Fall Sports Update: Week 9

Football

The Lancer football team was defeated by their inner league rival Shawnee Mission West 31-14 on Friday. Senior quarterback Jordan Darling’s play throughout the game was somewhat lackluster, throwing two interceptions that both lead to touchdowns for West. The first pick came in the first quarter, and West  Cooper Arner took it all the way back for a touchdown. East senior tight end Billy Sutherland caught a touchdown pass from Darling to tie the game at seven.The Vikings led at half 14 to seven. Sutherland and Darling hooked up again to notch the game back up a 14, which is where the game stood going into the fourth quarter.The game was close for three quarters, but in the fourth quarter the Vikings demolished the Lancers scoring 17 unanswered points to pull away.The Lancer’s offense struggled greatly in the fourth quarter. Darling threw one interception that led to a touchdown for West. This pick came right after the Vikings had marched down the field and taken the lead 21-14 early in the fourth quarter. At 28-14, the Vikings took a commanding 31-14 on a Joey Reed field goal late in the fourth quarter. The field goal made it a three score game and basically put the game out of reach.

Boys’ Soccer

Anna Marie Oakley | Harbinger Online
Boys’ soccer had a rough week, losing their last two regular season games. The Lancers went into to Tuesday against Olathe South with a shot at winning the Sunflower League, but fell short 1-0 in overtime.The Lancers then traveled to Blue Valley Northwest on Thursday with a chance again to claim the number one seed at state, but lost 2-0. With those two losses, the Lancers’ will enter the playoffs with a record of 13-3 and the number three seed. Their first game will be against Olathe North, this Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the SM Soccer Complex. The Lancers defeated Olathe North previously this season 10-0.If the Lancers are victorious Tuesday, they will have another home game Thursday against the winner of Blue Valley West and Olathe South for the regional final. The game will decide who goes through to the quarterfinal of state.

“We are just focused on Olathe North,” senior Tyler Rathbun said. “Playoffs are a whole different season. No stats matter, it’s just win and advance.”

Entering the playoffs, the Lancers are also dealing with tired legs and multiple injuries. Senior Andrew Manolo tore his ACL and is out for the season. Senior Jackson Stephens was sick for the last two games, but will return for the game Tuesday. Senior Tommy McGillicuddy and Jacob Lanan have also been injured, but are recovering and will be used in the upcoming games.

“We just have to make sure we stay healthy,” senior Jack Sernett said. “After the overtime game, there will be some heavy legs, but hopefully we will be ready to go come Tuesday.”

Cross Country

The cross country team failed to qualify any runners for State on Saturday at Regionals. Senior Joe Bahr came the closest to any runner qualifying for State at Rimrock, placing one spot away from qualification with a 17:09 time.

“I was incredibly disappointed to first see the team didn’t qualify and then to see I didn’t either and was so close,” Bahr said “When it comes down to it I’m darn proud of the team this year and my career these last four years and am looking forward to seeing how the young guys do in the coming years.”

Sophomore Hannah Arnspiger and junior Annie Kuklenski placed in the top 25 but still failed to make it to state. Despite the disappointing season head coach, Tricia Beahm was still proud of her team.

“It was a memorable season filled with many great days with great races,” Beahm said. “ I’m sorry that our season had to end on Saturday. I thought we put in the best effort that we could, and I wish that it had been enough. These are wonderful athletes, and have an optimistic approach and I hope we keep that attitude rolling to the next season.”

Volleyball

Senior Katherine Higdon was removed from the program last week due to a series of unsportsmanlike tweets. To make up for her loss and the loss of players Katie Knight and Audrey Hitchcock early in the season, head coach Charles Cooper moved three girls from JV up to travel with the team to substate– juniors Anna Cook and Corey Kirkpatrick, and freshman Mary Booton.

Varsity reached the end of their season this weekend after their defeat at substate. The girls were set to play SMNW, and if they won that match, they were to play BVN. To their disappointment, the girls lost to SMNW in two sets, bringing their season to a close.

“I was disappointed at substate,” Senior Elizabeth Arnold said. “We all played hard, we just lacked energy. It was a tough end for our season.”

Gymnastics

The gymnastics team fell short of their goal of 100 points at Saturday’s State meet placing seventh.

“Our goal was 100 points and we only got 98.5, so that was disappointing,” said junior Madi Lage. “But I think we are all still proud of how hard we worked for this meet.”

The state meet started on vault with no falls and decent scores, but after a few falls and tough judging on bars and beam, the team was lacking the points needed for the goal set by their coach Chuck Lundblad.

However the girls finished the meet with enthusiastic floor routines, adding in new skills for higher point values and senior Emily Kaplan earning her best score of the season.

“It was awesome! I really wanted to do my best,” Kaplan said. “ I set goals before my routine and I did everything I wanted to do.”

Girls’ Golf and Tennis Win State

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The Harbinger Staff

The Harbinger Staff
The Harbinger is the exclusive student-run news program for Shawnee Mission East High School in Prairie Village, KS. Staffed by approximately 60 dedicated super-students and overseen by advisor C. Dow Tate, its online and print publications have won numerous national awards. The publication is updated with daily published content including stories, video, live broadcasts, photo galleries and multimedia packages. Select stories are published in its print publication every two weeks in addition. Partnered with The Harbinger, harbiephoto.com is a website run by the student photographers of the newspaper and the yearbook staffs. Updated daily, harbiephoto.com allows visitors to purchase prints of high-quality photos at low rates that appear, and don't appear, in online content or print. For more information, e-mail us at smeharbinger@gmail.com »

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