Turning heads, downing pins: Shawnee teen’s unique style sticks

By Angelique McNaughton

March 25, 2013

Sometimes, two hands are better than one.

At least that’s what St. Thomas Aquinas senior bowler Anthony Alvano discovered.

As the 17-year-old Shawnee resident steps up to the lane, his approach is similar to any other bowler when he gets ready to hurl his maroon, gold and orange ball toward the pins — except that when he bowls, he uses both hands.

He grips the ball the same way one-handed bowlers do, with the two middle fingers and the thumb, but when he holds the ball level with his right hip, Alvano releases it from the same height, causing a smack as it hit’s the lane with tremendous sound and spin.

If he picks up a strike or a spare, he thrusts his fist in the air as he walks away.Alvano has showcased his unique bowling style for the Saints for the past four years, drawing the occasional questions and small crowds who are eager to witness his talent.

“It’s easy for me to bowl like that because I’ve been a two-handed bowler since I started when I was 10,” Alvano said. “It’s been working since then.”

After he failed to show interest in other sports, Alvano’s parents began taking him to the bowling alley in hopes that he would enjoy it and join a local youth league. From the beginning, Alvano bowled two-handed because it gave him more speed and rotation. He tried one-handed bowling but wasn’t strong enough at that age to be successful with it.

“I don’t even remember how he started, to be honest,” his mother, Joyce Alvano, said. “My dad has tried to get him to bowl one-handed but it just didn’t happen.”

The first personal coach that Alvano had attempted to change his technique, but his parents found coach Gary Vanderberg, who was willing to work with him.

“He gets so much more power and rotation, so when he does hit the pocket he’s good,” Vanderberg said. “He’s stuck with it and I am proud of him that he has.”

Although it’s still rare, two-handed bowling is increasing in popularity, according to Vanderberg.

“I think that it is getting more common,” Vanderberg said. “There are a couple of professional bowlers that bowl that way, and when I watched him I’ve seen some other kids bowling two-handed. If they are not strong enough, they can go with a heavier ball and can throw it harder.”

Vanderberg said now that it has gotten more common, he has noticed more coaches encouraging their athletes to bowl two-handed.

“I’ve seen more professionals bowling that way and I am starting to think there is something to this,” he said. “If I had to start again I would go two-handed.”

Since Alvano started high school and joined the bowling team, Vanderberg said he mainly supports him in the mental aspects of the game.

“I pretty much just talk to him and try to make sure that he is mentally all there,” Vanderberg said.

Which, like any athlete, Alvano tends to get down on himself when he doesn’t get a spare or fails to execute a good frame.

“If I’m not doing so good, I get a little frustrated and have to calm myself down,” he said. “I just try and stay focused, and make sure I hit my marks and get those pins.”

One of the problems that Alvano encounters with his technique is that because his ball gets so much rotation, he often misses the left side spares.

“The only thing that hurts him are those spares because the ball has so much spin,“ Saint’s bowling coach Terry Droge said. “He hits the pocket right but sometimes loses the spare.”

To counter this issue, Alvano uses two 15-pound balls. The plastic ball he uses helps him pick up the spare because it can travel a straighter line than the other one he uses for strikes.

“It‘s just unique, it‘s different,” Droge said of Alvano’s style. “But it’s personal preference. It’s not beneficial or detrimental.”

Alvano maintains a 185-pin average, with his highest career single-game score a 235. He didn’t achieve his goal to attend the state bowling tournament in Wichita during his final season, missing out by fewer than 100 pins. But with his high school bowling career complete, Alvano can now look to the future. Whether that involves bowling at the collegiate level or in local leagues, Alvano is currently undecided.

“I’m a little sad to leave it behind,“ Alvano said. “I made friends with people on the bowling team and it is a little sad.”

No rest in Cougars’ forecast: SMNW girls 5-1 entering winter break

December 17, 2012, 10:46 a.m.

Updated: December 19, 2012, 12:00 a.m.

Topeka — Though their goal of a perfect 6-0 start was dashed in a nailbiter in Topeka over the weekend, the Shawnee Mission Northwest girls basketball team’s final two games before winter break reaffirmed the team of its mettle.

After dropping a 50-43 game Saturday at Washburn Rural, the No. 5-ranked team in Class 6A, the Cougars (5-1) rebounded with a 38-34 victory against SM South on Monday.

SM Northwest won’t return to play until a Jan. 3 rematch of their season-opening win at SM West. Until then, join us in recapping the Cougars’ final two games of December.

