photo by: Carter Gaskins

Free State senior Caely Kesten (13) looking to get around the tight defense of Schlagle's De’Janae Brown (21) during the opening round of the Lady Firebirds Winter Classic on Thursday at FSHS on Jan. 30, 2020.

Former Free State Firebird and current Northwest Missouri State Bearcat Caely Kesten hit 1000 career points in college with a 21-point game against Rogers State on February 8.

Kesten joined the Bearcats in the 2020-21 season, starting nine games and appearing in 17. She started seven of her nine games consecutively, averaging 6.3 points per game in that span. For the year, she scored 69 points.

As a sophomore, Kesten didn’t start any games but appeared in 28. She finished with 79 points on the season, averaging 2.8 points in 11.1 minutes per game. In her junior year, she played 18.2 minutes per game and averaged 5.8 points per game, starting in five games and appearing in 29.

Kesten broke into the starting lineup for good in her fourth year. She started all 31 games she played and averaged 12.3 points per game. That season, she hit a career high of 24 points against Missouri Western, which remained her career high until the fourth game of the 2024-25 season, when she scored 27 points.

This season, Kesten is averaging a career-high 14.4 points per game and has scored 316 total points. Her 21-point game, which brought her over 1000 career points, was the fifth time this year she scored over 20 points in a game.

As a Firebird, Kesten was best known as a facilitator. She is Free State’s all-time leader in assists with 234 and has the school’s single-game assist record with 13.

The Bearcats have six games left in the regular season and are 11-12 — 4-9 in conference — this year. They host Missouri Southern on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at Bearcat Arena.

Fourteen swimmers and divers between LHS, FSHS finish regular season with state qualifying times

The next time that Lawrence and Free State swimmers hit the pool, it will be at the state meet, after Wednesday’s Last Chance meet was canceled due to weather.

Four swimmers from Lawrence and six from Free State made hit qualifying times for the 6A state meet throughout the season. Two divers from Free State earned qualifying scores. Several other swimmers from the two schools finished with consideration times in different events and may be able to compete in the state tournament.

From Lawrence, Ryan Lane qualified in mid-December in the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard freestyle. He was the only Lion to hit a qualifying time in an individual event.

The Lions qualified two relay teams: the 400-yard freestyle relay and the 200-yard medley relay. In the 400-yard freestyle, Hugo Cowardin, Ike Adams, and Alex Oral will join Lane on the relay team. The 200-yard medley relay team consists of Adams, Cowardin, Oral, and Lane.

For Free State, three swimmers qualified in individual events. Ari Mattes qualified in the 100-yard breaststroke and the 200-yard individual medley. Anderson Bateman qualified in the 100-yard freestyle, and Sina Khosh qualified in the 100-yard backstroke.

Sebastian Iversen joined those three for the 200-yard medley relay team. Bateman, Jack Kempf, Mattes, and Owen Carnagey qualified for the 200-yard freestyle relay, while Bateman, Kempf, Iversen, and Carnagey qualified for the 400-yard freestyle relay.

Two divers, Gavin McIntosh and Constantine Shipley, qualified for the Firebirds’ diving event.

The state meet will be at the Shawnee Mission School District Aquatic Center from Feb. 20-22.

Four Lawrence natives remain active in MLB with spring training around the corner

Pitchers and catchers across MLB are reporting to spring training this week, with the rest of the teams reporting next week. According to BaseballAlmanac.com, there are four Lawrence natives active in MLB, two of which went to Lawrence High School.

Garrett Cleavinger is one of the former Lawrence Lions currently in the majors. Cleavinger graduated from LHS in 2012 with a state championship from the 2009 season and played at the University of Oregon. After three years, he declared for the 2015 MLB Draft and was drafted in the third round by the Baltimore Orioles. Cleavinger made his MLB debut with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2020.

Since then, he has played for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Tampa Bay Rays. In 2024 with the Rays, Cleavinger had a 7-5 record with a 3.75 ERA and 71 strikeouts.

Bryce Montes de Oca, the other former Chesty Lion, graduated in 2014 and was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the 14th round. He turned to college instead and played for Missouri for four years. In the 2018 MLB draft, the New York Mets drafted him in the ninth round.

Montes de Oca has stayed with the Mets organization for his entire career and made his MLB debut in 2022. He is currently with the Mets’ AAA affiliate, the Syracuse Mets.

Jacob Stallings and Joey Wentz were both born in Lawrence but didn’t go to high school in town. Stallings is a catcher with the Colorado Rockies. This is his second season with the Rockies, which is his third team in 10 seasons in MLB. Wentz graduated from Shawnee Mission East and attended the University of Virginia. He played for the Detroit Tigers from 2022-24 before being claimed off of waivers by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 2024 season.

Spring Training officially begins on Feb. 20.