A T U R E

HIG

H S

CH

OO

L S

PO

RT

S

:: A

PR

IL 2

01

0

::

VY

PE

.CO

M

28

on override rule which says the player on THE LIST with the second-highest points per vote average among players from the City League will be ranked among top group of players, which was determined as those receiving 3 or more first-place votes from top-five league coaches; Ranked within that group based on points per vote average; 1 of 9 players from City League on list

Opposing View “Blake is a great athlete, and a very tough competitor. Add this along with his skills around the basket, and you have a quality basketball player. He has to be one of the best post players in the state.” -Coach from inside league who ranked Bell as No. 3 individual opponent

The Vitals: 6-6 SR C Scored 16.6 points per game on 48% field goal and 62% free throw shooting. Grabbed 8.3 rebounds per game.

4. Blake Jablonski, W. Collegiate League: Mid-Central Activities Assoc. Philosophy of Ranking

Total votes: 6; Points per vote average: 2.94; Total points: 22; Breakdown: 3 first-place votes; 1 third-place votes; 2 fourth-place votes; Played in No. 5-ranked league; 1 of 4 players from MCAA to make list

Opposing View “Blake is as good a shooter as I’ve coached against. He is also a great competitor. You could tell that he had a strong will to do whatever he needed to for his team to win.” -Coach from outside league who ranked Jablonski as No. 1 individual opponent

The Vitals: 6-3 SR G Scored 15.4 points per game on 42.7% field goal shooting, including 39.1% from three-point range, and 78.8% free throw shooting.

5. Christian Ulsaker, McPherson League: AVCTL 2 Philosophy of Ranking

Total votes: 8; Points per vote average: 2.9; Total points: 29; Breakdown: 4 first-place votes; 2 third-place votes; 1 fourth-place vote; 1 fifth-place vote; Played in No. 3-ranked league; 1 of 4 players from AVCTL 2 to make list

Opposing View“He is an impossible matchup for most high school teams. He can score with his back to the basket with either hand. He can face you up and drive you to the basket with either hand and again score with either hand. He can shoot the ball well from the three-point arc, as well. Finally, if you foul him he will beat you from the line. The only way to keep him from scoring is not let him catch the ball. Easier said than done.” -Coach from outside league who ranked Ulsaker as No. 1

individual opponent

The Vitals: 6-5 JR F Scored 19.7 points per game, grabbed 9 rebounds per game and passed 2.85 assists.

6. Cameron Cornelius, Derby League: AVCTL 1 Philosophy of Ranking

Total votes: 7; Points per vote average: 3.09; Total points: 24; Breakdown: 1 first-place vote; 3 second-place votes; 2 third-place votes; 1 fifth-place vote; Played in No. 2-ranked league; Ranked behind Ulsaker because not a member of top group of players who received 3 or more first-place votes from top-five league coaches; Ranked at the top of group receiving 5 or more votes according to average points per vote; 1 of 4 players from AVCTL 1 to make list

Opposing View “Cameron has really become a versatile player this year. Not only could he score in the post, but this year he could put the ball on the floor and take his man off the dribble or step out and knock down the 3. In addition to what he can do on offense, Cameron is one of the best defenders around. A player who can take over a game with his offense and his defense. Cameron has made himself into one of the most complete players in the area.” -Coach from inside league who ranked Cornelius as No. 1 individual opponent

The Vitals: 5-11 JR F Scored 13 points per game on 53% field goal shooting and 65% free throw shooting. Grabbed 7.1 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game. Shot over 50% from the field in 12 regular season games.

7. Sean Osler, Cheney League: Central Plains Philosophy of Ranking

Total votes: 6; Points per vote average: 3.03; Total points: 26; Breakdown: 3 first-place vote; 2 second-place votes; 1 third-place votes; Played in No. 6-ranked league; Not ranked in top group of players receiving 3 first-place votes because votes came from coaches in leagues not ranked in top 5; Ranked in group of players receiving 5 or more votes according to average points per vote; 1 of 2 players from CPL to make list

Opposing View “Sean Osler is a tough guard for any team. He shoots it well, drives it well, and can post you up � you are asking for trouble if you try and guard him with one person. He is clearly one of the best players in the state of Kansas, even as a junior.” -Coach from outside league who ranked Osler as No. 1 individual opponent

The Vitals: 6-4 JR F Scored 19.1 points per game on 46.9% field goal shooting, including 38% from three-point range, and 82.6% free throw shooting. Grabbed 5.5 rebounds per game.

8. Tyler Shirley, Rose Hill League: AVCTL 4 Philosophy of Ranking

Total votes: 8; Points per vote average: 2.89; Total points: 33; Breakdown: 2 first-place votes; 5 second-place votes; 1 third-place vote; Played in No. 7-ranked league; 1 of 2 players from AVCTL 4 to make list

1. Perry Ellis, W. Heights League: Wichita City Philosophy of Ranking

Total votes: 6; Points per vote average: 4.83; Total points: 29; Breakdown: 5 first-place votes; 1 second-place vote; Played in No. 1-ranked league; 1 of 9 players from City League on list

Opposing View “What I love about Perry is that he doesn’t try to force it too much. He lets the game come to him and he does a great job of knowing when the opportunity exists and then he goes after it and gets it. Perry is a very fine, polished post player who does not get ‘sped up’ or get too fast around the hoop. Not a lot of fun to coach against, but sure is fun to watch.” -Coach from inside league who ranked Ellis as No. 1 individual

opponent

The Vitals: 6-7 SO C Scored 22.6 points per game on 63% field goal and 60% free throw shooting. Scored 27 or more points in 7 regular season games. Grabbed 10.9 rebounds per game.

2. Marshall Miller, Andover Central League: AVCTL 3 Philosophy of Ranking

Total votes: 10; Points per vote average: 3.36; Total points: 42; Breakdown: 6 first-place votes; 2 second-place votes; 2 fourth-place votes; Played in No. 4-ranked league; 1 of 3 players from AVCTL 3 on list

Opposing View “He is a young man who has worked very hard to become

one of the most complete players that this region has had to offer in some time. He is exactly what the student athlete should look, sound and act like.” -Coach from outside league who ranked Miller as No. 1 individual opponent

The Vitals: 6-5 SR F Scored 15.4 points per game on 56.9% field goal shooting, including 43.3% from three-point range, and 72.3% free throw shooting. Grabbed 5.6 rebounds per game game and passed 3.9 assists.

