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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Emporia State opened up a 21-0 lead on the way to a 38-23 MIAA win over Washburn University Saturday at Welch Stadium in the 119th version of the Turnpike Tussle.
ESU jumped out to a three-touchdown lead after scoring drives of 70, 72 and 80 yards, with the final score coming at 9:08 left in the second quarter.
Washburn junior Trenton Brehm kicked three field goals in the Ichabods' 38-23 MIAA road loss to Emporia State Saturday. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Emporia State got on the board on a 4-yard Kingsley Bennett run at the 9:54 mark of the opening quarter and Hornet quarterback Braden Gleason hit Tyler Kahmann for a 39-yard TD and Tommy Zimmerman for 32-yard score to put ESU up 21-0/
Washburn got on the board with 6:47 left to go in the first half when Connor Searcy scored on a 3-yard run, capping a 48-yard drive to trim the Emporia State lead to 21-7.
The Hornets (5-2 overall, 4-2 MIAA) quickly scored on the ensuing drive, going 75 yards in four plays in 60 seconds to push their lead back to 28-7 on a 1-yard Gleason pass to Jaylen Varner.
Washburn (1-6, 0-6 MIAA) wrapped up the scoring just before the half with a 34-yard field goal by Trenton Brehm.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
For the first time in program history, Washburn University men's tennis has a national champion, with Tim Hammes and Santiago Rendon completing a dominant tournament performance run to win the ITA Cup men's doubles dhampionship Saturday night in Mount Berry, Ga.
Washburn tennis stars Tim Hammes and Santiago Rendon pose for a picture with Ichabod coach Kirby Ronning (center) after winning the ITA Cup national doubles championship Saturday night in Mount Berry, Ga. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Hammes and Rendon didn't drop a set through the last two rounds on their way to the first national championship of any kind for Washburn athletics since former Washburn Rural star Madeline Hill Madeline Hill won the ITA Cup women's singles championship for the Ichabods in 2016.
Hammes and Rendon started the day with a 6-4 win in the first set of their semifinal match against Phil Exner and Alex Blanchar of Ouachita Baptist.
The Ichabods finished off the match in the same fashion with another 6-4 win to advnce into the national championship match.
Rendon and Hammes, who finished the 2022-23 season ranked No. 17 nationally in doubles, kept rolling in the championship match with a swift 6-2 first set win over Cas de Ruiter and Toedor Zlatar from Harding University and finished off the match with a 6-2 second-set victory.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After running the Kanza Park cross country course a week earlier, Washburn Rural junior girls standout Payton Fink knew what to expect when she lined up for Saturday's Centennial League meet.
Junior Payton Fink posted a 31-second win in Saturday's Centennial League cross country meet, leading Washburn Rural to the girls team title. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
And what Fink expected was to take care of business from the outset, and she did exactly that, winning her second straight individual league title in a five-kilometer time of 17 minutes, 33.3 seconds as the Junior Blues repeated as team champs by a 39-52 margin over Manhattan.
"I decided to take off and just try to get a gap early at the beginning,'' Fink said. "My mile time wasn't as fast as last week, so that scared me a ittle, but it ended up being OK.''
Fink had finished second to Seaman's Ryin Miller in the city meet, but said that just having the experience of running the Kanza course was a benefit in Saturday's race.
"Last week I came out without having run here since my freshman year and on this courst you've got to know where the cuts are on the course and you've got to know to stay inside so it definitely helped coming back the second week and knowing where all of those were,'' Fink said.
As planned, Fink jumped out to an early lead and held it throughout, winning by a 31-second margin over Junction City senior Lorna Rae Pierce.
"I kind of just came out and decided that I was going to run best for me and just try and get a good time, not worry about anyone else and run my own race,'' Fink said.
Rural sophomore Emily Graf and junior Rylee Ismert backed Fink up front, with Graf finishing third in 18:28.7 and Ismert taking fourth in 18:39.7.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Entering the Class 4A state tennis tournament, Hayden senior Lauren Sandstrom and junior Emily Sheetz talked about ending their highly-successful three-year doubles partnership with a bang.
Hayden junior Emily Sheetz (left) and senior Lauren Sandstrom won a second straight Class 4A state doubles championship Saturday in Winfield. [Photo by Scott Paske/KSHSAA Covered]
The Wildcat stars accomplished that goal on Saturday at Winfield's T.H. Vaughan Tennis Center, topping McPherson's Riggs Kuhn and Brodie Kuhn 6-1, 6-4 to win their second straight state title and their third state medal overall.
Sandstrom, who plans to play basketball in college, told TopSports.news earlier in the week that her biggest emotion came from the fact that she knew that the 2023 state meet was going to be her final tennis meet and her final tournament with Sheetz.
"It's been in back of my mind all season and these past two weeks it's been kind of sad,'' Sandstrom said. "I don't want to stop playing tennis but I'm just hoping that we get to go out with a bang.''
Sheetz, who teamed with Sandstrom to finish seventh at state in 2021, said it was important to her to send Sandstrom out in style.
."I'm a little nervous because it's Lauren's senior year and I just don't want to disappoint her,'' Sheetz told TSN. "It's our last time playing together this weekend, so I think I'm a little nervous about that but I'm pretty confident in both of us that we'll have a good weekend and end strong.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Hayden improved to 7-0 with Friday night's 24-7 home win over Holton while wrapping up the Class 3A District 4 championship.
Hayden's Jensen Schrickel (9), who rushed for 57 yards on seven attempts, takes a handoff from Wildcat quarterback Jett Wahlmeier (7) in Friday's 24-7 Class 3A district win over Holton. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Hayden junior quarterback Jett Wahlmeier threw for 101 yards and ran for two TDs in the Wildcats' 24-7 district win over Holton Friday night at Hayden. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The Wildcats will try to close out a perfect regular season with next Friday's home non-league Senior Night game against Hiawatha.
Hayden never trailed after driving 65 yards in 13 plays on its opening drive for a 9-yard touchdown run from junior quarterback Jett Wahlmeier.
The score remained 7-0 for the bulk od the half, as both teams had scoring threats come up empty, before freshman Mason Becker kicked a 39-yard field goal with 3.3 seconds left in the half to give Holton a 10-0 halftime advantage.
Holton, which fell to 3-4 on the season, took the second-half kickoff and drove to the Hayden 9-yard-line before coughing up a fumble that sophomore Xander Blasing recovered for Hayden, ending a six-minute-plus Holton drive.
