2022 3A State Championship Tournament

   The Rossville softball team put in a valiant effort on Friday, May 25 at the 2022 State Championship but came up just a little short.  They lost their semi-final game to Prairie View 4-3 in 8 innings.  They then played Santa Fe Trail for third place, but after 11 innings, Rossville came out on the short end of a close 2-1 game.

First Round Of State Softball

The Rossville softball team got off to a great start at the 3A state tournament with a 12-0 shellaacking of Counil Grove.    Rossville will play Prairie View on May 27 which easily handled Scott Community 10-1

Frontenac was a 7-3 victor over Kingman and Santa Fe Trail eliminated Hoisington 4-1

3A Regional Track & Field Results

 Women

The womens team finished fifth of 14 teams, just one point behind 4th place Silver Lake.

Best event finishes  include:

100 Meters                  Shayla Rezac                Eighth
200 Meters                  Shayla Rezac                Seventh
400 Meters                  Shayla Rezac                Sixth
    "     "                        Amelia Foster               Second
800 Meters                  Amelia Foster               Second
3200 Meters                Alexis Zabala                Seventh       
300 M Hurdles            Keera Lacock                Sixth
4 x 100 Relay              Rossville                       Tenth
4 x 400 Relay              Rossville                       Fifth
4 x 800 Relay              Rossville                       Sixth                   
High Jump                   Kendra Hurla                Fourth
Triple Jump                 Kerrigan Foster             Eleventh
    "       "                      Brinley Pottorf              Fourteenth                  
Shot Put                       Briar Gillum                 First
    "    "                         Kellyn Foster                Fifteenth
Discus                          Briar Gillum                 First 

Men

The RHS mens team finished tied for 13th of the 15 team field.

Best event finishes  include:

100 Meters                   Pedro Arantes              Second
Discus                          Barret Lietz                 Tenth
Shot Put                        Barrett Lietz                Eleventh
Javelin                          Hunter Broce               Fifth 

RHS 3A State Softball Tournament

 The RHS softball team will play Council Grove at 7 PM on May 26 at the Manhattan Twin Oaks Complex.  

 The winner of that game will play the winner of the Scott Community and Prairie View  on May 27.

Baseball Team Loses Semi-final At Regional

 The Dawgs lost to Santa Fe Trail 1-0 in the regional semi-final game to end their very successful 2022 season

Softball Team To State

In the 3A regional softball tournament in Sabetha, the Rossville-Nemaha Central championship game started Tuesday but the rain forced delays. Thursday night they started where they left off, Dawgs up 5-2 in the top of the 4th. The Dawgs get rolling and they are heading to state. They win 9-3.

"Fred" Coffey (56) Passes Away At 86

John Frederick “Fred” Coffey of Osawatomie Ks left this earth on May 17, 2022 at 5:06pm at the age of 86.

Fred was born on May 4, 1936 in Wellsville, Ks to Joseph Richard Coffey and Marybelle Rousselo. Fred was raised by his Uncle Harry and Aunt Etta Gutshall in Rossville, KS on a 360-acre farm. Fred helped with the planting and cultivation of crops such as corn, wheat, and alfalfa and any other chores that needed to be done to keep the farm going. Fred dearly loved his Aunt Etta and appreciated what she did for him. Fred was a 4H member and a boy scout. He attended and graduated from Rossville High School in 1956 and went on to attend the Kansas State University. Fred joined the Navy in 1953 at the end of the Korean war and was assigned to the USS Shangri La; he was a caterpillar tractor operator. He operated a D-W10 in the construction of roads. He had a mechanic rating; with metal shop, machine shop, wood shop, and agriculture studies experience. Fred was honorably discharged in 1955 due to medical injuries.

Fred was a hard worker throughout his life. He worked for Henry Manufacturing, Del Monte Foods for 10 years, the Rochelle Illinois Power Plant for 10 years, operated the Fontana Tavern when he moved back to Kansas. He worked for the LaCygne Power Plant, the Osawatomie State Hospital, Fickel Furniture, and ended his employment at the Happy Valley Ranch with 19 years of employment, when they closed their doors. Fred was 78 years old when he was forced into retirement. Fred said, “I always started at the bottom and worked my way up.”

When asked what some of his proudest accomplishments were, he stated, “I was in the Who’s Who of America, I won four trips through the Ralston Purina Feed; getting to visit Chicago, Washington DC, Corpus Cristi TX, and to St. Louis.” He stated that he once rode to Mississippi on a paddle boat. Fred taught Sunday school to the younger children at the church he attended in his younger years. His first car was a 1941 Ford Coupe that he bought when he was in the 8th grade with his own money. Fred said he had a lot of fun in the backseat of that car.

Fred and Mary Eagan were married for 25 years and they had three children, Jane, Timothy and Richard. The marriage ended in divorce. Fred then moved back to Kansas where he met and then married Patsy Feighner. Upon this union Fred gained 6 more children; Mike, Kim, Kelly, Chris, Michelle, and Mark. Fred and Pat loved to dance. Fred said that this was where they went on their first date, dancing. Fred always told his children that he got to do more as an adult than he did as a younger man. Attending the circus, going to the Nascar races, to the KC Chiefs and Royals games. Fred loved his sports and politics. He liked to go camping, fishing, and to the car shows. His utmost favorite thing was spending time with the kids and “especially my grandchildren,” he would say.

