Spring Sports Update: Week 4

Boys’ Golf

The golf team was in action on Monday at Meadowbrook Country Club winning by 21 strokes over Washburn Rural. Seniors Connor Knabe and Chase Hanna led the Lancers shooting 66 and 68 respectively on their home course. Freshman Andy Spencer shot 78 and Junior John Sallaz shot 79 to round out the other two scores that counted.

Meadowbrook will also hold the state tournament later in the year, where the Lancers think they will have success.

“If we shoot like we did today at state, we will put ourselves in a really good position to win,” said Knabe.

The teams next tournament is Monday at Topeka Country Club.

Boys’ Lacrosse

The boys’ varsity lacrosse team lost their second game of the season to rival Blue Valley West on Thursday by a score of 11-6 with the absence of standout player Connor McGannon whose leadership was missed at the game.

“We didn’t lose because he wasn’t there but he would have helped keep the team together and provided some goals.” said senior Patrick Simmons.

The team rallied on saturday to beat Northland 16-1 and have a big game coming up on Thursday, 7:30 p.m. at Rockhurst.

Girls’ Lacrosse

The lacrosse team’s JV and Varsity games against Sion on Thursday, April 11 were cancelled due to inclement weather. That weather also caused the girls to miss two days of practice, but luckily, only JV was playing over the weekend. The JV team played first-year team Olathe at SM West on Saturday, April 13. The team easily beat Olathe 8-4.

“Our team has some strong players and even stronger leaders that have stepped up and helped out team improve throughout the season,” junior Cicely Krebill said. “I felt like we had a good game Saturday and I can’t wait to continue progressing.”

Both JV and Varsity teams will be looking forward to playing next on Saturday, April 20 against Lee’s Summit North on the East turf. Varsity’s game starts at 4:30 and the JV game follows.

Girls Soccer

The girls soccer team traveled to St. Louis this weekend, in their yearly out of town tournament. The Lancers went 0-1-2 on the weekend, losing 2-0 on Friday night, and tying on Saturday 0-0 and 2-2. The Lancers record on the season is 4-1-3.

“I think [this weekend] is going to help us because it was our first loss, but it did not affect our league”, junior Kelly Pidcoe said. “The weekend also helped our team bond more.”

During the tournament, freshman Georgia Weigel suffered a concussion. Also, freshman Adalaide Kline sprained her ankle. Both girls do not yet know how long the injuries will keep them out. In addition to those two, senior star Addison Steiner partially tore her hip flexor. She should only miss the next two games.

The girls next play at Leavenworth at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 16 and Olathe North at the SM Soccer Complex at 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 18.

“We haven’t heard of any key players for Olathe North,” Pidcoe said. “Last year we beat 4-0, but they are better this year so we will have to work harder.”

Softball

Last Thursday, varsity’s game against Olathe East was cancelled due to the rain. Now, they await their next scheduled game for this Tuesday against SM Northwest and SM South.

“I’m very excited to play both teams because I think they will both be good competition,” junior Jamie Maddox said. “From what I hear, South has improved a lot and Northwest is looking really good this year. Neither game will be easy, but we can definitely win if we are able to stay focused.”

Boys’ Tennis

The Lancers dominated Districts on Saturday and placed first overall. The boys won 39 matches and only dropped one match after junior Brooks Kendall lost to Vinny Pham in a tie-breaker.

The team will continue their hot streak this week with Pembroke Hill on Monday, Maranatha Academy on Tuesday and the Blue Valley Northwest Invitational on Wednesday.

Baseball

Last week the Lancer baseball team took on Olathe Northwest, Lawrence, Shawnee Mission North and Shawnee Mission Northwest.

On Tuesday they lost to Olathe NW 2-3 on a walk off. Junior Colin Burns pitched well, but according to junior Trey Austin the team did not hit enough.

On Thursday they beat Lawrence 8-4. Despite the 40 degree weather, Austin was able to pitch a solid game.

“It felt good beating Lawrence,” junior Colter Purdon said. “We came out focused and our coach really wanted to beat them.”

Junior Jay Anderson pitched on Friday’s game against SM North, but the game ended in a 3-4 loss. Austin believes the team just did not score as much as they should have.

The Lancers ended the week with a 13-4 victory against SM Northwest. The team had 17 total hits, lead by junior Mitchell Tyler who went 4-5 with a triple, two doubles and a single.

This week the boys play Olathe North on Monday, Rockhurst on Thursday and they will travel to Lawrence on Friday to play at Kansas University’s Hoglund Ballpark.

Girls Swimming

Girls swimming went 3-0 last week with three home meets against SM West and SM North, Saint Thomas Aquinas, and Blue Valley North.

Many girls were able to get their state qualifying times. Junior Emily Minick qualified for the 200 IM and 100 Backstroke. Freshman Bonnie Longan qualified for the 200 IM, 200 Freestyle, and 500 Freestyle. Freshman Sarah Allegri qualified for the 200 Freestyle and 100 Backstroke. Senior Sarah Freshnock qualified for the 200 Freestyle and 100 breaststroke. Senior Meg Stanley qualified for the 100 Freestyle.

Today the lancers will take on Lawrence Free State in their most difficult meet of the year, according to head coach Rob Cole.

“Freestate has a lot of top eight swimmers,” said Cole. “This is a good chance to show our depth and swim against tough competition.”

The Lancer Invitational is this weekend, with prelims on Friday and finals on Saturday.

Track and Field

The boys and girls track and field team performed well last week at the Shawnee Mission West Invitational. The girls team placed first and the boys placed second.

The boys team performed well on the track and in the field but were disappointed not to place first. On the track the team swept two relays in the meet- the 4×800 meter relay and the 4×400 meter relay.

Senior Devin Burton placed second in both the 110 and 300 meter hurdles. Senior Carter Olander placed first in the 800 meter run and sophomore Will Moore placed second in the 1600 meter run. Senior Troy Wilkins dominated sprints winning the 200 and 400 meter run.

In the field Alic Erpelding had the best finish placing 3rd in the pole vault along with senior Tommy McGillicuddy who placed third in the long jump.

The girls had their best performances of the year. Senior Emma Vickers dominated sprints placing first in the 100 and 200 meter runs. Senior Chloe Stradinger placed first in the 110 meter hurdles and second in the 300 meter hurdles.

Sophomore Stephanie Wilcox placed third in the 800 meter run behind junior Annie Kuklenski who placed second. The girls 4×800 meter relay placed second and the 4×400 meter relay placed first.

Nationally ranked jumper senior Grace Pickell won the high jump at the meet.

The athletes who qualified for KU Relays will run this Friday and Saturday at Kansas University. The other athletes who did not qualify will compete today at Varsity Districts at SM South after school.

For full meet results from SM West and a list of KU qualifiers visit track.smesports.org.