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Final Four, 13-0 start put Washburn hoops on top of TSN list of Top 10 men's stories of 2025
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University men's basketball has followed up a 30-4 season and a trip to the NCAA Division II semifinals in 2024-2025 with a 13-0 start and a No. 1 national ranking to open its new season, putting the Ichabods squarely on top of the TopSports.news Top 10 list of Washburn University men's sports stories for 2025.
Brett Ballard's Ichabods rolled to the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association regular-season championship with a 17-2 record before capturing the Central Region championship with three double-digit victories and winning its quarterfinal contest before losing to eventual national champion Nova Southeastern in the semifinals.
Despite losing four of five starters off last year's team, junior Jack Bachelor and sophomore Dillon Claussen have led the way as Washburn has reeled off 13 straight victories, 10 by double-digits, to close out 2025.
Here's a look at TopSports.news' Top 10 Washburn men's stories of 2025:
Washburn men's basketball celebrates its NCAA Division II Central Region championship in March in Lee Arena. [File photo/TSN]
Washburn junior Jack Bachelor is the Ichabods' lone returning starter from last season's team that posted a 30-4 record and advanced to the NCAA Division II Final Four. [File photo/TSN]
1. A MAGICAL YEAR -- Washburn men's basketball started off 2025 with a run to the NCAA Division II national semifinals and a season-ending mark of 30-4. And even though the Ichabods graduated seniors Andrew Orr, Jacob Hanna and Michael Keegan off that team and then-sophomore Brayden Shorter transferred to Division I Murray State, WU has continued to pile up wins to close out '25. Junior guard Jack Bachelor, the team's lone returning starter after earning first-team All-MIAA honors a year ago, is averaging 16.2 points with 36 3-pointers and 64 assists, while sophomore Dillon Claussen, a valuable reserve as a freshman, is averaging team-highs of 16.6 points and 6.8 rebounds in his first season as a starter.
2. LEAPING TO GREATNESS -- Justin Forde, who began his college career at Division I Miami, Fla., ended his junior season and first year at Washburn with first-team NCAA Division II All-America honors. Forde, a Norwalk, Conn. native, finished second in the triple jump at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Pueblo, Colo. with a school-record jump of 16.19 meters (53 feet, 1.50 inches). Forde also won the MIAA Outdoor and Kansas Relays triple jump championships.
3. LEAPING TO GREATNESS PART II -- A five-time All-American, Hays native Justin Dale finished fifth in the high jump with a leap of 6 feet, 11.50 inches in the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Pueblo, Colo. after also earning All-America honors in the indoor championships with a fifth-place finish in that meet while sweeping the MIAA indoor and outdoor titles. Dale owns the school record in the outdoor high jump at 7-01.50 and ranks second indoors at 7-01. Dale's Washburn teammate, Alessandro Di Gregorio, finished 10th in the NCAA outdoor meet at 2.07 meters (6-9.50), earning second-team All-America recognition.
4. LEAPING TO GREATNESS PART III -- Matteo Madrassi, who competed at Washburn as a graduate student in 2025, earned second-team NCAA Division II All-America recognition after posting a ninth-place finish in the pole vault at 5.12 meters (16 feet, 9.50 inches) in the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Pueblo, Colo. Madrassi holds the Washburn outdoor pole vault record at 17-1 and has the top four vaults in Ichabod history.
Washburn shortstop Jett Buck earned All-America honors on three different teams as a senior in 2025. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
5. DIAMOND KING -- Washburn star shortstop Jett Buck closed out his college baseball career by earning spots on three different All-America teams after leading the 28-25 Ichabods with a .365 batting average, 21 home runs and 68 runs batted in. A native of Kansas City, Mo., Buck earned second-team All-America honors from NCBWA and third-team recognition from ABCA/Rawlings and D2CCA while also earning All-MIAA and All-Central Region first-team status.
IHRA announces purchase of Heartland Motorsports Park
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Drag racing legend John Force, a 10-time national event winner in Topeka, watches qualifying during the final NHRA national event at Heartland Motorsports Park in 2023. [File photo/TSN]Heartland Park Topeka opened in 1989 and became a storied track on the National Hot Rod Association circuit, with Topeka hosting at least one national event every season from 1989 through 2023, with the exception of the 2020 event which was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Heartland, which shut down in 2023, also hosted NASCAR Truck Series events along with hosting the SCCA Runoffs, ARCA events and numerous other national-level events in addition to hosting a regular bracket racing series for local racers.
The list of racing legends that either raced or made appearances at the Topeka facility includes Mario Andretti, A.J. Foyt, Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, Bobby Allison and NHRA's John Force, who earned a track-record 10 victories in Topeka.
At least 26 drivers who have competed in the Indianapolis 500 have visited or raced at Heartland.
“Heartland Motorsports Park is one of those places that simply matters to racing,” Darryl Cuttell, owner of the International Hot Rod Association, said in the IHRA release. “It has history, soul, and a footprint that allows us to think bigger than just a racetrack. Our goal is to restore this facility with respect for its legacy while building something that serves racers, fans, and the community for generations.”
