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By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

JURNEE COLE, Highland Park

Cole, a senior, was one of the city's top sprinters last spring, ranking second in the 100-meter dash (12.75 seconds) and fifth in the 200 (26.68). An All-Shawnee County honorable mention pick in 2025, Cole opened her 2026 season in last Friday's Topeka High Invitational with second-place finishes in the 100 (12.72) and 200 (27.34) and a third in the 400 (66.88). 

KARYS DEITER, Silver Lake

A sophomore state champion in volleyball and basketball for the Eagles, Deiter received All-Shawnee County first-team recognition last season after posting an eighth-place finish in the Class 3A state meet in the 100-meter hurdles in 16.74 seconds. Deiter ranked No. 3 in Shawnee County in the 100 dash and the 100 hurdles. Deiter also helped lead Silver Lake to the Class 3A volleyball title last fall and the state basketball championship this past season. 

RYLEE DICK, Rossville

Dick, a senior, was an All-Shawnee County first-team selection last season after finishing eighth in Class 2A in the 100-meter hurdles in 16.77 seconds. Dick ranked fourth in Shawnee County in the 100 hurdles and third in the 300 hurdles. Dick was also a first-team all-county pick in basketball.    

ALI GERBER, Silver Lake

A junior, Gerber, earned All-Shawnee County first-team honors in track last spring and was an all-county pick in cross country last fall. Gerber teamed with Ellen Doty, Jaylie Whitehead and Ella Bolan to finish sixth in the Class 3A 4x400-meter relay last spring in track and placed 35th in state cross country last fall. Gerber was a member of Silver Lake's 3A state championship 4x400 relay team in the 2024 state meet (4:06.64).

EMILY GRAF, Washburn Rural

An All-Shawnee County selection in both cross country and track, Graf teamed with then-seniors Rylee Ismert, Brooklyn Nolte and Payton Fink finished second in the Class 6A 4x800 relay (9:29.84) in the 2025 state track meet. A three-time first-team All-Shawnee County pick in cross country, Graf garnered the individual city title last fall before finishing eighth in the Centennial League, fifth in a 6A regional meet and 30th at state. 

SOFIA HARPER, Hayden

Harper, a junior, is a three-time first-team All-Shawnee County pick in cross country and received all-county honorable in track last spring. Harper posted a seventh-place individual finish in the city cross country championships last fall, placed 16th in the Centennial League meet and 12th in Class 4A regional competition and was 44th at state. Harper opened her 2026 track season in Friday's Topeka High Inivitational with wins in the 200-meter dash (27.00) and 400 (62.39). 

ALYSON HINCK, Washburn Rural

The Washburn Rural freshman was the individual runnerup in the city cross country meet for the team-champion Junior Blues and placed sixth in the Centennial League, eighth in Class 6A regional competition and a team-high 25th in the state meet.

KENZIE MADDOX, Washburn Rural  

Maddox, a senior, is a two-time first-team All-Shawnee County pick in cross country and was an all-county first-team honoree in track last spring. Maddox finished fourth last fall in the city cross country meet before placing 14th in the Centennial League, 16th in a Class 6A regional and 49th in the 6A state meet.

Keimara Marshall, Topeka High

KEIMARA MARSHALL, Topeka High

A senior, Marshall has established herself as one of the area's top sprinters, earning first-team All-Shawnee County honors and sweeping the 100 and 200-meter dashes in the 2025 Joe Schrag City Championships. A former Class 6A state medalist, Marshall helped lead the Trojans to 6A state quarterfinals in basketball.

Ryin Miller, Seaman

RYIN MILLER, Seaman 

Miller, who has been recovering from an injury that limited her to just one cross country meet last fall, has won five Class 5A state track titles over the past two seasons, sweeping the  3,200 meters in 10 minutes, 19.53 seconds, the 1,600 meters in 4:57.33 and the 800 in 2:11.14 in the 2025 state meet and adding a fourth state medal when she anchored the Vikings' 4x400 relay to a fourth-place finish (4:03.44). Miller made her 2026 debut Thursday with a win in the 800 at Washburn Rural.

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By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

After putting up a spirited fight in a 14-11 loss at Division I Wichita State on Tuesday, Washburn returns to MIAA action with an important three-game road series at Missouri Western Thursday through Saturday in St. Joseph, Mo.

Washburn junior third baseman Trenton Barry (4) and the Ichabods will face Missouri Western in an MIAA road series Thursday through Saturday. [File photo/TSN]

The Ichabods will begin the series at 6 p.m. Thursday, followed by a 3 p.m. game on Friday and a 1 p.m. series finale on Saturday.

Washburn, 12-20 overall and 9-10 in the MIAA, gave a good accounting of itself in Tuesday's 14-11 loss at Eck Stadium to Wichita State, 20-10 on the year, including a five-run rally in the top of the ninth in the three-run loss.

"I felt like we came out right away with a lot of fire and nothing really to lose, playing up a division,'' Washburn junior third basemen Trenton Barry said. "We came out with fire and I think we carried it out. We made our mistakes here and there and that obviously cost us the game in the end.

"But that late run that we had, that showed that fight that we have. We've just got mistakes here and there that we've got to clean up. That's kind of been what the story's been all year and it's all going to be about fixing those and carrying on.''

And Barry, who is hitting .300 with two home runs, a team-high three triples and 19 RBI,  said that it's time to get that done, beginning with the Missouri Western series.

"There's not much time to figure it out,'' he said. "Either you do it or you don't and that's going to be your wins and your losses. We showed (against Wichita State) that we are capable of playing with anybody in this country and I feel like we know that now.

