With a 15-point margin, Chanute High School has once again been named the winner of the Martin Rohde Southeast Kansas League All-Sports Award for the 2022-23 school year.
Chanute captured the all-sports championship with 77.5 points. Taking second place in the final standings was Fort Scott at 62.5. Just one point separated second through fourth place, with Pittsburg finishing third at 62 and Independence fourth at 61.5. Rounding out the standings were Labette County in fifth at 52.5, Parsons sixth at 42.5 and Field Kindley seventh at 40.5.
This is the fourth straight year the Blue Comets have captured the Rohde Award, which began at the end of the 1976-77 school year and was named after the long-time Pittsburg educator and coach. It is also the seventh time Chanute has won the award all-time — previously doing so in 2006-07, 2012-13 and 2014-15.
The Rohde Award was based on final results of 17 total sports championships during the fall, winter and spring seasons. Although schools also compete in boys’ and girls’ swimming, they have not been declared official sports as of yet by the SEK.
Prior to Chanute’s run of four straight awards, Pittsburg had captured the previous four and still holds the record for most in SEK history with 15. The last time a school other than Chanute or Pittsburg won the award was in 2005-06 when Labette County was the winner.
Fort Scott is second on the all-time list with 9, followed by Independence and Chanute tied for third with 7, Labette County fifth with 5, and Parsons and Field Kindley tied for sixth with 2 each. Columbus, Iola and Ottawa never won the Rohde Award during the years they competed in the Southeast Kansas League.
The 15-point difference was one of the widest margins ever for the winner of the Rohde Award. Last year’s award had just a five-point separation between Chanute and co-runner-up finishes by Pittsburg and Independence.
In this year’s final standings, Chanute won league championships in six different sports during the 2022-23 school year — football, volleyball, boys’ cross country, girls’ wrestling, boys’ wrestling and boys’ track and field. The Blue Comets led the standings from start to finish, claiming three titles in the fall, two in the winter and one more in the spring. CHS shared the volleyball championship with Fort Scott.
Fort Scott took second place in the final all-around standings. The Tigers claimed three SEK titles in volleyball, girls’ basketball and baseball. Pittsburg, which took third place, won league championships in boys’ basketball and softball. Coming in fourth was Independence, which claimed five team titles in boys’ soccer, girls’ tennis, girls’ golf, boys’ tennis and boys’ golf.
In fifth place was Labette County. The Grizzlies won championships in girls’ cross country and girls’ track and field. Parsons and Field Kindley rounded out the final standings. The Vikings and Golden Tornado did not win a team title.
Points for this year’s Martin Rohde award were compiled by Montgomery County Chronicle sports editor Brian Thomas.
SCHOOL POINTS
1. Chanute 77.5
2. Fort Scott 62.5
3. Pittsburg 62
4. Independence 61.5
5. Labette County 52.5
6. Parsons 42.5
7. Field Kindley 40.5
FALL SPORTS CHAMPIONS
Chanute: football, volleyball (shared), boys’ cross country
Independence: boys’ soccer, girls’ tennis, girls’ golf
Fort Scott: volleyball (shared)
Labette County: girls’ cross country
*Parsons and Pittsburg were not scored in football as they chose to play as independents.
*Labette County was not scored in soccer as it did not have a team.
*Field Kindley, Parsons and Pittsburg were not scored for girls’ cross country as they did not have enough participants in the league meet.
*Parsons was not scored for boys’ cross country as it did not have enough participants in the league meet.
*Fort Scott and Parsons were not scored in girls’ golf as they did not field a complete team for each league tournament, making the Tigers and Vikings ineligible for the championship. Field Kindley did not participate.
WINTER SPORTS CHAMPIONS
Fort Scott: girls’ basketball
Pittsburg: boys’ basketball
Chanute: girls’ wrestling, boys’ wrestling
*Parsons was not scored in girls’ wrestling as it did not participate in the league championships.
SPRING SPORTS CHAMPIONS
Fort Scott: baseball
Chanute: boys’ track and field
Pittsburg: softball
Independence: boys’ tennis, boys’ golf
Labette County: girls’ track and field
*Parsons was not scored in boys’ golf as it did not field a complete team for each league tournament, making the Vikings ineligible for the championship.
MAX POINTS POSSIBLE:
7 — volleyball, girls’ tennis, girls’ basketball, boys’ basketball, boys’ wrestling, baseball, softball, boys’ tennis, boys’ track and field, girls’ track and field
6 — boys’ soccer, boys’ cross country, girls’ wrestling, boys’ golf
5 — football
4 — girls’ cross country, girls’ golf
PAST WINNERS:
1976-77: Field Kindley
1977-78: Field Kindley (2)
1978-79: Independence
1979-80: Independence (2)
1980-81: Pittsburg
1981-82: Pittsburg (2)
1982-83: Pittsburg (3)
1983-84: Pittsburg (4)
1984-85: Independence (3)
1986-86: Parsons
1986-87: Parsons (2)
1987-88: Labette County
1988-89: Labette County (2)
1989-90: Pittsburg (5)
1990-91: Labette County (3)
1991-92: Independence (4)
1992-93: Independence (5)
1993-94: Fort Scott
1994-95: Fort Scott (2)
1995-96: Fort Scott (3)
1996-97: Fort Scott (4)
1997-98: Labette County (4)
1998-99: Fort Scott (5)
1999-2000: Fort Scott (6)
2000-01: Independence (6)
2001-02: Independence (7)
2002-03: Fort Scott (7)
2003-04: Fort Scott (8)
2004-05: Fort Scott (9)
2005-06: Labette County (5)
2006-07: Chanute
2007-08: Pittsburg (6)
2008-09: Pittsburg (7)
2009-10: Pittsburg (8)
2010-11: Pittsburg (9)
2011-12: Pittsburg (10)
2012-13: Chanute (2)
2013-14: Pittsburg (11)
2014-15: Chanute (3)
2015-16: Pittsburg (12)
2016-17: Pittsburg (13)
2017-18: Pittsburg (14)
2018-19: Pittsburg (15)
2019-20: Chanute (4)
2020-21: Chanute (5)
2021-22: Chanute (6)
2022-23: Chanute (7)