Spring Sport Updates: Week 6

Softball

Since beating rivals SM South and SM West two weeks ago, varsity has been on a three game losing streak. Last week they faced a disappointing loss against SM Northwest with a final score of 13-0. Monday night they faced Olathe East in a double header, falling 2-9 and 0-9.

“[The games against Olathe East] weren’t so great,” junior Jamie Maddox said. “We faced two pitchers that have already signed to Division 1 schools, and we just weren’t able to get the hits.”

The girls hope to redeem themselves this Saturday for their rescheduled senior night against SM North.

Baseball

On Thursday the Lancers lost to Olathe East 4-6. The game was close at the beginning, but after Olathe East scored two runs in the 6th inning the Lancers weren’t able to regain the lead.

Due to rainouts of both Friday and Saturday’s games, the boys will play Lawrence Free State on Monday, SM North on Tuesday, Leavenworth on Friday and SM South on Saturday this week. The new times and locations of last weeks cancelled games are to be dated.

“With the rain and the cancellations it’s hard to get the amount of practice we need,” junior Ryan Carter said. “And the added games makes it tough to stay on top of schoolwork.”

Boys Tennis

The tennis team claimed another victory against Kansas City Christian on Monday and have a full week ahead of them. They will play Blue Valley North on Tuesday, Pembroke Hill on Wednesday, Washington High School on Thursday and have Regionals on Friday.

“All these matches are giving us great preparation for Regionals,” senior Colin Jones said. “I think we will come out ready to play on Friday and bring home the gold.”

Boys Golf

The boys golf team played on Friday in Hutchinson at Carey Park Golf Course and Monday at Falcon Ridge Golf Club winning both tournaments and extending their winning streak to five.

On Friday the boys tied with Kaupan at 294, but won the scorecard in a tiebreak.

“We actually tied with Kaupan but since our 5th best score [Andy Spencer] beat their 5th best score we won,” Connor Knabe said.

Knabe shot 74 and tied for 7th place. Chase Hanna shot 71 and tied for 2nd at one over par. John Sallaz also shot 74 and tied for 7th with Knabe, and Connor Richardson shot 75 and tied for 15th.

At Falcon Ridge the Lancers did not cut it as close as they did on Friday winning the team category by 10 strokes over Lawrence Free State. Chase Hanna also won individually finding 16 of 18 greens in regulation on his way to shooting a 69. Knabe shot 76 and took 5th place, while Lucas Jones and Evan Bloom both shot 79 rounding out the counted Lancer scores.

“We are just really confident with how we are playing right now,” said Hanna, “I think that we have a very good chance at being one of the best teams in East history.”

Hanna isn’t just being cocky, if the Lancers win two of their remaining four tournaments then they will break the record for most tournaments won in a season set last year at six. That team went on to state and finished with a disappointing 3rd place finish at Buffalo Dunes in Garden City.

This year with East hosting the state tournament at Medowbrook Country Club the Lancers will be much more acquainted with their surroundings with three players on the team being members.

Girls Swimming

The girls swim team defeated SM South on last Wednesday at home to finish their regular season undefeated. With League this Friday and Saturday the lady Lancers are hoping to pull off their 9th League title in a row.

The League meet will provide as much competition as State this year since most of the better teams, specifically Lawrence Freestate and Olathe North, are in the Sunflower League.

Many of the girls who don’t have their state qualifying times hope to get them at League or the Last Chance Meet held a Lawrence Free State on Tuesday, May 7.

“It’s going to be tough competition,” Coach Rob Cole said. “To win all of our girls need to step up and move up spots. The biggest damage we could do is in the relays so we’re hard at work making sure those are the best they can be.”

Girls Soccer

The girls soccer team defeated the St. Theresa’s Stars 3-2 on Saturday, April 27. The Lancers got off to a quick start, scoring four minutes into the game by way of senior Addison Steiner’s rocket shot from outside the box into the top corner. Steiner had a phenomenal game, finishing it with all three of the Lancer’s goals.

With seven minutes remaining in the first half, the Stars were about to equalize. Not even a minute later, Steiner struck again with her second goal of the match, placing the ball right past St. Theresa’s senior goalkeeper Janie Thompson.

The drama of the first half didn’t stop there, with less than ten seconds left in the half, the Star’s got in behind the Lancer defense and senior goalkeeper Sarah Spradling had to make a very smart breakaway save. The Lancer went into halftime with a 2-1 lead.

The second half began slowly, with not much action until the 15 minute mark, where Steiner put away her third goal to complete the hat trick. Steiner received the ball outside the box, where she was met by two St. Theresa’s defenders. She was able to get around the two Stars and into the box, and took an off-balance shot straight into the top corner of the net giving Thompson no chance to save it. The goal was an incredible individual showing of skill and speed.

With the score 3-1, the Lancers seemingly had the game wrapped up at that point. With 30 seconds remaining, the Stars had a corner and were able to get a shot off which was unluckily deflected in past Spradling for an own goal.

The Lancers were able to hold on for a 3-2 victory, and move their record to 9-1-3 this season, with their lone loss coming from a tournament in St. Louis. The girls next play SM Northwest at the SM Soccer Complex on Tuesday, April 30, at 7 p.m.

Boys Lacrosse

The boys lacrosse team travelled to Indiana to play Bishop Chatard and Park Tudor this past weekend. Despite the absence of senior starting defenders Mackey Merrill and Kyle Winston the Lancers still came home with one win and one loss. Senior Connor McGannon carried the team on his back in the Bishop Chatard game scoring three goals in the 8-5 victory. The boys have two games left in the regular season before the playoffs begin.

Girls Lacrosse

The girls’ JV lacrosse team recently lost 4-8 to Pembroke Hill on Saturday, April 27. Due to the rainy weather, the field was very wet and slippery. The girls frequently fell down and it quickly became hard to keep possession of the ball. The girls did well on defense but had problems transitioning into offense.

Due to the lack of committed players, the team had a mandatory practice on Monday, April 29. If players did not show up to the practice, they would not be allowed to play at the next game. Despite this warning, only about two-thirds of the team showed up.

The JV and Varsity team will next take on Notre Dame de Sion on Tuesday, April 30 at Sion. The JV game starts at 4:30 with the varsity game following.

Track and Field

The St. Thomas Aquinas meet scheduled for Friday, April 26 was cancelled due to rain. The meet was rescheduled for Monday. Results of the meet have not yet been posted.

The weather at the meet was windy and hot causing for slower times.

The team will have a short week of practice and will turn around for one of the biggest meets of the year this Friday at North Relays. Only two runners per team will be entered in each event.