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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural's football team completed a perfect 8-0 regular season Thursday night at Hummer Sports Park -- the only Class 6A team to accomplish that feat -- rolling to a 55-8 non-league win over Topeka West.
Washburn Rural senior quarterback Branton DeWeese (5) scores one of his two touchdowns in Thursday night's 55-8 win over Topeka West. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
But now the real work begins for Steve Buhler's Junior Blues, who will kick off their quest for a state title next Friday night at Bowen-Glaze Stadium.
"The other (regular season) games you can do things not as well as you'd like to do and go fix them,'' Buhler said. "You do that now, when the playoffs start, you don't get that second chance so we say, 'It gets real.'
"We just have to be motivated in what we want to accomplish and this group has pretty high standards for itself.''
Washburn Rural, the top seed on the 6A West bracket, went into Thursday night's game as a heavy favorite over 1-7 Topeka West and took care of business from the outset, scoring the first eight times they touched the ball in the first half to build what would be the final 55-8 margin.
"They came out and locked it in and that's the sign of really good senior leadership,'' Buhler said. "This is really important to these guys and I'm pretty sure they made sure everybody understood that. They understand that we can't go backwards in the weeks before the playoffs.
"They've been through the playoffs and they know where we need to go and how we're going to get there, so they did a really good job of getting everybody ready to go before the game.''
After Topeka West scored its lone touchdown with 3:24 left in the half, Rural junior Lafayette Thompson returned the ensuing Charger kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown to force a running clock throughout the second half.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Highland Park will inductt its 2023 Hall of Fame and Sports Wall of Honor induction ceremonies at 4 p.m. Saturday in the Highland Park Media Center.
Dr. Beryl New and Lt. Colonel Gregory Howard Jr. will be inducted into the Hall of Fame while Tony Barksdale and Kenny Hartzell will be added to the Sports Wall of Honor.
New was a longtime principal and USD 501 administrator from 1988-2023 while Howard, a 1988 Highland Park graduate, has had a distinguished military career in the U.S. Army.
Barksdale, a 1996 HPHS graduate, was a star basketball player for the Scots while Hartzell, Class of 1996, was a football and wrestling standout for Highland Park.
Hall of Fame/Wall of Honor capsules:
Dr. Beryl A. New Educator (1988-2023)
Dr. Beryl New has been a resident of Topeka since the age of nine and is also a proud product of the historic Monroe Elementary School and graduated from Topeka High School in 1970.
As a young child, she loved organizing activities that involved teaching others. This desire grew to become her passionate profession later in her life. After high school, she enrolled in secretarial college, but then married and began a family. When she had six children, Beryl enrolled in Washburn University where she graduated with high honors, earning her bachelor’s degree. She then began her career doing what she had always felt a calling to do – teaching English at her alma mater, Topeka High School.
Dr. New earned a Bachelor’s degree in English Education in 1988 and a Master’s degree in School Leadership in 2002, both from Washburn University. In 2007, she earned a Doctorate degree in Educational Administration from the University of Kansas.
During her 35 years in public education, she served as an English teacher from 1988- 2000 as well as a counselor during that same time period from 1997-2000 at Topeka High School. She served from 2000-2005 as an assistant principal at Highland Park High School, served from 2005-2010 as both the Assistant and Associate Principal at Lawrence High School. Dr. New returned to Highland Park High School in 2010 as the Principal until 2017. In 2017 she transferred to the administrative offices of Topeka Public Schools to serve as the Director of Certified Personnel and Equity as well as the co-chair of the district’s Equity Council, which closely examines the ways in which race impacts student success before retiring in April 2023.
Dr. New is currently appointed by the governor to serve on two Kansas Commissions: the Kansas African American Affairs Commission and the Kansas Advisory Group for Juvenile Justice. She is the co-chair of SENT, a non-profit organization working to rebuild, strengthen, and support the Hi-Crest Neighborhood in Topeka. She also serves as the co-chair of Mosaic Partnership, a group seeking to bring cultural unity throughout Topeka, one conversation at a time. In addition, Dr. New serves as a board member on Keys for Networking, Inc., Midland Care, Mosaic Topeka, and the Topeka Center for Peace and Justice.
Dr. New is known as not only an educator, but is a friend and mentor for many of the students she has had the privilege to serve. She is the mother of eight children with some of them attended Highland Park High School, the grandmother of twelve, and the great-grandmother of one. She is married to LaRon New.
