Following Saturday’s sweep of Shawnee Mission West at the Blue Valley North volleyball tournament, Bishop Miege coach Gwenn Pike secured a win for the ages.
Decades of victories, as well as plenty of district and state championships, have piled up for the Stag coach since she took over the Bishop Miege volleyball program three decades ago.
Last weekend’s 25-15, 25-19 win over the Vikings secured the 1,000th win for Pike.
“We’ve earned a lot of great wins here,” Pike said as she looked back on her successful career at the Eastern Kansas League School, “and I’m thankful to all who have contributed. This wasn’t done by me alone. We’ve been fortunate to have some very good coaches and a lot of talented players come through here.”
With the Stags leading comfortably in the second game, Pike’s 30th Miege squad lost focus momentarily before rebounding and securing the second-set win. The sweep of the Vikings allowed Pike to become the first Kansas prep volleyball coach to reach the milestone.
“In the second game we had a pretty good lead,” Pike recalled of the moments leading up to the monumental win, “so the girls knew we were probably going to get win No. 1,000. I could tell they were all pretty excited out there. There were a lot of caring and wonderful grins on the court. I know I had a big smile on my face.”
Pike guided Bishop Miege to four straight Class 5A state titles, twice, beginning in her first season through 1983 and again from 1991 to 1994. The Stags pulled off back-to-back state championships in 1985 and 1986 and won three straight from 2002-04. Bishop Miege also won 5A titles in 1989 and 2008.
Before Pike took over the program, the Stags won state titles in 1977 (4A), 1978 and 1979.
“It gets much more difficult,” Pike said of the competition her teams have faced when they’ve arrived at the state tournament. “The competition is always tough once you reach that point in the season. I really cherish our state championships because they are so difficult to come by.
“I’ve had some of the best teams – teams that I knew were the best – fall short of winning it all. Those were heartbreakers. Then there were those teams that were able to win it all and leave us all wondering, ‘How did we pull it off?’”
According to Pike, many of the spoils her program has acquired over the years can be attributed to plain old hard work and dedication by her athletes.
“We’ve been fortunate to have players that are committed to the sport of volleyball,” Pike said. “They work hard in the offseason. They don’t just show up in the gym and it happens.”
The Stags are well on their way to challenging for another state title in 2009. Pike and company are 31-5 so far this season and are ranked second behind EKL rival St. Thomas Aquinas in the final regular-season rankings put out by the Kansas Volleyball Coaches Association.
The Stags begin this latest quest for a state title Saturday when they take on Kansas City-Turner (10-27) at the Class 5A sub-state volleyball tournament held at St. Thomas Aquinas.
Randle commits to Oklahoma State
Oklahoma State received a commitment from Wichita Southeast running back Joseph Randle on Saturday. The opportunity for early playing time was enough to sway Randle to join the Big 12 South football program over several other schools in the league and Stanford.
“I feel like I can get on the field early and I felt at home there,” Randle told the Wichita Eagle on his decision. “I felt like that before I committed and even more so now. This is a total relief. I can just go out there and have fun now. I wish I had done it a little earlier.”
Losing skid comes to end for Wabaunsee
Curtis Capoun rushed for 187 yards and four touchdowns on 18 carries in leading Wabaunsee to a 59-6 win over Solomon, ending four years of frustration and a 40-game losing streak last week.
“You could tell they just got a big ol' weight lifted off their shoulders, off their chests,” Chargers coach Brian Henry told the Topeka Capital Journal of the homecoming win. “They all just let out a big sigh (of relief).”
Capoun returned the opening kickoff 85 yards to get the ball rolling.
Kansas' top performances
Rushing
Brandon Barnes of Oskaloosa rushed for 270 yards and 2 touchdowns on 29 carries in a 36-22 loss to Pleasant Ridge…Hutchinson’s Josh Smith rushed for 269 yards and 4 touchdowns on 21 carries in a 55-20 win over McPherson…Ty Lang of Burlingame rushed for 256 yards and 7 touchdowns on 14 carries and returned two kickoffs for another 2 touchdowns in a 90-40 win over Elwood…Lyons’ Jake Craig rushed for 247 yards in a 34-15 win over Ellinwood…Wade Ahlvers of Frankfort rushed for 241 yards and 3 touchdowns on 13 carries in a 54-6 win over Wakefield.
