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Lawrence High School (Kansas)
Encyclopedia
Lawrence High School is a fully accredited public high school located in Lawrence, Kansas
, serving students in grades 9-12. The school is one of the two public high schools located in the city. Lawrence High enrolled 1,260 students in the 2007-2008 school year. The school colors are red
and black
and the mascot is the "Chesty Lion".
Lawrence High School was established in 1857 in order to help educate the growing population of Lawrence. The first classes were held in the basement of a Unitarian Church. Three years later, the school was relocated to the current site of Central Junior High School. In 1930, the Lion was introduced as the school symbol and in 1946, it made its official debut as the school mascot. Lawrence High moved to its current location in 1954.
Lawrence is a member of the Kansas State High School Activities Association
and offers a variety of sports programs. Athletic teams compete in the 6A division and are known as the "Chesty Lions". Extracurricular activities are also offered in the form of performing arts, school publications, and clubs. Throughout its history, Lawrence High has won more state championships in athletics than any other high school in the state of Kansas.
. Three years later the city of Lawrence chartered a public school system, which was located at 15th and Massachusetts, presently the site of Central Junior High School. Construction of the original building for the school was completed in 1865. The high school occupied a succession of buildings until the opening of the present campus, at 19th and Louisiana Streets, in 1954.
The building was expanded repeatedly over the ensuing forty years, as the school district struggled to keep pace with the growth of Lawrence's population. Finally, in 1997, a second public high school, Lawrence Free State High School
, was opened, ending the city's long record of all young people being educated in a single high school.
. Throughout its history, Lawrence has won more state championships than any other high school in the state. Many graduates have gone on to participate in Division I, Division II, and Division III athletics including former KU All-Americans Danny Manning
and Paul Endacott
.
listed Lawrence High School as the top high school athletics program in Kansas. Additionally, due to the success of Lawrence High and the University of Kansas
, Lawrence was featured as a candidate for Titletown
, USA by ESPN
.
in 1960. The Chesty Lions won five consecutive Kansas State High School Activities Association
state championships in Class 6A, the state's largest, from 1989 through 1993. The record was broken by Hutchinson High School in 2009. From 1930-2008, games were played at Haskell Memorial Stadium
. Following completion of the new football stadium on the Lawrence High campus, the football team began playing games on the new stadium in 2009.
Lawrence, Kansas
Lawrence is the sixth largest city in the U.S. State of Kansas and the county seat of Douglas County. Located in northeastern Kansas, Lawrence is the anchor city of the Lawrence, Kansas, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Douglas County...
, serving students in grades 9-12. The school is one of the two public high schools located in the city. Lawrence High enrolled 1,260 students in the 2007-2008 school year. The school colors are red
Red
Red is any of a number of similar colors evoked by light consisting predominantly of the longest wavelengths of light discernible by the human eye, in the wavelength range of roughly 630–740 nm. Longer wavelengths than this are called infrared , and cannot be seen by the naked eye...
and black
Black
Black is the color of objects that do not emit or reflect light in any part of the visible spectrum; they absorb all such frequencies of light...
and the mascot is the "Chesty Lion".
Lawrence High School was established in 1857 in order to help educate the growing population of Lawrence. The first classes were held in the basement of a Unitarian Church. Three years later, the school was relocated to the current site of Central Junior High School. In 1930, the Lion was introduced as the school symbol and in 1946, it made its official debut as the school mascot. Lawrence High moved to its current location in 1954.
Lawrence is a member of the Kansas State High School Activities Association
Kansas State High School Activities Association
The Kansas State High School Activities Association is the organization which oversees interscholastic competition in the state of Kansas at the high school level. It oversees both athletic and non-athletic competition, and sponsors championships in several sports and activities.The KSHSAA was...
and offers a variety of sports programs. Athletic teams compete in the 6A division and are known as the "Chesty Lions". Extracurricular activities are also offered in the form of performing arts, school publications, and clubs. Throughout its history, Lawrence High has won more state championships in athletics than any other high school in the state of Kansas.
