City won’t raise taxes in 2008
Aaron Cedeño | Staff Writer
The Lenexa City Council unanimously approved Aug. 21 the city’s 2008 budget of $112.1 million — a budget that does not include an increase in property taxes.
City Administrator Eric Wade said at the meeting that while city staff felt safe in recommending no increase this year, the challenges in the coming years would be bigger because of revenue lost as a result of the state’s tax exemption on machinery and equipment.
The exemption could eliminate of as much as 18 percent of the city’s property tax base.
“We’re looking out on the horizon, and we see a real challenge for this organization,” Wade said. “The city of Lenexa, from our perspective, because of the change in legislation will be hit harder than, I think, proportionately any other community in the state of Kansas.”
An increase to the mill levy of a half a mill had been considered when the budget was published in the media July 26 to allow for flexibility in the matter, said Doug Robinson, city finance director.
The council opted to address the possibility of raising the mill levy when the issue arose in the coming years, rather than raise it for 2008.
“It might have to be more (than a half a mill), if we don’t have some offsetting income or have some other things happen,” Councilmember Andy Huckaba said of a mill increase in 2009 and beyond. “But I’m very bullish on Lenexa right now. I like the direction we’re going from a growth standpoint.”
Councilmember Cindy Green agreed, noting that while the city could use the money to address some immediate issues, those issues fell into the “want” category.
“I’d rather wait a year from now, and if our needs are more excessive and we have to go with a whole mill increase next year, I’d rather do that,” she said.
Robinson said Lenexa was in a position to deal with anything.
“I think we do a really good job of multiyear financial planning,” he said.

Shawnee Mission ACT scores best in five years
Aaron Cedeño | Staff Writer
The ACT scores for the Shawnee Mission school district have been released, and they paint the district’s academic progress in a positive light.
The district’s average composite score for the college-entrance exam was 23.7, nearly a full two points higher than the state average (21.9) and two and a half points higher than the national average (21.2).
Superintendent Marjorie Kaplan attributed the high scores, the best in the last five years for the district, to the quality of instruction. She described the instruction as “focused” and said it took an all-around effort in academics to produce the test results.
“You don’t teach for the test,” she said. “You can’t teach for it because you have no idea what it’s going to cover. You teach the material, and if we do that then we expect that the students will do well on the test.”
Bill Harrington, principal of Shawnee Mission Northwest High School, said that he was pleased with his school’s average composite of 23.4, which ranked third among the five high schools.
Shawnee Mission South had an average of 23.6, and Shawnee Mission West had an average of 23.2.
SM Northwest stresses the importance of “core” curriculum classes, Harrington said. For example, a student needs three credits of science to graduate from a Shawnee Mission high school. Harrington said he and his staff recommend biology, chemistry and physics for those three credits.
Harrington said students who took the “core” classes and those who did not had nearly the same average score as last year’s senior class, which had a 23.8.
“Last year, we had a very strong senior class, so we’re right where we want to be,” he said.
Kaplan said test scores weren’t the only mark of academic success.
“I think there’s no substitute for doing well in school on a daily basis, so (grade-point average) is very important,” Kaplan said.

