It was a successful, and eventful, 2019 for Louisburg High School athletics and for those who are connected to the Wildcat program. This past year created a lot of school history for LHS and several programs brought back state hardware.

Below are the Top 10 stories from 2019, along with a brief explanation of each. Included in the explanation is the link to the actual story from the event.

When putting the list together, I took a lot of things into account – whether it was team vs. individual, popularity of the sport, historical achievements and the interest it drew on the web site. There were stories that I had to leave off that normally would easily make it. 2019 was that successful of a year for Wildcat athletics.

This year was a blast to cover and I was blessed to have the opportunity to go along for the ride with many of these. As much fun as it was, I can’t wait for 2020 to begin. Looking forward to it!

10. Tucker, Ratliff-Becher win powerlifting titles, Tucker breaks state record.

Two Louisburg High
School weightlifters made their way to the top of the podium in March during
the Class 4A State Powerlifting Meet at Basehor-Linwood High School.

Louisburg senior Kiefer Tucker and junior Reilly Ratliff-Becher both earned state championships in their respective weight class. Senior Jonathan DePriest finished third overall and several other Wildcats also earned individual medals.

Not only did Tucker
win a state title in the 220-pound division, he also broke a 24-year state bench
press record as he recorded a bench of 375 pounds to surpass the old mark of
365. He also won the squat competition at 505 pounds and had a total of 1,165
pounds to run away with the crown.

Tucker’s total was the
highest three-lift mark at the entire state meet in all weight classes.

“I had messed around with 375
and 385 before on bench, so I was confident that I could lift it if I had the
chance,” Tucker said. “I was more worried about my first lifts on bench at 345
and 365 because if I messed up on those attempts then I would not have had the
change to even attempt 375. It was definitely a sigh of relief when I finally
locked it out.

“It was a great feeling to beat the state
record. To put Louisburg up on the record chart definitely brought a smile to
my face.”

Ratliff-Becher had a big day
in the women’s division as she won a state crown in the 180-pound weight class.
She finished with a three-lift total of 575 pounds.

The Louisburg junior took first in bench press with 155 pounds,
first in clean at 150 pounds and second in squat with a 270-pound lift.

“Winning the state title
meant a lot to me,” Ratliff-Becher said. “I have put in a lot of time and
effort in weights class, so it’s nice to see it has paid off. But, also because
I feel as if I put out a message to girls that it’s cool to be strong
physically. I know that being sometimes the only girls in a class with a lot of
strong guys is intimidating. Weightlifting is all about your own personal
growth and seeing how far you can push yourself.

“I was honestly surprised I won because there are lots of very
strong girls there and it’s good competition. It’s also fun to meet new people
that have the same interests and motivation as you.”

9. Golf qualifies for state, Dillon medals for third straight season

As the scores trickled
in to the clubhouse at Paola Country Club, the Louisburg golf team could hardly
stand it.

The Wildcats were
nervously waiting to hear if they had qualified for state, but they knew it was
going to be close. Louisburg had to be in the top three of the team standings
to earn a spot and the Wildcats had some tough competition amongst them.

As it turned out, the
Wildcats had nothing to worry about.

Louisburg recorded a team score of 352 during the Class 4A regional tournament in May and finished third overall by nine strokes over fourth-place Ottawa. The Wildcat team of Calvin Dillon, Drake Varns, Garrett Rolofson, Ryan Haight, Noah Hill and Colin Cook all competed in the state tournament

Topeka-Hayden won the
regional title going away with a 332 and Louisburg was just three strokes
behind runner-up Tonganoxie, which had a 349.

“It feels great,
especially with all the hard work we have put in the offseason and last few
months,” Dillon said. “It was our goal coming in and we did it. I felt like we
had a good chance. It was borderline with those four teams being as close as we
are. I knew we had a chance, but it was nice to actually qualify. It was
definitely a little nerve-racking waiting for the scores to come in.”

As impressive as that
feat was for the Wildcats, Dillon’s performance blew away the rest of the
competition.

The Louisburg junior
won his first individual regional title as he carded a 1-over 73 to win the
tournament by six strokes. Dillon’s 73 was his best score on the season and he
has now won all but one tournament on the year.

Dillon went on to record his third consecutive state medal and finished 11^th overall in Dodge City after the tournament was postponed several times, and eventually moved due to weather.

8. Wildcat wrestling sends six to state, Moore earns first state medal

Back in early November
of 2018, Austin Moore was in a sling with a broken collarbone and he wondered
why all this was happening.

Moore suffered the
injury during the regional football playoffs and he didn’t get to finish his
final high school season. Not only that, his hopes of getting his first state
wrestling medal was in serious jeopardy.

A little more than
four months later, Moore was on the medal stand with some of the state’s best
wrestlers in his weight class.

The Louisburg senior earned a fourth-place medal at 220 pounds during the Class 4A Kansas State Wrestling Championships in February at the Tony’s Pizza Events Center in Salina. It was his first high school state medal and it marked the end of a long journey for Moore.

“It was pretty special
for me to get a state medal, especially because it has been a goal of mine ever
since I started wrestling,” Moore said. “Overall, I felt like I wrestled pretty
well, but I just wish I could’ve ended it on a win.”

The Wildcats qualified six wrestlers for state, had three regional champions and took third place in the team standings during the regional tournament in Paola – all while not being able to field a full team.

Louisburg’s talent was
certainly on full display during the two-day tournament. Brandon Doles, Blue
Caplinger and Austin Moore won regional crowns, Cade Holtzen was a regional
runner-up, while Gabe Bonham and Ryan Owens also qualified for state by placing
third and fourth, respectively.

As a team, the
Wildcats ended up with 138.5 points and was just 2.5 points out of second
place. Ottawa won the regional with 149.5 points and Eudora was second at 141.
It was the highest regional team finish for Louisburg since 1998.

“The way these guys
wrestled this weekend shows that the program has been doing so many things
right this season,” Louisburg coach Bobby Bovaird said. “We’ve had the obstacle
of low numbers, which hurt us in our duals, but when it comes to tournament
time, we have a bunch of guys who are placing high and that gives us a lot of
team points. Taking six to state feels pretty encouraging, and finishing third
at regionals is an awesome statement for this team.

“If a few things had
gone the other way, we would have been in second as a team. On paper, we
weren’t supposed to be in the race for a regional plaque. Almost all of our
guys stepped up and scored huge team points for us.”

7. Louisburg softball captures regional title

OTTAWA – Madison
Svoboda could feel her heart starting to come out of her chest.

Karson Griggs was a
feeling a little nauseous.

Those are some of the
same feelings that were flooding the Louisburg softball’s team dugout during the
final inning of the Class 4A regional championship game against Chanute on
Tuesday in Ottawa.

Louisburg held a one
run lead, but Chanute had the tying run on third, two outs, and a trip to the
state tournament was on the line. On the mound was sophomore Brooklyn
Diederich, and with two strikes, the Chanute batter fouled five straight
pitches.

The tension was
mounting.

Finally, on the 10^th pitch
of the at-bat, Diederich got what she was looking for – a swing and miss.

The strikeout sealed the Lady Cats’ trip to state with a 6-5 victory over No. 7 seed Chanute and sent shockwaves throughout Class 4A softball.

“I want to cry, but at
the same time I am just really happy,” Griggs said. “It is exciting because I
never thought something like this could happen, especially this year. It feels
really nice and now maybe people will actually start taking us seriously.”

Not many gave people
gave the Lady Cats a chance as they entered the Class 4A regional tournament
with just five wins and were forced to begin tournament action in the play-in
game.

After a 17-2 win over
Parsons last Monday in the play-in game, No. 15 Louisburg advanced to the
regional semifinals and upset No. 2 seed Ottawa, 9-7, which helped set up the
Lady Cats’ first state tournament appearance since 2014.

“I think a lot of
other teams underestimated us,” Diederich said. “The fact that we came out and
played our hardest ball showed what type of team we actually are. It is just
crazy.”

At the state tournament in Salina a week later, the Lady Cats faced off against Andale and lost to the eventual state champion in the first round, 10-0.

6. Cross Country qualifies for state, Moore breaks school record and takes third at state

BALDWIN CITY – One by one,
members of the Louisburg girls cross country team crossed the finish line and
coach John Reece was unsure whether or not his team did enough to qualify for
state.

