Independence High School golfer Ethan Small nearly repeated as state champion with a ferocious comeback in yesterday’s 4A final round.

He entered the final round in Hesston three strokes behind Wamego’s Regan Kueker, and shot a tournament-low five-under 66 to tie for first and force a playoff.

Small, who was Indy’s first state champion golfer since Tyler Sullivan in 2003 as a junior, was unable to win the playoff and finished his final outing as a Bulldog as the silver medalist.

Small’s IHS teammate Mason Lawrence also made it to the final round.  He shot an 81 to finish 19 shots over par, placing him 32nd in 4A.

Chanute’s Kobe Patterson finished with an 85, which put him right above Lawrence in 31st at +19.

And Ty Barnhart of Erie played in the 2A’s final round in Quail Ridge, he shot an 84 to finish +28 and in 27th place.

The Kansas High School state boys golf meets all got underway yesterday.

None of our area schools made the cut as a team, but some individual golfers are still alive for this morning's final round.

At the 4A meet in Heston, Independence came the closest to staying alive. Their 36 shots over par as a team were just two strokes under the cut line. Ethan Small led the Bulldogs with a 72 yesterday in Hesston, just one over par, which is tied for 7th at state.

Small's teammate, Mason Lawrence, also made the cut with a nine-over-par of 80. He’s tied for 31st.

Chanute missed the cut as a team with a 46 over par yesterday. The Comets have one man still alive, Kobe Patterson, who logged a 76 yesterday, just five shots over par, tied for 16th best.

For Labette County, neither of their two golfers made the individual cut line.

In 3A, we have just one local golfer, Layne Denny of Caney Valley. He finished yesterday just 3 shots under the cut line, posting a 10-over-par of 80 at Lake Shawnee.

The 2A boys state golf is at Quail Ridge Golf Course in Winfield. One local made the cut, that’s Ty Barnhart of Erie. He shot an 88 yesterday, 16 over par for 32nd place going into day two.

For those golfers who are still playing today, all the classes will tee off at 10 o’clock this morning. Results will be available online here.

Cedar Vale/Dexter High School softball is still alive. In yesterday’s state quarterfinal, the Lady Spartans were victorious 7-3 over Central Heights in Emporia.

Cedar Vale/Dexter is the #1 seed in the 2-1A State Tournament. They will play in the state semifinal Thursday at 11 a.m. against St. Mary’s Colgan. The game will be played in Lawrence, at KU’s softball field.

Photo Courtesy: Cedar Vale Schools Facebook

Coffeyville Community College track and field just signed one of the top local stars in our area.

Last night on social media, it was announced that Field Kindley’s Erin Lopez has signed to continue her track career with the Red Ravens.

Lopez has made some big waves during her senior season. During the SEK League Meet earlier this month, she set an all-time meet record in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.12 seconds.

And last week at regionals, Lopez took gold in the 100-meter, silver in the 200-meter, and ran on the 4x100-meter relay team that won gold.

She will contend for a state championship for Field Kindley this Friday in Wichita. Next year, she’ll join a CCC track and field team that finished the season ranked 10th in the country.

Photo Courtesy: Coffeyville Track Facebook

The NCAA Baseball tournament bracket was revealed yesterday, and plenty of our local teams are in the mix.

For the first time in program history, and since the regional format has existed since 1975, the Kansas Jayhawks are hosting a regional.

They earned it with their first conference title since 1949. They won the Big 12 Tournament last weekend to boot, giving them the 15th overall seed.

Kansas will open regional play on Friday at noon in Lawrence, taking on Northeastern. On the other side of that double-elimination bracket is Arkansas against Missouri State.

Oklahoma State went 37-20 this spring, falling to KU in the Big 12 Tournament semifinal. It was still good enough to send them to the Tuscaloosa Regional as the #2 seed for their 13th straight NCAA Tournament.

The Cowboys will first face The Citadel at 4 p.m. Friday. The regional host, Alabama, will play Alabama State first in the earlier game.

Finally, the Oklahoma Sooners made their fifth straight NCAA Tournament with a 32-21 season. They were just 14-16 in the SEC, but still captured the 2-seed in the Atlanta Regional.

