Chieftains land 20 on fall all-league teams
Tonganoxie again landed plenty of athletes on fall all-Kaw Valley League teams.
Chieftains had 20 athletes on this year’s all-league teams, up two from last year’s selections.
As was the case last season, Tonganoxie teams overall had successful campaigns.
The Chieftain football team went 9-2 and advanced to the second round of the Class 4A playoffs, while the Chieftain volleyball team went 30-9 and finished second in substate.
The Tonganoxie boys cross country team finished first at the league meet, while the girls placed third.
Tonganoxie soccer went 5-11-1 in Luke Denney’s second season as the Chieftains’ coach.
Here is a closer look, in alphabetical order, at each of this year’s selections:
Aaron Adcox
Sport: Football
Year in school: Junior
Selection this fall: Honorable mention offense
Other sport(s) involved in: wrestling
Plans after high school: attend college
Extra, extra: Adcox was part of an offensive line that racked up more than 540 yards against Basehor-Linwood. The junior also made his presence known in the linebacking corps for Tonganoxie.
Matthew Chenoweth
Sport: Cross country
Year in school: Senior
Selection this fall: All-league first team
Other sport(s) involved in: track
Plans after high school: undecided
Extra, extra: Chenoweth has been a fixture in the cross country program throughout his four years at THS. This year, he finished the season in style with a fourth-place finish at the Kaw Valley League meet in Leavenworth with a time of 18 minutes, 37 seconds. Only the top seven placers at league are named to the all-league team, so Chenoweth was in a prime group. He also placed 19th at regionals with an 18:23 time.
Zach Ditty
Sport: Football
Year in school: Senior
Selection this fall: Second team offense, honorable mention defense
Other sport(s) involved in: track
Plans after high school: play football
School(s) interested in Ditty: Mid-America Nazarene and various state community colleges, along with Missouri Southern and Washburn.
School(s) Ditty is leaning toward: Mid-America Nazarene
Extra, extra: Tonganoxie’s bread and butter again this season was its running game. At running back, Ditty was a major contributor to Tonganoxie’s offensive power. Ditty rushed for just under 700 yards and had five rushing touchdowns and one receiving touchdown. He also had two interceptions and 40 tackles and two fumble recoveries as a linebacker.
Kent Fleming
Sport: Football
Year in school: Junior
Selection this fall: First team defense
Previous honors: Honorable mention last year in football.
Other sport(s) involved in: Track
Plans after high school: Play Division-I football
School Fleming would like to play at: Kansas
Extra, extra: Fleming again was a force on the defensive line for THS. Fleming registered 58 tackles, seven of which were for losses.
Phil George
Sport: Football
Year in school: Junior
Selection this fall: Honorable mention offense
Other sport(s) involved in: Baseball
Plans after high school: Attend college
Extra, extra: George earned all-league honors for his work as an offensive lineman. He also put in some minutes as a linebacker.
Addie Heim
Sport: Volleyball
Year in school: Senior
Selection this fall: First team all-league
Other sport(s) involved in: Basketball and softball
Previous honors: In volleyball, all-area in 2003, all-league in 2003 and 2004 and all-tournament at Tonganoxie Invitational, 2003 and 2004; in basketball, all-area first team in 2003-04, all-area third team in 2002-03, all-league in 2002-03 and 2003-04, all-tourney team, Raider Classic in 2002-03 and all-tourney team at Tonganoxie Invitational in 2003-04; in softball, all-league in 2004.
Plans after high school: Attend a college and playing a sport on collegiate level.
Extra, extra: At Tonganoxie volleyball matches, THS students would chant “What time is it?” and answer with “Heim time.” It’s been Heim time at plenty of junctures during the last three years. In her three sports — volleyball, basketball and softball — Heim has earned all-league accolades in each sport. This fall, Heim had 274 kills, 57 blocks and 14 aces.
Levi Huseman
Sport: Cross country
Year in school: Senior
Selection this fall: First team all-league
Other sport(s): Basketball and track
Extra, extra: Huseman was not on the cross country team after being on Chieftain state harrier teams as a freshman and sophomore. Last fall, he tried his hand at soccer, but returned to the cross country courses and again was one of the team’s top runners. Huseman finished fifth with an 18:44 time at the KVL meet.
