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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Seniors Haley Carpenter and Adisyn Caryl posted a perfect 4-0 record on the day to claim the No. 1 doubles championship in Wednesday's Topeka High Invitational at the Kossover Tennis Center, leading the Trojans to a strong second-place finish in the eight-school tournament.
Carpenter and Caryl, who have qualified twice for the Class 6A state meet as a doubles team, improved to 14-1 on the 2022 season, capping their championship run with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Olathe East's Abbi Linn and Hayse Fitzgerald in the final.
Linn and Fitzgerald jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead over Carpenter and Caryl in the first set, but the Topeka High standouts quickly turned the match around, winning 12 of the final 15 games.
"It wasn't our goal to get down 3-0, but it just happened and it's like you can't really get upset or dwell on it, you just have to start playing your game and get back ahead,'' Carpenter said.
Caryl agreed.
"I think we played some teams that weren't as good as Olathe East and then they played us and we knew we had to pick it up just a little bit, and we did from then on,'' Caryl said.
Topeka High was in the hunt for the team championship until the final two matches of the tournament before coming up short to Olathe East, 31-28.
The Trojans got a pair of second-place finishes from freshman Madeline Deters in No. 1 singles and junior Ke Ni in No. 2 singles.
Deters dropped a 7-6, 6-2 decision to Olathe East's Tori Prettejohn in the No. 1 singles championship match while Ni lost a tight decision in the No. 2 final to East's Henley Hlasney, who took a 3-6, 6-1, 10-8 decision.
Topeka High seniors Alesia Alvarez and Carter Johnson finished third in No. 2 doubles, taking a 6-4, 6-1 win over Shawnee Heights' Addison Bryant and Else Strickland in the third-place match.
TOPEKA INVITATIONAL
Team scores
Olathe East 31, Topeka High 28, Lawrence 24, Wichita Southeast 15, Junction City 13, Shawnee Heights 12, Topeka West 12, Highland Park 9.
Individual results
Singles
No. 1 -- Championship: Tori Prettejohn, Olathe East, def. Madeline Deters, Topeka High, 7-6, 6-2. Third: Mallory Martinez, Wichita Southeast, def. Channing Saint Onge, Lawrence, 6-3, 6-4.
No. 2 -- Championship: Henley Hlasney, Olathe East, def. Ke Ni, Topeka High, 3-6, 6-1, 10-8. Third: Emily Brandt, Lawrence, def. Julia Cho, Junction City, 6-1, 6-1.
Doubles
No. 1 -- Championship: Haley Carpenter/Adisyn Caryl, Topeka High, def. Abbi Linn/Hayse Fitzgerald, Olathe East, 6-4, 6-2. Third: Abby Marsh/Fioni Bini, Lawrence, def. Lauren Ounaphom/Jamie Jimenez, Wichita Southeast, 6-1, 6-2.
No. 2 -- Championship: Annie Kapple/Ally Kapple, Olathe East, def. Harper Jay/Karen Meddleton, Lawrence, 1-6, 6-1, 10-7. Third: Alesia Alvarez/Carter Johnston, Topeka High, def. Addison Bryant/Else Strickland, Shawnee Heights, 6-4, 6-1.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Shawnee Heights junior football standout Allen Baughman and Topeka High junior girls golfer Avery Zimmerman have been named the Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency Rising Stars of the Week for last week.
The Dan Key Agency will recognize top Shawnee County underclassmen throughout the 2022-2023 school year.
Here’s a brief look at the accomplishments of Baughman and Zimmerman last week:
ALLEN BAUGHMAN, Shawnee Heights
Baughman, a 5-foot-8, 180-pound running back, turned in a career-best performance in Shawnee Heights' 46-23 United Kansas Conference football win over Lansing last Friday at Wetter Field.
Baughman carried the ball 22 times for 222 yards and five touchdowns for the T-Birds, who evened their record at 1-1 overall and in the UKC. Through two games Baughman has carried the ball 39 times for 314 yards.
AVERY ZIMMERMAN, Topeka High
A Class 6A state qualifier as a sophomore, Zimmerman turned in a pair of solid performances last week, including a fourth-place individual finish in last Thursday's Seaman Invitational at Village Greens with a 79.
Earlier in the week, Zimmerman shot a city-low 84 in the 16-school Washburn Rural Invitational at Wamego Country Club. An All-Shawnee County first-team pick as a sophomore, Zimmerman tied for 12th in a field of 80 golfers in her first tournament of the season.
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By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
Both Topeka West and Seaman’s soccer teams owned the defense in Tuesday night’s United Kansas Conference double overtime 0-0 draw at Seaman.
The goalies claimed their territories in the boxes, defenders were walls and the effort shown by both schools were notable.
Seaman goalie Ayden Thompson and Topeka West goalie Giann Perez were impossible to score on.
“Ayden (Thompson) is rock solid back there,” Seaman coach Tim Nussbaum said. “He is our anchor defensively and we go where he goes. Ayden is a great communicator and he owns his box. What Ayden does well is exactly what you want in a goalie. He gives it his all and he’s a great leader. I think that showed tonight.
Although Topeka West wasn’t able to net any goals against a tough Seaman backline, the Chargers are making great strides to where they want to be as a program according to West coach Josh Kutter.
