Subway Sports Spotlight, Oct. 30

In addition to the cross country and volleyball spotlights below, be sure to check out our football playoff bracket breakdown here.

Mill Valley girls, boys cross country are state favorites in 6A

If regionals and the final coaches poll are any indication, 6A better watch out for the defending state champion Mill Valley High School girls cross country team. 

Last Saturday in Overland Park, the top-ranked Jaguars had six of the top 10 finishers, led by regional champion Morgan Koca. Koca, a senior, finished 15th at state last year.

Koca was joined by three additional Jaguars in the top 15 of state last year, two of whom are back this season. Defending state champion Katie Schwartzkopf was 15 seconds off Koca and finished second at regionals. Seniors Molly Haymaker and Jenna Walker, and juniors Molly Ricker and Josie Taylor finished fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth on Saturday. Mill Valley dominated the field, scoring 21 team points. 

The Jaguars graduated Delaney Kemp from last year’s title team, but return six runners who finished in the top 38 of 6A last season. Sophomore Quincy Hubert, who took 28th at regionals, will also run at state this year.

Mill Valley is the favorite heading into Saturday. The Jaguars received 63 votes in the most recent coaches poll, while No. 2 Olathe North received 49. 

The Mill Valley boys, also ranked first in the most recent coaches poll, convincingly won their regional as well. Senior Darius Hightower dominated, taking first with the only sub-16 minute time of 15:58.60. 

Hightower was joined by junior Karch Crawford (third), junior Carsyn Turpin (fifth), and senior Nick Schmidt (ninth) in the top 10. Senior Jack Terry finished 11th. 

Terry returns as Mill Valley’s highest finisher at state last season after he took 15th as a junior.

Mill Valley is certainly hoping to bring home two state championships from Lawrence this Saturday, but the race for the boys title is expected to be much closer. 

Mill Valley received 49 points for first place in the most recent coaches poll, but Lawrence Free State (47), Washburn Rural (44), Olathe South (40), and Manhattan (33) should all be in the hunt for state hardware. 

The 6A boys are scheduled for 10:35 a.m. and the girls are scheduled for 12:20 p.m. at Rim Rock Farm. 

By Gallagher Martin

St. James Academy's Ellie Bolton among state's top liberos

No program in recent Kansas history has enjoyed the success like the St. James volleyball program. SJA has won state championships from ’08-13, ’15, and the last two falls. The Thunder has also been state runner-up in ’07 and ’14 and ’16. St. James captured national championships in ’11 and ’13 under longtime coach Nancy Dorsey. 

St. James had little trouble in its sub-state with a 25-5, 25-6 victory against Kansas City Turner in the semifinals, and a 25-10, 25-20 victory versus 28-win Topeka Seaman in the sub-state championship game. St. James is 36-2 and is the No. 3 seed at the Class 5A state tournament this weekend in Salina.

SJA is part of a highly challenging pool that features Spring Hill (37-2), Aquinas (30-6) and Bishop Carroll (33-6). St. James is one of Spring Hill’s two losses and has split two meetings with rival Aquinas with a win on Oct. 3 and a defeat on Oct. 5. St. James has generally played a lot of regional teams, and did so again this year.

St. James beat St. Louis power Lafayette on Oct. 5 and owns a Sept. 21 victory versus Blue Springs, Mo. On Sept. 14, SJA was pushed to three sets in a 2-1 win versus Cedar Falls, Iowa. SJA beat Millard North and Millard West out of Omaha. Its only other loss came to Blue Valley North, a 6A state qualifier, in three sets on Oct. 15.

SJA has plenty of star power again with senior Anna Feldkamp (3.9 kills per set, .365 average) and senior setter Marea Wortmann, recently a MaxPreps state player of the week. Feldkamp has committed to Division I Loyola of Chicago, and Wortmann to Benedictine.

Bolton is considered the state’s best libero. A Creighton commit, the 5-foot-6 Bolton has 441 digs (5.9 per set) in the team’s most recent statistical release. Bolton recorded 18 digs versus Lafayette, and also 18 in a win versus Gardner-Edgerton, a 6A state qualifier. Bolton was also a 2017 Prep Volleyball National Sophomore of the Year finalist. Bolton recorded 247 digs as a freshman and 602 as a sophomore.

By Conor Nicholl

Girard’s Cormick Logue carrying on the family tradition

Four-time cross country state champion Cailie Logue is one of the most accomplished runners in Kansas High School history. 

Cailie won 13 state championships in cross country and track & field from 2013-2017 for Girard, and has since won the 2018 Big 12 Cross Country Championship and the 2018 NCAA Midwest Regional Cross Country Championship. 

Outside of sports, Cailie was named Academic All-Big 12 First Team in 2018 for cross country and 2019 for track and field.

The elder Logue has set quite the bar, but her younger brother Cormick, a junior, is attempting to make a name for himself as well.

Logue most recently won the 4A Regional Cross Country Championship in Chanute last Saturday and set a personal record in the process with a time of 16:05.

Logue was fourth at state in 3A last year and 23rd in 4A in 2017. Before winning Saturday’s regional, Logue’s best performance this season was his second-place finish in the Blue Division at the Rim Rock Farm Classic on Sept. 28. Logue helped Girard finish first as a team at the Regional and Rim Rock.

