Still champions: Wichita area’s title-winners won’t get a chance to repeat this spring
There were 11 Wichita-area high school programs that won state championships last spring, but with the spread of COVID-19 or the coronavirus, there will be no new champions in 2020 and no shot at repeating as title-winners.
The Kansas State High School Activities Association (KSHSAA) canceled all sports through the end of the 2019-20 season following Kansas Governor Laura Kelly’s order to close all schools. Defending state champions were hit hardest.
Last year, Andale’s girls track-and-field team won its third consecutive state championship. The Indians finished with 91 team points, 41 points clear of Kansas City Piper which was runner-up.
With senior relay runners McKenna Gray, Jenna Jarmer and Elle Eck, pole vaulters Jayden Cates and Aspen Liby, triple jumper Caitlin Murray and javelin thrower Patrisha Doll, Andale was set for even more success in 2020. Coach Tyler Ryan said his girls had a good chance to break 100 team points this year.
Together, the Andale boys and girls track teams are the strongest unit in Kansas.
“I went into the school yesterday just to get a few things, and I just started feeling flooded with memories,” coach Tyler Ryan said. “It felt so weird to be back. I don’t think the brunt of it has even hit them yet.”
On the boys’ side, Andale lost a lot from its fifth title-winning team in seven years, but the Indians were bringing back senior relay runners Connor Hennes, Scotti Easter, Dawson Chavez and Isaac Kuhn, pole vaulters Braden Meyer and Joseph Spexarth, shot-put thrower Creighton Camp, discus thrower Carson Fair and three-sport All-Metro selection Easton Hunter in the triple jump.
Not all programs have a constant chance to win a state title like Andale track.
Nickerson baseball won its first state championship since 2002, taking Class 4A. The Panthers won three games in one day because of weather delays.
Campus baseball won the Class 6A title last year for the first time since 1991. The Colts were favorites again in 2020 with seniors Walt Thompson, state tournament hero Austin Warkins, two-time All-Metro selection Jackson Hartley and 6A Player of the Year Tanner Leslie.
“There are a lot bigger problems in the world right now than us missing a baseball season,” Campus coach Bryan Clasen said. “Been trying to stay up-beat about it. To be honest, I haven’t worn my state championship ring at all, but in about the last three days, I’ve been wearing it around the house, and it seems to be putting me in a better mood.”
In softball, Augusta is one of the top programs in Kansas, but the Orioles had only just reclaimed the Class 4A title for the first time since 2015. Coach Jamie VanDever stepped down as the varsity coach after the season, and junior-varsity coach Rhett Mallon was set to open his first season as a head coach in any sport at any school.
His debut will have to wait, and the illustrious careers of senior first baseman Allie Ebenkamp, second baseman Marti Merz, utility Cheyenne Phlman and All-Metro catcher Sophie Johnston are over. They played their final games without knowing it.
“I coached a lot of these girls on the JV team,” Mallon said. “It’s pretty hard because they were my go-to girls for stuff. You look for them to pick up the slack, and they all stepped up and did that in their own way. To go from having a practice to season’s over, it has been hard. I haven’t even gotten the chance to meet with them because we haven’t been allowed to do that.”
The Bishop Carroll boys track team was going for its third straight Class 5A title in 2020. Senior relay runners Luke Larkin and Phoenix Smith, hurdlers Justin Powell and Tommy Harter, pole vaulter Brian Simon, and triple jumper Edwin Lopez won’t be a part of the first 5A three-peat team since Hays in 2013.
In girls swimming, Bishop Carroll entered 2020 fresh off its first state championship in school history. The Golden Eagles brought only seven girls to the meet, believed to be among the smallest title-winning team in Kansas high school history. Senior Lexie Shelton, a two-time All-Metro selection, won’t get another chance.
Neither will any seniors of the Collegiate boys tennis team that won the Class 3-2-1A state championship last season. The same goes for the senior relay runner Claire Clark and discus thrower Sydnee Becker of the Garden Plain girls track team that won the Class 2A title last year.
Trinity Academy won its first boys golf state championship last year. The Knights lost their top two players, but senior Davis Swyers cannot lead his team in his final season. And the greatest golf team the Wichita area has seen arguably ever can’t make it four straight state championships in 2020. Two-time All-Metro selection Cooper Schultz finishes his career with three titles in three years.
Many of these seniors have already wrapped up their college recruitment, but some have not. Some were relying on an outstanding senior season to earn a scholarship to help pay for books or boarding.
Clasen, the Campus baseball coach, said his entire starting lineup is made up of players who can play at the next level, but not all have offers yet. Baseball, softball and soccer players have offseason teams to help complement their high school seasons. For tennis players, track athletes and golfers, it’s tougher to be seen, and it’s almost impossible if there isn’t even a season.
“Before the season even started, I went back and showed some of our seniors what our previous athletes did their freshman, sophomore, junior, their senior years and the progressions they made,” said Ryan, the Andale track coach.
The silver lining for the spring defending champions of the class of 2020 is they will still enter 2021 as returning title winners. The KSHSAA website will feature their teams as kings and queens of Kansas high school athletics.
“It’s a good reminder for all the other kids that still have an opportunity to compete in high school to take advantage of the time that you do have left,” Ryan said. “I don’t know if you could ever say anything that will comfort some of these guys, but you just try to reach out and let them know we’re here for you.”