The Hays High Lady Indians have claimed the two seed in the Newton Sub-State with a 16-4 record. The Western Athletic Conference champions will play conference foe Liberal in the first round on Thursday at home, game time is set for 6:00. Liberal finished the regular season at 3-17 with two of their wins coming over a school from Oklahoma. Hays beat Liberal in their previous two meetings this season, both times by 31 points.
The other half of the Hays High bracket has sixth seeded Great Bend traveling to the three seed and host school Newton for a second meeting with the Railers. The two met in the opening round of the Hays City Shoot Out. Newton held a 35-0 lead before Great Bend scored in the second quarter.
The Hays High Indians will start tournament play Wednesday on the road as the five seed against fourth seeded Salina South. The South Cougars won the only meeting between the two schools this year by eleven, in a game held at Hays High School. Hays finished the regular season at 6-14, winning two of their final five games. South is 7-13.
The other half of the Hays High bracket has the one seed Goddard-Eisenhower (16-4) hosting eighth seeded Valley Center (3-17).
On Monday December 12th that USD 489 Board of Education will take a vote on the issue of helping finish a new physical education building on the east side of Hays High School. The money that will be spent from the decision of the vote is money that the district will get to see come back to them over the next couple of years. Thanks to New Facility Funding from the state of Kansas, the district receives additional money for a limited time. The money that is needed to finish out the new facility is very close to the amount of money that will be received by the district. The major note to mention is that without the finished facility that Hays High will be using, the district will not be receiving the money.
The new facility comes to an estimated final cost of $700,000. With both in-kind and cash donations combined, there is an estimated $125,000 left to raise. That is approximately the amount of money USD 489 will be receiving over the next two years. I guess the question that one really has to ask is what other group or organization has even ventured close to the idea of raising the money to make an addition of this magnitude?
This is a facility that is not just about athletics. In a society where obesity is on the rise and with more and more groups focusing on making sure that children and teenagers are learning at a young age to be responsible for their bodies this will be a great facility. Obesity to overtake smoking as the #1 preventable death in the next five years. Back to the students. Hays High students are required to enroll and pass two physical education classes. These physical education classes do include weight lifting; with some of the classes having up to fifty students per session. This is also a facility that will have a class every hour. The weight lifting facility will be used just the same as it is now in regard to students that are allowed to access it.
While it is easy to focus on the here and now, this is a facility that will benefit more than just the kids in high school now. Children just entering the school system will have an incredible facility to utilize for a full four years because of decisions made now.
The building is located adjacent to the wrestling room. It is nearly 7200 square feet and will include some offices leaving a little over 5000 square feet for activities. The building is elevated with the concreted floor laid. The windows are scheduled to be installed soon along with the framing work for the offices.
Very seldom, if ever does the opportunity present itself for a school board to spend money that they know will be coming back to them in the near future. And most certainly the chance never comes along that allows anybody to receive a $700,000 building for a $125,000 price tag that will be reimbursed to them by a third party.
Writer’s Note:
In a country and society where negativity abounds, it seems an increasing number of people are more willing to hold back positive progress that is being pushed by others. Even if it is progress that can be used by any high school student at Hays High School if he/she should so choose. The people on the Build F.A.S.T committee and the fund raisers have done an exceptional job in raising donations during a time that finds our country more at odds than ever.
I find it very disturbing that instead of embracing the idea of having an addition to Hays High school for very little or no cost to the district has been met at times with such terrible negativity. Should the Board of Education vote for helping to finish this new facility, USD 489 could end up making money on the project, if the New Facility Funding from the state exceeds the total spent by the district.
The school district is being asked to front just 17% of the cost of the Build F.A.S.T. project; money that will be returned to the school district by the state over the next couple of year. To me that seems to be just good business sense.
As a person with children that will be entering the school district in the future with no idea of if they will play athletics, I hope they have a facility to use and a Board of Education to thank for decisions made now that will affect both now and the future. To the board of USD 489 I urge you to vote in favor of helping finish the Build F.A.S.T. project.
The Western Athletic Conference football first team consisted of six Hays High Indians. Three on offense included tailback David Cardinal, fullback Mark Mathis, and offensive lineman Brandon Weigel. On defense defensive linemen Cade Sharp and Zachary Binder were named first team along with linebacker Kyler Meyers. Cardinal, Sharp, and Meyers are each juniors while Weigel Mathis and Binder are seniors.
David Cardinal was also name Player of The Year in the Western Athletic Conference. Cardinal ran for 1464 yards and 19 touchdowns and had five catches for 66 yards. Cardinal led the league in rushing and was the only back to cross 100o yards on the season and tied for the league lead in rushing touchdown with 18 during the nine game regular season.
