Don Brubacher, a fixture in the Tabor College athletic department for more than three decades and athletic director since 2000, will no longer perform the duties of athletic director, the college announced. Brubacher has been asked to devote his time, starting with the spring semester, to leading and exploratory study regarding the college?s development of a national conference on faith an athletics as early as 2010.
February
HHS won its second regional wrestling title in school history and qualified eight wrestlers for state at the regional tournament in Eureka. Individual qualifiers were Alex Jost, Robby McClelland, Nicholas Mueller, Tyler Jones, Grady Stultz, Frankie Martin, Jacob Yoder and CJ Shaw.
Hillsboro and Marion each brought home one individual medal from the Class 3-2-1A state wrestling tournament in Hays. Hillsboro?s Frankie Martin finished sixth at 171 pounds and Marion?s Dillon Wildin placed sixth at 135. Also competing for Marion were Andy Shipman, Cody Wildin, Tylor Neil and Charlie Holub.
Hillsboro boys (13-10) lost in the finals of the sub-state basketball tournament to Lyons, 57-41. The HHS girls lost in the opening round to Marion, 67-55, to finish 9-12. The MHS girls (12-11) made it to the final before losing to Southeast of Saline, 70-44. MHS boys (6-16) lost to Sedg?wick, 70-56, in the first round.
March
The following Trojans received all-league recognition in basketball: David Loewen, unanimous, first team; Clay Shewey, first team; Daniel Jost and Gavin Serene, honorable mention; Dakota Kaufman, first team; Amy Neufeld and Amanda Faber, honorable mention. For wrestling: Nicholas Mueller, Tyler Jones, Jacob Yoder, CJ Shaw, first team; Alex Jost, Robby McClelland, Grady Stultz, Frankie Martin, John Hein, honorable mention.
The following Marion Warriors received all league recognition in wrestling: Adam Regnier, Derek Riggs, first team; Andy Shipman, Cody Wildin, Dillon Wildin, Charlie Holub, Hank Collett, Tylor Neil, honorable mention.
April
Tabor College President Jules Glanzer appointed a seven-member committee to conduct a national search for the next athletic director. The committee will be led by Karol Hunt and comprised of a cross-section of Tabor faculty, administrative staff, coaches and former Bluejay athletes.
May
Justin Kent and Daniel Kunantaev finished one-two as Hillsboro placed first at its own Class 3A regional golf tournament. Also on the qualifying four-man team are Gavin Serene, Daniel Dick, Jake Kenney and Jared King.
Hillsboro High qualified athletes for 10 events at the state track meet. The Trojan boys qualified all three of their relays and earned seven individual entries in what was arguably the toughest regional in Class 3A.
Marion High qualified eight boys for state and finished third as a team at the regional meet. Sophomore Julia Zeiner led the girls to fifth place with individual wins in the long jump, triple jump and 300-meter hurdles.
The HHS softball team (12-8) lost to Herington 8-3 in the semifinals of the Class 3A regional tournament, while the baseball team (11-8) placed second at regionals, losing to Sacred Heart in the finals, 9-7.
Six silver medals propelled the HHS boys to a second-place team finish at the state track and field met in Wichita. All three of the relay teams finished as runners-up: Grant Schneider, Ishmael Morris, Spencer Brown and Jacob Yoder in the 4×100; Nicholas Mueller, Matthew Klenda, Cody McMillen and Nathan Vogel in the 4×800; Yoder, Brown, Morris and Vogel in the 4×400. The combined margin of time between first place and the second-place HHS teams was 1.17 seconds. Cody McMillen placed second in the 3,200 meters with a school-record time of 9 minutes, 51.73 seconds and was second in the 1,600. Yoder also won an individual silver in the 200. Dakota Kaufman led the girls with a second-place finish in the triple jump and a fifth-place finish in the long jump.
Julia Zeiner won two silver medals and two bronze to pace the Marion girls to a fourth-place team finish at state. She teamed with Kayley Heerey, Kristen Steinborn and Danae Edwards to win gold in the 4×100. The highlight for the boys was a third-place finish in the 4×800 by Adam Regnier, Brett Billings, Ryan Jones and Justin Heidebrecht?a mere 0.4 seconds behind second and 0.45 behind first.
Peabody-Burns freshman Lauren Pickens swept the 100, 200 and 400 at the Class 2A state meet in Wichita. Goessel?s Craig Banman won the 200 and 300-meter hurdles and anchored the winning 4×400 team.
Three members of Hillsboro High?s baseball team (11-8) received all-league recognition: Daniel Jost, designated hitter, and Isaac Leihy, pitcher, were selected for the first team; Leihy also was selected as an outfielder on the second team; Jacob Edwards received honorable mention.
Six members of the Hillsboro softball team received all-league recognition: Suzy Lindsay, outfielder, and Jenesa Klose, pitcher, first team; Jessica Klose, catcher, and Amanda Bina, shortstop, second team; Steph Abbott, third base, and Bri Loewen, utility player, honorable mention.
