May 4
SM East girls continue their winning ways at league meet
The Lancers win their ninth Sunflower League title in a row, relying on their outstanding depth to glide past Lawrence Free State.
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
The Lancers win their ninth Sunflower League title in a row, relying on their outstanding depth to glide past Lawrence Free State.
Huskies are paced by junior Hannah Musser, the only two-time champion, winning the 200-yard individual medley and 100 butterfly.
Approval is given to divide Class 4A into two, 32-school divisions. The change, which was sought by the smaller schools in Class 4A, has been criticized as further diluting the value of a state title. Next year eight state championships will be awarded in volleyball and basketball.
Regional tennis tournament were supposed to kick off Friday across the state, but most were postponed by Thursday night because of inclement weather.

Grandview track athlete Harvey Kendall has been focusing on this season for quite some time. Since he began competing in track events in middle school, Kendall eyed his junior year as the season he expected to begin winning state championships. He blitzed the field at the Suburban Conference Blue meet Wednesday, setting season-best times in the 110-meter hurdles (14.52 seconds) and 300-meter hurdles (39.09). With the Missouri Class 3 state meet two weeks away — an event Grandview won as a team last year — Kendall ranks in the top five in the state in both events.
Missouri boys golf sectional tournaments take place Monday at sites around the state. Two teams from each sectional will qualify for state, along with the top 12 individual golfers who are not from one of the qualifying teams.

A difference of two golf shots bugged Platte County High School senior Aaron Hessemyer for an entire offseason. Understandably so.


After a dozen years leading the St. Pius X High School boys' basketball team, coach Chad Wright guided the Warriors into the Missouri Class 3 state championship game in the recently completed season for the first time since 1974.

Blue Springs’ Lizzy Wendell, Olathe Northwest’s Kelsey Brooks, Truman’s Becca Jones, Blue Springs’ Karyla Middlebrook and St. Thomas Aquinas’ Tia Weledji lead The Star’s All-Metro girls basketball team.

Blue Valley Northwest point guard Clay Custer’s brilliance, which was a driving force for the Huskies’ undefeated state championship team, earned him The Star’s All-Metro player of the year honor. He also was a finalist for the prestigious DiRenna Award.

Blue Springs’ Lizzy Wendell transformed her game from a deadly outside shooter to a do-it-all player for Blue Springs, which finished 29-3, and ended her stellar high school career by averaging 18.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game to go along with three assists and two steals.

Ed Fritz’s humble beginnings as a coach sprang a Blue Valley Northwest team that would take Kansas by storm this winter, cruising unblemished to the program’s first Kansas Class 6A title.

The Blue Springs girls basketball team endured some early-season mishaps but coach Mark Spigarelli made a change and the Wildcats once again proved the class of Kansas City. They finished 29-3 and placed third in the Missouri Class 5 tournament.

Blue Valley Northwest’s Clay Custer, SM South’s Josh Pedersen, Blue Springs South’s Justin Pitts, SM East’s Zach Schneider and Rockhurst’s Kyle Wolf lead The Star’s All-Metro boys basketball team.

Franklin Zhong is careful not to get too comfortable with his tennis game. As Lees Summit Wests top singles player, Zhong says hes taken on added duties this season, even though hes only a sophomore. At the top of that list, he says, is a responsibility to never stop improving.
The best girl pole vaulter ever to attend a Kansas high school has never won a state title in the event. She’ll get a final chance last month but says, “I’m not going to fall apart if I don’t get it.”
The senior lefty, who’s committed to play for Coastal Carolina, has struck out more than half of the hitters he’s faced this year — 65 of 128. No wonder big league scouts have become fixtures in the stands.

SCHOOL: Shawnee Mission East
Blue Springs 7, Blue Springs South 6
The three-day event will begin on Friday in locations in Olathe, Gardner and De Soto.

Willie Reed, a Kansas City native who has been on a rocky journey through high school and college, has gained a spot on the Memphis Grizzlies’ playoff roster.

High school junior wins the high jump, long jump and the 100 hurdles. In the process, she’s chosen by the news media as the female athlete of the meet.

On a cold and windy day in Lawrence, high school track and field athletes put forth some remarkable performances as the event closes out its decades-long run at venerable Memorial Stadium.