Fanfare

Railer boys
fall to Hays

HAYS — The Newton High School boys’ basketball team fell to Hays 47-38 Wednesday in the semifinals of the Class 5A sub-state basketball tournament in Hays.
Scoring details and stats were not available at press time.
Newton ends the season 4-17.

Newton JV girls
win season finale

ARKANSAS CITY — The Newton High School junior varsity girls’ basketball team ended the season with a 36-12 win over Arkansas City Friday on the road.
Newton led 19-6 at the half, holding Arkansas City scoreless in the second quarter.
Newton ends the season 13-3.
NEWTON — Tolle 6, Pendry 5, Hiebert 2, Lehman 2, Langley 6, Cochran 8, Scott 4, Folkerts 3.
Newton    11    8    9    8    —36
Ark City    6    0    4    2    —12

Friday’s area
semifinals set

Below is the schedule for Friday’s area sub-state semifinal teams:
Class 2A at Oxford
Boys
Berean Academy (20-1) vs. Inman (14-7) 6 p.m.
Moundridge (18-3) vs. Hutchinson Trinity (14-6) 7:30 p.m.
Class 2A at Herington
Boys
Herington (19-2) vs. Madison-Hamilton (11-10) 7:30 p.m.
Olpe (19-2) vs. Goessel (11-10) 7 p.m.
Class 3A at Eureka
Girls
Burlington (20-1) vs. Marion (16-5) 6 p.m.
Central Heights (17-4) vs. Eureka (16-4) 7:30 p.m.
Class 3A at Sterling
Girls
Hillsboro (16-5) vs. Sedgwick (10-11) 6 p.m.
Remington (16-5) vs. Southeast of Saline (14-7) 7:30 p.m.

Hesston signs
cc runner

HESSTON — Hesston College cross country coach Gerry Sieber signed Kenny Graber of Stryker, Ohio, to a letter of intent to run for the Larks this fall.
Graber is a four-year letterwinner at Stryker High School, where he was named team MVP and first-team all-conference. He was named the conference runner of the year as a senior. He consistently ran under 17 minutes as a senior (5,000-meters) and has run a sub-10 minute two-mile run in track.
He led his team to a conference title in 2009 and the team qualified for the state meet in 2008 and 2009. Graber was 67th at state (Division III) as a senior out of 148 runners.
He also competed in basketball and track at Stryker High School.
“Kenny was one of the very first names that we identified as a priority recruit following the decision to start a varsity cross country program here at Hesston,” Sieber said. “It is extremely exciting to have an athlete of Kenny’s caliber join Hesston’s inaugural cross country team. What more can a coach ask for than to get an outstanding person, student, and athlete. Kenny’s signing provides instant credibility, integrity, and leadership for our new program.”
Graber is a two-time scholar-athlete. He has been on the honor roll for four years and is a member of the National Honor Society. He is a member of Lockport Mennonite Church, where he is active in the youth group and is a co-chairman of the service committee.

Voelker’s team
claims title

CEDAR CITY, Utah — Newton High School senior Janae Voelker, a senior women’s basketball player at Oral Robert University, helped lead the Golden Eagles to a Summit League title with a 94-70 win over Southern Utah Monday.
Voelker scored 12 points with seven rebounds and seven assists.
In Saturday’s win 93-79 win at Missouri-Kansas City, Voelker scored 23 points with eight rebounds, four steals and three assists. She hit a career-high five 3-point shots. The win clinched a tie for the conference title.
Voelker is averaging 11.5 points, 8.2 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.9 steals a game. She is third on the team in scoring and lead in rebounding. She is second in the conference in rebounds, second in steals, seventh in assists and 13th in scoring. She is eighth in 3-point shots made. She leads the conference in defensive rebounds and is sixth in assist-to-turnover ratio.
ORU is 21-8, 15-3 in Summit League play. The Golden Eagles open play in the SL Tournament at noon Saturday against Southern Utah in Sioux Falls, S.D. The conference finals are 3 p.m. Tuesday and will be televised on ESPNU.
ORU is assured a berth in the Women’s NIT and can clinch an NCAA berth by winning the tournament.

Class 1A basketball
schedule moved up

TOPEKA — To accomodate an NCAA Men’s Division II Basketball Regional tournament, the Class 1A state basketball tournament at Busch-Gross Coliseum in Hays will be moved up by one day.
The boys’ quarterfinals will begin at 3 p.m. Tuesday. The girls’ quarterfinal games will begin at 3 p.m. Wednesday. The semifinal games will begin at 3 p.m. Thursday. The third-place games will be 2 p.m. (girls) and 3:45 p.m. (boys) Friday, followed by the championship games at 5:30 p.m. (girls) and 7:30 p.m. (boys).

