Willingham's four goals, two assists power Washburn Rural soccer to 9-1 win over Seaman
By TODD FERTIG
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural gave a sendoff to a group of seniors who don’t figure to finish their high school careers anytime soon. The group of 12 seniors dominated Seaman 9-1 in their final regular-season game at McElroy Field, but they figure to host several more games come playoff time.
Senior Dylan Willingham netted four scores and added two assists to lead the rout.
Senior Dylan Willingham had four goals and two assists in Washburn Rural's 9-1 Senior Night win over Seaman Thursday night. [File photo/TSN]
“I love this group,” Willingham said. “We’ve worked really well together, and our chemistry is really tight. We are all really good friends and we all love coming out here and playing together.
“I think as a group we’re a really good team and we have got a shot this year at winning the whole thing.”
Willingham put the Junior Blues up early at 34:11 in the first half. Seaman locked down the net for the next 20 minutes, however, until Willingham scored again.
Even then, the Vikings weren’t going away. Seaman senior Kaelon Taylor broke through the Junior Blue defense to cut the Washburn Rural lead to 2-1.
But at that point, the home team poured it on, scoring three more times in the remaining eight minutes of the period. The Junior Blues came back with four goals in the first 16 minutes of the second period to induce an early exit.
Washburn Rural improved to 11-1-1 with two games remaining – at Hummer Sports Park to face Topeka High next Monday and at Blue Valley North next Thursday.
“Every time we’ve had really successful teams here, we’ve had big, strong, successful senior classes, and this one’s as good as we’ve had,” said Washburn Rural coach Brian Hensyel. “I told the guys before the game that one of the great parts of my job is when you have a really good senior class that make your job easy.
"They promote being good teammates. They work hard. They buy into what their coaches are telling them. Over a four-year time period, they can really develop into some really good soccer players.''
State tennis preview: Seaman two-time Class 5A medalist Sweeney ready to challenge for title
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Junior Emma Sweeney has been a star for the Seaman girls tennis team since she stepped on campus.
Seaman junior Emma Sweeney, the No. 2 seed, will be aiming for her third straight Class 5A singles medal in this weekend's state tournament at Kossover Tennis Center. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Megan Sweeney roots on big sister Emma Sweeney during last Saturday's Class 5A regional tournament at Kossover Tennis Center. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
And after earning a Class 5A state medal with an 11th-place singles finish as a freshman and turning in a strong fourth-place showing as a sophomore, Sweeney feels like she's in position to take another big step in Friday and Saturday's state meet at Kossover Tennis Center.
Sweeney has put together a banner 27-1 campaign so far with a sweep of city, United Kansas Conference and 5A regional titles and earned the No. 2 seed for this weekend's state event.
"I'm excited,'' Sweeney said. "I'm nervous, but nerves are good. I've been hitting really good, really loose and just hitting good shots.
"And then from a mental standpoint, I think my head's pretty clear, too.''
Seaman is coming off a sweep of city, United Kansas Conference and regional team championships and will be aiming for a second straight 5A team trophy after finishing third a year ago.
"I think we're aiming for third or above,'' Sweeney said. "We got it last year so, I think that's what we're looking for this year, and we've all made it (to state), so if we are all able to make it to the second day and place I think we're putting ourself in a good position.''
Two-time regional champ Sweeney led the way last Saturday at Kossover as the Vikings edged St. James Academy for the regional crown.
Seaman senior Molly Gorman is a three-time Class 5A state medalist entering this weekend's state tournament at Kossover Tennis Center. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Viking senior Molly Gorman finished second to Sweeney at regionals for the second straight season and will be shooting for her fourth straight state medal.
Gorman finished 10th in 5A singles last season after teaming with Katie Krumins to earn state medals in doubles as a freshman and sophomore.
Gorman is 24-6 on the season and has been installed as the eighth seed for state.
Seaman senior Peyton Henry and junior Camryn Lux finished third at regionals while Viking juniors Kaylyn Hiebsch and Cadence Speer finished fourth.
Henry and Lux are 25-5 on the season and the No. 6 seed for state while Hiebsch and Speer are 22-8 and seeded No. 13.
The 5A state tournament will start at 10:30 a.m. Friday and continue on Saturday with a 9 a.m. start.