Rural hands Cougars first loss

SM Northwest went bucket-for-bucket most of Saturday’s game at Washburn Rural and played to win.

The Cougars were defensively aggressive and held the Junior Blues to just 10 field goals but eventually still fell, 50-43, to the fifth-ranked team in Class 6A.

“We shut down their offense but put them on the free throw line way too many times,“ SM Northwest coach Jeff Dickson said following the loss.

The game was tied with 4:27 left, but a series of subsequent fouls put the Junior Blues at the line and the lead out of reach as five Cougars found themselves in foul trouble in the last two minutes of the game. McKayla Ross, Arielle Jackson, Brenni Rose and Tatum Graves eventually fouled out during the last minute.

“We need to do a better job of playing defense with our feet and not with our hands,” Dickson said. “We would get a stop and bail them out with a foul.”

Senior Anna King led the Cougars with a double-double, scoring 14 points and 10 rebounds.

“Anna King had a great game, and they had no answer for her,” Dickson said of King’s performance.

Ross contributed eight points and Jackson six. Ross never hesitated to drive into the lane and draw a foul, scoring six of her eight points at the free throw line. The game was tied 9-9 in the first quarter, but the Cougars took the lead following a three-pointer from senior Kristina Purinton, who then turned around and stripped the ball at the other end to prevent a lay-up.

SM Northwest got good looks at the basket during the first half, including three shots behind the arc. Purinton, who scored all six of her points from behind the arc, ended the half with a three-pointer to make the score 25-22 in favor of the Junior Blues. The Cougars put a stop on the Junior Blues offense to start the second half, holding it to only six points for the third quarter.

Forced steals and a couple of big plays from Jackson kept the game close late into the fourth quarter, with the Cougars down only two points with less than three minutes left.

The Cougars suffered at the free throw line during the second half, due in part to some vocal fans, and weren’t able to make up the lack of points with field goals. Then three players fouled out, including Tatum on a technical, and the Junior Blues were consistent enough at the line to extend the lead to seven with six seconds left on the clock.

“Our kids fought very hard and handled a very hostile environment with a lot of class,” Dickson said.

“We went toe-to-toe … and really found out a lot of good things about ourselves. And we know we are as good as any team in the state.”

Cougars down Raiders

King scored 12 points and Ross added nine to lead the Cougars to a 38-34 victory against SM South on Monday.

The Cougars recovered from a 17-12 halftime deficit to stay perfect in league play. SM Northwest outscored the Raiders, 13-2, in the third quarter and held on in a tighter final frame.

Stephen Montemayor contributed to this story.

SMN girls struggle to close in first two games

By Angelique McNaughton

In both of the Shawnee Mission North girls basketball team’s first two games, victory appeared well within the Indians’ grasp.

On Thursday, the Indians (0-2) were tied with SM South at halftime before falling, 53-43. And on Monday, SM North outscored SM Northwest 22-5 in the second quarter to take a 31- 24 halftime lead only to lose, 64-52.

On Thursday, junior Darian Dozier led the Indians with 11 points, senior India Johnson and junior Whitney Harvey had seven points apiece and senior Adriana Cruz added six points.

Harvey put up 18 points and 11 rebounds against the Cougars on Monday in SM North’s home opener, including six points in both the second and fourth quarters. But SM Northwest held the Indians to just 10 fourth-quarter points to seal a second straight disappointing second half for SM North.

“We didn’t hold our composure very well,” SM North coach Kelly Dennis said after Thursday’s game. “We got four seniors out there and when you’re playing four seniors they need to hold their composure. I think they played hard, though, and I was pleased with their effort. I thought they battled the whole game.”

On Thursday, SM South ignited a 10-0 run early on and held the Indians to just six points in the first quarter. The Cougars, meanwhile, jumped out to a 19-9 lead after the first quarter on Monday before the Indians stormed back behind hitting 6 of 8 from the foul line and two 3-pointers from senior Courtney Hughes. The Indians hit four 3-pointers on Monday and have so far not been shy shooting from long range this season. It was freshman Briana Farr’s 3-pointer that tied Thursday’s game, 25-25, with less than a minute left in the first half.

“We owned that (second) quarter and I expected to do that the whole second half,” Dennis said. “But we didn’t pick up where we left off.”