The Lady Cats had made
school history by qualifying the last two seasons, but the third time was a
little bit in jeopardy – that was until the results were released.

As it turned out,
Reece didn’t need to be so worried.

Louisburg finished third overall with 96 points in October at the Class 4A regional meet at the Baldwin Golf Course, and beat out Bishop Miege by six points to earn a spot at the state meet this weekend in Wamego.

The team of Trinity
Moore, Carlee Gassman, Reese Johnson, Claire Brown, Ruth Minster, Kennady
Wilkerson and Bree Gassman competed for the Lady Cats at state.

“This group of girls runs
well, they race well and they train well together,” coach Reece said. “They are
a good group and this is just as exciting as the other two times. The
competition was a lot tougher than the previous two times. We had to run our
races and we did. From our third to fifth runners was about an eight point
spread.”

Trinity Moore has left a
lasting impression on the Louisburg cross country program over the last four
years, but she saved the best moment for her final act.

Moore broke her own school record with a time of 19 minutes and 39 seconds to finish third overall at the Kansas Class 4A State Cross Country Championships at the Wamego Country Club a week later.

The Louisburg senior
recorded the program’s best ever state finish as she eclipsed her fourth-place state
medal from a season ago.

“It meant so much to
me to finish with such a great race for my high school career,” Moore said.
“Going into the race, I didn’t know how well I would finish. This race had the
best competition that I have ran against all year and I think that is what
really pushed me.

“When I saw my time
crossing the finish line, I was ecstatic. I felt great the entire race and was
able to control everything I did. Finishing third was icing on the cake. I was
surprised but so incredibly happy to be able to place in such a great spot, but
I also knew that this what I had worked for all year.”

This made the fourth
state medal for Moore in her high school career and she improved on her state
finish every year. Last season, she took fourth overall and bested her state
time from a year ago by more than 30 seconds.

5. Boys Soccer wins league, regional titles to earn No. 1 seed in playoffs.

For more than 70
minutes, the goals for Louisburg were hard to come by and it started to leave
an eerie feeling on Halloween night.

However, the Wildcats
got their treat when it was all over.

Louisburg scored two goals in the final seven minutes of the match to earn a 2-0 victory over Kansas City Christian in the Class 4-1A regional championship game Thursday. The Wildcats (16-2-1) earned their third regional title in the last four years and advanced to the state quarterfinals.

“This group is
special,” Louisburg coach Kyle Conley said. “It is going to be tough when it is
all over. This group has changed our culture. They came back to what this
program believes and they have bought in to what we are teaching them. They
have worked so hard since June. For these seniors, this is their third title in
four years and I think it is a lot of fun for them.

A school record 16
wins, a Frontier League championship and a regional title are all something
worth celebrating, but following the state quarterfinal match with Bishop
Miege, all Louisburg could think about was the finality of it all.

Despite all those
accomplishments, the Wildcats fell one win short of their main goal – a spot in
the state final four.

Louisburg saw its season come to a close with a 3-0 loss to Bishop Miege at the Wildcat Sports Complex. The Wildcats lost to the eventual state champion, as Miege went on to defeat Wichita-Trinity on Saturday, 3-1, for the Class 4-1A state championship – the Stags’ fourth in a row.

As difficult as the
loss was for Louisburg, there was no forgetting how big of a jump the Wildcats
made from the season before as they went from a 6-win team to one that earned
the East’s No. 1 seed in the state playoffs.

“Going 6-11 last year
and seeing this Miege team almost mercy-ruling us in the regional championship
last year in the rain, was a program changer,” Louisburg coach Kyle Conley
said. “After that was over, we talked about how things needed to change and it
starts now. For our first practice in June, I told them that they are the ones
that has to change them. Since day one, they have played for each other, played
hard in practice and it was a total mindset change. When someone got hurt, it
was the next guy up. We missed two starters for half of the year and it was
always the next guy up taking advantage of his opportunity to fill in. The
freshmen stepped up huge for us.

“This team is special.
16 wins is a school record and only two losses is probably a school record.
This team is incredible, played so hard and did everything I asked them to do.
They were always there to pick each other up and that is what this soccer
family is all about. It will be tough to say goodbye to these kids.”

4. Volleyball knocks off Miege to win regional title, takes fourth at state

ATCHISON – The
sub-state semifinal game between Louisburg and Bishop Miege had all the feels
of a state tournament match.

Partially because a
year ago, it was.

Louisburg met Miege in
the state championship match only to see the Stags send the Lady Cats to a
runner-up finish in two sets. Then three weeks ago the two teams met again, and
like before, Miege dispatched of Louisburg in two sets.

However, Bishop Miege
saw a different Louisburg team during the sub-state tournament at Atchison High
School – one they didn’t expect.

The Lady Cats came out on fire and never let up in a 25-18 and 25-22 win over Miege to end the Stags’ season. It marks the first time in at least 12 years, if not longer, that Miege will not be at the state tournament.

Since the state
tournament began in 1971, Bishop Miege has made 39 state appearances during
that time in either Class 5A or 4A and is the most in Kansas history.

“Our energy was going
to be the difference in that match, so we knew we had to bring it,” Louisburg
senior Erin Lemke said. “We knew we had the same skill set as Miege, but our
energy was what was going to pull us through there in the end. To get there, we
just had to believe in ourselves and work hard this past week to give us the
confidence that we needed.”

However, even after
pulling off a big revenge win that expended a lot of energy, the Lady Cats
still had a sub-state championship match to play against No. 2 seed Atchison.
The No. 7 seed Lady Cats took care of business as they won in straight sets,
25-12 and 25-15, at Atchison High School.

Louisburg lost its final two matches of the season, but those setbacks didn’t take away from what the Lady Cats accomplished during the Kansas Class 4A State Championships.

For the third straight
season, the Lady Cats were among the last four teams playing and brought home a
little hardware for their efforts. Louisburg took fourth overall after losing
its third place match to Towanda-Circle, 2-1, in October at Hutchinson Sports
Arena.

“Every season our goal
is to put ourselves in the best position to qualify for state and then to
hopefully advance to bracket play on Saturday,” Louisburg coach Jessica
Compliment said. “Leading up to state, we talked about how nothing is
guaranteed and in order to make it to bracket play, we have to show up and play
our best from the first whistle to the last whistle. If we play our game, then
hopefully the winning will take care of itself and we’d advance.

“The eight teams at
state this year were all very talented. I was happy that we qualified for the
semifinals because that put us one step closer to the championship. Even though
we didn’t reach the championship match and finished fourth, I was still very
proud of how the team played throughout the tournament.”

3. Louisburg cheer wins first state championship

The Wildcat
cheerleaders competed at the Class 4A KSHSAA Game Day Spirit Showcase
Competition on Nov. 23 at the Stormont Vail Events Center in Topeka and came
back home with a big trophy in tow.

Louisburg edged out runner-up Augusta with a point total of 82.25 to 81 in the finals to secure what is just the third athletic team state title in school history.

“I was so nervous at
the awards,” Louisburg senior Lauren Vincent said. “We were all holding hands
and had our heads down. We thought that we would get second place at best, most
likely third. We were content because we put everything out on the mat and did
the best we could. But when they called out second place and it was Augusta, we
screamed, cried, and hugged each other because we knew that we had just won.

“When our name was
called for first, we jumped up and hugged each other. Then I ran out onto the
mat and grabbed the trophy and we held it up and jumped around victoriously. It
was the best feeling in the entire world. Knowing that all of our hard work had
finally paid off was indescribable feeling of joy.”

The Louisburg
cheerleaders that competed are Lexi Pena, Lauren Vincent, Ashlyn McManigal,
Brooklyn Mitchell, Gabby Tappan, Andrea Gaza, Eleanor Willming, Jayden Trester,
Lacie Kallevig, Sammy McDaniel, Mable Graham, Anna Morrison, Bella Feikert,
Audrey Anderson, Sydney Dudzik, Kaitlyn Vest, Jolie Hendrickson, Abby Bradley
and Zoe Cutshaw. Louisburg’s head coach is Jayna Guerra.

Not only were the
Wildcats the third team to win a state title in school history, they were also
the first female squad to win a team crown as well. All the history just added
to what was a special day for the program.

