The renaissance of Highland Park football has been the Capital City’s feel-good story of the past three years.
The Scots ended an eight-year, 65 game losing streak at the beginning of the 2022 school year and have been one of the most entertaining teams in Shawnee County ever since. Highland Park followed up that 6-3 season – which produced college standout Tre Richardson, currently at Vanderbilt – with seasons of 7-3 and 6-3.
Highland Park interim athletic director Brad Snyder said he has no doubt that Scots football coach Jermaine Monroe (pictured) and his team will be able to turn recent negative events into a long-term positive for the program. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Highland Park began the 2025 campaign with two blowout wins and were in the midst of a third when things went awry. In the third period of a game with Kansas City-Schlagle at Hummer Sports Park on Sept. 19, a fight between a few players escalated, with members of both teams leaving the bench. Game officials and police struggled to restore order. Play was not resumed.
The Kansas State High School Activities Association determined that Highland Park would receive the victory against Schlagle, but both teams would be required to forfeit their next game. The Scots were scheduled to visit KC-Harmon on Sept. 26.
Highland Park athletic director Brad Snyder and his staff have been working hard since that night to turn a negative into a positive.
A longtime teacher and activities director at Jardine Middle School, Snyder was asked to take over the Scots’ athletic department on an interim basis at the start of the school year. He was tasked with fostering a culture within the department that emphasized character development as well as competitiveness.
The recent incident, while disappointing, is a chance to further that mission, Snyder said.
“We are taking this very serious,” Snyder said. “We are going to move forward and project a good image. We are going to be better for it. I believe in these kids and believe they are going to show the community how well we’re doing.”
The Scots will have to wait another week to demonstrate their efforts. Not only did they forfeit the Harmon game, but they decided to forego this week’s game – a Friday night home game against Wichita East – due to the number of players serving suspensions or otherwise restricted in their participation.
“As a school, we dealt out consequences that have left us not at full strength,” Snyder said. “Not making any excuses, we could have played Friday. I think we could be competitive with Wichita East, but we also need to understand that our actions cause a rippling effect. I hope these two games have given us time to think about it.”
The forfeitures to Harmon and Wichita East went into the record books as 13-0 losses.
Highland Park has built a program under fifth-year head coach Jermaine Monroe that challenges for titles in the Meadowlark Conference and victories in the postseason. That turnaround has meant a lot to the Highland Park community, Snyder said.
“You see it in the pride of the school. You see it in how the kids feel about themselves,” Snyder said. “Now that they have that taste of success, they want to take the next step.”
Snyder emphasized that the football program is in the right hands.
The Washburn University soccer team will host Nebraska-Kearney in the Ichabods' MIAA home opener at 6 p.m. Friday night in Yager Stadium.
Washburn is coming off a solid start to the MIAA season with a 0-0 draw last Friday night at Central Oklahoma and a 1-0 victory over Newman Sunday. The Ichabods have not allowed a goal over their past four games.
Freshman Leah Henke scored Washburn's game-winning goal in Sunday's 1-0 win over Newman and has a team-high four goals on the season. [File photo/TSN]
Washburn freshman goalkeeper Lili Everley and the Ichabod defense have not allowed a goal in WU's past four games. [File photo/TSN]
The Ichabods were led by freshman goalkeeper Lili Everley and freshman forward Leah Henke last weekend.
Everley was named the MIAA Goalkeeper of the Week for the second week in a row while Henke scored the game-winner over Newman Sunday afternoon.
Washburn has taken 99 shots, with 45 of them being on goal, while allowing opponents to attempt only 56 shots so far this season.
Washburn has taken 45 corners in the first six games of the season, while their opponents have only taken 19.
The Lopers are 2-3-2 overall and 0-0-2 to start MIAA conference play. UNK started the season 0-2-0 before earning their first win of the season against Black Hills State.
UNK has tied its first two MIAA games against Pittsburg State and Missouri Southern.
Washburn leads the all-time series 16-3-3. Washburn has won the last nine games over the Lopers, and the Ichabods are 7-2 at home against Nebraska-Kearney.
Washburn will be back on the road against Missouri Southern on Friday, October 10th, with kickoff set for 6 p.m.
For the first time this season No. 10-ranked Washburn volleyball will be looking to bounce back from a loss, going on the road to face MIAA foes Pittsburg State on Thursday and Newman on Friday, with both matches at 6 p.m.
No. 10-ranked Washburn volleyball will be on the road for a pair of MIAA matches Thursday and Friday. [File photo/TSN]
The Ichabods enter the week with a 12-1 record overall and 1-1 in the MIAA after falling for the first time this season, 3-1 to No. 24 Missouri Western last Saturday.
Pittsburg State enters Thursday's match with a 7-5 (1-1 MIAA) record while Newman is 2-11 (0-2 MIAA) on the year.
