Sports
Richards brothers and first-year coach have high hopes for Chanute American Legion team
Brian McDowell Sports Editor Even though this year’s Chanute Post 170 American Legion team is young and features no seniors from CHS, first-year head coach Ryan Ortiz has big expectations for the squad. “With the talent we have, I couldn’t see us not making the state tournament,” Ortiz said. He bases this on what he’s seen of the team’s pitching and its hitting. “I think we’ve got a team that can do a lot of things,” Ortiz said. The Legion te...
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Official 2013 schedule for Chanute American Legion baseball
Local baseball fans will have plenty of opportunities to see the Chanute Post 170 American Legion team in action this summer, as most of the games the squad plays this summer are scheduled to occur at home in Katy Park. These home games include the return of the Paul Lindblad Tournament, which will bring some of the best teams in the area to Chanute on the weekend after Independence Day. Here is the full schedule for the Chanute American Leg...
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Flowers selected to be part of KVA All-Star game
Recent Chanute graduate Mallory Flowers is scheduled to compete in the Kansas Volleyball Association All-Star match in Topeka on Saturday night. Flowers was a standout for the Comets volleyball team throughout high school whose skills at the net helped the Comets qualify for State for the last two seasons. She was the only player from the SEK selected for this honor. Flowers will be playing for the Red team at this event. The All-Star game w...
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Taylor throws for State championship; five Comets medal in Wichita
Brian McDowell Sports Editor WICHITA- In the span of one year, Chanute junior Haley Taylor went from not placing at all in the State meet in Wichita to notching a championship victory at the event last weekend. Taylor won the 4A State championship for the Comets on Saturday afternoon, becoming one of five Chanute track athletes to place at this year’s State tournament. Junior hurdler Regan Aylward and sophomore high jumper Derek Sharp also pi...
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Three CHS track athletes place on first day of State meet
Brian McDowell Sports Editor WICHITA — The Chanute track and field team appears to be on the verge of giving its coach the ultimate celebratory send-off at this weekend’s State tournament in Wichita. Just a week after Coach Derek Liggett announced he was resigning at the end of this year to accept a job in Pratt, his Comet squad started the proceedings on a high note as athletes placed for the Comets on the first day of the State meet. Senior...
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Cubs fall in first game at State
After a very successful season in which it only lost two games, the Humboldt Cubs baseball team was eliminated from the 3A State tournament play in its first game on Thursday afternoon. The Cubs lost 9-3 to Sacred Heart in Manhattan. All three Cubs runs came in the bottom of the fifth inning, when Humboldt was already trailing by nine runs. Previous to this loss, the Cubs only losses had come at the hands of 4A powerhouse Iola, who beat Coff...
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Eight Comets named All-SEK in baseball and softball
Eight Chanute athletes were honored as All-SEK in baseball and softball on Friday. These selections were made by coaches in the league. The fourth place Chanute baseball team had two players named first team all-SEK, and two players honored as second team. Brock Gilmore, whose pitching greatly benefitted the Comets this year, and the team’s statistically leading hitter Kenton Richards were both selected first team, while infielders Jack Marti...
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Jumpers Rollins and Sharp both aiming ‘high’ in Wichita
Freshman Madi Rollins and sophomore Derek Sharp have leapt into the upper tier of 4A high jumpers for CHS this season. Both of these talented athletes are headed to the State meet in Wichita this weekend, to represent the Comets in this event. Rollins, who started doing this event in seventh grade, notched a third place finish at Regionals to qualify for State. “My mom told me she thought I would be really good at it,” Rollins said, explainin...
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Smeed and Howell ready to take one last throw for Comets
Chanute senior throwers Cody Howell and Josh Smeed are both returners to the State track and field meet in Wichita this year. At Regionals, Smeed captured third place in discus, while Howell was fourth. Howell also threw for second place in the shot put event, to qualify for that in Wichita. Howell said the two seniors were expected to succeed in these events this year. He estimated that his season got off to a slow start, but started to pick...
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Seniors on 4x800 relay aim to successfully pass the baton at State track
The Chanute’s boys 4x800 relay secured a place in this weekend’s state tournament with a performance at Regionals that saw them win first place by 40 meters on its last leg. The relay, consisting of seniors Bobby Allen and Isaac Klugh, junior Colton Erickson and sophomore Chandler Summers, was really excited for last Friday’s regional event. “We were ready for it,” Klugh said. “We knew we had a good chance to take first and we went out and go...
