By MIKE COURSON Great Bend Post

Many times,  a photograph only tells part of the story. A picture from June 30, 2008, at the finish line of Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. is a prime example. Christian Smith, a former standout from Pawnee Heights High School and Kansas State University, is caught falling across the finish line to secure a third-place finish at the U.S. Olympic Trials and secure his spot in the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing. The unlikely road to China, full of bumps, began when Smith was growing up in Pawnee County.

"Being out there, hard work is just how you live your life," he said. "You don't cut corners. You do the job and you do it to the best of your ability. I think I had a lot of people in my life where that was the emphasis."

Those people included his parents and coaches, in particular his basketball coach and PE teacher, Jay Artaz.

"We did pushups, situps,and laps in PE," Smith said. "Some kids probably hated it but I loved PE. It was like training."

Making the Olympic games draws a certain amount of fame, but Smith's third-place finish in the Olympic Trials is noted as one of the greatest in American history.

Nick Symmonds, a seven-time outdoor track champion at Div. III Willamette University in Oregon, won the race in a personal best 1:44.10. The University of Oregon's Andrew Wheating finished second in 1:45.03. Needing a top-three finish to qualify for the U.S. Olympic team, Smith was in fourth place until a big lean at the tape secured the third-place finish by six-hundredths of a second in 1:45.47. It was the first time Smith ran under the Olympic qualifying time of 1:46 required to run in Beijing.

"I was behind him with 10 meters left," said Smith. "I knew it was going to take a ridiculous lean, so I knew it was going to end up with me on the ground. It wasn't a question of whether that was going to happen. At the end, I just leaned as hard as I could and dove."

Symmonds, a club training partner of Smith's, and Wheating were at the back of the pack with 200 meters to go. Symmonds cut through traffic and cruised to the win by nearly a second. Wheating made his move on the outside.

"Wheating went by with about 40 meters left," Smith said. "I thought he went by with 80 meters left. That last 40 meters was an eternity almost. It was just building and building."

On Aug. 20, 2008, Smith ran in the sixth of eight preliminary heats at the Olympic Games in Beijing. The top two runners in each heat plus the next eight overall fastest runners qualified for the next round. Smith ran a 1:48.20 to place fourth in his heat and miss round two by 0.27 seconds. Wheating also failed to make it out of round one. Symmonds placed fifth in his semifinal heat to miss the finals by half a second. He later placed fifth in the 2012 Games in London.

Smith's story began long before the trials in Oregon. As a freshman at Pawnee Heights, he finished fourth in the Class 1A 800m run (2:02.50). He was part of the 4x8 team that won the title, and the Tigers missed the team championship by just three points.

Pawnee Heights won the state title in 2000. The 4x8 team won another title and Christian and his brother, Trevor, swept the mid-distance events with Trevor winning titles in the 800 and 1600, and Christian finishing behind him.

Christian was again a 4x8 state champion as a junior (8:17.44), and the 800m champion in 2001 (1:59.65). He completed the sweep of 4x8 titles as a senior (8:18.70), and also won titles that year in the 4x4 (3:26.28), 800 (1:53.29) and 1600 (4:26.77). The Tigers beat Deerfield by 11 points for the 1A championship.

Smith received one final gift before graduating from Pawnee Heights. Artaz, that hard-nosed coach and PE teacher, carried the 2002 Olympic Torch through Wichita ahead of the Salt Lake City Games. After he passed away on March 4, 2002, his wife, Nancy, gave Smith the gloves Artaz wore during the torch run.

"He was someone who really emphasized hard work in athletics," said Smith. "He was always a believer that if you worked hard enough, you really could accomplish anything if you wanted it."

At Kansas State University, Smith set the indoor NCAA record at 1,000 meters in 2:19.57, a time that has since been surpassed. That time still stands as the school record 18 years later, as do his times in the outdoor 800 (1:44.86) and 1,500 runs (3:38.10).

As a sophomore at Pawnee Heights, Smith once had to write down his goals. That included a far-fetched idea of making the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials in Sacramento, Calif. He made the trials and just missed a spot in the 800m finals.

"I was just happy to be there in 2004, and I outdid my expectations," he said. "That definitely propelled me into thinking more was possible."

In 2006, Smith won the NCAA indoor title in the mile (4:12.75). Later that year, he set the K-State outdoor record in the 800m run in Italy. In 2006, he was the only American to crack 1:45 in the 800 and 3:39 in the 1500.

After graduating from K-State, Smith moved to Oregon and joined the famed Oregon Track Club alongside Symmonds. On a return trip to Manhattan in 2007, Smith woke to a stabbing pain in his abdomen. Smith's appendix had burst, but even doctors had difficulty believing him because, as a runner used to dealing with pain, he rated the pain only 6 out of 10.

The high pain tolerance nearly cost Smith his life. A week later, the burst appendix remained untreated. A CT scan revealed the damage but Smith's infection was so severe it had to be drained before surgeons could operate. Two liters of fluid were drained from his lungs. Smith remained in the hospital for weeks and did not eat solid food for four months. He lost 20 pounds from his already light 165-pound racing frame.

Beginning in 1952, a series of Olympic trials were held at various California venues. As the University of Oregon track and field program gained fame under coach Bill Bowerman in the 1960s and 70s, the trials were moved to the old Hayward Field for the 1972 and 1976 trials. Subsequent trials were held in Los Angels, Indianapolis, Atlanta, and Sacramento before returning to Hayward in 2008, 10 years before it was replaced by the current version of the stadium.

"I grew up loving Steve Prefontaine," Smith said. "There are two movies that were shot at Hayward. The new stadium is awesome but the old one was historic. When you go to Europe and race, a lot of places really love track. Eugene is a place in the United States that loves track. There's just a different atmosphere there than in other places."

With the 2008 Olympic trials looming, Smith still had not run a qualifying team to earn a place in Eugene.&nbsp;A week before the trials, Smith had climbed to No. 31 in the U.S. 800m rankings. Unfortunately, only the top-30 would run at Hayward. Then Smith finally caught a break. Alan Webb, whose American mile record lasted from 2007 to 2023, scratched from the 800 to focus on the 1500. Smith was in and the rest, as they say, is history.

Despite entering the field as the No. 30 seed, Smith ran a 1:47.97 for fifth place in the preliminaries. He missed the Olympic standard by 0.011 seconds to place third in the semifinals. The top six finishers in the final all came in under the 1:46 standard to compete in Beijing. Other notables at the trials that year include Tyson Gay, former Barton Cougar and still the American record holder in the 100m dash, American 400m record holder Sanya Richards (Ross), and Allyson Felix, the most decorated athlete in U.S. track and field history.

Smith ran his final race at the 2012 Olympic Trials, again in Eugene. He now lives in Gardner with his wife, Sara, a doctor of veterinary medicine, and their three children. His life is more ordinary now than it was then, but every four years as the Olympic Games approach, he reaches into the memory bank for one of the great sports stories in American history.

