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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
In a game of spurts, Hayden High's boys soccer team got the final and most important one Thusday at Hayden, scoring the final two goals to pull out a 3-2 win over Centennial League foe Topeka High and improve to 3-0 on the young 2023 season.
Hayden junior Preston Meitner (13), battling Topeka High's Vador Limon for a loose ball, scored the game-winning goal in the Wildcats' 3-2 win over the Trojans Thursday at Hayden. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
"It was a good win,'' Hayden coach Klaus Kreutzer said. "It was ugly. We scored on a great goal and then we gave them two and to our credit, at least they stayed with it. It's always nice to beat a (Class) 6A school for us.
"We've got a lot of younger players and they're making the effort. We've had a couple of balls bounce the right way and I'll always take that. I've had enough where they've bounced the wrong way.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The No. 17-ranked Washburn University volleyball team will begin its 2023 season with three matches at the Florida Southern College Volleyball Classic Friday and Saturday.
Junior Jalyn Stevenson (10), a first-team All-MIAA pick last season, returns to lead No. 17-ranked Washburn this fall. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
After schedule changes caused adjustments, Washburn will now face Flagler at 11 a.m. and Florida Southern at 6 p.m. on Friday before finishing the tournament against No. 6 Barry at 11 a.m. on Saturday.
Friday's scheduled match against Grand Valley State was cancelled, with the Lakers not making the trip due to incoming inclement weather anticipated in Florida. The change resulted with Barry being added to the Ichabods' schedule and the match against Florida Southern being moved up to Friday evening.
After reaching the Division II national championship game in 2021, the Ichabods finished last season 24-8 with a fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearence while also capturing the first MIAA Tournament Championship in program history.
Washburn went through an up and down campaign early last season before catching fire late and veteran coach Chris Herron thinks a faster start could be in store this fall.
Junior Jalyn Stevenson returns to lead the Ichabods after earning All-MIAA first-team recognition and All-America honorable mention as a sophomore.Stevenson registered 386 kills in 2022 while hitting .214 from the outside. Stevenson alos made 392 digs with 41 combined blocks while starting 31 of 32 matches.
"Because we graduated so many the year before last year was getting acclimated to new leaders and how everybody was going to react to how they were and all of that stuff,'' Herron said. "We don't have that now. Jalyn is our leader. Jalyn has been the leader all summer and some of the other kids have done a great job to help her.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
(All kickoffs at 7 p.m.)
Seaman junior quarterback Max Huston (7) passed for 1,248 yards and 12 touchdowns last fall for the 4-4 Vikings. [File photo/TSN]
TOPEKA WEST at SEAMAN
Trey Parker begins his first full season as Topeka West's head coach after serving as interim coach for the final three games of the 2022 season while Jared Swafford begins his third year at Seaman. West went 1-8 a year ago while Seaman is coming off a 4-4 season. Senior lineman Kyrece Robinson is a top returner for Topeka West while junior quarterback Max Huston, senior running back/defensive back Jack Bloom and senior wide receiver/defensive back Callen Barta are standouts for an experienced Seaman team. Huston passed for 1,248 yards and 12 touchdowns last season while Bloom rushed for 483 yards and seven TDs and Barta caught 41 passes for 406 yards and three TDs. Seaman beat West 58-14 in the 2022 season-opener for both schools.
Washburn Rural senior linebacker JC Heim (25) is a returning TopSports.news All-Shawnee County pick. [File photo/TSN]
WICHITA EAST at WASHBURN RURAL
Both teams are coming off strong 2022 seasons, with Washburn Rural posting an 8-3 record under Steve Buhler, who is beginning his 11th year at the school, while Wichita East went 6-4 last season. Rural advanced to the third round of the Class 6A playoffs while East won its first-round playoff tilt before losing in the second round. Washburn Rural came from behind to beat the Blue Aces 49-42 in last season's opener. The Junior Blues return a key nucleus of players from last year's team, including TopSports.news All-Shawnee County picks Branton DeWeese (quarterback), Titan Osburn (wide receiver), Packson Bettis (defensive end) and JC Heim (outside linebacker). DeWeese passed for 1,884 yards and 25 touchdowns last season while Osburn had 32 catches for 668 yards and 12 TDS. Heim was in on 73 tackles and Bettis 61 tackles.
