Coming off a third-place finish at last year’s Class 3A state tournament, Sabetha had some big holes to fill after graduation claimed No. 1 player and state placer Roman Scoby as well as two others off the state roster.
 
After a somewhat slow start to the season, the Bluejays are hitting their stride as the postseason draws near.
 
On Monday, the Bluejays successfully defended their Big East League title, posting a team score of 336 to edge Jefferson West and Nemaha Central by a stroke each. The tournament victory was the third straight for the program after also edging Nemaha Central for the crowns at the Marysville and Holton Invitationals.
 
Sabetha shot 320 at Holton, beating Nemaha on a fifth-man tiebreaker for a title after the Thunder also posted a 320. The Bluejays followed with a 325 at Marysville to beat Nemaha by eight shots.
 
A pair of freshmen led the way at the Marysville Invitational with Hudson Scoby shooting a career-best 76 to win the meet by three shots over fellow freshman Lucas Keim and Marysville’s El Sedlacek, who each shot 79s. Keim was third after a scorecard playoff.
 
At league, the Bluejays were led by Scoby, who placed sixth with an 81 while Gavin Wedel just missed the top 10 on a scorecard playoff, taking 11th after shooting an 82. Wedel was the Bluejays’ top placer at Holton, shooting a career-best 77 to take fifth.
 
OTHER GOLF STANDOUTS

• Santa Fe Trail won the Pioneer League meet for the fourth time in six years. The Chargers posted a team score of 327 to win by 18 shots over Wellsville. Cale Anshutz was the league runner-up after shooting a 78 while Brody Buessing was third with a 79. Iola’s Brennen Coffield won the league title with a 72.
• Manhattan captured the title at the Centennial League meet, winning the league title for the second straight year. The Indians shot 301 to beat Washburn Rural by nine shots. Charlie Haney shot an even-par 70 to win the individual title by four shots over Emporia’s Chesney Erkel, while Cade Cochran and Will Carpenter each shot 76s to tie for fifth. Haney followed with wins at the Junction City and Emporia Invitationals, giving him four victories this season. He shot a 2-under 70 to win at Junction City by four shots and then shot a 4-under 67 to win by seven shots at the Emporia Invitational, leading the Indians to the team title at that meet as well.
• Wamego won the team title at the Junction City Invitational with a 310, edging 6A power Manhattan by one shot. Regan Kueker was runner-up individually with a 74 to Manhattan’s Haney, while Eli Neff shot a 75 and was one stroke back in third and Breckin Miller shot a 77 to tie for fourth.
• Rossville’s Jack Donovan was the Big East League individual champion, shooting a 1-over 71 to win by four shots over Nemaha Central’s Layton Thomas.
• Sacred Heart cruised to the North Central Activities Association crown, posting a 315 to win by 43 shots over Beloit. The Knights placed all six golfers in the top seven as Will Tuttle shot a 75 and won in a playoff with Southeast of Saline’s Adam Thiel for the individual title. Ethan Newell shot 78 to take third while Ben Marrs was fourth with an 80, Jake Koksal and Dom Matteucci shots 82s to tie for fifth and Cody Burr had an 83 to tie for seventh.

 
GIRLS SWIMMING STANDOUTS

• Washburn Rural captured its 23rd straight Topeka City Championship title, winning by 120 points over Seaman. Senior Audrey Appuhn took individual titles in the 200 individual medley and 100 freestyle to finish her career with eight individual city golf medals. She also was on the winning 200 medley and 400 freestyle relays, teaming with Sophie Heinen, Resego Mackenzie and Kaci Hodgson on the medley and Henien, Ava Von Lintel and Stella Berry on the 400 free relay. Rural also got a win from Rhiannon Good in diving.
• Hayden’s Kaelyn Gerdel swept the 200 freestyle and 100 breaststroke titles at the City Meet. Other city winners were Shawnee Heights’ Clara Sobba (50 freestyle) and Kaitlyn Aldridge (100 butterfly), Topeka High’s Avery Skinner (500 freestyle) and Hara Del Castillo (100 backstroke) and Seaman’s 200 freestyle relay team of Ava Carlson, Gracie Scott, Isabelle Hahn and Riley Strother.
• Abilene’s Lily Gruen took third in the 100 backstroke at the Andover Invitational, cutting more than two seconds off her previous best time in the event with a 1:16.70.

 
 
TRACK AND FIELD STANDOUTS

• Southeast of Saline had a trio of school record-setting performances at its home meet. Regan Duran set the girls’ school record in the 200 with a time of 25.96, breaking the old record of 26.10 set by Heather Douglas in 1988. Jacob Bircher and Brayden Walker, meanwhile, each broke their own school records at the meet with Bircher lowering his record 800 time from a 1:54.80 to a 1:53.75 and Walker taking his 3,200 record from a 9:23.95 to a 9:22.62.
• With only one practice under their belts as a 400 relay team, the foursome of Josh Enneking, Jack Frazee, Roger Ortiz and Will Voos broke the Sabetha school record in the event last week. They turned in a time of 44.30 to break the old mark of 44.44 set in 2006.
• Rock Creek’s foursome of Eric Timm, Dylan Jones, Luke Skinner and Logan Rankin broke the school record in the 1,600 relay with a time of 3:29.33. The old mark was 3:29.56 set last year.
• Sacred Heart freshman Emmy Lee has added a pair of school records in the last two weeks. After breaking the 8700 record at the Beloit Relays with a time of 2:20.58, Lee came back and broke the 1,600 relay at the Southeast of Saline Invitational last week, running a 5:16.60 to break the old mark of 5:20.0. Sophomore Aundrea Ibarra also broke a school record at Beloit, running a 12.79 to break the old record of 12.9 set in 1978.
• Osage City’s Kaelyn Boss broke her own school record in the shot put, throwing 40-8.
• Perry-Lecompton’s girls won the team title at the Jefferson County North Invitational. The foursome of Emmy Reed, Tatum Calovich, Jolie Corcoran and Macie Corcoran won the 400 and 1,600 relays, setting a school record in the 1,600 relay with a time of 4:10.98, taking more than a second off the old mark of 4:12.3 set in 2004. Macie Corcoran also won the 100 hurdles and 300 hurdles, while Maggie Ross swept the shot put and discus titles and the Kaws also got a title from Peyton McCune in the high jump.

 

 

• Rural Vista’s boys won the Herington Invitational title with 150.5 points and now have won team titles at five of their six meets this season, taking second in the other.
• In his last three meets, Jefferson County North’s Will Elias has run a 40.37 and twice a 40.21, leaving him just shy of the school record of 40.2.
• Silver Lake finished runner-up in both the boys and girls team standings at the Topeka City Championships, getting titles from Ali Gerber (girls triple jump), Addy Just (girls long jump), Joel Miller (boys 200), Bryson Burgos (boys triple jump) and the girls’ 1,600 relay.
• Beloit’s Autumn Lorenz, Dakota Gray, Bently Pruitt and Addyson Channell set a new school record in the 400 relay at the Southeast of Saline Invitational. The foursome ran a 49.41 to break the mark of 49.67 set in 2016.
• Chapman’s Adelynn Kirkpatrick set a new school record in the pole vault at the Minneapolis Invitational, clearing 10-3. Kirkpatrick had shared the school record at 9-6 with Taya Rowley, both clearing that height last year.