Their first game is Friday at 4 p.m. against the Citadel. On the other side of that bracket is the national #2-seed Georgia Tech and the University of Illinois Chicago.

Photo Courtesy: KUBaseball X Account

This morning, the Kansas High School boys golf state meets tee off at courses throughout the Sunflower State.

All the events are two-day meets, teeing off at 8:30 this morning and 10:00 tomorrow morning.

Class 4A is at the Hesston Golf Course. Independence qualified their entire team at sub-state last week. Labette County will have five golfers there, Field Kindley with four, Parsons has three, and Chanute brings six.

The 3A meet begins today at the Topeka-Lake Shawnee Course. Our local representation includes five boys from Caney Valley, five from Neodesha, and four from Fredonia.

Lastly, at the 1A meet at the McPherson-Turkey Creek Golf Course, Sedan is there with five boys.

Scores will be available online here.

High School track and field regionals in Kansas wrapped up on Friday with the 3-1A levels.

At the 3A meet in Fredonia, Caney Valley finished second in the boys team scores. Reuben Sanchez won the 400-meter dash, 800-meter dash, 1600-meter run, and 3200-meter run.

The Fredonia boys finished 13th, Cherryvale 14th, and Neodesha 15th.

The Caney girls tied for fourth. Neodesha was 7th, Cherryvale 11th, and Fredonia 13th.

At the 2A track and field meet on Friday in Humboldt, Erie finished middle of the pack, 7th in the boys team scores. Grant Reissig won the high jump, and Quincy Brown took gold in the 300-meter hurdles.

The Erie girls finished 13th at the meet. The Oswego girls placed 14th.

And our 1A schools were split across a couple of meets. In Greensburg, Cedar Vale boys placed 21st. For the girls, Dexter was 21st.

And in Iola, the Sedan boys were 11th, and West Elk was 15th. For the girls, Sedan was 8th as their Riley Hubert won the high jump AND the long jump. St. Paul was 17th.

For all the athletes who did well enough at regionals last week to qualify, all classes will meet in Wichita this Friday and Saturday for the state meet.

High School Track and Field regionals kicked off in Kansas with meets across the 4A level. Our local programs were in Chanute, and each qualified several athletes for next week’s State Meet.

Looking at our local gold medalists from yesterday's regional, Field Kindley had three. K’Shon Feeling in the boys long jump, Erin Lopez in the girls 100-meter dash, and Isaiah Bowie in the boys 200-meter dash.

IHS had one first-place finish. Eli Sanders won the boys' 400-meter dash.

First place in boys shot put went to Labette County’s Keegan Strizke. Labette’s Jamaal Jackson took first in the boys' 100-meter, and their Presley Witty won the girls 200-meter.

Parsons had three golds yesterday. Ayanna Robertson in the girls triple jump, Braelyn Hinman-Mitchell in the girls javelin throw, and Brelin Summers in the boys 110-meter hurdles.

Finally, the host school, Chanute, won gold in 10 different events. Many of those were relays and longer-distance runs.

All those athletes who qualified for state will compete in Wichita next Friday and Saturday.

The remaining classes have their track-and-field regionals today. Our local 3A schools are in Fredonia starting at noon, 2A in Humboldt at noon, and 1A in Iola at 3.

The Field Kindley Track and Field team is sending several athletes to state after an impressive showing at the district meet.

Erin Lopez captured a district championship in the 100 meters and also set a personal record in the 200, earning a trip to state in both events. On the boys side, Isaiah Bowie claimed a district title in the 200 meters to punch his ticket to state, while Nate Magana also qualifies after a strong performance in the 300-meter hurdles. In the field events, Atina Colbert is headed to state in discus, joined by Davison Sutherland, who also qualified in the event. K’Shon Feeling secured a state berth in the long jump. The Nado will also be represented in the relays, with the boys 4x800 meter team advancing to the state competition.

Coffeyville now turns its focus to the state meet on May 29^th and 30^th, where the Nado will look to build on that momentum against the best competition in Kansas.