3. Blake Bell, Carroll League: Wichita City Philosophy of Ranking

Total votes: 6; Points per vote average: 3; Total points: 18; Breakdown: 1 second-place vote; 4 third-place votes; 1 fourth-place vote; Played in No. 1-ranked league; Ranked based

There was no talk in the Heights locker room this season of back-to-back state titles – until after the culmination of the rare achievement in Class 6A when the Falcons had dismantled Blue Valley Northwest 56-40 in the 2010 state championship.

A year after capping a 24-1 record in 2008-9 with the program’s first state title since 1977, Heights didn’t lose this season after Christmas break, compiling a 23-2 record in 2009-10 using a business-like attitude.

“We took an approach that there were four championships to win this season,” coach Joe Auer said. “We didn’t talk about records or end-of-season outcomes. We talked about a mid-season championship, a City League championship, a sub-state championship, and hopefully a state championship.”

The Falcons swept the Dodge City Tournament of Champions, a year after suffering their only loss of the season to Hutchinson at the McPherson tournament; they now have lost one City League game in two seasons; in the postseason the Falcons won close and going away – the eventual

outcome of victory never seemed in doubt.

Heights weathered the storm at the beginning the season, replacing three guard slots opened by graduation. In addition, Wichita State commitment Evan Wessel missed all of December due to injury.

The six games played without Wessel proved invaluable learning time for first-year guards E.J. Dobbins and Terrence Moore. The duo eased their way into the lineup, while Dreamius Smith regained his legs from a state title game run during football season. Auer felt fortunate to enter Christmas break with a 4-2 record.

Once the Falcons stabilized their lineup (Perry Ellis, Wessel, Moore, Smith and Dobbins scored 1,538 of 1,671 points), they were unbeatable. The steady constant throughout the season was the blue chip in the post, sophomore Perry Ellis. Since Ellis arrived last season, Heights has won two state titles in a row and will be favored to win a third next season with its entire starting lineup returning.

Not so fast, says Auer, the Falcons will take time to count their blessings. “I feel like I’m one of the luckiest coaches in the business,” he said.

From the eight counties, contiguous to and including Sedgwick (plus McPherson and Salina Central and South), here are VYPE’s players of the years

-T.E.

HIG

H S

CH

OO

L S

PO

RT

S

:: A

PR

IL 2

01

0

::

VY

PE

.CO

M

38

F E A T U R E

VY

PE

.CO

M ::

AP

RIL

20

10

:: H

IGH

SC

HO

OL

SP

OR

TS

39

F E A T U R E

1. Tiffany Bias, Andover Central League: AVCTL 3 Philosophy of Ranking Total votes: 9; Points per vote average: 5; Total points: 45; Breakdown: Unanimous player of the year; All 9 votes were first-place votes; Played in No. 2-ranked league; 1 of 5 players from AVCTL 3 to make list Opposing View “She is a coach’s dream. She works harder than anyone else on the floor, she is very talented and a true student of the game.” -Coach from outside league who ranked Bias as No. 1 individual opponent

The Vitals: 5-7 SR PG Through 19 regular season games, scored 20.6 points per game on 44% field goal shooting, including 33% from three-point range. Shot 71% from the free-throw line. Passed 7.3 assists per game and had 5.6 steals per game. Broke 30 points in 2 games – against Collegiate (34) and Salina South (33).

2. Jhasmin Bowen, W. Heights League: Wichita City Philosophy of Ranking Total votes: 5; Points per vote average: 4.8; Total points: 24; Breakdown: 4 first-place votes; 1 second-place vote; Played in No. 1-ranked league; 1 of 6 players from City League to make list

Opposing View “What sets Jhasmin Bowen apart from the rest is her drive to win the game no matter what. She is relentless on the boards. She does not give up on a rebound. She is not the most talented player we have faced but she is definitely the hardest worker. I really like to watch her play, just not when she is playing my team.” -Coach from outside league who ranked Bowen as No. 1 individual opponent The Vitals: 6-1 JR F Scored 16.8 points per game and, most impressively, grabbed 11.4 rebounds per game. Was one of five Heights players to average 3 or more steals per game.

3. Jamillah Bonner, W. Southeast League: Wichita City Philosophy of Ranking Total votes: 5; Points per vote average: 4.4; Total points: 22; Breakdown: 2 first-place votes; 3 second-place votes; Played in No. 1-ranked league; 1 of 6 players from City League to make list

Opposing View “Bonner now has the ability to hit the 15-foot jumper along with her ability to drive to the basket as well as anybody in the city. Now what do we do to stop her?” -Coach from inside league who ranked Bonner as No. 1 individual opponent The Vitals: 5-8 JR G Scored 16.6 points per game without three-point range on 42% field goal shooting and 57% free throw shooting. Grabbed 7.5 rebounds per game and 6.6 steals per game. Scored 20 or more points three times, though all those games were in season’s first half. Took on more of a passing role in season’s second half, distributing 6 or more assists three times.

4. Janelle Rust, Berean League: Heart of America Philosophy of Ranking Total votes: 5; Points per vote average: 3.68; Total points: 23; Breakdown: 3 first-place votes; 2 second-place votes; Played in No. 8-ranked league; Only player from Heart of America to make list

Opposing View “Janelle not only has the athletic ability and skills to be an outstanding basketball player but she also has the knack at getting to balls others do not and she makes the clutch plays when her team needs it. You can see she plays to win and for the love of the game.” -Coach from outside league who ranked Rust as No. 1 individual opponent

The Vitals: 5-11 SR F Scored 18.1 points per game on 43.4% field goal and 73.3% free throw shooting and grabbed 3.3 offensive rebounds per game.

5. Ashia Woods, W. Collegiate League: Mid-Central Activities Assoc. Philosophy of Ranking Total votes: 6; Points per vote average: 3.2; Total points: 24; Breakdown: 2 first-place votes; 3 second-place votes; 1 fourth-place vote; Played in No. 6-ranked league; Only player from MCAA to make list

Opposing View “Ashia Woods is an extremely talented basketball player that has great size and quickness. Her versatility to score from inside and outside makes her hard to guard. She has all the tools to develop into a great Division I basketball player. Great kid that plays with great character.” -Coach from outside league who ranked Woods as No. 1 individual opponent The Vitals: 5-11 JR G Scored 22.7 points per game on 63% field goal shooting, including 40% from three-point range, and 57% free throw shooting. Grabbed 5.8 steals and 7.4 rebounds per game.