History
The school originated in 1857 and was referred to as "Quincy School". The first classes were held in the basement of a Unitarian churchUnitarianism
Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....
. Three years later the city of Lawrence chartered a public school system, which was located at 15th and Massachusetts, presently the site of Central Junior High School. Construction of the original building for the school was completed in 1865. The high school occupied a succession of buildings until the opening of the present campus, at 19th and Louisiana Streets, in 1954.
The building was expanded repeatedly over the ensuing forty years, as the school district struggled to keep pace with the growth of Lawrence's population. Finally, in 1997, a second public high school, Lawrence Free State High School
Lawrence Free State High School
Lawrence Free State High School is a fully accredited public high school, serving students in grades 9–12, located in Lawrence, Kansas. The current principal is Edward West....
, was opened, ending the city's long record of all young people being educated in a single high school.
Extracurricular activities
The Chesty Lions compete in the Sunflower League and are classified as a 6A school, the largest classification in Kansas according to the Kansas State High School Activities AssociationKansas State High School Activities Association
The Kansas State High School Activities Association is the organization which oversees interscholastic competition in the state of Kansas at the high school level. It oversees both athletic and non-athletic competition, and sponsors championships in several sports and activities.The KSHSAA was...
. Throughout its history, Lawrence has won more state championships than any other high school in the state. Many graduates have gone on to participate in Division I, Division II, and Division III athletics including former KU All-Americans Danny Manning
Danny Manning
Daniel Ricardo "Danny" Manning is a retired American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association. He is an assistant basketball coach at his alma mater, the University of Kansas Jayhawks. Manning won the National Championship with the Jayhawks in 1988 as a player, and...
and Paul Endacott
Paul Endacott
Paul Endacott was a well-known collegiate basketball player in the 1920s. The Lawrence, Kansas native attended University of Kansas from 1919 to 1923. Playing under Hall of Fame coach Phog Allen, Endacott led Kansas to consecutive Helms Foundation national championships in 1922 and 1923. In 1923...
.
Athletics
Currently Lawrence High has more than 100 state championships in various sports, one of the highest totals in the nation. The first state championship was won in 1914 in boys basketball. The next title, however, wouldn't be until 1954 in boys basketball. This started a half century of athletic achievements by the Chesty Lions. From 1954 to 2009 the Lions added 104 more state titles, bringing their total to 105. In 2008, Sports IllustratedSports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
listed Lawrence High School as the top high school athletics program in Kansas. Additionally, due to the success of Lawrence High and the University of Kansas
University of Kansas
The University of Kansas is a public research university and the largest university in the state of Kansas. KU campuses are located in Lawrence, Wichita, Overland Park, and Kansas City, Kansas with the main campus being located in Lawrence on Mount Oread, the highest point in Lawrence. The...
, Lawrence was featured as a candidate for Titletown
Titletown
Titletown, TitleTown, or Title Town or similarly Titletown USA, TitleTown USA, Title Town USA, or Titletown, USA may refer to:...
, USA by ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
.
Football
The Lawrence High School Chesty Lions have 31 undefeated seasons in football, the most in the United States. Additionally, the Chesty Lions won a High School Football National ChampionshipHigh School Football National Championship
The High School Football National Championship is a national championship honor awarded to the best high school football team in the United States of America based on rankings from USA Today and the National Prep Poll. There have been some efforts over the years at organizing a single-game playoff...
in 1960. The Chesty Lions won five consecutive Kansas State High School Activities Association
Kansas State High School Activities Association
The Kansas State High School Activities Association is the organization which oversees interscholastic competition in the state of Kansas at the high school level. It oversees both athletic and non-athletic competition, and sponsors championships in several sports and activities.The KSHSAA was...
state championships in Class 6A, the state's largest, from 1989 through 1993. The record was broken by Hutchinson High School in 2009. From 1930-2008, games were played at Haskell Memorial Stadium
Haskell Memorial Stadium
Haskell Memorial Stadium is a sport stadium in Lawrence, Kansas. The facility is primarily used by Haskell Indian Nations University for college football and formerly by local high school teams.-External links:* official website...
