Piper cheerleaders place third in state competition

The Piper cheerleaders reacted with joy as they heard their third place award announced in the 5A KSHSAA GameDay event. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)

by Brian Turrel

The Piper and Bonner Springs cheerleading squads participated in KSHSAA GameDay, the state championship for competitive cheerleading, which was held in the Stormont-Vail Event Center in Topeka on Saturday evening. The Pirates’ cheerleaders brought home the third place trophy in Class 5A.

Teams competed in three preliminary rounds — a band chant, a crowd-leading cheer, and their school’s fight song. The top six teams after the preliminaries then performed a long-form final routine that also included a cheer for a specific football scenario assigned by the judges.

Piper qualified for the finals, but Bonner Springs was eliminated after the preliminaries.

In the final round, Piper narrowly edged out St. James Academy by less than half a point for third place. The squad from St. Thomas Aquinas High School won the 5A competition, followed by Blue Valley Southwest.

After the awards ceremony, Piper head coach Morgan Kolenda praised the skill and effort of her team.

“They’ve put in a lot of hard work this entire season,” said the coach.

“We’ve got a long way to go. We’ve got a lot of basketball left. They’re an amazing group of girls — talented beyond measure — and I’m just excited to see where we can go next.”

The Piper Pearls, Piper’s dance team, performed in the dance competition held Friday, winning fifth place in Class 5A.

Piper cheerleaders performed in the KSHSAA GameDay competition. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)
Bonner Springs cheerleaders performed in the KSHSAA GameDay competition. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)
Piper cheerleaders performed in the KSHSAA GameDay competition. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)
Bonner Springs cheerleaders performed in the KSHSAA GameDay competition. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)
The Piper cheerleaders had their own cheering section for a change. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)
Bonner Springs cheerleaders performed in the KSHSAA GameDay competition. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)
Piper cheerleaders performed in the KSHSAA GameDay competition. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)
Bonner Springs cheerleaders performed in the KSHSAA GameDay competition. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)
Piper cheerleaders performed in the KSHSAA GameDay competition. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)
Bonner Springs cheerleaders performed in the KSHSAA GameDay competition. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)
Piper cheerleaders performed in the KSHSAA GameDay competition. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)

Faith news

Note: Please contact the church or check its social media pages to see if it is making schedule changes.

Blessed Sacrament and Christ the King Catholic churches have information about Masses at the churches’ websites or Facebook pages at www.facebook.com/Christ-the-King-Parish-KCKS-1392808997677579 and www.facebook.com/BlessedSacramentkck. Masses at Christ the King are at 4 p.m. Saturday, and 9:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. Sunday. Masses at Blessed Sacrament will be at 6 p.m. Saturday, 7:30 a.m. Sunday and 10 a.m. Sunday. Sunday is the Feast of Christ the King, and after the 9:30 a.m. Mass there will be a procession planned outdoors. Christ the King School eighth-graders will hold a taco bingo fundraiser at 11 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 19, at the church basement, Davern Hall, 3024 N. 53rd St.

Bonner Springs United Methodist Church, 425 W. Morse Ave., Bonner Springs, will hold a Community Blood Center blood drive from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 30. To make an appointment, call 877-468-6844 or visit savealifenow.org.

Casa – Worship House Christian Church, 5217 Leavenworth Road, Kansas City, Kansas, will have information about services at www.facebook.com/casadealabanzaKCKS. For more information, visit Facebook @casadealabanzaKCKS.

Churches United for Justice is planning a research kickoff meeting from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 10, at the Salem Baptist Church, 1824 N. 11th, Kansas City, Kansas.

“Scripture Group: Lectio and Discussion,” will be held from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 23, at the Keeler Women’s Center, 759 Vermont Ave., Suite 100-B, Kansas City, Kansas. Heather Neds will present the program. Registration is required to 913-689-9375. For more information, visit www.keelerwomenscenter.org.

Oak Ridge Missionary Baptist Church, 9301 Parallel Parkway, Kansas City, Kansas, will have a worship service at 9:50 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 20. For more information, visit https://www.facebook.com/ORMBCKC or http://ormbc.org/church-online/.

Open Door Baptist Church, 3033 N. 103rd Terrace, Kansas City, Kansas, will have services at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 20. For information about services, see https://www.opendoorkc.com/livestream. For more information see https://www.facebook.com/opendoorkc/ and https://www.opendoorkc.com/.

Our Lady and St. Rose Catholic Church, 2300 N. 8th St., Kansas City, Kansas, will celebrate Mass at 11 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 20. For more information, see https://www.facebook.com/ourladyandsaintrose.

Prairie Meadows Church, a Free Will Baptist congregation, 426 Emerson Ave., Bonner Springs, will have Sunday services at 10:30 a.m. Nov. 20. For more information, see www.prairiemeadowschurch.com.

Stony Point Christian Church, 149 S. 78th St., Kansas City, Kansas, will have a Sunday worship service at 10:15 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 20. The youth group will be selling cinnamon rolls as a fundraiser for their 2023 youth group trip. See more information at https://www.facebook.com/StonyPointChristianChurch.

St. Patrick Catholic Church, 1086 N. 94th St., Kansas City, Kansas, has information about Masses at https://www.facebook.com/StPatrickKCK. Masses are at 5 p.m. Saturday, and on Sunday at 7:30 a.m., 9:15 a.m., 11 a.m., 12:45 p.m. in Spanish and 2:30 p.m. in Chin-Burmese. A pancake breakfast by the Knights of Columbus will be from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 20, for the support of seminarians. St. Patrick members are collecting certain grocery and department store gift cards for families who need assistance in the Christmas season.

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 1300 N. 18th St., Kansas City, Kansas, will have Sunday services at 10 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 20. For more information, see https://www.facebook.com/StPaulsKCK/ or https://www.stpaulskck.org/.

Sunset Hills Christian Church, 6347 Leavenworth Road, Kansas City, Kansas, has regularly scheduled Sunday services at 9:30 a.m., with Sunday School following the service at 10:45 a.m. The Wednesday Night Bible Study will be held at 7 p.m. in Fellowship Hall. Livestream services here at https://www.facebook.com/sunsethills.christianchurch/. For more information visit [email protected] or email [email protected].

Wyandotte United Methodist Church, 7901 Oakland Ave., Kansas City, Kansas, has regularly scheduled services at 10 a.m. Sunday, with Sunday School at 9 a.m. For more information, including information about livestreamed services, see https://www.facebook.com/Wyandotteumc.

Information about other church services in Wyandotte County may be available from the church’s social media page. To send in items for the Faith News, email information to [email protected]. Please include your name and contact information.

Jo Blaq performs ‘Kansas City’ at Mayor’s Downtown Holiday Lighting festival on Friday evening in KCK

Jo Blaq performed “Kansas City” at the Mayor’s Downtown Holiday Lighting Festival Friday evening at City Hall in Kansas City, Kansas. (Video by Steve Rupert)