6. Ally Nikkel, Cheney League: Central Plains Philosophy of Ranking Total votes: 5; Points per vote average: 3.04; Total points: 19; Breakdown: 1 first-place vote; 2 second-place votes; 3 third-place votes; Played in No. 7-ranked league; 1 of 3 players from CPL to make list

Opposing View “Ally is the complete player. She is so smooth offensively, handling the ball and shooting, she is such a threat to score. The Cheney team has numerous strengths, however Ally makes them so tough to prepare for and compete against. She is definitely their MVP.” -Coach from inside league who ranked Nikkel as No. 1 individual opponent The Vitals: 5-8 JR PG Scored 14.2 points per game shooting 53% from the field, including 37% from three-point range. Shot 69% on free throws with 6 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.8 steals per game. Just 1.6 turnovers per game at point guard.

7. Kyrstie Ehm, Circle League: AVCTL 4 Philosophy of Ranking Total votes: 8; Points per vote average: 3.0375; Total points: 27; Breakdown: 5 second-place votes; 2 third-place votes; 1 fifth-place vote; Played in No. 4-ranked league; 1 of 4 players from AVCTL 4 to make list

Opposing View “I would describe her as a quiet assassin; she doesn’t bring attention to herself, but every time you turn around she is doing something positive for her team. She is deceptively quick and can score anywhere on the floor.” -Coach from outside league who ranked Ehm as No. 2 individual opponent The Vitals: 5-10 JR G Scored 16.7 points per game on 41% field goal shooting. Shot 72% from the three throw line. Grabbed 7.2 rebounds and 2.6 steals per game. Scored 20 or more points 4 times.

8. Kelsey Webber, Rose Hill League: AVCTL 4 Philosophy of Ranking Total votes: 6; Points per vote average: 2.4; Total points: 16; Breakdown: 2 first-place votes; 2 fourth-place votes; 2 fifth-place votes; Played in No. 4-ranked league; 1 of 4 players from AVCTL 4 to make list

Opposing View “Kelsey obviously has put the time in to make herself a more complete player. A very good shooter, her ball-handling, passing and ability to score off the drive have made her a very tough player to defend.” -Coach from outside league who ranked Webber as No. 1 individual opponent The Vitals: 5-6 JR F Scored 14.6 points per game on 41% field goal shooting,

Jhasmin Bowen

JamillahBonner

Janellerust

ashiawoods

tiffany Bias

KelseyweBBer merissa

quicK

Kyrstieehm

ally niKKel

The Jaguars have been no strangers to Division I talent. Just two years ago, Bailey Gee led Central to an undefeated state title season before heading off to Missouri. Tiffany Bias, an Oklahoma State signee, helped Central reel off another undefeated title year in 2009-10.

Bias was what made the Jaguars go, leading them to a 25-0 record and a 44-36 victory over St. Thomas Aquinas to capture their first title in Class 5A.

The Jags’ first season in 5A in 2008-9 hadn’t gone according to plan, losing to Carroll in the sub-state championship. “When we left that gym in Winfield (last season), the girls walked out and said, ‘This is never going to happen again,’” coach Stana Jefferson said. It didn’t – at least this season. “The work they put in during the summer, I knew they were going to come out on top.” Central avenged the Carroll loss, defeating them 63-54 in this year’s state semifinal.

While Bias was the go-to player, fellow seniors Kaitlin Tennyson and Maddie Chapin were the glue pieces that held the Jaguars together. Mixed in with role players, such as Cami Gee and McKenzie Harding, Central kept opponents honest, forcing them to guard the entire court.

While Central won the title two years ago with elite talent, this season the team was able to will itself through obstacles. “I think when we got to state, people tried to say we can’t compete with the Bishop Miege’s, or the Bishop Carroll’s, or the St. Thomas Aquinas’s,” Jefferson said. “The girls didn’t listen to any of that. They went into every day focused. We were out-sized every game, but these girls just brought their defense every game. That’s what won it for us, our defense.”

SPORT SPECIFIC TRAINING • PERFORMANCE TESTING • SUMMER CAMPS AND TEAM TRAINING

PINNACLESPORTS MEDICINE & ORTHOPAEDICS

REHABILITATIONSPORTS PERFORMANCE

SPORTS PERFORMANCEREHABILITATION

Hutchinson, KS 1818 East 23rd • 620.665.7766

Newton, KS 800 Medical Center Dr • 316.836.4700

Search Pinnacle Sports Performance

PINNACLESPORTS MEDICINE & ORTHOPAEDICS

REHABILITATIONSPORTS PERFORMANCENow at Two Locations:

www.pinnacleortho.com


I totally failed in my first attempt to throw a bone to other extra-curricular activities in the pages of VYPE. Tiffany Massey, a student at Wichita Collegiate, wrote a message on our Facebook, asking rhetorically in reaction to the

public versus private article (April 2010) if we should also promote Sterling to a higher classification for their absolute dominance of forensics at the state level.

Her comment was self-fulfilling of the activity she engages in at school; she knows how to debate.

But instead, I thought I was a smart editor, so I corrected her comment, which I published in the May Rants and Raves section. My correction was anything but; it was a mistake. Massey wrote that Sterling had won 12 state forensics titles; I wrote that they had only won five two-speaker debate titles since 1995.

I had no idea what I was talking about. I know what football, basketball and the other sports are, and I know none of them are the same thing. A subject I was completely ignorant on was debate and forensics.

“Forensics is more geared toward acting, debate is just one event,” Wichita Northwest debate and forensics competitor Tyran Thomas informed me when I actually took the time to ask a participant in these high school activities.

Hmm…so debate isn’t forensics. Shocker (for me). And, for the record, Sterling has won 19 state forensics titles (the KSHSAA lists them under the speech and drama link on their website) in the past 20 years. (Can I crawl out of my hole to continue this article?)

I, a private school graduate, should be ashamed, I guess. All that education available, and I was too busy playing sports to sit in on one or two forensics competitions to know they were different from debate. Boo me.

Football, debate, etc. are categorized under the same umbrella – extra-curricular activities, or co-curriculars, if you go to a really fancy school – so administators are trying to lessen the distinction, right? If a kid participates after school, he’s going the extra mile, building character, working for a cause bigger than himself.

So the debate for me becomes, should I just stay the heck away from our schools’ extra-curricular activities that aren’t sports (so I don’t butcher them with my inept analysis), or should I take more lessons from students like Massey and Thomas so I can cover them appropriately this next school year?

The timing of events should always influence decision-making, so I’m starting to think I don’t have a choice. I just can’t get out of debate’s shadow, er…forensics’. (By the way, when is it plural, and when is it singular?) About a month after Massey

reminded me that, “Oh yeah, there are forensics competitions just like there are basketball games (imagine that), and dominant programs in that arena, and they receive awards and state titles just like the other kids,” Mel Hambelton Ford, a significant sponsor of VYPE Magazine, our Friday football and basketball radio broadcasts and site of my office on west Kellogg, poked its head even further into high school activities.