Mark Mathis ran for 533 yards and six touchdowns from his fullback position. Mathis finished sixth in rushing and seventh in rushing touchdowns in the WAC during the regular season.
Mathis was also an intregal part of the blocking scheme for Hays High along with fellow first teamer offensive lineman Brandon Weigel who was also earned honorable mention as a junior. The Indians rushed for 3481 yards in ten games.
Kyler Meyers finished the season with a team high 100 tackles, 7 tackles for loss, 1 sack, and 1 fumble recovery. Meyers finished third in tackles in the WAC during the regular season. Meyers also finished in a tie for eighth in tackles for loss. Meyers has 126 tackles through his junior year.
Zachary Binder moved from linebacker to defensive end for his senior season and finished with 49 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, and 2 fumble recoveries. Binder finished first fumble recoveries and second in forced fumbles. Binder finished his career sith 156 tackles.
Cade Sharp finished his junior year with 51 tackles, 6 tackles for loss, 4 sacks, 1 fumble recovery and 1 forced fumble. Sharp was part of defense that allowed 20 points per game and forced 22 turnovers.
Several Indians were also named to the Honorable Mention team including: senior Josh Rounkles, senior Luke Madden, junior Chandler Rule, junior Adam Deterding, junior Jake Sedbrook, senior Will Staab, senior Austin Unrein, senior Dylan Scoby, junior Emilio Mitchell, and senior TJ Dreiling.
Hays High went 8-2 on the season and made the playoffs for the first time since 1995. The Indians shared the league title with Garden City and Great Bend each going 3-1 in league play.
Hays High Indian Paige Lunsford signed a national letter of intent to play basketball for the Fort Hays State University Tigers on Wednesday in the Hays High cafeteria.
Lunsford a three year starter getting set for her senior season averaged 10.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.5 asissts, and 3 steals per game in the 2010-2011 season. A two-time first team Western Athletic Conference pick Lunsford started part of her freshmen year and has started 46 of the 57 games she has played in as an Indian, and has scored in double figures in 24 of those games.
Lunsford has scored 546 points through three seasons at Hays High and has been instrumental in helping turnaround a girls program that finished 9-11 last season after a 3-7 start to the season.
Lundsford is also a member of the Indian softball team that went to the 5A state tournament in the spring of 2011.
Hays High tips off their season at the Hays City Shootout December 1st against Kearney, NE.
Here the comments from both Paige Lunsford and head girls basketball coach Kirk Maska below:
Allen Field House. Not much more needs to be said. It is as much a part of basketball as the freaking ball. It is one of the few places I enter in a sports setting that I still get that “awe” moment. From reading the “Phog Warning” atop the rafter to now an unbelievable Hall of Fame/History area, Allen Field House oozes college basketball.
If you are a college basketball fan, even in the slightest or a Jayhawk rival, do yourself a favor a catch a game at Allen Field House.
I along with Gerard and Callie will be in Lawrence Tuesday night as Fort Hays State University plays the Jayhawks in an exhibition game. Will the score be close…probably not. Will the memories last for broadcaster and player alike? You bet!
Dustin Armbruster broadcasts Hays High Indians sports on 96.9 KFIX and color - commentary for FHSU broadcasts. He also hosts the Mix 103 Morning show and is program director for Mix 103.
Dry as the weather has been in western Kansas the past two years…the well has been even drier at Hays High concerning the football program. Not since 1995 have the Hays High Indian’s football team been to the 5A state playoffs. Since 1995 here are some things that have happened:
1996: Bob Dole nominated for President, Bill Clinton wins election for a 2nd termn
1997: Microsoft buys Apple, Princess Diana Dies
1998: Google is founded
1999: The Euro is established, Lance Armstrong wins his first Tour de France
2000: I graduated High School, Y2K…didn’t happen, First resident crew begins stay on The International Space Station
2001: The world’s first artificial heart is implanted, Sept 11 attacks
2002: No Child Left Behind Act is signed into law, The U.S. invades Afghanistan
2003: The Iraq War begins, Martha Stewart indicted on insider trading
2004: I graduated from college, The last Oldsmobile rolls off the assembly line
2005: Pope John Paul II Dies, George W. Bush is inaguarated
2006: Bird Flu hits the United Kingdom, Pluto is demoted to a dwarf planet
2007: The Simpsons movie is release, The Writers Guild of America goes on strike
2008: Oil hits $100 for the first time, Fidel Castro resigns
That all came to an end last week as the Indians qualified for the playoffs with a win over the Salina South Cougars. Hays High still has to play one more game Friday against Salina Central before the playoffs begin.
