photo by: Chance Parker

Free State shortstop Brady Kern slings the ball to first place to complete a double play against Sioux Falls Washington. Free State fell 8-1 Friday, March 19, 2021.

For the second year in a row, Bishop Seabury’s boys basketball team will have a new coach at the helm.

Jamelle Blunt, who served as the head coach during the 2020-21 season, has left the program to take a teaching job in the Kansas City area, Bishop Seabury announced in an email. He had previously spent nine years with the Seahawks, eight of which were as an assistant coach.

Bishop Seabury also announced that Benny Molle would be taking over the program as the new head coach. Trey Johnson is joining the staff as an assistant. They plan to meet with the boys basketball team before getting started with the offseason routine in the summer.

LHS, FSHS baseball games postponed

Lawrence High’s and Free State’s baseball teams were slated to be in action on Thursday, but both of those games were postponed because of inclement weather.

Free State was scheduled to host Sioux Falls Roosevelt at 4 p.m.; that game has been moved to 4:45 p.m. today, after the Firebirds’ game against Brandon Valley at 2:30 p.m.

Lawrence was expected to have a home game with Sioux Falls Bishop O’Gorman at 6:15 p.m. Thursday. That game has been moved to 4:45 p.m. today. The Lions will close out the weekend with a home game against Brandon Valley at 10 a.m. Saturday.

It has been nearly a week since both teams last saw the field.

Free State and Lawrence each posted a 1-1 record during the opening weekend.

On March 19, LHS opened with a 7-3 loss to Sioux Falls Lincoln and FSHS fell to Sioux Falls Washington. But the local squads bounced back the next day: FSHS beat Sioux Falls Lincoln, 5-2, and LHS beat Sioux Falls Washington, 8-4.

Lawrence boys golf competes in opener

Lawrence’s boys golf team took 22nd out of 23 teams at Wednesday’s Shawnee Mission East Invitational, the first event of the 2021 campaign.

The Lions shot 449 as a team at Shoal Creek Golf Course. Lawrence was led by freshman Gunnar Wayenberg, who was the lone golfer to break 100. He shot a 91 to finish in a tie for 79th on the individual leaderboard.

Rockhurst won the event as a team with a score of 298. The individual champion, Will King, was also from the Rockhurst team. He shot a 71 to finish atop the individual leaderboard, besting teammate Liam Coughlin by just one stroke.

Next, LHS will compete in a tournament at Canyon Farms Golf Club at 1 p.m. Monday.

Team scores (top five): 1. Rockhurst 298; 2. Blue Valley 307; 3. Olathe West 312; 4. Washburn Rural 315; 5. Blue Valley NW 315. — 22. Lawrence 449.

LHS results: T79. Gunnar Wayenberg 91; 105. Austin Pennybaker 110; T108. Dallas Ostronic 119; T111. Mike Williams 129; 115. Evan Liakos 134.

Former LHS girls hoops standout transfers to Utah State

E’Lease Stafford, a former standout for the Lawrence High girls basketball team, will be finishing her collegiate career at Utah State.

On Thursday, Stafford announced on Twitter that she would be transferring to Utah State after three seasons with East Tennessee State University.

“I am especially appreciative of all the support that was given to me during my process, including the number of coaches that reached out and believed that I could make a difference in their program,” Stafford tweeted.

The 6-foot wing played in 20 games for ETSU as a junior this past season and averaged 6.1 points and 2.4 rebounds per game. The season before that, she started in 29 of 30 games and averaged 10.7 points and 4.2 rebounds.

Stafford, who graduated from LHS in 2018, was the Sunflower League girls basketball co-player of the year during her final season with the Lions. Back then, she averaged 13.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game.

New schedule for state track

The state track meet lasted an unprecedented three days in 2019, and it will have a similar schedule this year, the Kansas State High School Activities Association has announced.

In 2019, the schedule change was due to weather, but this year’s long schedule is meant to account for COVID-19 precautions.

Not all classes will be competing in the same place at once. Classes 6A and 5A will compete on Thursday, May 27. This will include the Lawrence High girls track and field team, which is coming off back-to-back state titles. Classes 3A and 4A will compete on Friday, May 28, and 2A and 1A will conclude the three-day event on Saturday, May 29. It will all take place at Cessna Stadium at Wichita State University.

KSHSAA also announced that baseball, softball, girls soccer, boys tennis and boys golf would not have any modifications to their normal playing dates, seeding formats and qualifiers this spring.