Sports
Comets’ offense and defense feels the need for Smeed
Brian McDowell Sports Editor As an athlete, Chanute senior Josh Smeed has had to deal with weather delays before. However, he has never had to wait three extra hours to play a game, like he and his Comet teammates had to do in Iola last Friday night. Because of lightning concerns, Chanute was stuck in the small and cramped locker room for four hours before coming out to defeat Iola 42-0. Smeed said the team spent that time trying to focus. “...
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Chanute spirit squad ready to pump up last regular season home game
Brian McDowell Sports Editor Members of the CHS spirit squad can usually be found after school in either the school’s cafeteria or its auxiliary gym, working on a dance routine that will be presented at halftime of the next Comets’ football game. With the team’s last regular season game coming up this Friday, the squad is busy preparing to go all out with their best routine yet. Unlike most high school or college cheerleading squads, there is...
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State-qualifying Chanute tennis players end season free from regret
Brian McDowell Sports Editor EMPORIA — Playing with “no regrets” was the motto for this year’s Chanute girls tennis team that qualified three players for last weekend’s state tournament in Emporia. Senior singles player Madison Wendt and the doubles team consisting of junior Alexis Thuston and sophomore Abby Liudahl , as well as Coach Mike De La Torre, truly had “no regrets” about the success they experienced this season. Neither Wendt nor t...
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Humboldt beats Eureka in rain-delayed match-up
Thunderstorms in the area postponed the Friday night meeting between Eureka and the Humboldt Cubs until Monday night. When the two squads were able to meet, Humboldt dominated the proceedings, winning this first game of Districts 48-8. The Cubs used an efficient offense and a tough defensive attack to their advantage in the match-up. “I was proud of our kids for executing the game plan on both sides of the ball,” Coach K.B. Criss said. Defen...
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Chanute golfers swing for sixth at State
Brian McDowell Sports Editor HESSTO — Chanute Golf Coach Bill Woodard’s fingernails will look a little bit different than normal this week. He told the players on the school’s girls golf team that if they qualified for the State Tournament as a team, he would let them do his nails. Since the team did qualify for the 4A State Tournament, held in Hesston last Monday, Woodard is spending the week with his nails painted in the latest fashion, som...
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Chanute starts Districts with late night rout of rivals
IOLA — As they have done in all their wins this season, the Chanute Blue Comets’ defense held their opponents scoreless, and their offense fired on all cylinders on Friday night. The Comets won their first District game 42-0. However, Friday night’s meeting between the Chanute Blue Comets and their Iola Mustang rivals was anything but typical. The contest took place late on Friday night in Iola under bizarre circumstances. Thunderstorms in t...
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Football note
Editor’s note: The surreal nature of the late start-time of Friday night’s football game, and the fact that printing a newspaper the way that we do requires a strict nighttime deadline, made it near impossible for the Tribune to cover Chanute’s Friday night football showdown with Iola as completely as we generally do. We will be talking to Chanute coach Don Simmons early next week, and recording his reaction to this crucial contest against Io...
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Girls golf gets ready to go to State
Brian McDowell Sports Editor All five members of the Chanute girls golf team will be headed to Hesston this weekend to compete at the 4A State Tournament. These athletes won the opportunity to compete in the event by collectively winning third place at the Regionals in Girard earlier this week, and they have spent much of the rest of the week at Quarry Stone Golf Course preparing for the big event. They will arrive in Hesston on Sunday, pla...
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Fiscus and Comets special teams hoping for many happy returns
Brian McDowell Sports Editor Chanute senior Jared Fiscus has been involved in all aspects of the Chanute Blue Comets football team this year. Fiscus has gotten an occasional handoff as a runningback, but has made the most impact as an outside linebacker and a key part of the Comets’ special teams. On special teams this year, Fiscus has returned a kickoff for a touchdown, a moment which jumps-started the Comets offensively in their match-up w...
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Comets volleyball ranked third in latest KVA rankings
With a record of 30-1 at press-time, the Chanute Blue Comets volleyball team is ranked as the third best 4A team in the state in the latest KVA rankings, released Wednesday. It should be noted that, according to these rankings, the Comets’ 30 wins this season are the most of any volleyball team in the state. McPherson (22-3) was ranked first and Topeka-Hayden (18-9) was second. Wamego (25-4) and Holton (19-6) rounded out the top five. Chanute...