Senior Austin Broadie leads the Washburn offense with 154 kills (3.50 per set) while hitting .384, third best on the team. She has started all 13 matches and also has logged 27 blocks with 32 digs.
Broadie has seven double-digit kill matches and ranks 26th nationally in hitting percentage and third in the MIAA. She is third amlong conference players in kills per set.
Alex Dvorak leads the Ichabods with 46 blocks on the season while starting all 13 matches. Offensively she has made 83 kills along with hitting .422, second best on the team. She has recorded five or more blocks in six matches. The senior ranks 11th in the nation and second in the MIAA in hitting percentage. Dvorak is also sixth in the MIAA in blocks per set.
Corinna McMullen has started all 13 matches this season to lead Washburn with 277 assists. She has also chipped in 14 service aces while ranking second on the team with 105 digs. The senior has seven matches of 20-plus assists and five double-doubles. She ranks sixth in the conference in assists per set.
Junior libero Taylor Rottinghaus leads the Ichabods with 177 digs and has also chipped in 53 assists while serving 15 aces, tied for a team best. Rottinghaus has two matches with at least 20 digs.
Bella Limbackis slashing a team-high .579 with 87 kills while starting all 13 matches. She has also added 43 blocks, second most on the team and served six aces. She has hit over .400 in all but one match this season with two double-digit kill efforts. She leads the nation in hitting percentage and is ninth in the MIAA in total blocks and blocks per set.
Washburn is third in the nation and leads the MIAA with a .307 team hitting percentage.
On the defensive side Washburn is limiting opponents to a .125 hitting percentage, good for 13th nationally.
The Ichabods are dishing out 13.84 assists per set on offense, good for third in the nation and second in the MIAA.
Nothing came easy for Topeka West volleyball Wednesday night, but the Chargers showed resiliency and perseverance to go 2-0 and earn top honors in the USD 501 triangular at Topeka High.
After topping Highland Park 25-14, 25-14 in its first match of the night, Topeka West let a lead get away in a 26-24 first-set loss to Topeka High before rebounding to take a 25-14 second-set win over the Trojans and surviving a late High rally to hold on for a 25-20 match-clenching win in the third set.
Topeka West celebrates a point in Wednesday's USD 501 volleyball triangular at Topeka High. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
"I do think that my girls are battling and we're doing the things that we need to do,'' West coach Alyx Nash said. "We know what our game is and we know that we have to have a hitting game and they definitely clicked and they came together.
"I'm very proud of the girls and the way they pulled out those last two sets.''
Topeka West junior Sydney VanDyke returns a serve in Wednesday's USD 501 volleyball triangular at Topeka High. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
West junior Sydney Van Dyke was also proud of the way the Chargers performed in crunch time.
"I think there was more fire in us that we couldn't let another 501 beat us in our own city,'' VanDyke said. "And I think we just came together as a team and really had that leadership as a team.''
Topeka High junior Campbell Dawson (20) celebrates a kill with her teammates Wednesday night against Topeka West. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Now 12-13 on the season, West took a 17-12 first-set lead and led 20-16 and 22-20 before Topeka High rallied to go up 23-22 on a service ace from sophomore Itzel Woods and 24-22 on a kill from junior Campbell Dawson.
West scored two straight points to pull even at 24-24 on a kill from VanDyke but the Trojans answered with the set-winning points, closing out a 26-24 win on a kill from sophomore Sophia Brown.
The Chargers turned the tables on the Trojans in the second set, jumping out to an 18-9 advantage on a VanDyke kill and scored five of the final six points to close out the 11-point win.
Topeka West senior Bre Keeling (11) celebrates with her teammates after scoring the final point in Wednesday's win over USD 501 rival Topeka High. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
West also jumped out to a big lead in the third set, opening up a 22-11 cushion but the Trojans battled back to get within 22-18 and 24-20 before the Chargers closed out the win on a kill from senior Bre Keeling.
Keeling, who has been fighting through a knee injury, came up big at the net for the Chargers.
"She played really well,'' Nash said. "She's battling and her leadership is great. She's talking to the girls, she's communicating, and when we go down she's definitely one that the girls look at, and Sydney as well, that they look at and they help us stay in control of our game.''
Four Shawnee County schools continue to earn Top 10 spots in the Kansas Volleyball Association's state rankings released Wednesday, led by Class 3A Silver Lake, which is ranked No. 1 for the fourth straight week.
Silver Lake volleyball is ranked No. 1 in the KVA Class 3A state rankings for the fourth straight week. [File photo/TSN]
Silver Lake was 22-1 at the time of the rankngs, with the Eagles' lone loss coming against 5A Shawnee Heights.
Hayden (14-5) is ranked No. 3 in 4A while Rossville (14-6) is ranked fifth in 2A while Washburn Rural (9-4) is No. 6-ranked in 6A.
