(Editor’s Note: This is the first of two parts of Sports in Review for 2010)
January
4 — Explaining college football overtime rules to Auburn head coach Gene Chizik during a timeout was John Masterson, Iola native and side line judge for the Big 12 officiating crew at the 2010 Outback Bowl in Tampa, Fla. Signaling touchdown on the first score of the 2010 Rose Bowl game, then watching Ohio State’s Brandon Saine do a tightrope act along the same sideline was Joe Blubaugh, Erie native and the field judge for the Big 12 officiating crew in Pasadena, Calif.
9 — Dontay Hicks, a former Allen County Community College basketball player, died Dec. 26, 2009, of a heart attack after playing a pick-up basketball game, according to reports in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and other news sources. Hicks was a former standout high school player from Milwaukee, Wisc., who played two years as a point guard for the Allen County Red Devils, 1996-97 and 1997-98.
18 — Nothing but net. Gavin Cole pumped his fist and let out a yell. Well, he should as he drained the biggest shot of his college basketball career. With 3.7 seconds remaining in the game, Highland Community College’s Ryan Donahoe hit the first of two free throw attempts. ACCC’s head coach called a timeout. Cole was set just inside the midcourt line. He took the basketball and was calm. Cole squared up to the basket and put up a perfect arching jump shot. The ball was in the air when the buzzer sounded for a 79-77 win.
February
4 — Playing for Pittsburg State University has been on his agenda all of his life but don’t think Kyler Thompson will be “playing in the shadow” of his father and uncle. Thompson signed a national letter of intent to play football for the NCAA Division II Pittsburg State team. Thompson, a 6-2, 220-pound Iola High senior, has family history at PSU. His parents, Kent and Susan Thompson of LaHarpe, both graduated from the university. Kent and his brother Kurt Thompson were all-conference linebackers for the Gorillas in the 1980s.
9 — Dirt track racing has been part of Dan Daniels’ life from an early age. His father and uncle raced on the local tracks. It wasn’t until the Humboldt native came back from serving in the Navy that he got into dirt track racing himself. In his 17th year behind the wheel, Daniels has collected some major hardware for his trophy case. Daniels became the sixth driver to win the O’Reilly/NCRA Modified Championship in the division’s 12-year history. Daniels drove in all eight races of the series in 2009.
12 — Iola High’s Mustangs hosted the school’s first-ever Southeast Kansas League wrestling double-dual. Iola defeated Coffeyville 29-19, winning five matches to Coffeyville’s four. Independence beat Iola 49-30 in the third dual of the night after decking Coffeyville 66-10.
22 — CHANUTE — It was a historic weekend for Iola High sports at the 2010 Kansas Class 4A Regional Wrestling Tournament at Chanute High School.
Iola High juniors Marcus Sullivan, 160, and Chris Lynn, 285, became the first state tournament qualifiers in wrestling. Iola is in just its second year of competitive high school wrestling.
The 2009-2010 season was the first full varsity season for the Mustangs. Iola had nine wrestlers enter the two-day regional tournament.
March
1 — SALINA — No medals, but don’t count this weekend a lost one for Iola High wrestling.
Juniors Chris Lynn and Marcus Sullivan both vowed to be back at the state tournament next year. Yes, both said, they were disappointed that their stay in contention at the 2010 Kansas Class 4A State Wrestling Tournament was short at the Bicentennial Center in Salina.
9 — Five ACCC athletes earned NJCAA All-America honors for their performances at the 2010 NJCAA National Indoor Track and Field Championships.
Sophomore Cameron Parker didn’t defend his national triple jump title but did place third in the event, earning All-America honors. Joining Parker in earning NJCAA Indoor All-America honors for the second year in a row were sophomores Angelica Larrier and Isiah Young. Sophomore Postena Louisjeune was a double All-American for Allen County at the 2010 national indoor meet. Louisjeune jumped a personal best in the high jump to capture second place. Louisjeune and sophomore Keythra Richards placed in the top 10 of the long jump.
