Goessel
Volleyball – The Bluebirds went 2-0 in league play on Tuesday, Oct. 1 at Canton-Galva. Scores were as follows:Goessel defeated Canton-Galva 25-6, 25-13; Goessel defeated Elyria Christian 25-8, 25-13.
Goessel took 4th and went 2-3 at the Canton-Galva Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 5. Scores were as follows: Goessel defeated Solomon 25-12, 25-14; Goessel defeated Marion 25-8, 25-15; Halstead defeated Goessel 25-23, 25-22; Inman defeated Goessel 25-12, 25-12; Little River defeated Goessel 25-15, 23-25, 25-19.
Goessel is currently 23-5.
Coming—The Bluebirds will play on Saturday, Oct. 12 at Canton-Galva.
Football – The Bluebirds played Central Plains on Friday, Oct. 4. Central Plains won with a final score of 50-0.
Hillsboro
Cross-country – The Trojans competed at the Berean meet on Thursday, Oct. 3.
Leading the Trojan girls was Riley Richert with a 4th-place finish in a time of 21:26.29, Quinlyn Funk had a 7th-place finish with a time of 22:07.61, Jaidyn Frantz 15th place at 23:41.51, Nora Hein in 28:30.64, Anna King in 31:13.00 and Gabi Sibayan in 41:34.00.
Leading the Trojan boys was Wyatt Dies in a time of 22:16.38, then Ben Werner at 24:01.94, Casen Steinert at 24:34.69 and Elijah Holmes in a time of 27:28.52.
Coming—The Trojans will next compete on Thursday, Oct. 10 at Sterling.
Girls Tennis – The Trojans played Tuesday, Oct. 1 at Ellsworth.
For the #1 Singles, Cassidy Bernhardt lost to Adalyn Pfizenmaier (Clay Center) 0-8 and defeated Heather Ward (Hoisington) 8-4. In the 3rd place match, she lost to Grace William (Osborne) 1-8 and finished 4th.
“Cassidy was in all of her matches despite what the final score indicated. Most of her games went to several deuce points. After having a big lead against Ward, she let Ward back in the match a bit, but then refocused and closed it out strong,” said Coach David Ediger.
For the #1 Doubles, Claire Morey and Maylee Hardey lost to Annalea Hendrickson and Ella Kramer (Clay Center) 0-8 and lost to Claire Crutcher and Reese Merlau (Hoisington) 0-8. In the 5th place match, they lost to Finley Edwards and Kaylee Felker (Scott Community) 4-8 and finished 6th.
“It was a rough day for Claire and Maylee. The first two matches they couldn’t get on track. They played much better in the match against Scott. They had a chance to pull within a game in the match at 4-5 but couldn’t get it done,” said Ediger.
The Trojans next competed on Saturday, Oct. 5 at the league meet in Hillsboro.
For the #1 Singles, Bernhardt lost to Reese Merlau (Hoisington) 0-6, 0-6 and defeated Madison Richey (Haven) 9-3. In the 5th place match, she lost to Katelyn Leis (Smoky Valley) 2-9 and finished 6th.
“Cassidy played really good tennis all day. Her match against Merlau, who ended up being the league champion, was a good match. She played much better than the score shows. After a convincing win against Richey, she played a very good player in Leis. She battled the entire match and had Leis on the defense for several games. Cassidy has really improved as a singles player this year,” said Ediger.
For the #1 Doubles, Claire Morey and Maylee Hardey lost to Heline and Carver (Smoky Valley) 3-6, 1-6 and lost to Popp and Rose (Haven) 4-9.
In the 7th place match, they defeated Kinast and Hathaway (Nickerson) 9-1 and finished 7th.
“Our doubles team played pretty well all day. They were right in the first two matches against two really good teams. After dropping the first game of the final match, they rattled off nine straight games for the win,” said Ediger.
Coming—The Trojans will next compete at Regionals on Oct. 11-12 in Conway Springs.
Volleyball -The Trojand hosted their last regular season triangular on Tuesday, Oct. 1. The competition for the evening were the Pratt Greenbacks and Hesston Swathers, both teams from the Central Kansas League.
On the special “dig pink” night, all three teams wore pink in honor of breast cancer awareness month. For the first matchup, the Trojans met up with Pratt. In the first game, Hillsboro went on a 10-point run behind the serving of Kingzley Ratzlaff to take a 13-7 lead. Daisy Klein and Lauryn Vogt added four-point serving runs of their own to add to the lead. Hillsboro went on to win the game 25-12. The second game was a different story as Pratt kept the game close coming back from a deficit to pull within one of the Trojans at 16-17. Fortunately, after a timeout, the Trojans got a side out and were able to increase the lead and hold onto it for a 25-22 win.
In the final match of the night, Hillsboro faced the Swathers from Hesston. This would be the second meeting between the two teams this season. In the first meeting the Trojans escaped with a win in a three game thriller. This match proved to be just as exciting.
In the first game, the Trojans fought back from being behind 18-23 to tie the game at 23. The teams also tied at 24. Hesston was able to put up the final two points to win the first game 26-24. Hillsboro took the lead early in the second game, but Hesston would not go away and erased a 20-24 deficit to take the lead 25-24. The Trojans did not give up. When Hesston missed their serve at match point after a timeout, Hillsboro scored the next two points to preserve the win at 27-25 and force a game three. The last game of the match seesawed back and forth until Hesston was able to pull away for a 25-21 victory.
The final scores were: Hillsboro over Pratt 25-12, 25-22; Pratt over Hesston 25-23, 27-25; Hesston over Hillsboro 26-24, 25-27, 25-21.
“As expected it was another tough league night for us. All three teams went home with a split on the night. Pratt is much improved and very scrappy. Our girls served well to keep them out of system in the first game but then missed too many serves in the second. Hesston served well against us and that did not allow us to attack as well as we would have liked,” said Coach Sandy Arnold. “It was a competitive night of volleyball and we competed against two tough teams. The girls showed grit and never gave up— even at the toughest moments. The best part is we learned more about areas that need to be strengthened and we can go to work on those areas in our practices.”
Coming—On Thursday, Oct. 10, the team will head to Great Bend for a triangular with the Panthers and Emporia. The Trojans will end their week on Saturday, Oct. 12, when they host the Trojan Invitational.
Marion
Cross-country – Marion competed at the Halstead meet on Thursday, Oct. 3.
“The Halstead meet is always a tough meet with great competition. Today was no different,” said Coach Jason Hett.
Brooklyn Beery led the varsity girls in a 25th-place finish in a very fast field.
“Brooklyn competes well and will be in the mix later this season,” said Hett.
Izy Branson placed 46th and has continued to get stronger each week.
“We look for her to make a push these next few weeks,” said Hett.
On the varsity boys’ side, times were a little off for their normal pace.
“Eli (Klenda) ran a gutsy race placing 10th in a very fast field. Luke (Wessel) has been battling some shin splits, and it impacted him a little today. He will bounce back and be ready to make the final push,” said Hett. “Zayden (Janzen) continues to compete for this group and has made great strides this season. Harrison (Beery) and Owen (White) battled the heat today, but those two will need to move up these next few weeks to get some big team points that we need. I believe they are up for the challenge.” Keenan Lange and Jaxon Salsbury rounded out the varsity group.
“They know where they need to be and will continue to push these next few weeks to get there. The boys finished in 6th place as a team out of 14 schools. The work continues this next week as we make the final push to get back to Wamego as a team. I believe this group has what it takes to get back and they are ready and committed to do the work it takes,” said Hett.
Coming—Marion will next compete on Thursday, Oct. 10 at North Newton.