4A Semifinals

Chanute: 22 - Atchison: 7

Wamego: 10 - Labette: 1

Hayden: 8 - Independence: 3

4A Finals

Fort Scott: 9 - Chanute: 0

3A Quarterfinals

Iola: 16 - Cherryvale: 6

Jayhawk Linn: 14 - Neodesha: 10

Osawatomie: 21 - Caney Valley: 8

2-1A Quarterfinals

Cedar Vale/Dexter: 16 - Belle Plaine: 1

West Elk: 10 - Erie: 5

Northeast: 14 - Sedan: 3

Douglass: 13 - Oswego: 0

2-1A Semifinals

Cedar Vale/Dexter: 12 - West Elk: 1

2-1A Finals

Cedar Vale/Dexter: 11 - Northeast: 1

Kansas High School boys golf held its sub-state meets this week to determine qualifiers for the state meet next week. Here are all our local golfers who are moving on.

4A Sub-State at Woodland Hills

Independence (Entire team qualified)

Ethan Small (76)

Tyler Spencer (85)

Mason Lawrence (89)

Grant Webster (93)

Jack Cope (96)

Jaxon Dunn (102)

Labette County (5/6 golfers qualified)

Reece Ludwig (86)

Bryson Dickens (92)

Lane Wolsey (93)

Aaron Wyrick (95)

Alden Ebersole (99)

Field Kindley (4/4 qualified)

Cade Keller (97)

Carsten Voss (105)

Josh Slavin (106)

Graham Leeds (117)

Parsons (3/3 qualified)

Brok McDaniel (117)

Grayson Bolt (120)

Kaison McRay (131)

4A Sub-State at Atchison

Chanute (entire team qualified)

Braddox Bancroft (81)

Kobe Patterson (82)

Noah Luebbering (88)

Briggs Bancroft (89)

Hayes McKinney (91)

Logan Axelson (92)

3A Sub-State at Baxter Springs

Caney Valley (5/6 qualified)

Layne Denny (81)

Jesse Hendren (87)

Zayden Clark (92)

Jaxon McDaniel (96)

Shane Downing (99)

Neodesha (5/5 qualified)

Anthony Landry (90)

Carter Hoesli (98)

Eli Bovard (101)

Jace Sandbothe (109)

Alex Marroquin (114)

Fredonia (4/4 qualified)

Jayce Camacho (102)

Logan Barnhart (119)

Sam Steirwalt (132)

Alfael Jiminez (148)

1A Sub-State at St. John

Sedan (5/6 qualified)

Melton Smith (103)

Will Adcock (107)

Brenton Buhler (120)

Caleb Ironsyde (120)

Ian Wilson (123)

4A Semifinals

Louisburg: 6 - Independence: 1

Hayden: 6 - Chanute: 0

3A Semifinals

Girard: 7 - Cherryvale: 0

Anderson County: 10 - Caney Valley: 0

2-1A Semifinals

Douglass: 19 - Cedar Vale/Dexter: 9

The Kansas 4A boys state tennis meet was in Topeka on Friday and Saturday. Independence, Parsons, and Chanute high schools all competed.

IHS finished third in the overall team scores with 29 points, behind only McPherson (31) and Hesston (43).

Parsons was fourth with 25 points, and Chanute ended 15th with seven points.

Independence

Senior Matthew McLenon and sophomore Brodie Small from IHS went on to win the doubles bracket.

As the #1 seed, they defeated a McPherson pair in round one, 6-0, 6-1. In round two, McLenon and Small took down a Buhler team in three sets, 6-4, 5-7, and 10-7.

That lifted them to the semifinal, where they downed Hesston 6-2 and 6-3. In the final, they needed just two sets to defeat another Hesston pairing 6-2 and 6-4.

Parsons

Parsons sent one singles player to Topeka, senior Wyatt Shultz, and he won it all.

As the top-seed in the bracket, he used two sets, 6-0 and 6-1, to get past Kemper Manly of Chanute. In round two, Shultz mowed down Brody Cooley of Independence in two 6-0 sets.

In the semifinal, Shultz defeated an Iola player in two 6-2 sets. In the championship, he breezed past a Hesston player 6-2 and 6-0 to win the title.

Chanute

The Comets had one top-10 finish in Topeka; their doubles team of senior Ayden Cummings and junior Logan Bilby finished ninth.