<div><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OeIY_M7YJxk?si=35P8anj6qZgqdntd" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>By MIKE COURSON Great Bend PostMany times, a photograph only tells part of the story. A picture from June 30, 2008, at the finish line of Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. is a prime example. Christian Smith, a former standout from Pawnee Heights High School and Kansas State University, is caught falling across the finish line to secure a third-place finish at the U.S. Olympic Trials and secure his spot in the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing. The unlikely road to China, full of bumps, began when Smith was growing up in Pawnee County."Being out there, hard work is just how you live your life," he said. "You don't cut corners. You do the job and you do it to the best of your ability. I think I had a lot of people in my life where that was the emphasis."Those people included his parents and coaches, in particular his basketball coach and PE teacher, Jay Artaz."We did pushups, situps,and laps in PE," Smith said. "Some kids probably hated it but I loved PE. It was like training."<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1718908582140.jpeg" alt="Former Pawnee Heights Tiger Christian Smith won a national track title at Kansas State University and still holds two outdoor records at the school. In 2008, Smith ran in the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing. (photo courtesy of K-State Athletics)" />
 <figcaption>Former Pawnee Heights Tiger Christian Smith won a national track title at Kansas State University and still holds two outdoor records at the school. In 2008, Smith ran in the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing. (photo courtesy of K-State Athletics)</figcaption>
 </figure>Making the Olympic games draws a certain amount of fame, but Smith's third-place finish in the Olympic Trials is noted as one of the greatest in American history.Nick Symmonds, a seven-time outdoor track champion at Div. III Willamette University in Oregon, won the race in a personal best 1:44.10. The University of Oregon's Andrew Wheating finished second in 1:45.03. Needing a top-three finish to qualify for the U.S. Olympic team, Smith was in fourth place until a big lean at the tape secured the third-place finish by six-hundredths of a second in 1:45.47. It was the first time Smith ran under the Olympic qualifying time of 1:46 required to run in Beijing."I was behind him with 10 meters left," said Smith. "I knew it was going to take a ridiculous lean, so I knew it was going to end up with me on the ground. It wasn't a question of whether that was going to happen. At the end, I just leaned as hard as I could and dove."<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1718908709867.jpeg" alt="Smith won the national title in the NCAA indoor mile in 2006. (photo by K-State Athletics)" />
 <figcaption>Smith won the national title in the NCAA indoor mile in 2006. (photo by K-State Athletics)</figcaption>
 </figure>Symmonds, a club training partner of Smith's, and Wheating were at the back of the pack with 200 meters to go. Symmonds cut through traffic and cruised to the win by nearly a second. Wheating made his move on the outside."Wheating went by with about 40 meters left," Smith said. "I thought he went by with 80 meters left. That last 40 meters was an eternity almost. It was just building and building."On Aug. 20, 2008, Smith ran in the sixth of eight preliminary heats at the Olympic Games in Beijing. The top two runners in each heat plus the next eight overall fastest runners qualified for the next round. Smith ran a 1:48.20 to place fourth in his heat and miss round two by 0.27 seconds. Wheating also failed to make it out of round one. Symmonds placed fifth in his semifinal heat to miss the finals by half a second. He later placed fifth in the 2012 Games in London.Smith's story began long before the trials in Oregon. As a freshman at Pawnee Heights, he finished fourth in the Class 1A 800m run (2:02.50). He was part of the 4x8 team that won the title, and the Tigers missed the team championship by just three points.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1718973725259.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Pawnee Heights won the state title in 2000. The 4x8 team won another title and Christian and his brother, Trevor, swept the mid-distance events with Trevor winning titles in the 800 and 1600, and Christian finishing behind him.Christian was again a 4x8 state champion as a junior (8:17.44), and the 800m champion in 2001 (1:59.65). He completed the sweep of 4x8 titles as a senior (8:18.70), and also won titles that year in the 4x4 (3:26.28), 800 (1:53.29) and 1600 (4:26.77). The Tigers beat Deerfield by 11 points for the 1A championship.Smith received one final gift before graduating from Pawnee Heights. Artaz, that hard-nosed coach and PE teacher, carried the 2002 Olympic Torch through Wichita ahead of the Salt Lake City Games. After he passed away on March 4, 2002, his wife, Nancy, gave Smith the gloves Artaz wore during the torch run.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1718908784958.jpeg" alt="Smith won the national title in the NCAA indoor mile in 2006. (photo by K-State Athletics)" />
 <figcaption>Smith won the national title in the NCAA indoor mile in 2006. (photo by K-State Athletics)</figcaption>
 </figure>"He was someone who really emphasized hard work in athletics," said Smith. "He was always a believer that if you worked hard enough, you really could accomplish anything if you wanted it."At Kansas State University, Smith set the indoor NCAA record at 1,000 meters in 2:19.57, a time that has since been surpassed. That time still stands as the school record 18 years later, as do his times in the outdoor 800 (1:44.86) and 1,500 runs (3:38.10).As a sophomore at Pawnee Heights, Smith once had to write down his goals. That included a far-fetched idea of making the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials in Sacramento, Calif. He made the trials and just missed a spot in the 800m finals."I was just happy to be there in 2004, and I outdid my expectations," he said. "That definitely propelled me into thinking more was possible."<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1718973762453.jpeg" alt="After graduating from Pawnee Heights High School in 2002, Smith was given these gloves worn by former PHHS teacher and coach Jay Artaz, who carried the Olympic torch for the 2004 Olympics." />
 <figcaption>After graduating from Pawnee Heights High School in 2002, Smith was given these gloves worn by former PHHS teacher and coach Jay Artaz, who carried the Olympic torch for the 2004 Olympics.</figcaption>
 </figure>In 2006, Smith won the NCAA indoor title in the mile (4:12.75). Later that year, he set the K-State outdoor record in the 800m run in Italy. In 2006, he was the only American to crack 1:45 in the 800 and 3:39 in the 1500.After graduating from K-State, Smith moved to Oregon and joined the famed Oregon Track Club alongside Symmonds. On a return trip to Manhattan in 2007, Smith woke to a stabbing pain in his abdomen. Smith's appendix had burst, but even doctors had difficulty believing him because, as a runner used to dealing with pain, he rated the pain only 6 out of 10.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1719186347937.png" alt="The photo from the Lynx camera system at the finish line shows how Smith beat the fourth-place finisher by 0.06s. (photo courtesy of KSHB)." />
 <figcaption>The photo from the Lynx camera system at the finish line shows how Smith beat the fourth-place finisher by 0.06s. (photo courtesy of KSHB).</figcaption>
 </figure>The high pain tolerance nearly cost Smith his life. A week later, the burst appendix remained untreated. A CT scan revealed the damage but Smith's infection was so severe it had to be drained before surgeons could operate. Two liters of fluid were drained from his lungs. Smith remained in the hospital for weeks and did not eat solid food for four months. He lost 20 pounds from his already light 165-pound racing frame.Beginning in 1952, a series of Olympic trials were held at various California venues. As the University of Oregon track and field program gained fame under coach Bill Bowerman in the 1960s and 70s, the trials were moved to the old Hayward Field for the 1972 and 1976 trials. Subsequent trials were held in Los Angels, Indianapolis, Atlanta, and Sacramento before returning to Hayward in 2008, 10 years before it was replaced by the current version of the stadium.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1719186191921.jpeg" alt="An artist's rendition of the photo of Smith diving across the finish line at Hayward Field to secure his spot in the Olympics." />
 <figcaption>An artist's rendition of the photo of Smith diving across the finish line at Hayward Field to secure his spot in the Olympics.</figcaption>
 </figure>"I grew up loving Steve Prefontaine," Smith said. "There are two movies that were shot at Hayward. The new stadium is awesome but the old one was historic. When you go to Europe and race, a lot of places really love track. Eugene is a place in the United States that loves track. There's just a different atmosphere there than in other places."With the 2008 Olympic trials looming, Smith still had not run a qualifying team to earn a place in Eugene.&nbsp;A week before the trials, Smith had climbed to No. 31 in the U.S. 800m rankings. Unfortunately, only the top-30 would run at Hayward. Then Smith finally caught a break. Alan Webb, whose American mile record lasted from 2007 to 2023, scratched from the 800 to focus on the 1500. Smith was in and the rest, as they say, is history.Despite entering the field as the No. 30 seed, Smith ran a 1:47.97 for fifth place in the preliminaries. He missed the Olympic standard by 0.011 seconds to place third in the semifinals. The top six finishers in the final all came in under the 1:46 standard to compete in Beijing. Other notables at the trials that year include Tyson Gay, former Barton Cougar and still the American record holder in the 100m dash, American 400m record holder Sanya Richards (Ross), and Allyson Felix, the most decorated athlete in U.S. track and field history.Smith ran his final race at the 2012 Olympic Trials, again in Eugene. He now lives in Gardner with his wife, Sara, a doctor of veterinary medicine, and their three children. His life is more ordinary now than it was then, but every four years as the Olympic Games approach, he reaches into the memory bank for one of the great sports stories in American history.

🎥From Kan. to Beijing: Smith remembers unlikely road to 2008 Olympics

By Sheldon Wickwar Special to the Hays Post

Rolling Plains Motor Speedway fired off for another weekly IMCA racing show Saturday night, and 76 race teams checked in and entertained a great crowd. 

The track ran six classes, the traditional five IMCA classes plus a cruisers class.

Three drivers pulled off weekend sweeps after picking up feature wins Friday night at either Thomas County Speedway in Colby, Salina Speedway or SaltCity Racing in Hutchinson.

Visiting Victory Lane were David Kraus in the cruisers, Brock Leibhart in the sport compacts, Zach Olmstead in the hobby stocks, Luke Stallbaumer in the sport mods, Kyle Pfeifer in the stock cars and Jake Nightingale in the modifieds.

The cruisers started the program off with one heat race won by Weston Kraus. Their 12-lap feature event started with an all-Kraus family front row, as Weston and David Kraus made up the front row.

Weston Kraus fired off with the early race lead. Meanwhile, David Kraus and Chris Lohrey would quickly get to his rear bumper. Weston was able to lead the first few laps, and then, on lap four, David Kraus was able to take the lead. Weston Kraus would make heavy contact, spinning Lohrey one lap later to bring out the first caution.

 Weston Kraus was sent to the back for causing the caution, and David Kraus would restart the field. David Kraus would run away with the remainder of the feature, and Weston was able to rebound nicely. David Kraus won picking up his first win of the season, second was Weston Kraus, third was Madelyn Kraus, fourth was Dylan Pfeifer, and fifth was Dakota Bliss. Hard chargers in the event were Madelyn Kraus, Shaun Woods and Seth Rupp, who all gained two spots each.

The sport compacts ran second on the program. They ran two heat races won by Brock Leibhart and Gage Porter. Their 15-lap feature started with a front row of Brock Leibhart and Kyle Mortensen, Leibhart took an early lead after battling three wide with Dave Kappel and Gage Porter.

Leibhart would continue to lead and would battle side-by-side with Gage Porter for a while. A few laps later, Jake Schwien got to third place after passing Kappel, and Porter continued to try to find a way around Leibhart.

Brock Leibhart picked up the race win completing a weekend sweep as he won Friday night in Colby, grabbing race wins three and four on the season. Second was Gage Porter, third was Jake Schwien, fourth was Dave Kappel and fifth was Kiowa Higdon. The hard charger in the event was Jake Schwien, who grabbed four spots.&nbsp;

In an interview with track announcer Tanner Schmidt, Leibhart said, "I've been waiting on this one for a while...winning here feels great."

The hobby stocks were third on the program. They ran three heat races, won by Cody Williams, Tyler Heath, and Trent Matson. Their 20-lap feature event started with a front row of Alec Jeske and Cody Williams; Williams gained the early lead. Meanwhile, a three—and four-wide battle would break out behind him as Zach Olmstead and Morgan Olmstead made moves to the front of the pack.

A few laps in, Tyler Heath blew a tire to bring out the event's first caution. Williams restarted the field and jumped back to a nice lead, while they ran three wide for second behind him.

Shaun Woods and Danny Schulte brought out a caution a couple of laps later as they both spun. Williams restarted the field again and led until he suffered a tire issue. Meanwhile, a group of cars tangled down the backstretch, ending several drivers' nights.

Zach Olmstead inherited the race lead and led the remainder of the feature. Zach Olmstead grabbed race win No. 3 on the season. Second was Trent Matson, third was Jonathan Saliba, fourth was Tyler Heath and fifth was Cody Ghumm. The hard charger in the event was Caleb Davis, who gained 10 spots. Other nice runs included Zach Olmstead up nine spots, Cody Ghumm up seven spots, Hayden Kelly up six spots and Jonathan Saliba up five spots.

In an interview with track announcer Tanner Schmidt, Olmstead said, "I was trying to trick him (Williams). ... He's usually pretty tough around here, but I got it done."

The sport mods ran fourth on the program. They ran two heat races won by Tracy Holloway and Luke Stallbaumer. Their 20-lap feature event started with a front row of Tracy Holloway and Preston Donovan, Holloway got the early race lead and led for a while. 

Meanwhile, Carson Lang got to second, while Donovan dropped a few spots. Luke Stallbaumer got to second place by lap two and started pressuring Holloway for the race lead. Caution came out and led to a red flag as two cars hit hard and broke their cars significantly. Both Connor Barnes and Dalton Bell were OK, but the red flag allowed track workers to clean up the wreck more easily.

Holloway would bring the field to a restart with 14 laps to go, Stallbaumer and Lang would go three wide with Holloway, and Lang grabbed the race lead.

After running side-by-side for three laps, Stallbaumer grabbed the race lead with nine laps to go. Stallbaumer entered lapped traffic and navigated a good race to pick up the race win.

Luke Stallbaumer picked up race win No. 3 on the season after picking No. 2 up Friday night in Salina. Carson Lang was second, third was Blaine Walt, fourth was Tracy Holloway and fifth was Brianna Maughlin. The hard charger in the event was Blaine Walt, who gained 10 spots; other nice runs included Luke Stallbaumer and Justin Meserve, both up six spots each, and Jack Kirchoff, who gained five spots.

In an interview with track announcer Tanner Schmidt, Stallbaumer said, "I could feel those guys on my back bumper the whole time, I was just hoping the checkered flag would come out."

The stock cars ran fifth on the program. They ran one heat race won by Mike Petersilie. Their 15-lap feature started with a front row of Mike Petersilie and George Ramey. A three-wide battle broke out as Troy Burkhart tried to grab the race lead, but Petersilie led lap one. Ramey and Troy Burkhart were right on Petersilie's bumper, meanwhile Kyle Pfeifer got to third place by lap two.

The caution came out as Pfeifer and Troy Burkhart made contact and spun, collecting the whole field except for race leader Mike Petersilie. Petersilie restarted the field and led momentarily as Tathan Burkhart grabbed the race lead, but Kyle Pfeifer would start making a run on the bottom.

With three laps to go, Kyle Pfeifer was able to get by Tathan for the race lead. Kyle Pfeifer picked up his second win of the weekend after winning Friday night in Colby, his fourth and fifth wins on the season. Second was Tathan Burkhart, third was Mike Petersilie, and fourth was Troy Burkhart. The hard chargers in the event were Kyle Pfeifer and Tathan Burkhart who both gained four spots each.

In an interview with track announcer Tanner Schmidt, Pfeifer said, "We've been pretty fortunate. Those guys work harder on their cars...been a pretty cool year."

The modifieds closed out the program. They ran two heat races won by Clay Money and Kyle Rohleder. Their 20-lap feature event started with a front row of Jake Nightingale and John Fabrizius. Nightingale grabbed the early lead, and Money quickly got to second.

