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By JUSTIN BURKHARDT
TopSports.news
Topeka West football coach Trey Parker’s Chargers have been fighting for their first win all season, and Friday night against Kanss City-Turner they found it, riding the legs of senior Josh Nitschke.
Topeka West senior Josh Nitschke ran for 271 yards and scored four touchdowns in Friday's 35-15 UKC win over Turner. [File photo/TSN]
Trey Parker picked up his first victory as Topeka West's head football coach in Friday's 35-15 United Kansas Conference victory over Kansas City-Turner. [File photo/TSN]
Nitschke led the Chargers with 271 rushing yards and four touchdowns as Topeka West rolled to a 35-15 United Kansas Conference decision over the Bears at Hummer Sports Park.
Parker picked up his first victory as a head coach Friday night.
"Hopefully, it's the first of many wins here at Topeka West,'' said Parker, in his first season as West's head coach after taking over as the Chargers' interim coach for the final three games of the 2022 campaign. "I'm glad we got it out of the way. It felt like a monkey was on our back.
"We had a tough road to this point, but we're just glad to finally be here.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Coming off a 14-point loss to Silver Lake in the War on 24 last week, Rossville bounced back with a 21-0 non-league road shutout at perennial state power Holton Friday night.
Rossville senior quarterback Camden Horak ran for a touchdown and passed for a TD in Friday's 21-0 shutout win at Holton. [File photo/TSN]
Rossville junior Tayson Horak (12) scored the Bulldawgs' final touchdown in Friday's 21-0 non-league win at Holton. [File photo/TSN]
The Bulldawgs, who evened their record at 3-3, scored the only touchdown they would need at the 5:57 mark of the first quarter, with senior quarterback Camden Horak connecting with sophomore Jack Donavan for an 8-yard score.
Rossville stretched its lead to 14-0 at the half, with the Bulldawgs scoring at the 11:25 mark of the second quarter on a 1-yard run by C. Horak.
The Bulldawgs finished their scoring with 54 seconds left in the third quarter, getting a 37-yard run from junior Tayson Horak.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Hayden's girls tennis team will be out in full force Friday and Saturday in Winfield as the Wildcats defend their Class 4A state championship.
The Wildcats put themselves in position for another strong state performance in Saturday's regional tournament at Kossover Tennis Center, qualifying all six players for state while winning the regional team title by a 19-18 margin over Bishop MIege.
Hayden senior Lauren Sandstrom returns a shot during Saturday's Class 4A regional tennis tournament. Sandstrom and partner Emily Sheetz are the defending Class 4A doubles champs. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Hayden junior Emily Sheetz and doubles partner Lauren Sandstom are 26-3 on the season after winning the Class 4A doubles title a year ago. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Hayden's doubles team of junior Lauren Sandstrom and sophomore Emily Sheetz, now 26-3, repeated as regional champions with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Bishop Miege's Livi Shull and Ellie Gudex and the Wildcat standouts will enter state as the defending state doubles champs.
The Wildcats also got a fourth-place double finish from sophomores Izzy Glotzbach and Avery O'Bray while sophomore Grace Funk posted a runnerup finish in singles and junior Sofia Sexton qualified for state with a sixth-place regional finish.
"I'm thrilled,'' Hayden coach Christy Sheetz said. "I knew that they could play this well and I knew that they had it in them. To watch them come out here and be able to put into practice all the things that they've learned and worked for this season is really, really gratifying and satisfying.''
Hayden sophomore Grace Funk finished second in Saturday's Class 4A regional tournament and is a returning state medalist. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Funk (17-13) placed 10th at state last season and is one of three Hayden returners from last year's state title team, along with Sandstrom and Sheetz.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Saturday's city girls cross country meet at Kanza Park went about as expectected, with one noteworthy change.
Washburn Rural won its fifth straight team championship in a tight battle with Seaman while two of the state's best runners, Seaman sophomore Ryin MIller and Rural junior Payton Fink battled it out for the individual championship.
Seaman sophomore Ryin Miller (589) and Washburn Rural junior Payton Fink (709) finished one-two in Saturday's city girls cross country meet while Rural won its fifth straight city team title. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
But this time if was Miller that took the individual title after finishing second to Fink in the 2022 city meet, winning by nearly 11 seconds with a five-kilometer time of 17 24.3.
Matt Swedlund's Junior Blues, ranked No. 2 in Class 6A, went 2-3-4 and put all of their top five in the top 13 places as Rural took the team title by a 27-36 margin over Seaman, No. 4 in 5A.
Washburn Rural sophomore Emily Graf (704) and Rural junior Rylee Ismert (710) finished third and fourth individually to help the Junior Blues win their fifth straight city team title. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Fink finished second for Washburn Rural in 17:35.1 while sophomore Emily Graf was third (18:46.1) and junior Rylee Ismert fourth (18:59.7).
Junior Brooklyn Nolte finished sixth (19:28.8) and sophomore Kenzie Maddox 13th (20:56.5) to round out Rural's top five.
Swedlund said he appreciated the tough team battle the Junior Blues got from Seaman.
"We like that, that's what we were looking for,'' Swedlund said. "It's nice getting into October and we love competing against Seaman. The've got a good team tnat gets us kind of primed for league, regionals, state.''
Miller pushed Fink throughout the early stages of Saturday's race before pulling away down the stretch to beat the Junior Blue star for the first time.
"I know that I have more experience on this course than she does and I figured that usually she sits on me the first mile and then she kicks and just goes,'' Miller said. "I thought maybe if I could get out hard enough the first mile that would maybe intimidate her enough to where she wouldn't be able to kill me as hard the second and I'd be able to hopefully stay with her.''
But even though Miller was able to open up some distance over Fink entering the home stretch, she still looked back multiple times to make sure Fink wasn't gaining on her.
"I saw her shadow behind me and it was freaking me out,'' Miller said. "I kept looking behind me and I was like, 'Oh, she's coming.' ''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Shawnee Heights senior Jackson Esquibel has put together an outstanding distance career for the T-Birds, winning a pair of state medals in cross country and posting a state title and a runnerup finish in track.
Shawnee Heights senior Jackson Esquibel won his first city individual cross country title Saturday at Kanza Park. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
But Esquibel added something new in Saturday's city boys championship at Kanza Park, winning his first city individual title.
Washburn Rural's Brooks Kehoe (740), Max Gutierrez (763) and Hayden Keller (765) helped the Junior Blues win their 17th straight city cross country title Saturday. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Meanwhile, it was business as usual for Washburn Rural, which rolled to its 17th straight city boys team title by a 35-63 margin over Seaman.
Esquibel clocked a winning five-kilometer time of 15 minutes, 16.7 seconds en route to winning by more than 33 seconds over Seaman sophomore standout Brody Anderson.
"It's my last time at Hummer and I've ran this course since freshman year so I just wanted to see what time I was capable of here and give it my all for myself and build confidence going into the big meets,'' Esquibel said.
"You have goals when you start the season and this is a big meet for me, running a 12-second (personal record), I believe it was. That really just kind of set the tone for the type of shape I'm in and the type of confidence that I have in myself.
:"My supporting cast is just great. They always push me to my limits.''
