Grant Lockwood, Divante Herrig-Brittian and LaMar Lynch took the top three places in the boys’ 200-meter dash at the Bobcat Relays at Basehor-Linwood High School. Herrig-Brittian won the event with a time of 22.70 seconds. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)
by Brian Turrel
The Piper High School track and field won both the boys’ and girls’ team competitions at the Bobcat Relays, held at Basehor-Linwood High School on Friday afternoon.
Bonner Springs, Turner and Washington high schools were also among the 10 schools competing in the meet.
The Piper boys won with 210 points, outpacing the hosts, who scored 148.5. The Pirates dominated the sprints, winning the 100-, 200-, and 400-meter dashes, and even sweeping the top three places in the 200- and 400-meter events.
Piper’s boys’ relay teams took first place in the 4×100-, 4×400-, and 4×800-meter relays. The 4×100-meter relay team (Dominique Herrig-Brittian, Grant Lockwood, LaMar Lynch and Divante Herrig-Brittian) set a school record at 42.36 seconds.
The competition among the girls’ teams was closer. The Lady Pirates scored 160 points, edging out the Lady Bobcats’ 145.5. Grace Hanson won both the 800- and 1600-meter runs, well outpacing the field in both.
Pole vaulter Kaitlin Lindstrom successfully completed a personal-record vault of 11-feet, 6-inches — three feet higher than the second place finisher and the highest mark in the state this year.
Piper’s other individual event winners were LaMar Lynch in boys’ long jump, TyJanae Hooks in girls’ shot put, and Genevieve Kulas in girls’ 100-meter hurdles. The girls’ 4×400-meter relay team also took first place.
Bonner Springs finished fourth in the boys’ competition and fifth in the girls’. Last years’ 5A state discus champion Mariyah Noel won the girls’ discus throw in Basehor and was also on the winning 4×100-meter relay team. Cooper McWilliams won the boys’ high jump, and Jenna Knight won the girls’ 300-meter hurdles.
Washington finished eighth in the girls’ standings and 10th in the boys’. Turner finished eighth in the boys’ team competition.
No one was close to catching up with Piper junior Grace Hanson in the girls’ 1600-meter run. Hanson won the race with a time of 5:38.75, over 40 seconds ahead of the second place runner. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)
Piper senior Grant Lockwood ran in the boys’ 400-meter dash. Lockwood won the event with a time of 51.88 seconds. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)
Piper hurdlers Sophia Derks, Genevieve Kulas and Malia Martin raced in the girls’ 100-meter hurdles. Kulas, center, won the race with a time of 18.90 seconds. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)
Piper sophomore LaMar Lynch won the boys’ long jump with a distance of 21 feet. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)
Piper junior Deanna Jones competed in the girls’ high jump. Jones placed fifth with a height of 4-feet, 4-inches. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)
Bonner Springs junior Mariyah Noel threw in the girls’ discus event. Noel placed first with a distance of 111-feet, 10-inches. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)
Bonner Springs’ girls’ 4×100-meter relay team (Carly Conrad, Stasia Sambol, Mariyah Noel, Jenna Knight) posed together after their winning run with a time of 53.85 seconds. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)
Bonner Springs senior Cooper McWilliams ran the first leg of the boys’ 4×100-meter relay. McWilliams also placed first in the high jump, clearing 6-feet, 0-inches. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)
Bonner Springs sophomore Caden Campbell tried to hold off Basehor’s Marc Farris for the win in the boys’ 1600-meter run, but Farris edged past him at the line by 4-hundredths of a second. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)
Bonner Springs senior Alex Amayo jumped in the boys’ long jump. Amayo took fourth place with a distance of 19-feet, 8.5-inches.
Washington freshman Makayla Henry competed in the girls’ long jump. Henry placed fifth with a distance of 14-feet, 8.5-inches. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)
Washington junior Chaddrick Jones rounded the first corner in the boys’ 400-meter dash. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)
Washington freshman Paulina Mercado Amado held off Maranatha’s Jessie Alexander for seventh place in the girls’ 1600-meter run with a time of 7:20.84. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)
Turner junior Peyton Waldo took 6th place in the boys’ shot put with a throw of 39-feet, 11.75-inches. He also placed 5th in the discus throw. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)
Midfielder Remi Walter leaped for joy after scoring in the 25th minute. Walter’s goal put the team ahead 1-0, but two second-half goals gave Nashville the victory. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)
by Brian Turrel
Sporting Kansas City gave up two second-half goals to Nashville FC in a 2-1 loss Saturday evening at Children’s Mercy Park.
Kansas City’s defensive lapses on Nashville set pieces allowed the visitors to overcome an excellent first-half score from Remi Walter and a penalty kick save from Tim Melia.