For a year now they have generously contributed to our growing coverage of high school sports, but this time something different came across my desk. The dealership enabled the Wichita Northwest forensics squad to attend the National Catholic Forensic League grand national tournament in Omaha, Neb.

I mean, if the hits keep coming, roll with it, right? What an opportunity. Such an activity is as big as a Friday night football game, depending on the kid.

Tyran explained that debate takes place during first semester, forensics second semester. Beyond the forensics state competition organized by the KSHSAA in the spring, there are two national governing bodies, the National Forensic League and the National Catholic Forensic League. The state and national competitions are completely distinct. Students qualify for state by placing first or second at a regular season competition; they make nationals by attending local qualifers. Thomas and many of her teammates qualifed in Buhler for the NCFL tournament in Omaha; each had to win three of four rounds.

Okay, so there are rounds, and judges. You can win and lose rounds based on the judges, and there are ballots, which is some sort of points system that carries over even in a loss. I’m not going to get into what exactly the forensic events might be, because I have never seen any of them performed, but they are, as Thomas spelled out for me, based on speech and acting.

Northwest didn’t have any kids make it to the second day of the NCFL competition, but Kapaun and Campus, which also attended, did. And, apparently, according to Hambelton, East High, host of the IB academic program in Wichita, is “amazing” in forensics. And, obviously, there’s a story to be told in Sterling, for goodness’ sake, 19 state titles in 20 seasons.

“The judges make it difficult,” says Hambelton. “You have to be able to change their minds, what they think. Changing your ability and skills [based on the judges] is one of the hardest parts.”

Deciding what to cover with this magazine is mine. Is this a high school sports magazine, or an extra-curricular activities magazine? We’re leaving out a lot of kids by covering bowling, but not forensics.•

By Tom Witherspoon

Is this a high school sports or an extra-

curricular activities magazine?


W


Maize Celebration – Ross Cunningham (center) hit the game-winning sacrifice fly in Maize’s 1-0 state semifinal win over Lawrence Free State at the Class 6A state baseball tournament. The Eagles lost the championship game to Blue Valley to place second.

Photo of the Month

May2010

VY

PE

.CO

M ::

MA

U 2

01

0 ::

HIG

H S

CH

OO

L S

PO

RT

S

27

F E A T U R E

HIG

H S

CH

OO

L S

PO

RT

S

:: M

AY

20

10

::

V

YP

E.C

OM

26

With speed and stamina, McPherson Bullpup Adam Porter is one of the state’s most elite distance runners in Kansas high school track history

By Jim Misunas

The times of 1:55.11, 4:21.35 and 9:28.17 tell part of Adam Porter’s story – a large chunk of it. With the times last year at the 2009 state track meet, he won Class 5A 800-meter, 1,600-meter

and 3,200-meter races. They were the fastest times of any distance runner in any classification. He became the second runner in Kansas state track meet history to be the fastest in all three events in the same year (the other, Scott Loftin of Blue Valley North in 2001).

Since the two-mile (the English system equivalent of the 3,200 and precursor to the state track meet’s metric transition in 1979) was instituted at the Kansas state track meet in 1967, a boys runner has swept his classification’s three distance races 15 times. Only twice has the feat been repeated. Joe Warner of Stanton County did it in Class 2A in 1999 and 2000, Loftin in Class 6A in 2000 and 2001. Porter, a McPherson High senior, can achieve the feat this month.

Porter is already a part of history.But that’s not his whole story.Porter can’t just be measured by a time. His goal is

to reach his personal best while encouraging everyone around him to do their best.

“I’ve been pretty fortunate to always be around the right people and choose the right friends,” says Porter. “I credit my family to the way I am. I strive to stay humble, but I’m always encouraging everyone to do their best.”

McPherson coach Chad Brake marvels at Porter’s ability to stay humble while being a positive influence. He calls the Bullpup kind-hearted.

“Adam’s No. 1 strength is that he cares for people around him,” says Brake. “He leads and encourages others without exception and he lets his accomplishments do the talking.” Brake says Porter’s combination of leg speed and stamina makes him a versatile runner.

Porter will stay in state next year for college. He signed a scholarship offer with Kansas State University after receiving recruiting interest from several Division I schools. His older brother, Lane, also runs for KSU coach Michael Smith. Porter’s goal is to continue running and see where it leads him on the national stage. He has an interest in political science and law.

Porter is accustomed to winning most of his races comfortably, a luxury that helps his training. He builds toward the state track meet.

One of his few opportunities for high-level competition occurred in mid April at the Kansas Relays. Porter’s goal was to post a season-best time and see

exactly how much his training regimen had helped him. “My goal was to see good competition that would push me and lay down a fast time,” Porter said.

He didn’t disappoint, as he and two others put on a hotly contested showing in the Relays 1,600-meter run. Kevin Colon of Lee’s Summit, Mo. and Maksim Korolev of Harrisonville, Mo. nipped Porter in a three-way photo finish with times of 4:19.04, 4:19.11 and 4:19.18.

“I had belief in myself, but this is a huge confidence boost,” Porter said. “It was a great race that I was glad to be a part of. I felt good to post a 4:19 and my finishing kick was there.”

Brake said the race was a barometer, demonstrating that Porter’s training is right on schedule for a peak performance as the season winds down.

“It was exactly what Adam needed,” Brake says. “He needed to be pushed and get his body ready to start running fast. Tactically and mechanically, he raced a smart race.”

Porter’s belief in himself was a gradual process – one day at a time. Eventually, belief in Brake’s training schedule developed into genuine confidence for Porter. After some serious thought as an underclassman, Porter wondered whether he might try the state’s toughest triple – the 800, 1,600 and 3,200-meter races.

The defining moment for Porter as a junior was the Salina South Relays, which hosts a rare event in the 4-by-1,600-meter relay.

When Porter received the baton for the anchor leg, McPherson’s team trailed by more than 100 meters. That was when the heart of a champion started pumping for Porter.

“My goal was to try to catch the guy ahead of me,” Porter says. “I gave it all I had until I had nothing left by the last curve. I wasn’t sure of the time, but coach Brake

was smiling.”Brake said the race showed what Porter was capable

of.“The look on Adam’s face when I told him he

anchored in 4:16 was memorable,” Brake says. “That was the turning point in his confidence and took him to the next level.”

Porter’s training is a mix of distance miles for an aerobic base and interval work for speed. Brake says he learned how to mix stamina and speed workouts from his Silver Lake High School and Pittsburg State track coaches.