Gregory Howard, Jr. Military- Lt. Col. U.S. Army Class of 1988
Gregory Howard, Jr. is a 1988 graduate of Highland Park High School. Following high school Gregory enlisted in the Army on September 13, 1988 as a Subsistence Supply Specialist and served in the 295th Supply Company, 80th Ordnance Battalion, 593rd Area Support Group. He graduated from the Army Officer Candidate School at the Iowa Military Academy in August 2000 where he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Quartermaster Corps.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Rossville junior football standout Tayson Horak and Hayden junior state tennis champion Emily Sheetz have been selected by the Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency as the Rising Stars of the Week.
The Dan Key Agency will recognize top Shawnee County underclassmen throughout the bulk of the 2023-2024 school year.
Here’s a brief look at the accomplishments of Horak and Sheetz over the past week:
Rossville junior Tayson Horak (12) scored four touchdowns in last Friday's 64-14 Class 2A district win over Pleasant Ridge. [File photo/TSN]
TAYSON HORAK, Rossville
Horak scored four touchdowns for Rossville last Friday night as the Bulldawgs rolled to a 64-14 Class 2A District 3 victory over Pleasant Ridge.
Horak scored on runs of 52 and 59 yards against the Rams and caught 4 and 26-yard touchdown passes from quarterback Camden Horak.
Tayson's four TDs helped Rossville improve to 4-3 overall and 2-1 in district play.
Hayden junior Emily Sheetz (right) and senior Lauren Sandstrom won a second straight Class 4A state doubles championship last Saturday in Winfield. [File photo/TSN]
EMILY SHEETZ, Hayden
Sweetz teamed with Lauren Sandstrom to win the Class 4A state doubles tennis championship for the second straight season last Saturday in Winfield, capping a 33-3 season.
Sheetz and Sandstrom earned 4A state medals three straight seasons, finishing seventh in 2021 before winning the back-to-back state titles.
Sandstrom and Sheetz won Centennial League and 4A regional doubles titles this fall and finished second in the city meet in No. 1 doubles.
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By KEVIN HASKIN
TopSports.news
Musings past the mid-month:
• I can assure you, despite what he might be saying, Chris Klieman wishes he had inserted Avery Johnson at Missouri and Oklahoma State.
• The Maize freshman didn’t seem a bit rattled by a road atmosphere at Texas Tech.
• With breathtaking speed, sudden cuts and even a few completions, Johnson flattened Lubbock tortillas in a heartbeat.
• Look, I believe Will Howard can play … and could still have a role with K-State.
• But he’s a pass-first QB who just didn’t have a good assortment of wide receivers.
• K-State must find wideouts with the height to win jump balls, the instincts to get open, and the hands that avoid drops.
• No program in America has proven it’s possible to develop diminutive skill players quite like K-State.
• Still, some additional bone and meat is warranted for QBs to flourish in the passing game.
• Howard has proven he can do just that. We’ll learn how well Johnson attacks through the air.
• And, cope with Big 12 defenders who load up to shackle his shifty feet.
• KU gets an additional week to prepare for a home game I circled long ago.
• The Jayhawks have what it takes to give Oklahoma fits.
• But is there something more contributing to Jalon Daniels’ absence?
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University's 14-15 men's basketball record a year ago wasn't necessarily a bad season, particularly considering who the Ichabods lost off their NCAA Tournament team from 2021-2022.
Washburn men's basketball coach Brett Ballard and his Ichabods will be looking to return to MIAA and NCAA prominence this season after slipping to 14-15 a year ago. [File photo/TSN]
But seven-year Ichabod coach Brett Ballard makes no bones about the fact that a repeat of that won't be acceptable at Washburn moving forward.
"It humbles you,'' said Ballard, 118-64 at Washburn with four NCAA Tournament appearances. "As a coach you've got to learn from it and we've got to be better. It's just not our standard here and not the expectations that I have or anybody has for this program.''
"Our players understand that and there's no question in my mind that we'll take a big step this year.''
Fortunately for WU, the Ichabods seemingly have the talent in place to make that happen.
"We return about 70 percent of our scoring and about 80 percent of our rebounding and return a lot of guys that played big minutes last year,'' Ballard said. "I thought we showed some flashes of being really good at times last year, especially at home. We were good at home, not as good on the road.
"Part of that was just the youth we were playing and the league is really, really good. But this year, with those guys coming back, we're looking for much more consistency and being tough enough to be able to win at home but also be able to go on the road and get big wins, too. Our schedule's going to be brutal again, but that's not an excuse. We've got good players. I really like the pieces that we've got.''