“It means so much to
me and all my teammates,” Tappan said. “As someone who’s been a part of a variety
of sports my entire life, I know how hard each of our teams work to do their
very best in whatever sport they’re a part of. We are so thankful that we got
to make history for Louisburg and it is something that I can guarantee that
each and every one of us will remember it for the rest of our lives.”

2. Girls soccer
takes second at state, Conley named coach of year and Scholtz, Buffington awarded
players of year.

When it was all said and done, the Louisburg girls soccer team held its trophy high in front of the Wildcat faithful and the tears were easy to spot.

After nearly 200
minutes of soccer in a nine-hour time period, including one match that ended in
penalty kicks, the Wildcats were spent. They gave everything they had.

For the second consecutive season, Louisburg earned the Class 4-3-2-1A state runner-up trophy after a wild victory over Topeka-Hayden in the semifinals and then were shutout by Bishop Miege in the championship game, 4-0. It was the third consecutive state final four appearance for Louisburg.

Frustration and
sadness was easy to see following the Wildcats’ loss to the defending state
champion, but the team realizes what they have accomplished in just four years
of existence is to be celebrated.

“Being in this
situation two years in a row is something that doesn’t happen very often,”
Louisburg coach Kyle Conley said. “There are a bunch of teams that haven’t been
to a state final four and we have been to three in three years. It is pretty
cool and it is special.”

It was a wild 24 hours
for the Wildcats. Louisburg was supposed to play Hayden on Friday in the
semifinals, but severe weather forced the postponement to early Saturday
morning.

The Wildcats battled
Hayden through four overtimes and eventually led to penalty kicks. After an
intense first five penalty kicks that left the match still tied, senior goalie
Carson Buffington recorded a big save and then senior Hallie Hutsell converted
the sixth penalty kick to break the tie and give Louisburg a 2-1 win over
Hayden.

 “We usually play 80 minutes, but this time we
had to play 110 minutes and we were gassed,” Conley said. “We were holding on
and had some chances at the end to win it, but then we went to overtime and
then to penalty kicks. It was all about to see if we could survive. Emotionally
it was just a high for us and an unbelievable response and a great finish.
Carson making a big save, Hallie putting it in for the win – it was just a
great game.”

In the championship match,
the Stags were just too much for the Wildcats and junior Sophia Stram provided
a big spark. Stram scored all four goals for Miege in the title game, all of
which came in the first half, and the Wildcats didn’t have an answer.

“They are just so freaking good,” Conley said. “I think the
girls were mentally ready, but I don’t think their legs were quite ready, but
we lost to one of best teams in the state of Kansas. They have great players,
they are well-coached, but our girls played their butts off.

Coming off its second
consecutive state runner-up appearance, Louisburg had some positive
repercussions from its historic season.

However, none bigger
came when the all-state teams were released by the Kansas Soccer Coaches
Association. Not only did six Wildcats earn all-state selections, but they were
honored with some of the highest awards out there.

Junior Mackenzie Scholtz was named as the Co-Offensive Player of the Year in Class 4-1A with Bishop Miege’s Sophia Stram after she led the Wildcats in scoring.

Louisburg was also
recognized on the other side of the ball as senior Carson Buffington was named
the Class 4-1A Goalkeeper of the Year.

“Seeing Mackenzie and
Carson recognized for their positional player of the years was fantastic,”
Louisburg coach Kyle Conley said. “They both had incredible years.”

The Wildcats weren’t
done, as for the second consecutive season, Conley was named as the Class 4-1A
Coach of the Year as he guided Louisburg to a 17-4 record. He also led the
Wildcats to three consecutive final four appearances.

1.4×400 boys wins state championship, Wright wins four state medals and team breaks six school records at regional meet.

Three days after
arriving in Wichita for the Kansas State Track and Field Championships, Justin
Collins, Blue Caplinger, Ben Wiedenmann and Chris Williams finally got the chance
to get on the Cessna Stadium track.

The four Wildcat
runners had the top time in Class 4A going into the 4×400-meter relay, but
weather threw a little wrench into their plans. The meet, which was supposed to
end on a Saturday, was postponed to Sunday morning and all races were judged by
times with no preliminaries.

It wasn’t the ideal
situation, but they made it work – and it worked well.

Collins, Caplinger, Wiedenmann and Williams won the state championship in a time of 3 minutes and 25.39 seconds as they edged Chapman at the finish line, which ran a 3:25.61. It was the first state track championship for Louisburg since 2015 when Connor McMullen won the discus.

That was just one
event in what was an historic week for Louisburg track.

Louisburg freshman Delaney Wright earned four state medals, while junior teammate Carlee Gassman finished with three as the Lady Cats went on to finish 10^th in the team standings. The Lady Cats earned several other medals at the state meet coming off an impressive performance at regionals.

During the Class 4A
regional meet at Paola High School, Wright qualified for state in four events,
broke two school records and earned a regional title in her first postseason
track meet.

Wright won a regional
title in the long jump and finished second in the 200 and 400-meter dashes. She
also helped Carlee Gassman, Rain Pugh and Sydni Keagle to a second place finish
in the 4×400-meter relay.

“I am so grateful for
everything,” Wright said. “I had been having trouble with my hip this week and
I just wanted to come out and make state in at least one event. I didn’t
realize I would make it in four. It is an unbelieveable feeling.”

Wright’s day was just one of the many positives for the Lady Cats as they broke four school records, had four regional champions and qualified for state in 10 events.

As a team, the Lady Cats nearly earned the regional runner-up trophy as they racked up 86.5 points and finished a half a point behind second place Baldwin and Bishop Miege, who tied for second. Paola won the regional title with 107 points.

The Wildcat boys also broke two school records and would end up qualifying for nine spots at the state meet.

The Louisburg High School cheer squad was all smiles after the Wildcats edged out Augusta to win the 2019 Class 4A state championship in Topeka.

It has been almost two weeks since
the Louisburg High School cheer squad made history, but the excitement is still
like it all happened yesterday

And why wouldn’t be – Louisburg won
a state title.

The Wildcat cheerleaders competed
at the Class 4A KSHSAA Game Day Spirit Showcase Competition on Nov. 23 at the
Stormont Vail Events Center in Topeka and came back home with a big trophy in
tow.

Louisburg edged out runner-up
Augusta with a point total of 82.25 to 81 in the finals to secure what is just
the third athletic team state title in school history.

“I was so nervous at the awards,”
Louisburg senior Lauren Vincent said. “We were all holding hands and had our
heads down. We thought that we would get second place at best, most likely
third. We were content because we put everything out on the mat and did the
best we could. But when they called out second place and it was Augusta, we
screamed, cried, and hugged each other because we knew that we had just won.

“When our name was called for first, we
jumped up and hugged each other. Then I ran out onto the mat and grabbed the
trophy and we held it up and jumped around victoriously. It was the best
feeling in the entire world. Knowing that all of our hard work had finally paid
off was indescribable feeling of joy.”

The Louisburg cheerleaders that competed are Lexi Pena,
Lauren Vincent, Ashlyn McManigal, Brooklyn Mitchell, Gabby Tappan, Andrea Gaza,
Eleanor Willming, Jayden Trester, Lacie Kallevig, Sammy McDaniel, Mable Graham,
Anna Morrison, Bella Feikert, Audrey Anderson, Sydney Dudzik, Kaitlyn Vest,
Jolie Hendrickson, Abby Bradley and Zoe Cutshaw. Louisburg’s head coach is Jayna
Guerra.

Not only were the Wildcats the third team to win a state title in school history, they were also the first female squad to win a team crown as well. All the history just added to what was a special day for the program.

“It means so much to me and all my teammates,” Tappan said. “As someone who’s been a part of a variety of sports my entire life, I know how hard each of our teams work to do their very best in whatever sport they’re a part of. We are so thankful that we got to make history for Louisburg and it is something that I can guarantee that each and every one of us will remember it for the rest of our lives.”

The Wildcats, who competed against 18 other programs, opened
with a fight song routine, followed by crowd leading and then the band chant.
It was the latter that helped put them in the finals when the top six teams
were announced.

At the time, Louisburg was second in points with 180.6, but
Piper – the defending state champion – had racked up a score of 194.8 with a
good opening round.

“Our band chant was
definitely the highlight of our individual performances,” Guerra said. “On and
off the practice mat, I was approached by coaches, athletes, and staff members
commenting on how unique and clean our routine was. That was really reassuring
to me being a first time coach. That let me know that I was doing good, and was
providing for my girls.

