Independence High School track and field closed out regular season action by hosting the Southeast Kansas League Meet on Thursday, May 9. Six other schools came to town for the event, with the IHS girls taking fourth place as a team and the boys finishing fifth overall.

— KANSAS CITY, Mo, — As Kingsley Suamataia awoke one day last week, his dream of an NFL future recently made reality as the Chiefs’ second-round draft choice, he rolled over to find a text message on his phone. It came from a new teammate, someone who began the message by introducing himself — but someone you might know.

Following some schedule shuffling because of the soggy field conditions over the past couple of weeks, Independence High School baseball was finally able to face off with Pittsburg in a doubleheader on Thursday, May 9. IHS struck first in Game 1, but the firepower from the Purple Dragons was too much to handle in a 12-2 run rule defeat in five innings. Then in the nightcap, the Bulldogs took a 4-2 advantage into the final stanza before Pittsburg broke things open with a four-run inning to pull off the 6-4 comeback victory.

What was originally scheduled to be a twin bill at Pittsburg had to be split into two days due to the weather, with Independence High School softball falling in a shutout by the final of 10-0 on Thursday, May 2 and then losing 14-1 this past Wednesday.

Kansas City Royals starter Michael Wacha needed a bounce-back performance. Wacha, who entered Thursday with a 4.97 ERA in eight starts, was in a rough patch.

At Royals Rally in early February, general manager J.J. Picollo spoke bluntly about a specific goal for the team in the 2024 season.

Chris Klieman likes to say that “football is football.” It’s one of his favorite lines, because it helps him explain why he was prepared to win at a high level with Kansas State immediately after he made a big leap up in class from his coaching days at North Dakota State. He may even say it more often than he tells his players to “win the dang day.” While the simple expression certainly remains true whenever the Wildcats line up against Big 12 opponents on fall Saturdays, it is beginning to feel out of date during the offseason.

Bill Self has cited a lack of depth as one of the main reasons his Kansas Jayhawks went 10-10 in their last 20 games of the 202324 college basketball season after a splendid 13-1 start. “Last year we’re playing five guys,” Self, KU’s 21st-year head coach, said Monday on Andy Katz’s NCAA March Madness podcast.

Each spring, the target on the back of the Independence High School boys’ tennis program grows larger. Following a historic KSHSAA Class 4A State Championship threepeat as a team at Pratt in 2023, the Bulldogs are looking to make it four in a row this weekend in Topeka.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — When the Royals U ( ^ selected Brady Singer with the 18th overall pick of the 2018 MLB draft, t h e y envisioned the right-hander being a stalwart of the rotation for years.