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By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
Thursday night’s United Kansas Conference doubleheader between Shawnee Heights and Topeka West was decidedly one-sided, with Shawnee Heights.posting 18-3 and 10-0 run-rule victories at Hummer Sports Park.
Shawnee Heights sophomore Grace Proctor went 4 for 4 in Thursday's 18-3 first-game win over Topeka West and also picked up the pitching win. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN
Shawnee Heights junior Alaryce Adams (6) and junior Odessa Schmidt (1) celebrate after scoring runs in Thursday's doubleheader sweep over Topeka West. [Photo Rex Wolf/TSN]
Shawnee Heights had suffered a 9-5 conference loss to city rival Seaman on Tuesday, but the T-Birds put that loss behind them with a near-perfect set of games against Topeka West.
“It feels really good to bounce back from that,” Shawnee Heights coach Tara Griffith said of Tuesday's loss. “We talk a lot about bouncing back, whether it be scoring after (an opponent) scores or losing a game. We talked about bouncing back from the Seaman loss, and I think they did that well today.''
Defensively, Shawnee Heights gave up three total runs in the first game in the first three innings.
However, after giving up those three runs, the Thunderbirds didn’t look back and didn’t give up another run in either game.
“I thought our pitchers were both a lot sharper today than they were on Tuesday, not to take anything away from Seaman,” Griffith said. “But they came out and had a focus today. They did a good job of hitting their spots.”
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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Longtime Hayden tennis coach James Sandstrom has turned over the reins of the Wildcat boys program to longtime assistant Christine Voegeli, ending a tenure as one of the most successful high school tennis coaches in Kansas history.
![James Sandstrom has turned over the reins of the Hayden High tennis program to longtime assistant Christine Voegeli after a highly-successful run as the Wildcats' coach. [File photo/TSN]](/images/2024/08/JamesSandstromnew2.jpg)
James Sandstrom has turned over the reins of the Hayden High tennis program to longtime assistant Christine Voegeli after a highly-successful run as the Wildcats' coach. [File photo/TSN]
Sandstrom is also Hayden's school principal and said this spring was a good time to step away from his coaching job, particuarly after the graduation of James and Stacey's youngest son, Michael, in 2022.
Michael was a two-time Class 4A state runnerup in doubles while the Sandstrom's older son, Sean, was a state singles champion for the Wildcats.
"Being an administrator takes a lot of time and I really feel like to give my all to the community it was the right thing to do,'' Sandstrom said. "Having coached Michael and Sean their entire life coming up I really wanted the opportunity to coach them in high school. The first few years of coaching both and being a principal, it took a lot of time, but coaching tennis was also kind of a good refresher for me so I could approach my day to day business more focused.
"But with graduation weekend being the same weekend as state tennis and all of that, it was time.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural freshman softball player Reagan Chapman and Seaman sophomore baseball standout Max Huston have been selected by the Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency as the Rising Stars of the Week.
The Dan Key Agency will recognize top Shawnee County underclassmen throughout the bulk of the 2022-2023 school year.
Here’s a brief look at the accomplishments of Chapman and Huston over the past week:
Washburn Rural freshman Reagan Chapman reacts to a home run in her first at bat as a high school softball player. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
REAGAN CHAPMAN, Washburn Rural
Chapman turned in an outstanding perormance in her high school softball debut last Friday, helping lead the Junior Blues to a 4-3, 8-3 Centennial League sweep over Topeka High in a rematch of the 2022 Class 6A state championship game.
Chapman, Rural's leadoff hitter, started the day in storybook fashion, opening the bottom of the first with a solo home run over the left field fence.
Chapman went on to add a pair of doubles in the opener while knocking in a pair of runs and scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh. Chapman continued her big day in the nightcap, tripling and then breaking open the game with a three-run home run.
Sophomore Max Huston watches the flight of his three-run home run in Seaman's 13-3 UKC win over Shawnee Heights Tuesday at the Bettis Family Sports Complex. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
MAX HUSTON, Seaman
Huston had three hits, including a home run, and drove in four runs in Seaman's 13-3 United Kansas Conference baseball win over rival Shawnee Heights on Tuesday at the Bettis Family Sports Complex.
Huston had a pair of singles and broke open a close game in the top of the third with a three-run home run to give Seaman an 8-3 advantage.
Huston, who started for the Vikings last season as a freshman, also pitched a scoreless inning in relief as Seaman improved to 3-0 overall and in the UKC.
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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
The Washburn University bullpen threw four scoreless innings to close out a 4-2 victory at Northwest Missouri on Wednesday.
