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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After suffering heavy graduation losses from last year's Class 6A state championship team, including All-American Brooklyn DeLeye, and being without injured star senior Zoe Canfield for the early portion of the 2023 season, veteran Washburn Rural coach Kevin Bordewick knew his Junior Blues were going to go through some growing pains this fall.
Washburn Rural senior star Jada Ingram (6) celebrates a kill with her teammates during Tuesday's 3-1 dual victory over Spring Hill. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
And while that has certainly been the case in an up-and-down start to the year, Bordewick said there's no doubt his Junior Blues are making progress, including a 22-25, 25-21, 25-21, 25-17 home dual victory over Spring Hill Tuesday night that pushed Washburn Rural above .500 at 5-4.
"We play such good teams and you still have to look at some of the things like missed serves or not being in the right spots, sometimes not pressing over on a block, but we have made a significant amount of progress, we really have,'' Bordewick said.
"It's just a totally different group. Even Jada (Ingram), she's not playing in the spot she's played in for three years, and all of us are in different spots and we don't have Zoe yet (at setter). Stella (Kelly) is doing a great job for being on the freshman team last year and being in varsity against really good competition and just progressivly gotten a lot better.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural gutted out a 1-0 Centennial League win over Emporia Tuesday night at McElroy Field, with the Junior Blues improving to a perfect 7-0 on the season and 3-0 in the league as they take aim on a 29th straight league crown.
Washburn Rural senior soccer star Devon Rutschmann (10) scored the game-winning goal in Tuesday's 1-0 Centennial League decision over Emporia. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Senior star Devon Rutschmann netted the game's only goal with 30:54 remaining and the Junior Blues held on the rest of the way for the shutout over the upset-minded Spartans.
"Our games with Emporia are always competitive, always tough, always physical,'' Rural coach Brian Hensyel said. "It's a league rival and they've had good teams certainly over the last few years.
"They kind of mixed it up on us a little bit tonight and played with a pretty defensive mindset and made it very tough to create any chances. And then every time they were going the other way with long balls or transition they were dangerous, so I told their coach (Victor Ibarra) afterwards I thought that was one of the closest and toughest games we've had with Emporia in a long time. It was really good.''
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By KEVIN HASKIN
TopSports.news
Musing at the mid-month:
• All of us who wanted Chris Jones to fade away during his holdout learned something as the Chiefs smothered Jacksonville.
• Superior defensive linemen remain a rare breed.
• Jones kept himself in superb condition while losing money during training camp.
• Jones came in sufficiently motivated despite finally agreeing to a deal that didn’t seem to favor him much.
• And the Chiefs won because of his impact on a defense that excelled on the road in hot, humid conditions.
• Although the offense sputtered, we all know Patrick Mahomes is capable of incredible feats.
• His most startling achievement of late is passing Progressive Flo as TV’s most recurring spokesperson.
• Not sure anyone predicted that a new, handsomely-paid right tackle would provide as much intrigue as anyone on the Chiefs roster.
• Seems to me that Eric Bieniemy is a pretty good offensive coordinator. Do the Chiefs miss him?
• The outcome of the Missouri game represents a bad loss for K-State.
• Face it, MU fans chant SEC better than their sports teams identify with the SEC.
• The move to that conference made little sense geographically, as evidenced by the rare sellout against a Big Six and beyond rival Saturday at Faurot Field.
• Oh, except for the SEC money. It’s great and all, but Mizzou has not been a factor in football since Gary Pinkel helped lead the charge to a new conference.
• Maybe this is the Tigers’ year with the SEC looking a bit shaky at the start.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural had ruled the city's girls golf roost for a full decade, but Monday's city tournament belonged to Hayden and Topeka High senior Avery Zimmerman, who earned the team and individual championships at Western Hills.
Hayden girls golf poses for a team picture after winning the city girls golf championship by a 322-335 margin over Washburn Rural Monday at Western Hills. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Topeka High senior Avery Zimmerman won the city girls golf title Monday at Western Hills on the first playoff hole. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Hayden halted Washburn Rural's run of 10 straight city team titles by a 322-335 margin over the Junior Blues while Zimmerman won her first city individual title on the first hole (No. 1) of a sudden death playoff with Hayden sophomore Lauren Borjon after both players carded five-over-par 76s.
Zimmerman will play soccer in college at Emporia State and said Monday's win was a good start towards finishing off her high school golf career with a bang.
Kerry Zimmerman moves in to congratulate daughter Avery Zimmerman after her sudden death win in Monday's city girls golf tournament at Western Hills. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Kerry and Avery Zimmerman exchange a hug after Avery won the city girls golf title in a playoff Monday at Western Hills. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
"I'm so happy,'' Zimmerman said. "It just feels like all my hard work is finally playing off and I didn't have the best round last week so this week having a good round just makes me really happy. This is one of the most important ones.''
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+ By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Finn Dunshee
FINN DUNSHEE, Hayden
The 5-foot-10, 185-pound senior rushed for 170 yards on just 11 carries and scored three touchdowns as Hayden improved to 3-0 with a 49-23 road football victory at Rossville last Friday night. Dunshee scored on runs of 68 and 63 yards for the Wildcats and also returned a pass interception 50 yards for a touchdown..
Payton Fink
PAYTON FINK, Washburn Rural
A junior cross country standout, Fink won the individual title in Saturday's Shufelberger Top City Classic at Washburn Rural in a five-kilometer time of 18 minutes, 10.1 seconds. The defending city and Centennial League champion and fifth-place finisher in the 2022 Class 6A state meet, Fink won by a nine-second margin and led the Junior Blues to a runnerup team finish.
Jayden Moore
JAYDEN MOORE, Shawnee Heights
A 6-foot, 170-pound senior wide receiver/safety, Moore caught eight passes for 123 yards and a 15-yard touchdown in Shawnee Heights' 33-30 come-from-behind overtime United Kansas Conference football victory over Seaman Friday night at Heights. Moore, who helped the T-Birds improve to 3-0 on the season overall and in the UKC, also recorded four tackles on defense.