Laura Jeannin
Sport: Volleyball
Year in school: Senior
Selection this fall: First team all-league
Other sport(s) involved in: Basketball, track and softball.
Previous honors: In softball, honorable mention all-league as an infielder.
Plans after high school: Attend college and major in elementary education. Jeannin also would like to continue her athletics career.
Colleges interested in Jeannin: Ottawa (volleyball), Johnson County (volleyball) and St. Mary’s (softball).
Colleges Jeannin is leaning toward: At this point, the senior would like to play volleyball in college, so Ottawa and JCCC are at the top of her list.
Extra, extra: Same last name, different sibling. After a long tenure as Tonganoxie’s setter on the volleyball court, Katie Jeannin ended her career at THS in the spring. So, co-coaches Tiffany and Brandon Parker replaced one Jeannin with another as Laura stepped into big sister’s shoes quite well. The younger Jeannin had 721 assists and 26 aces. She helped THS to its first 30-win season under the Parkers.
Robert Kirch
Sport: Soccer
Year in school: Senior
Selection this fall: Honorable mention defense
Other sport(s) involved in: Basketball and track
Other athletic accomplishments: Kirch placed third in the KVL in long jump and fourth in triple jump last spring. He was part of the Chieftains’ team league titles in 2002 and last spring.
Plans after high school: Play soccer at Manhattan Christian College
Extra, extra: Kirch plans to continue the THS-MCC pipeline when he enrolls next fall across the street from Kansas State in Manhattan. He will continue the list of Tonganoxie players to also play at MCC for the national soccer power.
Andy Kolman
Sport: Cross country
Year in school: Senior
Selection this fall: All-league first team (KVL champion)
Other sport(s) involved in: Track
Previous honors: 2003 All-KVL and 2004 All-state.
Plans after high school: Possibly run in college.
Colleges interested in Kolman: Park University, Wichita, along with several community colleges
Extra, extra: Kolman has been the leading Chieftain cross country runner for a good portion of his career. At the league meet, Kolman finished with a 17:50 time. Kolman also has competed in several 5K runs outside of the high school season. As for running in college, Kolman said he has just started looking at colleges where he might run. Kolman also has the track season ahead of him in the spring, which also might attract some collegiate interest.
Clay Lamb
Sport: Football
Year in school: Senior
Selection this fall: Honorable mention defense.
Other sport(s) involved in: Baseball
Previous honors: 2003 All-KVL and 2004 All-state.
Plans after high school: Lamb plans to attend Pittsburg State.
Extra, extra: Lamb wasn’t the largest defensive back in the Kaw Valley League at 5-foot-8 and 150 pounds. However, he made his presence known with 34 tackles and two interceptions. Lamb ran one of those interceptions back for a touchdown.
Kaleb Lawrence
Sport: Football
Year in school: Senior
Selection this fall: First team defense
Other sport(s) involved in: Track
Previous honors: Second team defense, honorable mention all-area by the Lawrence Journal-World in 2003.
Plans after high school: Play football in college.
Colleges interested in Lawrence: Like some of his teammates, Lawrence has gained some interest from Missouri Southern, Washburn and several community colleges, along with Mid-America Nazarene.
Extra, extra: Lawrence has been a workhorse as a linebacker during his prep career. The intense defender, however, also played at fullback midway through this season after injuries in the backfield forced THS coach Mark Elston to move some personnel around. As a fullback, Lawrence had roughly 300 yards with two touchdowns. He also had 130 tackles, eight of which were for losses. He also scored a touchdown on defense.
Sam Mitchell
Sport: Football
Year in school: Senior
Selection this fall: Honorable mention defense
Other sport(s) involved in: Basketball, track
Plans after high school: Play football in college.
Colleges interested in Mitchell: Bethel College, Tabor College, Mid-America Nazarene, Kansas Wesleyan and Southwestern College.
