Every day, Free State seniors Taryn Jones and Annie Pilakowski think about the girls tennis state meet. Jones and Pilakowski are longtime friends and teammates on Free State’s girls tennis team, but this is their first time working together on the No. 1 doubles team as Pilakowski makes the ...
Free State and Lawrence competed in their first home quad of the girls tennis season against Shawnee Mission South and Olathe South at Sports Pavilion Lawrence on Tuesday, with the Firebirds going 11-1 and the Lions going 0-12. The Firebirds and Lions faced each other for the first round, and ...
Tyson Heck spent the last few years as an assistant coach for Free State soccer, working with junior varsity teams. So when the head coaching position opened up, it was the opportunity he was looking for. “Stepping into this was kind of my long-term goal,” Heck said. “A lot of things are ...
Free State needed just one stop to salvage what was nearly a heartbreaking finish. The Firebirds, who had led for most of the night, had surrendered a touchdown and were forced to defend a two-point conversion that would decide the game. Senior linebacker Ethan Prescott fired off the edge and ...
Free State boys soccer (1-1-1) lost 3-2 in heartbreaking fashion to Shawnee Heights at home on Thursday when the Thunderbirds scored a goal with one second on the clock. “That feeling (of losing) is not a different feeling ever,” Free State coach Tyson Heck said. “It’s good to get that ...
Coming off a 6-4 record a season ago that included a trip to the second round of the KSHSAA 6A playoffs, the Free State football team will begin a new season at home against two-time defending state champion Gardner Edgerton on Friday at 7 p.m. The Trailblazers are no strangers to success, and ...