By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Brody Anderson
BRODY ANDERSON, Seaman
A Class 5A state medalist in cross country and track, Anderson opened his senior cross country season with the boys individual championship in Saturday's Manhattan Invitational at Warner Park. Anderson captured the Manhattan individual title for the second straight season with a five-kilometer time of 15 minutes, 11.48 seconds.
Nora Burdiek
NORA BURDIEK, Rossville
A junior multi-sport standout, Burdiek helped lead Rossville to the team championship in Saturday's Rossville Invitational volleyball tournament with five straight-set victories. Burdiek registered double-digit kills in all five matches, with highs of 15 and 14 kills and at least 11 kills in all five matches. Burdiek now has 90 kills on the season for the 7-0 Bulldawgs.
John Hoytal
JOHN HOYTAL, Washburn Rural
Hoytal, a senior quarterback, helped lead Washburn Rural football to a thrilling 51-41 non-league season-opening road win at city rival Shawnee Heights on Friday. Hoytal completed 11 of 20 passes for 201 yards against the T-Birds, including a 64-yard touchdown pass to Gavin Vantuyl and a 31-yard TD strike to Nate Selm.
Kade Mitchell
KADE MITCHELL, Hayden
A senior running back/defensive back, Mitchell scored a pair of touchdowns and set up another Hayden TD in Friday's 28-6 home non-league season-opening win over Eudora. Mitchell returned a punt 55 yards for a touchdown, caught a 22-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Connor Hanika and set up Hayden's first TD with a 70-yard kickoff return.
Hailey Schmidtlein
HAILEY SCHMIDTLEIN, Hayden
Schmidtlein, a sophomore three-sport standout, played a big role last Tuesday as Hayden volleyball improved to 4-0 on the season with a home quadrangular sweep over Class 6A opponents Shawnee Mission East, Manhattan and Washburn Rural. Schmidtlein turned in a dominating hitting performance as Hayden, ranked No. 2 in 4A, took a 25-16, 25-19 win over East, a 21-25, 25-23, 25-17 win over No. 7 Manhattan and a 25-23, 25-15 win over No. 5 Rural.
Dylan Willingham
DYLAN WILLINGHAM, Washburn Rural
Willingham, a senior soccer standout, scored five goals on the week as Washburn Rural opened the 2025 season with a pair of non-league victories. Willingham scored two goals in the Junior Blues' season-opening home win over Shawnee Heights last Tuesday and followed that up with a three-goal hat trick in Thursday's 6-0 road victory at Wichita Northwest. Willingham is also a multi-time Class 6A state tennis medalist.