Celebrating 20 years of honoring McAuliffe
Aaron Cedeño | Staff Writer
Kent Peach remembers exactly where he was when the Challenger space shuttle exploded only 73 seconds after it launched.
“I was teaching sixth grade in Liberty (Mo.), and my class was watching the launch,” said Peach, the principal of Christa McAuliffe Elementary School in Lenexa. “I remember it very, very well.”
Among the seven crew members who perished Jan. 28, 1986, was Christa McAuliffe, the first member of NASA’s Teachers in Space program and the namesake for schools throughout the country. Peach the Lenexa school, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, was the first to bear her name.
Peach said the state’s motto, “To the stars through difficulty,” makes the tribute all the more fitting.
“That was quite literally the way she lived,” Peach said. “She was living a dream.”
To celebrate the school’s 20 years, Peach said, the PTA and the McAuliffe community organized a fitting tribute to the school and its namesake. A September birthday party is planned, and the school invited Barbara Morgan, McAuliffe’s backup on the Challenger mission and a teacher-turned-astronaut who now is in space. It’s unknown if she will be able to attend.
Peach said the goal of the celebration would be to provide students with perspective.
“One of the things we’re trying to do is give our kids a bit of perspective on 20 years and what it means,” he said. “For kids, the difference between 20 and 100 years is nebulous.”
Additionally, a much larger April celebration has been planned. Dubbed “The McAuliffe School Family Homecoming,” the intent is to invite everyone who has ever been involved with the school — be it students or staff — to the weekend festivities. The focus, though, will be one important guest: McAuliffe’s mother, Grace.
Peach said the example McAuliffe set was relevant today because the school still uses her inspiration to guide students.
“Every year, the teachers touch on that and use her examples as we go along,” he said. “She was certainly passionate about science, and one of the things she was able to do is really demonstrate science and how important it is in the practical sense of being an astronaut.
“That’s really an inspiration to all of us.”
The things McAuliffe stood for — intellectual hunger and drive and confidence in oneself — are traits the school sought to instill in students, Peach said.
“Teaching our kids to be learners is one of the most important things we can teach them,” he said. “Not only do we want to teach them this content, we want to teach them how to learn and a joy for it.
“With Christa, most definitely, that was a base goal of hers.”

Committee to discuss statewide light rail
Aaron Cedeño | Staff Writer
Forget connecting Johnson County to downtown Kansas City, Mo. State representatives soon will discuss using a light rail to link portions of eastern, central and western Kansas.
Lenexa Rep. Ron Worley and the Kansas House’s Transportation Interim Committee will meet six times before the 2008 session to talk about the possibility of such a light rail.
“It involves longer distances,” Worley said.
“This is more a cross-state-type of thing than what we’re talking about in Johnson County.”
Worley, who serves on the House Transportation Committee, said the talks were preliminary, with firms such as Amtrak being brought in to give presentations.
Though Amtrak serves parts of Kansas, Worley said that the service was infrequent, and that he felt the people involved in this discussion would like to see Kansas more effectively linked to the larger Amtrak network.
“Whether that would be practical financially remains to be discussed,” he said. “Their hope is that they could see that network expand, to make it available to more people.”
Though there is no timeframe for the implementation of such a plan, Worley said there were many benefits of rail travel.
“It’s a safe way to travel,” he said. “It’s a lower-cost option to flying, especially if you’re involving families or a larger group of people.”
The interim committee has other issues lined up for discussion as well. Among them are short-line railroads and the possibility of a graduated driver’s licensing program. Worley said research indicated that such a program, which could involve restricted driving hours for drivers younger than 18, could have a positive effect on the number of young-driver fatalities. He added that it seemed to work best with a formal driver’s education program, which makes cost an issue.
“Another issue would be getting qualified instructors,” Worley said. “How do you implement a program that had a requirement like (a formal driver’s education program) and still make it affordable for everyone so that it didn’t become a barrier to those who couldn’t afford a private class?”
Additionally, Worley said he intended to bring to the table the issue of median crossovers. While he said he wasn’t a fan of concrete barriers except for in narrow medians, Worley hoped the state would look at other, environmentally friendly options. The barriers would provide safety in areas with high-speed traffic, he said.
“A county that has as much traffic as we have on those roads, I think we can look at this issue as part of a new transportation plan,” he said. “California has long used bushes in their medians, and they might not work here. But something like that, which is environmentally friendly and green, hopefully could be considered.”