“Overall
I think our final performance was the best. They killed it out there. Competition
day, they were coachable and made quick changes to make the routine fit what
the judges were ultimately looking for.”

In
the finals, Louisburg performed its all-cheer, which is all three routines plus
a situational sideline for whatever the judges call and they had to perform it
all in a 3-minute window.

“We were a little nervous because we have
lots of stunts and we always need to have our spirit up and be engaging with
the crowd, so it’s very tiring,” Tappan said. “We had practiced a lot though so
we knew we could do it. At that point we weren’t thinking we were going to win,
we were just happy we made it to the finals.”

When the announcement finally came, the Wildcat cheerleaders were in disbelief when their name was called for first and they had won the state title. A flood of other emotions soon followed, and it was then they realized all their hard work had paid off.

“To win a
state title my senior year is the most amazing yet rewarding feeling,” Vincent
said. “Us seniors have been working so hard for this moment for the past four
years. We have analyzed countless routines and observed the seniors from the
past years to better ourselves and prepare for this leadership position. And
when our time finally came around to lead, we felt prepared and knew that we
had a good team on our hands.

“We have put in so much work the last four
years to make sure that our team and choreography were up to par. We were hard
on our girls sometimes, but to win the state title means that our leadership
and constructive criticism paid off. I’m so proud of our girls for stepping up
to both Jayna and our high expectations of success.”

It was a lot of work to get prepared for the
showcase event as the Wildcats began prepping in October and had 1-2 practices
a week along with their normal cheering engagements.

“I could not have asked for a better
group of hard working girls,” Guerra said. “They are the ones that did all the
work, I just guided them in the direction they set the path for. For me, seeing
their reactions and having them know that their hard work paid off was all
I needed. I will fully admit that I am overjoyed with our placement, but I am
more proud of the girls and the leadership and dedication they showed
throughout the process.”

TeamMates program director DeMoine Adams speaks to students at Broadmoor Elementary last week about the new TeamMates program in Louisburg.

Aaron Bauer, like many other
people throughout country, spends part of his day cycling through hundreds of
emails.

Then one day, Bauer saw one that
caught his eye – it came from his mentee.

You see, Bauer served as mentor to
this child in rural Nebraska before making the move to Louisburg. It was part
of a program called TeamMates.

Three years after moving to
Louisburg, Bauer’s mentee graduated high school and sent him, what Bauer
called, “the coolest email I have ever received.”

“Aaron, Thank you. Towards the end
of the year, Ms. White showed me a picture of our first match.  It
reminded me of the matches and our time together. You helped a lot during
TeamMates, more than you will ever know, and I’ll be forever grateful.”

Bauer really wasn’t sure what kind of an impact he was having with his
mentee, and if it was even making that much of a difference this child’s life.
One email changed all that.

“Unfortunately, I had to move do to my career,” Bauer said. “My TeamMate
graduated this last spring, three years after I moved.  I remember as
school was ending earlier this spring telling my wife that my TeamMate would
graduate and I asked the rhetorical question, “Do you think I had any
impact?”  A couple of weeks later, after his graduation and during his
summer break, he wrote me a 4-page email because he wanted to update me on his
life and tell me how much our time meant to him.”

The TeamMates program has created several stories like that through
Nebraska and surrounding states and now it is making its way to Kansas – more specifically
– Broadmoor Elementary in Louisburg.

Louisburg is one of 10 school districts in Kansas that have begun using
TeamMates, a mentoring program that pairs a community volunteer with a student.
That mentor would spend time once a week with their mentee to do things the
student enjoys.

“I think it is a great opportunity
for our students,” Louisburg program coordinator Sara McIntire said. “We are a
small-town, and while we are close to the city or to Overland Park, we have a
lot of kids that don’t have the resources to go do some of those things. We
might have kids who are good at sports like basketball, and have the
opportunity to get coached by an adult, but not everyone gets opportunities
like that. I also think our community is special. If a family has a need, and
people became aware of it, we wrap ourselves around that and resources come out
of the woodwork.”

TeamMates Mentoring Program
began in 1991 with the vision of University of Nebraska Head Football Coach Tom
Osborne and his wife Nancy. Coach Osborne felt that the athletes in his program
could make an impact on the middle school students, and twenty-two football
players began meeting with middle school students in the Lincoln Public
Schools.

Of the 22 original mentees, 21
went on to graduate from high school while one left school early to pursue a
successful Motocross career. Eighteen of the original mentees also
obtained some form of post-secondary education.

Since that time, the program
has expanded throughout Nebraska and into surrounding states to help create
those connections to help in a child’s life.

On Nov. 4, TeamMates program
director DeMoine Adams and training and match support manager Allyson Horne
made the trip to Louisburg to speak to the Broadmoor Elementary staff and students
about the program.

“Our hope, as we started as an organization, is to be able to give kids more opportunities to be feel heard and to give mentors more of an opportunity to see what is happening in school districts today and make a difference,” Horne said.  “I don’t think any of us could have ever predicted 10,000 matches, five states and so much ripple effect of the impact.

“My own daughter matched with her
mentor when she was in fifth grade. She is now 23 and recently became a mentor
herself and we have lots of stories like that where we have former mentees who
are now becoming mentors. We have three former mentees who work for the central
office. As a mentor, my hope was always to make a difference in my mentee’s
life, but I would say they probably changed mine more than anything else.”

Later in the evening, the
school provided mentor training for interested participants, and according to
McIntire, had 43 possible mentors go through training. By the following
Thursday, more than 40 students signed up that they were interested in the
program.

 “I always tell mentors that it is ok to say ‘I don’t know, or I’m not sure,’” Horne said. “I think my mentee loves doing crafts with me because she knows that I am terrible at them. She likes to see me struggle I think. When we let our mentee’s teach us, I think some phenomenal things happen with trust-building. It also takes a lot of pressure off of a mentor.

“It has been a unique experience
to be here already. To come in and already see the space created for mentors
and mentees to meet has just been amazing. The school staff has a lot of energy
for it and Sara’s dedication…43 mentors who are going to be trained is not
typical right at the start. For us to come in and feel totally welcomed, but
also this excitement and energy, is unique for us. My role for DeMoine and
myself, we travel program-wide, so we are in South Dakota, Wyoming, we are in
Kansas this month and a lot of communities in Nebraska. When there is already a
culture of belonging and welcoming in a community, we know this is a great fit
and I can already see that.

As good of a first step as
that is, McIntire said they will always be looking for new mentors as they hope
to one day build the program into the middle and high school levels.

“We would love for the community
to embrace this on an even bigger level,” McIntire said. “We have some
businesses already, like First Option Bank and Louisburg Family Dental, who are
having all their employees sign up to be mentors. It is awesome that businesses
are supporting their staff and the giving of their time. We would love to see
that spread. I think the possibilities are endless. I think the legacy of the
program speaks for itself.”

Bauer, who has seen what the
program has done for students first-hand, is taking on a big role in the
Louisburg program as the advisory board president.

Other community members, Becky Bowes (vice-president), T.J. Williams (treasurer), Jennifer Heston (secretary), Connie Barbour, Nick White, Dave Tappan, Dave Alexander, Kristine Lowry, Tim Johnson and Jim Real are all serving on the advisory board, and along with building coordinator Amy Buffington, all hope to see the program take off.

“I am not the type of person that typically gets excited about a whole
lot, but I am super excited about TeamMates coming to Louisburg,” Bauer said. “All
my colleagues that mentored though TeamMates had similar positive, unique
stories.  The special part of being a TeamMates mentor is that you are
matched with a student based on common interests and you remain TeamMates until
the mentee graduates.  TeamMates is also unique in today’s world in that
it is designed to focus on the student’s strengths, and the meetings must be
face to face in a safe environment.  There are no phone calls, texts,
social media, etc. interactions allowed with your mentee. 

“Initially, I
would anticipate the impact of mentoring will not be as evident until trust is
built between the students and the mentors. In a few years, and from then
on, I expect the impact to be very noticeable and it will only continue to
grow. TeamMates has quite a bit of research though Gallup and the
resulting data shows the positive impact on students that have had a
mentor. Often, it reaches far beyond school academics and truly has a
long-lasting and profound impact in the lives of the kids.”

For those that
are interested in becoming a mentor, or want to learn more about the program,
contact McIntire at mcintires@usd416.org
or 913-837-1973.

