HAYSVILLE, Kan. – The Haysville Aviators jumped out to a 4-1 lead and held off the Hays Larks 9-6 Wednesday night to end their seven-game losing streak. The last place Aviators took advantage of four Larks errors and four hit batters.
Mason Myhre (3-2) allowed the four early runs on two hits over 2 1/3 innings and suffered the loss.
Clayton Rasbeary and Matt Munoz both drove in two runs as the Larks three-game win streak is snapped. Hays (31-8, 23-7 JL) still leads the Jayhawks League by 4 1/2 games over Dodge City who jumped into second place with their 3-1 win in Liberal.
The Larks close out the series in Haysville Thursday night then return home to play Great Bend Saturday.
A big get for first-year Fort Hays State volleyball coach Jessica Wood-Atkins. Kayla Vitztum, who had signed a letter of intent last November with Newman University in Wichita, has been released from that commitment and will play at Fort Hays State this fall.
The multi-sport standout who helped TMP-Marian win the 3A state championship this past season, tweeted about the move Wednesday.
A 5-10 outside hitter, Vitztum was a three-time KVA All-State selection, picking up first team honors as a senior after earning honorable mention accolades as a sophomore and junior. She led the Monarchs to the 2017 Kansas Class 3A state championship, wrapping up the year with a 42-3 record. Vitztum was named first team all-league three times, helping the Monarchs to four-straight MCL league titles. She is the MCL all-time leader in kills, compiling 1,040 kills in her career. Vitztum’s career numbers include a .301 attack percentage, 116 blocks, 750 digs and 147 aces. She was selected to play in the 2018 KVA All-Star Game and served as the varsity team captain as a senior. Vitztum totaled 471 kills, a .334 swing rate, 34 blocks, 304 digs and 55 aces in her standout senior season.
In addition to earning four letters in volleyball, she played four years of basketball, four years of soccer and two years of track and field. She was a three-time All-State selection in basketball and once earned the honor on the soccer pitch. Vitztum competed in seven state championships as a Monarch, including three in volleyball, three in basketball and one in soccer. Vitztum’s brother, Jared, is a member of the Tiger men’s basketball team.
GREAT BEND, Kan. – The Hays Eagles Senior American Legion trailed Great Bend by three runs heading into the bottom of the seventh in their zone tournament Wednesday night at the Great Bend Sports Complex. They rallied for four runs in their last at bat to beat the Chiefs 5-4 to advance to next week’s AAA State Tournament in Emporia.
Brock Lummus hit a two-run triple to close the gap to one before Brady Kreutzer tied the game with a triple. Following back-to-back walks to load the bases, Trey Riggs singled home Kreutzer with the winning run.
Palmer Hutchison pitched two innings of relief, allowing an unearned run and picked up the win as the Eagles improve to 32-5-1 on the season.
They begin play at the AAA State Tournament on Wednesday, July 25, in Emporia.
LEAVENWORTH, Kan. – The Hays Eagles Junior American Legion overcame an early 2-0 deficit to beat Augusta 14-4 in four innings in their pool play opener at the A State Tournament in Leavenworth Wednesday.
The Eagles scored four runs in bottom of the first inning to take the lead then added six in the second and three in the third.
Isaac Smith had three hits and drove in two runs. Dawson VonFeldt had three RBIs.
Smith went two innings on the mound and allowed three runs on four hits and picked up the win. Chance Murphy pitched the final two innings allowing only one earned run.
The Junior Eagles continue pool play tonight at Thursday at 6 pm against Leavenworth.
GREAT BEND, Kan. – The Hays Eagles Senior American Legion will try to secure a trip to the AAA State Tournament Wednesday night when they play Great Bend at the Great Bend Zone Tournament.
The Eagles beat the Chiefs 4-0 in their first game Tuesday. Cody Peterson pitched a complete game five-hitter, striking out five and walking two.