Daniel Gottschalk got to second on lap two after Money had to hit the brakes in turn two. Lap three saw Rohleder head pit side with a flat tire, ending his night. Meanwhile, Nightingale was flying away with the race lead.

At the halfway point, Nightingale still held a commanding lead as Gottschalk was trying to find speed and grip to track down Nightingale. 

Jake Nightingale went on to pick up his second win of the weekend, as he won Friday night in his hometown of Hutchinson.

Nightingale grabbed wins one and two on the season this weekend. Second was Daniel Gottschalk, third was Jeremy Frenier, fourth was Clay Money and fifth was Dylan Sherfick. 

The hard charger in the event was Daniel Gottschalk, who gained five spots. Other nice runs included Kaid Calhoon and Curtis Barnes up four spots each, Dylan Sherfick and Jeremy Frenier picked up three spots each.

In an interview with track announcer Tanner Schmidt, Nightingale said, "Well, you know, winning back-to-back nights, feel like we got it figured out."

By Sheldon Wickwar Special to the Hays PostRolling Plains Motor Speedway fired off for another weekly IMCA racing show Saturday night, and 76 race teams checked in and entertained a great crowd. The track ran six classes, the traditional five IMCA classes plus a cruisers class.Three drivers pulled off weekend sweeps after picking up feature wins Friday night at either Thomas County Speedway in Colby, Salina Speedway or SaltCity Racing in Hutchinson.Visiting Victory Lane were David Kraus in the cruisers, Brock Leibhart in the sport compacts, Zach Olmstead in the hobby stocks, Luke Stallbaumer in the sport mods, Kyle Pfeifer in the stock cars and Jake Nightingale in the modifieds.The cruisers started the program off with one heat race won by Weston Kraus. Their 12-lap feature event started with an all-Kraus family front row, as Weston and David Kraus made up the front row.Weston Kraus fired off with the early race lead. Meanwhile, David Kraus and Chris Lohrey would quickly get to his rear bumper. Weston was able to lead the first few laps, and then, on lap four, David Kraus was able to take the lead. Weston Kraus would make heavy contact, spinning Lohrey one lap later to bring out the first caution. Weston Kraus was sent to the back for causing the caution, and David Kraus would restart the field. David Kraus would run away with the remainder of the feature, and Weston was able to rebound nicely. David Kraus won picking up his first win of the season, second was Weston Kraus, third was Madelyn Kraus, fourth was Dylan Pfeifer, and fifth was Dakota Bliss. Hard chargers in the event were Madelyn Kraus, Shaun Woods and Seth Rupp, who all gained two spots each.The sport compacts ran second on the program. They ran two heat races won by Brock Leibhart and Gage Porter. Their 15-lap feature started with a front row of Brock Leibhart and Kyle Mortensen, Leibhart took an early lead after battling three wide with Dave Kappel and Gage Porter.Leibhart would continue to lead and would battle side-by-side with Gage Porter for a while. A few laps later, Jake Schwien got to third place after passing Kappel, and Porter continued to try to find a way around Leibhart.Brock Leibhart picked up the race win completing a weekend sweep as he won Friday night in Colby, grabbing race wins three and four on the season. Second was Gage Porter, third was Jake Schwien, fourth was Dave Kappel and fifth was Kiowa Higdon. The hard charger in the event was Jake Schwien, who grabbed four spots.&nbsp;In an interview with track announcer Tanner Schmidt, Leibhart said, "I've been waiting on this one for a while...winning here feels great."The hobby stocks were third on the program. They ran three heat races, won by Cody Williams, Tyler Heath, and Trent Matson. Their 20-lap feature event started with a front row of Alec Jeske and Cody Williams; Williams gained the early lead. Meanwhile, a three—and four-wide battle would break out behind him as Zach Olmstead and Morgan Olmstead made moves to the front of the pack.A few laps in, Tyler Heath blew a tire to bring out the event's first caution. Williams restarted the field and jumped back to a nice lead, while they ran three wide for second behind him.Shaun Woods and Danny Schulte brought out a caution a couple of laps later as they both spun. Williams restarted the field again and led until he suffered a tire issue. Meanwhile, a group of cars tangled down the backstretch, ending several drivers' nights.Zach Olmstead inherited the race lead and led the remainder of the feature. Zach Olmstead grabbed race win No. 3 on the season. Second was Trent Matson, third was Jonathan Saliba, fourth was Tyler Heath and fifth was Cody Ghumm. The hard charger in the event was Caleb Davis, who gained 10 spots. Other nice runs included Zach Olmstead up nine spots, Cody Ghumm up seven spots, Hayden Kelly up six spots and Jonathan Saliba up five spots.In an interview with track announcer Tanner Schmidt, Olmstead said, "I was trying to trick him (Williams). ... He's usually pretty tough around here, but I got it done."The sport mods ran fourth on the program. They ran two heat races won by Tracy Holloway and Luke Stallbaumer. Their 20-lap feature event started with a front row of Tracy Holloway and Preston Donovan, Holloway got the early race lead and led for a while. Meanwhile, Carson Lang got to second, while Donovan dropped a few spots. Luke Stallbaumer got to second place by lap two and started pressuring Holloway for the race lead. Caution came out and led to a red flag as two cars hit hard and broke their cars significantly. Both Connor Barnes and Dalton Bell were OK, but the red flag allowed track workers to clean up the wreck more easily.Holloway would bring the field to a restart with 14 laps to go, Stallbaumer and Lang would go three wide with Holloway, and Lang grabbed the race lead.After running side-by-side for three laps, Stallbaumer grabbed the race lead with nine laps to go. Stallbaumer entered lapped traffic and navigated a good race to pick up the race win.Luke Stallbaumer picked up race win No. 3 on the season after picking No. 2 up Friday night in Salina. Carson Lang was second, third was Blaine Walt, fourth was Tracy Holloway and fifth was Brianna Maughlin. The hard charger in the event was Blaine Walt, who gained 10 spots; other nice runs included Luke Stallbaumer and Justin Meserve, both up six spots each, and Jack Kirchoff, who gained five spots.In an interview with track announcer Tanner Schmidt, Stallbaumer said, "I could feel those guys on my back bumper the whole time, I was just hoping the checkered flag would come out."The stock cars ran fifth on the program. They ran one heat race won by Mike Petersilie. Their 15-lap feature started with a front row of Mike Petersilie and George Ramey. A three-wide battle broke out as Troy Burkhart tried to grab the race lead, but Petersilie led lap one. Ramey and Troy Burkhart were right on Petersilie's bumper, meanwhile Kyle Pfeifer got to third place by lap two.The caution came out as Pfeifer and Troy Burkhart made contact and spun, collecting the whole field except for race leader Mike Petersilie. Petersilie restarted the field and led momentarily as Tathan Burkhart grabbed the race lead, but Kyle Pfeifer would start making a run on the bottom.With three laps to go, Kyle Pfeifer was able to get by Tathan for the race lead. Kyle Pfeifer picked up his second win of the weekend after winning Friday night in Colby, his fourth and fifth wins on the season. Second was Tathan Burkhart, third was Mike Petersilie, and fourth was Troy Burkhart. The hard chargers in the event were Kyle Pfeifer and Tathan Burkhart who both gained four spots each.In an interview with track announcer Tanner Schmidt, Pfeifer said, "We've been pretty fortunate. Those guys work harder on their cars...been a pretty cool year."The modifieds closed out the program. They ran two heat races won by Clay Money and Kyle Rohleder. Their 20-lap feature event started with a front row of Jake Nightingale and John Fabrizius. Nightingale grabbed the early lead, and Money quickly got to second.Daniel Gottschalk got to second on lap two after Money had to hit the brakes in turn two. Lap three saw Rohleder head pit side with a flat tire, ending his night. Meanwhile, Nightingale was flying away with the race lead.At the halfway point, Nightingale still held a commanding lead as Gottschalk was trying to find speed and grip to track down Nightingale. Jake Nightingale went on to pick up his second win of the weekend, as he won Friday night in his hometown of Hutchinson.Nightingale grabbed wins one and two on the season this weekend. Second was Daniel Gottschalk, third was Jeremy Frenier, fourth was Clay Money and fifth was Dylan Sherfick. The hard charger in the event was Daniel Gottschalk, who gained five spots. Other nice runs included Kaid Calhoon and Curtis Barnes up four spots each, Dylan Sherfick and Jeremy Frenier picked up three spots each.In an interview with track announcer Tanner Schmidt, Nightingale said, "Well, you know, winning back-to-back nights, feel like we got it figured out."

RPM Speedway: Nightingale, Pfeifer, Leibhart pull off weekend sweeps

The U.S. Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to an abortion two years ago. Since then, thousands of Missourians sought other ways to access the medical procedure

BY:&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/annaspoerre/">ANNA SPOERRE</a><a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2023/02/20/state-senator-throws-first-punches-of-2024-missouri-governors-campaign/">Missouri Independent</a>

When Missouri outlawed abortion two years ago, Nicole was far more worried for her grown children than for herself.&nbsp;

It had been two decades since she last gave birth, when she suffered a serious stroke during labor followed by severe postpartum depression. She was outraged that the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion, but pregnancy was in Nicole’s past.

That changed a couple weeks later, when her IUD failed.&nbsp;

“Are you kidding me?” she recalls thinking, looking around at the life she and her husband had built together in southwest Missouri.

In her 40s and living in a state where virtually every abortion is now banned, Nicole — who asked to only be identified by her middle name for fear of prosecution — was among the first of thousands of Missouri women forced to navigate abortion access in a post-Roe world.&nbsp;

On June 24, 2022, Missouri became the first state in the country to respond to the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, striking down Roe v. Wade and the constitutional right to an abortion. The Republican-run state quickly enacted its trigger law banning all abortions with limited exceptions in cases of medical emergencies.

In the two years since, countless women like Nicole have faced already tough decisions made more excruciating by having to find discreet ways to manage their own health or travel far from home for care.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Missouri already had some of the strictest abortion regulations in the country, pushing most women seeking access to the procedure out of state. But the end of Roe raised the stakes, leaving women in Missouri — which already has some of the highest maternal mortality rates in the country — fearful that in the most extreme cases, the ban could mean their death.&nbsp;

Last year, approximately 2,860 Missourians traveled to Kansas last year for abortions, and 8,710 traveled to Illinois,&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://guttmacherinstitute.github.io/provision-dashboard/">according to the Guttmacher Institute,</a>&nbsp;a reproductive rights research group that closely tracks abortion data. But they made up only about 10% of the total abortion patients in each state.

After Dobbs, Missourians’ access to care in states like Kansas and Illinois became precarious as abortion bans became more widespread.

“In a matter of months, we started serving patients from Texas and Arkansas and Oklahoma,” Emily Wales, CEO and president of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, said of the time immediately following the Dobbs decision. “Missourians had to really compete for too few appointments.”

The longer wait times at clinics and barriers to traveling for abortions has led Missourians to increasingly consider self-managed abortions.

That includes Nicole, who received an envelope at home marked with international postage containing Mifepristone and Misoprostol after consulting an online doctor she found through Plan C, an abortion-pill provider.