You can also
visit www.teammates.org to learn more
about the program and view testimonials from those mentors and mentees that
have been impacted.

(From left) Dennis Stiles, John Lohse, Jason Burk and Krystal Bowes-Grojean were inducted into the Louisburg High School Athletic Hall of Fame last week.

When Dennis Stiles, John Lohse,
Jason Burk and Krystal Bowes-Grojean returned to Louisburg High School and
Wildcat Stadium last Friday night, memories came rushing back.

It was hard for them not think
back to what was all like. The four former Wildcat athletes created plenty of
memories for themselves and left a lasting impression on LHS athletics.

They were each officially inducted
into the Louisburg High School Athletic Hall of Fame and were recognized at
halftime of last week’s football game against Piper. They became the first
class since 2008 to be inducted into the hall.

The USD 416 Endowment
Association, which oversees the LHS Athletic Hall of Fame, announced the class
last summer and they were the top four vote getters in this year’s voting.

“Louisburg has a history
of great athletes,” said Damon Dennis, a USD 416 Endowment Association board
member. “We had a good cross-section of both young and older voters this year
that really took their job seriously. The four athletes chosen represent
several generations of former Wildcats and each one were dominant in their
particular era and sports. The Endowment Association is excited to get the
Hall of Fame going again and plan on some big things in the future.”

Stiles, who is a member of the Class of 1969, lettered
4 years in football and track and 3 years in basketball. His senior year he was
named all-league and all-state in football and was co-captain on the Wildcat
team that finished the year 4-4.

As a sophomore, he played on the varsity basketball
team, which went 12-0 in league play, finished the year 20-3 and were district
champions. He earned honorable mention all-state honors his sophomore and
junior seasons and was second-team all-state his senior year. Stiles was at one
time the school’s career scoring leader.

Stiles competed at the state track meet as a junior
and senior where he placed fourth in the discus his senior year. He previously
held school records in the discus and triple jump. He also received a football
scholarship to Kansas State University.

“Just
to be considered is an honor,” Stiles said. “But, to be selected, I am thankful
to the people who were part of the selection process. I was totally shocked
when Damon gave me the news.

“As far as proud
moments, it was just being part of teams that were just trying to compete. We didn’t always win, but I enjoyed the friendships that were
built. As a sophomore, I played on a basketball team made up of mostly
seniors, but we went undefeated in league and finished with a 20-3 record. It
was just a great group of guys.”

Lohse, a member of the Class of 1995, lettered all four years in baseball and was selected to represent Kansas in the all-star baseball classic his senior year. He was an all-league pitcher and centerfielder for the Wildcats his sophomore through senior years. He had a .510 average his junior and senior seasons, with 10 home runs his junior year and 12 more his senior season.

In football,
Lohse was a 3-year letterwinner. He was an all-league wide receiver his junior
and senior seasons. In his senior year, he had 850 yards receiving and 11
touchdowns and was later selected to represent Kansas in the Metro Classic
All-Star Game.

Lohse was also a 3-year letterwinner in basketball and was an all-league selection his junior and senior seasons. He averaged a double-double his junior and senior years.

Post-graduation,
Lohse attended Pittsburg State on a baseball scholarship and played on the
Gorilla team for four years. He was selected to the all-MIAA team his sophomore
and junior seasons before injuring his shoulder his senior year.

He had a .315
average his junior and senior seasons. In his first collegiate at-bat his
freshman year, Lohse hit a game-winning grand slam to give Pitt State its first
win over Missouri Southern in five years.

“Being inducted into the Louisburg
Hall of Fame was a honor,” Lohse said. “All the sweat, tears and practices just
to get to this point is all worth it. That’s not counting the relentless hours
my dad Rich worked with me at home as well. We spent many hours in the backyard
playing catch and working on stuff. My parents never missed a game and I was
glad my parents, wife and my three kids were present for the induction.
I have always taught my kids to give 110 percent at everything you do. Practice
makes perfect.

“I had a lot of favorite memories. Whether it was winning sub-state my junior year in basketball and going to state, or being selected to play in the Metro Classic football game and being selected as the Kansas MVP or scoring four touchdowns my senior year against Wellsville on homecoming. I have so many great memories that I could go on and on, but I couldn’t have done it without the great coaching and teammates I had.”

Burk, who graduated
in the Class of 1999, was a 4-year letterwinner for the Louisburg track and field team
and qualified for state in all four years in four events. He accumulated 12
state medals, 16 regional track medals and 14 Frontier League medals. Burk was
selected to the Kansas City All-Metro track team in 1998 and 1999.

During his senior season, Burk was a state champion in
both the triple and long jump. He won the triple jump with a leap 48 feet and
the long jump with a mark of 22-5. He also finished fifth in the 100-meter dash
and sixth in the high jump.

As a junior, Burk won a state championship in the
triple jump with mark of 46 feet and won three more state medals. He took
second long jump, fourth in the 100 dash and sixth in the 200 dash. As a
sophomore, Burk won state medals in the triple jump (second), long jump (fourth)
and 4×100 relay (third). He was a member of the 4×100 team that took second at
state as a freshman in 1996.

At one time, Burk held seven school records. He
currently holds school records in the triple jump, high jump and long jump.
Burk holds the school record for most points in a season with 326.

Burk also played football, where he was a part of
bi-district, district and regional championship teams.

“It was a great honor and a proud moment for me and my family when we found out,” Burk said. “It gave me a great feeling of accomplishment. I would like to thank Doc D and everyone who was involved in the ceremony. It turned out amazing.

“My favorite memory was my freshman year at regionals when I
missed the school record in triple jump by a half-inch. I had a personal record
that day and the reaction I got from coach (Aaron) Webb was priceless. That was
the moment Webb and I knew the rest of my high school career was going to be
great. My proudest moment was going to state
my junior year by myself and taking seventh in the team standings.”

Bowes-Grojean, who graduated in 2001, was a 4-year
letterwinner in track before she was offered a scholarship on the Wichita State
track and field team.

In her senior season at Louisburg, Bowes earned three
state medals, including a second-place finish in the javelin with a throw of
145-10. She was also third in the discus with a toss of 126-9 and fifth in the
shot put at 37-5. As a sophomore and junior, she finished sixth in the discus
at state. In all, Bowes racked up five state medals in her high school career
before moving on to Wichita State. She is the current Louisburg record holder
in the javelin (146-10) and discus (137-11).

At Wichita State, she earned academic All-American
honors and was a team captain all four years. Bowes was a two-time NCAA
national qualifier and finished fifth in the javelin and was second in the
Missouri Valley Conference in 2006.

In 2004, Bowes took first in the MVC in the javelin
and fourth in the discus. In 2003, she won the Missouri Valley Conference
discus title, was second in the javelin and fourth in the hammer throw. Bowes
was also a member two Shocker teams that won conference titles.

In volleyball and basketball at LHS, Bowes was a
3-year letterwinner in each sport and earned first-team all-Frontier League
honors each season.

“It’s a pretty amazing honor to be selected for the Hall of Fame, knowing that there have been some awesome athletes to come out of Louisburg and now to be recognized as one of them, truly is humbling,” Krystal said. “You know, when you’re in high school and just doing the work you need to do to get the job done on the field/court, you don’t think about the level of competition you can set for the next generations. At least I didn’t until my name got put on the wall for those school records and having them still there is pretty sweet. I just have high expectations of myself and where I wanted to go with it all and a lot of support from my family helped.

“You know having to write down everything I accomplished over my four years at LHS, and then to go on to WSU and add them all up was pretty fun to think back on. All the road trips to sub-state and state, no matter what the outcome, the memories that I have and the coaches to help me get there I will never forget. It may have even brought some tears to my eyes thinking about all the fun we use to have.

“But I think most of all my favorite
thing looking back at it all was knowing that I had two parents in the stands
at all of my games, sitting on those hard bleachers cheering us on through it
all. So for that I’m thankful and will always remember I’m one BAC.”

The 2019 Louisburg High School fall homecoming candidates are (front row, from left) Kami Geiman, Riley Kallevig, Kody Lowry, Reilly Ratliff-Becher; (back row) Brayden White, Ian McGuire, Madden Rutherford and Calvin Dillon.