City clerk to retire after 31 years of service to Lenexa
Aaron Cedeño | Staff Writer
When Mary Sue Fry officially retires from her post as Lenexa’s city clerk Sept. 7, it will mark the end of 31 years of service to the city.
Thirty-one years represented an achievement, Mayor Mike Boehm said.
“People don’t stay with one employer like that today,” he said. “She’s progressed through the ranks and has done an excellent job. She’s always been there to serve the people and not Mary Sue.”
Fry, a lifelong Lenexa resident, started work with the city in 1969. Her father-in-law, former Mayor Wesley Fry, put her in contact with a job opening at the city. She worked for a year to the day and then took off to care for her child but returned to work six years later.
“I got a call from (then city clerk) Jackie Womack, and she asked if I’d consider coming back to work for the city,” Fry said. “I said yes, and I’ve been here since 1976 in the city clerk’s office.”
In those 31 years, Fry has seen a great deal of growth, which she believes probably was the most remarkable change during her tenure.
Boehm agreed, noting that today’s City Hall didn’t exist when Fry started.
“If someone has been here 31 years, think of what she’s seen and has meant to the history of the community,” he said. “87th Street Parkway didn’t even really exist back then. It was just a dirt road.”
Fry, who just celebrated her 60th birthday, said she gave the decision to retire a great deal of thought, but concluded that the time was right. Family and time spent working around the house beckoned.
“My health is OK right now, but who knows what it will be like in two years?” she said.
But will the retirement stick?
“I think so,” she laughed. “I have no plans for finding other employment at all.”
When it comes to what she will miss most, Fry spoke of her co-workers and the many friendships she’d fostered at City Hall.
Could those friends still count on seeing her at City Council meetings?
“No, no,” she said. “I think 31 years is plenty. If something really comes up that I need to comment on, I might show up.”
Even so, Boehm said Fry would be greatly missed and not easily replaced.
“When you love your job, it shows,” he said. “You draw people to you as a result. That’s not replaced with someone new, no matter how good they are.”

Your dog can’t eat this homework: St. James offers laptops to students
Aaron Cedeño | Staff Writer
Remember school supplies like paper, pencils and textbooks?
At St. James Academy, those mainstays of a student’s routine are things of the past. That’s because each student is loaned a laptop — an Apple MacBook — during the academic year.
“The experience has been very positive,” said Angela Charlton, the school’s director of technology. “(The students) love the fact that if they need to research something, they can find it right away.”
Now entering its third year, St. James has been dedicated to the laptop plan from the beginning. While the plan originally was for students to receive a new computer at the start of their freshman year, this year freshmen, sophomores and juniors (the school has no seniors) have received new MacBooks.
The reasoning behind the additional purchases, Charlton said, was an effort to remain uniform throughout the school.
“This came up as an opportunity to make sure that everyone is on the same level,” she said. “(Apple) tells us that they don’t intend on redoing or revamping the laptop at all.”
The program was started as a way to level the playing field for students. Gone are the days when only some students can access technology. This, Charlton said, allowed teachers to work more effectively and perhaps get more creative with their assignments and projects.
“There’s no more saying, ‘I can’t do this because I don’t have a computer,’” she said. “They have it right there.”
Widespread and constant computer availability also provides challenges, particularly for freshmen.
Charlton said one of the freshmen’s biggest hurdles is learning what they can and can’t access, both in terms of software and Internet usage.
“Here, we have a content-filtering system that is very strong,” she said.
“If there are certain sites that we find out that kids are using, and inappropriate things are being put out there, we’ll block it.”
Still, Charlton said the program has had a positive impact on the school and the learning experience.
A psychology and geography teacher herself at St. James, Charlton said the additional communication the computers and the school’s online network afforded her was a plus.
“The idea of being able to communicate any time of the day, or over the weekend, I really like that,” she said. “I can warn them about a quiz or tell them not to forget something. I can have that out there, and they can check it all the time.”

