photo by: Carter Gaskins

Lawrence High senior Devin Neal (4) celebrates his touchdown with teammate Ben King (17) Friday night at St. Thomas Aquinas. The Lions handed the Saints their first home loss since 2017.

Three former Lawrence and Free State football players found their first professional football homes in the NFL last week.

The New Orleans Saints drafted former Lawrence Lion Devin Neal, while former Free State Firebirds Keenan Garber and Gabe Clark received opportunities after going undrafted.

Neal capped off his Lawrence career in 2020 with a season that included over 1,300 rushing yards and 20 touchdowns. The Lions went 9-1 and only lost in the playoffs to Derby. He then joined Kansas in its first year under Lance Leipold.

While with the Jayhawks, Neal became the school’s all-time leading rusher after running for 4,343 yards. He ran for over 1,200 yards in the last two seasons while scoring 16 rushing touchdowns in both years. Neal became the first Jayhawk to rush for 1,000 yards in three consecutive seasons.

After exhausting his college eligibility, Neal declared for the draft and was drafted 184th overall in the sixth round by the Saints. He will join a backfield that includes Alvin Kamara, Clyde Edwards-Helaire, and Kendre Miller, among others.

The Saints went 5-12 last season, and the team averaged 4.4 yards per carry, which was tied for 13th-best in the NFL. Under then-offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, the Saints were 21st in rush attempts.

This season, the Saints are led by first-time head coach Kellen Moore. He last was the offensive coordinator with the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, the team that was first in rush attempts and fifth in rush yards per attempt in the regular season.

Keenan Garber left Free State after back-to-back 10-1 seasons in which the Firebirds’ only loss came in the playoffs. Garber played both ways and had 814 receiving yards with 17 touchdowns while intercepting four passes on defense.

After redshirting his first year at Kansas State in 2019, Garber played in six games in 2020. He played a little more and had more production at wide receiver in the 2021 and 2022 seasons, but he finished the 2022 season at cornerback. He played in 13 games in 2023 and 2024 and recorded an interception in both seasons.

In the draft process, Garber was one of the most athletic cornerback prospects. He had a 9.71 relative athletic score, which is 82nd out of nearly three thousand cornerback prospects since 1987, according to RAS.

Garber signed with the Minnesota Vikings after the draft. The Vikings’ defense was fifth-best in points allowed per game, although the team gave up the fifth-most passing yards per game in the league. The Vikings went 14-3 last season before losing to the Los Angeles Rams in the playoffs.

Garber will join a cornerback room that includes Mekhi Blackmon, Isaiah Rodgers, Ambry Thomas, Byron Murphy Jr., Jeff Okudah and more.

Gabe Clark went to Free State and was an all-state offensive lineman with the Firebirds from 2014-18. He was a part of a 10-1 Free State team in 2017, his senior year, in which the team’s only loss was a 55-49 loss to Derby.

After high school, Clark played for Central Missouri in 2018. He worked his way up the depth chart and became a starter in 2021. Clark was an honorable mention all-conference tackle in 2022, and a first-team all-conference tackle in 2023 and 2024. Throughout his time in college, Clark consistently made the all-academic team.

Clark received a rookie minicamp invite from the Denver Broncos. While the Broncos didn’t draft any offensive linemen with their seven draft picks, the team has signed four offensive linemen as undrafted free agents.

The Broncos had one of the best offensive lines in the NFL. According to ESPN, the Broncos led the league in both pass and run block win rates. Denver went 10-7, which led to the team’s first playoff berth since the 2015-16 season.

Denver’s rookie minicamp will be from May 9 through May 11.

Former Lion and current Nebraska gymnast Mondi wins silver medal, earns all-American honor

Chase Mondi finished his sophomore season with the Nebraska men’s gymnastics team with a silver medal and an All-American honor.

The Cornhuskers finished fourth in the NCAA National Championships, scoring 326.222 points. Michigan won the title with 332.224 points, just edging out a Stanford team that had won the last five national championships. Oklahoma placed third with 327.891 points.

In the first session, Mondi placed third in the vault and second on the floor routine as the Cornhuskers led the field with 324.894 points, which secured them a spot in the championships. Mondi then gave the Cornhuskers 14.566 points on the floor routine, second only to Asher Hong of Stanford. Mondi’s score was 0.034 points behind Hong’s.

Mondi had a strong freshman season and earned several freshman of the week honors. The Cornhuskers also finished fourth in the national championships that year.

While in high school, Mondi competed with Emerald City Gymnastics and was a four-time Kansas all-around state champion. He became the first Kansan to be selected to the USA Gymnastics’ Elite Team Cup.

Mondi comes from an athletic family. His brother, Cole, is a linebacker at Kansas.

Eudora softball pitcher sets career school record after 443rd strikeout

Eudora softball pitcher Sam Claire is now Eudora softball’s all-time leader in strikeouts after throwing her 443rd against Ottawa on Tuesday.

Claire tallied 17 strikeouts in the game, giving her 160 so far in her senior year. She threw 19 strikeouts in a 7-0 win over Baldwin on April 22. After the game, Eudora coach Bill Finucane called Claire “a great weapon to have, and she’s a nice young lady.”

The Cardinals are 18-1 in 2025, Claire’s senior year. After winning the 4A state tournament her freshman year, the Cardinals had back-to-back seasons placing third in the state tournament. She and her fellow seniors are focused on finishing their careers at the top of the state.

Claire, a Kansas commit, took the record from Kira Baker, a pitcher for Baker University, who graduated from Eudora in 2022. Since joining the Wildcats, Baker has a career ERA of 0.94 with 54 wins and over 450 innings pitched. She has 656 strikeouts in her Baker career. The Wildcats made their first NAIA World Series appearance in 2023, her freshman year.

The Cardinals have five games left on the schedule. Their regular season concludes on Tuesday, May 13, with a doubleheader against Hayden.