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Created: 21 May 2023

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Brianna Devlin's short, but highly successful high school diving career came to an end Saturday with a strong second-place finish in the Class 6A one-meter championships at the Capitol Federal Natatorium.

Topeka High senior Brianna Devlin hits the water during Saturday's Class 6A one-meter diving finals on the way to a second-place state finish. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

The Topeka High senior, who didn't take up diving until her junior year, started Saturday's finals in second place and stayed that way after having posted a fourth-place state finish in her first state meet in 2022.

Saturday's runnerup finish capped Devlin's impressive switch to diving after spending most of her life as a gymnast.

"I started gymnastics when I was five because I used to climb up on furniture all the time and flip around,'' Devlin said. "I didn't have good balance so my mom enrolled me in gymnastics and then I started competitive gymnastics and I did that for 12 years.''

Devlin, who was home-schooled until her junior year, credits Hayden sophomore diver Kaylee Gregg, a 5A-1A state finalist, with helping her get interested in the sport.

"Really, the only reason I kind of do dive is because of Kaylee Gregg because we went to the same gymnastics club together and she was like, 'Oh, I'm going to try out for dive,' and I was like, 'That sounds kind of fun,' and I went to Topeka High to join the dive team,'' Devlin said.

"I just kind of wanted to try something new and when I started diving I had a lot of success with that. And at the time I wasn't doing the best at gymnastics so I just went for full dive.''

From her first meet for the Trojans last spring, it was apparent that Devlin had the talent to be among the state's best.

"I surprised myself at the first meet when i qualified for state because I had a gymnastics meet like two days before that meet and I did not qualify for state at all for gymnastics so when I qualified for state at dive I was really surprised then,'' Devlin said. "That gave me a lot of motivation.''

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Created: 19 May 2023

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

 Hayden senior Jake Muller and junior Finn Dunshee both earned a pair of gold medals to lead the way as Hayden's boys track and field team qualified in eight events for next week's state meet at Wichita in Friday's Class 4A regional at Shawnee Mission North.

Hayden junior Finn Dunshee (right) won the 100-meter dash title in Friday's Class 4A regional and also ran on the Wildcats' winning 4x100 relay. [File photo/TSN]

Hayden senior Jake Muller won a regional title in the 300 hurdles and also ran on the Wildcats' winning 4x100 relay Friday at Shawnee Mission North. [File photo/TSN]

Dunshee won the boys 100-meter dash in 10.98 seconds and Muller won the 300 hurdles in 38.78 seconds while both also teamed with sophomores Liam Stegman and Jensen Schrickel to win the 4x100 relay in 43.00.

Stegman, Muller, Schrickel and Dunshee also qualified for state with a second-place regional finish in the 4x400 relay (3:23.92) while Muller also qualified in the 110 high hurdles with a third-place regional finish (16.01) and Shrickel finished third in the 400 dash (49.83).

Senior Joe Otting qualiied for state in a pair of field events, placing second in the discus at 148 feet, 3 inches and fourth in the javelin (173-6).

Hayden junior Natalie Hillebert won a Class 4A regional title on Friday in the 400-meter dash. [File photo/TSN]

Hayden's girls also picked up a regional victory, with junior Natalie Hillibert winning the girls 400 in 58.15 seconds.

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Created: 19 May 2023

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

 Highland Park senior star Tre Richardson went four for four in his individual events in Thursday's Class 5A track and field regional at the Olathe District Athletic Complex while Shawnee Heights junior distance ace Jackson Esquibel pulled off the distance triple to pace city athletes.

The top four regional placers in all 18 events qualified for state, which will be contested in and around Wichita State's Cessna Stadium next Friday and Saturday.

Highland Park senior Tre Richardson tuned up for next week's state track meet with four Class 5A regional wins Thursday at Olathe. [File photo/TSN]

 Shawnee Heights junior Jackson Esquibel won three gold medals in Thursday's Class 5A regional meet at Olathe, winning the 800, 1,600 and 3,200-meter runs. [Submitted photo]

Richardson, the defending 5A state champion in the 200-meter dash and a multi-time state medalist, won the 100 and 200-meter dashes, the long jump and triple jump while Esquibel, a returning state medalist, won the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 meters.

Richardson clocked a winning time of 10.49 seconds in the 100 and 21.83 in the 200 and soared 23 feet, 3.50 inches in the long jump and 45-8.50 in the triple jump.

Esquibel started his day with a win in the 1,600 in 4:23.02 and won the 800 in 1:59.55 and the 3,200 in 9:42.42

Other city boys individual regional winners included Shawnee Heights sophomore Tyler Wedl in the pole vault (12-0) and T-Bird junior Alex Dittman in the javelin (155-5) while Seaman won the 4x800 relay (8:19.23).

Shawnee Heights' boys qualified for state in 12 of 18 events while Seaman qualified for state in eight events and Highland Park five.

Seaman senior Bethany Druse won a Class 5A regional title in the 800 meters Thursday night and also helped the Vikings to a win in the 4x800 relay. [File photo/TSN]

Seaman senior Bethany Druse, the reigning 5A state champ in the girls 800, won Thursday's 800 in 2:15.46 and also helped the Vikings win the 4x800 relay in 10:15.01.

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Created: 15 May 2023

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

After winning a Class 5A-1A state swimming title as a sophomore in 2022, Seaman junior star Avery Walz obviously would have loved to have added a second championship on Saturday at the Capitol Federal Natatorium.

Seaman junior Avery Walz was a first-team All-State pick after posting four top-five finishes in the Class 5A -1A swimming and diving meet Saturday at the Capitol Federal Natatorium. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

But although she fell just short of that goal, Walz and her Viking teammates were still all smiles after Grace posted four top-five finishes, including a second and a third individually, to help lead Seaman to a top-five team finish for the third straight season.

"We're real excited,'' Avery Walz said. "We came in with high expectations and to swim well and I think we did. We swam amazing, so I'm real proud of our whole team.''

Avery Walz posted a second-place finish in the 200-yard individual medley in 2 minutes, 04.22 seconds and a third in the 100 freestyle in 52.77 and teamed with her junior twin sister Tauren Walz, junior Avery Samuelson and sophomore Joslynn Grace for a third-place finish in the 200 free relay (1:44.65) and with the same three swimmers for a fifth-place finish in the meet-opening 200 medley relay (1:44.23).

Avery said she was pleased with her day after helping Seaman finish fifth as a team after fifth and fourth-place finishes in '21 and '22.

"I swam pretty welI,'' she said. "I was really close to both of my best times in the 200 IM and the 100 free and in the 200 freestyle relay I went 23.7 on the end and that was my best time in that so I'm really happy.''

Seaman junior Tauren Walz earned second-team All-State recognition after earning four medals in Saturday's Class 5A-1A swimming and diving championships. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

Sophomore Joslynn Grace earned second-team All-State honors after helping Seaman finish fifth in the Class 5A-1A state swimming and diving championships. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

Tauren Walz posted a fifth-place finish in the 100 breaststroke (1:09.13) and a sixth in the 100 butterfly (59.89) while Grace finished fifth in the 200-yard IM (2:16.78).

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