Sports – Sumner NewsCow (2024)

Sumner Newscow report — The Wellington Swim Team held its second of two home meets Tuesday evening.

El Dorado eked out a victory over the Sailfish 289-268. The girls lost 160-147, while the boys lost 129-121. The full results can be found here.

“We are so proud of our swimmers,” said Cindy Tracy, Wellington co-head coach. “They work hard every day at practice to achieve a better time on their races.”

Wellington had two more district qualifiers. Caroline Mott won the 50 free, while Owen Camblin got two more district times in the 50 free and 100 back.

Here are some other notable performances:

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Sumner Newscow report – Changes to postseason formats and championship sites for basketball, football, wrestling and track and field highlight actions approved at the June 12-13 Kansas State High School Activities Association Executive Board Meeting. The postseason formats are set by the KSHSAA Executive Board each year.

Basketball –Beginning in March of 2026, the state basketball tournaments will be moving to four total sites. Four facilities will play host to the seven classifications, 14 championships. By honoring the KSHSAA membership voted in the fall of 2023 to qualify eight boys teams and eight girls teams involved at the final site, modifications to the daily schedule will be developed. The schedule and other event details, including classification designations for each site and venue selection will be determined and announced following the 2024-25 basketball season.

Another basketball postseason change effective with the 2024-25 season will come at the 3A, 2A, 1A DI and 1A DII classifications. Each class will be divided into four regions and then seeded into two sub-states within the region: Substate A: 1, 4, 5, 8, 9, 12, 13, 16; Substate B: 2, 3, 6, 7, 10, 11, 14, 15. The winner of each substate will advance to the state basketball tournament. Further format details and dates will be sent to member schools.

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Football –As announced in January, the state football championships will be moving to three sites, with three games being played at each site. The executive board approved the following sites and schedule for 2024:

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Sumner Newscow report — The Wellington Swim Team had its first home meet of the season when it hosted Valley Center. The boys came close, but would lose to Valley Center 140-100. The Valley Center girls beat Wellington 198-102.

The night was highlighted by the Wall of Fame being revealed. This is a wall of banners showcasing all of the Sailfish team records. The wall will be on the next display at the next home meet on June 18 and the second annual Swim-A-Thon on July 9.

Here is what occurred Tuesday night at the swim meet:

•There were 43 swimmers participating – seven new ones.

•District Qualifiers– Caroline Mott in the 50 free, Owen Camblin in 50 free and 100 back, and Georgia Shinliver in the 100 fly.

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Sumner Newscow report — The Wellington Sailfish, the youth competitive swimming club, has kicked off another season.

Wellington traveled to Derby on Tuesday, June 4. The meet was called off after event 16 due to the rainout. The rest of the meet has been rescheduled to June 27.

The district qualifiers included Caroline Mott in the 50 freestyle.

There were 36 swimmers participating. The Sailfish will be home Tuesday night.

Wellington Sailfish Coach Jensen Lynnes said.

“I am so proud of my swimmers working so hard to prepare for the meet in such a small amount of time. I am excited to see how they continue to grow and improve throughout the summer!”

The full results can be found here.

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Sumner Newscow report — The Kansas State High School Activities Association has selected sites for the 2025 KSHSAA state basketball championships. All seven sites have been hosted at least once previously.

After hosting the 1A Division I state championships last season, the Colby Event Center has been selected to host the 1A Division II state championships in 2025. The 2A tournaments will return to their traditional home at Bramlage Coliseum after a year’s hiatus.

The KSHSAA continues to have a strong relationship with Barton Community College, which has hosted the 1A Division II Tournaments for the last three years. Colby will be the fourth community to host the 1A Division II state championships since the class split into divisions in 2011. In 2019, Class 1A held a single tournament without divisions.

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By Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — The official signings of athletes and fine arts students to college scholarships have been a ritual that has grown in popularity. Wellington had 12 of them over the past six months.

This year, we decided to do something different, putting all the signings in one montage, much like we do academic scholarships. Those Wellington High School seniors who have signed on to either play a sport, cheerlead, or participate in choir and/or fine arts were: Whitney Zeka, Katelyn Kessler, Conner Walker, Maggie Dry, Olivia Smith, Kyra Cornejo, Madison Baker, Anika Fairbanks, Beegan Bevan, Savannah Saunders, Hunter Worley and Aubrey Hunt.

We have collected pictures of them performing and signing. Special thanks to Katie Ford and the Crusader Yearbook staff for the signing pictures and a few of the action pictures.

Whitney Zeka, the daughter of Blaine and Mary Zeka, has signed a scholarship to cheerlead at Trinity Valley Community College in Athens, Texas.

Zeka will be majoring in business communications. Trinity Valley has won 13 national titles in cheerleading and a Netflix show called “Cheer.”

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Sumner Newscow report — The Ark Valley Chisholm Trail League Div. IV all-league selections for baseball and softball have been released. The selections were made by member coaches.

Wellington had three boys who made All AV-CTL Div. IV first team. Skyler Branam, a junior, was named twice as a first-team pitcher and outfielder. Tristan Tencleve of Wellington was named to the first-team outfield. Dusty Bannister was named first-team shortstop.