Homecoming week at Louisburg High School kicked off Monday and events are in full swing. With something going on every day this week, it will be a busy time for students. All of it is, of course, centered around the crowning of the 2019 fall king and queen. Eight students were selected as nominees and here are their names and profiles.

The crowning will take place on Friday before the Wildcats’ home football game with Eudora. Kickoff for that game is set for 7 p.m., with the crowning to take place at 6:30. Good luck to all the participants and make sure to come out on Friday to support the Wildcat football team.

Kody Lowry

Kody is the daughter of Kristine and Shawn Lowry. Kody has participated in the musical for four years, STUCO for three years and girls basketball, track and field, select choir and football manager for two years. Kody plans to graduate in December and attend Kansas State University, majoring in Human Development and Family Science.

Madden Rutherford

Madden is the son of Breck and Shane Rutherford. Madden has participated in football, baseball and choir for four years and basketball for three years. He has been a part of National Honor Society and the musical for two years and Future Business Leaders of America for one year. Madden is undecided on his college destination, but hopes to play football or baseball in college. He plans to major biology and sports medicine.

Riley Kallevig

Riley is the daughter of Kara and Eric Kallevig. Riley has participated in volleyball for four years, FFA for four years, basketball for one year and STUCO for one year. Following graduation, Riley plans to attend college but is undecided on the destination at this time.

Ian McGuire

Ian is the son of Lacey and Sean McGuire. Ian has participated in football for four years, band for four years and track and field for one year. Following graduation, Ian plans to attend college and major in accounting.

Kami Geiman

Kami is the daughter of Shelly and Tad Geiman. Kami has participated in choir for four years, STUCO for three years, band for two years and cheer for one year. Following graduation, Kami plans to attend Missouri State University and major in nursing.

Brayden White

Brayden is the son of Melissa and Nick White. Brayden has participated in football for four years, FFA for four years, track for three years and basketball for two. Following graduation, Brayden plans to play football in college and major in Ag Business.

Reilly Ratliff-Becher

Reilly is the daughter of Trish Becher and Kelly Ratliff. Reilly has participated in volleyball, softball and band for four years. She has been a part of the powerlifting program for three years, basketball and FFA for two years and is a member of National Honor Society. Following graduation, Reilly plans to attend Pittsburg State and major in psychology.

Calvin Dillon

Calvin is the son of Karen and Jim Dillon. Calvin has participated in golf, FFA and FCA for four years. He has participated in band for three years and has been a member of National Honor Society for two. Following graduation, Calvin plans to play golf at the University of Central Missouri and major in accounting.

The Kansas State High School Activities Association released its classifications for the 2019-20 school year, along with the football classifications for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons.

There were a few changes in both areas, but more so on the football side.

Football classifications are determined based on enrollment figures in ninth, 10th and 11th grade. Louisburg is still in 4A with 432 students and is toward the lower half of the classification.

Entering Class 4A beginning in the 2020 school year will be St. James Academy, Lansing and Great Bend, who have all moved down from Class 5A. Wamego also made the jump back in from Class 3A.

Goddard, Pittsburg and Spring Hill all saw their enrollment grow and will be moving up from 4A to 5A next year. Baldwin saw their enrollment decline and will move down to Class 3A in football the next two years.

In the rest of the sports, not much changed with regards to Class 4A for this year.

Enrollment figures for all grades in Louisburg this year is 573, which puts the school in the upper half of Class 4A. The biggest school is Buhler with 661 and Bishop Miege is the second biggest at 656 and Ottawa is third at 653.

Three schools will make the move up to Class 4A this year. Clay Center, Girard and Holton all saw their enrollment increase and will come back to 4A, while Osawatomie, Anderson County and Wichita-Trinity Academy will move out of 4A to 3A this year.

A big change to the Kansas High School
Activities Association (KSHSAA) postseason could be coming sooner rather than
later if a proposal, submitted by the Frontier League, passes the KSHSAA Board
of Directors and its member schools.

Last month the Frontier League,
led by Paola High School principal Jeff Hines and Louisburg superintendent Dr.
Brian Biermann, petitioned KSHSAA to separate public and private schools into
their own postseason competitions.

In order for it pass, the petition
must be signed by 20 percent of the 355 member schools according to KSHSAA
bi-laws. The Frontier League got the 71 needed petitions and have now submitted
this to appear in front of the KSHSAA Board of Directors for vote in their
Sept. 18 meeting.

The board of directors would then
have to pass it by simple majority of those in attendance to bring the proposal
to a vote from all the member schools.

“Kansas needs to catch up with
the rest of the country and get this competitive imbalance under control in our
state,” Hines said. “The longer we wait then more students will be negatively
impacted. We have a responsibility as educators to create the best
opportunities possible for our students. No one can honestly say we have
the best system possible right now. It can definitely be improved.”

The proposal submitted by the Frontier League is the same one the state of Texas uses that keeps the schools in their same classification, but only separates the schools come postseason.

Other options were discussed
before submitting the proposal, such as implementing a multiplier on all
private schools like Missouri currently does. In fact, it is the most popular
proposal among the schools that were surveyed by Hines last January.

They also talked about the “Oklahoma
model” where schools are bumped up a classification based on success for
competitive balance.

Seventy-four percent of the
schools said they would support a population multiplier, 64 percent would
support competitive balance factors and 51 percent would support separate
divisions.

However, KSHSAA would not be able
to make this change with a multiplier due to state statute K.S.A. 72-130 that
states a high school association “must establish a system of classification of
member high schools according to student attendance.”

KSHSAA would not be able to pass a
new bi-law that goes against state statute, and therefore, the Kansas State
Legislature would have reword the statue to allow the association to make those
changes.

The Frontier League believes the Texas model, or separate postseason divisions, does not deal with classifications. Also, this model had more support from 5A and 6A schools as neither classification would likely vote for a multiplier.

“We don’t view that as a classification decision as we are not affecting classification, but KSHSAA and their lawyers view that it is,” Biermann said. “5A and 6A schools that we talked to really wanted us to push for the Texas model because they don’t want to play them (private schools) either. The biggest thing for me is if 5 and 6A schools don’t want to play them, then why do we? As a superintendent, I am supposed to create opportunities for kids. We had four teams last year in both soccer teams, football and volleyball that all saw their season end to Bishop Miege. It is not right that we have kids and coaches that work their tails off and they don’t have the opportunity to win.

“Am I all about state
championships? Absolutely not. But we also know the reality of it in the
current system. Winning state championships is important for communities and is
always a goal. I am not ever going to give up on this idea and neither will the
Frontier League.”

The public versus private school
debate has been going on for the last several years and Hines has been leading
the charge since 2015 when he put together a study that displayed the disparity
of state championships won by private schools.

In 2018-19, private schools won 32
percent of the state championships in Classes 5A through 1A. There are currently
no private schools in 6A. Twenty-one of those 24 state titles were won by
private schools in Class 4A and 5A.

That is a high number considering
that out of the 355 member schools, only 27 of them are private.

The Frontier League wanted to see change, so Hines surveyed the 355 member schools late last year and presented his findings to KSHSAA in January. More than 88 percent of the schools responded, that included 22 private institutions, and 87 percent said they want the current system changed.

Although most schools said they
would support the multiplier model more, Hines and the rest of the league
schools, believe it is the best way to proceed at this time.

“Our
survey indicated that separate divisions was the least popular option among
member schools, however as a league we feel like it is the most appropriate
option,” Hines said. “A multiplier will pass through and will be our next
option if this does not go through.  A multiplier will impact many private
schools that are not quasi sports academies that are not very successful in athletics. The
separate divisions avoids this situation.”

If
the proposal does pass the board of directors, KSHSAA will then put it to a
vote with all 355 member schools and it must pass by a simple majority and by
four of the six classes.

From
there, KSHSAA executive director Bill Faflick would take it to the Kansas
Legislature before change could be implemented.

“We
know it won’t happen overnight,” Biermann said. “Even if this passes, nothing
will change this year and probably not the following year. It could be three
years out with the way football schedules take shape. We are honestly ok with
that if we knew that there was light at the end of the tunnel. If this would
not pass, we would turn right around and do the multiplier one.”

Despite what happens at the
upcoming board of directors meeting, Hines believes changes to the system will
happen sooner rather than later.

“I am now confident something will get done,” Hines said. “I
think it will ultimately take a multiplier to get something done. If the
separate divisions fails then we will propose a multiplier for the spring board
of directors meeting.”