Tennis player
signs with Tabor

HILLSBORO — Tyler Dort of Valley Center signed a letter of intent to play tennis for Tabor College beginning this fall.
Dort is a senior at Valley Center High School, where he will begin his final prep season this springs. He played singled for Valley Center, qualifying for state as a sophomore and placing ninth as a junior.
“Tyler is a great signing for our men’s tennis program,” TC coach Michael Hagen said. “His tennis and academic honors speak highly of him as a student athlete, and he will fit in great in the Tabor community. Tyler will also add more depth to our men’s team, and I look forward to him joining us in the fall.”
Dort is a three-year member of the National Honor Society, a Kansas State Scholar, a 2009 academic all-state selection and is valedictorian.

JV track meet
canceled

The Newton High School junior varsity track team will not attend the meet scheduled for March 31 in Manhattan.

Diamond Dolls
taking applications

WICHITA — The Wichita Wingnuts baseball team is accepting applications for the Diamond Dolls.
The Diamond Dolls help the team with on-field promotions, games and fan giveaways at home games. The also attend charity and community events.
Applications are due via e-mail at wingnutsdiamonddolls@yahoo.com by March 14, or by attending the open call interviews 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. March 15 through 17 at  the Wingnuts’ main office at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium. Applications via e-mail should include a recent head photo and a full-body photo with shorts and a crop top or form fitting attire.

Drag racing slated
for Great Bend

GREAT BEND — The Sunflower Rod and Custom Association Drag Strip in Great Bend is hosting the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Thunder on the Plains April 22 through 25.
The Great Bend track served as the host of the first NHRA U.S. National event in 1955.
The 2009 Thunder of the Plains event drew more than 400 cars from the U.S. and Canada.
For more information, visit the track’s Web site at srcadragstrip.com.

Hall of Fame to host
golf tournament

The Kansas Sports Hall of Fame is hosting its annual fund-raising golf tournaments May 7 at Sand Creek Station in Newton and Sept. 13 at Colbert Hills in Manhattan.
The tournaments are for four-player teams, but individuals may enter.
The deadline for the early-bird registration discount is March 31.
For more information, call Laura Hartley at (316) 262-2038 or e-mail lhartley@kshof.org.

Wild sets season
ticket sales record

PARK CITY — The Wichita Wild set a season-ticket sales record for the 2010 season with 1,080, a 26 percent increase from last season.
The Wild drew a sellout crowd of 4.,755 in the team’s season opener against LaCrosse Friday at Hartman Arena. Wichita won the game 57-20.
Wichita used a 29-7 second-quarter to take the lead. LaCrosse, an expansion team, was held scoreless in the second half. Quarterback Dixie Wooten hit 15 of 24 passes with no interceptions, three touchdowns and 192 yards. Wooten added a rushing touchdown. Darius Fudge rushed for 46 yards on 21 carries with three touchdowns. Clinton Solomon had nine catches for 117 yards and a score.
Wichita returns home March 13 against Sioux Falls.

Koch Arena selected
for World League

The U.S. Men’s Volleyball Team will return to Koch Arena in Wichita for a 2010 FIVB World League match against Russia.
The date of the match has not been set but will take place between June 4 and July 10. The U.S. also will play Egypt in Concord, N.C., and Finland in Hoffman Estates, Ill. The U.S. also will play a match in each of the three other countries.
It is the second straight year, Koch Arena has been selected for a World League match.
Four pool winners, the overall best second-place pool finish and the host nation advances to the final round July 21 through 25 in Cordoba, Argentina.
The U.S. is ranked second in the world rankings. Russia is third, Egypt is 14th and Finland is 30th.

Basketball camps
slated for Lenexa

LYNWOOD, Wash. — Advantage Basketball Camps is hosting camps in Lenexa June 7 through 11, June 21 through 25, July 12 through 16 and April 3 through 5, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., for ball handling and shooting skills.
For more information, call (425) 670-8877 or visit the Web site www.advantagebasketball.com.

Thunder drops
two games

RAPID CITY, S.D. — The Wichita Thunder dropped a pair of games in successive nights to the Rapid City Rush in Central Hockey League play.
Wichita lost both games 6-4.
Wednesday, Jamie VanderVeeeken scored two goals with an assist for Rapid City. Scott Wray and Brandon Hodges each scored a goal with two assists, Rich Hansen and Dave Grimson each added a Rush goal.
Wichita was led by Tomas Klempa and Joel Hanson with a goal and an assist each. Neil Clark and Jason Reese each had a goal.
Rapid City goalkeeper Miguel Beaudry had 35 saves against 39 shots. Wichita’s Ian Keserich had 44 saves against 50 Shots.
Tuesday, Derek Campbell scored two goals for Rapid City. Colt King scored a goal with two assists. Hansen scored a goal with an assist. Derek LeBlanc and Les Reaney each added a goal.
For Wichita, Klempa scored two goals with an assist. Hanson scored a goal with two assists. Clark scored a goal. Chris McAllister had three assists.
Danny Battochio got the win in goal for the Rush, stopping 14 of 18 shots. Kerserich took the loss for Wichita, stopping 33 of 35 shots. Scott Campbell stopped nine of 12 shots for Wichita.
Rapid City improves to 39-11-5, clinching a playoff spot. Wichita falls to 8-43-5, dropping 14 straight.
Wichita plays Friday and Saturday at Colorado.