Sun Athlete of the Week: Taylor Bird, JCCC women's basketball

Bird poured in a game-high 23 points and 13 rebounds in the Lady Cavaliers’ 82-72 East Jayhawk Conference win at home over Neosho County on Jan. 27.

Lancers boys swimmers to vie for seventh straight Sunflower crown

Shawnee Mission East High School’s boys swim team, guided by longtime coach Wiley Wright, will vie for a seventh consecutive Sunflower League championship later this week at Prairie Trail Junior High in Olathe.

Swimming preliminaries launch at 5 p.m. Friday. On Saturday, diving preliminaries begin at 8 a.m., with championships slated for 1 p.m.

Meanwhile along the East Kansas League front, where Blue Valley Northwest is the reigning team champion, the action at Blue Valley West begins with swim preliminaries at 5 p.m. Friday. That meet also continues Saturday with 9 a.m. diving preliminaries. Finals commence at 12:30 p.m.

This year’s state competition, set for Thursday through Saturday, Feb. 18-20 at the Capitol Federal Natatorium inside the Hummer Sports Complex in Topeka, brings a fresh wrinkle.

Order in the court: Blue Valley North senior middle hitter Cook paces roundup of All-Sun volleyball stars

She rewrote whole sections of the Blue Valley North High School volleyball record books.

Now the book on the Mustangs’ 6-1 senior middle hitter and Duke University recruit Chelsea Cook includes All-Sun Player of the Year status, up from the ranks of this well-rounded volleyballer’s second-team All-Sun recognition of a year ago.

“What a joy it has been to have Chelsea in our program,” marveled Blue Valley North coach Matt Allin. “She is a kid who values the entire volleyball experience. She is unselfish, dedicated and a true team player.”

Accolade upon accolade found their way to the well-rounded Cook in a senior season to remember, one that culminated with fourth place for the Mustangs at the Class 6A state tournament.

A litany of honors came the way of Cook, the East Kansas League Player of the Year and Gatorade Kansas Player of the Year.

A Kansas Volleyball Association Class 6A first-team all-state pick, she also earned 6A state all-tournament team recognition.

A four-year starter and two-year captain, she exits the Mustangs scene with school single-season and career records for kills and hitting attempts.

She rates among the program’s top 10 in passing attempts, aces, serving attempts and blocks.

This year’s numbers included 411 kills and a kill efficiency of .380 in 878 attempts. She had 93 blocks, a passing percentage of 1.83, 48 digs and 43 aces.

Here now is a look at the 11 other top performers who join Cook to comprise the 2009 All-Sun first team.

Lauren Brown

St. James Academy

Brown, a 5-9 senior setter and right-side hitter for the repeat Class 4A state champions, earned Kansas Volleyball Association 4A first-team all-state recognition and made the 4A state all-tournament team.

She served up 54 aces and enjoyed a 93-percent serving percentage. She had 166 kills, a .400 hitting percentage and led her team with 606 assists. She managed 199 digs and 31 solo blocks.

All-Sun Volleyball Team

2009 ALL-SUN VOLLEYBALL

FIRST TEAM

Lauren Brown St. James Academy

Liz Buck Blue Valley West

Sun time capsule: Feb. 3, 2005

Sun sports section

Feb. 3, 2005

In a feature story titled, “Initial success,” Sun sports editor Mark Dewar profiles Shawnee Mission East High School basketball 6-6 junior swingman J.D. Christie.

Fresh from his team’s 56-53 win at Rockhurst High, where Christie led all scorers with 19 points, the junior is averaging a team-leading 20.5 points per game for the Lancers, who are 9-4 overall and 3-1 in Sunflower League play.

Sun Athlete of the Week: Bishop Miege basketball senior Trevor Releford

Bishop Miege High School senior Trevor Releford is The Sun’s Athlete of the Week.

The 6-0 point guard on Jan. 23 for a second straight season earned Most Valuable Player honors at the annual Saints Classic at St. Thomas Aquinas.

Releford scored 16 points in Miege’s 58-54 victory over Shawnee Mission Northwest, which the Stags downed for a second straight season in the championship game. Miege claimed the tournament championship for a third straight year.

The Stags were 11-0 overall and 3-0 in East Kansas League play heading into Friday’s EKL road matchup with Blue Valley Northwest.

SM South's Stevens overcomes health obstacle to run away with top boys cross country honor

Never mind the emergence of a physical condition that threw a major monkey wrench into the junior track season of Shawnee Mission South High School’s Andrew Stevens and greatly limited his appearances in the spring.

Come the autumn cross country season and given time to heal, it was Stevens who would be doing the emerging, thank you.

The senior, who plans to continue his cross country career at the collegiate level, returned with a vengeance for the Raiders harriers.

He captured the Roosevelt Heartland Classic in Pella, Iowa, with a winning time of 15:31.

He placed second in the KC Metro Championships at Raymore-Peculiar (15:49).

He posted a runner-up finish at the Sunflower League meet at Rim Rock Farm in Lawrence (16:03), leading into his winning his Class 6A regional at Shawnee Mission Park (16:10).

At the state meet back at Rim Rock, Stevens powered his way to another runner-up finish, in 16:09.1, to state champion Roy Wedge of Lawrence High.

“Andrew is one of the most dedicated athletes that I have ever worked with,” said Dave Denny, SM South’s coach this past prep season who since has been named the new head men’s and women’s cross country coach at Avila University.

“He had the misfortune of missing his junior year in track due to illness,” the coach said, “but came back with a real passion to prove his abilities in cross country.

“He set a great example for our young team which will continue to impact (the Raiders) boys team in the coming years.”

Here, in alphabetical order, is a look at the harriers who join Stevens on The Sun’s first team:

2009 All-Sun Boys Cross Country team

2009 ALL-SUN BOYS CROSS COUNTRY

FIRST TEAM

Kirk Bado Shawnee Mission Northwest

Jeremy Bryan Blue Valley West