The Eagles then lost to the Salina Falcons 6-1. Salina struck for four in the fifth then added two more in the seventh as they secure a state bid.
Cole Murphy takes the loss, allowing four runs on four hits over 5 2/3 innings. Murphy drove in the Eagles lone run on a fourth inning double.
The Eagles and Chiefs play at 6 pm Wednesday with the winner securing a spot at state.
HAYSVILLE, Kan. – The Hays Larks sent 11 batters to the plate in the first inning, scoring five runs as they rolled to a 15-2 win in Haysville.
Easton Kirk, Jacob Boston, Clayton Rasbeary and Matt Munoz all drive in runs in the first. Kirk finished with four RBIs for the game.
Carlos Tavera (4-0) allowed two runs on three hits with eight strikeouts over six innings for the win. Toby Scoles pitched three hitless innings of relief for the save.
The Larks improve to 31-7 overall and 23-6 in the Jayhawk League where they increased their lead to 5 1/2 games over the idle Liberal Bee Jays.
Game two of the three game series is Wednesday in Haysville.
COLBY, Kan. – The Hays Monarchs Senior American Legion are one win away from a spot in the AA State Tournament following their 13-1 win over the Colby Sluggers Tuesday in Colby. The Monarchs scored four runs in the second inning and were up 6-1 when they struck for seven in the fifth.
Cole Zimmerman allowed one run on two hits with seven strikeouts and three walks in the five-inning complete game victory.
Adam Gottschalk and Gavin Schumacher had three of the Monarchs 12 hits. Schumacher drove in three.
The Monarchs improve to 14-4-1 and will play Hoisington Wednesday night at 6 pm. Hoisington beat Larned and Hill City on Monday.
After averaging 8.1 points per game as a sophomore and helping guide the Fort Hays State women’s basketball team to an NCAA tournament appearance in 2017-18, Taylor Rolfs – Fort Hays State has been selected as a member of the USA D-2 Women’s Basketball Team that will tour Brazil in early August.
Rolfs, an upcoming junior guard for the Tigers, was among ten NCAA Division II athletes to earn a spot on the USA roster. Members of the team have been recognized at the national, regional and conference levels due to their performance on the court. Rolfs is the only player from FHSU on the team that features four other players from the MIAA. Nine of the ten on the roster are from schools in the Central Region of NCAA Division II.
Rolfs and the team will head to Orlando, Florida for their orientation on July 30th. From there, the athletes begin their Brazilian tour, which runs through August 8th. The team will begin their trek in Sao Paulo, Brazil where they play their first contest on August 1st in the city of Jundiai against the U22 Club Team. From there, Team USA will travel to the city of Osasco to compete against its top club team. On August 3rd, the team will fly to Rio de Janeiro for the remainder of their competition until their departure on August 8th.
Besides basketball, the trip to Brazil will include educational, cultural and social aspects through city, school and sports club visits.
Defending national champion Central Missouri brings has three players on the team, along with head coach Dave Slifer and assistant Tammy Slifer. Rolfs reunites on the floor with Washburn’s Reagan Phelan. The pair played prep basketball together at Central Plains High School in Claflin, Kansas.
Below is the roster for the 2018 USA Basketball DII Team.
Sydney Crockett – Central Missouri
Morgan Fleming – Central Missouri
Megan Hintz – Minnesota State-Moorhead
Sammy Kozlowski – Minnesota-Duluth
Brianna Kusler – Northern State
Reagan Phelan – Washburn
Lynsey Prosser – Augustana Taylor Rolfs – Fort Hays State
Megan Skaggs – Central Missouri
Katie Speegle – Alabama-Huntsville
Tentative Game Schedule Wednesday, August 1
USA D-2 Women vs. Jundiai Thursday, August 2
USA D-2 Women vs. Osasco Saturday, August 4
USA D-2 Women vs. Mangueira Monday, August 6
USA D-2 Women vs. Fluminense
Street and Smith’s College Football Yearbook and Lindy’s Sports College Football National Preview, released in the summer of 2018, have Fort Hays State football ranked No. 4 in their preseason polls for NCAA Division II. The Tigers are coming off their most successful season in program history, reaching the Super Region 3 Semifinals of the NCAA Playoffs in 2017 with an 11-1 overall record. The Tigers claimed their first MIAA Championship in the process, going undefeated in the regular season.