Missourians navigate abortion access after Dobbs

For Nicole, the decision to end her most recent pregnancy was simple. To continue felt unsafe, she said, and she and her husband didn’t want to start over raising a child.&nbsp;

But the conversations that followed were kept strictly between the husband and wife.&nbsp;

With pervasive uncertainty around whether or not women could be prosecuted for self-administering medication abortions in Missouri, the stakes are higher than ever for those trying to end unwanted or medically complicated pregnancies.&nbsp;

It’s why Nicole didn’t tell her pastor at church. She didn’t tell friends or family. Nicole didn’t even tell her gynecologist, fearing she would be reported by someone in their corner of the state where anti-abortion messaging proliferates billboards, bumper stickers and handwritten signs staked into yards.

Ultimately, Nicole couldn’t imagine fleeing her state for the procedure. She wanted to be home.&nbsp;

“I felt really angry that I would have to leave my community,” she said. “It’s not a shameful thing, it’s a procedure. It’s a medical health care procedure.”

In the six months after the Dobbs decision, the number of&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/03/25/more-than-26000-self-managed-abortions-may-have-occurred-post-dobbs-study-shows/">self-managed medication abortions rose&nbsp;</a>by more than 26,000 across the U.S. according to a<a target="_blank" href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/10.1001/jama.2024.4266?utm_campaign=articlePDF%26utm_medium=articlePDFlink%26utm_source=articlePDF%26utm_content=jama.2024.4266">&nbsp;study</a>&nbsp;published in JAMA, the American Medical Association’s journal.

While medication abortions are overall very safe, effective and approved by the FDA to end pregnancies up to 10 weeks, there is some risk associated with any medication. Self-managing an abortion alone, without a local medical provider’s guidance,&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2024/abortion-pill-experience-stories/?itid=ap_carolinekitchener">can be nerve-wracking.</a>

In the unlikely situation that Nicole started hemorrhaging, she and her husband mapped out the closest Kansas hospital that would have the level of care they needed.&nbsp;

When the time came, they both took a day off work and snuggled on the couch. Nicole pressed a heating pad to her abdomen to soothe the cramps, which she described as similar to period pains. Then came the relief.

After the abortion, her husband got a vasectomy. She kept the IUD. Despite their precautions, sex is now accompanied by paranoia as Nicole counts down the days to her period each month.&nbsp;

She ordered extra abortion medication in case anyone she knows might need it. And despite the nearly two years since her abortion, Nicole said she still can’t shake the absurdity she felt hunkering down in her home that day.

“I make decisions for myself every day, and I make good decisions,” she said. “The audacity that people think I can’t make the best healthcare decisions for myself — it’s hard for me to put into words how upsetting it is.”

Stories of women desperate to end their pregnancies proliferate the internet.&nbsp;

<a target="_blank" href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/02/online-abortion-resource-squad-advice-disinformation.html">Reddit is increasingly a gathering place&nbsp;</a>for those seeking answers and assurance. Many of the posts — all anonymous — illustrate how terrified many Missourians are.&nbsp;

In one post from mid-June, a 23-year-old woman from Missouri feared she was pregnant by her abusive boyfriend but didn’t have the money to travel for an abortion.

“I will drink an entire bottle of vodka if I have to idc,” she wrote. Other anonymous users quickly took to the page to offer other solutions.

In a 2023 post, someone inquired about getting an abortion for their pregnant 15-year-old sister in Missouri without parental consent.&nbsp;

“This experience is causing her to have suicidal thoughts, crippling anxiety, and extreme depression,” the user wrote. “All of which she already had before this. I need help. I am desperate. I do not want to lose my baby sister.”

Even for those who work in abortion-rights advocacy, navigating an abortion post-Roe is anxiety-inducing.

Maggie Olivia first got pregnant while living in St. Louis in 2020. She was on birth control at the time.&nbsp;

Because of Missouri’s “targeted regulation of abortion providers” laws, including mandatory pelvic exams for medication abortions and 72-hour waiting period between the initial appointment and a surgical abortion, she was encouraged to go to a Planned Parenthood in Illinois.

It was clinic escorts with Abortion Action Missouri who guided Olivia into her appointment just across the Mississippi River and reassured her ahead of the procedure. She was so moved by their kindness that Olivia went on to volunteer with the group, and now serves as a senior policy manager with the abortion-rights group.

In the months after the Dobbs decision, Olivia, like many in abortion advocacy work, was navigating the ever-changing landscape of abortion access. At the same time, Olivia said she was mistakenly denied her birth control prescription by a pharmacist after switching contraceptive methods.&nbsp;

When a pregnancy test came back positive several weeks later, Olivia’s first call was to her boss, who she said offered immediate support and guidance.&nbsp;

“But even that close proximity to the reality of the crisis doesn’t make being pregnant when you don’t want to be any less horrifying,” she said.&nbsp;

Unlike with her first pregnancy, Olivia decided not to tell her health care providers in Missouri.&nbsp;&nbsp;

But after ending up in the emergency room for unrelated reasons, her pregnancy was noted in her records. Months later, Olivia said she was denied access to an unrelated medication because her medical records said she was pregnant, compounding the fear she already had of being punished in some way for having an abortion, however legal, in Illinois.

“It was very upsetting,” Olivia said. “And I had thought that I had taken steps to be precautious.”

When she had her second abortion at the same Illinois clinic from two years prior, she also had an IUD placed.

“Your access to abortion doesn’t need to be attached to some traumatic, horrifying situation in of itself,” Olivia said. “Being pregnant when you don’t want to be is scary enough, is horrifying enough.”

When a sonographer approaches Dr. Jennifer Smith, a St. Louis OB-GYN, her heart drops.

“Every time I look at a fetal ultrasound, it takes on new intensity and new anxiety,” she said, concerned that her patient will have a diagnosis they can’t be of help with in Missouri.&nbsp;

Missouri physicians are balancing medically complex pregnant patients with&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/06/04/missouri-ob-gyn-residents-maternal-health-abortion/">legal restrictions that could land them in prison</a>&nbsp;for up to 15 years if they perform an abortion the state finds was unnecessary, and, therefore, illegal.&nbsp;

No providers have been prosecuted at this point, but the ways something could go wrong keep Smith up at night. So, too, does the future of not only maternal health care, but also motherhood in Missouri.

“Missouri women are afraid to be pregnant in Missouri,” Smith said. “They are so worried that they might die while pregnant, or that they may get pregnant with a baby with anomalies and have no options because they live in Missouri.”

While Smith is often helping women who want to be pregnant, a couple miles across the river in Illinois sits the regional logistics center for Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri. There, three patient navigators help those trying to end their pregnancies.&nbsp;

Kenicia Page, the call center manager, said she saw a tremendous increase in callers from the West Palm Beach area, more than 1,100 miles south, when&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://floridaphoenix.com/2024/04/30/florida-is-one-day-away-of-becoming-the-latest-state-to-enact-a-rigid-six-week-abortion-ban/">Florida’s ban went into place on May 1</a>.

Right now, she says the clinic receives about 100 calls a day.&nbsp;&nbsp;

They act as pseudo travel planners and financial aid counselors, helping book transportation and finding funding for patients.&nbsp;

Despite the comparative proximity, transportation can still be a headache for some Missourians, particularly those in rural parts of the state without access to public transportation like Greyhound buses or Amtrak, Page said. Sometimes, when the patient doesn’t have a vehicle, nor access to public transportation or car rental services, their next best option is to rent a U-Haul to drive to their appointment.

But more often, Page said, she hears from Missourians trying to find and afford child care, or from minors who need a legal guardian to give consent for financial assistance. Some days Page still finds herself breaking the news to Missouri callers that abortion is illegal within their state borders, and that they will likely have to take a multi-day trip to Illinois to get care.

Page recently spoke with a woman who was homeless and living in a hotel with her children. She had no child-care options, nor a place to stay after the procedure. Page’s team helped connect the woman to funders who assisted with the day care fees and made sure she had a safe place to recover overnight in Illinois.&nbsp;

Their work is done when they get the final call or text from a patient saying they’ve returned home safely.&nbsp;

“It gives you that extra energy or extra push, determination, to continue to do what you do,” Page said. “Because it is definitely making a difference.”

Alison Dreith’s hotline through Midwest Access Coalition, an abortion fund based in Illinois, used to serve a majority of Missouri clients. As of mid-June, only 26 of the total 1,052 callers this year were from Missouri. Now most of her calls come from Texas, Indiana and Tennessee as patients from red states crowd clinics in Illinois and Kansas.&nbsp;

“Every time a new state goes,” Dreith said, “it has the ripple effect that reaches the Midwest.”

The need for child care is a refrain for patients, particularly lower-income Missourians,traveling to Kansas overnight for the procedure, said Wales, with Planned Parenthood Great Plains.

The short drive from Kansas City to Wyandotte or Johnson counties in Kansas has expanded from a fissure to a canyon for some patients. Those requesting medication abortions are usually seen within a week, but patients needing in-clinic abortions can wait two or three weeks to be seen, Wales said.

“We have to explain that we may be close to you, but we are seeing patients from around the region,” she said. “It doesn’t make it easier, necessarily, to get an appointment.”

Wales said many patients are also coming to them later in gestational age, and increasingly with fetal abnormalities. This is a theme across the country,&nbsp;as patients work to find an appointment, save up money and arrange time off work.

Because of the increase in demand, Planned Parenthood Great Plains will soon start seeing patients for abortions in Pittsburg, making it the fourth Kansas clinic to offer the procedure. She hopes that will cut down on drive times for Missourians in regions including Joplin and Springfield.

Julie&nbsp;Burkhart, co-owner of Hope Clinic, an abortion provider in Granite City, Illinois, has seen the number of Missourians served at her clinic more than triple since 2019. But even so, the percentage of total patients from Missouri has gone from more than 60% to less than half as patients from 28 states made their way to her clinic near the Mississippi River last year.

Wait times hover between one and two weeks.&nbsp;In May, the clinic saw 732 abortion patients; 45 were from Missouri.&nbsp;