Neodesha

Neodesha competed at the 3-1A meet in Prairie Village, and the BlueStreaks finished 15th in the team scores with five points.

Their highlight was singles player Jackson Delong, who finished 10th in the bracket.

Photo Courtesy: Independence Bulldog Tennis Facebook

The Kansas High School Sub-State boys golf meets begin this morning.

We have local schools at a 4A meet at the Woodland Hills course in Fort Scott. Field Kindley, Independence, Labette County, and Parsons are there.

Chanute is at the Atchison meet, which has been moved to tomorrow.

In 3A, the Baxter Springs Country Club has Caney Valley, Fredonia, and Neodesha playing today.

In 1A, Sedan plays at the Stafford Country Club in St. John.

All scores for the sub-state meets can be found online here.

Yesterday, the 2-1A high school baseball regional kicked off. Here is a recap of how our area teams fared:

Cedar Vale/Dexter: 4 - Belle Plaine: 3

The Spartans staved off a massive upset, walking off 2-20 Belle Plaine to extend their perfect season to 20-0.

Cedar Vale/Dexter trailed 3-1 after five innings. Cooper Webb doubled in a run in the sixth and later scored on an error to tie the game.

In the seventh inning, Easton Cole delivered the winning hit. Kyle Honkomp pitched a complete game on the mound.

The top-seeded Spartans advance to round two on Tuesday; they will host 8-14 Douglass.

Sedan: 8 - Northeast: 0

The Blue Devils used a monster pitching performance from senior Brian Hert to win their region opener.

Hert tossed a shutout, striking out 16 while only giving up three hits.

Sedan will take on #2 Cherokee Southeast on Tuesday.

Douglass: 11 - West Elk: 0

In the #8 vs #9 seed game, the Patriots mustered only one hit and made six errors, leading to their elimination.

West Elk finishes their season 7-14.

St. Mary's Colgan: 15 - Oswego: 0

Oswego ran into a buzzsaw, as they were blasted by the region's #3 seed. The Indians finish the spring 4-16.

Southeast: 11 - St. Paul: 1

St. Paul met a similar date against the #2 seed. They did avoid a shutout, though, to finish a strong end to the season.

After a 0-16 start, they rattled off four wins in their final six games to finish 4-19.

The 4A Boys State Tennis meet begins tomorrow in Topeka at the Kossover Tennis Center. Independence, Chanute, and Parsons each have sent qualifiers to compete.

Independence

IHS won their regional over Parsons last Friday. The Bulldogs have two doubles teams at state: senior Matthew McLenon with sophomore Brodie Small, and senior Kevin Mah with junior Heston Smith.

Independence sophomore Brody Cooley qualified in the singles bracket.

Athletic Director Marcus Lanning says their competitive edge comes in their mental advantage.

Independence's powerhouse tennis infrastructure is well known, but is highly uncommon, as Lanning describes.

Chanute

The Comets have sent two doubles pairings to state: senior Kemper Manly with sophomore Nathan Guernsey, and junior Leo Suarez with senior Harrison Vaughan.

Additionally, Chanute qualified two of those players for singles: Kemper Manly and Nathan Guernsey.

Parsons

The Vikings bring one of each to Topeka. Their doubles team is senior Cole Kennett and sophomore Kai Gregory. Senior Wyatt Shultz is competing in singles.

Neodesha

The 3-1A class meet is being held tomorrow and Saturday, also, in Prairie Village at the Harmon Park Tennis Complex.

Neodesha is sending three players there. They have a doubles team of junior Alex Marroquin and sophomore Tayte Leck, and a singles player in sophomore Jackson Delong.

This morning, KJCCC announced its baseball All-Conference teams. Coffeyville Community College freshman Nick Westendorp was named Co-Pitcher of the Year.

Westendorp is the first Raven in program history to win the award. This season in Coffeyville, he pitched 58.2 innings with a 3.68 earned run average. His ERA in conference play was even better, nearly a run lower at 2.79.

That coincided with his move from the bullpen to the starting rotation in April. Ravens head coach Jake Martin commends Westendorp for making the transition smooth.

Westendorp gave the Ravens some much-needed innings, going at least seven innings in three of his first four conference starts.