Passing
Sam Dunne of Wichita Independent threw for 313 yards in a 45-0 win over Bluestem…Wichita Collegiate’s Blake Jablonski completed 19-of-28 passes for 288 yards and 4 touchdowns in a 55-7 win over Douglass…Joel Piper of McPherson completed 19-of-34 passes for 265 yards and 2 touchdowns in a 55-20 loss to Hutchinson…Hillsboro’s Jacob Fish threw for 256 yards in a 26-12 win over Southeast of Saline…Sam Johnson of Topeka High completed 16-of-27 passes for 227 yards and 2 touchdowns in a 42-35 loss to Manhattan.
Receiving
Matt Ornduff of Blue Valley Northwest caught 8 passes for 187 yards and 2 touchdowns in a 27-21 win over Olathe East…Larned’s Chase Smith caught 10 passes for 170 yards and a touchdown in a 40-38 loss to Smoky Valley…Chris Fields of Olathe East caught 9 passes for 150 yards and 2 touchdowns in a 27-21 loss to Blue Valley Northwest…Lyndon’s Trey Brown caught 4 passes for 138 yards in a 36-14 loss to Valley Falls…Brian Katzsey of Eudora caught 5 passes for 130 yards and a touchdown in a 45-14 win over Perry-Lecompton.
Kansas football rankings
Class 6A
1. Olathe North (7-0) 309 100 1
2. Junction City (7-0) 263 78 2
3. Manhattan (7-0) 215 107 3
4. Blue Valley Northwest (6-1) 209 118 5
5. Lawrence Free State (5-2) 258 99 7
6. Shawnee Mission West (6-1) 198 81 4
7. Derby (5-2) 147 100 8
8. Wichita Northwest (5-2) 250 158 10
9. Washburn Rural (5-2) 214 133 9
10. Olathe East (4-3) 172 126 6
Class 5A
1. Hutchinson (7-0) 367 101 1
2. Gardner-Edgerton (7-0) 333 48 3
3. Wichita Bishop Carroll (7-0) 275 102 4
4. St. Thomas Aquinas (7-0) 149 79 5
5. McPherson (6-1) 328 96 2
6. Hays (7-0) 192 101 7
7. Salina Central (5-2) 232 174 6
8. Emporia (5-2) 237 132 8
9. Newton (6-1) 224 108 9
10. Kansas City-Turner (6-1) 196 127 10
Class 4A
1. Bishop Miege (5-2) 253 116 1
2. Andale (7-0) 283 80 3
3. Holton (7-0) 293 109 4
4. Buhler (6-1) 340 121 2
5. Louisburg (6-1) 231 80 5
6. Rose Hill (6-1) 233 62 6
7. Andover (6-1) 261 128 7
8. Abilene (6-1) 253 141 8
9. Hugoton (7-0) 329 36 9
10. Basehor-Linwood (6-1) 252 97 10
Class 3A
1. Conway Springs (7-0) 291 68 1
2. Silver Lake (7-0) 269 72 2
3. Wichita Collegiate (7-0) 313 87 4
4. Scott City (7-0) 274 36 5
5. Garden Plain (6-1) 334 61 3
6. Marysville (6-1) 312 80 6
7. Pleasant Ridge (7-0) 288 71 7
8. Galena (7-0) 289 88 8
9. Hutchinson Trinity (7-0) 352 19 9
10. Hoisington (6-1) 236 68 -
Class 2-1A
1. Smith Center (7-0) 254 55 1
2. Olpe (7-0) 273 12 2
3. Oakley (6-0) 226 26 3
4. Pittsburg-Colgan (6-1) 290 80 4
5. Meade (7-0) 329 63 5
6. St. Marys (6-1) 222 111 6
7. Oswego (7-0) 279 19 7
8. Centralia (6-1) 334 54 8
9. LaCrosse (6-1) 210 120 9
10. Ellis (5-2) 200 80 10
Class 8-Man I
1. Baileyville B&B (7-0) 372 28 1
2. Madison (7-0) 292 46 2
3. Clifton-Clyde (6-1) 388 108 3
4. Quinter (6-1) 330 106 5
5. Minneola (7-0) 359 130 6
6. Pretty Prairie (7-0) 324 110 7
7. Colony-Crest (6-1) 340 143 4
8. Goessel (6-1) 246 84 8
9. Macksville (5-2) 234 132 9
10. Lebo (7-0) 312 66 10
Class 8-Man II
1. Victoria (7-0) 384 144 1
2. Hanover (6-1) 324 126 2
3. Beloit-St. John’s-Tipton (7-0) 327 104 3
4. Ashland (7-0) 230 58 4
5. Otis-Bison (7-0) 406 110 5
6. Quivira Heights (5-2) 376 160 6
7. Caldwell (7-0) 393 184 8
8. Sharon Springs-Wallace County (5-2) 262 172 9
9. South Haven (6-1) 328 190 10
10. Hope (6-1) 270 132 -
