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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Linemen, football's unsung heroes, will be in the spotlight on Tuesday, July 9, when Shawnee Heights hosts its annual "Battle of the Bigs'' lineman challenge (5:30 p.m. start).
The "Battle of the Bigs'' is billed as an opportunity for offensive and defensive linemen to have fun over the summer in a non-contact competition.
Appoximately 85 linemen representing seven city and area high schools took part in the 2023 Battle of the Bigs, competing in a variety of drills/activities while vying for individual and team prizes.
Former Shawnee Heights football standout Christian Gonzales participates in last summer's Battle of the Bigs. [File photo/TSN]
Washburn Rural senior Jacob Hawks takes part in the 2023 Battle of the Bigs at Shawnee Heights. [File photo/TSN]
"We do it because the skill guys get to have fun all summer and the linemen, all they do is push sleds and work in the weight room, so we see this as kind of a way to reward the linemen and kind of create that unity in their unit,'' Shawnee Heights coach Jason Swift said. "They always say they have a great time.
"We wanted to do something fun for the linemen. Linemen are always like, 'How come we don't get to do 7 on 7, how come we don't get to do stuff?' So that's why we put this together: 'Let's make it a fun day, non-contact, but competitive. More importantly, we want to help build that brotherhood inside the trenches.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Tanner Gardner holds college degrees from Stanford and Harvard, was an All-American wrestler and a member of multiple halls of fame.
Tanner Gardner, a 2003 Shawnee Heights graduate and 2018 inductee into the Topeka Shawnee County Sports Hall of Fame, took over as the director of athletics at Pepperdine University earlier this month. [Pepperdine Athletics]
Former Shawnee Heights state champion and Stanford All-American wrestler Tanner Gardner is the new director of athletics at Pepperdine University. [Stanford Athletics]
But the new athletic director at Division I Pepperdine University in the beautiful ocean-front city of Malibu, Calif. will never forget where it all started -- in the small close-knit community of Tecumseh at Shawnee Heights High School.
"I'm really grateful to God for this opportunity and it's a place that when you're growing up you never really expected to be,'' Gardner told TopSports.news in a phone interview. "I never envisioned that I'd be the athletic director at Pepperdine. It's like I got one good opportunity after another and kind of parlayed one into the next.''
Gardner took over as A.D. at Pepperdine this month after a successful stint as a deputy athletic director at Rice University, but said he wouldn't be where he is without the values he learned through wrestling and his coaches, including former Heights coach Bob Gonzales.
Gardner was a two-time undefeated Class 5A state champion for the T-Birds, graduating in 2003, and went on to become Stanford's first three-time wrestling All-American before eventually getting into athletic administration.
"I got into wrestling because of Gonzo, I got good at wrestling because of a lot of good coaches and I got to Stanford because I was good at wrestling,'' Gardner said. "It went on from there and now I'm the athletic director at Pepperdine, so I'm really a product of those who helped me get to where I am.
"I'm really grateful for the opportunity to lead such a distinguished department at really a terrific university that has their values straight and has great leadership.''
Gardner said he felt the lure to enter the field of athletic administration after finishing his academic career at Stanford and receiving his master's degree from Harvard.
"When I was in college I never considered that as a career but through some professional and personal experiences once I got out of college I felt a calling to go be an athletic director,'' Gardner said. "I'm a man of faith and I feel like it was a calling from God. That was in 2009 and it took me about five years to get my first job in college athletics but since I've been in it, it felt really affirming and that this is what I wanted to do.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
No matter what happens from here on out, former Highland Park and Missouri State basketball star Kyle Weems has put together a long, successful international professional career that he's very proud of.
Kyle Weems was in Topeka Friday to co-host the Big Kev Give Back Camp at Washburn University. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
But the 34-year-old Topekan, who has been part of multiple championship teams, feels like there still plenty left in the tank as he gets ready to return to Italy for his 13th pro season later this summer.
"I'm unbelievably blessed,'' said Weems, who was in Topeka Friday to co-host the third annual Big Kev Give Back Camp at Washburn University with close friend Michael Wilhoite, an assistant coach for the Denver Broncos. "I've been blessed with good health. I've had good trainers on and off the court, in the weight room, and I've had people like Mike who have shown me the way of how to train your body and just be a pro.