Academy to help students cultivate interest in math, science
Aaron Cedeño | Staff Writer
Things are different today than when Jerry Magliano went to high school, with interest in math and science waning in classrooms across the country.
This, he said, is cause for concern.
“We don’t seem to have that real driving force right now that causes people to really want to get into those fields,” said Magliano, a professor at Johnson County Community College. “When I was a teenager, it was Sputnik. Everybody wanted to be a scientist or an engineer.”
In an attempt to address this problem, Magliano and Donald Norwood, also a lifelong educator, teamed up in 2000 to spearhead the Kansas Academy of Math and Science. KAMS, as it is known, would provide high school sophomores the opportunity to cultivate their interests and abilities in math and science by completing their final two years of high school at an accredited Kansas university.
Norwood said 15 other states have employed similar programs. He and Magliano used Texas’ version, TAMS, as a model.
The road hasn’t been easy one.
“It’s taken from 2000 until now to get it implemented,” Norwood said. “You have to get the legislators on board.”
In 2001, KAMS failed to pass the Kansas Legislature. When the Kansas Bioscience Authority was implemented in 2005, Norwood and Magliano tried again with the assistance of Sen. Nick Jordan. Though it passed the Senate with flying colors, it hit a snag in the House. Magliano said politics were the primary roadblock.
“Some of the western Kansas legislators thought that this was just going to be a Johnson County thing,” he said. “It was clearly stated in there that we were going by state senatorial districts. One student from each so that it would be diversified.”
After some clarification, Senate Bill 139 passed the House and Senate during the 2006 legislative session and was signed into law by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.
Now in the process of deciding which university will play host to KAMS, Norwood and Magliano see this as a golden opportunity for Kansans — and the United States — to remain at the forefront in science and engineering-related fields. Students accepted to KAMS would focus on math and science courses but would round out their education in other areas, such as English.
Even with one big hurdle cleared, Magliano said KAMS is not the ultimate goal.
“This is not the total solution to the problem of getting kids more motivated and interested in science and math,” he said. “What it does is provide a vehicle for those kids who are ready to move on and to accelerate the timeframe in which they’re actually going to be out there as practitioners.”
Similar programs have seen rapid growth. The Missouri academy has expanded beyond state borders, Norwood said, by recently accepting a pair of students from Kansas and a handful from Korea.
Norwood and Magliano, though, are taking things one step at a time.
“There’s no use muddying the waters now,” Norwood said. “It took them seven years to get out-of-state students.”

