photo by: Aaron Clark

Free State singles tennis players Annie Pilakowski, left, and Cami Lee qualified for the KSHSAA State Tournament next week.

Free State singles players Cami Lee and Annie Pilakowski earned their spot at the state tennis tournament after both placed in the top six of the regional tennis tournament on Thursday.

Lee and Pilakowski, both juniors, placed fifth and sixth, respectively, after entering the tournament with the same seeds following their league tournament performances.

Lee started with a win before losing to Heidi Baillos of Olathe Northwest, the eventual third-place champion. Lee finished with wins over Shawnee Mission Northwest’s Abby O’Conner (6-2, 6-0) and Pilakowski (6-3, 6-1). Pilakowski earned her spot with a win over Mill Valley before losing to eventual fourth-place winner Lindsay Ruder of Olathe

West. Pilakowski defeated Olathe North’s Elizabeth Park (6-4, 6-2) to advance to the fifth-place match against Lee.

The Firebirds also sent two doubles teams to the tournament. Zoe Cachiguango-Latta and Taryn Jones entered as the 10 seed, and the doubles team of Sacia Edie and Sofia Bourdo was the 11 seed. Both teams lost their first match, which ended their tournament run.

For Lawrence, Harper Jay and Morgan Moeckly competed in the singles bracket, with Jay holding the 9 seed and Moeckly the 14 seed. Both lost their first-round matches to end their seasons.

Lawrence’s doubles teams — Alexa Nauholz and Channing Saint Onge and Ava Lee and Bebel Piepergerdes — competed but lost in the opening round.

Cami Lee and Pilakowski will compete for Free State in the state tournament Oct. 18-19 at Harmon Park Tennis Complex in Prairie Village.

Frontier League boys soccer heavyweights are both approaching the playoffs with state title possibilities

The Baldwin boys soccer team is 10-1-2 with more shutouts than losses this year.

Over the past two years, the Bulldogs have won 15 games, including the playoffs, and they are close to approaching or surpassing that mark in this year alone.

In their 10 wins this year, the Bulldogs have won by three or more goals seven times. The team has shut out its opponent seven times, six of which came in a row. Between Sept. 10 and Sept. 24, the Bulldogs did not allow a goal.

They are not the only Frontier League team with 10 wins and title hopes, however. The Eudora Cardinals are 10-2 and have a 1-0 win over Baldwin in Baldwin City. With the regular season quickly approaching an end, the race for the top Frontier League and a top playoff spot will be close.

To finish the regular season, the Bulldogs have a game against Maur Hill Prep-Mount Academy in Baldwin City, an away match against Spring Hill and a home finale against Louisburg. Baldwin already has a 2-0 win over Louisburg from earlier this season.

Eudora will play at De Soto on Tuesday and at Spring Hill on Thursday, before finishing the season at home against Chanute and at Ottawa for the regular season finale.

Free State boys and girls win cross-country race at Haskell, Lawrence boys place sixth with girls taking 12th

Free State won both boys and girls races of the Billy Mills Classic at Haskell Indian Nations University on Saturday.

The girls scored 22 points, with all five scoring runners finishing in the top seven. The two non-scorers also placed in the top 10. The boys scored 44 points, with all five scoring runners finishing in the top 20.

Senior Cayman Barnes won the girls 5000-meter run at 19 minutes, 25.90 seconds. Fellow senior Brylee Burns placed third at 19:59.60, and sophomore Emery Frye finished fifth at 20:03.30.

Right behind Frye came Elle Cormaney, a senior, who finished in 20:09.20. She was the second of four-straight finishers for Free State. Junior Addyson Tenbrink placed seventh (20:20.90) and junior Julia Velasco placed eighth at 20:25.80. Sophomore Mady Whitney was the seventh finisher for Free State who finished in the top 10 with a time of 20:35.10.

For the boys side, junior Jonah Frye was the overall runner-up at 16:46.10, with senior Grant Lichauer finishing two spots behind Frye at 16:57.60. Junior Jasper Hansen Terry also placed in the top 10 with a 17:02.20 run that earned seventh place.

Senior Austin Drewry finished 13th at 17:13.90 with sophomore Anderson Bateman rounding out the top five on the team with a 17:31.80 run that was 18th best overall.

The Firebirds had three runners finish consecutively just outside of the team’s top five — junior Stevie Jackson at 20th, junior Kyle Sikes at 21st and senior Dylan Mackie at 22nd.

The Lawrence boys placed sixth with 204 points.

Sophomore Garrett Rhea led the team at 17:53.10 for 26th overall. Junior Paul Radley placed 46th at 18:45.00, and senior Elliot Paden took 50th overall at 18:49.90. To round out the team’s top five, sophomore Lawson Donly finished in 19:10.30 for 74th, with freshman Eagan Paden at 76th in 19:11.50.

On the girls side, the Lions placed 12th for 352 points.

Adelaide Chaney, a sophomore, led the team with a time of 25:22.60, and junior Magdalene Ortiz finished just under 14 seconds later. Junior Natalya Jaimez-Padilla ran it in 28:28.90 to finish the top three on the Lions. Freshman Amelie Gay placed fourth on the team at 29:44.70, and freshman Marisa Soto-Ortiz ran it in 35:30.60.