Funding needs have skyrocketed since Roe fell, and she’s seen the number of Missouri patients seeking abortions in their second trimester increase to 17% this year. Before Roe, it was closer to 8% for all patients.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1719238087294.png" alt="The message “You are not alone, support is here” is painted on the window of the Planned Parenthood Great Plains on Friday in Overland Park, Kansas (Anna Spoerre/Missouri Independent)." />
 <figcaption>The message “You are not alone, support is here” is painted on the window of the Planned Parenthood Great Plains on Friday in Overland Park, Kansas (Anna Spoerre/Missouri Independent).</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>The U.S. Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to an abortion two years ago. Since then, thousands of Missourians sought other ways to access the medical procedure</h2>BY:&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/annaspoerre/">ANNA SPOERRE</a><a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2023/02/20/state-senator-throws-first-punches-of-2024-missouri-governors-campaign/">Missouri Independent</a>When Missouri outlawed abortion two years ago, Nicole was far more worried for her grown children than for herself.&nbsp;It had been two decades since she last gave birth, when she suffered a serious stroke during labor followed by severe postpartum depression. She was outraged that the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion, but pregnancy was in Nicole’s past.That changed a couple weeks later, when her IUD failed.&nbsp;“Are you kidding me?” she recalls thinking, looking around at the life she and her husband had built together in southwest Missouri.In her 40s and living in a state where virtually every abortion is now banned, Nicole — who asked to only be identified by her middle name for fear of prosecution — was among the first of thousands of Missouri women forced to navigate abortion access in a post-Roe world.&nbsp;On June 24, 2022, Missouri became the first state in the country to respond to the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, striking down Roe v. Wade and the constitutional right to an abortion. The Republican-run state quickly enacted its trigger law banning all abortions with limited exceptions in cases of medical emergencies.In the two years since, countless women like Nicole have faced already tough decisions made more excruciating by having to find discreet ways to manage their own health or travel far from home for care.&nbsp;&nbsp;Missouri already had some of the strictest abortion regulations in the country, pushing most women seeking access to the procedure out of state. But the end of Roe raised the stakes, leaving women in Missouri — which already has some of the highest maternal mortality rates in the country — fearful that in the most extreme cases, the ban could mean their death.&nbsp;<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1719238134991.png" alt=" A recovery room at the Planned Parenthood Great Plains office is pictured on Friday in Overland Park, Kansas (Anna Spoerre/Missouri Independent)." />
 <figcaption> A recovery room at the Planned Parenthood Great Plains office is pictured on Friday in Overland Park, Kansas (Anna Spoerre/Missouri Independent).</figcaption>
 </figure>Last year, approximately 2,860 Missourians traveled to Kansas last year for abortions, and 8,710 traveled to Illinois,&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://guttmacherinstitute.github.io/provision-dashboard/">according to the Guttmacher Institute,</a>&nbsp;a reproductive rights research group that closely tracks abortion data. But they made up only about 10% of the total abortion patients in each state.After Dobbs, Missourians’ access to care in states like Kansas and Illinois became precarious as abortion bans became more widespread.“In a matter of months, we started serving patients from Texas and Arkansas and Oklahoma,” Emily Wales, CEO and president of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, said of the time immediately following the Dobbs decision. “Missourians had to really compete for too few appointments.”The longer wait times at clinics and barriers to traveling for abortions has led Missourians to increasingly consider self-managed abortions.That includes Nicole, who received an envelope at home marked with international postage containing Mifepristone and Misoprostol after consulting an online doctor she found through Plan C, an abortion-pill provider.<h2>Missourians navigate abortion access after Dobbs</h2>For Nicole, the decision to end her most recent pregnancy was simple. To continue felt unsafe, she said, and she and her husband didn’t want to start over raising a child.&nbsp;But the conversations that followed were kept strictly between the husband and wife.&nbsp;With pervasive uncertainty around whether or not women could be prosecuted for self-administering medication abortions in Missouri, the stakes are higher than ever for those trying to end unwanted or medically complicated pregnancies.&nbsp;It’s why Nicole didn’t tell her pastor at church. She didn’t tell friends or family. Nicole didn’t even tell her gynecologist, fearing she would be reported by someone in their corner of the state where anti-abortion messaging proliferates billboards, bumper stickers and handwritten signs staked into yards.Ultimately, Nicole couldn’t imagine fleeing her state for the procedure. She wanted to be home.&nbsp;“I felt really angry that I would have to leave my community,” she said. “It’s not a shameful thing, it’s a procedure. It’s a medical health care procedure.”In the six months after the Dobbs decision, the number of&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/03/25/more-than-26000-self-managed-abortions-may-have-occurred-post-dobbs-study-shows/">self-managed medication abortions rose&nbsp;</a>by more than 26,000 across the U.S. according to a<a target="_blank" href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/10.1001/jama.2024.4266?utm_campaign=articlePDF%26utm_medium=articlePDFlink%26utm_source=articlePDF%26utm_content=jama.2024.4266">&nbsp;study</a>&nbsp;published in JAMA, the American Medical Association’s journal.While medication abortions are overall very safe, effective and approved by the FDA to end pregnancies up to 10 weeks, there is some risk associated with any medication. Self-managing an abortion alone, without a local medical provider’s guidance,&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2024/abortion-pill-experience-stories/?itid=ap_carolinekitchener">can be nerve-wracking.</a>In the unlikely situation that Nicole started hemorrhaging, she and her husband mapped out the closest Kansas hospital that would have the level of care they needed.&nbsp;When the time came, they both took a day off work and snuggled on the couch. Nicole pressed a heating pad to her abdomen to soothe the cramps, which she described as similar to period pains. Then came the relief.After the abortion, her husband got a vasectomy. She kept the IUD. Despite their precautions, sex is now accompanied by paranoia as Nicole counts down the days to her period each month.&nbsp;She ordered extra abortion medication in case anyone she knows might need it. And despite the nearly two years since her abortion, Nicole said she still can’t shake the absurdity she felt hunkering down in her home that day.“I make decisions for myself every day, and I make good decisions,” she said. “The audacity that people think I can’t make the best healthcare decisions for myself — it’s hard for me to put into words how upsetting it is.”<h2>‘I am desperate’</h2>Stories of women desperate to end their pregnancies proliferate the internet.&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/02/online-abortion-resource-squad-advice-disinformation.html">Reddit is increasingly a gathering place&nbsp;</a>for those seeking answers and assurance. Many of the posts — all anonymous — illustrate how terrified many Missourians are.&nbsp;In one post from mid-June, a 23-year-old woman from Missouri feared she was pregnant by her abusive boyfriend but didn’t have the money to travel for an abortion.“I will drink an entire bottle of vodka if I have to idc,” she wrote. Other anonymous users quickly took to the page to offer other solutions.In a 2023 post, someone inquired about getting an abortion for their pregnant 15-year-old sister in Missouri without parental consent.&nbsp;“This experience is causing her to have suicidal thoughts, crippling anxiety, and extreme depression,” the user wrote. “All of which she already had before this. I need help. I am desperate. I do not want to lose my baby sister.”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1719238191374.png" alt=" Instructions on what to expect during a visit to Planned Parenthood Great Plains sits on a desk in the waiting room on Friday in Overland Park, Kansas (Anna Spoerre/Missouri Independent)." />
 <figcaption> Instructions on what to expect during a visit to Planned Parenthood Great Plains sits on a desk in the waiting room on Friday in Overland Park, Kansas (Anna Spoerre/Missouri Independent).</figcaption>
 </figure>Even for those who work in abortion-rights advocacy, navigating an abortion post-Roe is anxiety-inducing.Maggie Olivia first got pregnant while living in St. Louis in 2020. She was on birth control at the time.&nbsp;Because of Missouri’s “targeted regulation of abortion providers” laws, including mandatory pelvic exams for medication abortions and 72-hour waiting period between the initial appointment and a surgical abortion, she was encouraged to go to a Planned Parenthood in Illinois.It was clinic escorts with Abortion Action Missouri who guided Olivia into her appointment just across the Mississippi River and reassured her ahead of the procedure. She was so moved by their kindness that Olivia went on to volunteer with the group, and now serves as a senior policy manager with the abortion-rights group.In the months after the Dobbs decision, Olivia, like many in abortion advocacy work, was navigating the ever-changing landscape of abortion access. At the same time, Olivia said she was mistakenly denied her birth control prescription by a pharmacist after switching contraceptive methods.&nbsp;When a pregnancy test came back positive several weeks later, Olivia’s first call was to her boss, who she said offered immediate support and guidance.&nbsp;“But even that close proximity to the reality of the crisis doesn’t make being pregnant when you don’t want to be any less horrifying,” she said.&nbsp;Unlike with her first pregnancy, Olivia decided not to tell her health care providers in Missouri.&nbsp;&nbsp;But after ending up in the emergency room for unrelated reasons, her pregnancy was noted in her records. Months later, Olivia said she was denied access to an unrelated medication because her medical records said she was pregnant, compounding the fear she already had of being punished in some way for having an abortion, however legal, in Illinois.“It was very upsetting,” Olivia said. “And I had thought that I had taken steps to be precautious.”When she had her second abortion at the same Illinois clinic from two years prior, she also had an IUD placed.“Your access to abortion doesn’t need to be attached to some traumatic, horrifying situation in of itself,” Olivia said. “Being pregnant when you don’t want to be is scary enough, is horrifying enough.”<h2>Higher stakes for providers</h2>When a sonographer approaches Dr. Jennifer Smith, a St. Louis OB-GYN, her heart drops.“Every time I look at a fetal ultrasound, it takes on new intensity and new anxiety,” she said, concerned that her patient will have a diagnosis they can’t be of help with in Missouri.&nbsp;Missouri physicians are balancing medically complex pregnant patients with&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/06/04/missouri-ob-gyn-residents-maternal-health-abortion/">legal restrictions that could land them in prison</a>&nbsp;for up to 15 years if they perform an abortion the state finds was unnecessary, and, therefore, illegal.&nbsp;<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1719238245511.png" alt=" Ra’Maia Dillard, an ultrasound technician at Planned Parenthood Great Plains prepares to see a docket of 29 patients on Friday in Overland Park, Kansas (Anna Spoerre/Missouri Independent)." />
 <figcaption> Ra’Maia Dillard, an ultrasound technician at Planned Parenthood Great Plains prepares to see a docket of 29 patients on Friday in Overland Park, Kansas (Anna Spoerre/Missouri Independent).</figcaption>
 </figure>No providers have been prosecuted at this point, but the ways something could go wrong keep Smith up at night. So, too, does the future of not only maternal health care, but also motherhood in Missouri.“Missouri women are afraid to be pregnant in Missouri,” Smith said. “They are so worried that they might die while pregnant, or that they may get pregnant with a baby with anomalies and have no options because they live in Missouri.”While Smith is often helping women who want to be pregnant, a couple miles across the river in Illinois sits the regional logistics center for Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri. There, three patient navigators help those trying to end their pregnancies.&nbsp;Kenicia Page, the call center manager, said she saw a tremendous increase in callers from the West Palm Beach area, more than 1,100 miles south, when&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://floridaphoenix.com/2024/04/30/florida-is-one-day-away-of-becoming-the-latest-state-to-enact-a-rigid-six-week-abortion-ban/">Florida’s ban went into place on May 1</a>.Right now, she says the clinic receives about 100 calls a day.&nbsp;&nbsp;They act as pseudo travel planners and financial aid counselors, helping book transportation and finding funding for patients.&nbsp;Despite the comparative proximity, transportation can still be a headache for some Missourians, particularly those in rural parts of the state without access to public transportation like Greyhound buses or Amtrak, Page said. Sometimes, when the patient doesn’t have a vehicle, nor access to public transportation or car rental services, their next best option is to rent a U-Haul to drive to their appointment.But more often, Page said, she hears from Missourians trying to find and afford child care, or from minors who need a legal guardian to give consent for financial assistance. Some days Page still finds herself breaking the news to Missouri callers that abortion is illegal within their state borders, and that they will likely have to take a multi-day trip to Illinois to get care.Page recently spoke with a woman who was homeless and living in a hotel with her children. She had no child-care options, nor a place to stay after the procedure. Page’s team helped connect the woman to funders who assisted with the day care fees and made sure she had a safe place to recover overnight in Illinois.&nbsp;Their work is done when they get the final call or text from a patient saying they’ve returned home safely.&nbsp;“It gives you that extra energy or extra push, determination, to continue to do what you do,” Page said. “Because it is definitely making a difference.”Alison Dreith’s hotline through Midwest Access Coalition, an abortion fund based in Illinois, used to serve a majority of Missouri clients. As of mid-June, only 26 of the total 1,052 callers this year were from Missouri. Now most of her calls come from Texas, Indiana and Tennessee as patients from red states crowd clinics in Illinois and Kansas.&nbsp;“Every time a new state goes,” Dreith said, “it has the ripple effect that reaches the Midwest.”The need for child care is a refrain for patients, particularly lower-income Missourians,traveling to Kansas overnight for the procedure, said Wales, with Planned Parenthood Great Plains.The short drive from Kansas City to Wyandotte or Johnson counties in Kansas has expanded from a fissure to a canyon for some patients. Those requesting medication abortions are usually seen within a week, but patients needing in-clinic abortions can wait two or three weeks to be seen, Wales said.“We have to explain that we may be close to you, but we are seeing patients from around the region,” she said. “It doesn’t make it easier, necessarily, to get an appointment.”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1719238288919.png" alt=" Denise Baker, a reproductive health assistant at Planned Parenthood Great Plains prepares patient paperwork behind the clinic’s front desk on Friday in Overland Park, Kansas(Anna Spoerre/Missouri Independent)." />
 <figcaption> Denise Baker, a reproductive health assistant at Planned Parenthood Great Plains prepares patient paperwork behind the clinic’s front desk on Friday in Overland Park, Kansas(Anna Spoerre/Missouri Independent).</figcaption>
 </figure>Wales said many patients are also coming to them later in gestational age, and increasingly with fetal abnormalities. This is a theme across the country,&nbsp;as patients work to find an appointment, save up money and arrange time off work.Because of the increase in demand, Planned Parenthood Great Plains will soon start seeing patients for abortions in Pittsburg, making it the fourth Kansas clinic to offer the procedure. She hopes that will cut down on drive times for Missourians in regions including Joplin and Springfield.Julie&nbsp;Burkhart, co-owner of Hope Clinic, an abortion provider in Granite City, Illinois, has seen the number of Missourians served at her clinic more than triple since 2019. But even so, the percentage of total patients from Missouri has gone from more than 60% to less than half as patients from 28 states made their way to her clinic near the Mississippi River last year.Wait times hover between one and two weeks.&nbsp;In May, the clinic saw 732 abortion patients; 45 were from Missouri.&nbsp;Funding needs have skyrocketed since Roe fell, and she’s seen the number of Missouri patients seeking abortions in their second trimester increase to 17% this year. Before Roe, it was closer to 8% for all patients.

