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Ichabod football to cap spring with Friday night Spring Game
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Zach Watkins and his Washburn University coaching staff will finish off their first year of spring football with a 6 p.m. Spring Game Friday night at Yager Stadium.
Washburn University football will hold its 2025 Spring Game at 6 p.m. Friday. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Watkins, who was promoted to head coach in late November after starring for WU as a player and a long stint as an assistant coach, said he's been very pleased with the progess the Ichabods have made this spring in approximately 15 practices beginning in early March and sandwiched around spring break.
"I think it's been really, really good,'' Watkins said. "I think our players have really taken time to learn what their coaches are teaching. I think the coachea have taught really well the new schemes, the new expectations, the new standard.
"There's always room to improve and you never feel like you're fully prepared until game-time hits, but I'm really satisfied being 13 practices in (at mid-week) where we are this first spring.''
"The vibes are high,'' Washburn senior safety Jordan Finnesy said. "We were able to keep most all of our most crucial pieces here in the program, which is huge.''
All of the Ichabod returners were already familiar with Watkins, which Finnesy said has made for an easy transition.
"It's easy to buy in for a guy like that,'' Finnesy said. "He's a guy that's proven himself time and time again and everybody's really bought in to what coach Watkins wants to do here and what he believes in.
"I think you're going to see that on Friday and going forward as well.''
Friday's Spring Game will consist of an intrasquad contest in largely game-type conditions.
"It will be four quarters, running clock, so it will be shorter than a normal game,'' Watkins said. "We have litmited depth in the spring so it will be shorter but we'll have MIAA referees and the first and third quarters will be THUD so it won't be live tackle. The second and fourth quarters will be live tackle.
"It will be Blue vs. White team instead of 'O' vs. 'D' and we're splitting up all the kids and tried to make it even. It will feel like a game, which is cool.''
The Ichabods will open fall camp in early August and will open the 2025 season on Aug. 30 at home against Truman State.
T-Bird softball rolls past Turner for UKC twinbill sweep
By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
Shawnee Heights battered visitor Turner High School at the Lake Shawnee Softball Complex Friday night, outscoring the Bears 30-5 in a United Kansas Conference doubleheader.
Shawnee Heights junior Cianna Graves had four doubles in Friday's UKC doubleheader sweep over Turner. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The T-Birds cranked out 17 runs in the first three innings to quickly dispatch the visitors 17-2 in the first game.
Junior catcher Cianna Graves belted a double in each of the three frames, three of the team’s 12 hits. Senior pitcher Grace Proctor held the Bears to two runs in the shortened match.
Shawnee Heights senior Grace Proctor picked up the pitching win in the T-Birds' 17-2 first-game win over Turner. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
By scoring 10 runs in the first inning of the second game, the T-Birds threatened to finish the sweep in two three-inning games. But after getting up 13-0 in the second inning, they failed to post the requisite 15-run lead to put it away.
Turner plated three runs in the top of the fifth, but it wasn’t enough to extend the game further. T-Bird sophomore Haven Ellenburg threw all five innings for the victory in the second game.
“Our pitchers did really well tonight,” said T-Bird coach Tara Griffith. “(Grace) came out and threw a great first game. Towards the end of the second game, we had a little struggle, but I think they’re young and they’re doing a really good job. Haven is just a sophomore so she’s coming along well.”
Graves picked up her fourth double of the evening in the second game as the team scratched out 11 hits.
“At the beginning of the season, I wasn’t hitting that well. So, coming out being able to do something for the team really felt good,” Graves said. “I’m really excited that we have a team like this. We’re bonding really well on and off the field. I feel like we’re communicating well and just working together.”
Goehring pleased with Washburn Rural golf's early-season progress
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
WAMEGO -- Just two tournaments into the 2025 high school boys golf season, Washburn Rural coach Jared Goehring knows his Junior Blues still have a lot of work left to do.
But Goehring likes what he's seen so far, including a solid performance in Thursday's 15-school Washburn Rural Great Plains Classic at Wamego Country Club.
The Junior Blues finished ninth as a team in the top-heavy field, but were just three strokes out of a top-five finish.
Washburn Rural senior Tadd Armstrong, lining up a chip, shot a 79 for the Junior Blues in Thursday's Great Plains Classic. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Senior Tadd Armstrong led Rural's top team with a 79, while freshman Wyatt Dean also carded a 79 while playing for the Junior Blues' Gray team.
Juniors Michael Wilson and Higgins Hawks added 81s for Rural while sophomore Camden Ismert shot an 82.
"We're off to a good start,'' Goehring said. "Spring golf in the state of Kansas for boys, it's tough, and the guys have got to be able to handle conditions like today (heavy winds) and they've got to be able to handle their emotions.
"I like our lineup. I think our lineup has a lot of potential. We've got four seniors on our team who have all played in some big tournaments before, so we're going to rely on them for their leadership and experience, but we've also got some young players as evident of a freshman (Dean) today with a 79.''
Hayden senior James Kuta shot an 81 in Thursday's Great Plains Classic. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Hayden senior James Kuta shot an 81 and Wildcat senior Nick Gorman an 85 while junior Ayden Valdivia led Shawnee Heights with an 83.
Manhattan won the team title by a 303-309 margin over Shawnee Mission South while Blue Valley Northwest was third at 316.
Manhattan freshman Charlie Haney was the individual medalist with a 73.
Washburn Rural Great Plains Classic
