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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Seaman senior Zach Jowers was afforded a rare opportunity in Thursday's season-opening Topeka West Invitational track and field meet and took full advantage.
Seaman senior Zach Jowers goes almost completely under water on his final water jump in Thursday's Topeka West Invitational 2,000-meter steeplechase event but quickly recovered to post a victory by just over 17 seconds. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
A dripping wet Zach Jowers of Seaman emerges from the water jump on his final lap en route to a win in the 2,000-meter steeplechase in 7:09.20. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Very few Kansas high school athletes get the chance to compete in the steeplechase -- an event that combines distance running with clearing obstacles, including one with a pit filled with water -- but meet host Topeka West added the 2,000-meter steeplechase as an exhibition event to give athletes a chance to qualify for next month's Kansas Relays.
Jowers jumped at the chance and took control early on the way to a 17-second win in the boys race in a time of 7 minutes, 09.20 seconds at Hummer Sports Park.
"Ever since I saw it in the eighth grade at the KU Relays I was like, 'Hey coach, when I get to high school I've got to run that at least once,' '' Jowers said. "This was the once.''
Jowers and his teammates spent mimimal time getting ready for Thursday's event and he admitted it was a quick baptism in the meet.
"Jumping over the water, I was not ready,'' he said.
But it was also an experience Jowers will never forget.
"It was a ton of fun,'' he said. "I don't think I've ever smiled that much during a race and probably never will again.''
In late June, after graduating from Seaman, Jowers will get the chance to take advantage of another rare opportunity when he reports to the United States Air Force Academy after recently getting the word that he had been accepted to the Academy.
"That's been a dream for a long time, at least since middle school and probably beforehand,'' he said. "My dad was in the military (Army) and looking up to him growing up it's always been a dream of mine to join the military and I thought this would be a great way to do it.''
While he is looking forward to starting the next chapter in his life, Jowers is also looking forward to making the most of the last couple of months of his high school career, particularly with the Vikings' track team.
"The school part I'm definitely ready to be done with, I think everyone is, and track, we're just starting up, but we've got a great group of guys and it's been a lot of fun so far and I think it's going to keep going that way,'' he said.
Other meet highlights:
Topeka West senior Lenny Njoroge flashes the No. 1 sign after a dominating victory in the 1,600 meters in Thursday's Topeka West Invitational. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
• Topeka West boys star Lenny Njoroge spent most of his junior track season rounding back into state after recovering from a broken leg he suffered midway through his sophomore season in a club soccer match.
But Njoroge opened his senior track campaign in Thursday's Topeka West Invitational in tip top shape and flashed the form that has made him one of the state's premier distance runners, dominating the 1,600 and 3,200-meter races.
Njoroge, a state medalist in cross country and track, won by nearly 14 seconds in the 1,600 and the 3,200, clocking a winning time of 4:29.84 in the 1,600 and came back later in the evening to post a winning time of 9:45.51 in the 3,200.
"I feel so much stronger,'' Njoroge said. "I've been training all winter long just to get this. Last track season I really didn't have a great state meet so I've been hungry since winter on the training.
"I'm really strong and hopefully I keep feeling strong as the season goes on. We have some better competition coming up.''
Topeka West also got wins from senior Jacob Reimer in the discus (129 feet, 10 inches) and from Alesecio Batson in the triple jump (43-11.50).
• Seaman's Bethany Druse, the reigning Class 5A 800 meters champion, opened her senior season with an 11-second win, clocking a winning time of 2:27.08.
In addition to her win in the 800, Druse anchored the Vikings' 4x400 relay team to a win in 4:24.94.
Druse teamed with Taylin Stallbaumer, Jaida Stallbaumer and Taylie Heston in the relay win.
T. Stallbaumer also finished second in the 100 hurdles (17.40) and the 300 hurdles (53.38).
• Seaman swept the girls throwing events, including a pair of wins from Anna Domann.
Domann won the shot put at 33-1.50 and the discus at 114-6 while Ally Trier won the javelin title with a top throw of 121-10.
Topeka West senior Makinsey Jones won the long jump and triple jump and finished second in the high jump in Thursday's Topeka West Invitational. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
• Topeka West's Makinsey Jones turned in an impressive season-opener, winning a pair of events and finishing second in a third.
Jones won the long jump with a best of 16 feet, 4.75 seconds and the triple jump at 33-8.50 and finished second in the high jump at 5-2.
