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Chargers earn leg up in UKC soccer race with 4-2 win over T-Birds
By TODD FERTIG
TopSports.news
Topeka West recorded a contentious 4-2 win over Shawnee Heights Monday at Bettis Sports Complex – a victory with significant historical and league title implications.
Topeka West celebrates one of two goals from junior Makaly Martinez (11, white jersey) in Monday's 4-2 soccer win over UKC and city rival Shawnee Heights. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The Chargers gained a leg up in the four-team race for the United Kansas Conference crown by improving to 11-1 overall, 5-1-0 in the league. The T-Birds dropped to 5-1-1 in the race that also includes De Soto and Piper.
“We’ve been looking forward to this one all year,” Topeka West coach Josh Kutter said. “Everyone played their hearts out on both sides. It was fun and stressful to watch.”
Junior Makaly Martinez put the Chargers up 20 minutes into the game by converting a long pass from junior Collin McGee.
After Shawnee Heights tied the game just before half, Martinez put the Chargers up again, scoring on a penalty kick 10 minutes into the second half.
“We kept working hard, playing as a team,” Martinez said of putting his team ahead twice. “We didn’t get in our heads. We just kept pushing to keep us in the game.”
Topeka West junior Valentin Del Real (10) scored two goals in Monday's 4-2 UKC soccer win over Shawnee Heights. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Just three minutes later, junior Valentin Del Real gave the Chargers an insurance goal off an assist by senior Henry Miller. After Shawnee Heights scored to make the count 3-2, Del Real scored again, this time on a long breakaway. It was the fourth goal scored in just a nine-minute span.
“I’m really proud of the mental toughness of the kids,” Kutter said. “One thing we know we can do, we have the players and the ability to score goals and either equalize or break away.
“(Martinez and Del Real) are players that have always had that ability to take off and make great plays happen.”
“We’ve been playing together for a long time, since we were little, so we have good chemistry,” Martinez said. “We communicate well, we play good around each other, and that creates a lot of chances.”
During the flurry of second-half goals, tempers escalated. A number or yellow cards and a red card were dealt, and several long stoppages were required to sort things out.
“It’s that in-town rivalry that everyone gets up for. You could tell through the game – high emotions,” Kutter said. “These guys have been talking about this for well before the game and then for a little bit after the game, they’re gonna talk about it. It’s just good fun. It’s those in-town friends that they’ve played competitively with. It’s just a lot of pride.”
Topeka West had not defeated Shawnee Heights in years. That was not surprising in the past. But the high-quality Charger teams of the past two years were frustrated by not getting over the hump against the T-Birds. The streak finally ended Monday.
“This means a lot because we’ve been losing to that team since my freshman year,” said the junior Martinez. “So, beating them this year, scoring goals, it feels great. This is a great rivalry game, and it means a lot to us.”
Rural golf earns Class 6A state berth, Vikes' Schmidtlein paces three 5A qualifiers
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural experienced plenty of ups and downs in Monday's Class 6A girls golf sub-state at Lake Shawnee, but in the end Hayden Beck's Junior Blues achieved their main objective, earning a team berth for next week's state tournament.
Washburn Rural girls golf posted a third-place team finish in Monday's Class 6A sub-state tournament to earn a team berth for next week's state tournament. [Washburn Rural golf]
Rural, which carded a team score of 390, put all of six of its players in the top half of the field en route to earning a third-place team finish behind Olathe South and Lawrence Free State, which tied for the top spot with 371 team scores.
Brynley Scott paced Washburn Rural with a ninth-place individual finish in Monday's Class 6A sub-state at Lake Shawnee. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Reese Elliott earned a 10th-place finish for Washburn Rural in Monday's Class 6A sub-state tournament. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Brynley Scott shot a 95 to finish ninth individually while Reese Elliott was 10th with a 96, Kailyn Petersen tied for 11th with a 97, Emery Hall and LynnLee Mullins tied for 15th with a 102 and Liz Halstead tied for 18th with a 107.
"That's the goal at the start of every season,'' Beck said of earning the team berth for state. "You've got to get there to be able to progress past the first day and make day two and do the things we want to do as a team.