Dennis’ words could have applied to each of the Indians’ first two games. In each game’s second half, the Indians’ momentum quickly evaporated. The Raiders outscored SM North 10-8 in the third quarter and 16-8 in the fourth quarter. The Raiders also out rebounded the Indians, 44-38. On Monday, SM Northwest outscored the Indians 23-9 in the third quarter and 17-12 in the fourth quarter, although not without a fight from Harvey. Also on Monday, both Johnson and Farr scored 10 points, and Hughes added eight points — including two 3-pointers. The Indians will next host SM West at 7 p.m. Friday.

— Stephen Montemayor contributed to this story

First-year BLHS wrestling coach has been here before

Tyler Cordts won’t ask Basehor-Linwood wrestlers to do anything he hasn’t done before himself.

Cordts wrestled on the varsity squad at Santa Fe Trail High School for four years at 103 pounds. He competed at BLHS during the Bobcat classic and walked the very halls his athletes traverse daily, less than 10 years ago.

He understands the sport and the toll it can take on an athlete to endure the grueling practices, weight requirements and one-on-one competition.

“I’ve been in their shoes, been through everything they have and know what it feels like to go through those workouts,” Corts said.

Cordts was hired last spring and began practices earlier this month. With the expectations of a new coach and Cordts’ debut season approaching, he admitted to being nervous in advance.

But as soon as Cordts stepped onto the mat, he eased into his new role. Comfortable with the students he had seen in the hallways and had in classes, Cordts began coaching wrestling again.

“I have all these ideas and the time flies in practice,” he said. “Next thing I know it’s 5.”

On the mat since around the age of 11, Cordts was the lone member of his family to take up wrestling.

“It was just kind of the thing to do,” he said one day with the shrug of his shoulders. “Everybody did it and no one in my family had done it before.”

After graduating high school in 2005, Cordts pursued wrestling for a year at Central College in Pella, Iowa.

Competing in the lowest collegiate weight, 111 pounds, Cordts was forced to wrestle outside of his class.

“I wasn’t naturally very big and that’s why I transitioned,” he said of the move from athlete to coach.

Coaching wasn’t something he had seriously considered but he admired his high school and college coaches. He started his coaching career at Central College before taking on a position as an assistant at Pella High School.

Cordts, 25, who is also the special education teacher, returned to his alma mater last year as the head junior high coach at Santa Fe Trail High School, while teaching at West Franklin High School.

After three-year coach Ed Seaton decided to step down last season, Cordts stepped in.

“I’ve got a son in college and wanted to follow his wrestling a little bit,” Seaton said of the choice to become an assistant. “I just felt like they needed to get a coach and teacher in the school that could motivate them and spend the time. I was working a full-time job and just didn‘t have the time.”

“I just felt like someone else could do a better job,” he added.

And so far, Seaton said Cordts has risen to the task. He’s motivated and organized, Seaton said, and strict.

“He doesn’t take anything from the kids and I think they respect that,” he said with a laugh.

Seaton is staying on staff, joining fellow assistant coach Travis Phippen, for the upcoming season.

“I have two head coaches as my assistants and I am taking over a program with standout wrestlers,” Cordts said. “I couldn’t ask for a better way to start.”

The 27-man roster is heavy with juniors, with just three seniors leading the helm and an evenly distributed group of underclassmen.

The loss of senior state qualifier Antonio Ferro is balanced by returning state qualifiers 126-pound senior Sammy Seaton and 145-pound junior Cory McCleary.

Cordts said he also expects junior John Hopper to have a strong showing this year at 152 pounds.

“Those three boys are our three great leaders,” he said. “One thing I feel is that we have a lot of great leadership and a lot of returning experience.”

The Bobcats open the season at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Bonner Springs against the Braves and Piper. A quick turnaround will then pit the varsity in a dual the next day, on Nov. 30, at Spring Hill. The highly anticipated Bobcat Classic returns on Jan. 11.

With practice officially underway, Cordts said the athletes are enthusiastically approaching practice and are ready to work.

“I’m really surprised they’re coming in working hard,” he said. “And having fun with it and getting the job done.”

Some of the exuberance could be attributed to the wrestlers abandoning their former,  small, green-mat filled room in the high school for a donated, year-round practice facility in the district’s sixth-grade center.

“They’re excited about it,” Cordts said.

Stressing sound, solid technique and a knowledge of the basics has proven effective in the past for Cordts as both an athlete and coach.

“Basics are what works,” he said. “Just being in better shape than your opponent is a huge advantage, especially later in the match.”

Taking over an existing program hasn’t entirely intimidated Cordts, who just wants to continue building the sport at BLHS and within the wrestler-friendly community as the season progresses.

“I’m just trying to get the community excited about us because I’m excited to finally get everything going,” he said.