• Seaman's boys finished second by a 14-point margin to Manhattan in the team race (133.333-119.333), with the Vikings winning two events on the day.
Seaman got wins from Brody Anderson in the 800 (2:07.83) and from Aaron Merritt in the 110-meter hurdles (15.71).
Highland Park senior Tre Richardson soars to a win in the long jump in Thursday's Topeka West Invitational. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
• Highland Park senior Tre Richardson won the long jump with a leap of 22-11.50 and finished third in the triple jump at 43-2.50 after earning state medals in both those events as a junior.
Richardson is the defending 5A champion in the 200-meter dash but did not run that event on Thursday.
Topeka High freshman Keimara Marshall won the girls 100-meter dash in Thursday's Topeka West Invitational. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
• Topeka High freshman Keimara Marshall won the girls 100 in 13.17 seconds and also helped the Trojans post a runnerup finish in the 4x100 relay (53.43) and she placed fourth in the 200 (27.65).
Topeka High's foursome of Jaziah Mack, V'Ante Peoples, Logan Murray and Malachi Murph won the 4x100 relay in 44.20.
TOPEKA WEST INVITATIONAL
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
JACKSON ESQUIBEL, Shawnee Heights
A junior, Esquibel placed sixth in the 3,200 meters (9 minutes, 36.78 seconds) in the Class 5A state meet last season and earned TopSports.news All-Shawnee County recognition. Esquibel finished eighth individually in the 5A state cross country meet last fall and opened his 2023 track season with a win in the 3,200 at Free State.
JORDAN GARVIN, Shawnee Heights
Shawnee Heights senior Jordan Garvin ranks as one of Class 5A's top returning hurdlers ater posting a fourth-place finish in the 5A 300-meter hurdles (40.68) in the 2022 state meet. A TSN All-Shawnee County selection, Garvin clocked a best time of 40.10 seconds in the 300s as a junior.
AARON MERRITT, Seaman
Mettitt earned TSN All-Shawnee County recognition last spring as a sophomore hurdler. Merritt had a personal-best time of 15.07 last season in the 110-meter high hurdles. Merritt opened his season last Thursday in the Topeka West Invitational with a first-place finish in the 110s.
SEAN MILLER, Seaman
Miller, a senior, was a Class 5A state medalist last season, finishing eighth in the shot put with a throw of 46-1.50 at state. Miller received TSN All-Shawnee County honorable mention as a junior. Miller opened his senior season with a second-place finish in the shot put and a fourth in the discus in last Thursday's Topeka West Invitational.
Hayden senior Jake Muller was the Class 4A state runnerup in the 300-meter hurdles last spring after winning the state title as a sophomore. [File photo/TSN]
JAKE MULLER, Hayden
A four-sport athlete for the Wildcats, Muller was the runner-up in the Class 4A 300-meter hurdles (39.21) as a junior, finished seventh in the 110 high hurdles (15.43) and was part of the Wildcats' third-place 4 x 400 relay team. Muller was the 4A state champion in the 300 hurdles as a sophomore, earning All-Shawnee County honors.
Topeka West senior Lenny Njoroge placed fourth in the Class 5A 3,200 meters last season and is a three-time state medalist in cross country. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
LENNY NJOROGE, Topeka West
A senior, Njoroge took fourth in the Class 5A 3,200-meter run (9:33.36) in the 2022 state track meet and is a three-time 5A state medalist in cross country, including a career-best fourth-place finish last fall. Njoroge, who will run cross country and track at Kansas, is an All-Shawnee County pick in both track and cross country ane opened his 2023 season with wins in the 1,600 and 3,200 meters in last Thursday's Topeka West Invitational.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
MADELINE CARTER, Washburn Rural
Carter, a senior, finished eighth in the Class 6A 3,200-meter run in the 2022 state track meet after earning three state medals (one individual, two relays) in '21. Carter, a multi-time TopSports.news All-Shawnee County pick in track and cross country, earned three 6A state medals in cross country, including an 11th-place finish last fall to help the Junior Blues finish third as a team. Carter has commited to Kansas.
Seaman senior Bethany Druse is the defending Class 5A state champion in the 800 meters. [File photo/TSN]
BETHANY DRUSE, Seaman
Druse, a senior, is the reigning Class 5A 800 meters champion and earned three Class 5A state medals in the 2022 meet, including a seventh-place finish in the 4x800 relay and an eighth in the 4x400 relay. Druse was a three-time 5A state medalist in cross country and is a mult-time TSN All-Shawnee County selection in both track and cross country. Druse, who will run collegiately at Kansas, has a best of 2:15.19 in the 800.
