Despite some injury issues, the Free State and Lawrence High gymnastics teams are hoping to finish the 2021 season on a high note this weekend at the state championship meet.

The head coach for both squads, Katrina Farrow, said the Firebirds, who won the 2020 state title, rallied around their seniors this fall after junior Kenzie Vaughn suffered a foot fracture in the middle of the season.

One of the seniors who’s stepped up is Avery Qualseth, who Farrow said “has been steadily climbing with higher scores on each event all season.” Seniors Chaney Finkeldei, Ashley Mai and Audrey Hoey-Kummerow also have helped the Firebirds, as has sophomore newcomer Elaina Zung, Farrow said.

The Lions also lost a crucial member of their team this year — senior Paris Spotted-Tail, the defending state champion in the both the vault and floor exercise, who tore an ACL and a meniscus.

Since then, Farrow said Ivori Jones and Sophia Zogry have stepped up “in a big way.” She said that without them, the Lions might not have been able to earn a state berth.

Farrow said Charlee Burghart has recovered from injuries twice this year and will be able to compete at state. LHS also recently added a tumbler to its roster: Emily Brandt, who played tennis for LHS and joined the gymnastics team late in the season.

“We coaches have been extremely proud of how each team has rallied and how they have come together to work hard to fill those gaps,” Farrow said.

The coach said she’s expecting big things from both teams at the state meet, which will be at Shawnee Mission West High in Overland Park.

“We can’t control anyone else’s outcomes, but we can absolutely focus on ourselves, our mental game and not giving away unnecessary tenths that add up to tight races for the medals,” Farrow said.

Free State volleyball 2nd at Emporia

The Free State volleyball team closed its regular season with a second-place finish at the Emporia Invitational on Saturday.

The Firebirds defeated Shawnee Mission North, Topeka Seaman and Emporia — all in straight sets — before dropping the title game to Washburn Rural, 25-21, 25-14.

FSHS takes a 22-9 record into the postseason and will host a substate quad on Saturday. The Firebirds are the No. 4 overall seed among the 17 teams in the four sub-state brackets.

Free State will take on No. 13 seed Haysville Campus (7-23) at 2 p.m. Saturday. The winner of that match will face either No. 5 Derby (24-11) or Junction City (9-25) for a Class 6A state tournament berth.

LHS volleyball lands in SMNW bracket

Lawrence High’s volleyball team is the No. 10 seed on its side of the substate brackets and will start the postseason on the road.

The Lions (13-15) will take on Olathe North (17-15) on Saturday at Shawnee Mission Northwest. No. 2 seed SMNW (29-8) is the top team at the substate quad, which also features a play-in match between Shawnee Mission West (7-26) and Shawnee Mission South (3-29). SMNW will face either SMW or SMS, and the winner of that match will face the winner of LHS’ game against O-North.

FSHS, LHS runners compete at Sunflower League meet

Free State’s Ben Shryock raced to a third-place finish on Saturday at Rim Rock Farm, making him the top local finisher at this year’s Sunflower League meet.

Shryock (16:00.96) helped the Firebirds finish sixth out of 14 league teams at the event.

Lawrence High’s Jack Ryan (16:42.92) finished 18th in the race, and the Lions were 13th in the team standings.

In the girls race, Lawrence High’s Natalie Kennedy (20:08.13) was the top local finisher, and her squad finished 11th out of 13 teams.

Free State’s girls team took fifth in the team standings, led by Janice Werth’s 19th-place finish (20:16.33). Her teammate Allison Babbit (20:24.84) was just seconds behind her at 22nd.

Next up for the runners are Class 6A regional races on Saturday. FSHS will travel to Junction City, and LHS will compete at Johnson County Community College.

Seabury girls 3rd at league race

Two runners for Bishop Seabury’s girls cross country team finished in the top 10 at the Kaw Valley Conference meet on Saturday in Olathe, where the Seahawks finished third in the team standings.

Campbell Helling (23:19.4) raced to ninth place for Seabury, Hannah Motsinger (23:26.3) finished 10th and Darby Harris (23:39.2) came in 11th.

Sam Jackson (23:06.9), who finished 25th, was Seabury’s only male runner.