Kansas City had the best early opportunities, taking advantage of wide open real estate down the right side. Johnny Russell hit a scorcher in the fourth minute, but it was just wide of the far post.
Nashville pushed back and put together a string of opportunities. After a save from Tim Melia in the seventh minute, a potential Nashville goal by Alex Muyl was waved off for offsides in the twelfth.
Hardly a minute later, Melia was forced to defend a penalty kick earned by Nashville on a soft foul by Nicolas Isimat-Mirin. The career leader in penalty save percentage knocked away Hany Mukhtar’s attempt and snapped up the rebound.
Kansas City got on the board in the 25th minute on a well executed build-up. Daniel Salloi played the ball to overlapping Ben Sweat on the left. Sweat beat his defender to the end line and then crossed the ball back to the middle into the path of charging Remi Walter who knocked the ball in from near the penalty spot.
Nashville equalized the score not long after halftime. The team played a free kick short and got a cross into the box that Dave Romney headed in from close range, unmarked as he crashed in toward the back post.
In the 68th minute, Nashville took the lead off a long throw-in deep in the Kansas City end. The throw found the corner of the 6-yard box, and a ricochet found C.J. Sapong eight yards out with a clear view of the goal.
Kansas City got some late offensive energy from substitutes Marinos Tzionis and Nikola Vujnovic, and Russell, Salloi, and Graham Zusi all had shots in the last 20 minutes that narrowly missed or were parried by Nashville goalkeeper Joe Willis.
Kansas City has yet to score more than one goal in a match this season, but it was the defense that head coach Peter Vermes called out in his post-game press conference.
“Terrible mentality,” the head coach said, not sparing his words. “Terrible defending mentality. Just terrible. Horrendous. At the end of the day, we should never have given those situations away in the game.”
Though this was Kansas City’s first home loss of the season, its overall record stands at an unpromising 2 wins and 5 losses, and Vermes hinted at changes to come.
“If other guys go out, don’t want to play, don’t want to fight for it,” Vermes warned, “we’ve got other guys that have to step up and give them a chance.”
Kansas City will play next in an Easter game at Los Angeles FC, and the next home match at Children’s Mercy Park is April 23, starting at 7:30 p.m.
Former Sporting Kansas City player Aurelien Collin, recently retired from professional soccer, returned to Kansas City to lead the crowd in the “I Believe” chant. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)
Nashville midfielder Alex Muyl knocked away a promising shot opportunity from midfielder Marinos Tzionis. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)
Nashville goalkeeper got a boot on a headed shot from Daniel Salloi. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)
Midfielder Remi Walter watched his shot sail into the net. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)
Forward Johnny Russell split two Nashville defenders and came out the far side with the ball. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)
Forward Daniel Salloi fired a shot on goal, but banged the ball off the post. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)
The Wolfpac runner kept pushing for extra yards after contact against the Nebraska Lawdawgs defense. The Wolfpac won the game 36-6. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)
by Brian Turrel
Saturday afternoon, the Midwest Wolfpac defeated the Nebraska Lawdawgs 36-6 in the second game of their Central Plains Football League season.
The Wolfpac’s home base is Kansas City, and their home games are played at the Soccer Nation facility at K-32 and 55th Street in the Turner area.
The CPFL is a semi-professional league, funded by a combination of attendance, player fees, and fundraising. Players range from recent high school graduates still working to improve to veteran players who still want a taste of competitive football.
Pat Harris, Wyandotte High School graduate, long-time area coach, and now assistant football coach at Turner, is the head coach and part-owner of the Wolfpac. He sees the team as a way to give back to the community, “to reach others that did not make it to the professional level or college” and to “bring some excitement.”
David Jones, quarterback and part-owner of the Wolfpac, led the team on the field. Jones made the most of the eight-man, arena-style format, with quick hits to receivers mixed with enough running plays to create defensive confusion in the Lawdawgs’ secondary.
After the game, Jones gathered both teams around him at midfield, and he re-emphasized the theme of community. No matter how competitive the athletes are before and during the game, he said, after the game they remain a community, “a brotherhood,” of mutual respect and a shared commitment.
The Wolfpac’s next home game will be on April 16 against the Topeka Twisters, starting at 4 p.m.
Quarterback David Jones found a receiver down field. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)Some Wolfpac players and fans gathered at the concession stand during halftime. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)The Lawdawgs quarterback released the ball as the pass rush closed in. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)A Wolfpac receiver was upended on a pass play. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)The Wolfpac runner found some open field running room. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)The Wolfpac offensive line provided pass protection. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)After the game, David Jones addressed the players from both teams. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)Three young Wolfpac fans congregated in the end zone after the game. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)