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Aylward clears obstacles on way to State
She has been doing hurdles throughout middle school and high school, but Chanute junior Regan Aylward showed a lot of improvement this year in the 300-meter event. She backed off on the 100-meter hurdles, and started focusing on the longer distance event more. Doing this helped Aylward earn third place in this event at the Regional meet in Iola last Friday, with a time of 48.61. Now, she will be competing in this event at the State meet in Wi...
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Taylor and Masoner aim to end season with win in Wichita
Chanute juniors Haley Taylor and Sierra Masoner both threw their way to much success for the Comet track and field team this year. Taylor has shown dominance with the javelin, success which included grabbing first place at last Friday’s Regional meet in Iola. Masoner earned fourth place in both shot put and discus at Regionals, after a year of placing highly in both of these events. Now, both throwers are headed to the State meet in Wichita t...
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Erie golfer Page competes at State tourney
Gavon Page was the lone golfer from Erie who competed in the state tournament held in Seneca at Spring Creek Golf Course on Monday. Page did not medal in the tournament and wound up with a score of 99. “Rain prohibited us from getting in a practice round the day before,” Erie Golf Coach Ronnie Williams said, “so that made a difficult course even more difficult.” After a slow start, Page started to play much better and with a lot more con...
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Chanute driver Allen picks up win in Wheatland
Chanute race car driver John Allen sailed to victory lane in the Lucas Oil Weekly Championship Series on last Saturday night at the Diamond of Dirt Track in Wheatland, Mo. More than 100 cars checked in, included some of the best regional drivers and local favorites. Allen was part of the Pitts Homes USRA Modifieds 20-lap feature, and picked up the win, with a handful of competitors on his every move. Eventually, late in the race, Terry Kirk ...
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Four Erie track athletes headed to State
The Erie track team competed at the Regional meet in Wellsville last Friday. Here are the athletes that placed high enough at this event to qualify for this weekend’s State tournament in Wichita: Girls: Katie Brungardt - 2nd in Triple Jump Lindsay Francis - 2nd in Long Jump Guys: Christian Murphy - 1st 110 High Hurdles Brett Thompson - 3rd in Javelin
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Comet jumpers, throwers, hurdler and a relay headed to State
IOLA — Seven individual Chanute track athletes and one relay will represent the Comets at the State track meet in Wichita this weekend. This was based on results that the team achieved at the Regional meet last Friday at Iola’s Riverside Park. As has been the case all season, throwers and jumpers were responsible for much of the team’s success at Regionals. A five foot high jump by freshman Madi Rollins notched her a third place finish at Reg...
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NCCC’s Bannister and Ahpomah crowned National Champs
Brian McDowell Sports Editor Producing two national champions is the ultimate way to finish a sports season, and that is what the NCCC Panther track and field program pulled off last weekend. Barbados-born discus thrower Leah Bannister and javelin thrower John Ahpomah, a native of Ghana, each secured first place at their events to secure national championships. Both of these athletes fell short of the numerical goals they set for themselves a...
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NCCC track caps off year with success at Nationals
The NCCC track and field team capped off the improvements that it has shown all year by producing two National Champions at this year’s NJCAA National Championships in Hutchinson last weekend. Javelin thrower John Ahmpomah and discus thrower Leah Bannister both won National Championships at this event. Bannister also picked up seventh place in the hammer throw, while Emron Gibbs was the runner-up in the javelin event for the Panthers. Kel...
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NCCC’s Wernes doesn’t plan on coming up ‘short’ at World Series
Brian McDowell Sports Editor According to NCCC freshman shortstop Bobby Wernes, for the Panthers to qualify for the JuCo World Series for the second year in a row was an expectation for this team from the start of this season. “It was great season last year, and obviously, me being a freshman, I wasn’t part of that,” Wernes said, “but with everyone, that was the expectation. We wanted to repeat that.” There were some challenges to overcome in...
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Murry and Panthers gearing up for start of JuCo World Series
Brian McDowell Sports Editor Before this NCCC baseball season started, Coach Steve Murry thought he might have a chance to take the Panthers to the NJCAA World Series for the second year in a row if things went right. He knew there would be obstacles to doing this; most of this last year’s impact players had gone on to either Division One or the professional baseball ranks, leaving a young and mostly inexperienced roster at NCCC. “Last year, I...
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