Carder, Cougars psyched for shot at state
Andy Marso | Sportwriter
In May 2006, Alex Carder attended a banquet honoring Shawnee Mission Northwest’s 1981 football team, the only state championship winners in the program’s history.
Carder, who had finished a promising sophomore year as SM Northwest’s starting quarterback, watched as 10 members of the 1981 team hoisted their trophy and slapped high-fives — middle-aged men suddenly transformed into teenagers.
Carder saw how vivid the championship memories were 25 years later and decided then and there what he was playing for: Before he left SM Northwest, he wanted what those 10 men had — he wanted a state championship.
Plenty of excitement surrounded the following season, with the arrival of new coach Aaron Barnett. But the Cougars, mired in inconsistency, finished 4-5 and out of the playoffs.
Now as a senior, Carder’s final chance at the state playoffs is approaching quickly, and he said a championship is still his goal.
“It’s always a realistic goal, now more than ever actually,” Carder said. “This summer we, excuse my French, worked our (butts) off. There’s no doubt about it. The mentality’s there, and that’s the biggest part of it.”
That same banquet in 2006 helped the SM Northwest boosters raise $75,000 to revamp the school’s weight room.
Weight training has been a huge focus of Barnett’s short tenure, and the results were evident Monday when the Cougars finished practice by shoving the blocking sled a few hundred yards.
Still, Barnett knows that all the off-season gains will be tested this year, especially in a district that includes SM West and Olathe East. The offensive line is of particular concern.
“We have not started off the season like we need to up front,” Barnett said. “We’re going to get better; we’re going to continue to improve. Just like any high school in America it’s going to start and stop there, so we’re going to really have to improve up front.”
Barnett has a run-first philosophy, but said he knows he may have to bend it a bit because he has the personnel to be successful passing.
That starts with Carder, a rare weapon as a three-year starter at quarterback. Not only can the 6-foot-2 Carder throw a football 40 yards on a rope, he also is adept at commanding a huddle and handling the media.
“It’s gonna take everybody on our team to be successful, but I’d have as much confidence in Alex as anyone else out there,” Barnett said. “I haven’t seen anybody that I’d trade him for yet.”
Carder’s top receiver, Chase Mejia, moved to Missouri, so the two will no longer hook up on explosive passing plays.
But Josh Douglas returns at wide receiver, and Bryce Murray at tight end. Plus, the Cougars should see friendlier passing lanes after running back Bryce Atagi’s breakout sophomore season.
“It’s gonna be fun because Bryce, last year nobody knew we had him,” Carder said of Atagi, who rushed for more than 600 yards. “He was a weapon; he was an X-factor. Defenses this year are going to have to prepare for everything. … They’re going to have to spread themselves out.”
Even without Mejia, who was first-team All-Sunflower League as a kick returner and second-team as a receiver, the Cougars’ offense should be formidable.
Defensively, standouts are at each level. Douglas leads the defensive backs, Tyler McKee and Jared Pessetto anchor the linebacking corps, and Joey Zdeb and Murray are the top defensive linemen.
If there’s an overall defensive leader at SM Northwest it’s Murray, who was second-team all-league last year. But Barnett wants each player to feel pressure to perform.
“For us to have a chance to be good, we have to really embrace the team defense philosophy,” Barnett said. “We need to do better as far as knowing our positions and playing better team defense.”
For Carder and the Cougars to realize their state championship dreams, “team” is the theme this year.

— Contact Andy Marso at 764-2211, ext. 138, or amarso@theolathenews.com.