That culminated with a complete game shutout on April 23 against Labette, where he tallied a season-best 11 strikeouts.

That began a stretch in which Westendorp allowed just three runs in his final three starts. Coach Martin credits the freshman for expanding his repertoire of pitches during the season.

Westendorp has signed to return to Coffeyville for his sophomore season. The 6'5 righthander came all the way from Alberta, Canada. Martin talks about how he found that diamond in the rough.

Three other Red Ravens earned All-Conference Honorable Mentions. Those are shortstop Kyle Provence, pitcher Webb Fern, and designated hitter Brady Shackelford.

Coffeyville went 27-30 this season, falling to Seward County in the opening round of the conference playoffs.

Regional playoff got underway yesterday, with the first round of the 3A bracket. Here is a recap of how our area teams fared:

Cherryvale: 14 - West Franklin: 0

The Chargers dominated the #8 vs #9 seed game with a 5-inning run-rule.

Freshman phenom Remington John was the star of the game, dominating on both sides of the field. At the plate, he went 2-for-4 with his first career home run and 4 runs driven in.

On the mound, John pitched four scoreless innings with six strikeouts.

Cherryvale advances to face #1-seeded Girard on Tuesday.

Caney Valley: 8 - Wellsville: 7 (8 innings)

The Bullpups used extra innings to keep their season alive. They had a three-run sixth inning to tie the game 7-7. With the bases loaded, James Kistler delivered with a two-out, bases-clearing double.

In the eighth, Boone White doubled in the walk-off run.

Caney Valley will take on the #3-seed Anderson County in Frontenac on Tuesday.

Baxter Springs: 10 - Neodesha: 0

Neodesha ran into a buzzsaw in their first round game, facing a Baxter Springs team that had won 11 straight games coming in.

Baxter Springs had only three hits in the game, but eight walks from Neodesha and seven errors in the field ended the BlueStreaks' season. Neodesha finishes with a 12-8 record.

Burlington: 14 - Fredonia: 0

Fredonia snuck into their regional as a 15-seed, but their postseason was short-lived. 

In the five-inning contest, Fredonia went hitless at the plate. Burlington hit two home runs in the lopsided affair. Fredonia's spring ends at 3-14.

Cedar Vale/Dexter Baseball has been one of the stories of the season. Entering tomorrow’s regional, the Spartans have a perfect 19-0 record.

In one of the most dominant regular seasons you will ever see, Cedar Vale/Dexter outscored opponents by a combined 235-20 score. They posted 10 shutouts in 19 games. Their closest game was a 4-2 win over Udall in their conference tournament.

Their head coach, Luke Wachter, has led the program for 15 seasons, and he says this may be the best team he’s coached.

With an offense averaging more than 12 runs a game, their lineup has posted some gaudy numbers. Half of their lineup is hitting over .500, including sophomore Kyle Honkomp, who has batted .721 this season.

Coach Wachter says he can always count on Honkomp to come through.

While leading the team in offensive production, Honkomp is also Cedar Vale/Dexter’s best pitcher. In 30.2 innings, he has struck out 53 batters while not allowing an earned run.

The Spartans core players are nearly all juniors. Wachter credits their maturity and buy-in for their success.

As the top seed in their region, Cedar Vale/Dexter faces 2-20 Belle Plaine in the first round tomorrow night.

Past that, Wachter says the Spartans will need to play their best ball to advance.

Photo Courtesy: Cedar Vale Schools Facebook

The following are reported scores from May 12:

Kansas HS Baseball

Fort Scott: 19 - Field Kindley: 4 - Fort Scott: 10 - Field Kindley: 0

Independence: 15 - Parsons: 0

Ottawa: 2 - Chanute: 1

Mulvane: 10 - Chanute: 0

Independence High School has just named Preston Sharp as its new head boys basketball coach.

Sharp replaces Brad Smith, who retired after six seasons in Independence and 37 total years as a head basketball coach.

IHS goes with an internal hire. Sharp has been with USD 446 for the last four years as a middle school science teacher. 

During that time, Sharp served as an assistant to Brycen Byrd on IHS’s girls basketball coaching staff for three seasons. Last year, Sharp was an assistant to Brad Smith on the boys team.