Class 6A at Olathe College Boulevard Activity Center
Washburn Rural and Topeka High finished one-two in the Class 6A regional at Wichita while combining for eight state qualifiers for this weekend's state meet at the College Boulevard Activity Center in Olathe.
Topeka High senior Madeline Deters won a Class 6A regional title last Friday and will be aiming for her second straight state medal this weekend. [File photo/TSN]
Washburn Rural junior Julia Katzer is headed to her second Class 6A state tournament this weekend after advancing in singles last season. [File photo/TSN]
Washburn Rural junior Halle Owen (above) teamed with Julia Katzer to win a Class 6A regional doubles title last Friday. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
The Trojans and Junior Blues swept the regional singles and doubles championships, with Topeka High senior Madeline Deters taking the singles crown and Washburn Rural juniors Julia Katzer and Halle Owen winning the doubles title.
Deters, a three-time state qualifier who placed eighth at state in 2024, is 29-4 this fall and has been installed as the No. 4 seed for state.
Katzer and Owen will take a 25-4 into the state meet and are seeded No. 9. Katzer will be making her second straight state appearance after qualifying in singles a year ago.
Rural also qualified freshman singles player Bridget Hoopes and the doubles team of senior Alizah Alvarez-Chedzoy and sophomore Annie Henderson for state while Topeka High qualified the doubles team of senior Ava Ritter and sophomore Hailey Caryl.
Hoopes (18-5) finished third at regionals and is seeded No. 14 for state while Alvarez-Chedzoy and Henderson (7-2) posted a fifth-place regional finish and are seeded 21st for state.
Caryl and Ritter (24-8) took third at regionals to earn their second straight state berth and are the No. 17 doubles seed.
The first round of state competition will begin at 10:30 a.m. Friday.
Class 4A at Prairie Village Harmon Park Tennis Complex
Hayden will enter the Class 4A state tournament as the defending state champion and is coming off a regional team title Saturday at Marysville while qualifying its entire team for state at the Harmon Park Tennis Complex in Prairie Village.
Wildcat senior Avery O'Bray and sophomore Sophia Wichman won the regional doubles championship and will take an 11-5 record into the state meet as the ninth seed. Wichman teamed with then-senior Emily Sheetz to finish second in the 2024 state meet while O'Bray teamed with Izzy Glotzbach to earn an 11th-place medal.
Hayden freshman Lana Hull (20-8) and senior Grace Funk (5-5) posted third and fourth-place singles finishes at regionals and are seeded No. 11 and No. 12 for state.
Funk is a two-time state medalist, including a ninth-place finish in 2024.
Senior Kinsey Bullock and junior Kaelyn Gerdel (4-8) qualified for state with a fifth-place regional finish and are the 21st seed for this weekend's tournament.
The first round of state competition will begin at 10:30 a.m. Friday.
WU soccer to put seven-game unbeaten streak on the line in pair of weekend MIAA contests
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The Washburn Ichabod soccer team returns home this weekend for a pair of MIAA contests, hosting Northeastern State at 6 p.m. on Friday and Rogers State at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
Leah Henke
Sam Searcey
The Ichabods, 7-2-2 overall, 4-0-1 in the MIAA, are riding a seven-game unbeaten streak into Friday's match that includes six wins and one tie and Washburn coach Davy Philips said it's important to continue building.
"Northeastern's really good,'' Phillips said. "They drew (Central Missouri) earlier in the year and they've been in the region top 10 most of it so they're going to be a really good challenge for us and then every game from here on out is really important to maximize our performance index points and RPI, so whether its Rogers on Sunday or Northeastern on Friday, both of those are equally important because it's important we max out all the points we can through every game now.
"It's a tough slate of games coming up no doubt, but one of the best things about it is I feel like we're growing every week. It feels good to see growth, but it's also important to acknowledge that we have a lot of growth still to accomplish.''
Last Friday night, freshman Leah Henke scored a four-minute hat trick -- the sixth in program history and the first since 2022 -- in a 5-1 win road win over Missouri Southern. Henke has eight goals this season, ranking second in the MIAA and tied for 17th nationally.
On Sunday sophomore Sam Searcey scored both Ichabod goals in a 2-0 shutout at Pittsburg State.
Leah Henke
Sam Searcey 
