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Dillon Claussen off to torrid start with pair of double-doubles for No. 2 Washburn men
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Dillon Claussen probably could have started for a lot of college basketball programs accoss the country last season as a freshman.
But on a Washburn University team that was loaded with veterans, the 6-foot-8, 215-pounder knew he would have to wait his turn to crack the lineup and was perfectly content with his role off the bench while making an immediate impact for a 30-4 Ichabod team that made it all the way to the NCAA Division II semifinals.
Sophomore Dillon Claussen is averaging 22.5 points and 12.5 rebounds for 2-0 Washburn. [File photo/TSN]
"Oh man, it was amazing,'' Claussen said. "I like to say that was probably the best freshman year I could have imagined. We went to the Final Four and I got to play with a bunch of other experienced players.
"As a senior, Andrew Orr had a lot of experience in the league so he taught me a lot and then I still got to play in the games, so I was super happy with it and it definitely taught me a lot and prepared me for this year when I have a bigger role.''
Claussen played an average of 15.4 minutes per game last season and averaged 7.4 points and 3.9 rebounds with 25 blocked shots while shooting 67.4 percent from the field and 70.2 percent from the free throw line.
And Claussen gives a lot of credit to last year's veterans for helping him adjust to the college game.
"Coming in as a freshman you don't know totally what it's like to be a college player and they'd been on top of their leagues,'' said Claussen, an Omaha, Neb. native. "Michael Keegan had been playing forever, Andrew Orr had been on the top of the (MIAA), really since his sophomore year.
"He'd had a huge role and (Jacob) Hanna was a super good player in his conference, so taking tips from all of them on and off the court they taught me how I could be a better person and player.''
Washburn coach Brett Ballard agreed that the season Claussen had playing behind Orr and with the other veterans was a big factor in his progress.
"I think it's really beneficial when you come into a program with great leadership and maturity,'' Ballard said. "I think Dillon would have gone a lot of places and been successful later on, but I do think it just helped elevate him and accelorated that process a little bit because he got thrown in the fire with guys that showed him how to do it.
"And then he had to go against a guy like Andrew Orr every day. So I think that competition for Dillon in practice was really beneficial, too. You saw it last year. Andrew Orr was great and there were games the last month and a half where it was basically 50-50 because we just felt like Dillon had earned that right to play. That just showed you where he was at last year and he's taken some steps this year.''
Claussen demonstrated that in Washburn's season-opening trip to Florida on Nov. 1st and 2nd while making the first-two starts of his college career.
Claussen scored 22 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in Washburn's 101-53 season-opening win over Augusta, Ga. and followed that up with 23 points and 12 rebounds in an 89-77 win over No. 3-ranked Dallas Baptist.
A1 Lock & Key Performers Nov. 10, 2025
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Miles Cook
MILES COOK, Washburn Rural
The Junior Blues' senior goalkeeper came up huge on Saturday night at the Stryker Complex in Wichita, with Cook coming up with two saves in penalty kicks as Rural outscored Shawnee Mission East 4-2 in PKs to take a 3-2 win over the Lancers and earn its first Class 6A state soccer championship since 2012.
Connor Hanika
CONNOR HANIKA, Hayden
Hanika, a senior quarterback, completed 10 of 13 passes for 211 yards, including 62 and 63-yard touchdown passes to Kade Mitchell Friday night as 10-0 Hayden advanced to the Class 3A quarterfinals with a 42-0 home romp past Wellsville in a regional final.
Leah Henke
LEAH HENKE, Washburn University
Henke, a former Bishop Carroll star, was named the MIAA Soccer Freshman of the Year and earned first-team all-conference honors after the Washburn University forward scored a team-high nine goals for the Ichabods in an 11-2-5 regular season, including an 8-0-4 conference record.
State champ Silver Lake, runnerup Hayden, qualifiers Rural, Rossville top TSN all-county volleyball
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Class 3A state champion Silver Lake, 4A runnerup Hayden and state qualifiers Washburn Rural in 6A and Rossville in 2A combined to put 12 players on the TopSports.news 2025 All-Shawnee County volleyball first team.
Shawnee County Player of the Year Kylie Hanni, Silver Lake [File photo/TSN]
Shawnee County Coach of the Year Sarah Johnson, Silver Lake. [Photo by Jesse Bruner/Special to TSN]
Shawnee County Newcomer of the Year Brynn Anderson, Washburn Rural. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Silver Lake, which went 46-1 and ended its season on a 37-match winning streak, is represented on the all-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.
Hayden, which placed second at state after finishing third in 2024, is represented on the first team by sophomore repeat picks Hailey Schmidtlein and Blakely Walter along with senior Ella Foster, a multi-time all-county selection.
Washburn Rural is represented on the all-county first team by seniors Karsyn Horyna and Stella Kelly and freshman Brynn Anderson, who was named the Shawnee County newcomer of the year after the Junior Blues won the Centennial League championship and advanced to the 6A state tournament for the ninth straight season.
Horyna is a first-team All-Shawnee County repeat pick while Kelly was a second-team pick as a junior.
Rossville junior Nora Burdiek is a first-team all-county repeat pick and is joined on the first team by freshman Kenna Perine.
Rounding out the first team are Cair Paravel Latin senior Karsyn Hastert, Topeka West junior Sydney Van Dyke and Shawnee Heights senior Avery Willey.
All-Shawnee County first-team capsules:
Gold Partners
Community Partners
Gold Partners