‘Mad Dog’ Madlock brought college-feel to BSHS volleyball in first year

Jan Madlock didn’t really aspire to be a volleyball player or coach.

She originally went out for volleyball in middle school only to add another sport to her skill set and to stay in shape. She already played basketball, softball and ran track.

But Madlock turned into a willing convert the summer before her senior year at Proviso East High School, Maywood, Ill., after attending a camp at Illinois State University.

“It opened up my world,” she said. “I was so turned on to the sport.”

Madlock’s love affair with volleyball has continued for more than 20 years and is still going strong. She recently completed her inaugural year as the head volleyball coach at Bonner Springs, leading the Braves to a 16-20 record (including winning 10 of the last 12 matches.)

“I got so much from my playing career, it’s almost spiritual for me,” she said. “It feels like because I got so much from it, I’m obligated to pass it on to someone else.”

After that summer, Madlock decided she wanted to pursue volleyball in college even though she wasn’t being recruited. She walked-on and ultimately red-shirted her first year in 1988 at Illinois State University.

Describing herself as athletically capable, Madlock recognized she didn’t have the skills to secure a spot in the rotation.

“I wasn’t prepared for the level of training and what the practices were like — it was hard,” Madlock said. “I spent a lot of extra hours training and lots of hours in the gym serving by myself. I was in a different league. I was the 13th-man on a 12-man team.”

Madlock improved enough during the year to start as a defensive player in 1989, contributing to her team in a major way. Her on-court leadership and self-discipline landed Madlock the title of captain for her last two college seasons, which included a historic Sweet Sixteen appearance in 1992.

“It was such an incredible year,” Madlock said. “Really magical, my last season.”

Former teammate Kim Nelson Brown, who is currently the head volleyball coach at Illinois Wesleyan University, said Madlock was “extremely intense.” Her teammates did, and still do, call her “Mad Dog”.

“She used to punch the floor and her knuckle would swell up if she missed a dig,” Brown said with a laugh.

Madlock led her team to a 30-4 record and the volleyball program’s first NCAA tournament berth. The 1992 Redbirds still hold the program record for most victories in season.

“She was a big part of that and really kept things at a level of intensity that we needed to maintain,” Brown said. “The seniors kept us grounded and for Jan it was like a job.“

The Redbirds eventually lost to Long Beach State University, ending Madlock’s career. After graduating, Madlock quickly transitioned from athlete to coach, leading her to stay briefly at her alma mater. She had coaching stints at the University of Iowa and Kansas University before entering high school academia.

“I was really trying to figure out what else I was supposed to be doing besides a volleyball coach,” she said.

Fluctuating between teaching and coaching at the high school level, Madlock took a break from coaching to start a family with the children she fostered — Mercedes, 8, Hailey, 7, and Keani, 3 — and ultimately adopted.

Finding herself in Bonner Springs, Madlock decided that the classroom was where she wanted to be. A job at Clark Middle School introduced Madlock to the district before she ultimately accepted her current position.

“It’s been like a dream come true and I am incredibly fortunate,” she said.

Taking over the program from previous coach Heather Campbell, Madlock introduced a different coaching style and approach to the game. BSHS senior Cassady Holloway said her new coach pushed the team more than what they had experienced in the past.

“It was honestly a big change,” she said of Madlock’s coaching. “It’s more strict and more college-like, which it’s better for us because we know she has the right experience and we know she knows what she’s talking about.”

Prior to the start of her first season with Bonner Springs, Madlock learned that her former Redbirds team would be reuniting to celebrate the team’s Sweet 16 appearance 20 years before.

As Madlock made plans to attend the reunion in Illinois she checked an updated schedule and realized she was supposed to be in Tonganoxie that same weekend for a tournament.

“I honestly was deflated for a good 24 hours,” Madlock said.  “But my team, I asked them to be here and asked them to make the commitment. I can’t just walk away from this team for that.

“While that was a really special opportunity for me, we had our glory days,” she said. “This was a weekend event where I was really trying to build and lay a foundation here.”

The BSHS volleyball team ended up going 1-4 that day, but senior Jene Williams said the team dynamic would have suffered even more if Madlock missed the tournament.

“When she’s there, she brings us together as a whole,” Williams said. “It was such an honor for her to give up her important event to be there and coach us and cheer us on.”

With the Braves’ strong conclusion at the end of the season, Madlock said she is already thinking about next season and the momentum established for the program after her first year.

“I have a passion for life and it’s displayed when I coach,” Madlock said. “That passion comes from how I felt about the game.”

