As the Lawrence girls basketball team prepares for the upcoming season, a few things have stood out about practices — chief among them is the team’s selfless attitude both on and off the court. “Everybody is positive, everybody is picking each other up, everybody is playing hard,” Lawrence coach Jeff Dickson said. “We have a bunch of smart kids who care about more than just themselves. When we get out ...
Free State’s girls basketball team got an early taste at what the upcoming season will look like as the Firebirds hosted a jamboree on Tuesday. Free State faced Wellsville, Ottawa and Perry-Lecompton in a short, four-minute halves jamboree. The scrimmages came three practices after the team went through roster cuts, so the team got some early experience working through game-day situations. “We’ve really ...
Tahj Edwards was at a low point in his football career just over a month ago, when, as a senior, he tore his ACL and meniscus late in the second-to-last game of the regular season. The injury prevented him from being on the field for Lawrence’s lone win of the season, and it prevented the running back from finishing his high school career the way he had hoped. Yet, a little over a month and a day after the ...
Bailey Johnson had always been told that he should play football. Johnson, a longtime lacrosse player, came to high school with the height and size to be a star along in the trenches. He acquiesced and joined the Lawrence football team his freshman year, and that decision, as he put it, “has worked so far.” Four years into his football career, Johnson has turned that suggestion into becoming a collegiate ...
The Lawrence boys basketball team took its lumps last year while a large portion of the team played varsity for the first time in their careers. Those growing pains have helped the returners start the summer with an expectation of how the team should play and how to accomplish that. As the team brings in a large class of young talent that can compete for playing time immediately, having the returners enforce ...
Ryker Mahnke was woken up at midnight on Aug. 1 to several phone calls. It was the first day for junior contact with colleges, and Mahnke, a center fielder for Free State, had several that were recruiting him heavily. One was none other than Missouri, where Mahnke wound up visiting and committing to a few months later. Mahnke took his official visit to Mizzou at the end of October and eventually committed at ...