Fort Hays State went into the NCAA Playoffs last year ranked No. 4 in the nation, but finished at No. 8 in the final AFCA Division II Poll. The Tigers made the playoffs for the first time since the 1995. It was their third appearance in the Division II playoffs overall. Street and Smith’s and Lindy’s do not conduct polls for Division II throughout the year. The official preseason poll from the AFCA, along with the supplemental weekly poll from D2Football.com, will release at a later date, but Fort Hays State’s amazing run in 2017 definitely grabbed the attention of several national football information sources.
Ferris State, which knocked the Tigers out of the playoffs last year, sits at No. 3 in the Lindy’s Poll, but all the way down at No. 19 in the Street and Smith’s Poll. The first week of the season will feature a big match up in Hays when Central Missouri comes to town. The Mules are tabbed No. 10 in the Lindy’s Poll and No. 18 in the Street and Smith’s Poll. The Mules came to Hays last year in Week 2 of the season as the No. 13 ranked team in the nation by the AFCA. An unranked FHSU team at the time posted a convincing 35-6 win, grabbing the attention of the Division II football world. The Tigers jumped into the AFCA Top 25 Poll for the remainder of the year after that win, ascending all the way to No. 4 by regular season’s end. The run also included an MIAA Championship clinching win at defending national champion Northwest Missouri State by a score of 13-12 in Week 10. Northwest Missouri is among the top 10 in both magazine polls.
The Tigers return three of their eight 2017 All-America selections this year, which includes senior linebacker Jose Delgado, senior defensive back Doyin Jibowu, and junior punter Dante Brown. All three received All-America status from the Don Hansen Football Committee last year. Eleven of the 21 All-MIAA selections for FHSU from last year also return.
The Tigers play 6 times at home in 2018 starting with the season opener against Central Missouri on August 30.
Below are the preseason polls from both magazines.
Lindy’s Sports College Football Preview – Division II Preseason Poll
1. West Florida
2. Indiana (Pa.)
3. Ferris State
4. Fort Hays State
5. Northwest Missouri State
6. Minnesota State
7. Texas A&M-Commerce
8. Midwestern State
9. West Alabama
10. Central Missouri
11. Central Washington
12. Indianapolis
13. Colorado State-Pueblo
14. California (Pa.)
15. Ashland
16. Valdosta State
17. Colorado School of Mines
18. Edinboro
19. Assumption
20. Carson-Newman
21. Humboldt State
22. Bowie State
23. Southwest Baptist
24. Hillsdale
25. Adams State
Street & Smith’s College Football Yearbook – Division II Preseason Poll
1. West Florida
2. Indiana (Pa.)
3. Minnesota State
4. Fort Hays State
5. Grand Valley State
6. Texas A&M-Commerce
7. Indianapolis
8. Harding
9. Northwest Missouri State
10. Midwestern State
11. Central Washington
12. Shepherd
13. Ashland
14. Colorado State-Pueblo
15. Sioux Falls
16. West Georgia
17. Assumption
18. Central Missouri
19. Ferris State
20. West Alabama
21. Findlay
22. Carson-Newman
23. Virginia State
24. Edinboro
25. Colorado School of Mines
The Hays Larks and Derby Twins played a 16 inning, instant classic game on Sunday night at Larks Park to end a four game series over three days.
Larks starter Tyler Blomster gave up two runs in the fourth inning on a solo home run and two out single. Blomster rebounded to give Hays seven strong innings, striking out 11 and walking one batter. RJ Williams drove in the Larks first two runs with two out singles in the fifth and seventh innings to tie the game at two.