“It is a matter of working all the systems each week and keeping a balance with all of them,” Brake says. “With a strong aerobic base, we can do more with our training.”

Porter was able to overcome two of his biggest obstacles – heat and fatigue – while winning all three major races last year at state. The track temperature topped 100 degrees and Porter remembers his feet burning during one race.

“The heat is always the worst, but I will be prepared the best I can,” Porter says. “In my free time, I will drink plenty of water to stay hydrated.”

Just trying the distance triple is a major

accomplishment. Pulling it off again would place Porter among the state’s elite runners historically, a fitting story line for the 100th anniversary of the Kansas High School State Track & Field Championships.

Brake said there is a reason why it’s been accomplished so few times, especially at the large-classification level.

“The 800 may be the most challenging, having two golds under your belt and your body is taxed from the 3,200 and the mile,” Brake says. “There is a long day’s wait on the second day, and a race that requires little margin of error.”

“(Track) is the most pure sport there is,” says Porter, and he could become one of Kansas high school track’s purest of all-time.•

ADAM PORTER

In 2009, Porter became the second runner in Kansas state track meet history to be the fastest in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 in the same year.

“IT WAS A GREAT RACE THAT I WAS GLAD TO BE PART OF,” PORTER SAYS OF THE FINISH THE 1,600 AT THE KU RELAYS. “I FELT GOOD TO POST 4:19 AND MY FINISH KICK WAS THERE.”

“The 800 may be the most challenging, having two golds under

your belt and your body is taxed,” says Brake. “There is a long day’s

wait on the second day, and a race that requires little margin of error.”

KickerAdam Porter would repeat his accomplishment from 2009, once again sweeping the Class 5A distance races at the state track meet

Redemption RunNot only would Andrew Etheridge come through with a victory in the 110-meter hurdles, but he would also take the 300 hurdles, taking two golds at state track

HIG

H S

CH

OO

L S

PO

RT

S

:: M

AY

20

10

::

V

YP

E.C

OM

36 37

Andrew Etheridge is poised to win his first gold medal at the

state track meet, having positioned himself as leader of a pack of

hurdlers together since middle school

VY

PE

.CO

M ::

MA

Y 2

01

0 ::

HIG

H S

CH

OO

L S

PO

RT

S

at the state track meet, Etheridge clipped the last hurdle in the final of the 110-meter hurdles, allowing Derby’s Meshach Kennedy, a safety in the Derby secondary, to win the gold. Etheridge placed second, at that time not knowing similar disappointment would come about next football season.

“I hear about it a lot from friends joking around in school and from all the media – like when they bring up stuff, they bring that up,” Etheridge says of last year’s disappointment at state track. “I don’t really dwell on it too much. It obviously irritated me for a while, but I got to let it go now and just worry about this year.”

Etheridge and Kennedy have raced head-to-head since junior high. “We were battling then, too,” as Etheridge remembers it. As members of the same league, Etheridge, who attended Goddard schools then, attended many of the same meets as Derby’s Kennedy. The rivalry will continue through this month’s state meet. Etheridge has posted faster times all spring, but that was the case in 2009, as well, before Kennedy won the 110 state final in 14.52 seconds.

Etheridge was well below that mark on a fast day at the Campus meet in April. He posted a 13.84, the state’s fastest time to date. Kennedy lay in waiting back in the mid-14s at Campus, while Maize’s Miles Ukaoma, not just a quarter-mile sensation, began to display his rediscovered aptitude for the hurdles, running a 14.21 in the 110 and powering to a 38.92-second 300-meter hurdles win.

Etheridge also has run against Ukaoma since junior high. Depending on how Etheridge, a strong favorite based on his 14.35-second KU Relays victory, performs down the stretch, the 110-meter hurdles state final could be a grand finale for the three familiar foes.

“I’m more consistent this year,” says Etheridge. “Last year it was up and down.

I’ve just gotten a lot stronger and worked a lot harder this year than last year.”

Before his senior football season, Etheridge, a player since first grade, was reconciled to the fact that this was going to be it for football. He was set on running Division I college hurdles, an activity he started in seventh grade to the chagrin of his mother (“My very first meet she was up in the stands cringing, thinking I was going to fall on my face, and I won by like five hurdles,” he says).

“At first I was going to go to Nebraska, KU, or K-State just for track, and then halfway through (football) season, toward the end, I couldn’t give up football,” Etheridge says. “This was something I wanted to keep doing. After talking with my coaches and parents, it looked like a D-2 was the easiest way to go.”

Etheridge hopes to break into the backfield at Emporia State this fall, and will continue to run the hurdles for the Hornets, as well. A win at the state track meet, which would be his first, would serve as a catapult for the continuation of his dual-sport career. If his sub-14 time at the Campus meet was any indicator, Etheridge’s ending could be sensational.

“You see some people run their fastest times at state, and others just have a down day, but hopefully I can run in the 13s.”•

F E A T U R EF E A T U R E

Andrew Etheridge is poised to win his first gold

medal at the state track meet, having positioned

himself as leader of a pack of hurdlers together

since middle school

The running back position on Northwest football’s depth chart last fall was as deep as it was diverse. Third-string sophomore A.J. Thurman juked and

slipped tackles. Starter Demarcus Robinson sped around the corner and bruised up the middle. Backup Andrew Etheridge, sometimes the most explosive player on the Grizzly roster, hurdled people and out-ran them.

The final bolt of that sort last fall by Etheridge, oftentimes the most intriguing of the trio, came in the first round of the playoffs against Derby, right when it looked like a repeat thrashing was in store for Northwest. The Grizzlies, beaten 55-14 by Derby the year before in the playoffs, had lost Robinson for the game to a nagging ankle injury which robbed him of his power and effectiveness. The Northwest running game stalled at the line of scrimmage, and Derby led 21-0 in the closing minutes of the first half.

That’s when Etheridge channeled his springtime hurdler form and started jumping over people. With just over three minutes remaining, he leapt over the Derby line (this was not a head-first goal-line dive), landed on his feet and ran 53 yards for a touchdown. Just 1:28

later, with the ball back already after the defense forced a three-and-out, he broke for 66 yards, busting outside before cutting up field at the sideline deep in Derby territory.

Etheridge was dragged down inside the red zone, barely, which, coupled with a missed field goal into a strong wind by Northwest and a subsequent Derby drive for a 37-yard field goal to end the half, saved

Derby enough second-half momentum for a 24-14 win. For what it’s worth, Etheridge’s late first-half effort might have saved Northwest another humiliating loss to the Panthers.