. Following completion of the new football stadium on the Lawrence High campus, the football team began playing games on the new stadium in 2009.
State Championships
Lawrence High has won the following state championships:| State Championships | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Sport | Number of Championships | Year |
| Fall | Football American football American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by... |
27 | 1919^, 1927^, 1928^, 1945^, 1946^, 1947+, 1952+, 1956+, 1957+, 1958+, 1959+, 1960+, 1962+, 1963+, 1964+, 1966+, 1968+, 1979, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995 |
| Cross Country, Boys Cross country running Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road... |
2 | 2008, 2009 | |
| Cross Country, Girls Cross country running Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road... |
3 | 1985, 1986, 1987 | |
| Volleyball Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive... |
15 | 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995 | |
| Gymnastics, Girls Gymnastics Gymnastics is a sport involving performance of exercises requiring physical strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, and balance. Internationally, all of the gymnastic sports are governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique with each country having its own national governing body... |
3 | 2004, 2005, 2006 | |
| Gymnastics, Boys Gymnastics Gymnastics is a sport involving performance of exercises requiring physical strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, and balance. Internationally, all of the gymnastic sports are governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique with each country having its own national governing body... |
21 | 1960, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1988 | |
| Winter | Basketball, Boys Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules... |
4 | 1914, 1948, 1983, 1995 |
| Basketball, Girls Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules... |
3 | 1984, 1992, 2008 | |
| Swimming Swimming (sport) Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native... , Boys |
1 | 1997 | |
| Indoor Track, Girls | 2 | 1977, 1978 | |
| Spring | Golf, Boys Golf Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes.... |
1 | 1983 |
| Golf, Girls Golf Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes.... |
4 | 1975, 1977, 1982, 1984 | |
| Tennis, Boys Tennis Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all... |
2 | 1981, 1995 | |
| Tennis, Girls Tennis Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all... |
1 | 1989 | |
| Baseball Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond... |
3 | 1996, 2000, 2009 | |
| Softball Softball Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand... |
1 | 1977 | |
| Swimming Swimming (sport) Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native... , Girls |
7 | 1986, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994 | |
| Track and Field, Boys | 5 | 1989, 1990, 1991, 1997, 2006 | |
| Track and Field, Girls | 2 | 1978, 1979 | |
| Total | 106 | ||
- ^ predates KSHSAA playoffs and AP poll
- +predates KSHSAA playoffs; ranked #1 in final APAssociated PressThe Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
poll
Notable alumni
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had contaminated their water supply - David G. BoothDavid G. BoothDavid G. Booth is co-founder and co-CEO of Dimensional Fund Advisors In 2008, he donated $300 million to the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, which is the largest donation ever given to a business school....
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, 38th Governor of KansasKansasKansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south... - Paul EndacottPaul EndacottPaul Endacott was a well-known collegiate basketball player in the 1920s. The Lawrence, Kansas native attended University of Kansas from 1919 to 1923. Playing under Hall of Fame coach Phog Allen, Endacott led Kansas to consecutive Helms Foundation national championships in 1922 and 1923. In 1923...
, led the Kansas Jayhawks to consecutive Helms Foundation national championships in 1922 and 1923 - John HadlJohn HadlJohn Willard Hadl is a former collegiate and professional football player.Hadl was born in Lawrence, Kansas. After playing halfback on both offense and defense at the University of Kansas as a sophomore, Hadl played quarterback for his last two years at Kansas, and was selected as the school's...
, former professional American footballAmerican footballAmerican football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
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, led the University of KansasUniversity of KansasThe University of Kansas is a public research university and the largest university in the state of Kansas. KU campuses are located in Lawrence, Wichita, Overland Park, and Kansas City, Kansas with the main campus being located in Lawrence on Mount Oread, the highest point in Lawrence. The...
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, Ford Motors CEO - Robby SteinhardtRobby SteinhardtRobert Eugene Steinhardt is a rock violinist and singer best known for his work with the group Kansas, for which he was co-lead singer / "frontman" and emcee along with keyboardist Steve Walsh, from 1973–1982 and 1997–2006...
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