Sports
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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Comets overcome slow start to shut down Indy
Brian McDowell Sports Editor The Chanute Blue Comets got off to a slow start in their Friday night SEK showdown with the winless Independence Bulldogs, With game-time temperatures at 46 degrees, neither team scored in the game’s first quarter. Chanute only led by two touchdowns at halftime. However, 24 third quarter points and a punishing defensive attack propelled the Comets to a much-needed 38-0 victory in the teams’ last games before dist...
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Circle cross country meet features cool weather, personal bests
The Blue Comet cross country team traveled to Towanda Circle (near Augusta) on Thursday to run in a meet with 10 Wichita-area schools. This was a very competitive meet with several State-ranked teams including Valley Center (5A), Berean Academy (2), and Mulvane (4A) participating. “We started to go out there three years ago, because we really want to see some competition from the Wichita area just in case we go out there for Regional s,” ...
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Caney bulls its way past Humboldt
CANEY — Caney Valley powered to a 28-13 halftime lead and defeated Humboldt 56-27 Friday. The Bullpups picked up 360 yards on the ground. “That’s their bread and butter. We knew that. Everybody knows that,” said Cub assistant Mike Miller, “but we didn’t tackle well.” Nathan Whitcomb threw for three touchdowns and ran for another. Touchdown passes were to Blake Crawford of 31 yards, Tanner McNutt for 43 yards and Noah Thornbrugh for 8 yards. H...
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Comets keep the streak alive with comeback win in Parsons
Brian McDowell Sports Editor PARSONS — The season-long winning streak of the Chanute volleyball team continued on Thursday night, despite being threatened by a strong performance by its Parsons hosts. Chanute had to fight its way back into both sets against the Vikings for 25-19 and 25-21 wins, and then handily dispatched Independence in two sets 25-6 and 25-8. The Comets are now 26-0, the second-ranked 4A team in the state, and the only team...
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St. Paul rolls over Pleasanton
ST. PAUL — St. Paul’s juggernaut kept rolling Friday with a 48-0 victory over Pleasanton. The Indians only had three possessions in the first half, but made the best of all three with touchdowns, two by runs by Anthony Diskin of 11 and 5 yards and the third on a scoring strike for 15 yards from Diskin to Brayden Beachner. Diskin added two more scores by half for a 20-0 St. Paul advantage. “I felt we were outplayed in some areas in the first h...
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Humboldt cross country results from Eureka
The Humboldt cross country team participated in the Eureka Invitational meet on Tuesday afternoon. Here are the Cubs’ results. VARSITY BOYS - 42 RUNNERS Nick Keazer 16th 19:31.1 12th grade Ethan Bartlett 26th 20:36.2 10th grade Ronny Jarred 29th 21:16.9 9th grade JV BOYS - 35 RUNNERS Tanner Orth 1st ...
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Race postponed at Humboldt Speedway
Predictions of rain and cold temperatures in the weather forecast has caused officials at the Humboldt Speedway to postpone the races that were scheduled for this weekend to the weekend of Nov. 9-10. According to Rhenda Whitworth, this is the next date that there are not specials going on at other tracks, meaning that plenty of drivers would be available to participate in this race.
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Comets volleyball second in KVA rankings
The Chanute Blue Comets, who are still undefeated at press time, have moved up to second place in the latest statewide KVA 4A rankings. Gail Petersen’s volleyball squad achieved this designation because defending state champions St. James Academy were moved up to 5A. The only 4A team ahead of the Comets (24-0) is Topeka-Hayden (16-6). The other teams in the top five are McPherson (23-3), Wamego (24-3), and Holton (17-6). The Comets are the o...
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Erie volleyball splits in Eureka
The Erie volleyball squad traveled to Eureka Tuesday night to compete against Eureka and Fredonia. The Red Devils first played Eureka, falling in three sets 25-22, 21-25, 16-25. Chelsea Oliphant, Lindsay Francis, and Kailey Cleaver each had six kills and an ace, while Bret Mcguire recorded four kills and two aces. Erie then defeated Fredonia 25-17, 25-18, thanks, in large part, to Mcguire’s four kills, and Francis’ two kills and two aces....
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Comets working to turn things around against Indy
Brian McDowell Sports Editor Adversity doesn’t necessarily build character, it reveals it. This is the message that Coach Don Simmons has been preaching to the Chanute football team this week, after the Comets lost two seemingly winnable showdowns in a row with SEK teams. “We have to see what our true character is right now,” Simmons said. The Comets head into their Friday night showdown with the Independence Bulldogs (0-5) after fighting the...
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Chanute doubles team Thuston and Liudahl swinging towards state
Brian McDowell Sports Editor Alexis Thuston teamed up with Madison Wendt on last year’s Chanute tennis squad, and helped form the number one doubles team that dominated on the court during the regular season and qualified for state. This year, Thuston once again finds herself on another successful doubles team for the Comets, this time paired with sophomore Abby Liudahl. Now, with this team, Thuston again finds herself on the verge of qual...
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7th grade Rockets get season’s first win
The Royster football teams played two games in five days, as they traveled to Parsons last Thursday and then hosted Cherryvale on Monday. The 8th grade squad battled valiantly against a larger and faster Parsons team on Thursday in a 30-6 loss to the host Vikings, the lone score coming on a pass from Scout Lee to Matt DeVoe that capped a 40-yard drive. Unfortunately, that same effort was not present when the Rockets lost 14-0 to Cherryvale on...
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NCCC soccer’s Vestring solidifies status with scoring skills
Brian McDowell Sports Editor During the NCCC men’s soccer team’s recent match-up with KCK, coach Steven Harrison took the unusual step of benching the team’s star player and leading scorer, Logan Vestring. Harrison said it was a decision made because of general team work ethic. “It wasn’t just him,” Harrison said. “In the first half, we didn’t work very hard, so we put in some new guys. It actually worked out, so, it will wake him up.” Harri...
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Girls golf third at last regular season tourney
GARNETT — Playing without one of its key team members, the Chanute girls golf team hit the ball well enough to earn a third place team medal at a tournament in Garnett on Monday afternoon. Chanute earned a combined score of 410 at the 18-hole event, despite the absence of injured Nikki Clark, who was not cleared by doctors in time to play in this tournament. Senior Danae Decker tied for third place with an impressive score of 89 on the 18-ho...
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Erie gets fourth at Chanute tourney
Among the participants at this year’s Chanute Invitational volleyball tournament this weekend was the Erie varsity volleyball team. The Red Devils started the tournament by defeating Coffeyville in the first round of pool play 25-8 and 25-6. Katie Brungardt had four digs and two aces in this contest, while Bret McGuire contributed three kills, and four aces. Lindsay Francis dished two kills, and three aces, and Tara Beachner chipped in with t...
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