More important for this story is Etheridge’s wonderful ability to alternately run and leap. It is the reason why Northwest football coach Weston Schartz, who had Robinson, a K-State football signee, has to pause and think when asked who was the best runner on the team this past year. It is certainly up for debate as to who was most enthralling on certain plays.

The tackle of Etheridge on his second consecutive long run – by the Derby defensive secondary in particular – is the stuff inspirational of angry poetry. Six months previous

“That’s when Etheridge channeled his springtime hurdler form and started

jumping over people.”

“I’m more consistent this year,” says

Etheridge. “Last year it was up and down.”

Etheridge posted a 13.84 at the

Campus meet, the state’s fastest time

at press time.

Derby’s Meshach Kennedy won the 2009 110-meter hurdles state final in 14.52 seconds, in front of second-place Etheridge, who clipped the last hurdle.

Photos By William Purnell

By Tom Witherspoon

W


sunDaY MonDaY TuesDaY weDnesDaY ThuRsDaY fRiDaY saTuRDaY

HIG

H S

CH

OO

L S

PO

RT

S

::

JU

NE

20

10

::

V

YP

E.C

OM

56

TM

VYPE has combed through everyone’s schedules to give you all the big games and events that you don’t want to miss. Check out the calendar to set up your playbook every month.

July

July Wingnuts Promotions• 2nd – Batting Helmet Giveaway• 3rd – Salute to America’s Heroes• 4th – “Celebrate 2010” & fireworks• 9th – Appearance by rally• 10th – Spinner Bobblehead & fireworks• 13th – Great Clips Buy-In-night• 14th – TeCu Buy-In-night• 23rd – nASCAr night• 24th – Pack the Park night & fireworks• 25th – youth Jersey Giveaway• 27th – AA All-Star Game & fireworks• 30th – nBC opening night• 31st – nBC fireworks

Tune into to all 96 Wingnuts Games Home and Away on KWME 93.5 FMFor Tickets Call 264-NUTS

$3 Off Any AmericAn AssOciAtiOn All-stAr GAme reserved seAt(Limit 4 per coupon) Valid with coupon at Wingnuts Office

Available at the following

locations

•Wingnutsvs.St.

Paul - 7:05

•Wingnutsvs.St.

Paul - 7:05

SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

1 1 2 3 4 5

SF SF SF LN LN

7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

LN SF SF SF SF SC SC

5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05

9 10 11 12 13 14 15 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

SP SP SP SC SF SF SF SC SC

7:05 7:05 7:05 2:05 7:05 7:05 12:00 7:05 7:05

16 17 18 19 20 21 22 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

NJCAA NJCAA SF SF SF SP SP SC FW FW FW SP SP

REG VI REG VI 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05

23 24 25 26 27 28 29 27 28 29 30

SP SP LN LN LN SC SC SP SC SC SC

5:05 7:05 7:05 11:00 7:05 7:05 7:05 1:05 7:05 7:05 12:05

30 31

SC

5:05


1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

SP SP SP PN SH SH SH NBC SC SC

7:05 7:05 7:05 6:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 WS 7:05 7:05

4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

SP SP SP SP GP GP SC LN LN LN NBC NBC SF

7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 6:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 WS WS 7:05

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 15 16 17 18 19 20 21

GP GP LN LN LN SF SF SF SF SC SC SC EL EL

5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 12:05 6:05 6:05

18 19 20 21 22 23 24 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

SF SF LN LN LN SP SP EL FW FW FW EL EL

5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05

25 26 27 28 29 30 31 29 30 31

SP ALL-STAR PN PN PN EL

5:05 GAME 6:45 6:45 6:45 5:05

EP = El Paso Diablos SC = Sioux City Explorers

FW = Fort Worth Cats SF = Sioux Falls Canaries

GP = Grand Prairie Airhogs SH = Shreveport Captains

LN = Lincoln Saltdogs SP = Saint Paul Saints

PN = Pensacola Pelicans WW = Wichita Wingnuts

Midwest Regional

NJCAA Region VI Tourney July 4th Celebrate2010 ALL-STAR GM

WICHITA, KS 7:05 PM

Home Wingnuts Game NBC World Series & Away Wingnuts Game

•Wingnutsvs.

St. Paul - 7:05

•Wingnuts@

St. Paul - 7:05

•Wingnuts@St.

Paul - 7:05

•Wingnuts@St.

Paul - 7:05

•Wingnuts@

St. Paul - 7:05

•Wingnuts

vs. Grand

Prairie - 7:05

•Wingnutsvs.

Grand Prairie - 7:05

•Wingnutsvs.

Grand Prairie

- 5:05

•Wingnutsvs.

Grand Prairie

- 7:05

•Wingnutsvs.

Lincoln - 7:05

•Wingnutsvs.

Lincoln - 7:05

•Wingnutsvs.

Lincoln - 7:05

•Wingnuts@Sioux

falls - 7:05

•Wingnuts@

Sioux falls - 7:05

•Wingnuts@Sioux

falls - 5:05

•Wingnuts@

Sioux falls - 7:05

•Wingnuts@

Lincoln - 7:05

•Wingnuts@

Lincoln - 7:05

•Wingnuts@

Lincoln - 7:05

•Wingnutsvs.

St. Paul - 7:05

•Wingnutsvs.St.

Paul - 7:05

•Wingnutsvs.St.

Paul - 5:05

•WingnutsHost-

American Association

All-Star Game - 7:05

•Wingnuts@

Pensacola - 6:45

•Wingnuts@

Pensacola - 6:45

•Wingnuts@

Pensacola - 6:45


1 1 2 3 4 5

SF SF SF LN LN

7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 6 7 8 9 10 11 12


5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05

9 10 11 12 13 14 15 13 14 15 16 17 18 19


7:05 7:05 7:05 2:05 7:05 7:05 12:00 7:05 7:05

16 17 18 19 20 21 22 20 21 22 23 24 25 26


REG VI REG VI 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05

23 24 25 26 27 28 29 27 28 29 30


5:05 7:05 7:05 11:00 7:05 7:05 7:05 1:05 7:05 7:05 12:05

30 31

SC

5:05


1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7


7:05 7:05 7:05 6:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 WS 7:05 7:05

4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8 9 10 11 12 13 14


7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 6:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 WS WS 7:05

