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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After spending most of his life as a multi-sport athlete, former Shawnee Heights standout Tyce Brown became a full-time football player prior to the 2022 season for Washburn University.
It's a decision the 6-foot, 185-pound wide receiver feels has, and will continue, to pay dividends this fall and beyond.
"For sure,'' said Brown, who began his college career in baseball at Xaver before briefly playing both baseball and football at WU. "Having a spring this year, it was huge. I got to get a lot of time with Kellen (Simoncic, Washburn quarterback) and just get to know the receivers more, get to know the whole room more because you've got a lot of new faces and just get with the coaches and hash out those details and those things I need to clean up this year.''
In his second year with the Washburn football team Brown was a solid backup, playing in 10 games and recording 23 catches for 250 yards and two touchdowns while averaging 10.9 yards per catch.
Brown had a career-high 68 receiving yards and seven catches against Central Oklahoma.
"I'm always eager for more, there's always room for improvement, but I was happy I was able to get on the field and get that experience in front of the crowd,'' said Brown, who has 30 career catches for 347 yards. "It was awesome playing in my hometown in Topeka, but I'm always looking to get better.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Editor's note: TopSports.news has finished its tour of preseason football practices at all 10 Shawnee County high schools and will post preview stories over the coming days leading into the opening games of the 2023 season Sept. 1.
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As a former college football standout at Washburn University and an assistant high school coach, Trey Parker earned the reputation as being enthusastic and fiercely positive.
As Topeka West's third head football coach in three seasons, Parker knows he'll need to use those skills this fall.
"We're ready to get this thing started and positivity is the word of the day,'' Parker said. "I'm just happy to be here. "I'm just happy to be alive and happy to be out here helping to try and change lives.
"We know this thing is going to take awhile to get it turned around and we knew that from the get go so that's not a shock to anyone. We want to be positive day-in and day-out.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Hayden High's soccer boys team improved to 2-0 on the young 2023 season with its second non-league win in four days, blanking Ottawa 2-0 Monday at Hayden.
The Wildcats, who opened their season with a win over Topeka West last Friday, scored a goal in each half to take the win over Ottawa.
Sophomore forward J.P. Ayella scored the only goal Hayden would need at the 8:53 mark of the first half to give the Wildcats a 1-0 halftime edge.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Corrinne (Stringer) McGreevy played in 100s of big matches as a volleyball star for Hayden and at the Division I and II college level.
But McGreevy was in a whole new position on Monday night, making her debut as the head coach at her alma mater in a dual match at Topeka High.
"I was more nervous than any high school game or college volleyball game,'' McGreevy said. " I'm not going to lie, more nervous than I ever have been.in volleyball.''
Fortunately for McGreevy, her Hayden team did its best to put her nerves at ease, rolling to a 25-10, 25-23, 25-10 dual win over Centennial League foe Topeka High.
"We're getting to know each other and building that trust and they had to see me on the sidelines as their coach, like, 'How's she going to be?' '' McGreevy said. "I know I can be a little fiery, a little nutty, but I mean well.
"We all have to trust each other and connect and that's what it's about is trust because when you can trust each other and you want those people in your foxhole, good things are going to happen.''
Hayden rolled to wins in the first and third sets, but the Wildcats' most impressive win might have come in the middle set as McGreevy's team rallied 17-11 and 19-15 deficits to pull out the win and take a commanding 2-0 lead in the match.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Former Hayden football standout Brent Peavler has had to wait his turn for the Washburn University defense, but now it's Peavler turn.
The 6-foot-2, 225-pound linebacker, who will kick off his sixth year in the Ichabod program Thursday night at Pittsburg State, has appeared in 25 games while collecting 52 tackles and 23 solo stops while being used primarily in a reserve role.
But with Washburn graduating multiple linebackers, including first-team All-American Grant Bruner, Peavler will get his opportunity to be a marquee player for the Ichabods.
"It's been a long five years, coming up on six now, and I had to wait behind three All-Americans, which is good,'' the 23-year-old Peavler said. "Washburn is known for having really good linebackers and hopefully this year I can prove some people wrong and show that maybe I should have been playing a little bit earlier.
"We lost Bruner and we lost D-Mac (Derrick McClendon) and it's going to be me and it's going to be some younger guys that haven't had a lot of reps so it's up to us. We're big communicators on the back end so it will be up to us to communicate and really just step right into it, especially the younger guys, and get this thing going right away with Pitt.''