- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
OTTAWA -- Former Rossville star offensive lineman Jacob Carver is set to continue what has become a Bulldawg pipeline to Emporia State's football program this fall, with Carver to begin his freshman year with the Hornets next month.
Former Rossville star Jacob Carver (middle) will play offensive line for the East in Saturday's Kansas Shrine Bowl at Hays. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
The Bulldawgs' connections to ESU include Rossville coach Derick Hammes as well as former Bulldawg standouts Dawson Hammes and Cole Schumacher, who completed their Hornet careers last season, and Carver's former teammate, Brody Lietz.
But as deep as Rossville's connections to Emporia State run, Carver said his fellow Bulldawgs stayed out of the way when it came time for him to pick a college.
"They left it up to me and I just loved the environment that they had there, so I thought it fit right for me,'' said Carver, who will play for the East team in Saturday night's 50th Kansas Shrine Bowl at Hays.
"I kind of thought about a couple other schools but after just talking to the (Emporia State) coaches, I just felt like that was the perfect spot for me.''
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Darting Basketball Academy wrapped up its fourth 3 on 3 Summer League Monday night with a packed house at Shawnee Heights, culminating with the crowning of Most Valuable Players in five divisions.
DBA 3 on 3 Summer League 12-13-year-old MVP Gaige Navarro (left) and 12-13 girls MVP Claire Puvogel (right) pose for a picture with Kerry Darting after receiving their MVP awards. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
DBA 3 on 3 Summer League 10-11 girls MVP Claire Puvogel (left), 8-9 boys MVP Hudson Blanton (middle) and 10-11 boys MVP Vy Thomas pose for a picture after receiving their MVP awards Monday night at Shawnee Heights. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Hudson Blanton received the MVP award in the 8-9-year-old boys division, while Vy Thomas was the 10-11 boys winner and Gaige Navarro took home MVP honors in the 12-13 boys division.
Teagan Wheat was the 10-11 girls MVP and Claire Puvogel received the MVP award in the 12-13 division.
Ontarius Emmot and KK Emmot were named the most valuable players in the high school division of the DBA 3 on 3 Summer League. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
The 3 on 3 Summer League for the high school division finished up last week, with the brother-sister combo of Ontarius and KK Emmot earning most valuable player honors.
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
EDITOR'S NOTE: Over the coming weeks TopSports.news will recognize Shawnee County's all-time best teams in 21 sports as part of our Best of the Best project. The project continues with boys cross country and readers will have the opportunity to vote for teams in that sport through July 25, with the top teams in all categories announced in late July and August. To cast a vote for the Best of the Best, click on https://take.quiz-maker.com/poll4868071x75d4DC58-151 while email votes/nominations will be also accepted at
--------------------------------------------------------
Local boys cross country teams have captured 12 state team championships in a whopping five decades, dating back to Topeka West's first title in 1968 through Washburn Rural's crown in 2019.
Now its time to see which one of those teams deserves the top spot on TopSports.news' Best of the Best list.
Topeka West won its first of four state boys cross country titles under Hall of Fame coach Joe Schrag in 1968. [Submitted photo to KSHSAA.org]
Jim Casper coached Hayden to its first of the school's six state boys cross county championships in 1975. [Submitted photo to KSHSAA.org]
Hayden won the Class 4A state cross country championship in 1981, the Wildcats' first of five boys titles under Ben Meseke. [Submitted photo to KSHSAA.org]
Legendary Hall of Fame coach Joe Schrag established Topeka West as a state power in the late 1960s and 1970s and the Chargers won their fourth championship in 1985.
Schrag led Topeka West to their first state championship in 1968 and the Chargers added titles in '74, '77 and '85.
Hayden followed West's lead with its first team title in 1975 under Jim Casper and Hall of Famer Ben Meseke followed with a dominating run from 1981 to 1995, with the Wildcats running off five Class 4A championships.
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
OTTAWA -- Former Shawnee Heights standout Gavin Zuperku will not play college football, opting to study engineering at Kansas State.
But that didn't stop Zuperku from jumping at the chance to play football one last time in Saturday night's 50th Kansas Shrine Bowl at Hays after getting the call a little over a month ago to join the East team as a replacement pick.
Former Shawnee Heights standout Gavin Zuperku (68) will play offensive line for the East in Saturday night's 50th Kansas Shrine Bowl at Hays. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
"It's a great opportunity for me, just to be out here and play football one last time,'' Zuperku said before Sunday night's East practice session at Ottawa University.
An All-Shawnee County Top 22 and first-team All-United Kansas Conference selection as a senior, the 6-foot-1, 240-pound offensive lineman admitted that it wasn't an easy decision to quit playing football, but said it was time to move on to the next stage in his life.
"I love football, I've played it all my life,'' Zuperku said. "Football's taught me so many things and it was tough to walk away from it, but I just realized that my intentions or my desires were elsewhere and I wanted to move on and go to K-State.''
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
EDITOR'S NOTE: Over the coming weeks TopSports.news will recognize Shawnee County's all-time best teams in 21 sports as part of our Best of the Best project. The project continues with girls cross country and readers will have the opportunity to vote for teams in that sport through July 24, with the top teams in all categories announced in late July and August. To cast a vote for the Best of the Best, click on https://take.quiz-maker.com/poll4868068x97de4f3f-151 while email votes/nominations will be also accepted at
--------------------------------------------------------
Hayden is not a lock to land the No. 1 spot in the TopSports.news Best of the Best girls country team rankings.
But the numbers are certainly in the Wildcats' favor, with Hayden accounting for seven of the 11 state championships captured by Shawnee County gils teams over the years.
Hayden's girls won the Class 4A cross country title in 1986, the first of seven state team championships for the Wildcats. [Submitted photo to KSHSAA.org]
Hayden won its third straight Class 4A girls cross country championship in 1994. [Submitted photo to KSHSAA.org]
Ben Meseke coached Hayden to its first Class 4A state title in 1986 before Kathy Strecker led the Wildcats to their other six state crowns after serving as Meseke's assistant in '86.
Strecker led Hayden to a three-peat from 1992 through 1994 and coached the Wildcats to back-to-back championships in '89 and '90 and the school's most recent title in '12.