College Mitchell is leaning toward: Mid-America Nazarene.
Extra, extra: Mitchell broke up plenty of critical passes this season as a defensive back. He also had 35 tackles and four interceptions.
Colin Perkins
Sport: Cross country
Year in school: Freshman
Selection this fall: All-league
Other sport(s) involved in: Basketball, track
Extra, extra: Christy Weller was Tonganoxie’s big rookie on the girls team, but Perkins fit that description on the boys squad. The freshman placed sixth at the league meet. He and his fellow THS all-leaguers took four of the seven all-league spots. Perkins finished the league meet in 18:49.
Ali Pistora
Sport: Volleyball
Year in school: Sophomore
Selection this fall: First team
Other sport(s) involved in: Basketball, track
Previous honors: In basketball: All-Kaw Valley League selection in 2003-04, all-tournament team, Anderson County Invitational in 2003-04; in volleyball, all-tournament team at Tonganoxie Invitational in 2004; in track, fourth at state in javelin in 2004 and all-metro team in javelin in 2004.
Other accomplishments: Pistora’s AAU team finished 17th in the nation in the 2002-03 AAU basketball tournament.
Extra, extra: She’s just a sophomore, but Pistora already has plenty of accolades to her credit. Pistora has been a vital ingredient in each of her three sports. She also set the school javelin record in the spring. And this fall, Pistora registered 209 kills, 106 blocks and 37 aces for the Chieftain volleyball team.
Kirk Rodell
Sport: Soccer
Year in school: Senior
Selection this fall: Second team offense
Other sport(s) involved in: Basketball, baseball
Previous honors: In basketball, all-area third team, 2003-04; in baseball, all-league honorable mention honorable mention and all-area honorable mention; in football, all-league honorable mention as a place kicker.
Plans after high school: Either play soccer at Manhattan Christian College or baseball at St. Mary.
College Rodell is leaning toward: Manhattan Christian College
Extra, extra: As a forward, Rodell was the Tonganoxie soccer team’s biggest threat. Now Rodell must decide between soccer at MCC or baseball at St. Mary.
Travis Schultz
Sport: Soccer
Year in school: Senior
Selection this fall: Honorable mention offense
Other sport(s) involved in: Track
Previous honors: Was a member of league track team champions in 2002 and 2004. Schultz also was on last year’s 4×400 relay team that placed second at league.
Plans after high school: Play soccer at Manhattan Christian College and major in wildlife management at Kansas State.
Extra, extra: Schultz, a forward, is the third Chieftain soccer player on the all-league team. He plans to follow in older brother Dustin’s footsteps and play at Manhattan Christian College.
Ross Starcher
Sport: Football
Year in school: Senior
Selection this fall: First team offense, second team defense, honorable mention punter.
Other sport(s) involved in: Wrestling
Previous honors: All-area wrestling
College plans: Attend Pitt State
Extra, extra: Starcher was the pulse of the Tonganoxie offense this fall. The quarterback rushed for 1,255 and had 18 rushing touchdowns and two passing touchdowns. Defensively, Starcher had 55 tackles and four interceptions. And as a punter, he averaged 36.7 yards per boot. On Monday, he switched gears and started wrestling practice and his quest for a fourth state appearance.
Christy Weller
Sport: Cross country
Year in school: Freshman
Selection this fall: First team
Other sport(s) involved in: Basketball and track
Extra, extra: Weller was Tonganoxie’s top girls runner. She placed second at league with a 13:07 mark and then advanced to state after a strong regional showing. Unfortunately, a freak knee injury Weller sustained during a PE class the week of the state cross country forced her to wear wrap around her knee. Weller couldn’t finish the race because of the knee, but she likely will have a few more shots at the state course in Wamego in the future.
Daniel Workman
Sport: Football
Year in school: Senior
Selection this fall: First team offense and honorable mention defense
Other sport(s) involved in: Basketball
Plans after high school: college
Extra, extra: Workman’s name is fitting. At 6-0, 170, the senior anchored the offensive line at center and also was a defensive end. He had 52 tackles, five of which were for losses as a defensive lineman.