By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Shawnee County high schools had plenty to celebrate in 2022, with county teams capturing three boys state team titles in three different sports while county athletes combined to earn nine individual championships.
Washburn Rural wrestling is No. 1 on TopSports' list of the top 10 boys high school sports stories of 2022 after winning its second straight Class 6A state team title while Seaman basketball is right behind the Junior Blues after winning the first boys state basketball championship in school history.
Individually, former Hayden distance ace Tanner Newkirk led the way with a record-setting three-win perfomance in the state track and field championships while 2022 was also about Highland Park's football team ending an eight-year losing skid with a breakout year, Shawnee Heights sprint star Jeremiah Smith running the fastest 100-meter dash in Kansas history and Washburn Rural senior Easton Bradstreet earning his place in Rural soccer history.
Here's a look at TopSports.news' top 10 Shawnee County boys prep stories of 2022, with the girls top 10 coming up next:
Washburn Rural senior Austin Fager flips Junior Blues coach Josh Hogan to the mat in celebration last season after winning the 182-pound Class 6A state championship to clinch Rural's second straight state team title. [Photo by Jeff Jacobsen/Action Images Photography]
Washburn Rural senior Aidan Boline won the Class 6A 160-pound state championship as a senior, helping the Junior Blues repeat as state team champs. [Photo by Jeff Jacobsen/Action Images Photography]
1. DATE WITH DESTINY PART II -- After posting a pair of Class 6A runner-up finishes, Washburn Rural's wrestling team captured the first-ever boys team championship by a Topeka school in 2021. The Junior Blues, with new coach Josh Hogan at the helm, made it two in a row in 2022, with senior state champions Aidan Boline and Austin Fager and then-freshman runner-up Easton Broxterman leading the way as Rural won the title by a 151-142.5 margin over Derby.
Seaman's boys basketball team celebrates the 2022 Class 5A state championship after its 66-47 win over De Soto in the title game. [File photo/TSN]
2. RUN FOR THE AGES -- A little past the halfway mark of the 2021-2022 high school basketball season, Seaman's basketball team was sitting with a so-so 7-7 record. Eleven wins later, including a dominating state tournament run, Craig Cox's Vikings were the Class 5A boys state champions for the first time in school history. With seniors Ty Henry, Mateo Hyman and Gavin Wilhelm and then-juniors Kaeden Bonner and Aron Davis setting the tone, Seaman won all three of its state games by double-digits, including a 66-47 romp past De Soto in the championship game.
Hayden distance star Tanner Newkirk ended his high school career with three Class 4A individual titles and two 4A state meet records in the 2022 state track and field championships. [File photo/TSN]
3. TANNERIFIC -- Tanner Newkirk capped his outstanding distance running career for Hayden with a record-setting performance in the state track and field championships at Wichita State's Cessna Starium. Now a freshman at Kansas, Newkirk, a former state cross country champ, pulled off the rare distance triple in Class 4A, winning the 3,200 meters in 8 minutes, 58.88 seconds, the 1,600 in 4:12.25 and the 800 in 1:55.0 while setting state meet records in the 3,200 and 1,600 and posting the No. 5 time in state history in the 3,200. Newkirk was joined as a Wildcat state champ by then-freshman Jensen Schrickel, who won the 4A long jump title.
Seaman's boys bowling team celebrates a strike during the 2022 Class 5A-1A state tournament. The Vikings rallied to win the team championship by an 11-pin margin over Goddard Eisenhower. [Photo by Selena Favela/Special to TSN]
4. STRIKING GOLD -- Seaman's boys bowling team set the stage for a landmark day for the Vikings, rallying to claim the Class 5A-1A state team championship by a 3,483-3,472 margin over Goddard Eisenhower as then-juniors Ethan Burns and Zander White and senior Jack Easum all posted top-20 individual finishes, led by Burns' 10th-place showing with a 668 series. The Seaman girls followed the lead of the boys team and made it a sweep of the 5A-1A team titles.
