One day, a Free State High student will come along and break swimmer Jack Ziegler’s school record in the 50-freestyle, established while winning the state title and helping his school to a third-place finish at the state meet.Some year, the Firebirds also will have a basketball player who ...
It didn’t matter that spots for the state bowling tournament were on the line. Lawrence High senior Ashlee Erickson felt no pressure on Thursday afternoon at Royal Crest Lanes. Erickson rolled 10 straight strikes in her opening game to record her highest single-game total of the season, a ...
Free State High wrestlers have put together one of their strongest seasons in the past decade. They’re not done yet. The Firebirds took second in the Sunflower League and won a regional championship, their best finishes since 2005. Now they’re focused on doing well at the Class 6A state ...
Overland Park ? With her team trailing on the road in the fourth quarter Tuesday night, Free State High sophomore guard Madison Piper had seen her previous seven shots rim out. She hadn’t made a basket since the final minutes of the second quarter. But none of that mattered in crunch ...
Overland Park ? Sometimes scoring is contagious. One guy on a basketball team gets hot, and the others follow suit. Free State High experienced a little of that Tuesday night at Shawnee Mission West. But the Firebirds’ passing turned out just as infectious, as crisp ball movement and open ...
No defense was going to stop Free State High senior guard Weston Hack and junior forward Hunter Gudde on Saturday night. Not with the way they were shooting. The two Firebirds combined for 46 points and 16 rebounds in a 63-47 victory against William Chrisman (Missouri) at FSHS. Hack scored 16 ...
Overland Park ? Free State High’s Tate Steele, Shayn Morris, Cameron Shanks and Isaiah Jacobs won their weight classes, and the Firebirds finished first at a Class 6A wrestling regional Saturday at Shawnee Mission West.Tucker Wilson (160 pounds) and Alan Clothier (182) won for Lawrence High, ...
In Hollywood, a sequel never lives up to the success of the original. That doesn’t apply to Free State High sophomore Jordan Portela, who dominated his competition once again at the Class 6A state swimming and diving championships Saturday. Portela repeated as state champion in the 200-yard ...
Topeka ? Free State High’s Jack Ziegler was top qualifier in the 50 free, teammate Jordan Portela led qualifiying in the 100 butterfly, and both swam on the top 400 freestyle relay team during preliminary rounds of the Class 6A state swimming and diving meet on Friday at Capitol Federal ...
Free State High’s boys basketball team knew what to expect out of Olathe East on Friday night. After suffering a seven-point loss against the Hawks last month, the Firebirds weren’t surprised by anything they saw. But Free State just couldn’t hit enough shots down the stretch in a 52-44 ...
Holding on to a two-point lead entering the fourth quarter, Free State High’s girls basketball players just flipped a switch. There weren’t any magic words said in the huddle. They just knew what this game meant to each other. The Firebird seniors wanted to win on Senior Night, and the ...
Leavenworth ? Free State High sophomore Alex Jimenez and junior Matthew Eagle bowled in the same lanes and traded strike after strike during the second game of their three-game series at the Sunflower League bowling championships on Thursday. Both of the Firebirds rolled strikes for the first ...
When Free State High senior swimmer Jack Ziegler sets his mind on something, he usually finds a way to achieve it. Ziegler spent the offseason working solely on speed, trying to get faster. In the first meet of the season, he achieved one of his goals by breaking the school record in the ...
Overland Park ? During practices in the past week, Free State High’s girls basketball coach Bryan Duncan told sophomore Madison Piper to be more aggressive on offense and try to get more drives to the rim. Piper listened, and she couldn’t be stopped by Shawnee Mission South defenders, ...
Overland Park ? Free State High’s boys basketball players struggled to shoot the ball in a double-digit loss last week. They had no such problems on the road Tuesday against Shawnee Mission South. The Firebirds played suffocating defense and shot 63 percent from the field in a 50-30 victory. ...
Lawrence High junior bowler Miranda Krom has rolled plenty of good games this season. But there’s just something different when bragging rights are on the line in the City Showdown. Krom rolled her best three-game series of the year, a 633, to lift the Lions to a 41-pin victory over Free ...
Leavenworth ? Free State High freshman Tate Steele made wrestling look effortless Saturday at the Sunflower League tournament. After winning his first-round match by a technical fall, he pinned his next three opponents to win a league championship at 106 pounds at Leavenworth High. In the ...
Free State High’s girls basketball team has experienced its fair share of stifling defenses this season, but Olathe South might have outdone them all Friday night at FSHS.The Firebirds often see opponents game-plan to take away high-scoring sophomore guard Madison Piper, but the Falcons did ...
Layups, open three-pointers, jumpers. Name it, and Free State’s boys basketball team couldn’t hit it during a stretch that began in the first quarter and lasted into the second half Friday night, costing the Firebirds any chance of earning a victory against Olathe South.After hitting the ...
When the final seconds were ticking off of the clock on Tuesday, Free State High boys basketball players started jumping up and down and pumping their fists. After a few close losses last month, the Firebirds weren’t going to let go of their fourth-quarter lead against Shawnee Mission North. ...