State championships for Hillsboro High School in volleyball, cross country and track and field were the top achievements in local sports during 2013, but Tabor College?s run to the second round of the NAIA football playoffs was a gift for Blue?jay fans, too.
The Trojan girls won their third consecutive volleyball title under coach Sandy Arnold, but this time it was as a Class 2A team after an enrollment loss pushed down from 3A.
Junior Emily Sechrist also found the 2A environment to her liking, winning her state race at Wamego. Two years earlier she won the 3A race in Lawrence.
In spring, Hillsboro Tyler Proffitt won the 3A pole vaulting title at the state meet in Wichita. The senior cleared 14 feet to soar past the competition.
The Centre girls? basketball team and Marion baseball team also made state appearances this past year while number of wrestlers, tennis players and track athletes qualified for their respective state events.
January
The Hillsboro girls? basketball team became the first Trojan team in the nine-year history of the girls? Trojan Classic to win the title. They did it with a 51-50 heart-stopper over Wamego, the previously undefeated and top-ranked team in Class 4A.
The second-seeded Marion Warriors used a team effort to defeat top-seeded White City, 42-33, to win the 2013 Cougar Classic.
After playing only one full football season at Tabor College, senior offensive lineman Jon-Michael Bergeron was selected to the 2012 American Football Coaches Association NAIA Coaches? All-America Team. The honor went to only 25 athletes from 93 NAIA schools.
February
Five Marion wrestlers qualified for state at the Class 3-2-1A regional wrestling tournament: Beret?ta Janzen at 113 pounds, Eric Regnier at 126, Brody Carroll at 152, Adam Janzen at 182 and Evan Slater at 220.
Hillsboro qualified four wrestlers for the Class 3-2-1A state tournament: Jon Carey at 120 pounds, Aaron Cross at 145, Tanner Jones at 170 and Tyrell Thiessen at 285.
Perhaps affected by a major snowstorm that hit much of Kansas, state qualifiers from Marion and Hillsboro struggled at the state wrestling tournament in Hays. The five Marion qualifiers combined for a 5-10 record while the four Hills?boro qualifiers went 2-8.
Two Tabor College basketball athletes received first team All-KCAC recognition: Ryan Chippeaux and Janelle Rust. Rust also was named Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year.
February
In a defensive battle, the Hillsboro girls held off Haven, 43-32,to win the Class 3A sub-state tournament championship on their home court. It produced the program?s fifth straight trip to Hutch?inson in coach Nathan Hiebert?s six-year tenure.
Six Tabor College athletes competed at the NAIA Indoor Track and Field Championships Feb. 28 to March 2 in Geneva, Ohio. Senior Emily Post earned All-American honors with a seventh-place finish in triple and tied for 10th in high jump. The men?s 4×800 team of Phillip Magos, Bret Mueller, Nathan Vogel and Garrett Daugherty missed the finals. Daugherty finished 15th in the 1,000 meters.
The Hillsboro girls finished in third place for the third consecutive year at the Class 3A state basketball tournament. The Trojans, 23-3 for the season, defeated Holcomb (565-45), lost to Burlington (55-45) before beating Russell (59-44) in the third-place game.
The Centre girls qualified for the Class 1A-Division I state basketball tournament in Emporia. The Cougars, 17-7 for the season, lost in the first round to St. John-Hudson (55-26).
The Tabor College men?s basketball program received PepsiCo stock valued in excess of $1 million from alumnus Floyd E. Bergen in honor of former athletic director Del Reimer. The endowment will be used to fund a full-ride scholarship for one student athlete.
Marion?s Jordan Hett and Jacob Harper were named to the all-league first team by Heart of America coaches following a 16-6 season.
Central Kansas League coaches named Tena Loewen and Addie Lackey to the first team. Brett Weinbrenner was a unanimous first-team pick for the boys.
Shelby Makovec and Casey Simon of Centre, Jessica Harvey of Goessel and Rayna Barnes of Pea?body-Burns were named to the girls? first team by Wheat State League coaches. Named to the boys? first team were Christian Gard and Austin Savage of Peabody-Burns, David Cook of Goessel and Justin Dienes and Ty Simons of Centre.
The Hillsboro wrestling team received honorable mention for the Kansas Wrestling Coaches Associa?tion academic state championship for 2012-13.
Three Tabor College basketball players received NAIA All-American honors. Janelle Rust was named to the third team and Nikki Lewis received honorable mention for the women. Ryan Chippeaux of the men?s team received honorable mention.
April
Dakota Kaufman, a Hills?boro High School alum, and her Kansas State volleyball teammates were invited to compete for Team USA at the World Univer?sity Games in Kazan, Russia, in July.
Senior Shaq Thiessen broke the Hillsboro High School record in long jump during the James Thomas Invitational at Joel H. Wiens Stadium. His leap of 23 feet 5 inches surpassed the mark of 23-21?2 set nearly 57 years ago by Jerry Harder at the 1956 state track meet.
May
After a solid start on Friday, Hillsboro?s Harry Faber lost twice on Saturday to finish 11th at the Class 3-2-1A state tennis tournament staged in Hillsboro.
Hogan Lovelady qualified for the Class 3A state golf tournament with an 18-hole score of 87, good for fourth place, at the regional tournament in Marion.
The Tabor College baseball team fell just short of reaching the championship game of the NAIA National Baseball Championship Tournament opening round in Santa Clarita, Calif. The only midwest team in the bracket, Tabor lost to San Diego Christian in 10 innings.