The Crusaders also had three players make the second team: Nick Giefer, jr., a second baseman; Emerson Brownlee, so., a utility player; and D. Bannister, jr., a pitcher.

On the honorable mention list, Hank Shinliver, so., was named as a catcher, James Redford, jr., as a first baseman and Milo Elder, so., as a pitcher.

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Sumner Newscow report — The track meet that was. Here are all the pictures of Sumner County athletes over the past two days. Just click here.

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By Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — With the 2024 Kansas State Track and Field Championship in the books, two Sumner County girls made their mark in what will be the final event for what once was Wichita State University’s Cessna Football Stadium.

Wellington freshman Dru Zeka came home with two first-place medals in the Class 4A high jump and the 400 meters. She also placed fifth in the long jump.

Oxford junior Makhila Maupin has two state championships in the 100 meters and 200 meters and a third-place finish in the 400. She also now holds two records in both Class 2A 100 and 200.

Overall, the Wellington girls finished in the top 10 with a sixth-place finish. Look out for next year as most of these girls are freshmen and sophom*ores. The Crusader girls were leading after the first day.

Arguably, the biggest state track meet yet, Cessna is a meet in transition. The east stands have been torn down and portable bleachers were brought in for this year’s event. The west side is still erect in its 1969-built glory, but it will be coming down very soon. The new facility, once built, will undoubtedly be sweet. Whether it happens to be completed next year is the million dollar question.

The following is a synopsis of what occurred this past weekend for Sumner County teams:

WELLINGTON

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Sumner Newscow report — Early this morning, Dru Zeka leaped her way to a state championship.

Zeka won the Class 4A high jump with a leap of 5-4. She defeated Ayla Klingberg of Rock Creek, who also cleared the bar at 5-4, the only other 4A girl to do so. Neither could clear the 5-6 bar. Zeka then won the tiebreaker because she cleared the bar in the first attempt on the previous jumps.

It was quite the event, as sophom*ore Kylan Gregory placed sixth with a 5-2 leap.

Wellington has been busy this morning and we will have more details of other events including both Zeka and Cooper Hatfield qualifying for the finals in the 400 meters.

In the meantime, catch our live tweets on X here for the latest updates.

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Sumner Newscow report — The state track qualifiers have been set for next week at the Class 6-1A State Track and Field Championships at Wichita State University.

Oxford girls will have quite a presence next week after finishing second at the Class 1A Regional in Eirie. Makhila Maupin was a four-time regional champion, winning in the 100, 200, 400, and as a leg of the 4×100 relay — which also included Addyson Cranmer, Yasmin Gardea and Mya Johnson.

Elsewhere, the Belle Plaine 4×100 relay team consisting of Ryder Main, Ryder Slack, Bruce Lee, and Levi Christy placed first in the 2A Eureka Regional. They ran it in 44.20.

The following are the state qualifiers for the six outer Sumner County schools: Oxford, Belle Plaine, Conway Springs, Argonia, Caldwell and South Haven.For the full regional track results, click here and find your classification in the right column.

Class 2A Regional – Erie (Oxford participating)

Team results

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By Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — The Wellington girls’ track team was just four points short of winning its second regional championship in four years.

Wellington came away with 118 points, slightly behind Labette County with 122 at the Class 4A Regional in Coffeyville Thursday. It was a two-team race, as Chanute was a distant third with 89 points. Other team scores were Chanute 89, Rose Hill 79, Coffeyville 56, Winfield 49, Independence 26 and Parsons 19.

Wellington had five regional championships. Dru Zeka had three of them in the high jump, long jump, and 400 meters. Isabelle Cullens won in the pole vault, and Kylan Gregory in the discus.

On the boys’ side, Wellington placed sixth. Chanute won the event with 143 points, Coffeyville 86, Mulvane 84, Parsons 70, Rose Hill 68, Labette County 34, Winfield 14 and Independence 14.

Wellington will have 13 girls’ state entries and seven boys’ at the Kansas Track and Field Championships at Wichita State next weekend. Twenty-four athletes will be wearing Wellington red and silver at the nation’s largest high school track meet starting Friday.

Here is a list of the girls and boys who qualified for state from Wellington:

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By Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — The Wellington baseball season came to an abrupt halt in the Pratt Regional Championship.

The Crusaders lost to host Pratt 10-3, ending one of their more successful seasons at 18-10. Wellington continues its lengthy drought of not making the state tournament—a streak lasting since the early 2000s. Wellington easily won the first game over Ulysses 13-1.

Wellington had three regular starters out of the lineup, including Skylar Branam, Hank Shinliver, and Brody Weir, who weren’t playing for a myriad of reasons. It was obvious in the championship game that this unit was not in sync. The Crusaders, who have improved dramatically late in the season on errors, returned to their old ways, making six errors in the championship game Tuesday night.

Of the 10 runs Pratt scored, only one was considered an earned run.

Pratt had opened the game by scoring on a Wellington error in the first inning. Then the Crusaders committed two more in the second to hand out a 3-0 Greenback advantage. Pratt would add one more in the third to make it 6-0. The Crusaders returned with a run in the fourth on a Kenny Redford single, who would eventually reach home on fielder’s choice.