Fred was preceded in death by his wife Patsy Coffey, his parents, siblings: Shirley Kitto, Sheldon Eugene “Gene” Baugher, Mary Lou Hancock, Dickey Coffey, Etta Yvonne, Barbara Jo Coffey, Phyllis Stadler, Gary Lee Coffey, and Patty Coffey. His sons Timothy and Richard Coffey, niece Mary Lois Tyrrell, nephews, Ed & Mike Lewis, Paula Freneir, Patrick Lewis, Michael Crawford, and a grandson Army Sgt. Jeffery Mersman.

He is survived by his daughter Jane (Joe) Redcliff of Rochelle, Illinois, son Mike Ritch of Paola KS, daughter Kim Ritch of Lane KS, son Kelly (Kathy) Feighner of Lane KS, son Chris (Mary) Ritch of LaCygne KS, Michelle (Mike) Chester of Osawatomie KS, son Mark (Jody) Ritch of Paola KS, many nieces and nephews, 20 grandchildren and 40 great-grandchildren with 3 more on the way.

Baseball Regional Tournament

 First round games:

Rossville 8
Wellsville 2

Santa Fe Trail        8
Heritage Christion 7

Bishop Ward     4
Pleasant Ridge  3

Perry-Lecomption 8
Silver Lake            1

The semi and final round games will be May 19.  Rossville will play Santa Fe Trail an  Bishop Ward will square off against Perry.  The two winners with then meet for the championship game right after the first game concludes.  

Softball Regional Tournament

Rossville won the first round game against Hiawatha 10-2 on May 16 and the semi-final game 10-0 on May 17.  The championship game was suspended.

Burlington Triangular Softball Tourney

     Rossville competed in the Burlington Triangular softball team on May 12, defeating Sabetha 11-1, but losing to Burlington 11-10.

Regional Softball at Sabetha

 First round of Softball playoffs begin May 16 at Sabetha. 

The pairings are as follows with winners of games 1 & 2 playing in second round  on May 17:

Rossville (16.2)
Hiawatha (4-12)

Royal Valley (8-8)
Marysville (8-10)

Seneca (16-4)
Jeff West (7-11)

Silver Lake (12-6)
Sabetha ( 7-11)

Regional Baseball At Wellsville

First round of baseball playoffs begin May 16. 

The pairings are as follows with winners of games 1 & 2 playing in second round:

Rossville (18-1
Wellsille (9-11)

Heritage Christian (12-4)
Santa Fe Trail (12-7)

Bishop Ward (17-1)
Pleasant Ridge (11-9)

Silver Lake (13-4)
Perry (11-7)

MEL Track and Field Meet

      The Rossville track and field team competed in the Mid East League meet  on May 12th.    Some new names showed up in the results.

Women

Event finishes of eighth or better include:

100 Meters                  Shayla Rezac                Second
200 Meters                  Shayla Rezac                Fourth
400 Meters                  Shayla Rezac                Second
                                    Amelia Foster               Third
                                    Reagan Wonnell            Fifth
800 Meters                  Amelis Foster                Third
3200 Meters                Alexis Zabala                Fifth       
100  M Hurdles           Ean Haynes                   Seventh
300 M Hurdles            Keera Lacock                Third
4 x 100 Relay              Rossville                       Fifth
4 x 400 Relay              Rossville                       Fourth
4 x 800 Relay              Rossville                       First                   
High Jump                   Kendra Hurla                Eighth
Long Jump                  Ean Haynes                   Sixth
Shot Put                       Briar Gillum                 First
                                     Kellyn Foster                Fifth
Discus                          Briar Gillum                 First 
                                     Kellyn Foster                Eighth

Men

Event finishes of   eighth or better include:

100 Meters                   Pedro Arantes              Second
                                     Hunter Webb                Eighth  
400 Meters                   Braiden Hensley          Seventh
3200 Meters                 Mason Broce                Seventh
4 x 100 Relay               Rossville                      Fourth
Shot Put                        Barrett Lietz                Sixth
Javelin                          Hunter Broce               Second  

Native American Children Abused

From the Capital-Journal

Kansas has a lot to answer for on the treatment of Native American children.

Early in our state’s history, many were forced into boarding schools. It’s where the cities of Shawnee and Mission get their names from.

Generations of families were torn apart. Children were abused, malnourished, used for labor and exploited in other ways.

The Topeka Capital-Journal’s Jason Tidd reports the Department of the Interior and Bureau of Indian Affairs on Wednesday released a 106-page report and 488 pages of appendices on the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative. The documents are the first report of an ongoing investigation commissioned by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, who is a member of the Pueblo of Laguna tribe.

To read the rest of this article,  go to:  Link to Capital article on Indian youth