Tabor earned the inaugural KCAC Commis?sioner?s Cup for its athletic achievements during the 2012-13 school year. The award, designed to recognize the accomplishments of student-athletes and the KCAC schools they represent, will be awarded annually to the school with the greatest overall performance throughout the three athletic seasons, based on points.
The Marion baseball team won the regional championship and secured a state tournament berth with a down-to-the-wire 9-8 victory over Halstead in Hillsboro.
Six Hillsboro track and field athletes qualified for the state track meet in a total of nine events as a result of their efforts at the Class 3A regional meet in Marion, Thie?s?sen bettered the school long jump record he set earlier this season by soaring 23 feet, 71?4 inches, beating his previous best of 23-5 and claiming the gold medal. Prior to that, Thiessen cleared 6-6 in the high jump, tying the school record set by Darrin Hiebert in 1993 and matched by Eric Driggers in 1997.
Seven Marion boys and five girls qualified for the state track and field meet following their performances at the Class 3A regional meet on their home track. As a team, the Warrior boys earned 67 points to tie with Southeast of Saline for second place among 15 teams.
June
Hillsboro resident Demetrius Cox, a 5-foot, 7-inch, 200-pound running back and former Tabor College athlete, played with the Salina Bombers this spring. The Bombers belong to the Champions Professional Indoor Football League. The season begins in March and ends in late June or early July.
Four players from Hills?boro?s Central Kansas League co-championship softball team received all-league recognition. They were: senior Tena Loewen, a unanimous pick in the outfield; junior Danae Bina at shortstop; and sophomores Julie Sinclair at first base and Madison Klein at second base.
Six members of the Hillsboro High School baseball team received all-league recognition from Central Kansas League coaches. Senior Nathan Unruh was Hillsboro?s lone representative on the first team.
Marion junior first baseman Taylor Heidebrecht and junior outfielder Grif Case were first-team selections on the Heart of America all-league roster.
Two members of the Goessel football team were selected to play in the 28th Annual Kansas 8-Man All Star Football games June 8 in Beloit. Trey Schmidt and Nicolas Buller were assigned to the East squad in the Division II game.
Hillsboro resident Noah Collins, an avid road cyclist since high school, participated in the SPECS Wichita Riverfest Criterium Race?his first road race. He won the bonus lap and placed second in the 1.2 mile Category 5 criterium race.
July
The Cottonwood Valley League won the District 4 15-year-old Babe Ruth tournament in Galva. The team was comprised of nine boys from Canton-Galva, two from Marion, one from Hillsboro and one from Peabody.
After one year as sports information director at Southwestern College, Hillsboro High School alum Scott Nuss was named KCAC Sports Information Director of the Year for his efforts in the areas of statistics, marketing, publications and promotion of the college?s athletic department.
Russell Klenda won the 41st Marion County Fair demolition derby. Sara Raugust won the Figure-8 race and Zach Anderson won the Junior Figure-8.
August
Tabor College announced that beginning with the 2014-15 academic year, it will offer competitive swimming. The team will practice at the Marion Sports and Aquatic Center.
October
For the third straight year, Hillsboro?s Allison Weber qualified for the Class 3-2-1A state tennis tournament. The junior followed through on her No. 2 seeding at regionals in Leavenworth Saturday by finishing as the runner-up in singles. After a disappointing first-round loss at state, Weber finished with a 4-2 record and sixth place.
The Hillsboro volleyball team lived up to its billing as the top-ranked squad in Class 2A by securing a berth in the state tournament in Emporia with an impressive march through the Hering?ton sub-state.
Three members of the Hillsboro cross-country team qualified for state by finishing among the top 10 finishers in the Class 2A regional race near Mound City: Emily Sechrist, who won the girls? race, Karen Leihy and Avery Franz.
Kodi Panzer of Hillsboro completed her first ultramarathon in Cassoday by running 100 miles. The race started at 6 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 19, and she finished at 4:34 a.m. the next morning.
November
The Hillsboro volleyball team claimed its third consecutive state title with a two-set sweep of Jefferson County North at the Class 2A tournament in Emporia. The Trojans? two previous titles were as a 3A team. Hillsboro finished with a 43-1 record, a school best.
The Goessel volleyball team earned fourth place at the Class 1A-Division I state tournament in Hays. The Bluebirds finished their season with a 34-11 record.
Hillsboro?s Emily Sechrist, a newcomer to Class 2A, outran 96 other runners to claim the individual state title at Wamego. She won the 3A title as a freshman, then was the 3A runner-up her sophomore season.
Tabor College running back James Monroe Jr. received a congratulatory embrace from Rolland ?Bay? Lawrence during halftime of the Tabor-Bethel football game. For 40 years, Lawrence held the school career rushing record of 3,008 yards. Monroe broke the record Oct. 19; following Tabor?s 76-19 win over Bethel, the Bluejay senior had amassed 3,579 yards.
The Marion Warrior football team ended a successful season with a 35-0 loss to Sedgwick in a Class 3A regional playoff game in Sedgwick. The Warriors, who claimed a district and bi-district championship, ended the season with a 9-2 record.
Nathan Duell of Goshen, Ind.,was hired as the first men?s and women?s swimming coach at Tabor College.
The Tabor football team?s playoff run came to an end Saturday in Des Moines, Iowa, as the 11th-ranked Bluejays lost to No. 2 Grand View University, 44-24. It was Tabor?s second appearance all-time in the quarterfinals of the NAIA Foot?ball Championship Series. The Bluejays finished with a 10-3 record.
December
The Hillsboro girls? and boys? basketball teams claimed first place at the Moundridge Pre-season Classic. Both teams entered the holiday break with 5-0 records. The Trojan girls were ranked No. 1 in 2A, the boys were ranked No. 9 by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association.