15 — Area anglers now have an opportunity to snag a different type of fish right in their own backyard, sort of. Kansas paddlefish season opens Monday and runs through May 15. And it is legal to “snag” the paddlefish in Iola on the Neosho River from the dam south to the city limits. With the cooperation of the City Commission and the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, a third posted area along the Neosho River was established this year.
18 — Jazmyne Honeycutt and Seth Walden made their marks on Iola High basketball from long range. Kelsey Larson drives the Iola High Fillies.
All three IHS basketball players received postseason recognition for their efforts in the 2009-2010 season by Southeast Kansas League coaches. The 2010 All-Southeast Kansas League basketball teams were selected following the regular season by the coaches.
20 — Opposing coaches fretted over how they were going to defend Andra Bailey and Breanna Shaw. They were the leading scorers for ACCC’s men and women during the 2009-2010 basketball season. Both led their teams in scoring. Bailey was named to the 2009-2010 All-Jayhawk Eastern Division first team and to the All-Region VI, Division I first team. Shawn earned All-Jayhawk Eastern and All-region VI, Division honorable mention.
23 — Iola High senior Jazmyne Honeycutt, the Fillies’ leading scorer for the 2009-2010 basketball season, received state Class 4A recognition for her efforts. In Class 2A, Humboldt High’s guard Tevin Strack, Uniontown High sophomore Jacy Ermel and Marmaton Valley High junior Maggie Meiwes took honors. In Class 1A, Crest High senior guard Bryan Newton, Southern Coffey County High’s senior guard Shelby Birk and seniors Laurie Ohl, Kaitlin Meyer and Yates Center High senior Kassy Reynolds earned honors.
April
3 — Iola High’s Alex Hill found her groove pitching 12 innings, spanning two games, of scoreless softball. She was one hit away from back-to-back perfect games.
The Fillies decked host Coffeyville’s Field Kindley High Golden Tornado girls 6-0 in the opener of a Southeast Kansas League doubleheader. Coffeyville got a single in the fourth inning off Hill but nothing else.
Then came perfection.
Hill faced 15 batters in a five-inning game. The line read: no runs, no hits, no walks, no hit batters, no errors, eight strikeouts.
Iola’s offense matched Hill with 15 runs — seven in the third inning and eight in the fifth.
6 — Uniontown High senior Abbie Smith set a new school record in the 100-meter high hurdles at the Oswego High Invitational. Smith won the race in 15.7 seconds. She also won the 300-meter intermediate hurdles in 51.94 seconds and won the gold in the girls’ long jump.
14 — Six records were set during competition at the 2010 Iola Middle School Invitational track and field meet. Five of them were in the seventh-grade boys’ division.
Iola set one school record. Trilby Bannister won the seventh-grade girls’ 75-meter hurdle in 14.17 seconds. The old record was 14.36, set by Molly Stanley in 2002.
17 — Postenea Louis-jeune has pushed the ACCC women’s high jump mark higher in her second competition of the 2010 outdoor season. The Wachula, Fla. sophomore finished second at the Ole Miss Invitational, Oxford, Miss., by clearing the high jump bar at 5 feet, 8 inches.
26 — Iola High’s Fillies have never had a girl devoted to the pole vault until Maggie Wilson came along two years ago. Wilson is following in her father’s footsteps. Larry Wilson, now coaching for IHS track, is second on the Mustang pole vault honor roll.
Wilson reached 10 feet, 6 inches, a new Fillies’ pole vault mark, as a freshman. At the Fredonia High Relays, Wilson won the pole vault with a clearance of 11’6”. She then won the 100-meter dash and ran the lead-off leg of the winning 4×100-meter relay for the Fillies.