Topeka West twin brothers Miles and Ian Cusick celebrate a big point during the 2022 Class 5A state tennis tournament. The Cusicks won the 5A state doubles title, leading the Chargers to a runner-up finish as a team. [Submitted photo]
5. TWIN POWER -- Twin brothers Ian and Miles Cusick capped their junior tennis seasons for Topeka West with a dominating run in the Class 5A state tournament, claiming the state doubles title to lead the Chargers to a runner-up finish to Maize South in the team standings. The Cusicks, two-time state placers, capped their state performance with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Maize South's Grayson Wright and Mitchell Krumm in the state final.
Former Topeka West basketball star Elijah Brooks capped a record-setting senior season by being named Mr. Kansas Basketball by the KBCA. [File photo/TSN]
6. KING OF KANSAS -- Former Topeka West basketball star Elijah Brooks capped off a record-setting season with one of the state's most prestigious individual honors, being named Mr. Kansas Basketball by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association after leading the Chargers to a second straight Class 5A state tournament berth. Brooks became West's single-season and career scoring leader while averaging 25.3 points on the season, with a high of 43 points. Brooks is now playing for NCAA Division I North Dakota.
Legendary Washburn Rural tennis coach Kevin Hedberg (left) retired in 2022 after a 43-year high school career, including 32 seasons at Rural. [File photo/TSN]
Silver Lake legend C.J. Hamilton, a member of the Topeka Shawnee County Hall of Fame and the winningest football coach in Kansas history, ended his 47-year high school coaching run with his retirement in 2022. [File photo]
7. END OF AN ERA -- Kansas coaching legends C.J. Hamilton of Silver Lake and Kevin Hedberg of Washburn Rural announced their retirements in 2022. Hamilton ended his 47-year career at Silver Lake as the winningest coach in Kansas high school football history, posting a 447-98 record with 18 trips to the state championship game and eight titles. Hedberg ended his 43-year high school teaching and coaching career, including the last 32 years at Rural. Hedberg coached five state championship teams at Rural (four boys and one girls), as well as singles and doubles champions in both boys and girls tennis and a long list of city and Centennial League title teams. Former Lake star Logan Pegram took over as Silver Lake's football coach and led the Eagles to 6-3 record this past fall while Brad Johnston will coach the Rural boys this spring after leading the Junior Blue girls to a regional title in the fall season.
Highland Park's football team celebrates last season's 60-47 win over Kansas City-Wyandotte, which snapped a 65-game losing streak dating back to 2014. [File photo/TSN]
8. BREAKTHROUGH, BREAKOUT FALL FOR SCOT FOOTBALL -- Highland Park's football team snapped a 65-game, eight-year losing streak in a 60-47 season-opening Meadowlark Conference win over Kansas City-Wyandotte, coming from behind five times before taking control with 26 unanswered points. The Scots went on to post a 6-3 record on the season as senior star Tre Richardson turned in one of the top individual seasons in city history after winning a Class 5A state title in the 200-meter dash earlier in 2022.
Shawnee Heights then-junior Jeremiah Smith ran the fastest 100-meter dash in Kansas history in 2022, clocking a 10.27 fully automatic time. [File photo/TSN]
9. STATE'S FASTEST MAN -- After winning three Class 5A individual track titles as a sophomore in 2021, the '22 season didn't go as expected for Shawnee Heights star sprinter/hurdler Jeremiah Smith, with an injury keeping him out of the league, regional and state meets. But before his injury Smith, who has signed with Nebraska, climbed to the No. 1 spot all-time in Kansas in the 100-meter dash, clocking a time of 10.27 seconds in the Lansing Invitational.
Washburn Rural senior soccer star Easton Bradstreet earned a share of Rural's career scoring record with 57 goals. [File photo/TSN]
10. BRADSTREET PUTS STAMP ON RURAL SOCCER -- Washburn Rural senior Easton Bradstreet ended his high school soccer career with one of the top seasons in Rural history. Bradstreet scored 29 goals on the season and 57 goals in his career to earn a share of the school career scoring record with former Rural star Austin Halsey. Bradstreet helped lead Rural to a 28th straight Centennial League title (outright or shared) and a fourth-place finish in the Class 6A state tournament.
Next up: TopSports.news' list of the Top 10 Shawnee County girls high school sports stories of 2022.