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SEK cross country meet returns to Chanute today
Many of the seniors on Chanute’s cross country team were just freshmen when the Comets hosted their first SEK League meet three years ago. Now, Chanute will host its second SEK League cross country meet this afternoon at Quarry Stone. At the 2009 meet, the Varsity boys were crowned SEK champs, while the Varsity girls lost by one point to rivals Pittsburg Dragons. Last year both teams were victorious and won SEK titles at Iola, a first in girl...
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Chanute/Iola rivalry more high-stakes this year
Brian McDowell Sports Editor Games between the Chanute Blue Comets and their rival Iola Mustangs always take on special meaning for people who live in these communities, but this Friday’s meeting between the two teams has extra significance. This will be the first game of Districts for Chanute, and since the Comets play in the same district as undefeated Fort Scott, Chanute must win the next two games to guarantee making it to the post-season...
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Chanute team sixth at Hawghunter Classic
Chanute fishermen Mike Bogle and Tom Reaves picked up sixth place in the Hawghunter Classic XXIX bass fishing tournament at Stockton Lake on Oct. 4-5. The tournament featured 21 teams, and a total purse of $6,000. Bogle and Reaves won $350 for catching eight bass for a total of 20.24 lbs. The event was won by the team of Dallas and Jason Beem, from Louisburg, who won $1,300 for catching eight bass that totaled 25.60 pounds. The Beem team also...
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NCCC soccer teams split in Cloud County
Both NCCC soccer teams traveled to Cloud County on Tuesday. The women won their match-up 2-0 against what Coach Damon Solomon called a “pretty good Cloud team.” The Panthers won on goals by Caitlin Daily and Kyndal Whitecotton. Daily scored with two minutes to go in the first half, while Whitecotton scored in the second half to secure a victory for the Panthers. With this victory, the record of women’s team improves to 8-5, which should put t...
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Chanute team wins American Legion ladies bowling tourney
EL DORADO — The American Legion Ladies Auxillary held its 59th annual bowling tournament in El Dorado on October 6-7. The Golden Knights from Chanute Post 170 placed first at the event, four pins ahead of a second Chanute team which was awarded second. The first place team consisted of Shari Ratliff, Denise Veneman, Liz Phillips, and Charlene Headley. Ratliff and Venneman won second in doubles, four pins ahead of Phillips and Headley, who wa...
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Chanute golfers headed to Hesston for State
GIRARD — Three Chanute golfers placed in the top 10 at the Regionals tournament in Girard on Monday, which qualified the Comets for the state tournament. The team was led by junior Nikki Clark, who was in fifth place at the tournament, shooting a 111 on the 18-hole course. Clark has been absent from action with the team for the last couple of weeks with an injury, making this an impressive comeback for the golfer. Sophomore Abbe Funk and seni...
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Comets JV football undefeated
The JV Comets moved to 3-0 after two consecutive wins over Coffeyville JV and Fredonia JV the past two weeks. According to Coach Clete Frazell, offensive linemen Karter Krokstrom, Lake Lund, Noah Kepley, Brad McNaught, Cutter Boone, and Brett White had a great year and played very well. “These guys don’t get enough credit for the success of the team,” Frazell said. “We were able to run the ball successfully this year and these guys are to cr...
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Wendt hopes third time at State is the charm
Brian McDowell Sports Editor This will be the third year in a row that Madison Wendt will be competing in the State Tournament for the Chanute tennis team. However, it will be her first in the tournament as a singles player. She was one of three Chanute tennis players who did good enough at the Regional meet last weekend in Independence to qualify for the 4A State Tournament. The other players to qualify were the doubles team of Abby Liudahl ...
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Streak ends at 27, but Comets win four for second place at El Dorado tourney
Brian McDowell Sports Editor EL DORADO — Even though their season-long winning streak came to an end on Saturday, Chanute’s volleyball team still earned four victories over teams from metropolitan Wichita at the El Dorado tournament. The Comets finished in second place at the tournament overall, going 4-1 for the day, and improving their overall season record to 30-1. “We did all right,” Chanute Coach Gail Petersen said. “The teams here are b...
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Three Chanute tennis players swing their way to State
INDEPENDENCE — Three Chanute tennis players will play in the 4A state tournament, which will be held in Emporia this Friday and Saturday. Senior Madison Wendt, the team’s number one singles player, and the doubles team of Alexis Thuston and Abby Liudahl all qualified for State with their performances in the Regional Tournament held last weekend in Independence. According to Coach Mike De La Torre, this was one of the most competitive Regional...
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