2 years after Mo. banned abortion, navigating access still involves fear, confusion

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Ellis County Jail bookings, June 17-23, 2024

EUGENE, Ore. – Former FHSU standout performer and current FHSU employee Brett Meyer saw his run at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials conclude in the semifinals of the 1,500-meter run on Saturday evening. Meyer was one of 38 individuals who ran a qualifying time this past year to compete in the trials.

The 1,500-meter run is broken up into three rounds at the Olympic Trials. Meyer advanced through the first round of competition on Friday evening (June 21) by posting the seventh-fastest time in the field. He ran 3:36.70, only three-tenths of a second off his personal best of 3:36.40 clocked less than two weeks earlier in preparation for the trials.

He was one of 25 runners to compete in Saturday's semifinal races. He finished 20th&nbsp;overall on Saturday with a time of 3:39.38. The top five in each heat from Saturday's semifinals, plus the top two times aside from the top five of each heat, moved on to Monday's final.

Meyer ran a sub-3:40 time in nine of his last 10 1,500-meter races going back to 2023. The 3:36.40 ran on June 9 in Portland, Ore. and the 3:36.70 ran on June 21 in the U.S. Olympic Trials are his two-fastest times ever in the event. He has now dipped below 3:37 three times, all since July of 2023.A few years ago, Meyer broke a 53-year old record on February 13, 2021 by running the fastest-ever indoor mile on Kansas soil with a time of 3:58.59 at the Ichabod Invitational in Topeka, Kan. on the campus of Washburn University. It was only the second sub-4-minute indoor mile ran ever in Kansas as it topped former U.S. Olympian and University of Kansas grad Jim Ryun's time of 3:58.8 on March 4, 1967 on the old dirt track that used to encircle the basketball court inside of Allen Fieldhouse at the University of Kansas.

Meyer was the 2019 NCAA Division II national champion in the outdoor 1,500 meters, which was the culmination of his six-time All-America performance career at FHSU. He now serves as an assistant coach for the Fort Hays State track and field team. Meyer is a Coordinator for Student Engagement at Fort Hays State University in the Fischli-Wills Center for Student Success. He is a two-time graduate from Fort Hays State University, earning a bachelor of science in Health and Human Performance in 2019 before completing a master's of science in the same department in 2021.&nbsp; &nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1719246111320.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>FHSU AthleticsEUGENE, Ore. – Former FHSU standout performer and current FHSU employee Brett Meyer saw his run at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials conclude in the semifinals of the 1,500-meter run on Saturday evening. Meyer was one of 38 individuals who ran a qualifying time this past year to compete in the trials.The 1,500-meter run is broken up into three rounds at the Olympic Trials. Meyer advanced through the first round of competition on Friday evening (June 21) by posting the seventh-fastest time in the field. He ran 3:36.70, only three-tenths of a second off his personal best of 3:36.40 clocked less than two weeks earlier in preparation for the trials.He was one of 25 runners to compete in Saturday's semifinal races. He finished 20th&nbsp;overall on Saturday with a time of 3:39.38. The top five in each heat from Saturday's semifinals, plus the top two times aside from the top five of each heat, moved on to Monday's final.Meyer ran a sub-3:40 time in nine of his last 10 1,500-meter races going back to 2023. The 3:36.40 ran on June 9 in Portland, Ore. and the 3:36.70 ran on June 21 in the U.S. Olympic Trials are his two-fastest times ever in the event. He has now dipped below 3:37 three times, all since July of 2023.A few years ago, Meyer broke a 53-year old record on February 13, 2021 by running the fastest-ever indoor mile on Kansas soil with a time of 3:58.59 at the Ichabod Invitational in Topeka, Kan. on the campus of Washburn University. It was only the second sub-4-minute indoor mile ran ever in Kansas as it topped former U.S. Olympian and University of Kansas grad Jim Ryun's time of 3:58.8 on March 4, 1967 on the old dirt track that used to encircle the basketball court inside of Allen Fieldhouse at the University of Kansas.Meyer was the 2019 NCAA Division II national champion in the outdoor 1,500 meters, which was the culmination of his six-time All-America performance career at FHSU. He now serves as an assistant coach for the Fort Hays State track and field team. Meyer is a Coordinator for Student Engagement at Fort Hays State University in the Fischli-Wills Center for Student Success. He is a two-time graduate from Fort Hays State University, earning a bachelor of science in Health and Human Performance in 2019 before completing a master's of science in the same department in 2021.&nbsp; &nbsp;

🏃‍♂️ Meyer’s run at Olympic Trials concludes in 1,500m semifinals

By BECKY KISER Hays Post

When the Hays Lions Club was first organized on October 10, 1924, the members were primarily Fort Hays State University professors, and local doctors and attorneys, all male.

Today, 100 years later, the members include women, people from all walks of life and of varying ages.

The service group celebrated its 100th anniversary Saturday evening with a dinner featuring a guest speaker who is one of the club's more prominent members and a former Hays resident, U.S. Senator Jerry Moran, R-Kansas.&nbsp;

Moran served as president of the Hays Lions Club in 1990-91 and is still a member after 41 years. He is occasionally able to attend the meetings Tuesday at noon.

"I sorely miss my days as part of this club. I miss my days as part of this community," Moran said. "It's had a huge impact on my life.

"And while it's nice to know people across Kansas, you all have something special. You all have something special going on when you know what's going on in the community. You're engaged in what's going on in the community, and you make a difference."

Other special guests included state Rep. Barb Wasinger, R-Hays, Hays City Commissioner Reese Barrick, Ellis County Commissioner Michael Berges and his family, and District Judge Tom Drees and his wife Patricia.

Members from several other Kansas Lions organization were also on hand to observe the Hays club's milestone.

Attendees also included representatives from several Ellis County non-profit organizations which have received grants from the Hays Lions Club.

The club's three main fundraising projects are the annual pancake feed, an Oktoberfest booth featuring German bierocks and a golf tournament, said Jim Huenergarde, club president.

One of the club's most well-known projects is free eyesight screenings for children and adults.&nbsp;

"Lions Club work for the blind and visually impaired began in 1925 when Helen Keller addressed the international Lions convention. We've taken that up ever since then," Huenergarde said. He is a board member of the Kansas Lions Sight Foundation.

"We do a lot of it here in town. We do vision screenings at daycare centers. We help the schools. It's been very productive and helpful, especially getting the young children screened."&nbsp;

Scattered throughout the area where the dinner was catered in the NCK Technical College administration building were memorabilia of the 100 years of history of the Hays Lions, including the original framed International Association of Lions Clubs charter.&nbsp;

While Moran received a new Lions Club pin and an distinguished achievement recognition from the Lions Club International president, he, in turn, signed and presented service recognition certificates for three long-time Hays members, including 31 years for Warren Hall, who is 103 years old, 49 years for Roger Pruitt, and 56 years for Les Herrman.

Pruitt and Herrman both previously served as president of the Hays Lions Club.

"This is an organization that has a huge impact on people. ... I just encourage all of you to continue to care for other people and make a difference in this community and the lives of&nbsp; people you know and people you never met until you get a chance to help them," Moran said.

The club also announced Moran and his wife Robba had donated $1,000 to the club for local grant funding.