Manager Frank Leo Postgame Interview
Wyatt Divis worked around lead off batters in all but one of his six scoreless innings on the mound before giving way to closer Shane Browning who struck out six over three innings. The Larks finally walked off after the games only error. With two on and one out in the sixteenth inning, Williams hit a grounder towards the Twins shortstop who bobbled the grounder then threw wide of the first baseman allowing Matt Munoz to score from second and claim a 3-2 win.
Browning took his first win of the season for the Larks who won their 30th game of the summer and are 30-7 and now 22-6 in the Jayhawk League. The Larks are five games ahead of Liberal who were rained out versus Great Bend on Sunday.
CHICAGO (AP) – Although the White Sox head into the All-Star break with nearly twice as many losses as wins, the players remain optimistic.
Sunday certainly provided a reason for hope.
Daniel Palka and Yoan Moncada homered, and Lucas Giolito tossed two-hit ball into the seventh inning, lifting Chicago to a 10-1 victory over the struggling Kansas City Royals.
Moncada was 3 for 3 with a walk and three runs scored a day after leaving a game with a bruised right knee. Palka also had three hits and two RBIs while Tim Anderson and Kevan Smith each hit a two-run double as Chicago pounded out 13 hits.
The rebuilding White Sox had dropped seven of nine before Sunday and are 33-62 overall.
“It wasn’t a very good first half in wins and losses, but I think that’s part of the process,” Moncada said. “We’re all trying to do our best. We improved during the first half, and I think in the second half we’ll be much better.”
Adalberto Mondesi homered leading off the eighth for the Royals, who are 2-11 in July.
“Losing (stinks), and we’ve lost a lot,” second baseman Whit Merrifield said. “It hasn’t been fun as far as all that goes. We got four days off. Hopefully, we can regroup and everyone can kind of step back and reset.”
Kansas City decided to go with a bullpen day instead of a regular starting pitcher. The relievers were no match for Giolito (6-8). The right-hander allowed just two hits in 6 1/3 innings, striking out six and walking three.
“Today was one of those days where we put it all together,” Giolito said. “I’m looking forward to more of those.”
After Giolito worked out of his only jam in the top of the first with an assist from the defense – Jorge Bonifacio was thrown out trying to score from second on a single to left with one out – Palka’s two-run blast off starter Burch Smith (0-1) gave the White Sox a 2-0 lead.
“I’m not really feeling my best in the first and then an unreal play,” Giolito said of the play at the plate. “It gets me fired up. It’s like, ‘Alright, no one’s crossing the plate this inning.”‘
The lead grew to 4-0 in the third as Jose Abreu scored on a wild pitch and Leury Garcia followed with an RBI single against left-hander Brian Flynn. Chicago then broke the game open with a five-run fifth against left-hander Enny Romero. Moncada, who was hit in the knee by a pick-off throw on Saturday, started things with a lead-off homer. It was his 12th of the season and first right-handed. Anderson and Smith each had a two-run double to make it 9-0.
Moncada doubled and scored in the sixth to make 10-0 before Mondesi’s homer off Jeanmar Gomez broke the shutout.
“It was one of those days,” Kansas City manager Ned Yost said. “We didn’t pitch good.”
TAKING A DIVE
When Moncada was hit in the knee on Saturday, he appeared to be in great pain and significantly injured. After discovering he was fine on Sunday, his teammates taped the name “NEYMAR” above his locker.
“He’s known to be a player who likes to act when people touch him or he gets kicked,” Moncada said of the Brazilian soccer star through a translator. “They were messing with me.”
START ME UP
Salvador Perez, the Royals’ lone All-Star, will replace injured Wilson Ramos as the AL’s starting catcher in Tuesday night’s All-Star Game.
TRAINER’S ROOM
White Sox: RHP Nate Jones (strained forearm muscle) will travel to Triple-A Charlotte during the All-Star break and throw live batting practice on Tuesday.
