By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Shawnee County girls high school sports teams and individuals enjoyed another banner year in 2024, with county schools capturing six state team championships in four different sports in five different classifications and posted seven runnerup team finishes, including a pair of local teams that came within a tiebreaker of state crowns
Individually, local athletes combined for five individual/relay titles.
That across-the-board success made it nearly impossible to narrow down TopSports.news' list of the top Shawnee County girls sports stories to just 10, and even harder to decide which accomplishments deserve to be at the top of the list.
In fact, if you polled five different people you could have five different No. 1s. But having said that, here's one person's opinion.
Rossville wrestling star Kendra Hurla capped her prep career with a fourth straight individual title while helping lead the Bulldawgs to the Class 4A-1A team title. [Photo by Rick Peterson Jr./KSHSAA Covered]
1. FOUR FOR FOUR, PLUS TWO MORE -- Rossville 120-pound girls wrestling star Kendra Hurla capped one of the most dominant high school careers in state history with her fourth straight Class 4A-1A state championship in the 2024 state meet at Hays. But Hurla's four-peat wasn't the only thing the Bulldawgs had to celebrate, with fellow senior Hailey Horton adding the 155-pound championship and as the Bulldawgs won thir first-ever state team crown by a half point, 82.5-82.0 over Oakley.
Molly Spader (with trophy) celebrates with her teammates after helping Washburn Rural win its fourth straight girls wrestling state title in five seasons. [File photo/TSN]
2. UNPARALLELED DOMINANCE -- Damon Parker's Washburn Rural Junior Blues continued to set the standard for all Kansas high school girls wrestling programs in 2024, with Rural winning its fourth team title in the five seasons that girls wrestling has been an official sport in Kansas. After the Junior Blues had their two-year title reign snapped in 2022, finishing second to Dodge City, Rural has bounced back to win the last two Class 6A-5A championships, including a win by a 118-96 margin over Garden City in 2024. Then-junior state runnerup Molly Spader (105 pounds) led the way as six Junior Blues earned state medals.
Silver Lake girls basketball posted a perfect 26-0 record in the 2023-2024 season, winning the Class 3A state title. [File photo/TSN]
3. WIRE TO WIRE -- Traditional state girls basketball power Silver Lake added to its legacy with a dominating 2023-2024 campaign, capping a perfect 26-0 season with a 66-61 win over Hesston in the Class 3A state championship game. Makenzie McDaniel, now a freshman at Emporia State, was named the TopSports.news Shawnee County co-player of the year while fellow 2024 senior McKinley Kruger and then-sophomore Kailyn Hanni joined McDaniel on the all-county Top 10 and five Eagles earned all-county recognition.
Hayden senior Ainzley Zulueta won her third Class 4A state singles title this past fall, helping the Wildcats win the 4A team championship for the second time in three seasons. [File photo/TSN]
4. PICKING UP WHERE SHE LEFT OFF -- After dominating Class 4A singles as a freshman and sophomore Hayden tennis star Ainzley Zulueta sat out her junior high school season after attending an out-of-state tennis academy. But Zulueta was back on the court this past fall, capturing her third state championship in as many tries while leading Hayden to its second team title in three seasons by a 40-28 margin over McPherson. Zulueta capped an 24-0 undefeated season without dropping a single game in either regional or state competition, posting eight straight 6-0, 6-0 victories. All six members of Hayden's team earned state medals, including a runnerup doubles finish from senior two-time state champ Emily Sheetz and freshman Sophia Wichman.
Hayden's girls golf team poses with its championship trophy after winning its second straight Class 4A state title this past fall. [Submitted photo]
5. REPEAT FEAT -- After winning the 2023 Class 4A state championship, Hayden's golf team knew it had the returning pieces to give itself a chance for a repeat. And the Wildcats did just that, winning their eighth overall title by a 698-713 margin over Wellington. Junior Lauren Borjon led with Wildcats with a third-place individual finish while junior Izzy Glotzbach finished 12th and senior Addyson Baer tied for 16th. For Glotzbach, the state golf crown was her second 4A title in four days, with Glotzbach also helping Hayden win the state tennis championship.
Seaman girls basketball celebrates its 2024 Class 5A state basketball title after a 54-41 win over Maize South. [File photo/TSN]
6. SEAMAN SUPREME -- After being knocked off in the first round of the 2023 Class 5A girls basketball state tournament, Matt Tinsley's Vikings avenged that loss to St. James Academy and much, much more, claiming their first state title since 1991 with a 54-41 win over Maize South in the title game to cap a 23-2 season. Then-junior Anna Becker was named the TopSports.news Shawnee County co-player of the year and was joined on the All-Shawnee County Top 10 by Seaman 2024 grad Taylin Stallbaumer and then-sophomore Maddie Gragg while then-juniors Ava Esser and Jaida Stallbaumer were Second 10 picks.
Seaman's Ryin Miller was named the Gatorade Kansas track and field honoree after winning a pair of state titles last spring. [File photo/TSN]
7. RUNNIN' RYIN -- Seaman then-sophomore Ryin Miller was named the Gatorade Kansas Girls Track & Field Player of the Year in the spring of 2024 after winning Class 5A individual championships in the 1,600 meters (4 minutes, 51.58 seconds) and 800 meters (2:10.80) while also posting a runnerup finish in the 3,200 (10:34.48) and helping Seaman finish second in the 4x400 relay (4:02.39). Miller followed up that performance with a runnerup finish in the 2024 5A state cross country meet (17:26.4) after sweeping city, United Kansas Conference and regional titles and running the fastest five-kilometer time in Kansas history earlier in the fall. Miller was also a member of Seaman's state championship basketball team in 2024 as a sophomore.
8. OH SO CLOSE -- Washburn Rural came up just short of Class 6A state championships in basketball, bowling and cross country in 2024. The Junior Blues' cross country team actually tied for the state crown, led by top-five individual finishers Rylee Ismert and Payton Fink but lost on a tiebreaker (higher finishing sixth runner) to now five-time defending champ Olathe West. Rural's basketball team advanced to the state title game for the third straight season and posted a second straight runnerup finish, dropping a 47-37 decision to Shawnee Mission South, after winning the 6A crown in 2022. The Junior Blues' bowling team, led by state medalist Claire Ireland, also posted a runnerup state finish, placing second to Campus in the team race.
9. OH SO CLOSE PART II -- Silver Lake's girls golf team, led by fourth-place Taylor Zordel, came within a tiebreaker loss to Pittsburg Colgan of winning its second straight Class 3A-1A title while the Eagles' 24-3 softball team advanced to the 3A final before dropping a 3-0 decision to Frontenac. Seaman's 41-3 volleyball team also came within an eyelash of winning a second straight 5A championship before dropping a three-set decision to St. Thomas Aquinas while Cair Paravel Latin's soccer team pushed now eight-time defending champ Bishop Miege to the limit before dropping a 1-0 double-overtime decision to the Stags.
10. OH SO CLOSE PART III -- It was also a year of individual near-misses for local athletes, with multiple local stars posting runnerup finishes in multiple sports. In addition to Miller's runnerup finishes in track and cross country that list includes Seaman's Avery Walz (5A-1A 200 individual medley, 100 freestyle) in swimming, Hayden's Emily Sheetz and Sophia Wichman (4A doubles) in tennis, Washburn Rural's Molly Spader (6A-5A 105 pounds) in wrestling and Topeka High's Ahsieyrhuajh Rayton (6A triple jump) in track and field.
