photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Galeno Wills, right, and Kiefer Bullock watch the tennis ball in a tennis quad at Sports Pavilion Lawrence on Monday, April 7, 2025.

Free State boys tennis hosted a quad with Gardner Edgerton, Blue Valley West and Mill Valley on Tuesday and finished with the second-most wins at 7-5.

The Firebirds started with Gardner Edgerton and won all of their matches. Drew Harrison won 8-5 in the No. 1 singles match, and Lawrence Dao won 8-4 at No. 2 singles. The No. 1 doubles team of Jacob Wang and Connor Coons won 8-1, as did the No. 2 team of Kiefer Bullock and Galeno Wills.

In its second set of matches, Free State faced Mill Valley and won two of the four matches. Dao won 8-3 in the No. 2 singles match, and the Bullock and Wills team won their doubles match 8-7.

The Firebirds lost three of four matches to Blue Valley West, which went 11-for-12 in the quad. The one win for the Firebirds came in the No. 2 singles match, with Dao winning 8-0.

Dao went 3-0 in his three matches, winning 8-4, 8-3 and 8-0. The No. 2 doubles team also fared well, winning two of three matches.

Free State is early in its season with this meet being only the third competition for the team this year. The Firebirds will be at the College Boulevard Activity Center in Olathe next Wednesday for a quad against Olathe Northwest, Piper and Manhattan.

Lawrence boys golf takes sixth in Jaguar Invitational, Tonganoxie places 11th

The Lawrence and Tonganoxie boys golf teams competed in the Jaguar Invitational at Oakwood Country Club on Monday, with the Lions finishing sixth and the Chieftains placing 11th.

The Lions finished with a 338 team score, 19 strokes behind first-place DeSoto at 319. The Chieftains compiled a team score of 356, just one stroke behind 10th-place Basehor-Linwood.

Lawrence’s Nate Schworm recorded the fifth-best individual score in the tournament at 79. He was five strokes behind Kieran Myers of Shawnee Mission South, who won the tournament. Andrew Kirkwood tied for ninth individually with a score of 80, and Corbin May-Bryant tied for 40th after shooting 88.

Lou Elsten shot a 91, which tied him for 56th individually in the tournament. Aidan Wondrack tied for 77th and rounded out the team’s top five by scoring a 98. Cameron Wycoff finished by scoring a 104 in the tournament.

For the Chieftains, Zac Fisher led the team after tying for 20th with a score of 83. Lachlan McRae was second on the team after shooting an 86 and tying for 36th individually.

Luke McRae placed third on the team after scoring a 93 and finishing tied for 65th individually. Gavin Reischman was one stroke behind McRae at 94 and tied for 67th. Cameron Wensel rounded out the top five by shooting a 95. Carson Heffel was the sixth Chieftain in the tournament, scoring 103.

The Lions will compete in an invitational on Thursday at Wamego Country Club, while the Chieftains will next compete on Tuesday at Dub’s Dread Golf Course in Kansas City.

Free State, Lawrence compete in track and field invite at Washburn Rural

The Free State and Lawrence track and field teams competed in an invite at Washburn Rural last Thursday. The Lions won four events, and the Firebirds won one.

The Lions won the boys 100-meter dash, with senior Riley Howell winning with an 11.27-second mark. Howell was the runner-up in the 200-meter dash at 23.92 seconds, which Free State junior Logan Kimball took third at 24.09. Lawrence freshman Truth Pope placed fourth in the 200-meter dash at 24.49 seconds and third in the 400-meter dash at 52.49.

Free State senior Grant Lichauer placed third in the 800-meter run at two minutes, 1.06 seconds, and LHS sophomore Oliver Schwartz was the runner-up in the 3200-meter run at 10:11.09.

Free State’s 4×100-meter relay team placed second in 44.71 seconds, while the Lions finished fourth at 44.99 seconds. In the 4×400-meter relay, the Firebirds took third at 3:35.93, with the Lions placing fourth at 3:37.46. The Firebirds were the runners-up in the 4×800-meter run at 8:25.47, and the Lions were fourth in 8:53.98.

Lawrence junior Tyler Dye won the long jump at 19 feet, 9.5 inches. Pope finished third at 19 feet, 3.5 inches, and LHS junior Joseph Lucas took fourth at 19 feet, 2.5 inches. Jaylen Parks won the triple jump at 42 feet, 8.5 inches, with Dye taking third at 39 feet, 11.5 inches.

Sophomore Sienna Wesley from Lawrence won the girls 200-meter dash at 26.78 seconds, and junior Lion LaKeyshia Woods placed third in the 400-meter dash at 1:02.35. Free State sophomore Beatrice Essman was the runner-up in the 400-meter dash at 59.64 seconds.

Senior Firebird Cayman Barnes placed fourth in the 800-meter run at 2:26.67 and was the runner-up in the 1600-meter run at 5:21.93.

For hurdles, Lions Adie Lamer and Chloe Griffth came fourth and fifth in the 300-meter hurdles, respectively. Lamer finished in 55.24 seconds, and Griffith in 55.94 seconds.

Lawrence was the runner-up in the 4×100-meter relay at 51.03 seconds, with the Firebirds taking fifth at 53.22. The Firebirds took third in the 4×400-meter relay at 4:14.22, while the Lions placed fourth in 4:23.03. Lawrence came second to Topeka-Seaman in the 4×800-meter relay at 11:12.01.

Free State sophomore Parker Jones won with a 17-foot, 4.5-inch jump in the long jump. Lawrence senior Josephine Platt came third at 15 feet, 10.5 inches.

The Lions will be at Maize High School for a competition on Friday, while the Firebirds will be at the Olathe District Athletic Complex on the same day for an invitational.