Ravens seek consistency, legitimacy
Tod Palmer | Sports Editor
October 13, 2006. That’s the day Olathe Northwest football officially announced its presence.
The Ravens stunned Olathe North 20-7 on the Eagles’ turf at the Olathe District Activity Center, a victory that propelled Northwest to its first playoff appearance.
It was a watershed moment.
But three weeks later, the Ravens received a reality check in the form of a 55-13 beatdown against Shawnee Mission West in the bi-district playoffs.
Besides, Northwest amassed only a 3-7 record last season, a big reason why nobody is ready to dub the Ravens legitimate Sunflower League contenders.
“The next step is to be consistent,” Northwest coach Todd Dain said. “That’s our biggest challenge: playing the best against the best. We’ve got to be able to finish ballgames against the best teams in our league.”
The Ravens have been close to breakthrough wins before, but they never had tasted a breakthrough win.
Now that they have, the expectations are to build off that.
“We’re still looking to improve big time,” said senior Nick Williams, an honorable mention all-league tight end and linebacker. “We’d like to make the playoffs again, but we also want to increase our wins before we get to districts so our record is more presentable and more respectable.”
Williams leads a defensive unit that ranked seventh in total defense and sixth in scoring defense in the league last season.
Numbers don’t tell the whole story, though. Northwest’s defense kept it close in several other games.
Olathe East had trouble getting untracked in the season-opener against the Ravens. SM East and SM Northwest barely edged Dain’s bunch.
Even mighty SM West, which lost to Hutchinson in the Class 6A state championship, struggled to find an offensive groove against Olathe Northwest.
“I think our defense will do just as well, keep us in all the games and give us an opportunity to win,” Williams said.
Of course, the Ravens first must replace the secondary and most of the line from last season.
Collin Maguire, Nate Sybesma, Hunter Laggeman and Eric Christopher — last season’s starting secondary — all graduated.
Seniors CJ Krug, who also plays quarterback, and Devin Wilson will step in at cornerback, and Bryant Sanchez and Jarard Milo, who transferred from Olathe North before last year, step in at the safety spots.
In front of that group, Williams will be joined by Stephen Layman, who is moving from outside to inside linebacker.
The lone returning player on the defensive line is senior nose guard Jeremy Hartke.
He’ll be flanked by junior tackles Osime Izukopu and Mark Abellar with seniors Chris Durr, DeJuan Boyd and Dan Jamar in the mix at defensive end along with junior Sean Bova.
The biggest help the defense could get, however, would be for the offense to improve.
A year ago, the Ravens’ inability to sustain drives and to put points on the board in the red zone often painted the defense into a corner.
Northwest doesn’t anticipate the same problems in 2007.
“Our offense will be a little more potent,” Williams said.
Krug took over the final few games at quarterback when Maguire went down with a concussion.
He’ll be in charge of helping the offense click.
“CJ’s battle-tested and he’s coming back, which is just huge,” Dain said. “I think he’s been running the veer since he was 3 in the backyard with his dad (Ravens assistant Jon Krug).”
Milo will see the bulk of the carries at tailback, and he gives the Ravens options they never had before.
“He’s a great athlete, so he brings another dimension to the offense than we’ve had,” Williams said of Milo. “In the past, the guys we had like Cameron (Cupp) would just run you over if you got in the way. Jarard can make more plays with his quickness, so he’ll be a pretty good playmaker.”
Durr returns at fullback, but the wide receiving corps is a concern.
Sanchez, Wilson and senior Brent Warren will get the first crack at stepping in at the varsity level.
Seniors Jacob Weakland and Bryan Blake and junior Tyler Bailey provide depth at the position.
Still, all six players bring virtually no varsity experience to the field.
Of even greater concern is the Ravens’ inexperienced offensive line.
Junior Hayden Maples and senior Jeff Thomas will start at the tackle spots with junior Sam Quilice at center.
Seniors Bryan Nelson and Dakota Nichols are in the mix at guard along with junior Rick Haynes and sophomore Chandler Smith.
Again, there’s virtually no varsity experience in that bunch.
But Dain isn’t too worried.
“We are a lot bigger up front than we have ever been — on both sides of the ball actually,” he said. “We’ve also got some kids who can move, and we feel good about those kids, but it’s just going to be that learning curve and how quickly some inexperienced guys can grow up.”
Staying healthy would be a big step in the right direction for Northwest, who went through three centers before the season started last year.
With a little health and some luck, perhaps this is the year the Ravens truly turn the corner.
“We want to make the most of our opportunities this year and come through in the clutch,” Krug said. “We’ve got good leadership from the seniors, so I think we can be a little more consistent.”

— Contact Tod Palmer at 764-2211, ext. 140, or todpalmer@theolathenews.com.

