Baseball:
The Indian baseball team played a home game against Dodge City on April 2.
Coming into the game, Hays was ranked third in 5A while Dodge City was ranked second.
Both teams failed to score in the first inning, but Dodge City’s lead hitter, senior Ty Scheck, scored the first lead for the Red Demons. The Red Demons continued to improve their lead in the third inning to 2-0.
In the fourth inning, Hays senior Brett Rhoades scored the Indians’ first and last run of the game. To finish their lead, the Red Demons increased their score to 4-1 in the fifth inning.
No runs were scored by either team in the final two innings, leading to a Dodge City victory.
“I thought that we played okay, but not as good as we could do,” head coach Dustin Dreher said. “It is still early in the season, and we still have a lot to improve on.”
Dreher said he believes the team can improve for their upcoming games.
“We need to be more consistent defensively on routine plays and do a better job limiting lead-off runners on base,” Dreher said. “Offensively, we need to have more aggressive swings early in the count and do a better job of being tougher when we get two strikes on us.”
Track & Field
The varsity track teams competed at their first-ever home invitational on April 2.
100 Meters (Boys) – 10th senior Jarek Purdy, 16th junior Vinny Walker, 22nd freshman Karsten Livesay
200 Meters (Boys) – 7th freshman Connor Sloan, 9th sophomore Archer Amrein, 16th junior Michael Watson, 24th sophomore Jaxon Prediger
400 Meters (Boys) – 3rd Sloan, 11th freshman Diego Jiminez, sophomore Bryce Homeier, 21st freshman Kobe Schmidt
800 Meters (Boys) – 6th sophomore Jackson Huwa, 17th junior Eli Dreiling, 18th junior Alex Kershner, 19th senior Chris Hollis
1600 Meters (Boys) – 10th sophomore Bladyn Werth, 11th freshman Levi Denham, 16th junior Logan Leiker, 19th freshman Emmitt Dreiling
3200 Meters (Boys) – 6th Denham, 10th Werth, 14th Dreiling, 15th Leiker
110 Meters Hurdles (Boys) – 2nd junior Brogan Albers, 14th Ty Scheve
300 Meters Hurdles (Boys) – 3rd Albers, 13th Scheve, 15th junior Brayden Staley
4×100 (Boys) – 3rd Walker, Purdy, Watson, junior Braxton Basgall; 6th freshman Laken Pasek, Sloan, freshman Keiston Evans-Grant, Scheve
4×400 (Boys) – 4th Amrein, Homeier, Basgall, Albers; 8th Sloan, Staley, Watson, Walker
4×800 (Boys) – 6th Kershner, Staley, Anschutz, Dreiling
High Jump (Boys) – 8th Huwa, 13th Scheve, 13th Pasek
Long Jump (Boys) – 1st Amrein, 4th freshman Riley Windholz, 5th Walker, 14th Staley
Triple Jump (Boys) – 3rd Amrein
Pole Vault (Boys) – 2nd sophomore Jace Myers, 5th junior Devin Quach, 10th senior Grady Lind
Shot Put (Boys) – 1st senior Jaxson Chartier, 2nd junior Caleb Englert, 5th Geist, 6th Corsair, 8th senior Parker McGuire
Discus (Boys) – 1st Corsair, 3rd McGuire, 5th Chartier, 6th Englert
Javelin (Boys) – 1st sophomore Corbin Giebler, 5th junior Warren Kirkpatrick, 12th freshman Jacob Leiker, 13th Prediger, 18th sophomore Rexton Leiker, 25th junior Gabe Atherton
100 Meters (Girls) – 1st junior Lyndi Zimmerman, 3rd senior Kamryn McCall
200 Meters (Girls) – 2nd Zimmerman, 4th Lewallen, 6th McCall, senior Moriah Hallam
400 Meter (Girls) – 1st freshman Sydney Lewallen, 2nd senior Aralen Maupin, 6th senior Scarlett Herman
800 Meters (Girls) – 5th freshman Alexa Cooley, 8th freshman MacKenzie Karst, 9th sophomore Bekah Clark
1600 Meters (Girls) – 1st freshman Audrey Yarmer, 10th sophomore Madelyn Wilkins
3200 Meters (Girls) – 1st Yarmer, 10th Wilkins
100 Meter Hurdles (Girls) – 1st Zimmerman, 8th senior Cara Cunningham