IHS Athletic Director Marcus Lanning says Sharp had been on his radar long before coming to Independence.

Lanning believes that those earlier stops for Sharp, along with his experience working with Byrd and Smith, have given him a diverse coaching background that will be beneficial.

Sharp will have big shoes to fill. He replaces Brad Smith, who won more than 400 games over his career, with stops at Labette County and Maize before six years in Independence.

Lanning hired Smith to replace himself as he transitioned from basketball coach to athletic director, and he says there was no better man for that job.

Photo Courtesy: Independence High School Facebook

For the first time since 2010, Cherryvale High School Baseball is the Tri-Valley League champion. 

They went 13-9 during the regular season. Cherryvale recovered from a 3-6 start to finish 10-3.

The Cherryvale program has come a long way in a short time. Their 2026 senior class won only three games during their freshman season.

For a program with little recent success, winning its league was on their mind for quite a while.

Family ties run deep on the Cherryvale roster. The team features three Umbargers, a pair of brothers, and a cousin. Chargers head coach Scott John also grew up with their fathers.

One of Cherryvale’s best players, a two-way freshman named Remington John, is the son of the head coach.

This season, Remington John has led the team in hits with a .435 batting average and has been their best pitcher. In 38 innings, he has struck out 47 batters while allowing only five earned runs.

Cherryvale turns its attention to the 3A regional, which begins tomorrow night. As the 8-seed, they will host 11-7 West Franklin at 5 p.m.

West Franklin comes in with three straight losses. Coach John says they’re a difficult team to get a read on.

A win over West Franklin would likely pit them against top-seeded Girard. No matter what, Cherryvale knows how to keep games close.

Photo Courtesy: Cherryvale High School

The following are reported scores from May 11:

Kansas HS Baseball

Pittsburg: 8 - Independence: 2

Baxter Springs: 15 - Field Kindley: 0

Labette County: 15 - Parsons: 0 / Labette: 20 - Parsons: 3

Fredonia: 22 - Eureka: 6 / Fredonia: 21 - Eureka: 20

Independence High School boys' tennis was victorious in Friday's 4A regional meet in Winfield.

The Bulldogs team score of 18 edged out Winfield's 15. Parsons took third place with 13, and Labette and Field Kindley each went scoreless in team points.

IHS had the top two doubles placements. Senior Matthew McLenon and sophomore Brodie Small came in first. Senior Kevin Mah and junior Heston Smith were second.

Parsons had a good showing as well. Senior Wyatt Shultz was the top singles player at Friday's regional. Their doubles team of senior Cole Kennett and sophomore Kai Gregory was third.

Independence will be moving on to the 4A state tournament.  That will be at the renowned Kossover Tennis Center in Topeka on Friday and Saturday.

Photo Courtesy: Independence Bulldog Tennis Facebook

In Kansas High School Baseball, some regular seasons have already concluded, and some will wrap up this week. Here is where the teams in our area stand entering the day.

4A (Southeast Conference)

1) Independence (12-7)

2) Chanute (10-11)

3) Fort Scott (9-13)

4) Pittsburg (7-12)

5) Labette County (5-14)

6) Field Kindley (4-9)

7) Parsons (3-15)

3A (Tri-Valley Conference)

1) Cherryvale (13-9)

2) Caney Valley (13-7)

3) Humboldt (13-11)

4) Neodesha (12-7)

5) Bluestem (5-17)

6) Eureka (4-15)

7) Fredonia (3-13)

2A (Three Rivers Conference)

1) Central Heights (19-3)

2) Cherokee Southeast (18-4)

3) Marmaton Valley (17-5)

4) Uniontown (12-10)

5) Crest (11-11)

6) Jayhawk Linn (11-11)

7) Pleasonton (8-13)

8) Yates Center (7-15)

9) Northeast (7-15)

10) Oswego (4-15)

11) St. Paul (4-18)

12) Erie (2-22)

1A (South Central Standings)

1) Cedar Vale/Dexter (19-0)

2) Flinthills (13-10)

3) South Sumner (12-8)

4) Udall (8-12)

5) Sedan (7-13)

6) West Elk (7-13)

7) Oxford (6-14)

8) Central (6-16)