FINISH 9th AT CLASS 4-1A STATE MEET,
KEIRA MULLEN is STATE CHAMPION
Giving a voice to the smaller area schools of McPherson County and the Athletes they have….Our goal is to give them all some media love!!
Today we highlight the final go around for the Smoky Valley Lady Viking wrestlers as they competed at the Class 4-1A State Meet in Salina, bringing home a 9th place team finish while Keira Mullen became a State Champion and Kenzie Crain finished 6th.
Also, Gus Griffith made it official – continuing his football career at Friends University in the fall of 2023.
NEXT UP – Smoky Valley boys wrestling at State plus Viking boys/girls at Sub-State basketball.


LADY VIKINGS
FINISH 9te AT STATE,
MULLEN – STATE CHAMPION
By Staff
SALINA- On Wednesday and Thursday the Smoky Valley girls wrestling program did very well with the six Lady Vikings at the Class 4-1A State Wrestling Meet in Salina, finishing ninth as a team and earning an individual state championship along the way.

The big news for the day was Lady Viking Keira Mullen, wrestling at 135, bringing home a state championship by going 4-0 on the day including gaining a pair of wins by falls and one by a major decision. Mullen’s state championship gave the Lady Vikings 27 team points.

Kenzie Crain, wrestling at 115, finished her day 3-3 and placed sixth while earning the Lady Viking nine team points.
Overall, the other four Lady Vikings participating at the state meet may not have won a top six placing in the divisions, they did put another 10 points toward the team points total for the day.
As a team the Lady Vikings finished with 46 points which was good for ninth out of 87 teams participating. Chanute was the overall team champion while Baldwin, Rossville, Carbondale/Santa Fe Way, and Pratt rounded out the top five.
SMOKY VALLEY LADY VIKING WRETLING RESULTS:
TEAM > LADY VIKINGS finished 9th out of 87 teams with 46 points.
FINAL TOP 10 STANDINGS FOR CLASS 4-1A: 1. Chanute – 88; 2. Baldwin – 70; 3. Rossville – 69; T-4. Carbondale/Santa Fe Trail & Pratt – 60; 6. Hoisington – 64.5; 7. Columbus – 61; 8. Buhler – 47; 9. LADY VIKINGS – 46; 10. Tonganoxie – 44.
LADY VIKING INDIVIDUAL RESULTS:
105 > Sara McCullock went 1-2, 3 team points.
110 > Noelle Peters went 2-2, 3 team points.
115 > Kenzie Crain went 3-3, finished 6th, 9 team points.
120 > Taytum Reed went 0-2.
135 > Keira Mullen went 4-0, finished 1st, 27 team points.
155 > Shaylee Sheetz went 1-2, 4 team points.
(The Staff covering events for the MAC AREA SPORTS NEW can be reached by email at crossdovewriter@gmail.com)

VIKINGS GRIFFITH SIGNS
TO PLAY FOOTBALL
AT FRIENDS UNIVERSITY

LINDSBORG – On Friday, Smoky Valley’s Gus Griffith signed his National Letter of Intent to continue his football playing career next fall at Friends University in Wichita.
Listed as an offensive and defensive tackle, Griffith is listed as being six-foot-four, 275 pounds.
In his two year varsity career for Smoky Valley’s football team, Griffith totaled 49 tackles of which 12 were solo stops and 37 were assisted while also picking up 1.5 tackles that went for a loss of yardage.
On the basketball court, Griffith averaged 3.2 points and 3.3 rebounds as a junior and through the 2022-23 regular season schedule he has averaged 5.9 points and 5.2 rebounds on the hardwood as a senior.
Best of luck to Griffith in his future career and education at Friends University.