29 — ACCC’s 2010 Red Devils finished the regular season with the most wins by an ACCC softball team. They went 38-20 this season. In 1989, Allen County went 37-7 in the regular season winning the Jayhawk Eastern Division title. That ACCC team was ranked third in the nation going into the Region VI tournament. In 1988, the Red Devils finished 29-11 in regular season, winning the Jayhawk East then winning the Region VI tournament and taking fifth in the national tournament.
30 — Kent Toland played in his third No. 1 singles’ championship match in as many Southeast Kansas League tennis tournaments. Twice he was denied by Independence High players. Not in 2010. Toland remained undefeated for the season by beating Independence’s Nick Romans in the SEK title match. Toland won 6-2, 6-0.
May
1 — Larry Gleue of Le Roy is a man who is paying it forward. This fall Gleue enters his 35th season as a Kansas high school and junior high football official. Gleue was named the 2009 Kansas Football Official of the Year by the National Football High School Officials Association.
ACCC’s golf team battled only one team but also windy conditions to capture its third straight Region VI, Division II golf championship. Led by individual champion Rob Carlson, the Red Devils captured the 2010 NJCAA Region VI, Division II Golf Championship. Capturing the championship trophy along with Carlson were sophomores Will Clark, Nick Agnew, Bryant Welch and Gavin Cole.
4 — Iola Middle School’s golf team finished the 2010 season just like it started — with a win led by Kaden Macha. The Ponies won the Southeast Kansas League traveling trophy.
Uniontown High’s Abbie Smith is a triple-triple Three Rivers League track champion. The senior won the 100-meter high hurdles, the long jump and the 300-meter low hurdles at the TRL track meet. Uniontown’s girls had five event champions at the 2010 Three Rivers League track meet hosted by Pleasanton High School. Jessica Schaaf won the 1600-meter run and the 3200-meter run. Crest High’s Lady Lancers claimed three event championships — Italy Loving in the 800 meters, Kurston Gilliland in shot put and discus — and Marmaton Valley High’s Mercedes Trollope won the triple jump.
5 — ACCC’s Red Devils were hitting the softball in the deciding third game. But they stranded 10 base runners in a game they lost 5-4. Allen County went into the NJCAA Region VI, Division II, District E playoff series against Kansas City, Kan., Community College with the momentum at home. Allen County lost the first game 1-0 then tied the series up with a 3-0 victory.
10 — Senior Kent Toland became Iola High’s third regional tennis champion since 1999 with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Max Manley of Coffeyville.
17 — Iola High senior Kent Toland came up one spot short of his goal for his final year of high school tennis. “But I have no regrets,” said a tired Toland after receiving his silver medal at the 2010 Kansas Class 4A Boys’ State Tennis Tournament at Pratt.
Iola High’s Mustangs have ruled the 4×800-meter relay race four straight years at the Southeast Kansas League track meet.
Senior Ryan Weir became a four-time SEK champion on the IHS 4×800. Seniors Seth Browning and Aaron Cheung made it two in a row and the new guy was sophomore Christian Kauth. Ethan Fulton won his final SEK 110-meter high hurdle championship on the same track he won his first with twin brother, Aaron, in second place. Ethan is the SEK long jump champion and Aaron took third place. Another double gold medal winner was senior Darin Hutton, winning the shot put and discus.
Three Southeast Kansas League event championships and two school records set is all Iola High’s Fillies did at home at the 2010 SEK championship track meet. Junior Maggie Wilson defended her SEK pole vault championship. She went 10 feet, 6 inches to win the gold medal. First-time SEK champion is junior Kirstin McGuffin with a gold medal in the javelin.
Wilson combined with sophomores Kendra Taiclet and Kelsey Larson and senior Jazmyne Honeycutt to claim the SEK 4×100-meter relay championship. The foursome’s winning time of 51.2 seconds was a new Iola High Fillies’ 4×100 record. The old record was 51.5 seconds set by Wilson, Taiclet, Brittney Jacobs and Honeycutt in 2009.