The IHRA release said that the organization's long-term vision for Heartland Motorsports Park extends well beyond competition weekends. Planned restoration and redevelopment efforts will focus on creating a year-round destination that blends motorsports with live entertainment and community engagement, including:
- Revitalized drag racing operations with improved racer and fan amenities
- Expanded motorsports and special event programming
- Live music, concerts, and festival experiences
- Enhanced hospitality, vendor, and fan-experience areas
- Community-focused events designed to drive tourism and economic impact
“Motorsports has to evolve to stay strong,” Cuttell said. “The future is about creating places where racing, music, entertainment, and community come together. Heartland has all the pieces to become one of the premier motorsports and entertainment destinations in the country.”
Rural soccer, Eagle volleyball share top spot on TSN list of Top 10 girls prep stories of 2025
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Shawnee County girls high school sports teams may likely remember 2025 as the year of near-misses, with seven county teams finishing second in five different sports while eight individuals/relays posted runnerup finishes.
But the county still had notable accomplishments to celebrate, with local schools capturing a pair of state team championships while local athletes captured four individual state titles.
Class 6A soccer champion Washburn Rural and 3A volleyball champ Silver Lake share the No. 1 spot on the TopSports.news Top 10 list for 2025 while Seaman track star Ryin Miller, who dominated the 5A state track meet with three wins and Highland Park wrestler Makayla Cadet, who captured her school's first girls state crown, hold down the next two spots.
Seaman posted runnerup team finishes in basketball and tennis while Silver Lake finished second in basketball and softball, Hayden was second in soccer and volleyball and Washburn Rural posted a runnerup finish in softball.
Individually, Washburn Rural's Molly Spader, Seaman's Koti Best and Taylie Heston and Shawnee Heights' Isabel Reyes all recorded second-place finishes in state wrestling while Rural's Morgan Ray and Topeka High's Ahsieyrhuajh Rayton were individual runnerups in state track, Seaman's Emma Sweeney was a singles runnerup in state tennis and Washburn Washburn Rural's 4x800-meter relay team also posted a second-place state finish in track.
Here's a look at TopSports.news' Top 10 Shawnee County girls prep stories of 2025:
Washburn Rural girls soccer celebrates its first Class 6A state championship after its 1-0 win over Mill Valley in PKs. [Photo by KSHSAA Covered]
1. TITLE BREAKTHROUGH -- Washburn Rural added the only missing piece from its impressive soccer resume with its first Class 6A state championship. Making their 11th straight Final Four appearance, including four runnerup state finishes, the 19-2-0 Junior Blues broke through with a 1-0 win over Mill Valley, taking the win with a 4-1 edge in penalty kicks. Rural was represented on the All-City first team by 2025 grads Destiny Higgs, Kate Hinck, Addyson Kaberline, Zahra Friess and Madison Lemke and then-junior Dayne Shriver while Junior Blues coach Brian Hensyel was named the city coach of the year.
Silver Lake volleyball capped a 46-1 season with the 2025 Class 3A state championship. [Photo by Scott Paske/KSHSAA Covered]
1. EAGLES FLY TO STATE CHAMPIONSHIP -- Silver Lake, which went 46-1 and ended its season on a 37-match winning streak, finished off its championship run with a 25-21, 25-19 win over Holton. The Eagles were represented on the All-Shawnee County team by senior Jaiden Wise, juniors Kylie Hanni and Jaylie Whitehead and sophomore Karys Deiter, with Hanni named the county player of the year and Eagles coach Sarah Johnson tapped as the coach of the year.
Seaman's Ryan Miller capped her junior track season with a sweep of the Class 5A 800, 1,600 and 3,200-meter runs in the 2025 state meet. [File photo/TSN]
3. MILLER SHINES -- Seaman superstar runner Ryin Miller capped off her junior track and field season in the 2025 strate track and field championships by sweeping Class 5A state titles in all three of her individual events, taking wins in the 3,200 (10:19.53), 1,600 (4:57.33) and 800-meter (2:11.14) runs at Wichita State. Miller's three wins in 2025 gave her five career titles and came on the heels of a banner 2024 cross country season, which included the fastest five-kilometer run in Kansas history (16:32.62) and a runnerup finish in the 5A state meet (17:26.36).
Highland Park then-junior Makayla Cadet became her school's first girls state wrestling champion in 2025. [Photo by Selena Favela/Special to TSN]
4. A SPECIAL BIRTHDAY -- Highland Park junior Makayla Cadet celebrated her 17th birthday in one of the best ways you could imagine, with a 2025 Class 5A state wrestling championship. Cadet, who went 23-4 on the season, became the first girls wrestler in Highland Park history to win a state championship when she pinned Basehor-Linwood junior Izzy Renfro at the 1:36 mark of the first period in Park City. Cadet's win over Renfro avenged a regional loss to the Bobcat standout.
5. OH SO CLOSE -- After winning state titles a year earlier, Seaman in Class 5A and Silver Lake in 3A both posted runnerup finishes in 2025 in girls basketball. The Vikings ran off 24 straight wins in the 2024-2025 campaign before dropping a 68-61 decision to perennial state champ St. Thomas Aquinas in the title game while Silver Lake, which had to reload after graduating a talented senior class from its 26-0 championship team in 2024, posted a 23-3 record last season, dropping a tight 48-45 decision to Halstead in the 3A final.