First-year girls coach seeks to return Bobcats to playing in March

Jason Tatkenhorst may have had a chance to get to know his players briefly during the summer, but when the Basehor-Linwood girls basketball team started practice this month, Tatkenhorst officially became “Coach”.

“Now it’s time for the players to do work,” he said. “I feel like the players are really trying hard (because) they know they have to make a good impression.

His inaugural practice on Nov. 12 wasn’t without its hesitations and uncertainties.

“The players have been well trained with past coaches and of course I’m used to going on court and having the team know what I want,” he said. “But since it’s my first year, I’m having to adjust as well and explain things a bit more.”

Tatkenhorst worked with the team during the summer for camp, summer league and weekly workouts. The Bobcats participated in two weekend tournaments and won more than they lost throughout the summer, Tatkenhorst said.

Tatkenhorst was hired in May following the announced departure of former coach Noah Simpson last season.

The Bobcats went 8-12 last year under Simpson, whose tenure included three state tournament appearances — including a third-place finish in the 2011 4A state tournament.

The familiarity and routine that the seniors had grown accustomed to throughout the last three seasons is being replaced by a different style.

“It’s just a different experience and I’m still getting used to it,” senior Samantha Rutherford said during the first week of practice. “He definitely has a different coaching style. It’s not bad it’s just more intense and he expects more out of us.”

Rutherford, who started playing a bigger role last year on varsity as a post player, said each player will get better focusing on the “little things” that Tatkenhorst stresses.

“The girls have a real good attitude and the first week was all about working on practice habits,” he said. “The first couple weeks of the preseason need to be hard and challenging.”

Taking over an already successful program and introducing something new hasn’t phased Tatkenhorst at all, who came into the job knowing what he’s picking up.

“The girls, the parents and the community all expect to have a chance to go to state and the expectations are high for this program,” he said. “I’m excited for that and I want to be in a program that has high expectations.”

Returning starter and leading scorer senior Jamie Johnson said she definitely wants to make it to state in her final season as a Bobcat.

“I have been to state (my) freshman and sophomore year and we didn’t go to state last year,” she said. “I want to win games (this year) and go far.”

Johnson, at guard, is coming back from a broken elbow suffered last year against Tonganoxie.

“It feels good,” Johnson said of her left arm. “I’m just ready for everybody to come together and play as a team and to show the coach that we are actually good.”

Tatkenhorst, a former head coach for 12 years in Great Bend, said he will stress man-to-man defense and playing the entire court.

In his 17th year of coaching, Tatkenhorst, a Kansas native and former player at Pratt Community College and Bethany College, said he hopes his new squad can look to him and know that he has been there before.

“I do feel like I have the experience, although coaches will always learn,” he said. “We (coaches) think we’ve been through it all but there’s always going to be some new situation out there.”

Tatkenhorst and his wife, Stacy, a special education teacher at BLHS, and their three boys, Kade and Kurtis, 13, and Kamden, 12, moved to Basehor this summer.

With a 228-128 overall record, what has worked in the past for Tatkenhorst is an aggressive offense and up-tempo game with players looking for the easy bucket and hoping to out-work the opponent.

Despite the missing height of graduated seniors Maggie Hattock, Cara McCarty and Bailey Hooker, the roster has a good balance behind seniors Kara Stephens, Johnson, and Rutherford.

“Each class below them has really a good balance, and I see good freshman and sophomores and three seniors that are good, committed players,” he said. “We definitely have a group of about seven girls that are a notch above everybody else.”

The Bobcats open the season on Nov. 30 against Bishop Ward.

“We hope to have a long season,” Tatkenhorst said. “And we want to be playing in March.”

Area alums lead inaugural KCKCC women’s soccer team

By Angelique McNaughton

November 13, 2012, 10:58 a.m.

When it came time for Kansas City Kansas Community College women’s soccer coach Ruben Rodriguez to choose three captains for the inaugural athletic program, one area athlete stood out.

Shawnee Mission North alum Gabby Martinez had sent Rodriguez an email seeking out the position, touting her skills.

“She was very confident and looked like she was a self-motivator,” Rodriguez said. “I was impressed with that. That’s why I finally decided to make her the captain.”

The all-freshman Lady Blue Devil squad, with Martinez at the helm, finished its first season last month with a loss to Barton County Community College to finish 1-15.

The freshman midfielder was one of two area athletes that played for the Blue Devils this season, with Shawnee Mission Northwest graduate Ericka Marquez regularly contributing to the squad as a forward.