Girard head coach Matt Logue, Cormick and Cailie's father, who said his team was ranked first in one poll, but he believes Buhler and Wamego have deeper squads. 

“I don’t know if we are really number one, but I do think we can compete,” coach Logue said. “It would be nice to bring home some hardware. As good as we are now, we should be better next year.”

The 4A boys are scheduled to race at 10:35 a.m. Saturday at the Wamego Country Club. 

By Gallagher Martin

Beloit returns to state as Shea Larson continues to pile up kills

No team has offense quite like Beloit, a consistent power under veteran coach Brandy Paul. Beloit ranks second in Kansas in hitting percentage at .379 and is first with 1,299 kills. Anderson County, which did not qualify for state, leads Kansas with a .397 hitting percentage, according to the MaxPreps statewide lists. After Beloit, no other program hit above .335.

Beloit qualified for the Class 3A state tournament in Hutchinson and is the No. 1 seed with a 37-3 record. The Trojans are in a pool with surprise entrant Burlington (18-18), along with Cheney (31-8) and Phillipsburg (29-10). Larson and senior Hanna Pearson lead the team with 464 and 279 kills. Both rank in the top-10 in Kansas in hitting percentage at .463 and .454, respectively. Larson had more than 500 kills as a junior and is the school record holder. In addition, senior Jessica Meier (570 assists) and sophomore Makenzie Travis (560 sets) have helped Beloit deliver 1,160 assists and set a school mark.

Last year, they helped Beloit to 1,107 assists and first broke the school record. The 6-foot Larson has 1,188 kills and a .471 hitting percentage in her career. Beloit has only lost to Smith Center, a 2A favorite, along with rival Concordia and Hesston.

By Conor Nicholl

St. Thomas Aquinas boys cross country looking for sixth conescutive state championship

The St. Thomas Aquinas boys cross country team has won five consecutive 5A State Championships and last Saturday Aquinas won its 15th consecutive regional championship.

The Saints had six of the top 10 finishers at the Blue Valley Southwest Regional and ran away with the team title. Sophomore Logan Seger won the individual championship with a time of 15:55. According to the St. Thomas Aquinas Cross Country Twitter account, Seger is the first Saint to record a time under 16 minutes before his junior year. 

Seger finished 14th in 5A last season, but with the graduations of Luke Godard and defending state champion Ethan Marshall, Seger has stepped up for the Saints. 

Also earning a regional medal for Aquinas were Aiden Higgerson (third), Ashton Higgerson (fifth), Connor Klocke (sixth), Nolan Mauk (eighth), and Aidan Grantham (10th). 

Aquinas is the favorite in 5A according to the final coaches poll. Maize South and Andover round out the top three. 

The 5A boys are scheduled for 12:55 p.m. from Rim Rock Farm in Lawrence. 

By Gallagher Martin 

Taylor Burkhardt, Silver Lake

Beloit and Silver Lake are likely the top-two teams entering the 3A state tournament. SL is the defending state champion and has won nine overall state titles, including ’13, ’14, ’16 and ’18. Silver Lake is the No. 6 seed at 29-11, but played a highly challenging schedule again. Lexi Cobb and senior Daryn Lamprecht are first team all-state picks in softball and volleyball and are two of the state’s most well-known players. Cobb has committed to Lamar for softball, and Lamprecht to Northern Iowa for softball.

Silver Lake opens against third-seeded Royal Valley (34-6) on Friday morning. RV has been ranked first in 3A the majority of the year. Silver Lake lost to Royal Valley in three sets on Sept. 7, but then came back to beat RV on Oct. 5. At sub-state, Silver Lake defeated Rock Creek, 25-20, 25-16, in the final.

Senior Taylor Burkhardt, like Bolton at St. James, has delivered a big season on the back line. She has 473 digs (5.4 per set) and leads the team with 551 serve-receptions. The 5-foot-2 Burkhardt has hit two 1,000 milestones this year and has 1,236 digs and 1,195 serve receptions in her career. Silver Lake also owns a three-set win versus Wabaunsee, the defending Class 2A runner-up, 36-3 this fall and ranked in near the top of the class all season. Silver Lake’s losses are mainly to much bigger schools, including 4A Topeka Hayden, 5A Lansing and 6A Lawrence Free State, all state qualifiers.

By Conor Nicholl

Garden Plain's Horacek reaches rare milestone

Last year, Horacek led Kansas in digs and helped Garden Plain win the Class 2A state title. GP entered state with nine losses, though finished 4-1 and beat Wabaunsee in the finals. Horacek leads the team with 351 digs (4.8 per set) and has 473 receptions. She has also reached rare career milestones as part of the 1,500/2,000 club. She has 1,648 career digs and 2,168 serve receptions. Horacek is also an excellent server with 158 aces against just 98 service errors, including a 54/16 mark this year. GP has delivered 182 service points off Horacek’s serve.

This year, Garden Plain is 30-9 and is No. 8 seed in the Class 2A state tournament that is at Dodge City. However, the Owls, with legendary coach Gina Clark, gave Sedgwick its only two defeats this year, including the sub-state title game. Horacek was also a member of the 2A state-winning basketball team. She missed part of the year with an injury but came up with big 3-pointers at sub-state and in a semifinal overtime victory versus Alma-Wabaunsee.

By Conor Nicholl