There are few positions in sports as high-stress as pitching. It all starts in the circle, and a game can flip with one pitch. The good thing for Lawrence pitcher and outfielder Julia Norris is that she’s confident — she doesn’t let the pressure get to her. And now, as she enters her senior year at Lawrence, that confidence will be key as she becomes Lawrence softball’s ace. “In taking some break ...
Joel Grillot has been an assistant coach for every Free State volleyball coach, including the last seven years with coach Jayme Savage. So when the position became available after Savage stepped down to become an assistant principal, Grillot was ready for the opportunity. “Whatever opportunities that (coaching) provided me, I'd always take them and see where they fell,” Grillot said. “When this opened ...
Nolan Deitrich has been asked often over the summer by the Free State baseball team if he was going to be the one taking over the program. “I got to see almost everybody four times a week, and then our freshman group I got to see them almost every day this whole summer,” Deitrich said. “I was kind of getting those questions with their curiosity of what was going to happen. I just told them to be patient ...
Lawrence Athletic Director Nick Wood approached Sean Dooley about filling the vacant head coach position for the Lions, and Dooley started thinking about the opportunities for him and his family. Dooley’s youngest son, Joey, is a rising junior at Lawrence and a two-year starter for the Lions. His daughter Jordyn is entering her freshman year at Lawrence and expects to be an immediate contributor to the ...
Hudson Hardesty competed in the High School Baseball National Championship Series this summer with the hopes that the exposure would help in his recruitment. As it turns out, college coaches were watching and noticing Hardesty, especially as he threw his best game of his career and earned the tournament’s “Best Pitcher” award. After his performance, the coaches at Nebraska were in attendance. “They ...
Owen Lester has spent the summer playing baseball across multiple states with his club team, competing in tournaments that get exposure to college programs. After a tournament in Atlanta, Lester and the coaching staff at East Carolina University got in touch, and within a few weeks, Lester was in Greenville, N.C. on a visit. “I liked it all,” Lester said of the visit. “Talking to their coaches, their ...