Shawnee Heights senior Allen Baughman rushed for 1,496 yards and 20 touchdowns last season, earning All-Shawnee County Top 22 honors. [File photo/TSN]
PIPER at SHAWNEE HEIGHTS
Shawnee Heights went 5-5 in the 2022 season while Piper is coming off a 7-4 campaign. Piper opened the '22 season with a 31-20 win over the T-Birds. Jason Swift's Shawnee Heights team returns eight starters on offense and seven on defense, led by star senior running back Allen Baughman, who was named the TopSports.news Co-Shawnee County offensive newcomer of the year after rushing for 1,496 yards and scoring 20 touchdowns a year ago. Other top players include senior linemen Christian Gonzales and Rykan Carver, linebacker Alex Dittman and receivers seniors Jayden Moore, Jacob Malcom and Jayden Holly, who all received All-United Kansas Conference recognition last season.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After helping lead Washburn Rural to back-to-back Class 6A state championships in basketball and volleyball, Zoe Canfield suddenly found herself on the sidelines after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament tear nine games into her junior basketball season.
Washburn Rural senior volleyball/basketball star Zoe Canfield (second from right) watches warmups before Tuesday's volleyball triangular at Rural. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
"I had a deep gut feeling that something bad happened, but I was just hoping that it wasn't,'' Canfield said.
Eight months later Canield is finally inching ever closer to returning to action for the Junior Blues and is upbeat about her mental and physical health.
"I feel good,'' Canfield said. "Hopefully, I'll be able to get cleared in the next couple of weeks but I'm just taking it day by day.''
After playing a major role as a sophomore as Rural won the 2022 6A basketball title the Kansas basketball commit had to watch from the sidelines the second half of the '22-'23 season as the Junior Blues posted a runnerup state finish.
Canfield has also been unable to take the floor for the Washburn Rural volleyball team early this fall after helping the Junior Blues post a 45-1 record en route to the eighth 6A state crown in school history last fall.
"It's definitely hard to watch but I think it's good to see the game from a different perspective and be able to kind of put that into practice later on and give little pointers here and there for the girls,'' Canfield said. "It's definitely been really difficult but I think it's also been like a period of growth for me, physically with my body.
"I've been able to build my upper body more, lift weights more, watch more film and support my teammates, so I think it's been good overall.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
If Washburn football coach Craig Schurig had gotten a pick for the Ichabods' season-opener it may not have been defending MIAA champion and top five-ranked Pittsburg State on the road.
Craig Schurig, the winningest football coach in Washburn University history, will begin his 21st season Thursday night at Pittsburg State. [File photo/TSN]
But Schurig, a former Pittsburg State assistant, also knows that Thursday's 7 p.m. clash will teach his team a lot about where it is at this point and where it needs to go this fall.
"This will be fun,'' Schurig said. "Game 1 it's too early to tell everything, but we have an interesting group because we have inexperience with experience and we'll see how it meshes together. We have talent and the sooner we can figure it out as coaches and players, that this is how it's going to fit together, we could be pretty good.
"It seemed like our practices have been good -- the intensity level, the commitment by the upperclassmen -- because they knew who we were getting ready to play. You can't lie on that. When you're opening up with a Pitt, it's right there and you don't even have to say anything.''
The Ichabods are coming off a 7-4 season and received votes in the AFCA Preseason Coaches Top 25 poll and were picked fourth in both the MIAA Coaches and media polls, while the Gorillas were 12-1 last season while going 11-0 in the MIAA. Pitt State was picked No. 4 in the AFCA Preseason Poll and No. 3 in the D2Football.com Preseason Poll.