"So it wasn't necessarily our best stuff by no means today, but we've put together a squad that will fight for each other and be able to claw and scratch their way through to that next round that we've got to play.''
Now it's on to state, which will be held at Mayetta's Firekeeper Golf Course, just about 20 minutes north of Topeka, next Monday and Tuesday.
CLASS 6A GIRLS GOLF SUB-STATE
At Lake Shawnee
Team scores
Olathe South 371, Free State 371, Washburn Rural 390, Wichita East 450, Derby 469, Junction City 503.
Individual results
1. Alna Lam, Wichita Southeast, 75; 2. Claire Cummins, Free State, 79; 3. Caroline Parks, Olathe South, 85; 4. Grace Lam, Wichita East, 87; 5. Reese McNeil, Olathe South, 89; 6. Tola Jankowski, Free State, 90; 7. (tie) Raelynn Doshier, Derby, and Laurel Stancil, Free State, 94; 9. Brynley Scott, Washburn Rural, 95; 10. Reese Elliott, Washburn Rural, 96.
Other Washburn Rural -- 11. (tie) Kailyn Petersen, 97; 15. (tie) Emery Hall and LynnLee Mullins, 102; 18. (tie) Liz Halstead, 107.
Individual state qualifiers -- Alina Lam, Wichita Southeast, 75; Grace Lam, Wichita East, 87; Raelynn Doshier, Derby, 94; Angela Palacios, Wichita East, 106; Karrington Shane, Wichita East, 107.
Seaman senior Chloe Schmidtlein placed third in Monday's Class 5A golf regional at Lake Shawnee to qualify for state as an individual. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Vikes' Schmidtlein leads trio of city 5A state qualifiers
Seaman senior Chloe Schmidtlein followed up her city and United Kansas Conference individual titles with a third-place finish in Monday's Class 5A state sub-state tournament at Lake Shawnee.
Schmidtlein carded an 88 to finish third behind Emily Taylor (78) of team champion De Soto and Aubery Ziolo (82) of third-place team qualifier Basehor-Linwood and was the top individual qualifier for next Monday and Tuesday's 5A state tournament at Hesston Golf Course.
Shawnee Heights Lauryn Valdivia earned an individual Class 5A state berth with a 10th-place individual finish in Monday's sub-state tournament. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Seaman's Kaitlynn Frye earned a Class 5A state berth with an 11th-place tie in Monday's regional tournament. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Schmidtlein was joined as an individual qualifier by Shawnee Heights' Lauryn Valdivia, who placed 10th with a 97 and Seaman's Kaitlynn Frye, who tied for 11th with a 99.
De Soto won the team title by a 387-391 margin over Hays, with Basehor-Linwood third at 395.
Seaman finished fifth at 411 while Shawnee Heights placed sixth at 446.
CLASS 5A GIRLS GOLF SUB-STATE
At Lake Shawnee
Team scores
De Soto 387, Hays 391, Basehor-Linwood 395, Emporia 407, Seaman 411, Shawnee Heights 446.
Individual results
1. Emily Taylor, De Soto, 78; 2. Aubrey Ziolo, Basehor-Linwood, 82; 3. Chloe Schmidtlein, Seaman, 88; 4. Taylen Koch, Emporia, 89; 5. (tie) Mckenzie Laster, De Soto, and Claire Fitzgerald, Basehor-Linwood, 91; 7. Kinley Pfannenstel, Hays, 93; 8. (tie) Giana Schumacher, Hays, and Brooklyn Koerner, Hays, 95; 10. Lauryn Valdivia, Shawnee Heights, 97.
Other Seaman -- 11. (tie) Kaitlynn Frye, 99; 19. (tie) Lauren Glasgow and Leah Crawford, 112; 24. (tie) Penelope Kruesi, 118; 27. (tie) Cara Beaton, 123.
Other Shawnee Heights -- 16. Avary Domme, 107; 24. (tie) Elsie Willmann, 118; 29. (tie) Ashlyn Mattox, 124.
