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State XC: Washburn Rural boys claim Class 6A team championship by one point
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural cross country coach Matt Swedlund knew going into Saturday's state cross country meet at Rim Rock that the battle for the Class 6A boys team championship would be close.
Washburn Rural's cross country team celebrates with coach Matt Swedlund Saturday at Rim Rock Farm after learning the Junior Blues had won the Class 6A state championship. [Photo by Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports]
Washburn Rural's cross country team stands on the victory stand Saturday at Rim Rock Farm after winning the Class 6A state cross country title. [Photo by Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports]
It couldn't have been any closer.
Washburn Rural, top-ranked in the 6A coaches rankings, didn't have an individual medalist (top 20) on Saturday, but the Junior Blues put four runners in the top 28 places to lead the way as Rural captured the team championship by a single point (100-101) over Blue Valley.
Swedlund said at mid-week that he expected a tight race for the title.
"Basically the top five in the rankings are all just points from each other,'' Swedlund told TopSports.news. "There are several teams that have an opportunity (to win the team crown), so you've got to take it.
"We're not taking anything for granted and if you want to end up on the podium (top three teams) you're going to have to run well. We've been fortunate to have some good teams that were in the conversation and when you put yourself in the conversation there is no reason not to make your goal the absolute top. You want to be the best, you want to win, so that's what you shoot for.''
The Junior Blues, who had tied Manhattan at regionals and finished second on a tiebreaker, rode a pack finish on Saturday to its second title under Swedlund, a Washburn Rural alum.
Sophomore Henry Laubach (1598) leads a strong pack finish from Class 6A state champion Washburn Rural Saturday at Rim Rock Farm. [Photo by Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports]
Rural, which finished sixth as a team in the 2024 state meet, got a team-high 22nd-place finish from sophomore Henry Laubach in a five-kilometer time of 16:40.66 while senior Brooks Kehoe was just three spots back in 25th (16:42.83), sophomore Clayton Fink was right behind Kehoe in 26th (16:46.46) and sophomore Duke Graf was 28th (16:47.78).
Sophomore Jaxson Adams rounded out Rural's top five with a 42nd-place finish (17:01.90) while senior Wyatt Shorb was 52nd (17:11.27) and sophomore Brady Meek 84th (17:48.44).
Olathe West was just 10 points behind Blue Valley in third (110) while Maize (147) and Free State (150) rounded out the top five in the team standings.
Blue Valley Northwest's Jacob D'souza won the individual title in 15:42.50.
Washburn Rural's girls finished seventh as a team with 173 points, led by freshman Alyson Hinck in a time of 19:54.78.
Senior Emily Graf finished 30th (19:58.44), followed by senior Kenzie Maddox in 49th (20:27.71), sophomore Reese Beardslee in 50th (20:29.81), freshman Morgan Munson in 51st (20:33.80), freshman Clara Dixon in 62nd (21:00.06) and freshman Lilly Palmer in 90th (23:18.64).
Manhattan won the girls team championship with 61 points.
Topeka High sophomore Easton Davis competed in the 6A boys race as an individual, placing 80th (17:42.79)'
Vikings' Spencer posts 16th-place 5A finish
Seaman junior Brynn Spencer earned her second straight Class 5A state medal Saturday at Rim Rock Farm, placing 16th in 19:26.82.
Seaman junior Brynn Spencer (1575) earned her second straight Class 5A state medal with a 16th-place finish Saturday at Rim Rock Farm. [Photo by Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports]
Spencer, competing as an individual, placed 18th at state as a sophomore.
Seaman senior Brody Anderson placed 33rd in the boys race (16:51.27) while Shawnee Heights senior Max Esquibel finished 50th (17:24.63).
State VB: Hayden's bid for Class 4A championship comes up short in three-set thriller
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
HUTCHINSON -- After rolling to the Pool II championship on Friday and advancing to the Class 4A championship match with a dominating semifinal performance, No. 6 seed Hayden's bid for a sixth state volleyball championship came up just short Saturday afternoon, with top seed Andale taking a 25-12, 25-27, 25-22 win over the Wildcats at the Hutchinson Sports Arena.
After receiving its second-place Class 4A state medals, Hayden volleyball watches champion Andale receive its medals Saturday at the Hutchinson Sports Arena. [Photo by Scott Paske/KSHSAA Covered]
Hayden (33-10) never led in the first game as Andale (36-1) jumped out to 8-2, 15-6 and 19-8 leads on the way to the decisive win.
The Wildcats bounced back in the second set and led 17-8 and 19-10 but Andale came all the way back to take a 25-24 lead before big kills from Hayden sophomore Hailey Schmidtlein got Hayden over the hump.
Hayden sophomore Hailey Schmidtlein puts away a kill in Saturday's Class 5A state championship match against Andale. [Photo by Scott Paske/KSHSAA Covered]
Hayden junior Mallory Tanking spikes the ball in Saturday's Class 4A championship match against Andale at the Hutchinson Sports Arena. [Photo by Scott Paske/KSHSAA Covered]
The third set was tied 13 times before Andale got the upper hand after the final tie at 19-19.
"The first game, we kind of just got in our way, and that's part of volleyball,'' Hayden coach Corrinne McGreevy said. "Sometimes it's a trickle down effect and you start making errors and you just can't stop. And we could not stop.
"But we bounced back. They had short-term memory. They moved on and they let it go. The last one could have been a 50-50 game. It could have gone either way. Those were two incredible teams. What a great state championship match. That was awesome.''
Hayden's nail-biter in the title match came after the Wildcats rolled to a 25-18, 25-8 win over Paola in the semifinals.
No. 2-ranked Ichabod volleyball bounces back from loss with sweep over Bearcats
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
No. 2-ranked Washburn University volleyball got back to its winning ways on Saturday afternoon, sweeping Northwest Missouri State in a road matchup.
Natalie Hedlund led Washburn with 10 kills in Saturday's 3-0 MIAA sweep at Northwest Missouri. [File photo/TSN]
Washburn (21-2 overall, 10-2 MIAA) battled through a tight first set to win 25-23 before cruising to wins in the next two sets, 25-12 and 25-13, to secure a regular-season series sweep of the Bearcats (8-13, 2-10).
After falling behind 4-1 the Ichabods took control of the first set with a 5-0 run that turned into an 8-1 burst capped off by a kill for Natalie Hedlund.
Northwest Missouri battled back to pull within one and eventually tie the set at 16. That was the only tie the rest of the set with the Bearcats pulling within one while Washburn was at match point before Austin Broadie finished the set with a kill.
A three-point burst for the Ichabods gave them an early advantage in the second set before the lead expanded to seven at 14-7 after Taylor Rottinghaus landed an ace.
It turned into a 6-1 run after Brynee Topolski took a pass from Rottinghaus to the floor to go up 18-8. Washburn hit .333 as a team in the set while holding the Bearcats to just a .029 hitting percentage. Corinna McMullen served an ace to wrap up the second set 25-12 and go up 2-0 in the match.
In the third set a kill by Bella Limback started a 4-0 run that put the Ichabods in front, 11-5. Northwest Missouri pulled back within three at 14-11 before Washburn went on a 7-0 run to push the lead to double figures.
The Ichabods held on down the stretch, winning the final three points to take the set and the match 3-0.
