By Dean Backes
MaxPreps.com
With Saturday’s performance at Basehor-Linwood High School’s Bobcat Relays, one would get the impression that Roxanne Grizzle could throw the javelin with her eyes closed.
The Tonganoxie senior shattered her own school record with a toss of 160-feet, 6-inches to net a gold medal in her specialty event. Although Grizzle’s throw was not listed on dyestat.com as of Thursday evening, her performance would place her second in the site’s list of top performers behind Hannah Carson of Dobson High School (Ariz.).
Carson, a freshman, leads the nation with a throw of 165-9.
Grizzle’s new personal best leads the state of Kansas by 15-plus feet over Concordia thrower Heather Bergmann’s toss of 145-3.
Funny thing is, Grizzle wasn’t even trying for a big throw.
“It’s nice to see her get the big throw,” Tonganoxie throw coach Dave St. Cyr said. “It’s certainly fun when it happens. But right now we’re more concerned with consistency and working on her steps. We don’t even have her full approach in yet. Right now we want her to hit her plant, come through and finish tall.”
The weather and conditions weren’t ripe for a top-notch performance either. But last season’s Gatorade Kansas Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year trudged on battling cool conditions and a slight up hill slope, and with a slight breeze blowing in her face threw further than she ever did before.
The defending state champion isn’t all Tonganoxie has to offer, either. She throws with her sisters Veronica (a junior) and Dominique (freshman). The Grizzle trio combined for 44 of the Chieftains 189 first-place points. Roxanne also placed first in the shot put with a throw of 41-11.
Veronica threw the discus 110-2 to win that event and finished second behind Roxanne in the shot put with a heave of 36-0.5. Dominique completed the 1-2-3 Grizzle finish in the shot put by throwing the metal ball 33-2.5.
Grizzle, who will throw for Nebraska next season, becomes the second Tonganoxie thrower under the guidance of St. Cyr to sign a letter of intent with a Division I school. Former Chieftain Ali Pistora is now throwing for Kansas State. The Big 12 freshman won last weekend’s Emporia State Relays javelin throw with a toss of 164-0.
“So many coaches dream of it,” St. Cyr said of coaching eventual Division I throwers. “I’ve been fortunate to have two of them. They’ve both been great fun to have around.”
Baseball: Barnes’ Pitching Shuts Down Augusta
Tyler Barnes dished out a pinnacle performance from the pitcher’s mound last week in leading El Dorado to a double-header sweep of Augusta (9-0, 8-2).
The pair of wins moved the Wildcat record to 3-1 in the third division of the Ark Valley Chisholm Trail League. El Dorado is 3-3 overall this season and in a two-way tie for second place with Mulvane and a half game behind league leader Andover (4-1).
“That’s about as well as we’ve played as a team in a long time,” El Dorado coach Brad Long told the El Dorado Times. “Our pitching was outstanding, we had some timely hits and our defense was solid.”
Barnes retired the final 19 batters he faced and allowed only one base runner, Chris Cody, who reached on an error in the first inning. The opening game starter struck out seven batters over seven innings.
Meanwhile, Augusta pitching was not at a premium in the opening game 9-0 Wildcat win. El Dorado scored five runs in the third inning. The Wildcats loaded the bases on an error and two walks. Chris Smith and Remington Rebstock were each hit by a pitch to force in the first two runs of the inning.
Baseball: Testermans Lead Lyndon to 10-Run Win
Both Jeremy and Quinton Testerman belted muti-run home runs in Lyndon’s 12-2 victory over West Franklin last week. Jeremy smacked a grand slam and struck out seven batters for the complete game win, while Quinton brought in two runs with his round tripper during the 10-run victory.
The Tigers rallied to win the nightcap 9-3 to even the series.
Girls Basketball: Helmer Takes Game to Another Level
After guiding the Wichita South girls basketball team to two 6A state tournament appearances in the past three years, Mike Helmer’s coaching prowess is beginning to turn heads. Now, the seven-year Titan coach will get the opportunity to coach the Butler Community College women starting in 2008-09.
Over the past three years, Helmer has steered Wichita South to a 58-21 record. The Titans lost to Wichita Heights in the 6A state tournament in 2006 and fell to second-seeded Olathe South 57-38 in the quarterfinals of the 2007 state tourney. South fell just short of their third-straight berth in 2008 when eventual runner-up Goddard knocked off the 15-7 Titans 53-44 in the Haysville-Campus Sub-State championship game.
According to Butler athletic director Todd Carter, Helmer brings leadership and stability to a women’s basketball program that went 8-22 last season, including a 3-13 mark that landed the Grizzlies in eighth place in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference’s western division.
More Track and Field: Trio Nets Multi-event Wins for Mission Valley
Brook Niehues, Vanessa Finlay and Arielle Floyd combined to win eight events at the Onaga Quadrangular to lead Mission Valley to a runner-up finish behind Centralia.
Triple winners for the Vikings were Niehues (100, 200 and long jump) and Finlay (shot put, discus and javelin). Floyd bested the field in the 400 meters and the 800 meters. Abigail Browning and Anne Boyden were victorious in the pole vault and 3,200 meters respectively to give Mission Valley 10 individual titles for the girls competition.
Southeast Runners Net 3,200 Meet Record
Jamie Han ran his way into the record books at the Frontenac Invitational last weekend and led Southeast (Cherokee) to a third place finish.
Han teamed with Talon Thompson, Aaron Ward and Andy Brennon to reestablish the meet record in the 3,200 meter relay (8-minutes, 58.02-seconds) before netting an individual meet standard in the 800-meters (2:04.14).
Swimming: Rea Qualifies for State in Three Events
One week after qualifying for the state swimming meet in the 200 and 500-meter freestyle events, Maggie Rea added another berth by finishing second in the 200 individual medley
The Parson junior swam the latter event in a school record time of 2:18.27 to lead the Vikings to an eighth place finish. Rea also took second place in the 100-meter backstroke.
