816 area notebook: More Kansas City area high school athletes announcing college decisions
Fort Osage junior Skylar Thompson elected to skip basketball last winter, opting to focus instead on his football recruitment.
That recruitment reached its biggest stage yet over the weekend, when Thompson used Twitter to announce he has verbally committed to Kansas State.
Thompson is the top-ranked quarterback in Missouri in the Class of 2016, according to Rivals.com, which labels him a three-star recruit.
“(I’m) very fortunate to have had such great people surrounding me during this recruiting process,” Thompson said. “... Now it is time to get prepared for my last season at (Fort Osage) and to achieve something we have never done in school history.”
As a junior last fall, Thompson threw for 2,385 yards and 24 touchdowns, completing 64.8 percent of his passes. He threw six interceptions. He’s also a threat on the ground, where he ran for 461 yards and nine touchdowns.
In search of its first state title in school history, Fort Osage reached the Missouri Class 5 quarterfinals last fall and finished the season 11-1.
Thompson took over the starting quarterback gig as a sophomore, when he threw for 1,451 yards and 19 touchdowns.
According to Rivals, Thompson also had offers from Kansas, Colorado, Iowa State, Wake Forest, Ohio, Illinois State, North Dakota State and UNLV.
Staley athletes ink letters of intent
A group of 14 high school athletes from Staley signed to play with various colleges during a ceremony earlier this spring.
Those recognized included eight baseball players — Jordan Robben (William Jewell), Jacob Miller (Maple Woods CC), Conrad McMahon (Maple Woods CC), Levi McLaughlin (Maple Woods CC), Brody Meloy (Saint Mary), Matt Ludwig (Saint Mary), Parker Mertz (Missouri Western) and Jacob Calvert (Crowder).
Additionally, Jayden Bears will wrestle at Missouri; Alyssa Derr will play volleyball at Longview Community College; Daniel Maynard signed to swim at Drury; track athlete Chris Wood will attend William Jewell; Dylan Earley will play basketball for Central Methodist; and Trevor Lamb signed on with the Penn Valley Community College’s basketball program.
More college signings
Three Truman High School athletes signed Monday to continue their playing careers. Brenden Chandler (football) and Joel Fears (soccer) signed with Graceland; and Sasha Quarles plans to attend Missouri Valley, where she will play basketball.
Oak Park senior Joey Scott signed to play baseball at Northwest Missouri State. His classmate, Gerardo Salgado, will play soccer at Graceland.
Lee’s Summit West senior Taylor Jackson will sign Wednesday to continue her basketball career at Southwest Baptist next fall.
Barstow tennis ready for playoff run
In a conversation about the Barstow boys tennis program, coach Tom O’Brien needed only one sentence to make his enthusiasm abundant.
“Clearly, this seems to be the strongest, most talented boys team that Barstow has ever had,” O’Brien said.
It’s hard to disagree.
The Knights have lost just one match this season, and they will open the Missouri Class 1 district playoff schedule this week as the top seed in District 14. It won’t be an easy route. Pembroke Hill is seeded second in the district, and the Raiders defeated Barstow in the playoffs last season.
Barstow is led by No. 1 singles player Fletcher Scott, who has lost only once this spring. Bradley Frye occupies the No. 2 spot on the ladder.
Seniors Steven Ketchmark and Ben Abbas offer plenty of varsity experience at the No. 3 ad 4 spots on the depth chart.
State soccer poll released
St. Teresa’s Academy has settled for second place at the Missouri Class 3 state soccer tournament each of the past two seasons.
A year later, that’s precisely where the Stars are ranked in the newly-formed Class 4.
The Missouri Soccer High School Coaches Association voted St. Teresa’s second in its latest Missouri Class 4 girls poll, which was released Friday. The Stars have held firm at No. 2 this season, behind only unbeaten St. Joseph’s Academy, which defeated the Stars in overtime in last spring’s state championship game.
Lee’s Summit North is No. 4 in Class 4, with Lee’s Summit ranked seventh and Park Hill South ranked 10th.
In Missouri Class 3, Notre Dame de Sion is No. 6 and Kearney is No. 10.
St. Pius X was voted eighth in Missouri Class 2.
Barstow is ranked second in Missouri Class 1, immediately followed by Summit Christian at No. 3.
This story was originally published May 12, 2015 at 5:26 PM with the headline "816 area notebook: More Kansas City area high school athletes announcing college decisions."