Washburn Rural sophomore Payton Fink ranked No. 1 in Shawnee County in the 3,200 meters as a freshman and placed fifth in Class 6A last fall in cross country. [File photo/TSN]
PAYTON FINK, Washburn Rural
Fink, a sophomore distance runner, earned TSN All-Shawnee County honors as a freshman and placed fifth in the Class 6A cross country meet last fall to lead Washburn Rural to a third-place team finish. Fink ranked No. 1 in Shawnee County in the 3,200 meters last season with a best of 11:37.61.
AMELIA FOSTER, Rossville
Foster, a senior, has earned state medals in Class 3A in back-to-back state meets, including a seventh-place finish in 2022 in the 800 meters. Foster is a two-time All-Shawnee County selection in track.
NATALIE HILLEBERT, Hayden
A junior, Hillebert placed third in the Class 4A 400-meter dash in the 2022 state track meet. Hillebert also picked up a state medal in the 4 x 400 relay as part of the Wildcats' eighth-place finish. Hillebert earned All-Shawnee County recognition as a freshman and sophomore.
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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Wednesday was only Shawnee Heights' second baseball game of the 2023 season.
But depending on how the rest of the T-Birds' season plays out, Heights coach Ryan Schmidt and his team may look back and realize just how big Wednesday's 7-6 non-league win over Bishop Miege was from a confidence and postseason seeding standpoint.
Shawnee Heights junior Carter Ulrich went 2 for 3 with a pair of doubles and five runs batted in as the T-Birds rallied for a 7-6 non-league win over Bishop Miege Wednesday at the Bettis Family Sports Complex. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Shawnee Heights junior Johann Villa pitched six innings of solid relief to pick up the win in Wednesday's 7-6 comeback win over Bishop Miege. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Shawnee Heights, which improved to 2-0, spotted Miege a 4-0 advantage in the top of the first and a 6-1 lead in the top of the third, but the T-Birds rode an outstanding relief effort from junior piitcher Johann Villa and clutch hitting from junior Carter Ulrich to a big comeback win at the Bettis Family Sports Complex.
"It couldn't be more of a team win, with the guys each doing their role,'' Schmidt said. "We just kept grinding through things and each guy was stepping up and picking each other up.''
Shawnee Heights only led once on the night, but that lead came on a two-run double from Ulrich in the bottom of the sixth and Villa shut the door on the Stags in the top of the seventh to close out the win.
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By KYLE MANTHE
Special to TopSports.news
There are a lot of parts of sports that can be controlled, one that cannot be controlled is who you play, for good or bad. For Shawnee Heights soccer it was the latter as the T-Birds opened the season with a 10-0 loss to Class 5A powerhouse Blue Valley Southwest.
Shawnee Heights sophomore Lailah Benz (2) tries to find operating room in Tuesday's 10-0 season-opening loss to Blue Valley Southwest. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Shawnee Heights senior Emily Loy (35) races after a loose ball in Tuesday's 10-0 season-opening loss to Blue Valley Southwest. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
"It's just a hard first game to start the season, but we know where we’re at, we’ve got a measuring stick to know where we can go from here,” said Shawnee Heights coach Kellen Griffin. “I’ve got a lot of great leaders from the seniors and the captains and even some of the juniors and sophomores that were on the team on varsity last year so I don’t think it’s going to affect us in (a bad) way.”
The Thunderbirds bring 11 seniors into the season from a team that went 13-5-0 last season as well as sophomores Lailah Benz and Isabell Van Fleet who were both first-team All-United Kansas Conference selections in 2022.
However, they were unable to generate a shot on goal against the strong Timerwolves defense, something Griffin is confident will change going forward.
“The good thing is they’ve got a base style of play from where we were at last year, but now it’s something we can build on more because we don’t have to review everything,” Griffin said. “So we got a starting point already and we can kind of build upon that and adjust as we go forward throughout the season.”
Jumping right into the deep end of the schedule did allow for immediate observation for Griffin, and reinforced year-long goals and strategies that aren’t accomplished in match number one.
“I learned where some of our girls are at in terms of development from last year to this year,” Griffin said. “We are going to have measuring sticks in terms of where our team is at compared to some of the other opponents we face and we just need to make sure we are building the entire season so that way we are playing the best soccer at the end of the season.”
