Sports

GEHS vs. SM South This past Jan. 10 the Lady Blazers put their 4-2 record on the line against the second ranked team in the state and undefeated Shawnee Mission South. It was the first home game for the Lady Blazers in almost a month as they tipped off in front of an eager crowd. The Lady Blazers jumped out to a 12-2 in Q1 after a Landri Schaffer 3 pointer. Unfortunately, it was followed by a 18-6 run by South to take a 2018 lead into half. The lead never got bigger than 6 though as the Lady Blazers scratched and clawed to stay in it. The Lady Blazers were sparked by 9 points and 2/3 shooting from deep by junior forward Payton Hofer which was a team high. The Lady Blazers took the lead twice in the Q4 but just couldn’t hang on as South won a nail biter, 38-35, dropping the Lady Blazers overall record to 4-3.

Every Tuesday, the JV/C-team squads travel somewhere for duals against other area schools. This has been a great effort and investment into the future of the involved programs so they can continue to build. It has been awesome for us to continually get ALL of our kids matches as it is not very common for JV wrestlers to get 20-30 matches in a season. On Tuesday we traveled to Olathe West with 23 wrestlers, 13 of which were part of our dual lineup against Olathe South and Olathe West. It was exciting as always but the Olathe West dual came down to the wire. A major decision by Jaden Augustine cut our deficit to 17 with 18 points available. Quick pins by Rubin Pino-Martinez, and Sam Huff meant that if Caleb Hollins won by pin we would win the dual by 1 point. Down 7-2 late in the match, Caleb mustered the strength and desire to put his opponent on his back and get the dual- winning fall! Coaches cheering, Caleb exhausted but smiling, and a bunch of teammates getting hyped mat side is an amazing image and further demonstrates why this sport is so great for anyone.

Hello, once again all Blazer fans! We had another busy week last week (they’re all busy weeks) so I wanted to take a moment and celebrate all of our hard-working kids on the GEHS wrestling team. On Tuesday Jan.

The Blazers just wrapped up our second week of competition for the ‘22-’23 wrestling season. The Blazer wrestling team competed at all levels this week with some great opportunities to get better.

GEHS Lady Blazers vs. Blue Valley Dec. 1 Varsity 42-58 Loss (0-1) The Girls Varsity Basketball team took on a Blue Valley Tigers team that has since been dubbed the #1 Ranked team in the city, last Thursday night. The Tigers, which feature D1 recruit committed to Oklahoma St, Jadyn Wooten. The game was a highly anticipated one as the Lady Blazers hope to rectify last year’s injury ridden season that left them with a record of 4-17. The game was tied at the end of Q1 15-15, sparked by 6 of her team leading 17 points by freshman Landri Schaffer. The Lady Blazers trailed by 6 at halftime, 31-25. Blue Valley continued to pull away in the 3Q, as the lead ballooned to 16. The Lady Blazers hung tough and jumped out to a 7-0 run to start the Q4, cutting the lead down 9, but that was as close as they would come, eventually falling 58-42. The student section was loud and proud throughout that game and while there are no moral victories, this was a good start to what looks to be a promising season for Coach Leiker’s squad

Mark Holthaus & Kerry Stoneking Varsity at Mill Valley W 47-36 (2-1) This past Friday, the Lady Blazers took on the Mill Valley Jaguars in their first road game of the young season. The Lady Blazers like to start fast and start fast, they did.

In the last weekend of the debate season the results are in. This tournament was a big one on number of schools, 25, and big on entries. We needed a big win this weekend and it was stacked against us, but the trailblazers came ready to fight. For two teams it was a hard twoday competition, Friday and Saturday. Team of Morgan Mackinney and Sofia Tortolero won one and lost four. Sophomore team of Maddison Carriger and Kaila Burnside went undefeated till quarterfinals only losing to the senior team from Blue valley who won the open division giving them a place in state. In the JV division Kate Sanders and Alyx Greene once again came in 3 wins and two loses giving Alyx a place with Kate in state. Finally, tagging on to the success they had in football, debaters David Torres and Gabe James, needing a 4-win 1 loss record, saying we want more for GEHS, they went 5 wins and 0 losses being the only team in their division going undefeated, and placing 1st and making them eligible for state. This means GEHS is bringing a full two person policy debate entry come January of four teams. Amazing dedication. Please congratulate not only them but all the debate team on their success.

Kelli Baker These singers will travel to Wichita at the end of February to practice and perform with the best singers in the state. Aubrie Blanz Mixed Choir Sam Scoggins Grace Rieder Treble Choir Elaine Jensen Mixed Choir (First ever 4 year All-State Choir participant in GEHS history) Jacob Venevongsoth Mixed Choir Alternate .