 A lot of obstacles are still in the way for change to happen, whether it has to deal with state statues or member votes, but none of the schools in the nine-member Frontier League are going to stop until they see a more even playing field.

“I am very proud of the Frontier League, and even though we compete against each other, we are very unified on this,” Biermann said. “It is about fairness and equality and I am tired of having my kids at Louisburg High School not having the same opportunity as some others. The throttle is down and it is going to stay down.”

The Louisburg Tonics Granny
Basketball team will soon contend for the national championship.

A record-setting field of women
basketball players, age 50-87, will trek to Lawrence, KS – known as a legendary
basketball town – to play in the 2019 National Granny Basketball
Tournament.  The six-on-six competition,
based on 1920s-style rules, will be held Saturday, July 20, at the Ambler
Student Recreation Center on the campus of the University of Kansas.

“This is the largest event in the
history of Granny Basketball, and we are proud to host it in Lawrence,” said
Dee Bisel, local co-chair of the national tournament committee and player for the
Lawrence based Grey Tornadoes.  “Sixteen
teams and 200 players will compete on four courts at this beautiful facility.  We are excited for the players, family
members and fans to be a part of this special experience.”

 “The Louisburg Tonics always have fun playing Granny Basketball and are looking forward to playing in the national tourney against teams from other states. We probably do more laughing than playing basketball though,” says Jean Carder, Tonics captain.

The team to watch is the
three-peat champion of the national tournament, the Harpers Ferry Fireflies
hailing from a small town in northeast Iowa. Players will travel to match their
skills against other teams, including contenders from Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri,
Texas, Louisiana and other states.

Granny Basketball is a fun-filled
activity that encourages women age 50 and over to stay fit and active in a
non-traditional, social environment. The league provides wholesome, nostalgic
and sometimes humorous entertainment, as well as an outlet for charitable
fundraising.

Players dress in 1920s-inspired
uniforms – black bloomers, middy blouses and sailor-style collars displaying
each player’s number.

The old-style, six-on-six rules call
for the court to be divided into three sections, one each for forwards, centers
and guards. Players can have up to two dribbles per possession. Running is not
allowed, but “hurrying” is. With an emphasis on safety, players are not allowed
to jump or have physical contact. Also, only three fouls are allowed. The
modified league rules also award three points for underhanded “granny shots.”

The 16 teams will be organized
into four pools, where each team will play three games starting at 8 am.  The final four teams, the top team from each
pool, will advance to the semi-finals and championship games. The championship
game is scheduled for 4 p.m.

The public is invited. Proceeds
from the suggested $5 donation at the door will benefit the local Visiting
Nurses Association.

The Granny Basketball League is a non-profit Iowa-based organization founded in 2005.  Currently, 37 Granny Basketball teams are active in 9 states:  Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin.  The league has grown by eight teams in 2019, predominantly in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas.  The national tournament will return to Lawrence in July 2020, then will travel to Prairie Du Chien, WI in 2021.

Members of the Tonics are: Becky Berg, Louisburg; Lisa Berg, Olathe
Jean Carder, Louisburg; Kathleen Caverty, Louisburg; Ruth Fladung, Louisburg; Wanda Harlow, Bucyrus; Helen McClain, Louisburg; Julie McKinley, Linn Valley; LaVonne Mize, Louisburg; Diana Moore, Louisburg; Ellen Morland, Louisburg; Janet York, Louisburg and Coach Kate Berg Camp, Gardner

For more information, visit www.grannybasketball.com
and www.facebook.com/grannybasketball.

Dennis Stiles (top left), John Lohse (top right), Jason Burk (bottom left) and Krystal (Bowes) Grojean will be inducted into the Louisburg High School Athletic Hall of Fame this fall.

It has been 11 years since
Louisburg High School had inducted a class into its athletic hall of fame, but
the wait for a new class is finally over.

The USD 416 Endowment Association, which oversees the LHS Athletic Hall of Fame, has announced a new 4-member class. Dennis Stiles (Class of 1969), John Lohse (1995), Jason Burk (1999) and Krystal (Bowes) Grojean (2001) were the top four vote getters in this year’s hall of fame voting and will be honored in an induction ceremony sometime this fall.

“Louisburg has a history of great athletes,” said Damon Dennis, a USD 416 Endowment Association board member. “We had a good cross-section of both young and older voters this year that really took their job seriously. The four athletes chosen represent several generations of former Wildcats and each one were dominant in their particular era and sports. The Endowment Association is excited to get the Hall of Fame going again and plan on some big things in the future.”

More than two dozen voters, that includes current members of the hall of fame, long-time Louisburg residents, teachers and coaches, voted on the class in June. Each voter was asked to submit their top four choices for the hall and votes were then tabulated.

To be eligible for the hall of fame, the inductee must wait at least 10 years following graduation to be nominated.

The last class that was inducted was in 2008 and Dennis, and the rest of the Endowment Association, is committed to making this a yearly occurrence moving forward.

Here
are the accomplishments of each of the newest hall of fame inductees. Look for
more information on an induction ceremony in the coming weeks.

Dennis Stiles – Class of 1969 – Football, Basketball, Track

Stiles
lettered 4 years in football and
track and 3 years in basketball. His senior year he was named all-league and
all-state in football and was co-captain on the Wildcat team that finished the
year 4-4.

As sophomore, he played on the varsity basketball team which was 12-0 in
league play, finished the year 19-3 and were district champions. He earned
honorable mention all-state honors his sophomore and junior seasons and was
second-team all-state his senior year. Stiles was at one time the school’s
career scoring leader.

 Stiles competed at the state
track meet as a junior and senior where he placed fourth in the discus his
senior year. He previously held school records in the discus and triple jump.
He also received a football scholarship to Kansas State University.

John Lohse – Class of 1995 – Football, Basketball and Baseball

Lohse lettered all four years in baseball and was selected to represent
Kansas in the all-star baseball classic his senior year. He was an all-league
pitcher and centerfielder for the Wildcats his sophomore through senior years.
He had a .510 average his junior and senior seasons with 10 home runs his
junior year and 12 more his senior season.

In football, Lohse was a 3-year letterwinner. He was an all-league wide
receiver his junior and senior seasons. In his senior year, he had 850 yards
receiving and 11 touchdowns and was later selected to represent Kansas in the
Metro Classic All-Star Game.

Lohse was also a 3-year letterwinner in basketball and was an
all-league selection his junior and senior seasons. He averaged a double-double
his junior and senior years.

Post-graduation, Lohse attended Pittsburg State on a baseball
scholarship and played on the Gorilla team for four years. He was selected to
the all-MIAA team his sophomore and junior seasons before injuring his shoulder
his senior year. He had a .315 average his junior and senior seasons. In his
first collegiate at-bat his freshman year, Lohse hit a game-winning grand slam
to give Pitt State its first win over Missouri Southern in five years.

Jason Burk – Class of 1999 – Track and Football

Burk was a 4-year letterwinner for the Louisburg track and field team
and qualified for state in all four years in four events. He accumulated 12
state medals, 16 regional track medals and 14 Frontier League medals. Burk was
selected to the Kansas City All-Metro track team in 1998 and 1999.

During his senior season, Burk was a state champion in both the triple
and long jump. He won the triple jump with a leap 48 feet and the long jump
with a mark of 22-5. He also finished fifth in the 100-meter dash and sixth in
the high jump. As a junior, Burk won a state championship in the triple jump
with mark of 46 feet and won three more state medals. He took second long jump,
fourth in the 100 dash and sixth in the 200 dash. As a sophomore, Burk won
state medals in the triple jump (second), long jump (fourth) and 4×100 relay
(third). He was a member of the 4×100 team that took second at state as a
freshman in 1996.

At one time, Burk held seven school records. He currently holds school
records in the triple jump, high jump and long jump. Burk holds the school
record for most points in a season with 326.

Burk also played football, where he was a part of bi-district, district
and regional championship teams.

Krystal (Bowes) Grojean – Class of 2001 – Volleyball, Basketball, Track

Bowes was a 4-year letterwinner in track before she was offered a
scholarship on the Wichita State track and field team.