"There should be no doubt in our mind going into every day that we should go win the game. We just need to put it all together now.'' 

Washburn is scoring 7.94 runs per game on the season while opponents are averaging 8.75 runs per game.

At the plate the Ichabods are hitting .288 and have tallied 23 home runs with 169 total walks.

The pitching staff has a 7.29 earned run average with 250 strikeouts across 279.0 innings. The Ichadobds have allowed 350 hits and issued 187 walks. 

Washburn has a .964 fielding percentage as a team with 44 errors and 16 turned double plays.

WU's Ian Luce has the longest current hitting streak at 11 games heading into the weekend, the longest hitting streak of any player this season.

Luce is hitting a team-high .404 with 31 runs batted in and has reached base in all 32 games, the only Ichabod player to do so, and has a team-high 18 games with multiple hits. 

Levi Risenhoover is hitting .317 and leads the team with seven home runs and 36 RBI.

Brandt Beeby is hitting .319, second-best on the team, in 16 stars.

Former Seaman standout Maclane Finley has thrown a team-high 42.0 innings across his eight starts this season.

He has struck out 31 batters and has a 6.86 ERA and 3-3 record,  a team-high in victories. He has thrown into the fifth inning in every start.

Missouri Western fell to 15-17 overall and 10-11 in the MIAA with an 8-3 loss on the road to Emporia State on Tuesday.

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By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

After fighting through a lingering leg injury for nearly nine months, Seaman senior track superstar Ryin Miller chalked up Thursday as a win as soon as she stepped on the Washburn Rural track.

Seaman five-time state champion Ryin Miller (right) returned from an injury Thursday to win the girls 800 meters in the Jerry Beardslee Invitational at Washburn Rural. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

The fact that she took control on the final lap to win the girls 800-meter run in the Jerry Beardslee Invitational was a bonus. 

"I felt good,'' said Miller, a five-time Class 5A state champion. "This injury (IT band) is kind of weird. If I get some speed it doesn't seem to bother me too much and I'm just tired of not racing, so I was like, 'You know what, I'm just going to jump in here, I'm not going to warm up, I'll just do some strides and try to warm my body up without taking a warmup jog and step in and see what happens.' ''

The Arkansas signee ran with Mill Valley junior Audrey Howard through much of the race before taking the lead down the home stretch and pulling away for the win in 2 minutes, 23.65 seconds while Howard was second in 2:25.17.

"I feel really good about it,'' Miller said. "It was a good race. Obviously, eventually I want a lot, lot more of myself, but you have to learn to celebrate the small wins along the way and I've been working so hard this winter and year in just different ways, so I have to come out here and even just toeing the line, I have to be proud of that.''

Just being on the track marked a return to Miller's happy place.

"It means everything to me,'' she said. "I was definitely nervous, but I was kind of reminding myself that it is such a gift to be nervous and it's way better than not being nervous and watching other people be nervous, so I was trying to embrace it and take the load off.

"I was like, 'I have literally nothing to lose, everything to gain. If I start, that's a win,' so I tried to take all the pressure out of it and run and enjoy it.''

Senior Brody Anderson shattered the Seaman school record in the 1,600-meter run by nearly six seconds in Thursday's Jerry Beardslee Invitational at Washburn Rural. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Anderson shatters school record

After flirting with the Seaman school record in the 1,600-meter run in the season-opening Topeka High Invitational, Viking distance star Brody Anderson knew that the record was there for the taking in Thursday's Jerry Beardslee Invitational.

And Anderson left no doubt about who is the best metric miler in school history, shattering the previous record by right at six seconds in a winning time of 4:11.94 while winning by nearly 14 seconds.   

"I went into today knowing that it was very possible and was there,'' Anderson said. "I didn't know it was going to happen, I didn't want to force anything, but it came natural and felt really smooth and I just shattered it.

"I definitely didn't think it was going to happen by six seconds at this point in the year, but it was a fun jump to take for sure.''

Anderson came back later in the evening to post a second impressive performance, winning the 800 meters by more than three seconds in a time of 1:56.49 and is now a perfect four for four on the season.

Other meet highlights:

•  Washburn Rural senior multi-time Class 6A state champion Liam Morrison opened his 2026 season with a sweep in the hurdles races on Thursday.

Washburn Rural senior state champion Liam Morrison (right) won the 110 and 300-meter hurdles in Thursday's Jerry Beardslee Invitational at Washburn Rural. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Morrison won the 110-meter highs in 14.43 seconds before coming back later to take a win in the 300s in 38.74.

The Junior Blues also got boys wins from junior Christian Hartman-Babb in the 200-meter dash (22.78) and from the 4x800 relay team (8:38.13).

• Washburn Rural's girls posted wins in two of the three throws in Thursday's meet while also adding a pair of runnerup finishes.

Rural junior Kailyn Petersen won the shot put with a throw of 36 feet, 11 inches and finished second in the discus (121-2) while junior Morgan Ray won the javelin with a throw of 144-4 while her Junior Blue teammate, Katie Smith, was second (120-5).

Washburn Rural senior Emily Graf cruised to a victory in the girls 3,200 meters in Thursday's Jerry Beardslee Invitational at Washburn Rural. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

• Washburn Rural also got a win from senior Emily Graf, who won the girls 3,200 in 11:25.73 while Seaman's boys won the 4x100 relay in 43.84. 

JERRY BEARDSLEE INVITATIONAL

At Washburn Rural

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