Where were you in 1995?
Dustin Armbruster broadcasts Hays High Indians sports on 96.9 KFIX and color - commentary for FHSU broadcasts. He also hosts the Mix 103 Morning show and is program director for Mix 103.
Over a decade of broadcasting sports, more often than not, football games on Friday night turn out to be a pretty one-sided affair one way or another. Even in a final score separated by two touchdowns still was pretty well decided before the final gun.
Not Friday night October 14, 2011.
The game between Hays High and Great Bend at Lewis Field Stadium was the 74th meeting between the two schools and it may go down as one of the best in the rivalry ever.
The story lines were too good to ignore going into the game. First it is Hays High and Great Bend, a great rivalry. Second, the winner of the game was guaranteed at minimum a share of the WAC title. Third it was the first game of a tough three game district schedule to qualify for the playoffs.
The teams traded punches like a great heavy weight fight. Hays High throwing haymakers with David Cardinal touchdowns of 44, 75, 66, and 33 yards. Also a Adam Deterding 26 yard touchdown catch, which may have been one of the best catches in Hays High history. Great Bend countered with body shots and jabs. Touchdowns from 1, 12, 11, 14, and 2 yards out. Great Bend had several scoring drives of ten or more plays.
Each team scored off a fumble and those were the only two turnovers in the game. The game was tied at 7, 14, 28, and finally 35 forcing overtime, where the dramatics were really getting started.
Great Bend got the ball first in overtime and scored on their first play, tacked on the extra point, taking a 42-35 lead.
On Hays High’s ensuing possession, it took just two plays to score and the extra point coming up to tie. Though this is where everybody was ready to lose their mind. Hays High drew Great Bend off-sides on the extra point moving the ball to the one and a half yard line. David Cardinal pounded the ball into the end zone for the victory behind his fullback Mark Mathis and his offensive line that has paved a road smoother (and faster) than what the crews are doing on I-70.
Hays won 43 – 42.
Rarely games on any level live up to the hype piled on the week leading up to the game. This one did and then some.
It very well might have been the best high school football game I have ever been to.
It is games like this that keep me coming back to broadcast year after year, and spend the countless hours getting ready for a game under the Friday Night Lights.
Thank You Hays High and Great Bend for a great Friday night!
Dustin Armbruster broadcasts Hays High Indians sports on 96.9 KFIX and color - commentary for FHSU broadcasts. He also hosts the Mix 103 Morning show and is program director for Mix 103.
New districts and schedules came out today around the state of Kansas for football. For Hays High the district remains the same with Great Bend, Salina South, and Salina Central.
Here is the next two years schedule:
2012
@ Junction City
@ McPherson
v Liberal
@ Garden City
v Wichita South
v Dodge City
@ Great Bend
v Salina South
@ Salina Central
2013
v Junction City
v McPherson
@ Liberal
v Garden City
@ Wichita South
@ Dodge City
v Great Bend
@ Salina South
v Salina Central
On the way to Wichita for football last Friday night the top of conversation turned to baseball and more specifically to the MVP races. I was quick to point out my picks as Curtis Granderson in the AL and Matt Kemp in the NL. One guy pointed out that Justin Verlander of the Detroit Tigers, a pitcher, should possibly get the AL nod. Ummmm….NO! Would the place kicker get an MVP award in the NFL? How about the caddy in golf? The really good free throw shooter at the end of the bench? The zamboni machine in hockey…ok I really couldn’t think of one for hockey, not really a fan.
Pitchers already have their own MVP award called the Cy Young. This award is given to the best pitcher and eliminates position players. So why should pitchers that appear once every five days, at most, be put into the same award category as everyday players? Voters shouldn’t have to compare apples to oranges in deciding that a player that is expected to play his position and bat very well is more or less valuable than a player that pitches and if he is in the NL bats…usually terribly.
Nobody should get upset if Justin Verlander or any pitcher doesn’t receive the MVP, if he doesn’t win the Cy Young then yes by all means howl away.
Pitchers should never bat, but that is another topic for another day.
Dustin Armbruster broadcasts Hays High Indians sports on 96.9 KFIX and color - commentary for FHSU broadcasts. He also hosts the Mix 103 Morning show and is program director for Mix 103.
For several years now the 4A classification schools in the state of Kansas have been begging and asking for a change to their classifications because of schools with 199 students competing against schools with 532 on the far reaches of the spectrum. While from the pure number aspect this may not represent as big a gap as what 5A and 6A experience, the number in students more greatly impacts smaller schools because of the pool of students to pull talent from is much smaller.
