BonnerSprings.com

After a few frustrating sports seasons at Bonner Springs High School, the Braves asserted themselves as resurgent programs during 2010.

From a breakout season for the wrestling team to a historic performance in the pool by Emily Herre, the Braves put themselves back on the map this year.

Here’s a look back at five of the biggest stories at BSHS from the past year.

FRESHMAN REACHES STATE FINALS

Jonathan Blackwell entered the Class 5A wrestling state tournament with the goal of placing in the top six.

Blackwell got his medal, all right, but it wasn’t the one the Bonner Springs freshman — or most likely anybody else in the stands at Intrust Bank Arena — figured it would be.

Blackwell took the 130-pound bracket by storm and earned a spot in the state finals before placing second to Emporia sophomore Brandon Charbonneau.

Did Blackwell see this coming?

“Honestly, no I did not,” he said with a grin shortly after the championship match. “It was probably the best I’ve wrestled all season, and it worked out good.”

Blackwell was one of just two freshmen in the bracket at 130, and his 11 losses entering the tournament may have thrown the opposition for a curve. He also hadn’t shown up in the state rankings all season, making him a bit more of a mystery to others.

Proving just how inaccurate the rankings can be, Blackwell shredded his way through three of the top six ranked wrestlers in the state to reach the finals.

Blackwell finished the season with a 35-12 record.

Two other Braves also brought home state medals. Junior Caleb Seaton (43-4) posted a 3-2 record at 119 pounds and placed fourth for the third year in a row. Freshman 140-pounder Aaron Puckett (34-10) also went 3-2 at state and finished fourth.

Bonner Springs finished 16th as a team with 52 points. Emporia won the state title with 157, Lansing was second with 148 and Andover Central was third with 118.

BOYS SOCCER REACHES FINAL 4

The Bonner Springs boys soccer team knew 2010 could be a special season.

The Braves returned a roster full of experienced players, and they’d shown significant growth during their summer workouts.

By the midpoint of the season the Braves were undefeated, and suddenly talk of a state championship began to grow. When BSHS dropped from Class 5A to 4A, those dreams became much more vivid.

In the end, the Braves didn’t win a state championship. They did advance all the way to the state semifinals, however, and ultimately placed fourth.

The Braves suffered a 1-0 defeat to eventual state runner-up Rose Hill in the semifinals and then fell to defending state champion St. James Academy in the third-place game, 3-2.

St. James freshman Steven Enna scored the game-winner on a bending corner kick with 3:14 left in the game. That goal came just two minutes after BSHS junior Spencer Bush tied the game.

It was the first time Bonner Springs has reached the Final Four in soccer.

PRICE RETURNS TO BENCH

When Ryan Hull decided to step down as the Bonner Springs boys basketball coach after the 2009-2010 season, the school opened up an extensive search for the program’s new leader.

In the end, the BSHS administration decided that the right fit was right here all along.

Andy Price — who coached the team from the 2001-2002 season through the 2005-2006 campaign — was hired to return as the Braves’ coach.

During his initial five-year run, Price posted a 66-42 record and won two Kaw Valley League championships. He compiled the second most wins in school history.

Price initially stepped away from basketball to spend time with his young family and put his life more in perspective. When he applied for the coaching position this time, he felt he had his priorities in order.

“I just think at that point I was kind of really getting too obsessed with basketball and was neglecting my family a little bit,” Price said. “I had a 2-year-old at the time, so I just kind of needed to step back and get a new perspective because I was getting too wrapped up in it.”

Price said the time was right for him to return. Former assistants Dan Streit and Bill Downing also rejoined the program.

“When I left, some people knew that basketball was in my blood,” he said, “and they thought when I gave it up that I was just going to immediately go coach somewhere else, that I was just looking for a bigger school or something like that.”

“But I always loved coaching here. I thought I related well with the kids here, I thought that it was a community that really needed a positive role model and I thought I was making a difference in all those things that are good, human things.

“I had no interest in really leaving, so I just wanted to focus on my family, focus on my tech job and just take a step away from it. I really had no idea I’d be back in this position again. I wasn’t looking for anything necessarily, but it really worked out nicely — especially since the two years that I coached at the middle school those kids are now juniors and seniors, so I already know them, and I was really happy to get some of the same assistants. They were in kind of the same situation in that they stepped away from it just to have a little more family time, and now they’re ready to get back into it.”

HERRE MAKES HISTORY

Bonner Springs had never sent a boy or girl swimmer to the state championships until 2010.

Senior Emily Herre made history as the first BSHS athlete to qualify for state, and then she made more history when she earned a pair of top-10 individual finishes.

Herre finished eighth in the 50-yard freestyle and won a medal. She also took 10th in the 100 breaststroke at the Hummer Sports Complex-Capitol Federal Natatorium in Topeka.

“It was just so amazing to be standing there at the end to receive a medal,” Herre said of the accomplishment. “It validated all of the hard work that I put in this year.”

Herre wasn’t the lone Bonner Springs swimmer to make the trip to state. Teammates Toni Stock, Kaysi Bias and Cheyanne Miller joined Herre on the 200 freestyle relay team that didn’t advance past the preliminaries.

TENDICK EARNS 2ND STATE TRIP

Bonner Springs is establishing a regular presence at the girls tennis state tournament thanks to doubles teams that have included Breanna Tendick.

The BSHS junior qualified for the Class 5A state tournament in 2009 with then-senior Emily Randolph. Tendick returned to state this year — this time in Class 4A — with senior Caitlin Hilliard as her partner.

Becoming a regular state tournament participant is a big step for the BSHS girls, but the next step will be to win a match at state.

Tendick and Hilliard went 0-2 at state, making it two years in a row that BSHS has been winless at state.

Even so, coach Bill Scott said he was proud of Tendick and Hilliard for qualifying and representing the program well.

“We don’t want to forget how great these girls finished the season with being champions at my tough tournament (the Bonner Springs Round Robin Invitational), and third in a tough regional,” Scott said. “They were 9-4 going into the state tournament.”

Scott said he hopes to see Tendick make a third straight trip to state in 2011, either in doubles or singles.

“Breanna is already planning on what she has to do next year to advance further than she has the last two years at state,” Scott said. “Again, if I can find the right doubles partner for her we’ll go doubles, and if not, she will go as a singles player for her senior year.”

Comments