Washburn pitcher Jack Brimacombe picked up his second win of the season in Weddnesday's 4-2 MIAA win at Northwest Missouri. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
The Ichabods will be back in the Show Me State this weekend for a three-game set at No. 24 Central Missouri.
The Bearcats (6-22 overall, 4-13 MIAA) got on the board first, taking a 1-0 lead in the second inning.
The Ichabods (20-11, 13-4) answered with a run of their own in the top of the third.
Caden Bressler drew a walk and with two outs he moved over to third on a single by Trevor McCollum. On a 1-1 pitch, McCollum successfully stole second base and on the throw down, Bressler broke for home and scored Washburn's first run.
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By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
TopSports.news is pleased to announce the newest MVP to its lineup with local business, 785Athletics.
785Athletics welcomes new members to its building who want to improve their strength, conditioning, agility, speed and basketball skills.
785Athletics co-owner Rich Brown broke ground on the official facility for 785Athletics two years ago.
When Brown took over the facility, located at 1239 SW Western Ave., he had a lot of work to do in putting his touch on rehabbing an old church.
785Athletics stumbled upon the church and thought it would convert into an operating performance-enhancing facility. The church had tall ceilings and didn't have poles or fans that would be in the way. But, with the eye of a picture-perfect setup, the possibility of making a dream happen could become a reality.
"Buildings like this are kind of hard to find," Brown said. "The vision started with how to throw it together and help the community. With what he had in mind, this building could pay for itself over time. We know we're not going to get rich quickly by any means. But over time it'll sustain memberships with the building also standing. I'm happy with it."
When you walk through the doors of 785Athletics, the basketball court is directly to the right. With tremendous additions, subtractions, and fixes, the unique gym on the main floor provides a great playing experience for basketball players that want to develop their skills. Therefore, it was important for the business to have the best playing surface possible for its athletes.
"We had to get the floor level first, and then we had a company at a Kansas City that does gym floors install the floor, and it was a sub-contract type deal," Brown said. "It was important to me to have the right kind of flooring. Having tile or anything we didn't like wouldn't have been right. The basketball court had to be just right."
Brown credits his team for the success and growth of 785Athletics. The 785Athletics team consists of co-owners Brown and Josh Akognon, along with Cody Wilson, Geo Lyons, Jameel Anderson, Eric Ray and others. All the coaches and trainers at 785Athletics are former athletes, and some even played professionally.
Wilson is front and center of athletic performance and specializes in recovery for athletes. Wilson grew up in Dallas, Texas, eventually finding his way to playing football for Haskell Indian Nations University. Wilson also has arena football playing experience as well as coaching.
Wilson credits his beginning knowledge of athletic performance and eye for a swift recovery from watching strength and conditioning coach Sean Edinger. Edinger was Haskell's head strength coach for football and volleyball in 2008. Edinger is now the assistant athletics director for athletic performance at Syracuse University.
"I got to watch (Edinger) from a coach, not from an athlete, but from a coach's perspective, and see the impact that he had on the team," Wilson said. "He had a significant impact on every athlete in there. You can just tell as soon as he walked into a room, he had a certain amount of influence over people. And the way he used it, to help them improve was huge. So that was my initial learning. And then from there, I've learned from a whole lot of different people.
"I'm constantly learning through my own trial and error and through working with athletes for the last 15 years or so. One of the things that I say all the time is a balanced athlete is a better athlete. So we're constantly doing things evenly on each leg and evenly on each arm. So if I'm doing a push, we're working the front of the legs, and we're working the back of the legs. The risk of injury goes down significantly if we're balanced."
Wilson's most considerable emphasis is on prehabilitation. 785Athletics use Bosu balls to strengthen ankles, joints and ligaments. In addition, Wilson works on perfecting warm-up stretches, jogging, shuffles and speed mechanics. Decreasing the risk of injury, technique, and constant improvement is a big emphasis from 785Athletics.
"The goal here is not only to increase their athletic performance, but do it in a way that that's going to lower the risk of injury as well," Wilson said. "If you have good speed mechanics, when you're running, the risk of you pulling your hamstring has gone down significantly. Whereas if you have poor posture and poor running mechanics, you're more likely to injure yourself. My goal is to put a lot less energy into what they're doing and getting better results while not injuring themselves."
785Athletics prides itself on exclusive development with an offered membership. Right now, the business services around 50 athletes regularly. The monthly membership cost is $75, which is $3.25 per workout.
785Athletics also organizes and runs camps and teams. The business runs summer and holiday camps for younger kids and high school athletes. In addition, 785Athletics has a pair of AAU teams that also represents the organization.
You can contact 785Athletics at (785) 608-3234 or email
