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Jadyn Baum & Peyton Goehring, Washburn Rural, celebrate a TD during the win over Wichita South.

[Photo: Doug Walker/Special to TSN]

Washburn University's junior Jack Bachelor tied a career high 25 pts. in win over Augusta.

[File Photo/TSN]

Seaman senior Kinsley Smith named All-United Kansas Conference defensive player of the year.

[File Photo/TSN]

Washburn Rural Cross-Country Team - Class 6A State Champions.

[Photo: Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports]

Washburn freshman Kate Hinck (7) advances the ball in Wednesday's game with Emporia State.

[Photo: Rick PetersonTSN]

Silver Lake Valleyball Team - Class 3A State Champions.

[Photo: Charles Spurlock/TSN]

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Henry Laubach, Brynn Spencer the Dan Key Farmers Agency Rising Stars of the Week

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By RICK PETERSON                                                                                                          

TopSports.news

Washburn Rural sophomore cross country standout Henry Laubach and Seaman junior cross country standout Brynn Spencer have been selected by the Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency as the Rising Stars of the Week.

The Dan Key Agency will recognize top Shawnee County underclassmen throughout the bulk of the 2025-2026 school year.

Here's a brief look at the recent accomplishments of Laubach and Spencer over the past week.

HenryLaubachRisingStar2025Henry Laubach, Washburn Rural [Photo by Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports]

HENRY LAUBACH, Washburn Rural

Bouncing back from an injury, Laubach finished a team-high 22nd individually in last Saturday's Class 6A cross country meet at Rim Rock Farm, helping lead Washburn Rural to the state team championship.

Laubach posted a five-kilometer time of 16 minutes, 40.66 seconds to lead a strong pack performance for the Junior Blues, who won the team title by a one-point margin (100-101) over runnerup Blue Valley.

Laubach is a two-time All-Shawnee County honoree.

BrynnSpencer2025XCState 1Brynn Spencer, Seaman [Photo by Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports]

BRYNN SPENCER, Seaman

Spencer earned her second straight Class 5A state medal in last Saturday's state meet at Rim Rock Farm, placing 16th individually.

Spencer, who had placed 18th as a sophomore, clocked a five-kilometer time of 19 minutes, 26.82 seconds and was the lone Shawnee County runner to earn an individual state medal (top 20).

The Seaman athlete is a three-time All-Shawnee County honoree. 

Rick Peterson
Rick Peterson

Ichabods hoping to bounce back in Senior Day Turnpike Tussle against Hornets

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Coaches and athletes in all sports have had to deal with tough defeats, something Zach Watkins' 2025 Washburn University football team is very familiar with after suffering four one-possession losses, including back-to-back three-point decisions, one coming in overtime.

KambleHaverkamp2025 1Centralia product Kamble Haverkamp is one of 15 seniors who will be recognized Saturday before Washburn's Senior Day game against Emporia State. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]

But last week's 27-24 MIAA road loss at Missouri Western was probably the toughest to take due to the way it ended.

After taking a 24-20 lead in the fourth quarter Washburn fell behind 27-24 after a Missouri Western touchdown with 1:44 remaining, but the Ichabods took over at their own 20 and converted four third-down conversions to reach the Griffon 13 with 14 seconds left.

But an incomplete pass on first down and an intentional grounding penalty on second down forced a 10-second runoff as the Ichabods were without any more timeouts, ending the game without Washburn getting the opportunity to force overtime with a relatively short field goal attempt. 

"It was definitely one of the more heartbreaking losses I've been a part of,'' Washburn senior safety Kamble Haverkamp said. "It's unfortunate. Nobody wants to lose and to lose that way was pretty tough. Everybody sees the way it ends and thinks, 'Aw, we lost because of that,' but there's a lot of plays up to that point that a lot of people don't see -- long punt returns, the defense had a 4th and 5 we didn't stop and then a 4th and 2 on the 2-yard-line. If we just get a stop we kneel it out and it doesn't matter.

"One play doesn't define the game. There's a lot of plays in there you wish you could have back, but that's the game that we play.'' 

And by early this week all of the Ichabods' focus was on Saturday's 1 p.m. Senior Day game in Yager Stadium against rival Emporia State. 

"The attitude's are always good,'' Haverkamp said. "We haven't had a Tuesday practice that was lackadaisical and still caught up in a loss, which I think is good. That shows good resilence on our team and the guys still want to win. We're all competitors and no matter what, we want to go win every Saturday.
 
"This one means a little more because it's Senior Day and it's the Turnpike Tussle, so mix Senior Day with a rivalry game there will be a lot of juice in our locker room come Saturday. We won't lack that for sure.''
 