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 15 16 17 18 19 20 21


5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 12:05 6:05 6:05

18 19 20 21 22 23 24 22 23 24 25 26 27 28


5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05

25 26 27 28 29 30 31 29 30 31


5:05 GAME 6:45 6:45 6:45 5:05






Midwest Regional


WICHITA, KS 7:05 PM



1 1 2 3 4 5

SF SF SF LN LN

7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 6 7 8 9 10 11 12


5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05

9 10 11 12 13 14 15 13 14 15 16 17 18 19


7:05 7:05 7:05 2:05 7:05 7:05 12:00 7:05 7:05

16 17 18 19 20 21 22 20 21 22 23 24 25 26


REG VI REG VI 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05

23 24 25 26 27 28 29 27 28 29 30


5:05 7:05 7:05 11:00 7:05 7:05 7:05 1:05 7:05 7:05 12:05

30 31

SC

5:05


1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7


7:05 7:05 7:05 6:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 WS 7:05 7:05

4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8 9 10 11 12 13 14


7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 6:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 WS WS 7:05

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 15 16 17 18 19 20 21


5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 12:05 6:05 6:05

18 19 20 21 22 23 24 22 23 24 25 26 27 28


5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05

25 26 27 28 29 30 31 29 30 31


5:05 GAME 6:45 6:45 6:45 5:05






Midwest Regional


WICHITA, KS 7:05 PM



1 1 2 3 4 5

SF SF SF LN LN

7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 6 7 8 9 10 11 12


5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05

9 10 11 12 13 14 15 13 14 15 16 17 18 19


7:05 7:05 7:05 2:05 7:05 7:05 12:00 7:05 7:05

16 17 18 19 20 21 22 20 21 22 23 24 25 26


REG VI REG VI 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05

23 24 25 26 27 28 29 27 28 29 30


5:05 7:05 7:05 11:00 7:05 7:05 7:05 1:05 7:05 7:05 12:05

30 31

SC

5:05


1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7


7:05 7:05 7:05 6:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 WS 7:05 7:05

4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8 9 10 11 12 13 14


7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 6:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 WS WS 7:05

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 15 16 17 18 19 20 21


5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 12:05 6:05 6:05

18 19 20 21 22 23 24 22 23 24 25 26 27 28


5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05

25 26 27 28 29 30 31 29 30 31


5:05 GAME 6:45 6:45 6:45 5:05






Midwest Regional


WICHITA, KS 7:05 PM



1 1 2 3 4 5

SF SF SF LN LN

7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 6 7 8 9 10 11 12


5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05

9 10 11 12 13 14 15 13 14 15 16 17 18 19


7:05 7:05 7:05 2:05 7:05 7:05 12:00 7:05 7:05

16 17 18 19 20 21 22 20 21 22 23 24 25 26


REG VI REG VI 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05

23 24 25 26 27 28 29 27 28 29 30


5:05 7:05 7:05 11:00 7:05 7:05 7:05 1:05 7:05 7:05 12:05

30 31

SC

5:05


1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7


7:05 7:05 7:05 6:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 WS 7:05 7:05

4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8 9 10 11 12 13 14


7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 6:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 WS WS 7:05

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 15 16 17 18 19 20 21


5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 12:05 6:05 6:05

18 19 20 21 22 23 24 22 23 24 25 26 27 28


5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05

25 26 27 28 29 30 31 29 30 31


5:05 GAME 6:45 6:45 6:45 5:05






Midwest Regional


WICHITA, KS 7:05 PM



1 1 2 3 4 5

SF SF SF LN LN

7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 6 7 8 9 10 11 12


5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05

9 10 11 12 13 14 15 13 14 15 16 17 18 19


7:05 7:05 7:05 2:05 7:05 7:05 12:00 7:05 7:05

16 17 18 19 20 21 22 20 21 22 23 24 25 26


REG VI REG VI 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05

23 24 25 26 27 28 29 27 28 29 30


5:05 7:05 7:05 11:00 7:05 7:05 7:05 1:05 7:05 7:05 12:05

30 31

SC

5:05


1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7


7:05 7:05 7:05 6:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 WS 7:05 7:05

4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8 9 10 11 12 13 14


7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 6:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 WS WS 7:05

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 15 16 17 18 19 20 21


5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 12:05 6:05 6:05

18 19 20 21 22 23 24 22 23 24 25 26 27 28


5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05

25 26 27 28 29 30 31 29 30 31


5:05 GAME 6:45 6:45 6:45 5:05






Midwest Regional


WICHITA, KS 7:05 PM



1 1 2 3 4 5

SF SF SF LN LN

7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 6 7 8 9 10 11 12


5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05

9 10 11 12 13 14 15 13 14 15 16 17 18 19


7:05 7:05 7:05 2:05 7:05 7:05 12:00 7:05 7:05

16 17 18 19 20 21 22 20 21 22 23 24 25 26


REG VI REG VI 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05

23 24 25 26 27 28 29 27 28 29 30


5:05 7:05 7:05 11:00 7:05 7:05 7:05 1:05 7:05 7:05 12:05

30 31

SC

5:05


1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7


7:05 7:05 7:05 6:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 WS 7:05 7:05

4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8 9 10 11 12 13 14


7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 6:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 WS WS 7:05

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 15 16 17 18 19 20 21


5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 12:05 6:05 6:05

18 19 20 21 22 23 24 22 23 24 25 26 27 28


5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05

25 26 27 28 29 30 31 29 30 31


5:05 GAME 6:45 6:45 6:45 5:05






Midwest Regional


WICHITA, KS 7:05 PM



1 1 2 3 4 5

SF SF SF LN LN

7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 6 7 8 9 10 11 12


5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05

9 10 11 12 13 14 15 13 14 15 16 17 18 19


7:05 7:05 7:05 2:05 7:05 7:05 12:00 7:05 7:05

16 17 18 19 20 21 22 20 21 22 23 24 25 26


REG VI REG VI 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05

23 24 25 26 27 28 29 27 28 29 30


5:05 7:05 7:05 11:00 7:05 7:05 7:05 1:05 7:05 7:05 12:05

30 31

SC

5:05


1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7


7:05 7:05 7:05 6:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 WS 7:05 7:05

4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8 9 10 11 12 13 14


7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 6:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 WS WS 7:05

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 15 16 17 18 19 20 21


5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 12:05 6:05 6:05

18 19 20 21 22 23 24 22 23 24 25 26 27 28


5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05

25 26 27 28 29 30 31 29 30 31


5:05 GAME 6:45 6:45 6:45 5:05






Midwest Regional


WICHITA, KS 7:05 PM



1 1 2 3 4 5

SF SF SF LN LN

7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 6 7 8 9 10 11 12


5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05

9 10 11 12 13 14 15 13 14 15 16 17 18 19


7:05 7:05 7:05 2:05 7:05 7:05 12:00 7:05 7:05

16 17 18 19 20 21 22 20 21 22 23 24 25 26


REG VI REG VI 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05

23 24 25 26 27 28 29 27 28 29 30


5:05 7:05 7:05 11:00 7:05 7:05 7:05 1:05 7:05 7:05 12:05

30 31

SC

5:05


1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7


7:05 7:05 7:05 6:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 WS 7:05 7:05