As a glance at its record indicates, the new program struggled in its conference, which includes Johnson County Community College and Butler County Community College.

“The results didn’t necessarily go our way,” Rodriguez said.

Acknowledging that the record included a staggering number of losses, Rodriguez was quick to add that more than half of the games were “very close.”

“As far as the performance, we were very satisfied,” he said.

Generally, first-year programs don’t set expectations too high, Rodriguez said, but her team’s were a little bit higher. For Martinez, success isn’t gauged by wins or losses but rather what level the team plays at.

“Record doesn’t mean anything,“ she said. “It’s about how you play on that field and how much you give.”

Marquez, who played junior varsity for the Cougars last season, said losing games was something she had to adjust to.

“I, for myself and for the team, had really high expectations,” Marquez said. “My team was pretty good in high school.”

Starting any program can cause headaches for both athletes and administrators. KCKCC’s late approval of the program last February pushed back recruiting time for the coaching staff by more than two months.

“Anytime you start a new program, you are going to have growing pains,” athletic director Dan Pratt said. “We did not expect to compete with the top level of our conference, but we still did compete.”

Another element serious lacking for the new program this season was a home field. Throughout the season, the Blue Devils played at the Overland Park Soccer Complex almost 25 miles away.

Construction is almost finished on a $5 million soccer, track and baseball complex at the college, slated to be completed early next month.

“It was definitely different,” Martinez said of playing with a new program. “We didn’t have that chemistry.”

Individually, Martinez said, she’s gotten more aggressive throughout the season and she hopes to carry that momentum with her next season.

Rodriguez said both girls bring a unique level of enthusiasm and energy to the team.

“Those girls are very energetic,” he said. “Obviously Gabby brings her leadership qualities, which were an asset to the team. And Ericka, her excitement spreads to the rest of the team.”

Considering where her skills were at toward the beginning of the season, Marquez said she is pleased she survived the season and playing soccer at the collegiate level.

“I definitely have improved and am proud of myself because I didn’t think I would make it,” she said.

On returning next season, Marquez said she is looking forward to getting on the field again and building off the skills developed throughout the last few months.

Endurance and a willingness to compete were among the strengths of the team, Marquez said.

“We’ve developed so far and have gotten so far since the beginning,” she said. “We can work on what we have now and will definitely have something to show them (next season).”

BSHS Friendship Group bonds athletes with students with disabilities

By Angelique McNaughton

November 6, 2012, 10:56 a.m.

On any given Tuesday morning, it’s not uncommon to see nearly 40 athletes socializing and playing games with other students at Bonner Springs High School.

The group is considered a club and members meet weekly for 30 minutes in either the gymnasium or outside, weather permitting.

What is unique about this scene is that socializing and casually intermingling with the athletes are a little more than 10 special needs students. Students who receive special education support at BSHS stand out either socially, emotionally, or behaviorally which then interferes with the students’ ability to communicate with others.

Called the Friendship Group, the club meets weekly and promotes a community of understanding and acceptance amongst all student groups. 39 of the program’s 49 peers are involved in some type of sport at BSHS.

Freshman volleyball player Taryn Remigio joined the group while at Clark Middle School. Remigio said after joining the program she realized she would like to pursue special education as a career.

“I feel like I really made a connection,” she said, referring to the special needs students.

Remigio is currently paired with junior Erin Walter, who served as the manager for the girls basketball and softball teams last year. Walter’s disability inhibits her social and communication skills.

Remigio said that before spending regular time with Walter in Friendship Group, she wouldn’t talk to her or look her in the eye.

Now Walter does.

“They may be shy sometimes but once you get under their shell, they are amazing,” Remigio said. “They have flaws but are the funniest people you will meet.”

Junior varsity volleyball and varsity softball coach Denise Chowning, a social worker with the school, originally introduced the Friendship Group to students at the elementary and middle schools three years ago. The activities that the peers arrange for the identified students are designed to help with each student’s specific social challenges.

Chowning said Walter’s appointment as manager was the first time students had really accepted a special needs student and gotten them actively involved.

This year, it was the football players who welcomed a fellow student onto the team as a manager.

“Two of the football players (Jordan Jackson and Jason Van Maren) included him in everything they did,” Chowning said. “They may not able to participate on the field with them, but they can contribute to the team.”

Van Maren, a senior kicker and soccer player, said after participating in the program he has gained “a lot more respect for people and how they are.”