In her senior season at Louisburg, Bowes earned three state medals,
including a second-place finish in the javelin with a throw of 145-10. She was
also third in the discus with a toss of 126-9 and fifth in the shot put at
37-5. As a sophomore and junior, she finished sixth in the discus at state. In
all, Bowes racked up five state medals in her high school career before moving
on to Wichita State. She is the current Louisburg record holder in the javelin
(146-10) and discus (137-11).

At Wichita State, she earned academic All-American honors and was a
team captain all four years. Bowes was a two-time NCAA national qualifier and
finished fifth in the javelin and was second in the Missouri Valley Conference
in 2006. In 2004, Bowes took first in the MVC in the javelin and fourth in the
discus. In 2003, she won the Missouri Valley Conference discus title, was
second in the javelin and fourth in the hammer throw. Bowes was also a member
two Shocker teams that won conference titles.

In volleyball and basketball at LHS, Bowes was a 3-year letterwinner in each sport and earned first-team all-Frontier League honors each season.

Current members of the LHS Hall of Fame

Class of 2005:

Tom
Stevens – 1934 – Track and Field (High Jump)

1947/48
Undefeated Football Teams

Richard
Meiers – 1949 – Basketball/Football

Don
Meek – 1965-1998 – Coach/Administrator

Larry
Harding – 1976-1994 – Volleyball/Golf Coach

Amy
Dodson Goode – 1986 – Volleyball/Basketball

Class of 2006:

Jim
Wells – 1936 – Track and Field (Pole Vault)/Football

Doug
Eaton – 1971 – Wrestling

Sue
Truman Apple – 1974 – Track and Field/Volleyball/Basketball

Mike
Meek – 1985- Football/Wrestling/Track and Field

Jamie
Waite – 1991 – Track and Field (Pole Vault)/Football/Basketball

Class of 2007

Alan
Taylor – 1949 – Football

Tim
Dozier – 1987 – Wrestling/Football

Beth
Dodson Dixon – 1989 – Volleyball/Basketball

Jeff
Lohse – 1991 – Baseball/Football/Basketball

Class of 2008

Greg
Kahmann – 1987 – Baseball/Football/Basketball

Mark
Buckingham – 1994 – Basketball

Louisburg High School’s Lakin Cunningham recently won the state barrel racing title and will compete at the National High School Rodeo in four events.

Lakin Cunningham has had a rodeo season to remember – and it isn’t even over yet.

Cunningham competed in the Kansas High School Rodeo Finals last month in Mulvane and left with a lot to show for it. She won the barrel racing state championship and was a reserve champion in goat tying.

That success led to even bigger
things as she was named All-Around Cowgirl for the state of Kansas. Cunningham
was also crowned the 2019-20 Rodeo Queen for the second consecutive year.

Cunningham, who just finished her
sophomore year at Louisburg High School, didn’t give much thought on winning
the all-around title. As the season went on, however, it became much more of a
reality.

“Going into finals I knew I had a pretty good chance at winning the All-Around as I had about a 2,500 point lead on the girls behind me, but still anything can happen at the state finals when there is so many points up for grabs,” Cunningham said. “I knew I just had to perform to the best of my ability and whatever happened was in God’s hands. Going through the finals I didn’t even know what the All-Around standings were, and to be honest I didn’t want to know. So when I found out I did end up winning the title I was so happy.

“Going into this season this fall, all-around cowgirl was not even a goal of mine. In fact, it’s something I didn’t even expect when the season started last August as I thought to be an All Around contender that I needed to be a roper and have a couple more events.  But, I had a great fall season in barrel racing and goat tying and led the All-Around standings from that first rodeo and kept my lead throughout the entire season.  It was just something that happened and I was so happy that it did. The All-Around title has been won by seniors for the past several years in Kansas High School Rodeo, so I’m so honored to have achieved this award my sophomore year.”

Cunningham
went up against some tough competition and found herself in a tight race for
the barrel racing title with her horse, Precious. Unfortunately, during her
runs at state she noticed something wasn’t right with Precious.

When
all her rides were complete, Cunningham realized she was hurt. Despite all
that, Cunningham was still able to take the barrel racing crown, which was her
first event state title.

“We had been doing very well all season
and I have learned, when something is up with my horse, that she doesn’t turn
good,” Cunningham said. “Before the short round, we went back into the practice
pen to try and figure out what the problem was. We figured out that my horse
was hurting, but there was nothing we could do about it because the short go
was that night, so I just told myself just be smooth and get through one last
run. We ended up being third in the short round and it was enough to win us the
state championship title by 2.5 points. I led that event from the very first
rodeo last August and feel so blessed my horse put me in the money so many
times and brought me my first event state championship title.”

Cunningham also stepped it up in the
goat-tying competition as she put together some of her best times of the season
as the right moment. She was sitting third in the state going into the finals
and the top five had been shuffled all year long.

She had a strong performance in the first two rounds with two 7-second times and then had a time of 7.3 seconds in the short-go to cinch the runner-up spot.

“I knew going into finals that I just had
to make three smooth and solid goat runs and I would be okay for a spot on the
nationals team,” Cunningham said. “One mess up might cost me going to nationals
since the points were so close between the top 5 girls. Little did I know I
would go into finals and blow my expectations of myself way out of proportion.
All I was hoping for was a spot on the nationals team and I ended up being the
reserve champion goat tier and landing just a few of points behind the state
champion.”

Wyoming is the next stop for Cunningham
as she will compete in the National High School Rodeo in Rock Springs. She will
compete in four events, including barrel racing, goat tying and reined cow
horse, which she took fourth at state.

Along with those, she will also represent
Kansas in the royalty pageant. She will be the only competitor from Kansas to
compete in four events.

The royalty pageant is something Cunningham
is looking forward to and has a better idea of what to expect this time around.

“Last year was a learning experience for
me,” Cunningham said. “Going into the Nationals last year I had no idea what to
expect. As a freshman, it was a little overwhelming for me as it’s the largest
rodeo royalty pageant in the world with up to 50 girls (only 5 were freshman
last year), but I learned the ropes and am so excited to go and do even better
this year. Being a rodeo queen means so much to me. A lot of people think that
a rodeo queen is someone who sits on a horse and looks pretty, but to me it’s
so much more than that.

“Being able to introduce new people to rodeo, as well as be someone for little kids to look up to is just one of the many things I love about it. I also love all the opportunities and skill it introduces you to. I’ve been able to meet so many people in the western industry that I never would have met if it weren’t for being a rodeo queen. I learn to be so much more responsible, how to talk to people and use better social skills. I also love the fact that I can show people that rodeo queens aren’t just girls who sit on a horse and look pretty. They are also tough rodeo athletes.”

The soon-to-be LHS junior is looking forward
to the competition as nationals and Cunningham knows this is the moment she has
been waiting for since the season started last August.

“This is my fifth time representing Kansas on its national team as I made it all three years of middle school and then my freshman year as well,” she said. “I’ve never qualified for nationals in more than two events though, so this year will be an experience.”

“When I go into nationals, I don’t think
to myself, ‘Oh I have to go out and win a national title,’ I think to myself
that I need to go out there and perform to my very best ability and whatever
happens, happens. When I think this way it makes it easier for me to control my
nerves. Sometimes you have to fail to learn how to overcome things. I learned a
lot from my hardships my freshman year and my success at nationals my eighth-grade
year. Those lessons made my sophomore year better than I ever could have imagined
when I started the season. I left state finals with three saddles, seven belt
buckles and many other awards.”

All this success isn’t new to the
Cunningham family. Lakin’s mother, Kara, also won the Kansas High School Rodeo All-Around
Cowgirl title in the early 90s and won multiple state titles as well.

Her grandparents, Jim and Sandy Lowe, are
also big parts of her rodeo success.

“I’m following in the family’s footsteps,”
Lakin said. “My grandpa is the one that oversaw the breeding program both my
horses came from and my grandma is the one that guided me on how to train my
barrel horse and my mom on how to train my goat horse. It’s so cool that I’m a second
generation KHSRA All-Around Cowgirl, State Champion and Queen.”

Nationals isn’t the only big event that
Lakin will compete at this summer as she also qualified for the National Little
Britches Finals Rodeo in August in Oklahoma. She will also compete in barrel
racing and goat tying.

In December, Cunningham will also travel
to Las Vegas to compete in the Vegas Tuffest Junior World Championship in goat
tying.

“As you can see, we will travel a lot of
miles this year chasing dreams at some big events and competing in the sport I
love,” Lakin said.