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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Five of the best known names in Shawnee County softball earned spots on TopSports.news' fourth group of Shawnee County All-Time Top 100 honorees while spots No. 61-70 also included three local soccer greats as well as swimming and golf stars.
Silver Lake product Brenda Stolle, who helped Emporia State capture a national softball title, earned the No. 61 spot on the Top 100 while the latest grouping also includes former Washburn Rural and ESU All-American Taylor Zordel, Silver Lake star and Washburn University Hall of Famer Kathy Mohler, Seaman state champ and Division I standout Hailey Reed and Rural multi-sport standout and Kansas pitcher Kasey Hamilton.
The group of honorees also includes former soccer national champion Leea Murphy of Shawnee Heights as well as Washburn Rural stars Kaira Houser and Darby Hirsch while Topeka West product Kadence Jeffries won six state swimming titles in as many tries and Topeka High grad Rachel Stous established herself as one of the area's top women's golfers.
TSN SHAWNEE COUNTY ALL-TIME TOP 100 WOMEN’S ATHLETES
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
A former world record-holder in track, two of Shawnee County's all-time tennis greats, a Major League Baseball alum, a top MLB draft pick, three Division I athletes in basketball and football and a pair of record-setting quarterbacks comprise the third group of men's picks in TopSports.news' Shawnee County All-Time Top 100 project.
TSN's group of 10 Top 100 honorees in the No. 71 through 80 spots includes former American and world record-holder Clardy Vinson of Topeka High and Topeka West multi-sport star and Kansas Jayhawk C.B. McGrath as well as four-time state tennis champ Tommy Hunter of Hayden and three-time champ John Grantham of Topeka High.
Picks No. 71 through 80 also include former Division I athletes Bennie Simecka of Rossville and Theron Wilson of Highland Park, former MLB pitcher Rick DeHart and top draft pick David Proctor and former Silver Lake and Rossville stars Shannon Kruger and Tucker Horak.
TSN SHAWNEE COUNTY ALL-TIME TOP 100 MEN’S ATHLETES
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
A group of Shawnee County greats that excelled in five different sports earned spots No. 71-80 on the women's TopSports.news Shawnee County All-Time Top 100 list.
The third installment of the TSN women's picks is widely diverse, including college softball All-Americans Susan Punzo (Shawnee Heights) and Chris Torrez (Topeka West), tennis stars Danielle Knipp of Washburn Rural and Meg Griffin of Topeka West, who went on to excel at Division I Oklahoma and Maryland, respectively, as well as Topeka West star swimmer Kelli Dudley, who helped Truman State win three straight national swimming titles.
The group of honorees also includes Shawnee Heights product Stefine Pease, who put together a Hall of Fame volleyball career for Lipscomb, along with former T-Bird basketball standout Lori Roenbaugh, a 1,000-point career scorer for Washburn University, and former city tennis stars Tonna Rieger (Topeka West), Alex O'Neal (Hayden) and Zebbie Roberson (Hayden), who all won three state high school championships.
TSN SHAWNEE COUNTY ALL-TIME TOP 100 WOMEN’S ATHLETES
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Perhaps the biggest hurdle Chris Ridley faced in writing his third book was getting longtime Washburn Rural Hall of Fame boys and girls tennis coach Kevin Hedberg to agree to the project.
Hedberg, who retired in 2022 after 43 years in education and coaching, wasn't keen on the idea of talking about himself, but Ridley, who previously released books on legendary prep football coaches Merle Venable of Baldwin and Rural's Ron Bowen, was eventually able to sell his close friend on the book by hitting Hedberg in his soft spot -- his former players.
"I knew it was going to be a hurdle, because we met, about whether the book could be written,'' said Ridley, Washburn Rural's former athletic director who helped bring Hedberg to the school in 1991. "He wasn't sure that it was something that we ought to do.
"But I said, 'Well, think about the way Bowen felt, that it gave an awful lot of attention to an awful lot of kids that played.' That's what convinced Kevin was all the different kids that could be mentioned and their stories and their seasons. That's what he likes I think.''
Ridley is currently accepting orders for 'Coaching Legacy of Champions,' with the target date for release early next month.
"It should go to print here pretty quickly, we're hoping for the first of August,'' Ridley said. "It shouldn't take too long to get it printed. That's usually the fastest part of it.''
Hedberg, a former standout at Topeka High and South Florida and a member of the Topeka Tennis Association and Kansas Tennis Coaches Association Hall of Fame, said the book gave him an opportunity to re-live his 82 seasons (girls and boys combined) as a high school coach, beginning his career with an 11-year stint at Seaman before 32 years at Rural.
"I said no initially and then Chris came back at me with the team aspect,'' said Hedberg, who coached five state championship teams at Rural. "It was wonderful and looking back you just realize all the unique personalities that made up tennis teams. All teams have that, but in tennis you've got six people and they're in a van and you're learning all kinds of things. We had a van rule that whatever was said in the van never left the van. And most of the time they held to that.
"Those dynamics were so much fun. I got to have some really terrific players and then there were all the kids that got their start playing tennis. It's just fun to re-live it and that part was really fun.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
A national golfer of the year, a pair of baseball All-Americans, two of Shawnee County's all-time wrestling greats, an individual and state team-champion swimmer and multiple athletes who competed in NCAA Championships are included in the second group of men's picks in TopSports.news' Shawnee County All-Time Top 100 project.
TSN's second group of 10 Top 100 honorees (No. 81 through 90) includes former NCAA Division II golfer of the year Andrew Beckler, a Washburn Rural product, as well as former wrestling greats Tagen Lambotte of Rossville and Bishop Murray of Washburn Rural, who combined for seven individual state titles, baseball All-Americans Chris Carlson of Seaman and Shane Wright of Hayden and former Seaman star Zeke Metz, who helped lead the Vikings to the city's first swimming state team championship.
Picks No. 81 through 90 also include former NCAA track and field qualifier Mikey Hoffer of Shawnee Heights, former Highland Park basketball star Lamont Austin, who won high school and national junior college titles and played in the NCAA basketball championships, and multi-sport stars and Division I standouts Rapheal Posey of Highland Park and Duane Zlatnik of Rossville.
TSN SHAWNEE COUNTY ALL-TIME TOP 100 MEN’S ATHLETES