Four Warriors received all-league recognition in baseball: Calvin Jeffrey, utility player, second team; Brian Fruechting, first base, Zan Fine, third base, and Wil Case, utility player, honorable mention.
Two MHS softball players received all-league honorable mention: Shelby Purcell, third base, and Kristin Warner, utility player.
June
Goessel High grads Grady Stultz and Kurtis Duerksen played June 7 in the 23rd annual Kansas 8-man All-Star Football Game in Beloit.
July
Rusty Allen, vice president for enrollment management at Tabor College, was selected to manage the college?s athletic program and will assume the newly created position of vice president of athletics Sept. 1.
August
Hillsboro High graduate Jacob Yoder participated in the annual Kansas Shrine Bowl as a member of the West squad. His team won a dramatic 29-28 victory in a game that included a 55-minute delay during the second quarter because of lightning in the area.
Phillip Terrell emerged from the field of 30 drivers with the first-place trophy at the annual Marion County Fair Demolition Derby.
Don Brubacher, former athletic director at Tabor College, accepted a similar position at Hillsdale (Mich.) College.
August
Nineteen youth between the ages of 7 and 15 participated in the first Triple Threat Triathlon sponsored by the Hillsboro Recreation Commission and directed by Amy Ratzlaff and Anna Woods.
Former Wichita State baseball star Mark Standiford was appointed head baseball coach at Tabor College for 2008-09.
September
Peter Richert competed for Tabor College in his first cross-county race since the injury he suffered in the Iraq War in 2007 that resulted in the loss of his right leg. Using a prosthetic leg, he finished 126th.
October
The Hillsboro boys? cross-county team won the Mid-Central Activities Association league title by placing all seven of its runners among the top 22 finishers.
The Hillsboro High volleyball team qualified for the Class 3A state tournament Oct. 24 in Salina by winning the sub-state tournament at Remington High School. The Trojans? bid for a state medal ended in pool play, where the Trojans went 1-2. Dakota Kaufman was named to the Class 3A first team.
The Goessel volleyball team lost its three pool-play matches at the Class 1A state tournament in Hays.
Nicholas Mueller was Hills?boro?s lone qualifier for the Class 3A state cross-country race by finishing ninth overall. The boys? team placed fourth?one place short of qualifying as a group. Marion qualified Camille Christensen, Ryan Jones and Louis Holt.
November
At the state cross-country races in Wamego, Hillsboro?s Nicholas Mueller finished 10th while Marion?s Ryan Jones placed 15th and Louis Holt 25th among Class 3A boys. Camille Christensen of Marion placed 28th among the girls.
In Class 1A, the Goessel girls? and boys? team each finished fifth in their respective divisions. In Class 2A, the Peabody-Burns boys also placed fifth.
On the final night of the regular season, the HHS football team edged Marion in overtime, 23-21, in a showdown that would determine who would move on in bi-district play. The Trojans lost that game the following Tuesday against Hutchinson Trinity, 16-7, to finish with a 6-4 record. Marion finished 6-3.
Goessel?s successful football season ended Nov. 8 when the Bluebirds lost their first game of the season, 42-34 to Madison in the state playoffs. GHS finished 10-1.
Receiving all-league recognition from MCAA volleyball coaches were four players from Hillsboro (27-12) and two from Marion (13-22). The Trojans? Dakota Kaufman was a unanimous first-team pick, Candace Weinbrenner was named to the second team and Kassidi Luthi and Tiffany Rooker received honorable mention. For Marion, Julie Zeiner was named to the first team and Lindsay Hett received honorable mention.
The MCAA football coaches recognized six Trojans and eight Warriors for all-league status. Daniel Jost was a first-team pick on offense and defense and second-team kick returner; Ishmael Morris, first team offense, honorable mention defense; Tyler Lofton, second team offense and defense; John Hein, honorable mention offense; Andy Klassen, second team offense and honorable mention defense; and Brandon Brown, honorable mention defense. Jost also was named to the Class 3A all-state team at wide receiver.
For Marion, Nick Klenda was first-team defense, second-team offense; Matt Thieroff, second team offense; Parker Ash, honorable mention offense; Mitchell Leppke, second-team defense; Luke Gordon, honorable-mention punter.
Tabor College and USD 410 broke ground Nov. 15 following the Tabor-Kansas Wesleyan football game for the stadium project they will share.
The Bluejays? football season ended with a 63-34 loss to KWU, giving coach Mike Gottsch a 2-8 record in his second season. The Tabor volleyball season ended in the semifinals of the KCAC tournament with a lost to Bethany. TC was 15-15 overall, 12-6 in the conference.
Peabody-Burns grad Andrew Topham, now running for Southwestern College, earned NAIA All-America honors by placing 27th in the national cross-country meet in Kenosha, Wis.
December
The Marion High girls and boys basketball teams both placed second in the first Marion Classic preseason basketball tournament. Berean Academy won both the girls? and boys? titles.