“It’s a lot easier to stand up to other people that don’t have respect because of the way that people look up to us in a way that we’re athletes and are leaders and that we can be respectful and don’t have to be the cool people,” Van Maren said.

Since the program’s adoption at the high school, a growing acceptance has spread throughout the school as more students are seeking out identified students in an effort to include them.

Where lunchtime once resembled a divided society with each student group sitting at their own respective tables and special needs students typically alone, now it is hard to tell if anyone has social issues.

“Kids used to stand by themselves and now the kids are going and getting them and saying ‘hey, join our group’ and maybe they’re not providing a lot of conversation but they are there and present,“ Chowning said. “If the captain of the volleyball team is standing up for kids with disabilities, other kids see them doing that.”

Evidence of the positive effect the club is having on both the peers and identified students isn’t going unnoticed at home.

Dawn Jackson, the mother of Jordan, a junior, and Julianne Jackson, a freshman, said she loves the program because it encourages her children to make new friends that they might not have previously gravitated toward.

“Jordan really has a soft spot for Keith (the football manager) and feels like he understands his story,” she said.

It affords the athletes the opportunity, Dawn Jackson said, to understand that everyone has their own skills that they can bring to a team.

“We got groups of kids and maybe they are not good with that but maybe they are good with rallying the troops on the sidelines,” Dawn Jackson said. “It helps with Denise being a coach because she understands the mindset of the athlete and getting them to step out and help kids.

“Both kids respect what’s being said. This program has done so much for my kids and I truly believe my kids need this program, too.”

Almost 60 students participate in the program at the high school and similar programs exist at both Bonner Springs Elementary and Clark Middle School. The program gained club status last year and will soon make its way into the school’s curriculum as an elective class offered next year.

Tripp’s turn: Shawnee senior leads latest St. James title run

By Angelique McNaughton

October 30, 2012, 12:17 p.m.

Updated: October 31, 2012, 12:00 a.m.

On her third consecutive serve, Emily Tripp took an extra moment to pause, look out across the court and absorb her surroundings.

Tripp’s cheeks were visibly flushed red, while her hair and uniform were damp with sweat.

The St. James Academy senior from Shawnee scanned the arena before quickly resuming play. She bounced the volleyball a few times at her feet before putting it on her palm and spinning it, eventually sending it soaring over the net, resulting in yet another point for her team.

The Thunder were in the final set of a match against Shawnee Heights for the Class 5A state volleyball championship at the Topeka Kansas Expocentre Saturday afternoon when Tripp had her moment.

She later explained that her assistant coach Brian Dorsey had advised her to “sit back and enjoy the moment” at some point during the tournament. When Tripp finally decided to adhere to his advice during the championship game, she said, it was worth it.

“It was cool to take a step back and enjoy how lucky I am and look at the crowd, my family and my teammates giving 110 percent,” she said. “It was energizing.”

Tripp’s serves put her team within three points of victory, eventually enabling the Thunder to win the state championship with a 25-6, 25-19 victory against the Thunderbirds.

It was the Thunder’s fifth-straight title, their first at 5A and Tripp’s second as a varsity player.

After playing a minimal role in St. James’ past appearances, Tripp worked her way into the spotlight last year as a junior with a right-place-at-the-right-time kind of scenario.

Thunder coach Nancy Dorsey said Tripp had to “wait her turn” early on, playing behind a strong line of upperclassmen.

“She did a great job (last year) and that gave her the confidence that she can hang,” Dorsey said. “Every match, she got better and better.”

After patiently waiting her turn, Tripp took control of the libero spot this season as a middle back row player and stepped into a dominant leadership role.

The 5-foot-5 veteran led the team this season with 474 digs — 66 of those occurring during sub-state play.

As her skill set improved and her presence on the court solidified, Tripp was quick to say that she has just played the roles asked of her.

“In our program, any player has as an important role as anyone else,” she said. “I’ve played the role that I needed to contribute, and I know I’m capable of being positive and showing my love for my sport; and for me, that’s what I’ve been carrying through my career.”

Tripp first started playing volleyball more than 10 years ago as a third-grader before eventually participating in club volleyball in middle school.

“I have always loved the sport and really enjoyed the team aspect and being a part of the team,” Tripp said. “Personal accomplishments are great, but when you have 10 to 13 of your sisters backing you up, you couldn’t ask for anything more.”

Tripp’s parents, Nora and Mike Tripp, initially said to each other that if their daughter didn’t enjoy volleyball, they would take her out of it.

