Garden Plain has a number of athletes that have gone and played at the college level. One of the most recent athletes to do so is Gage Lee. Lee graduated in 2024 and played football and wrestled throughout high school. After high school he went on to college at Friends University and is a running back on their football team.
Friends University football is currently 6-0 on the season and looking for a championship this season. They are currently averaging about 43 points per game while also allowing close to only 11 points per game. You must be willing to give all of your time and effort to put up those kinds of numbers. So we asked Lee about how many hours of his week are dedicated to practice, lifting, film, team meetings, etc. He replied with, “I would say I dedicate about 20-22 hours a week to sport related activities, most of those hours are practice as you would expect. Film also takes up a lot of my time as well.” Lee added that his farthest game on his schedule is, “In week 3 we had to travel all the way to Avila University which is in Kansas City.” In that road game, the Falcons won by a landslide score of 56-10.
Another Garden Plain athlete that has gone to play collegiality, is Taegan Gallagher. Taegan was part of the Garden Plain class of 2023 and ran track all throughout high school. He now continues to run track for the Tabor Blue Jays. They are in the NAIA division located in Hillsboro, Kansas. He runs a number of events including the 400 meter dash, the 200 meter dash, the 4×100 meter relay, and the 4×400 meter relay. Last season the Blue Jays had a total of 12 meets in the span of two months. Gallagher spends a lot of his off season preparing for his sport. He said, “During the off season I usually train for about 5 days a week and use the weekend as my 2 rest days.” In his last regular season meet which was held at Baker University he placed 4th out of 15 in the 400m and 6th out for 15 in the 200m. Now Gallagher must continue to prepare and train for his second year of running track for Tabor.
