By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Shawnee County girls high school sports teams enjoyed another oustanding year in 2023, with county schools capturing five state team championships in four different sports in four different classifications while local athletes also added a pair of individual titles.
That across-the-board success made it nearly impossible to narrow down TopSports.news' list of the top Shawnee County girls stories to just 10, and even harder to decide which accomplishments deserve to be at the top of the list, but here goes.
Seaman celebrates its first-ever state volleyball championship after a 25-19, 25-22 win over St. Thomas Aquinas in the 2023 championship match. [Photo by Scott Paske/KSHSAA Covered]
1. VIKING MAGIC -- After back-to-back fourth-place state finishes, Seaman's volleyball team was determined to make a statement in the Class 5A state tournament. Tatiana Dowling's Vikings accomplished that goal in dominant fashion, capping a perfect 5-0 weekend with a 25-19, 25-22 win over defending champion St. Thomas Aquinas in the championship match, with Seaman claiming its first state volleyball title in school history. The state run included five consecutive straight-set victories for the Vikings, who capped a 38-6 season while avenging a 3-0 dual loss to Aquinas earlier in October. Seaman juniors Maegan Mills and Reagan McGivern and senior Brooklyn Gormley were all named to the All-5A State Tournament team while Mills was named the 5A player of the year by the Kansas Volleyball Association.
Washburn Rural wrestling coach Damon Parker hoists senior star Addi Broxterman in the air after her pin in the third-place match clinched the 2023 state title for the Junior Blues. [Photo by Brian Turrel/Wyandotte Daily]
2. SETTING THE STANDARD -- Damon Parker's Washburn Rural Junior Blues continued to set the standard for all Kansas high school girls wrestling programs in 2023, with Rural winning its third team title in the four seasons that girls wrestling has been an official sport in the state. The Junior Blues had their two-year title reign snapped in 2022, finishing second to Dodge City, but Rural bounced back to win the Class 6A-5A title in 2023 by a 153-141 margin over Garden City as nine Junior Blues earned state medals.
Rossville softball celebrates its 2023 state championship after its 2-0 win over Santa Fe Trail in the title game. [Photo by Jesse Bruner/Special to TSN]
3. DIAMOND QUEENS -- Rossville's softball team rode the arm of senior pitcher Brinley Dyche to the 2023 Class 3A state championship, with the Bulldawgs claiming their first state softball title since 2000 with a 2-0 win over Santa Fe Trail in the championship game. Dyche picked up all three pitching victories for Rossville in its state title run as the Bulldawgs avenged a
disappointing final day of the 2022 season when it dropped one-run extra-inning games in both the semifinals and third-place games.
Rossville 120-pounder Kenda Hurla captured her third straight Class 4A-1A state wrestling title in the 2023 state meet. [Photo courtesy of KSHSAA Covered]
4. THREE FOR THREE -- Rossville 120-pound junior wrestling star Kendra Hurla won her third straight Class 4A-1A state championship in the 2023 state meet at Hays. Hurla's three-peat led the way as the Bulldawgs posted an impressive second-place finish to Chanute in the 4A-1A team standings. Rossville's Keera Lacock joined Hurla in the finals, finishing second at 115 pounds, while Hailey Horton posted a third-place state finish at 155 pounds.
Hayden won the 2023 Class 4A girls state golf championship by a whopping 37-stroke margin. [Photo by Brent Maycock/KSHSAA Covered]
5. WIRE-TO-WIRE DOMINANCE -- Hayden's golf team had a very good day in the first round of the Class 4A state tournament at Salina, opening up a 13-stroke lead. And the Wildcats were even better in the final round, winning their first state championship since 2018 and their sixth overall by a 661-698 margin over Wamego, ending the Red Raiders' two-year title reign and avenging a loss to Wamego in regional competition. Sophomore Izzy Glotbach tied for ninth place individually at 161 while senior Hannah Reynoldson placed 14th at 164, sophomore Lauren Borjon 15th at 165 and senior Avery Grunert 16th at 171.