UP NEXT
Royals: LHP Danny Duffy (4-8, 4.59 ERA) will pitch the opener of a three-game series with Minnesota on Friday night.
White Sox: RHP James Shields (4-10, 4.43 ERA) takes the mound Friday night for the start of a three-game series at Seattle.
Bethany College track and cross country coach Aaron Yoder spends a lot of time on the treadmill in the Lindsborg, Kansas, school’s cardio room. It doesn’t seem unusual unless you see what he’s doing — running backward.
Yoder has been training for this weekend’s world championships for backward running, or retrorunning, in Bologne, Italy. Yoder is recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as a record-holder in three retrorunning events: 1 mile (5 minutes, 54.25 seconds), 1000 meters and 4X400m relay. Plus, he’s awaiting ratification for a world record in the 200m, which he did last year on the campus track.
Yoder’s first world record came three years ago with the mile, a distance with deep roots in Kansas; think legendary Olympians Glenn Cunningham, (1932 and ’36), Wes Santee (1952) and Jim Ryun (1964, ’68 and ’72).
A few years earlier, doctors advised him not to run, period. He was a high school champion in the mile, but by his mid 20s, a chronically injured left knee led to arthritis.
Running backward, however, made Yoder feel more comfortable.
“A big difference is the stress you put on your joints,” the 32-year-old said. “When you’re running backward, you don’t have as much pressure on your knee because you’re landing behind yourself.”
Dr. Brian Ware, a podiatrist in Kansas City, says retrorunning puts less stress on joints.
Dr. Brian Ware, a podiatrist in Kansas City and a runner himself, said he understands Yoder’s reluctance to give up running all together.
“With runners it’s a mindset. We do not like to take time off,” said Ware, who also backs up Yoder’s claims that running backward is easier on the joints.
He added that there’s another other benefit to backward running.
“The posture is a little bit better backward running. When you tend to get fatigued in forward running, your back muscles get overused because you lean forward,” Ware said.
Running backward piqued Yoder’s interest during his middle school years in Peabody, Kansas, saying he did it “because I was trying to get in better shape for other sports.”
Retrorunning is popular in Europe, and this is the seventh running of the International Retrorunning championships, which happen every other year.
One of Yoder’s former athletes at Bethany, Noah Smucker, said Yoder’s backward treadmill habit caught his attention at first —because of how much time Yoder spends on it. It was enough to wear out and break one of the training center treadmills, Smucker said.
“I always knew he was a little different,” he said. “When I saw him do that, I definitely knew he was a something different.”
Yoder takes that as a compliment. Though he said he comes from a family that likes to stay active, no one else within the family ran backward.
“My mom would tell of (when) we would go out in the country — she’d have her bike — and she would time me while I did some mile runs,” he said, adding, “They just said, ‘Aaron is just doing what he does.’”
But things have changed. Yoder’s twin brother and his parents are now retro-running and also will compete in this week’s world championships.
Greg Echlin is a freelance sports reporter for KCUR 89.3.
Golf enthusiasts are invited for a relaxing day on the greens while raising funds in support of Fort Hays State University student scholarships.
The FHSU Alumni Association is hosting golf tournaments Friday, July 27, at Buffalo Dunes Golf Course, 5685 US-83 in Garden City and Saturday, July 28, at the Liberal Country Club, 1900 North Kansas Ave. in Liberal.
Both tournaments begin with registration at 8 a.m., followed by a 9 a.m. tee time. Registration fees are $90 per golfer or $300 for a team of four.
Head football Coach Chris Brown, coming off an 11-0 regular season and the 2017 MIAA Championship – a first in FHSU history – will be the special guest at the Garden City and Liberal tournaments. He will be joined by FHSU Sports Information Director Ryan Prickett after tournament play in Garden City to discuss the upcoming season of Tiger Athletics as well as an update on the university.
Non-golfers are welcome to stop by either golf course at approximately 1:30 p.m. to hear the latest in FHSU news.
