Kansas high school spring sports: Five girls to watch

The Kansas high school spring sports season is in full swing. With state championship events just more than a month away, here are five female athletes to keep an eye on during the rest of the spring.

Cailey Grunhard, Bishop Miege, sophomore

For anyone who has followed Bishop Miege swimming and diving, it was not a surprise that Grunhard burst onto the scene so seamlessly as a freshman last season.

She is the daughter of former Chiefs center Tim Grunhard and she has two brothers on the football team. Her twin, Colin, also swims.

As a freshman, she picked up a Kansas Class 5-1A state title in the 100 yard butterfly with a time of 57.33 seconds and added a third-place finish in the 100-yard backstroke. She also won Eastern Kansas League titles in both events.

Lauren Harrell, Maranatha Christian, senior

Harrell has made the most of her first three and a half years of track and field competition at Maranatha, leading the Eagles to three consecutive Kansas Class 2A track and field state titles and two in cross country.

She already has five individual state titles from her first three seasons, including the 800- (2:20.91), 1,600- (5:14.47) and 3,200- (11:41.24) meter runs last season. She is the two-time defending champion in the 1,600-meter run.

She also won the 2014 Class 2A cross country state title, which earned her a spot on the Greater Kansas City Cross Country Coaches Association All-Metro girls team.

Reagan Hathaway, Olathe Northwest, junior

The National Fastpitch Coaches Association’s catcher of the year batted .759 with 11 doubles and six home runs for the Ravens, who finished fourth last season in the Kansas Class 6A softball state tournament.

Hathaway, who was already an NFCA first-team All-American, also picked up Sunflower League and The Kansas City Star All-Metro player of the year honors along the way.

She has a .564 batting average with 12 RBIs, three doubles, three triples, two home runs and five stolen bases in her first five games this season.

She has signed to play softball at the University of Texas.

Jamie Kutey, St. Thomas Aquinas, senior

The 2014 Eastern Kansas League co-offensive soccer player of the year and NSCAA All-American is already off to a hot start, with five goals and four assists in the Saints’ first four matches this season.

Her best performance was in a 5-0 victory against Gardner Edgerton, where she contributed to all five of the Saints’ goals, scoring three and assisting on the other two. She also earned TopDrawerSoccer.com national player of the week honors.

Kutey had 21 goals and 14 assists for the Kansas Class 5A state champions last season and signed with Marquette University in the fall.

Parker Roberts, Blue Valley North, senior

The 2014 Gatorade Kansas girls soccer player of the year spent the first part of March in Spain with the U.S. Under-20 Women’s National Team, playing matches against Norway, the Netherlands and Sweden.

The United States team did so well that she has been called up again, but she is still making time for high school competition and the Blue Valley North Mustangs.

Roberts has led Blue Valley North in goals scored each of the last three seasons, recording 43 goals with 16 assists. She had 15 goals and four assists last season and was honored as the Eastern Kansas League co-midfielder of the year.

This story was originally published April 14, 2015 at 6:09 PM with the headline "Kansas high school spring sports: Five girls to watch."