300 Meter Hurdles (Girls) – 4th Cunningham
4×100 (Girls) – 2nd Lewallen, Zimmerman, McCall, Hallam
4×400 (Girls) – 3rd Maupin, Cunningham, Cooley, Lewallen
4×800 (Girls) – 2nd Clark, senior Serena Wilson, Maupin, Cooley
High Jump (Girls) – 1st freshman Chloe Crawford, 3rd junior Caleah Sanders, 4th freshman Kendall Schulte
Long Jump (Girls) – 2nd Kanak, 3rd McCall, 8th senior Jaci Schmidt
Triple Jump (Girls) – 2nd junior Brooke Bieker, 6th Sanders, 9th Schmidt
Pole Vault (Girls) – 2nd junior Kenlee Vehige, 7th freshman Summer Simpson
Shot Put (Girls) – 1st senior Zoe Winter, 8th senior Cassidy Smith
Discus (Girls) – 3rd Smith, 5th junior Allyson Werth
Javelin (Girls) – 1st Bieker, 5th senior Rylen Harrington, 10th Schulte
The final team results concluded with boys finishing second out of nine teams with 116.5 points and the girls placing first out of eight schools with 187 points.
“For being the first home track meet our program has ever hosted, I thought our team handled it extremely well,” head track coach Kip Keeley said. “Not only did we compete at a high level, but our athletes represented Hays High the right way throughout the entire day. We had strong performances across multiple event groups, which speaks to the balance and depth of our team.”
For the future, Keeley said he hopes to improve the home meets throughout the years.
“From a meet management perspective, for our first time hosting, things ran smoothly overall, but there are always areas to tighten up,” Keeley said. “We can continue improving efficiency with event flow, communication and small logistical details to make the experience even better for athletes, coaches and spectators.”
Boys Golf:
The varsity boys golf team competed at the McPherson Invitational, located at the Turkey Creek Golf Course, on April 10.
In total, there were 16 teams and 95 athletes competing individually.
At the meet, senior Braiden Bickle and senior Caleb Thompson tied for seventh, both by shooting a 76.
Sophomore Miles Weimer placed 22nd with an 80, and sophomore Dalton Schmidtberger ranked 34th with an 82.
Senior Izaac Fox ranked 38th with an 84, while junior Mason Simmons placed 46th with an 84. Senior Trey Oakley finished 56th with an 86 for the team.
The team placed second and had two Top 15 medalists: Bickle and Thompson.
“We played well, but we need to stay away from being penalty stroked – too many balls hit the water,” coach Mark Watts said. “We need to work on our drives being straighter in the fairway. We will also be hosting our tournament this Monday [April 20] at Smoky Hill.”
Boys Tennis:
The boys tennis team competed at the Scott City tournament on April 9.
In total, there were eight teams in the tournament.
In singles, junior Brody Burns placed eighth, and freshman Brooks Dixon ranked seventh.
In doubles, juniors Camden Luck and Cyler Luck ended sixth, while senior Hunter Lang and junior Dalton Meier were eighth.
Overall, the team placed eighth out of the eight teams present.
“Many players are still adjusting to playing varsity full time, but I am seeing them apply concepts we are working on at practice into their competitive play and grow each time they compete,” coach Alicia Plante said. “We took about half of our main varsity team, mixed with other players, to Scott City. Both singles and doubles are working on strategy on the court, such as movement, anticipating the opponent and zones. I saw players across the board execute these skills and put court awareness into practice at the Scott City meet.”