“As parents, we were not going to make her feel like we are forcing her,” Nora Tripp said. “But Mike and I said to each other that we can see how much she loves it. … It’s who she is.”

Friends and family started to take notice of the new influences on the impressionable young athlete’s life.

She watched her daughter completely transform as a person and athlete throughout the last 10 years with her love of volleyball never faltering.

“We’ve just watched her develop into this confident and strong player and woman,” she said. “Seeing her go from third grade and developing her body and her skill (and) her understanding of the game has been amazing.”

Tripp’s parents were among the strong contingent of St. James followers over the weekend who watched as the Thunder downed opponents 6-0 during pool play on Friday.

Advancing to the semi-finals against Wichita-Kapaun Mt. Carmel on Saturday, the defending 4A champions displayed their best blocking of the season with 11 solo blocks and eight block assists. Tripp led the team over the weekend with 53 digs.

After advancing to the championship, the Thunder went point for point in the first set against Shawnee Heights but were dominated most of the game because of missed digs and over hits. The Thunder, however, came back and won the first set, 25-19. Crisp playing and solid runs held Heights to only six points in the deciding match.

When the Thunder were accepting their awards on the court Saturday, Nora Tripp said someone sitting next to her commented that the scene was straight out of a movie.

“The girl next to me said, ‘This is like a movie, and we just need the credits rolling,’” she said. “Watching that moment come together for (Emily) as a parent, I cried like a baby.“

Tripp linked arms with her two fellow seniors after the medals were distributed and walked to the center of the court to receive the class 5A state tournament trophy.

With tears in their eyes, the seniors looked across at each other and whispered, “We did it.”

“That was our goal all along,” Emily Tripp said. “It was really awesome to turn and look at my best friends, knowing we worked our butts off and we earned this. … Nothing more satisfying.”

The surreal experience at center court occurred and evaporated just as quickly for Tripp in a whirlwind of emotions as her high school volleyball career came to a close.

“I’ve never been more happy to end on such a good note,” Tripp said. “The front of our warm-up shirts said: Work Hard, Play Hard. That describes our tournament (in that) we worked hard in practices, we worked hard in games and it resulted in that great victory.”

SM Northwest fifth, SM North 10th at Saturday’s state gymnastics meet

Lawrence — Nerves may have gotten the best of Shawnee Mission Northwest over the weekend at the state gymnastics meet.

After finishing fourth at the Sunflower League meet the previous weekend, the Cougars scored 100 points, 1.4 points behind Olathe Northwest, to drop to a fifth-place finish on Saturday at Lawrence High School. Shawnee Mission North walked away 10th overall, with 92.425 points, out of the 13 teams represented.

Olathe East garnered the firstplace finish (106.775 points) coming out ahead of Lawrence Free State (104.925).

The Cougars’ team performance on the uneven bars represented the best performance of the year. Junior Grace Gregory scored seventh in the event, missing a sixth place finish by just .10 points, yielding the highest placement for a Cougar.

“Out of all of our meets, the bars that we did were our best bar routines all year,” SM Northwest coach Cindy Beason said. “Not the best scores, but they added the difficulty and a few of the girls did some new skills.”

Those new skills may have contributed to falls in three out of the four events, reflected in the Cougars’ overall placement, Beason added.

“I think we were a little bit nervous and a little bit jittery,“ she said.

Despite the occasional missteps, junior Mallory Wilhite used her hands uncharacteristically in one of her tumbling passes during the floor routine, resulting in a ninth-place finish. Wilhite fell just .15 points short of a 10th place finish in the all-around competition.

Recovering from an irritated shoulder last week at the league meet, senior Caitlin Chen held back on her tumbling but still managed to place 21st for her floor routine and 30th on the beam.

Senior Jen Lanman led the Indians, consistently placing the highest among her team in the four individual events throughout the day. Lanman placed 14th in all-around competition, with her highest score coming in the vault, where she placed eighth with a 9.075.

Fellow SM North senior Elaina Zinn performed her best of four events during the floor routine for 33rd place. Teammates Caitlyn Howard (7.8), Natalya Freeman (7.525) and Sarah Gradient (6.750) placed 48th, 52nd, and 58th respectively in the same event.

Collectively, SM North had the fifth-best vault scores (25.775) out of the teams represented at state.

Reflecting on the end of the short, 10-week season, Beason said the team consistently collaborated throughout the year.

“They did work together as a team, and I was very proud of their accomplishments,” Beason said, referring to the season. “Fifth place is nothing to sneeze about, even though I know the girls wanted to be in the top three. But they did a great job.”