Individual state qualifiers -- Chloe Schmidtlein, Seaman, 88; Taylen Koch, Emporia, 89; Lauryn Valdivia, Shawnee Heights, 97; Kaitlynn Frye, Seaman, 99; Kelsey Shull, Emporia, 103; Kynlee Maxfield, Emporia, 103.
Wildcats, Eagles, Bulldawgs earn team berths for state golf
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Hayden's girls golf team punched its ticket to next week's Class 4A state tournament with a third-place team finish in Monday's sub-state tournament at Coffeyville Country Club.
Hayden's Brooke Johnson was the individual runnerup in Monday's Class 4A sub-state tournament at Coffeyville, leading the Wildcats to a state team berth with a third-place finish. [File photo/TSN]
Brooke Johnson led the Wildcats with a runnerup individual finish, shooting an 85, as Hayden posted a team score of 393 to earn the final team berth behind Wamego (340) and Coffeyville (373).
Morgan Johnson finished 11th (95) for Hayden while Avery Becker (106) placed 19th and Emma Matthews tied for 20th (107) to round out the Wildcats' top four.
The 4A state tournament will be played next Monday and Tuesday at Turkey Creek Golf Course in McPherson.
CLASS 4A GIRLS GOLF SUB-STATE
At Coffeyville
Team scores
Wamego 340, Coffeyville 373, Hayden 393, Jefferson West 406, Independence 480, Ottawa 496, Chanute 503.
Individual results
1. Maizie Nickel, Wamego, 78; 2. Brooke Johnson, Hayden, 85; 3. (tie) Lillian Costa, Wamego, and Jessica Zimmerman, Coffeyville, 86; 5. Gentry McIntosh, Wamego, 87; 6. Addison Fechter, Jefferson West, 88; 7. (tie) Lydia Rossow, Wamego, and Avery Sells, Coffeyville, 89; 9. Madelynn Douglass, Wamego, 90; 10. Lacey Braley, Wamego, 93.
Other Hayden -- 11. Morgan Johnson, 95; 19. Avery Becker, 106; 20. (tie) Emma Matthews, 107; 22. (tie) Maura Tolin, 109; 28. Esa Herarra, 115.
Silver Lake, Rossville place two-three in 3A-1A sub-state
Silver Lake and Rossville finished second and third in Monday's Class 3A-1A sub-state tournament at Spring Creek Golf Course, earning team berths for next week's state tournament at Tallgrass Golf Club in Wichita.
Silver Lake posted a four-person score of 379 to finish four strokes behind team champion Thomas More Prep-Marian while Rossville finished third at 410.
Zara Nilsson paced Silver Lake with a third-place individual finish, shooting an 88, while Morgan Ackerly finished seventh (96), Avenley Head eighth (97) and Savanah Wende with a tie for ninth (98) to round out the Eagles' top four.
Rossville got a sixth-place finish from Elley Sanders (95) while Maya Donovan narrowly missed a top-10 finish, tying for 12th (100).
The 3A-1A state tournament will be contested next Monday and Tuesday at Tallgrass.
CLASS 3A-1A GIRLS GOLF SUB-STATE
At Spring Creek Golf Course
Team scores
TMP-Marian 375, Silver Lake 379, Rossville 410, Holton 418, Osage City 421, Nemaha Central 425, St. Marys 441, Hiawatha 443, Heritage Christian 494, Maur Hill-Mt. Academy, 554.
Individual results
1. (tie) Bree Barrow, Holton, and Brynn Schoepf, TMP-Marian, 87; 3. Zara Nilsson, Silver Lake, 88; 4. Hannah Flax, TMP-Marian, 91; 5. Emma Wasinger, TMP-Marian, 92; 6. Elley Sanders, Rossville, 95; 7. Morgan Ackerly, Silver Lake, 96; 8. Avenley Head, Silver Lake, 97; 9. (tie) Hannah Simmer, Hiawatha, and Savanah Wende, Silver Lake, 98.
Other Silver Lake -- 18. (tie) Ashley Hanna, 105.
Other Rossville -- 12. (tie) Maya Donovan, 100; 20. (tie) Reese Olejnik, 106; 25. (tie) Joan Pottorf, 109; 27. (tie) Nora Mitchell, 110; 39. Brooklyn Gama, 116.