Jags look to maintain dominance
Andy Marso | Sportswriter
As long as St. Thomas Aquinas is in Class 5A, it will be difficult for Mill Valley to win a state soccer championship — but that’s not going to stop the Jaguars from trying.
Mill Valley has been quite good in its six-year history, including a third-place state finish and a 16-4-1 record last year.
Aquinas, a nationally ranked soccer superpower, has won state the last four years.
“They’re always a good squad,” Mill Valley senior Alex Linthicum said. “It kind of sucks to go through Aquinas because they beat all the 6A schools and it’s kind of just warmup for their little run to the state title every year. ... This year hopefully we can play them later on in the state if we make it that far.”
Don’t expect Mill Valley coach Arlan Vomhof to set a schedule full of patsies to help improve the Jags’ playoff seeding, though.
Vomhof’s strategy always has been to load up on tough opponents to make sure his squad is battle tested for the postseason. Last year’s non-league slate included Olathe Northwest, Kansas City Christian and Shawnee Heights.
“It only benefits us in the postseason,” Vomhof said. “We could go through a schedule that’s not quite as difficult and come out with a great record, but that does absolutely nothing for us in the postseason.”
Vomhof has to schedule aggressively because the Jaguars rarely play back-to-back tough games in the Kaw Valley League.
They’ve won the league six years in a row but may face a stern test this year from a Basehor-Linwood squad that returns 10 starters from a 13-5-1 team.
“There’s always teams in our league that are challenging,” Vomhof said. “Lansing is always a challenge for us, and Basehor has improved their program quite a bit and they’ll be a challenge for us.”
The Jags will have to overcome the loss of some key players. Double-digit scorers Josh Grimes and Coady Andrews are suiting up for MidAmerica Nazarene University now.
But the offense should be fine in the hands of Linthicum, a midfielder, and forward Spencer Nash.
Nash led the team with 24 goals as a junior last year, and Linthicum was second on the squad in goals (17) and assists (14).
“Me and Spencer seem to hook up well wherever (Vomhof) puts us,” Linthicum said. “I’m used to playing the ball through to Spencer and him trying to get the goals.”
Defensively the Jaguars return senior Ben Huff and sophomore Kurt VanKuiken. Their play will take on extra importance after the graduation of longtime goalkeeper Blake Elliot.
Thomas Richmond, who played junior varsity last year, is first in line to replace Elliot and has impressed in summer workouts.
“We had some Sunday pickup games, and he performed pretty well, so hopefully he can keep doing that,” Linthicum said.
The Jaguars are used to being in the playoff mix but not always going as far as they’d like. They’re hoping this is the year that Aquinas finally stumbles.

— Contact Andy Marso at 764-2211, ext. 138, or amarso@theolathenews.com.

Vikings look to reprise their surprise season
Andy Marso | Sportswriter
Will the Shawnee Mission West girls tennis team take the Sunflower League by storm this fall?
The Vikings may not be the favorites, but the precedent is there for them to be the league’s surprise champions.
“We were last year,” SM West coach Greg Schieszer said. “We traditionally haven’t been that strong, but we really had a good year last year.”
The Vikings narrowly topped Olathe East last year to win the Sunflower League, beating a squad that featured arguably the state’s best 1-2 singles punch in Ally Majercik and Haley Craig.
SM West then proved league wasn’t a fluke by taking third at state behind only Blue Valley North and Washburn Rural.
Instrumental in the Vikings’ success was their stellar doubles play, led by the team of Lindy Anderson and Jennifer Dien. The two vaulted all the way to the state championship match, where they lost in three sets (including one tiebreaker) to a team from BV North.
The duo is back this year, Anderson as a senior and Dien as a junior.
“They’re determined,” Schieszer said. “In spite of the heat they’re willing to get out there and work hard because it’s something they really want.”
The Vikings’ No. 2 doubles squad also was outstanding last year. Hallie Linner and Elizabeth Rockwell teamed up to take second at the league tournament, helping push SM West over the top.
Rockwell has since graduated, and Linner, a senior, will either have to move to singles or find a new partner.
“We’re not sure about that,” Schieszer said. “I’ll have two girls moving up from JV, and we’ll just have to see how it plays out.”
The singles picture is murky now for SM West. German exchange student Sophie Anker was the squad’s No. 1 last year, but has moved on.
A possible replacement for Anker is Dien’s sophomore sister, Joan, who has shown promising singles ability in practice.
“With them both on the team, I thought maybe they’d like to play doubles together, but that’s not the case,” Schieszer said of the sisters. “They like where they are right now.”
If the singles spots get solidified by the season’s halfway mark, the Vikings may be able to make another spirited playoff run.
Another season like last year’s might be too much to expect, but then, few people were looking for it last year, either.
“Ultimately state’s the top prize — you want to be there and do well,” Schieszer said. “The league championship last year was just, pretty much completely unexpected from my perspective.”

— Contact Andy Marso at 764-2211, ext. 138, or amarso@theolathenews.com.