The Hays High Chess Club took two teams to the Thomas More Prep-Marian tournament on Saturday, Jan. 8, and secured the top two places against TMP, Salina Sacred Heart and Heritage Academy.

The first-place team was comprised of senior Matthew Bollig and juniors Logan Chance, Staton Clark and Quinton McGuire, while the second-place team was made up of sophomore Brooks Baczkowski and freshmen Aiden Burton, Nikole Orender and Katelyn Stieben.

Since the tournament, the Chess Club has only been able to meet once, on Tuesday, Jan. 18. Plans to attend the upcoming Wichita North tournament have been cancelled and moved to an online tournament due to COVID-19. However, the Chess Club expects to attend a tournament in Concordia on Saturday, Feb. 12.

“I have to say that the returning students have done an excellent job stepping up and taking a leadership role with mentoring the new members,” Chess Club sponsor Erin Holder said. “It has been great to see.”