Class 4A has argued for several different changes including splitting class 4A in half and adding another championship much like what class 1A did. Class 1A got this done but because they were dealing with 100+ schools not 64. The Kansas State High Schools Activities Association did not see the validity in this idea but did recognize that something may need to be done.
This next month KSHSAA will hold their regional meetings and one of the questions posed to the schools in classes 4-3-2-1A will be “Should the KSHSAA modify Rule 5-2-1, regarding the classification of schools in Classes 4A, 3A, 2A, and 1A….” The change would be to move the 16 smallest 4A schools down to 3A, 16 smallest 3A schools down to 2A, and the 16 smallest 2A schools down to 1A. Class 1A schools would be offset due to schools consolidations and closures (which is a sad thing to say but true).
While I think this the KSHSAA finally came up with an idea that seems to make the most sense to help out 4A, who may benefit the most is Class 2-1A football.
The most recent two-year classifications for football came out on Tuesday and there are just 41 schools playing in class 2-1A. 41 schools! And 19 of those are under 100 kids in classes freshmen through junior making them immediately eligible for for 8-Man football and several if not all have already discussed the possibility of playing 8 -Man.
Cutting the number of 4A schools will not only benefit 4A but help keep 2-1A football viable. Even if half of the 19 schools drop in the next two-year cycle it would just leave 32 schools in 2-1A. 16 more schools help keep the competition level at a higher pace in class 2-1A.
The only holding point on this issue actually has nothing to do with football. It will be all other sports and more specifically the 1A class. The move of dropping 16 schools from each class 4A on down will mean that 1A will play with 109 to 111 schools depending on the sports. For some sports this won’t be a huge deal since 1A basketball and volleyball are already split into two divisions. Class 1A ultimately hold the key to what may happen in this deal.
But for one, I vote a big YES to the modification question…not that my vote counts. I hope that all the schools 4A down through 1A will look at the greater good in this vote, because I personally think it will help 4A the least, though they will get what they wanted all along.
From a guy that grew up in a small town and still loves small town football, Thanks class 4A for saving 2-1A football!…if the vote passes.
Dustin Armbruster broadcasts Hays High Indians sports on 96.9 KFIX and color - commentary for FHSU broadcasts. He also hosts the Mix 103 Morning show and is program director for Mix 103.
This weekend the Fort Hays State University Tigers travel to the state of Missouri. Let me stop right there. It doesn’t matter what town the Tigers are headed to or who the opponent is, for the broadcast team of Gerard Wellbrock, Callie Kolacny, Cole Reif and myself…something strange will happen, usually involving gas stations.
Quick Side Note: I was getting the picture for the front of the blog and noticed part of the Missouri slogan is “far from ordinary.” No Kidding!
Warrensburg, Missouri – As we pull into town for a football game a couple of years ago, we decide to fill up with gas before the game. Pull up to the gas station, run the card and start pumping gas to only have the pump stop after about $1.50 worth of gas. After trying the whole process once more, a guy comes running out of the gas station telling us to stop and “don’t move.” Uh-oh what did we do. The gas station employee returns with a really long stick and runs it down a hole…yup out of gas. The gas station attendant informs us that if we wait until Monday we can get gas. Ummm…that’s OK, we’ll try another gas station.
Kirksville, Missouri – More than once has this trip provided fruitful in odd happenings. Two years ago during football the gas station we pull up to appears to all be normal, until we try to pump gas and nothing happens. Come to find out one of the pumps had just started leaking gas uncontrollably and as a result the whole gas station was shut down. We filled at a place with an honest to God “Beer, Bait, and Ammo” sign hand painted outside.
Most recently on the way to Kirksville we stopped a few hours from town at Cameron, Missouri to fill with gas only to find out that only three of the ten pumps at the gas station actually work and the line wasn’t worth waiting for. So we head across the street to find that only two of the credit card machine at the pumps work, luckily one was open and we were soon on our way.
Maryville, Missouri – Not all the stories have to do with gas stations. Pulling into Maryville we knew that it was homecoming. So we took a different route to the stadium, only to end up behind a couple of tractors pulling floats to the game.
Missouri has provided more road trip stories that I haven’t been involved with or just can’t quite remember off the top of my head. Wish us luck this weekend.
Dustin Armbruster broadcasts Hays High Indians sports on 96.9 KFIX and color - commentary for FHSU broadcasts. He also hosts the Mix 103 Morning show and is program director for Mix 103.