Silver Lake captured its first girls golf state title in 2023, winning by 22 strokes. [Photo by Rick Peterson Jr./KSHSAA Covered]
6. WIRE-TO-WIRE DOMINANCE PART II -- Silver Lake's girls golf team completed its dominant 2023 season in grand style, winning its first Class 3A-1A state championship by a whopping 22 strokes. Silver Lake got second and fourth-place individual finishes from senior Klara Kleinig and junior Taylor Zordel on the way to a 701-723 margin over Colby at Hesston. Kleinig, a foreign exchange student from Germany, shot back to back 80s to finish tied for the runnerup spot while Zordel carded an 80 in the final round after opening with an 83 to earn her third straight state medal.
Hayden junior Emily Sheetz and senior Lauren Sandstrom won their second straight Class 4A state doubles title in 2023. [Photo by Scott Paske/KSHSAA Covered]
7. REPEAT FEAT -- Hayden senior Lauren Sandstrom and junior Emily Sheetz captured the doubles championship in the Class 4A state tennis tournament for the second straight season, capping a 33-3 season. Sandstrom and Sheetz capped their 2023 state title run with a 6-1, 6-4 win over McPherson's Riggs Kuhn and Brodie Kuhn in the state championship match. Sandstrom and Sheetz earned their third state medals overall, finishing seventh in 2021 before their back-to-back state titles.
Current Kentucky volleyball star Brooklyn DeLeye helped lead Washburn Rural to a runnerup finish in the Class 6A state basketball tournament in 2023. [Photo by Selena Favela/Special to TSN]
8. OH SO CLOSE -- Despite losing six players, including Division I signee Emma Krueger, off its 2022 championship team and a midseason injury to Kansas recruit Zoe Canfield, Washburn Rural's girls basketball team came within a point of a Class 6A title repeat in 2023, dropping a 35-34 heartbreaker to Blue Valley North in the state title game at Wichita's Koch Arena. With seniors Brooklyn DeLeye and Chloe Carlgren, who helped lead Rural to the 2022 6A volleyball title, playing a big role, the Junior Blues finished the season 18-6 while reaching their third state final since 2019.
Emmerson Cope, now at Nebraska, helped Washburn Rural's softball team post a runnerup Class 6A state finish for the second straight season in 2023. [File photo/TSN]
9. OH SO CLOSE PART II -- Washburn Rural's softball team also came up just short of a state title, finishing second in Class 6A for the second straight season. Led by senior star Emmerson Cope, now at Nebraska, the Junior Blues reached the championship game for the second straight year with a 3-1 12-inning marathon semifinal win over previously-unbeaten Olathe Northwest as Cope went the distance on the mound. The weary Junior Blues then dropped a 10-0 decision to Olathe West in the championship game. Rural dropped a 2-1 decision to city rival Topeka High in the 2022 title game.
10. OH SO CLOSE PART III -- It was also a year of individual near-misses for local athletes, with a wide range of local stars posting runnerup finishes in multiple sports. That list includes Topeka West's Ala'Jah Brooks (Class 5A 200 meters), Seaman's Bethany Druse (5A 800 meters) and Hayden's Natalie Hillebert (4A 400 meters) in track, Rossville's Keera Lacock (3A-1A 115 pounds), Seaman's Koti Best (6A-5A 130 pounds) and Shawnee Heights' Madison Freeland (6A-5A 135 pounds) in wrestling, Shawnee Heights' Jette Glasenapp (5A singles) in tennis, Topeka High's Brianna Devlin (6A diving) and Seaman's Avery Walz (5A-1A 200 individual medley) in swimming, Washburn Rural's Payton Fink (6A) in cross country, Seaman's Katie Price (5A-1A) in bowling and Rossville's Klara Kleinig (3A-1A) in golf.