Watkins agreed with Haverkamp that the Ichabods' positivity has been a constant throughout the season.
 
"I'm really proud of this team for that exact reason,'' he said. "This team practices extremely well, we prepare extremely well. We're very close with really good team bond, team closure.
 
"The execution on Saturday just hasn't always been there as much as it needs to be to be able to win the game, but our guys are the ultimate professionals in how they practice and how they've lived up to the standard we've created and that's going lead to really good things down the road.''   
 
The Ichabods enter Saturday's game 2-7 overall and 1-6 in the MIAA while the Hornets are 4-6 and 3-4 in the MIAA this season after falling to then-No. 14-ranked Northwest Missouri, 41-14.
  
Sophomore linebacker JC Heim leads the MIAA and is third in the national rankings in tackles per game with 12.9 per contest and junior L.J. Minner Jr. is third in the MIAA with 9.9 tackles per game, ranking 15th in the NCAA D-II national rankings.

Jordan Finnesy's 246 career tackles rank 15th on the NCAA D-II active chart and he is 15th on the D-II active solo tackles chart with 152.

Jake Zeller is fifth on the D-II active punting average chart at 41.92 and he is seventh in total punt yards (6,791). Zeller is second in the MIAA and 11th in the national rankings in punting average at 42.8. Zeller is second on the Ichabod all-time punting average chart at 41.92 and ninth in total yards at 6,791.

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Rick Peterson
Rick Peterson

Hayden rolls to Class 3A quarterfinals with 42-0 romp past Wellsville

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Hayden's Kade Mitchell fumbled on his first carry of Friday's home Class 3A regional playoff game against Wellsville.

But that would be the only negative of the night for the 5-foot-9, 180-pound senior star, who powered the 10-0 Wildcats to a 42-0 win over the Eagles with four touchdowns and more than 100 yards rushing and receiving.

KadeMitchell2025JW 1Hayden senior Kade Mitchell scored four touchdowns on the night -- two rushing and two receiving -- as the Wildcats advanced to the Class 3A quarterfinals with a 42-0 win over Wellsville. [File photo/TSN]

"You just have to stay level-headed,'' Mitchell said of the fumble. "I knew my guys have got me, they're going to back me up. I trusted them all night and it's all thanks to them. They picked me up right away and I love these guys.''

Hayden led 21-0 at the half, with Mitchell scoring all three touchdowns for the Wildcats.

After the two teams traded turnovers on their first two possessions, Mitchell capped an 8-play, 80-yard drive with a 36-yard TD run (Mason Becker kick) with 3:37 left in the opening quarter after the Wildcats got an interception from junior Logan Power.

After Wellsville had a TD wiped out by a holding penalty on its ensuing possession, Becker came up with Hayden's second interception of the game, ending the Eagles' scoring threat.

Six plays later Hayden senior quarterback Connor Hanika found a wide-open Mitchell for a 62-yard TD (Becker kick) at the 7:45 mark of the second quarter.

"I was a little free and Connor threw a great ball and I just had to walk in,'' Mitchell said. "It was a great night, it was fun.''

Then, after a Wellsville punt Hanika and Mitchell hooked up again, this time for a 63-yard score (Becker kick) with 2:01 left before halftime.

Wellsville (6-4) drove into the red zone twice in the opening half but came up empty both times.

Senior Jackson McGivern scored from 4 yards out (Becker kick) to put Hayden up 28-0 midway through the third quarter and senior Jude Krentz scored on a 9-yard scamper 28 seconds into the fourth stanza (Becker kick).

Mitchell then put the capper on his big night with a 68-yard run (Becker kick) to account for the final margin.

ConnorHanika2025JW 2Hayden senior quarterback Connor Hanika threw for 211 yards and two touchdowns Friday night as the Wildcats improved to 10-0 with a 42-0 Class 3A playoff win over Wellsville. [File photo/TSN]

Mitchell rushed for 131 yards on just seven carries and caught three passes for 149 yards while Hanika completed 10 of 13 passes for 211 yards and the two TDs to Mitchell.

Krentz added 72 rushing yards on seven totes.

"Wellsville's a good team,'' Hayden coach Bill Arnold said. "They came out and they played hard. I think we had a situation where maybe some of our formations messed them up a little bit and we got some good mismatches out there.

"I was pleased with our kids' effort. I thought Jackson McGivern played a heck of a game on defense and played really well. It was a team effort. We're not going to be bigger than anybody up front, but we do play hard and that's what I like about this group.'' 

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