"I've been blessed with a lot of people like that, people like Mike and my uncle Kris (Weems, Golden State Warriors assistant) and so on and so forth, so it's been a great recipe for success and I have to give a lot of credit to those type of people.''
Weems will play his second season in 2024-2025 for Derthona Basket, located in Tortona, Italy, after earlier stints in Germany, France and Turkey.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Highland Park and Washburn University alum Michael Wilhoite probably knows a little more what to expect and what's expected of him as he embarks on his second season as a member of Sean Payton's Denver Broncos coaching staff.
Denver Broncos outside linebackers coach Michael Wilhoite gives instructions during Friday's third annual Big Kev Give Back Camp at Washburn University. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
But the former seven-year NFL veteran, who coaches the Broncos' outside linebackers, said he never wants to feel too comfortable in his coaching skin, believing that the journey to being a successful coach is never completely finished.
"No, and I don't think it's a bad thing,'' said Wilhoite, who co-hosted Friday's Big Kev Give Back Camp at WU with pro basketball veteran Kyle Weems. "I don't think that I'm uncomfortable, I just feel like I'm urgent right now, like there's more to be done, there's more work to go and there's more to learn. I want to just be great for my players.
"I know my players right now have probably already worked out twice to three times (today) and now I have to match that. I can't match that any more with running and lifting. I can only match that with time in the film room, with finding new ways to help them become better players, calling outside resources and saying, 'How do you teach this? How can I be a better coach? How can I simplify this message?' ''
Wilhoite, a 2021 inductee into the Topeka Shawnee County Sports Hall of Fame, played in the NFL for the 49ers and Seahawks, including a Super Bowl appearance, and said the same competiveness that drove him as a player is also his biggest motivator as a coach.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Multi-sport stars Finn Dunshee of Hayden and Taylin Stallbaumer of Seaman were named the TopSports.news Topeka Shawnee County Athletes of the Year Wednesday night in ceremonies at Washburn University.
Dunshee was a multi-event state champion in track and a state runnerup in football for the Wildcats while Stallbaumer helped lead Seaman to Class 5A state titles in volleyball and basketball and the state quarterfinals in soccer as a senior.
Hayden product Finn Dunshee won three Class 3A state gold medals in the 2024 Kansas State Track and Field Championships at Wichita and plans to run collegiately at TCU. [File photo/TSN]
Hayden product Finn Dunshee (33) helped lead the Wildcat football to a runnerup finish in Class 3A as a senior. [File photo/TSN]
Dunshee swept the 3A titles this spring in the 100-meter (10.60 seconds) and 200-meter (21.99) dashes and helped the Wildcats win the 4x400 relay (3:26.01) and post a runnerup finish in the 4x100 relay (42.52).
In football Dunshee fought back from a torn MCL to help 12-1 Hayden advance to the 3A title game last fall. Despite missing five full games, Dunshee rushed for 844 yards and 14 touchdowns on 60 attempts and caught 17 passes for 229 yards and three TDs.
Dunshee earned All-Shawnee County Top 22 honors for the second straight season.
Seaman product Taylin Stallbaumer helped lead Seaman to its first Class 5A state volleyball championship last fall. [Submitted photo]
Recent Seaman graduate Taylin Stallbaumer was named the Topeka Shawnee County Female Athlete of the Year after helping the Vikings win Class 5A state titles in volleyball and basketball. [File photo/TSN]
Stallbaumer finished her high school volleyball career second on Seaman's all-time list in assists (1,394), fourth in aces (134), fifth in kills (663), sixth in digs (873), seventh in hitting percentage (.205) and ninth in blocks (91).
In basketball Stallbaumer received first-team All-United Kansas Conference and All-Shawnee County recognition, finishing her prep career as the Seaman record-holder for career 3-pointers.
She also ranks in the top five in school history in points, assists, steals, free throw percentage and 3-point percentage. Stallbaumer finished her career with 978 points, 201 assists and 199 steals.
Stallbaumer will play volleyball at Johnson County Community College.