“We have to keep working on our focus and growth,” Kutter said. “Lately we have been playing the right way. We didn’t get the finishes we wanted to so far this week, but we are heading in the right direction. I like what I’m seeing in this team.”
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
By her own admission, Seaman volleyball coach Tatiana Dowling wasn't real happy with her team after a disappointing 1-3 performance in last Saturday's Lansing Invitational.
But the Vikings got back on Dowling's good side Tuesday night at Topeka West, posting a pair of straight-set sweeps over West and Shawnee Heights in their first-ever United Kansas Conference matches.
Seaman, now 8-4 on the season, opened the night with a 25-20, 25-15 win over Heights before knocking off host West in its final match, 25-17, 25-16.
"We came back and we had a really tough practice on Monday,'' Dowling said. "They worked hard, we worked them hard, and I felt like it was a good step in the right direction for us to get to where we wanted to be today.''
And overall, Dowling liked what she saw out of her team Tuesday night.
"For the most part, I felt pretty good,'' Dowling said. "I think that we still had a couple of times where we had lulls in the middle, where we kind of let up, but getting two wins was a good way to start off league.''
The Vikings, who have played all season thus far without injured junior standout Taylin Stallbaumer, jumped out to a 6-1 first-set advantage over Shawnee Heights and went up 12-5 on a kill from sophomore Kinley Wilhelm and later went in front 19-9 and 20-12 on a kill from sophomore Meagan Mills.
Shawnee Heights rallied late in the set and was within 23-19 after a kill from senior Emily Loy before Seaman closed out the win on a Mills kill.
Seaman also took control early in the second set with the T-Birds, taking leads of 4-0, 14-2 and 18-5 on a kill from junior Brooklyn Gormley.
Heights battled back to within 22-15 on a Loy kill before Seaman ran off the final three points of the match, including a kill from Gormley and an ace from sophomore Jaida Stallbaumer.
Seaman jumped out to a big early lead over Topeka West in the first set behind a long service run from senior Laynee Brown and went on to build a 15-3 cushion before weathering a late West run in its eight-point win.
West jumped out early in the second set on a kill from senior Makinsey Jones and led as late as 12-11 after a Jones kill before Seaman scored five straight points, capped by back-to-back service aces from freshman Ava Huston to go up, 16-12.
The Chargers cut their deficit to 16-14 before Seaman got a kill from Gormley, two aces from J. Stallbaumer and a kill from sophomore Ava Esser to take a 20-14 lead.
Seaman closed out the win on a pair of kills from Esser.
Shawnee Heights, now 4-3, went 1-1 on the night, outlasting Topeka West in three sets in the T-Birds' opening match.
The T-Birds built leads of 15-3 and 21-7 over the Chargers in the first set before closing out the 10-point win on a block from sophomore Kaydence Torrez and senior Haylee Coffman.
Topeka West bounced back in the second set to force a third set, riding a big set from Jones to take the 25-23 decision.
West was within a point in the third set at 22-21 before the T-Birds ran off the final three points of the match.
Shawnee Heights coach Sami Kearney said she saw multiple bright spots Tuesday night, but said the T-Birds spotted Seaman too big of leads in both sets.
"We got stuck in some rotations and couldn't fight our way out of it and mentally weren't there,'' Kearney said. "Something to improve on obviously is to make sure we can find a way to get out of those rotations and not get down those points.''
MATCH RESULTS
Shawnee Heights def. Topeka West, 25-15, 23-25, 25-21; Seaman def. Shawnee Heights, 25-20, 25-15; Seaman def. Topeka West, 25-17, 25-16.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
For as long as she can remember, Makinsey Jones has been a Kansas State fan.
Now the Topeka West senior volleyball star is set to become a member of the Wildcat family.
Jones, a star 6-foot-1 hitter, confirmed to TopSports.news Tuesday night that she has made an oral commitment to Suzie Fritz's K-State program and plans to sign with the Wildcats during the NCAA signing period.
"My family went there so I've always liked K-State and I feel like it's a really good family there and everybody there, they're so welcoming,'' Jones said. "When I'm at West and I'm playing, that's how I feel like it is at K-State.''
Kansas State made an offer in July for Jones to join the program as a walk-on before recently upgrading that to a scholarship offer.
"I went there on a visit last week and I committed last Friday,'' Jones said.
Jones said she had also been considering NCAA Division II power Washburn University as well as Hutchinson Community College, but when Kansas State offered a scholarship that sealed the deal.
"I had some other options, but I feel like that (a scholarship) is what really helped,'' Jones said.
As a junior, Jones earned first-team All-Shawnee County and All-Centennial League recognition after helping lead the Chargers to a breakthrough 27-10 season.
Jones registered 246 kills on the season for Topeka West while also finishing with 51 solo blocks as the Chargers put together what is believed to be the best season in school history.
With her college choice out of the way Jones said she's now looking forward to making the most of her senior year at Topeka West.
"It's a relief,'' she said. "It feels like now I can breathe and I can relax a little more.
"I want to make first team again and since we're in a new league (United Kansas Conference) it might be a little more challenging.''
Jones, also a Class 5A state medalist in track and field as a junior, said she also wants to continue to make improvements in her game as she prepares for college volleyball.
"I just want to be more aware on the court and with my placement,'' Jones said..