There are currently 50 members of the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/HaysLionsClub">Hays Lions Club</a>. They are soliciting new members. Anyone who is interested should call Huenergarde at 785-639-3430.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1719171701277.jpeg" alt="Memorabilia from the 100 years of the Hays Lions Club were displayed at the service group's centennial anniversary dinner Saturday at NCK Technical College. Photo by James Bell/Hays Post" />
 <figcaption>Memorabilia from the 100 years of the Hays Lions Club were displayed at the service group's centennial anniversary dinner Saturday at NCK Technical College. Photo by James Bell/Hays Post</figcaption>
 </figure>By BECKY KISER Hays PostWhen the Hays Lions Club was first organized on October 10, 1924, the members were primarily Fort Hays State University professors, and local doctors and attorneys, all male.Today, 100 years later, the members include women, people from all walks of life and of varying ages.The service group celebrated its 100th anniversary Saturday evening with a dinner featuring a guest speaker who is one of the club's more prominent members and a former Hays resident, U.S. Senator Jerry Moran, R-Kansas.&nbsp;<div><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LovJHb6OUrs" title="U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran at Hays Lions Club 100th anniversary 062224" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>Moran served as president of the Hays Lions Club in 1990-91 and is still a member after 41 years. He is occasionally able to attend the meetings Tuesday at noon."I sorely miss my days as part of this club. I miss my days as part of this community," Moran said. "It's had a huge impact on my life."And while it's nice to know people across Kansas, you all have something special. You all have something special going on when you know what's going on in the community. You're engaged in what's going on in the community, and you make a difference."Other special guests included state Rep. Barb Wasinger, R-Hays, Hays City Commissioner Reese Barrick, Ellis County Commissioner Michael Berges and his family, and District Judge Tom Drees and his wife Patricia.Members from several other Kansas Lions organization were also on hand to observe the Hays club's milestone.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1719182830773.png" alt="Non-profit organizations supported by the Hays Lions Club. Courtesy image" />
 <figcaption>Non-profit organizations supported by the Hays Lions Club. Courtesy image</figcaption>
 </figure>Attendees also included representatives from several Ellis County non-profit organizations which have received grants from the Hays Lions Club.The club's three main fundraising projects are the annual pancake feed, an Oktoberfest booth featuring German bierocks and a golf tournament, said Jim Huenergarde, club president.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1719180876942.jpeg" alt="Jim Huenergarde, current Hays Lions Club president, also served as president in 2023-24 and 2016-17. Photo by Becky Kiser/Hays Post" />
 <figcaption>Jim Huenergarde, current Hays Lions Club president, also served as president in 2023-24 and 2016-17. Photo by Becky Kiser/Hays Post</figcaption>
 </figure>One of the club's most well-known projects is free eyesight screenings for children and adults.&nbsp;"Lions Club work for the blind and visually impaired began in 1925 when Helen Keller addressed the international Lions convention. We've taken that up ever since then," Huenergarde said. He is a board member of the Kansas Lions Sight Foundation."We do a lot of it here in town. We do vision screenings at daycare centers. We help the schools. It's been very productive and helpful, especially getting the young children screened."&nbsp;Scattered throughout the area where the dinner was catered in the NCK Technical College administration building were memorabilia of the 100 years of history of the Hays Lions, including the original framed International Association of Lions Clubs charter.&nbsp;<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1719182029743.jpeg" alt="The original framed charter for the Hays Lions Club from December 1924. Photo by Becky Kiser/Hays Post" />
 <figcaption>The original framed charter for the Hays Lions Club from December 1924. Photo by Becky Kiser/Hays Post</figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1719183290670.jpeg" alt="Hays Lions Club member Diana Baumann presented U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-KS, with an distinguished achievement certificate signed by the Lions Club International president. Photo by Becky Kiser/Hays Post" />
 <figcaption>Hays Lions Club member Diana Baumann presented U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-KS, with an distinguished achievement certificate signed by the Lions Club International president. Photo by Becky Kiser/Hays Post</figcaption>
 </figure><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1719171707149.jpeg" alt="Warren Hall, 103, is the oldest member of the Hays Lions Club. He visits with fellow Hays Lion, U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-KS, during the club's 100th anniversary celebration on June 22 in Hays. Photo by James Bell/Hays Post" />
 <figcaption>Warren Hall, 103, is the oldest member of the Hays Lions Club. He visits with fellow Hays Lion, U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-KS, during the club's 100th anniversary celebration on June 22 in Hays. Photo by James Bell/Hays Post</figcaption>
 </figure>While Moran received a new Lions Club pin and an distinguished achievement recognition from the Lions Club International president, he, in turn, signed and presented service recognition certificates for three long-time Hays members, including 31 years for Warren Hall, who is 103 years old, 49 years for Roger Pruitt, and 56 years for Les Herrman.Pruitt and Herrman both previously served as president of the Hays Lions Club."This is an organization that has a huge impact on people. ... I just encourage all of you to continue to care for other people and make a difference in this community and the lives of&nbsp; people you know and people you never met until you get a chance to help them," Moran said.The club also announced Moran and his wife Robba had donated $1,000 to the club for local grant funding.There are currently 50 members of the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/HaysLionsClub">Hays Lions Club</a>. They are soliciting new members. Anyone who is interested should call Huenergarde at 785-639-3430.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1719182148709.jpeg" alt="Courtesy image" />
 <figcaption>Courtesy image</figcaption>
 </figure>

🎥Hays Lions Club celebrates 100th anniversary 

HAYS – Nathan Wilson
struck out 11 batters over six innings, Tyler Lyssy had two hits and drove in a
pair of runs and the Hays Larks beat the Gameday Angels 5-2 on Sunday to complete
a three-game series sweep at Larks Park.

Aiden Schmidgall and
Trent Baker combined to pitch three scoreless innings of relief as the Larks (13-2,
10-1 RMBL) ran their winning-streak to nine games.

Wilson (5-0) retired 14
of the first 15 batters he faced before giving up a solo home run in the fifth.

The Larks scored two in
the second. Lyssy was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded for the first run. Kaiden
Duncan reached on a error which scored the second run.

The Angels scored single
runs in the fifth and sixth to tie the game at 2-2, but the Larks answered with
three in the bottom of the sixth to take the lead back for good. An error on
the Gameday catcher allowed Wilbert Espinal to score the go-ahead run. Russell
Houston doubled which drove in Taber Stokes. Houston scored on a two-out double
from Lyssy to close out the scoring.

The Larks pitching staff combined to strike out 13 batters Sunday and 39 for the three-game series. After fanning a season-high 15 Angel hitters in Friday's series opener, they struck out 11 on Saturday.

After playing 13 of
their last 14 games at home, the Larks play nine of their next 11 on the road
beginning with a non-league game Monday night in Junction City against the
Brigade.

Hays PostHAYS – Nathan Wilson
struck out 11 batters over six innings, Tyler Lyssy had two hits and drove in a
pair of runs and the Hays Larks beat the Gameday Angels 5-2 on Sunday to complete
a three-game series sweep at Larks Park.Aiden Schmidgall and
Trent Baker combined to pitch three scoreless innings of relief as the Larks (13-2,
10-1 RMBL) ran their winning-streak to nine games.Wilson (5-0) retired 14
of the first 15 batters he faced before giving up a solo home run in the fifth.The Larks scored two in
the second. Lyssy was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded for the first run. Kaiden
Duncan reached on a error which scored the second run.The Angels scored single
runs in the fifth and sixth to tie the game at 2-2, but the Larks answered with
three in the bottom of the sixth to take the lead back for good. An error on
the Gameday catcher allowed Wilbert Espinal to score the go-ahead run. Russell
Houston doubled which drove in Taber Stokes. Houston scored on a two-out double
from Lyssy to close out the scoring.DOUBLE-DIGIT STIKEOUTSThe Larks pitching staff combined to strike out 13 batters Sunday and 39 for the three-game series. After fanning a season-high 15 Angel hitters in Friday's series opener, they struck out 11 on Saturday.UP NEXTAfter playing 13 of
their last 14 games at home, the Larks play nine of their next 11 on the road
beginning with a non-league game Monday night in Junction City against the
Brigade.

⚾ Wilson strikes out 11 as Larks run win-streak to nine games

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/peggylowe/">PEGGY LOWE</a>&nbsp;AND&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/bramsablesmith/">BRAM SABLE-SMITH</a>

Abigail Arellano keeps her son Samuel’s medical bills in a blue folder in a cabinet above the microwave. Even now, four months after the 11-year-old was shot at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade, the bills keep coming.

There’s one for $1,040 for the ambulance ride to the hospital that February afternoon. Another for $2,841.17 from an emergency room visit they made three days after the shooting because his bullet wound looked infected. More follow-ups and counseling in March added another $1,500.

“I think I’m missing some,” Arellano said as she leafed through the pages.

The Arellanos are uninsured and counting on assistance from the fund that raised nearly $2 million in the aftermath of the shooting that left one dead and at least 24 other people with bullet wounds. She keeps that application in the blue folder as well.

The medical costs incurred by the survivors of the shooting are hitting hard, and they won’t end soon. The average medical spending for someone who is shot&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M21-2812">increases by nearly $30,000</a>&nbsp;in the first year, according to a Harvard Medical School study. Another study found that number&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/children-who-survive-shootings-endure-huge-health-obstacles-and-costs/">goes up to $35,000</a>&nbsp;for children. Ten kids were shot at the parade.

Then there are life’s ordinary bills — rent, utilities, car repairs — that don’t stop just because someone survived a mass shooting, even if their injuries prevent them from working or sending kids to school.

The financial burden that comes with surviving is so common it has a name, according to Aswad Thomas of the nonprofit Alliance for Safety and Justice: victimization debt. Some pay it out-of-pocket. Some open a new credit card. Some find help from generous strangers. Others can’t make ends meet.

“We’re really broke right now,” said Jacob Gooch Sr., another survivor, who was shot through the foot and has not yet been able to return to work.

“We’re, like, exhausting our third credit card.”

As is common after mass shootings, a mosaic of new and established resources emerged in this Missouri city promising help. Those include the #KCStrong fund established by the United Way of Greater Kansas City, which is expected to begin paying victims at the end of June.

Survivors must navigate each opportunity to request help as best they can — and hope money comes through.

GoFundMe, generous strangers and a new line of credit

Mostly, it’s the moms who keep the bills organized. Tucked above the microwave. Zipped inside a purse. Screenshots stored on a phone. And then there’s a maze of paperwork: The Missouri state victims’ compensation form is five pages, including instructions. It’s another six pages for help from the United Way.

Emily Tavis keeps stacks of paperwork with color-coded binder clips in her basement: Black for her partner, Gooch Sr.; blue for her stepson, Jacob Gooch Jr.; pink for herself. All three were shot at the parade.

Tavis was able to walk after a bullet ripped through her leg, and she considered declining the ambulance ride because she was worried about the cost — she lacked insurance at the time.

Gooch Sr. was unable to walk because he’d been shot in the foot. So they shared an ambulance to the hospital with two of their kids.

“I’m not paying for this s—. I didn’t ask for this life,” Tavis, laughing, recalled thinking at the time. They soon realized 14-year-old Gooch Jr. had a bullet in his foot as well.

Tavis and Gooch Sr. received separate $1,145 bills for the ambulance. Gooch Jr. did not, possibly because he has health coverage through Medicaid, Tavis said.

She sends the medical bills to victims’ compensation, a program to help with the economic losses from a crime, such as medical expenses and lost wages. Even though Tavis and Gooch live in Leavenworth, Kansas, their compensation comes from the program in Missouri, where the shooting occurred.

The program pays only for economic losses not covered by&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://dps.mo.gov/dir/programs/cvc/documents/CVC-Fact-Sheet.pdf">other sources</a>&nbsp;like health insurance, donations, and crowdsourced fundraisers. Gooch Sr. and Jr. both had health insurance at the time of the parade, so the family has been sending only the uncovered portion to victims’ compensation.

The family initially received a lot of support. Friends and relatives made sure they had food to eat. The founder of an online group of Kansas City Chiefs fans sent $1,000 and gifts for the family. A&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/helping-one-family-at-a-time-kc-parade-tragedy">GoFundMe</a>&nbsp;page raised $9,500. And their tax refund helped.