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Sumner Newscow report: The Wellington boys golf team is headed to state for the fourth consecutive year (excluding 2020 – the COVID year). The Crusaders finished third in the Class 4A Regional held in Wellington.

Wellington will play in the Class 4A state tournament at McPherson’s Turkey Creek Golf Course on Monday and Tuesday. The team includes Owen Farley, Derek Rausch, Ethan Brungardt, Colten Clift, Boston Lawrence, and Cameron Rosenberg.

Wellington shot a team score of 324 to finish third out of nine schools on a perfect spring day at the par-70 Wellington Golf Club. Independence won the event with a 314 and Circle placed second with a 320. Winfield missed qualifying for state as a team with a 357. The other team scores were: Augusta 370, Rose Hill 396, Labette County 409, Coffeyville 409 and El Dorado 424.

Crusader Owen Farley tied for fifth place with Conner Chadwell of Circle with an 80.

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Sumner Newscow report — Brayden Kunz, a Conway Springs senior, has been selected as the National Football Foundation – Sunflower Chapter Scholar-Athlete.

Twelve Kansas high school senior football players were selected by the Coach Bill Snyder Family/Sunflower Chapter of the National Football Foundation as a 2023-24 scholar-athletes due to their performance on the field.

In addition to being one of the twelve selected in the state of Kansas, Brayden was selected as the overall representative of the state of Kansas. His honor will be included in the National Football Foundation publication to be shared across the United States.

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By Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — We are just beginning the spring sports post-season. Here is the latest coming down the pike in the final two weeks of the high school season…

WHS TENNIS

Hunter Worley, a Wellington senior, completed his illustrious high school career, finishing fifth place in singles on Saturday, one day before graduating from WHS with honors.

The three-time state qualifier would go 5-1 at the Class 4A State Tennis Tournament at the Kossover Tennis Center in Topeka.

Wellington would go 4-1, losing only to eventual singles state championship David Spies of Buhler. Worley scored 10 points single-handedly to give Wellington a tie for eighth place. Buhler won the team Class 4A state championship.

Worley opened the state tournament with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Marello of Miege. That set him up in the championship quarterfinals, where Spies beat him 6-0, 6-0.

That dropped Worley on the consolation side, where he would go 3-for-3, beating Frank of Scott City 8-0, Nott of Scott City 8-5, and Marello of Miege again 8-2.

⚾️🥎🥉🏌🏼🏊🏸⚾️🥎🥉🏌🏼🏊🏸⚾️🥎🥉🏌🏼🏊🏸⚾️🥎🥉🏌🏼🏊🏸

CONWAY SPRINGS TENNIS

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By Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — The Big Cheese Athlete of the week is Hunter Worley, a senior for the Wellington boys tennis team.

Worley is currently playing in the Class 4A state tennis tournament in Topeka. He qualified after going 3-1 in the regional held in Winfield last week. He captured third place with a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Carson Merrick of Independence.

For his effort, Worley is the recipient of a large, delicious Big Cheese Pizza at 324 N. Washington.

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By Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — Baseball is a strange game. Wellington was shellacked in the first game of its final doubleheader of the regular season, 13-1 – barely getting to the fifth inning at Hibbs-Hooten Field Tuesday afternoon.

Then came game two. The two teams might as well have switched uniforms because Wellington dominated 6-0 to earn a doubleheader split. Both teams head into the postseason awaiting their seeding fate. Wellington has a 17-9 record and appears to be seeded No. 8 in the Class 4A-West. Although the Crusaders are done with the regular season, Ulysses and Scott City which are ahead of Wellington in the standings have some baseball left to play.

Scott City is hosting Ulysses on Thursday. If Scott City completes a sweep, Wellington could jump to No. 7. Nevertheless, Wellington’s postseason appears to begin in either No. 1 Abilene or No. 2 Clay Center, to be played in a single-elimination tournament next week.

Wellington could have fallen into the depths of a No. 11 or 12 seed had it lost to Mulvane in game two. And it was looking like such a scenario was going to materialize after the Wildcats completely bruised the Crusaders in the first game.

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Sumner Newscow report – The Wellington boys golf team placed third in Ark Valley Chisholm Trail League Div. IV tournament held at Tallgrass Country Club yesterday afternoon, breaking a five-year winning streak.

The Crusaders lost to Wichita Collegiate, which won the tournament with a 328. Andale was second with a 354, and Wellington finished third with a 360. El Dorado shot a 410, Clearwater 414, and Rose Hill 424.

This year’s league tournament combined AV-CTL Div. 3 and 4. Collegiate was the overall winner among 12 teams. Wellington placed sixth. The full scores can be found here.

Four Wellington boys did make all AV-CTL. Owen Farley was the top Crusader golfer, shooting an 86, and was named to the first team AVCTL DIV. Derek Rausch was tied for 15th with an 89. Colton Clift had an 82 for 23rd place, and Ethan Brungardt was tied for 28th at 93. All three players were named to the second team AVCTL DIV.

Wellington’s Boston Lawrance shot a 99, and Cameron Rosenberg with a 100.

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