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Created: 07 October 2025

By TODD FERTIG

TopSports.news

The Washburn Rural soccer team has spent most of the last month taking on all comers, inviting challenges wherever it can find them. The Junior Blues defeated Bishop Carroll 2-0 at McElroy Field Tuesday to improve to 9-1-1 before a couple of weeks facing more traditional rivals.

The Junior Blues got goals from Dylan Willingham and Everett Un in the first half, then locked up the opponents for the rest of the night.

Washburn Rural senior Dylan Willingham (19) scored the game's first goal in Tuesday's 2-0 win over Bishop Carroll. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]

Sophomore Everett Un scored a goal in Washburn Rural's 2-0 win over Bishop Carroll Tuesday night. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]

The victory over Bishop Carroll followed up a win last week against Kapaun Mt. Carmel. Those victories came on the heels of three grueling battles against some top competition at a tournament in Iowa.

“It’s been a tough road the last week and a half,” Junior Blues coach Brian Hensyel said. “We’ve played five games in 12 days, our three games in Iowa and then Kapaun and Carroll are always tough. They’re really well-coached teams, some of the better teams in the Wichita area every year. We knew we were going to have to just play good sound defense, take our chances when we could. To win four and tie one, we’re pretty excited about how we’ve done.”

Junior Brodye Kocher-Munoz had a pair of assists and also had a stint as goalkeeper in Washburn Rural's 2-0 win over Bishop Carroll Tuesday night. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]

Recording an assist on both Washburn Rural goals Tuesday was forward Brodye Kocher-Munoz. The junior then provided another assist, this time to starting goalkeeper Miles Cook. Kocher-Munoz switched jerseys, donned the gloves, and defended the Junior Blues’ net for the final several minutes of the game, helping to preserve the shutout.

“I just gotta step up for the guys in any way they need,” Kocher-Munoz said. “It’s not all about scoring. Sometimes you’ve got to give the ball up and give your teammates a shot and celebrate with the team.”

Kocher-Munoz admitted moving to goalkeeper was not in his original plan against the Golden Eagles.

“In practice, sometimes I’ll step in there just for jokes, but I didn’t think I’d be in there tonight,” he said. “Sometimes you just gotta step up for the team.”

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Created: 07 October 2025

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Of course, Seaman girls tennis coach Jamie Robinson wanted to win Tuesday's United Kansas Conference tournament.

But with Class 5A regional competition just four days away, Robinson also wanted the city-champion Vikings to continue to play well while continuing to build momentum for the Vikings' two biggest tournaments of the season.

Seaman junior Emma Sweeney repeated as the UKC singles champion Tuesday as the Vikings won their fourth straight conference team title. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Seaman senior Molly Gorman finished second in UKC singles Tuesday as the Vikings won their fourth straight conference team title. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

And Robinson felt like his team did just that, finishing one-two in singles and one-three in doubles on the way to its fourth straight UKC title by a 75-65 margin over De Soto at Kossover Tennis Center.

"You want to continue to build and play well and continue to get better,'' Robinson said. "That's one thing we talk about, is trying to get better every day, and we wanted to build momentum going into regionals and I think we did that.''

Seaman's Peyton Henry (left) and Camryn Lux won the doubles title in Tuesday's UKC tournament. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Seaman junior Emma Sweeney and senior Molly Gorman advanced to the singles final for the second straight season, with Sweeney taking an 8-0 win for her second straight title while Peyton Henry and Camryn Lux took the doubles title with an 8-4 win over De Soto and Kaylyn Hiebsch and Candace Speer bounced back from a semifinal loss to take an 8-4 win over De Soto in the third-place doubles match.

Topeka West finished fourth as a team, led by a fifth-place doubles finish from seniors Taryn Gilbert and Jordan Felsburg while Shawnee Heights finished eighth.

Seaman, Topeka West, Shawnee Heights and Highland Park will all compete in a Class 5A regional tournament on Saturday at Kossover, vying for state tournament berths.

Seaman won a regional title and posted a third-place finish in 5A last season and Robinson feels like his team is where it needs to be to make another strong postseason run.

"I think we have to be pretty happy where we're at,'' Robinson said. "We have pretty much dominated most of our meets and I think we're peaking at the right time and that's what you want. You want a team to peak right at regionals and go into state with a lot of momentum and that's what I think we're doing.'' 

UNITED KANSAS CONFERENCE

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Created: 06 October 2025

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

After playing in all 11 games last fall with three starts as a redshirt freshman, Washburn University sophomore quarterback Keller Hurla was excited for the 2025 season before a preseason injury put him on the sidelines.

Quarterback Keller Hurla is back in action for Washburn after recovering from a pre-season hamstring injury. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]

But after missing the Ichabods' first three games, the former St. Marys star is back in action and hoping to help Washburn get hot over the second half of the season.

"I had a Grade 2 hamstring tear that happened late in fall camp,'' Hurla said. "At first they thought it was a Grade 1, so I thought I'd be back in a week or so and hopefully be back for Week 1 or Week 2, but then it ended up being a little worse than they thought so they held me out four or five weeks.

"I was able to return the week of (Central Oklahoma). That Wednesday I was able to get a full go and start practicing again. It's good to be back and healthy and just being with the guys out there again. I feel like (last week) I was finally getting back to 100 percent and now it feels great.''

While splitting time with graduate QB Justin Lewis, the 6-foot-2, 200-pound Hurla has completed 11 of 20 passes for 149 yards and two TDs and carried the ball 21 times for 60 yards and two scores as WU pushed UCO and Nebraska-Kearney to the limit in six and seven-point losses.

Hurla also split time running the offense last season when he passed for 812 yards and five TDs and ranked No. 2 on the Ichabods with 332 rushing yards and a team-high five rushing TDs. 

"It's kind of tough not knowing exactly when you're going to be thrown in, but it's always just staying ready and being prepared as if you're the starter every week and just being ready to go whenever your name's called,'' he said. 

"I've kind of learned how to deal with situations like that just in the past year, so it's really nothing new for me and I'm just trying to take advantage of every opportunity I get.''

Washburn, 1-4 overall and 0-3 in the MIAA, faces a tough test Saturday on the road at Pittsburg State, but Hurla feels like the Ichabods' best days are ahead of them in the second half of the season.

"It's going to flip,'' Hurla said. "It will, just with our culture of this new coaching staff and the leaders on this team.

"We have the same mindset every week, just attack the new seven-day season no matter what happened last week. We  flush it, we move on and attack the seven-day season and attack it to the best of or ability.''