By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
All-America football player Grant Bruner and All-America softball player Jaycee Ginter will be honored as Washburn University's outstanding male and female athletes for 2022-2023 at the Topeka Shawnee County Sports Awards and Hall of Fame induction ceremonies on Wednesday night at Washburn's Memorial Union.
Grant Bruner (43) earned a pair of first-team NCAA D-II All-America awards as a senior for Washburn after leading the nation in tackles. [File photo/TSN]
Jaycee Ginter has earned All-MIAA first-team honors three times as well as first-team All-America recognition for Washburn's softball team. [File photo/TSN]
Bruner, a native of Gretna, Neb., capped his Ichabod career with a monster season for 7-4 WU last fall, leading the nation in tackles and earning Associated Press Division II and Conference Commissioners Association first-team All-America honors.
Shawnee Heights product Ginter, a junior, was a first-team Division II All-American and the MIAA Player of the Year in 2022 and ended the 2023 season with a 23-8 pitching record and 1.69 earned run average for the 36-14 Ichabods.
TopSports.news will honor outstanding Washburn athletes for the third time in conjunction with the Topeka Shawnee County Sports Awards and Hall of Fame induction ceremonies.
In 2022 Faith Rottinghaus and James Letcher Jr. were named Washburn outstanding female and male athletes of the year.
Washburn Athlete of the Year capsules:
GRANT BRUNER
Bruner, a linebacker who began his Washburn career as a walk-on, picked up a pair of first-team All-America awards following his senior season, earning Associated Press D-II and Division II Conference Commissioners Association honors.
Bruner earned first-team All-MIAA and first-team D2CCA all-region honors in 2022 as he led the nation with 137 tackles, including a nation-best 80 solo tackles, while averaging 12.5 tackles per game.
His tackle total in '22 of 137 ranks third on the Ichabod all-time single-season list and his assisted tackle total of 80 is third on the single-season chart.
Bruner was a six-time member of the MIAA Academic Honor Roll and a two-time all-MIAA player.
JAYCEE GINTER
Ginter was the first Ichabod to receive first-team National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-American honors in 2022 while also earning first-team D2CCA All-American honors.
Ginter became the third Ichabod to be named the MIAA Player of the Year and was a unanimous selection as an All-MIAA first-team pitcher/utility selection.
Ginter finished the 2022 season with a 30-7 record in the pitcher's circle, breaking the Washburn single-season win record while striking out 290 batters in 2341/3 innings to set a school record. Ginter led the Ichabods with 57 RBI and was second with 10 home runs, batting .385.
Ginter posted a 24-10 pitching record and 1.72 ERA with 243 strikeouts this past season while batting .303 with team-highs of seven homers and 41 RBI. Ginter led the MIAA in pitching victories and strikeouts and ranked second in ERA.
The former Shawnee Heights state champ is a three-time first-team All-MIAA pick.