4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8 9 10 11 12 13 14


7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 6:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 WS WS 7:05

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 15 16 17 18 19 20 21


5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 12:05 6:05 6:05

18 19 20 21 22 23 24 22 23 24 25 26 27 28


5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05

25 26 27 28 29 30 31 29 30 31


5:05 GAME 6:45 6:45 6:45 5:05






Midwest Regional


WICHITA, KS 7:05 PM



1 1 2 3 4 5

SF SF SF LN LN

7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 6 7 8 9 10 11 12


5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05

9 10 11 12 13 14 15 13 14 15 16 17 18 19


7:05 7:05 7:05 2:05 7:05 7:05 12:00 7:05 7:05

16 17 18 19 20 21 22 20 21 22 23 24 25 26


REG VI REG VI 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05

23 24 25 26 27 28 29 27 28 29 30


5:05 7:05 7:05 11:00 7:05 7:05 7:05 1:05 7:05 7:05 12:05

30 31

SC

5:05


1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7


7:05 7:05 7:05 6:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 WS 7:05 7:05

4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8 9 10 11 12 13 14


7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 6:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 WS WS 7:05

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 15 16 17 18 19 20 21


5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 12:05 6:05 6:05

18 19 20 21 22 23 24 22 23 24 25 26 27 28


5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05

25 26 27 28 29 30 31 29 30 31


5:05 GAME 6:45 6:45 6:45 5:05






Midwest Regional


WICHITA, KS 7:05 PM



1 1 2 3 4 5

SF SF SF LN LN

7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 6 7 8 9 10 11 12


5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05

9 10 11 12 13 14 15 13 14 15 16 17 18 19


7:05 7:05 7:05 2:05 7:05 7:05 12:00 7:05 7:05

16 17 18 19 20 21 22 20 21 22 23 24 25 26


REG VI REG VI 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05

23 24 25 26 27 28 29 27 28 29 30


5:05 7:05 7:05 11:00 7:05 7:05 7:05 1:05 7:05 7:05 12:05

30 31

SC

5:05


1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7


7:05 7:05 7:05 6:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 WS 7:05 7:05

4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8 9 10 11 12 13 14


7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 6:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 WS WS 7:05

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 15 16 17 18 19 20 21


5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 12:05 6:05 6:05

18 19 20 21 22 23 24 22 23 24 25 26 27 28


5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05

25 26 27 28 29 30 31 29 30 31


5:05 GAME 6:45 6:45 6:45 5:05






Midwest Regional


WICHITA, KS 7:05 PM



1 1 2 3 4 5

SF SF SF LN LN

7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 6 7 8 9 10 11 12


5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05

9 10 11 12 13 14 15 13 14 15 16 17 18 19


7:05 7:05 7:05 2:05 7:05 7:05 12:00 7:05 7:05

16 17 18 19 20 21 22 20 21 22 23 24 25 26


REG VI REG VI 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05

23 24 25 26 27 28 29 27 28 29 30


5:05 7:05 7:05 11:00 7:05 7:05 7:05 1:05 7:05 7:05 12:05

30 31

SC

5:05


1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7


7:05 7:05 7:05 6:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 WS 7:05 7:05

4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8 9 10 11 12 13 14


7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 6:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 WS WS 7:05

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 15 16 17 18 19 20 21


5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 12:05 6:05 6:05

18 19 20 21 22 23 24 22 23 24 25 26 27 28


5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05

25 26 27 28 29 30 31 29 30 31


5:05 GAME 6:45 6:45 6:45 5:05






Midwest Regional


WICHITA, KS 7:05 PM



1 1 2 3 4 5

SF SF SF LN LN

7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 6 7 8 9 10 11 12


5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05

9 10 11 12 13 14 15 13 14 15 16 17 18 19


7:05 7:05 7:05 2:05 7:05 7:05 12:00 7:05 7:05

16 17 18 19 20 21 22 20 21 22 23 24 25 26


REG VI REG VI 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05

23 24 25 26 27 28 29 27 28 29 30


5:05 7:05 7:05 11:00 7:05 7:05 7:05 1:05 7:05 7:05 12:05

30 31

SC

5:05


1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7


7:05 7:05 7:05 6:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 WS 7:05 7:05

4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8 9 10 11 12 13 14


7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 6:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 WS WS 7:05

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 15 16 17 18 19 20 21


5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 12:05 6:05 6:05

18 19 20 21 22 23 24 22 23 24 25 26 27 28


5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05

25 26 27 28 29 30 31 29 30 31


5:05 GAME 6:45 6:45 6:45 5:05






Midwest Regional


WICHITA, KS 7:05 PM



1 1 2 3 4 5

SF SF SF LN LN

7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 6 7 8 9 10 11 12


5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05

9 10 11 12 13 14 15 13 14 15 16 17 18 19


7:05 7:05 7:05 2:05 7:05 7:05 12:00 7:05 7:05

16 17 18 19 20 21 22 20 21 22 23 24 25 26


REG VI REG VI 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05

23 24 25 26 27 28 29 27 28 29 30


5:05 7:05 7:05 11:00 7:05 7:05 7:05 1:05 7:05 7:05 12:05

30 31

SC

5:05


1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7


7:05 7:05 7:05 6:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 WS 7:05 7:05

4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8 9 10 11 12 13 14


7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 6:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 WS WS 7:05

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 15 16 17 18 19 20 21


5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 12:05 6:05 6:05

18 19 20 21 22 23 24 22 23 24 25 26 27 28


5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 5:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:05

25 26 27 28 29 30 31 29 30 31


5:05 GAME 6:45 6:45 6:45 5:05






Midwest Regional


WICHITA, KS 7:05 PM


= Home Game = All Star Game = national Baseball

Congress events at

Lawrence Dumont

Stadium

nBC Midwest regional nBC Midwest regional nBC Midwest regional nBC Midwest regional nBC Midwest regional

nBC Midwest regional nBC Midwest regional

nBC World Series nBC World Series

$3 Off Any AmericAn AssOciAtiOn All-stAr GAme reserved seAt(Limit 4 per coupon) Valid with coupon at Wingnuts Office



Documents

Year in Review, VYPE June 2010