18 — Marmaton Valley High’s Dalton Houk and Uniontown High’s Justin Query qualified for the Kansas Class 2A State Golf Tournament. Yates Center High’s Wildcats captured the Kansas Sand Greens Regional Championship on the Leonardville Golf Course. That means the whole team qualifies for the state golf tournament.
Jake Morrison, a junior, is the individual regional champion.
21 — Freshman of the year in the Jayhawk Eastern Division. Jayhawk Eastern Division coach of the year. Six players earning conference honors.
Not a bad way to wrap up the best season of ACCC softball since 1989. The only regret the 2010 Red Devils have is not having a deep run into postseason play. Ed Wilkerson, ACCC head coach who recorded his 400th career coaching win during the season, is the 2010 Jayhawk Eastern Division coach of the year. Jenna Sigg, third baseman from Iola, was freshman of the year, earning Jayhawk East second-team honors and All-Region VI, Division II District E first team honors. Sophomores Shawna Blakesley, a second baseman from Iola, and Autumn Lamle, an outfielder from Cache, Okla, earned first-team conference honors. Freshman Lenzie Boring of Humboldt , who set a freshman single-season strikeout record, earned All-Jayhawk East second-team honors as did her battery mate, freshman catcher Kylie Taylor of Iola.
22 — Aaron Burke came into the 2010 baseball season thinking contribute the best he can. The freshman right-handed pitcher from Shawnee contributed all right. Burke led the nation with a 0.57 Earned Run Average becoming the Red Devils’ closer. Burke worked his way from a set-up pitcher out of the bullpen to the shutdown pitcher from the bullpen.
For his contributions to the Red Devils this season, Burke was named Jayhawk Eastern Division Freshman of the Year by the Jayhawk East coaches. He was named to the 2010 All-Jayhawk East first team as a pitcher. Burke led the Red Devils in saves with eight, plus had a team-leading 55 strikeouts. He was 3-1 on the mound.
26 — Marcus Hicks is ACCC’s new head women’s basketball coach. Hicks replaces Andy Hamilton, who resigned to take an assistant coaching position at Newman University in Wichita.
June
1 — Iola High senior Ethan Fulton is the 2010 Kansas Class 4A State 110-meter high hurdle champion. He defended his 2009 title. His twin brother Aaron Fulton captured the fifth-place medal in the high hurdles. Ethan and Aaron claimed first and seventh, respectively, in the 4A long jump.
Iola High junior Maggie Wilson collected her second state Class 4A pole vault medal taking third at the 2010 state track meet in Wichita. Wilson also combined with sophomores Kendra Taiclet and Kelsey Larson and senior Jazmyne Honeycutt to capture the seventh-place medal in the 4A girls’ 4×100-meter relay.
Uniontown High senior Abbie Smith won the 2010 Kansas Class 2A 100-meter high hurdle and long jump championships. Yates Center High’s Dylan Sicka earned the fifth-place medal in the 3200-meter run and third-place medal in the 800-meter run in the 2010 Kansas Class 1A state track meet. Yates Center senior Donnie Bennett captured a fifth-place medal in the Class 1A 300-meter intermediate hurdles. Brae Adams, Yates Center junior, won her second state medal. This time it was a third-place one in Class 1A discus. Southern Coffey County High’s Colin Kraft claimed the seventh-place medal in the Class 1A 110-meter high hurdles.
Yates Center High’s girls lost to top-seeded Spearville 14-6 in the first round of the 2010 Kansas Class 2-1A State Softball Tournament in Emporia.
4 — ACCC’s golf team closed out the 2010 season playing in the NJCAA Division II National Golf Tournament. The Red Devils — Rob Carlson, Nick Agnew, Bryant Welch, Will Clark — finished in 14th place out of 21 teams. The Red Devils are three-time Region VI, Division II champions.
7 — Playing in one final game together, Iola High’s Connor Frazell, Chris Heffern and Kyler Thompson were on the winning South squad of the inaugural U.S. Army Friendship Bowl.
