Giving “minor sport” athletes their props
July 22, 2008 @ 8:30 p.m. by Joannaby joanna
Should I have said “non-football” athletes? Maybe. You get my drift, though. I definitely spend my fair share of time writing and talking about football. And I have great reasons for that — football gets the most hits, the most comments and sells papers.
However, I’m all about giving good athletes their due, regardless of their sport is. One of my most favorite sports is volleyball.
So what I want from you is telling me who needs to be talked about. The Mulvane cross country runners have been, so has Northwest’s Robbie Martinez-Garcia. Who else is out there? Boys, girls, fall, winter or spring sports. Let’s hear about them.
July 22nd, 2008 at 9:24 pm
About time you spread the love……..You should of seen the 6A State 3200 at Cessna Stadium. I have heard from many people that race was one of the most exciting they had ever witnessed. I’m talking about Derby’s Ace Distance runner, Jake Wike. Varsity all four years of High School…..barring injury!, Track and XC. Sixth place 3200 State sophmore, 36th State XC. Junior year XC, AVCTL League Champion, 5th XC Regionals, 4th State XC (100 runners). USATF Winter Nationals XC race, 19th place finish out of 253 at RimRock Farm. Track, League, Regional, & State Champion 3200….yip, he has one more year left, and wants the competition!
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July 22nd, 2008 at 10:35 pm
The most exicting race I have ever witnessed was the guys 6A 4×100 relay this past year. SM-East 42.41, Heights 42.42, Olathe South 42.43. One crazy finish…
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July 23rd, 2008 at 7:08 am
How about Tyler Caldwell & Boaz Beard? Three time state wrestling champions going into their Senior years looking for a 4-peat.
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July 23rd, 2008 at 7:18 am
How about the Cross country team from Campus. 5th in State Last year and look to knock off the 14 time state champs this year. They should have 5 kids under 17:00.
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July 23rd, 2008 at 7:50 am
Belle Plaine girls CC will return their top 5 runners from a 3rd place finish at state, and I think Trinity girls will return all 5 runners from a 4th place finish at state.
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July 23rd, 2008 at 10:00 am
To PanFan: That was an amazing race!
To Joanna: Thank you for this blog, it is pretty much what I wanted. Not too much exposure, but enough to recognize the hard workers.
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July 23rd, 2008 at 11:15 am
Working the finish line at State I get to see all the good races, and there were some great ones. Any body can be on a team and blend in. Track, CC, Wrestling and even Swimming are my favorites. To me they are not minor sports. The individual who trains to compete on their own, with no help from anyone else, is a “major” athlete.
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July 23rd, 2008 at 11:40 am
Couldn’t agree with you more. The individual sports, as you have mentioned are also close to my favorites. The team thing is still their to some degeee, but a whole lot of it is an individual effort.
Hey Campus, I hope you’re right…….If the Green cant do it, i will happily support our Friends & Neighbors to the West..Good Luck!
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July 23rd, 2008 at 6:18 pm
jeff page of andover central is ranked 5th in the nation in amateur boxing in the light heavyweight division and he is only 17 yrs old.he went to colorado springs and competed in the u.s.a nationals and got 3rd place.he competes in the mens division and the ages are 17 thru 33 yrs old.last summer he won a silver medal at the junior olympics in marquette michigan.he then won first place in vegas in jr.golden gloves and then he was champion in the heavyweight division in kansas city at the ringside world tournament.i know this is not a H.S. sport but it requires year roung training.in august he will compete in another national tournament and then he will play football at A.C. where he is starting middle linebacker and tightend.last year he led the team in tackles and was second in sacks.
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July 24th, 2008 at 11:43 am
Will you publish the HOVPEN pre-season volleyball picks? For us VB fans, we’d love to see more coverage from Varsity KS on area players.
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July 24th, 2008 at 11:47 am
Hovpen, who’s that? What’s that?
Ha! Just kidding.
We might be able to do that.
As for volleyball coverage, I’ve got to be real honest here — I haven’t been touching on it because there just aren’t as many readers or posters of it. As we get closer, I definitely will. But I think I’ll wait a little bit until we get closer to the start of the season.
Now, maybe I’m wrong, maybe there’s just a ton of you out there who are dying for volleyball info. Please let me know. Maybe I’ve missed the boat here.
You all know that I aim to please, so fill me in.
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July 24th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
I’m not quite a ton, but I would like to see some volleyball coverage, like the other sports, we lost some great players last year and we’d like to know who will take their place. Currently, I don’t have a clue.
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July 27th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
I know this state will always be a football state but you should just really get stories for every sport, thats how you could spread the love evenly, soccer, basketball, cross-country,wrestling,bowling, tennis, just get stories for everyone and that would make everyone happy :)
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July 27th, 2008 at 9:44 pm
Anything about cross country running would be amazing!
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July 27th, 2008 at 10:57 pm
how does a fan follow a cross country race? rent a helicopter? i guess just wait at the finish line and watch them run across.
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July 28th, 2008 at 7:18 am
To follow xc I guess you have to be willing to get out of your chair and move a little bit. LOL.
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July 28th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
There are a ton of us out here, but I’m guessing most don’t post. Wichita State ranks nationally in attendance (volleyball), so that should show that this area LOVES the game. (Joanna, I believe you stated it was one of your favorites??) Hundreds of girls participate in club volleyball in the greater Metro area. My humble opinion is that the media doesn’t cover it because it IS a minor sport. Not because we won’t follow it. Build it and they will come….maybe.
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July 28th, 2008 at 7:35 pm
VBfan, thanks for coming on and telling me you are out there. I love volleyball. And I do cover it — Every Tuesday night I’m out there covering it.
As for this blog, I need some e-mails telling me who to look for. I know Circle, Kapaun and Carroll. But give me some more info. I’m wrapping up some actual stories right now, but if you all help me out, I’ll start working on the blog and volleyball.
I’m at joanna@varsitykansas.com.
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July 29th, 2008 at 6:39 pm
jeff page also led AC in personal fouls and snaps over the punter’s head!
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August 4th, 2008 at 8:27 pm
Coach-
You follow a cross country race by getting of your butt and running to parts of the course that you can see them. Trust me, if you gave it a shot, you’d like to watch a race. It’s amazing to be in these races, and a little support is great!
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