They knew money might get tight with Gooch Sr. unable to work, so they paid three months’ rent in advance. They also paid to have his Ford Escape fixed so he could eventually return to work and bought Tavis a used Honda Accord so she could drive to the job she started 12 days after the parade.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1719141597423.png" alt="Unable to work after being shot at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade in February, Jacob Gooch Sr. initially received short-term disability payments. But that assistance abruptly stopped in May when he started seeing a new doctor who was in network with his health insurance. The issue was resolved in June and he was expecting back pay soon (Christopher Smith/KFF News)." />
 <figcaption>Unable to work after being shot at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade in February, Jacob Gooch Sr. initially received short-term disability payments. But that assistance abruptly stopped in May when he started seeing a new doctor who was in network with his health insurance. The issue was resolved in June and he was expecting back pay soon (Christopher Smith/KFF News).</figcaption>
 </figure>BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/peggylowe/">PEGGY LOWE</a>&nbsp;AND&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/bramsablesmith/">BRAM SABLE-SMITH</a>Abigail Arellano keeps her son Samuel’s medical bills in a blue folder in a cabinet above the microwave. Even now, four months after the 11-year-old was shot at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade, the bills keep coming.There’s one for $1,040 for the ambulance ride to the hospital that February afternoon. Another for $2,841.17 from an emergency room visit they made three days after the shooting because his bullet wound looked infected. More follow-ups and counseling in March added another $1,500.“I think I’m missing some,” Arellano said as she leafed through the pages.The Arellanos are uninsured and counting on assistance from the fund that raised nearly $2 million in the aftermath of the shooting that left one dead and at least 24 other people with bullet wounds. She keeps that application in the blue folder as well.The medical costs incurred by the survivors of the shooting are hitting hard, and they won’t end soon. The average medical spending for someone who is shot&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M21-2812">increases by nearly $30,000</a>&nbsp;in the first year, according to a Harvard Medical School study. Another study found that number&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/children-who-survive-shootings-endure-huge-health-obstacles-and-costs/">goes up to $35,000</a>&nbsp;for children. Ten kids were shot at the parade.Then there are life’s ordinary bills — rent, utilities, car repairs — that don’t stop just because someone survived a mass shooting, even if their injuries prevent them from working or sending kids to school.The financial burden that comes with surviving is so common it has a name, according to Aswad Thomas of the nonprofit Alliance for Safety and Justice: victimization debt. Some pay it out-of-pocket. Some open a new credit card. Some find help from generous strangers. Others can’t make ends meet.“We’re really broke right now,” said Jacob Gooch Sr., another survivor, who was shot through the foot and has not yet been able to return to work.“We’re, like, exhausting our third credit card.”As is common after mass shootings, a mosaic of new and established resources emerged in this Missouri city promising help. Those include the #KCStrong fund established by the United Way of Greater Kansas City, which is expected to begin paying victims at the end of June.Survivors must navigate each opportunity to request help as best they can — and hope money comes through.<h2>GoFundMe, generous strangers and a new line of credit</h2>Mostly, it’s the moms who keep the bills organized. Tucked above the microwave. Zipped inside a purse. Screenshots stored on a phone. And then there’s a maze of paperwork: The Missouri state victims’ compensation form is five pages, including instructions. It’s another six pages for help from the United Way.Emily Tavis keeps stacks of paperwork with color-coded binder clips in her basement: Black for her partner, Gooch Sr.; blue for her stepson, Jacob Gooch Jr.; pink for herself. All three were shot at the parade.Tavis was able to walk after a bullet ripped through her leg, and she considered declining the ambulance ride because she was worried about the cost — she lacked insurance at the time.Gooch Sr. was unable to walk because he’d been shot in the foot. So they shared an ambulance to the hospital with two of their kids.“I’m not paying for this s—. I didn’t ask for this life,” Tavis, laughing, recalled thinking at the time. They soon realized 14-year-old Gooch Jr. had a bullet in his foot as well.Tavis and Gooch Sr. received separate $1,145 bills for the ambulance. Gooch Jr. did not, possibly because he has health coverage through Medicaid, Tavis said.She sends the medical bills to victims’ compensation, a program to help with the economic losses from a crime, such as medical expenses and lost wages. Even though Tavis and Gooch live in Leavenworth, Kansas, their compensation comes from the program in Missouri, where the shooting occurred.The program pays only for economic losses not covered by&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://dps.mo.gov/dir/programs/cvc/documents/CVC-Fact-Sheet.pdf">other sources</a>&nbsp;like health insurance, donations, and crowdsourced fundraisers. Gooch Sr. and Jr. both had health insurance at the time of the parade, so the family has been sending only the uncovered portion to victims’ compensation.The family initially received a lot of support. Friends and relatives made sure they had food to eat. The founder of an online group of Kansas City Chiefs fans sent $1,000 and gifts for the family. A&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/helping-one-family-at-a-time-kc-parade-tragedy">GoFundMe</a>&nbsp;page raised $9,500. And their tax refund helped.They knew money might get tight with Gooch Sr. unable to work, so they paid three months’ rent in advance. They also paid to have his Ford Escape fixed so he could eventually return to work and bought Tavis a used Honda Accord so she could drive to the job she started 12 days after the parade.And because the donations were intended for the whole family, they decided to buy summer passes to the Worlds of Fun amusement park for the kids.But recently, they’ve felt stretched. Gooch Sr.’s short-term disability payments abruptly stopped in May when his health insurance prompted him to see an in-network doctor. He said the short-term disability plan initially didn’t approve the paperwork from his new doctor and started an investigation. The issue was resolved in June and he was expecting back pay soon. In the interim, though, the couple opened a new credit card to cover their bills.In the interim, the couple opened a new credit card to cover their bills.“We’ve definitely been robbing Peter to pay Paul,” Tavis said.Ideally, the money that eventually comes from the United Way, victims’ compensation, and, they hope, back pay from short-term disability will be enough to pay off their debts.But, Tavis said, “You gotta do what you gotta do. We’re not going to go without lights.”<h2>United Way payout expected at end of June</h2>With every mass shooting, donations for survivors inevitably flow in, “just like peanut butter goes with jelly, because people want to help,” said Jeff Dion, executive director of the&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://massviolencesurvivorsfund.org/">Mass Violence Survivors Fund</a>, a nonprofit that has helped many communities manage such funds.Typically, he said, it takes about five months to disburse the money from these large community funds. Victims can potentially get money sooner if their community has a plan in place for these types of funds before a mass shooting. Funds may also advance money to people with urgent financial needs who are certain to qualify.The United Way hung banners in the Chiefs colors on Kansas City’s Union Station with its #KCStrong campaign within days of the shootings. Driven by large donations from the team, the NFL, quarterback Patrick Mahomes, other individuals, and local companies, it ultimately raised more than $1.8 million.The promise of a large payout has kept the injured hopeful, even as many felt confused by the process. Some people interviewed for this story did not wish to say anything negative, fearing it would hurt their allocation.United Way officials announced in April that donations would be closed at the end of that month. On May 1, the organization&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://unitedwaygkc.org/2024/05/01/kcstrong-update-fund-delivery-process-in-motion/">posted a notice</a>&nbsp;saying it would issue “claimant forms” and that the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office was helping verify shooting victims. The United Way affiliate’s board of trustees plans to meet June 26 to determine allocations, with payments arriving as early as June 27.Kera Mashek, a spokesperson for United Way of Greater Kansas City, said payouts will be made to 20 of the 24 shooting survivors. The other four either couldn’t be verified as victims or turned down the funds, she said. Claimants do not include the 67 people prosecutors say were trampled in the melee, she said.Pending board approval, money will also be disbursed to 14 community groups that support nonviolence initiatives, mental health concerns, and first responders, Mashek said.To criticism that the United Way didn’t communicate well with the victims, Mashek said it tried to respond in a timely manner.“We’ve tried to keep that line of communication open as fast as possible and most people have been very patient,” she said. “I think that they will be very grateful and very, I believe, pleasantly surprised with the amount of funding that they receive.”<h2>Other resources available</h2>Abigail Arellano hadn’t heard of victims’ compensation, which is common. A&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://allianceforsafetyandjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Alliance-for-Safety-and-Justice-Crime-Survivors-Speak-September-2022.pdf">2022 survey</a>&nbsp;from the Alliance for Safety and Justice found that 96% of victims did not receive that support and many didn’t know it existed.Arellano and her husband, Antonio, didn’t attend the parade but they’ve had medical expenses as well. Antonio has been going to therapy at a local health center to help with the stressful task of guiding his son through the trauma. It’s been helpful. But he’s been paying around $125 out-of-pocket for each session, he said, and the bills are mounting.One of Samuel’s sisters set up a&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/bhwqge-samuels-medical-expenses?utm_campaign=p_lico+share-sheet-first-launch&amp;utm_medium=copy_link&amp;utm_source=customer&amp;modal=share">GoFundMe</a>&nbsp;that raised $12,500, and Abigail said it helped that the family shared their story publicly and that Abigail reached out to help others in the Latino community affected by the shooting.It was Abigail, for instance, who connected&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/the-injured-super-bowl-parade-kansas-city-bullets-still-bodies/">71-year-old Sarai Holguin</a>&nbsp;with the Mexican Consulate in Kansas City. The consulate, in turn, helped Holguin register as an official victim of the shooting, which will enable her to receive assistance from the United Way. Holguin’s bills now include a fourth surgery, to remove the bullet lodged near her knee that she had previously made peace with living with forever — until it began protruding through her skin.<h2>‘Generous and quick’ relief to victims</h2>Several survivors were relieved and grateful to receive funds from a less high-profile, nondenominational group called “<a target="_blank" href="https://www.thechurchloveskansascity.org/">The Church Loves Kansas City.</a>”The day after the shooting, Gary Kendall, who ran a Christian nonprofit called “Love KC,” started a text chain at 6 a.m. with city leaders and faith-based groups, and eventually received pledges of $184,500. (Love KC has now merged with another nonprofit, “Unite KC,” which is disbursing its funds.)The first payout went to the family of Lisa Lopez-Galvan, the 43-year-old mother of two and popular DJ who was the sole fatality during the parade shootings. Unite KC spent $15,000 on her burial expenses.Unite KC spent $2,800 so James and Brandie Lemons could get their health insurance restored because James couldn’t work. Unite KC also paid $2,200 for the out-of-pocket surgical costs when James decided to get the bullet removed from his leg.“I appreciate it,” an emotional James Lemons said. “They don’t have to do that, to open their hearts for no reason.”Erika Nelson was struggling to pay for household expenses and had to take time off from her home health care job to take her injured daughter, 15-year-old Mireya, to doctor appointments. Mireya was shot&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.kcur.org/health/2024-05-08/chiefs-super-bowl-parade-shot-bullets-in-bodies-kansas-city-surgery-doctor">in the chin and shoulder</a>&nbsp;and is recovering.A&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/child-super-bowl-parade-shooting-victim">GoFundMe</a>&nbsp;page set up by Nelson’s best friend raised about $11,000, but it was frozen after Nelson tried to get into the account and GoFundMe thought it was being hacked. She feared the lights would be shut off in their apartment, because of unpaid electric bills, and was feeling desperate.“I’m struggling with, like, you know, groceries,” Nelson said. “People were like, ‘Oh, go to food pantries.’ Well, the food pantries are not open the times I can get off. I can’t just take off work to go to a food pantry.”After meeting with Gary Kendall, Nelson received three months of rent and utility payments, about $3,500.“A weight off my shoulder. I mean, yeah. In a big way,” she whispered. “’Cause you never know. You never know what can happen in two days, five days, two weeks, two months.”Samuel Arellano’s family recently connected with Unite KC, which will pay for his ambulance bill, one of the hospital bills, and some therapy, worth about $6,000. The bill for the initial emergency room trip was about $20,000, his parents said, but the hospital had been reluctant to send it and ultimately covered the cost.And Unite KC also intends to pay off a $1,300 credit card bill for Emily Tavis and Jacob Gooch Sr.Unite KC has disbursed $40,000 so far and hopes to connect with more of the injured families, hoping to be as “generous and quick as we can,” Kendall said. United Way will be like a “lightning bolt” for victims’ relief, Kendall said, but his group is aiming for something different, more like a campfire that burns for the next year.“We agree this is a horrific thing that happened. It’s a sad state of humanity but it’s a real part,” he said. “So we want to remind them that God has not forgotten you. And that although he allowed this, he has not abandoned them. We believe we can be like an extension of his love to these people.”<a target="_blank" href="https://kffhealthnews.org/about-us">KFF Health News</a>&nbsp;is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.kff.org/about-us">KFF</a>.