Top 10 Sports Stories of 2013
KSCB News - December 23, 2013 3:15 pm
10. Saints Baseball Wins Jayhawk West in Dramatic Fashion- Seward needed help, but they won the Jayhawk West for the 10th time in 13 years. On April 28, the Saints swept Cloud in Concordia and Dodge City swept Garden City to leave the Saints on top at 21-11. The Saints finished third in the Region 6 Tournament and eliminated Cowley.
9. Seward Settles on Second Hall of Fame- Two major contributor’s and the school’s all time leading scorer were inducted into the Saints Athletic Hall of Fame in April. Booster Brent Gould, booster, former athletic director, and former coach Charles Brownlee, and men’s basketball player Tony Slaughter were inducted in the school’s second athletic hall of fame.
8. Marvelous March for Meade- The Meade boys and girls both advanced to the 2A state basketball tournament in Manhattan. The Buff boys improved to 24-0 after beating Oswego 80-43 and Moundridge 74-54 to advance to the state championship game where they lost to Belleville 64-53 in overtime. It was the second consecutive season an undefeated Meade team dropped the state title game.
7. No Football in Forgan- After going 12-1 and making it to the state title game of Class C, Forgan did not field a football team in 2013. Forgan head coach Billy Nichols offered to assist the Tyrone High School program and head coach Josh Bell accepted that offer this fall.
6. Record Setting Skins- Liberal’s Britton Abbott and Trenton Hammond put up record setting stats in leading Liberal back to the 5A playoffs. Abbott passed for a school record 3,070 yards with 27 TD passes and eight interceptions while rushing for 1,189 yards. Trenton Hammond was his top target catching 74 balls for 1,400 yards and 21 TD’s which was also a school record. Abbott passed for 6,137 yards. Consider the next closest in school history is Slader McVey with 3,602 yards. Hammond caught for 3,021 yards. The next closest is Jade Cathey with 1,461 yards. The Redskins averaged 40 points per game and went 5-5.
5. Redskins Run to a WAC Title- Liberal’s boys cross country team won the WAC title in Great Bend in October. Obed Quintana won the WAC in 16:36. Sammy Obando placed fifth to join Quintana on the All WAC list. The complete boys and girls teams qualified for state with the boys finishing 5th and the girls 8th.
4. A History Making Fall for Seward Tennis- Seward’s Ronzai Saurombe and Alejandro Gonzalez won the first national championship in Seward tennis history in October. They were the lowest seed in the field. They also were first team in Seward history to earn a trip to the ITA National Tournament. The duo is ranked #1 entering the spring and the men’s team is ranked ninth.
3. LHS Athletes Clear Hurdles- Liberal’s Jai Chapman and Trenton Hammond both won gold medals at the state track and field meet in Wichita. Hammond won the 300 hurdles for the second time in three years in 37.59 while Chapman won the 100 hurdles in 15.58 and the 300 hurdles 46.75. The Liberal boys finished fifth in the state and the girls were 10th.
2. The Best in the West- There is no doubt, Seward has become the team to beat in the Jayhawk West recently. The Saints have won three straight conference titles after edging Hutchinson in a 62-60 thriller in the Green House in February. The Saints cut down the net after the clinching win. The Saints finished 25-8 in winning the conference.
1. An Outpouring for Anthony- The entire area opened their hearts to Satanta freshman football player Anthony Crump. He suffered a severe spinal chord injury September 6. He spent most of the fall at rehabilitation hospital in Chicago while area schools, teams, and fans raised money to help the family with medical bills. He returned home for Satanta’s final game on Halloween night.