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By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
The heavy wind gusts couldn’t blow away Tae Thomas as the Topeka High senior had two goals that helped the Lady Trojans defeat Cair Paravel Latin 4-1 at Hummer Sports Park on a frigid Thursday night.
Thomas’ goals were Houdini-like -- a goal from near the Northeast corner and a goal short of midfield -- that had a huge impact on the victory.
“I’m pretty proud of myself today,” Thomas said. “Of course, I have some things to work on. I need to play a bit quicker and find the open teammate more often, but I’m proud of myself for the good things I did do during the game.
“I’m always looking for the open teammate and the open shot.”
The three-sport athlete scored her first goal with 7:49 to go in the first half and her second goal came with 3:09 remaining in the second half.
“(Thomas) just brings so much energy to this team,” Topeka High coach Derek Snook said. “We moved her around in different positions today, just so we could put her in the best situation possible. She’s not a big talker, but her play and energy she brings to the field is something that everyone feeds off of.
“She’s a fantastic leader and today was fantastic for her.”
Besides Thomas’ two goals, midfielders Avery Zimmerman and Haley Carpenter contributed one goal each in the three-goal victory.
In the last two games, the trio of Thomas, Zimmerman and Carpenter have a combined 11 goals. The Lady Trojans as a team in the two-game span have outscored Highland Park and Cair Paravel, 16-1.
Thomas would stand before her teammates after Thursday’s victory and let everyone know how proud she is of the energy everyone played with.
“We knew (Cair Paravel) was going to be a tough game for us,” Thomas said. “I felt like we were more mentally prepared for this game than others. I felt like going against a tough team brought our energy up. We expected everyone to hustle, carry a heavy amount of energy and play our best. I think the energy was a big part of our win.”
Snook agreed with Thomas and thinks this team can go far if the tge Trojans play the way they did on Thursday night.
It took the Lady Trojans 1:01 to get on the board, with Zimmerman converting a penalty kick to give Topeka High the 1-0 lead.
“The early penalty kick gave us a nice advantage since it was so early,” Snook said. “We’ve had an issue so far this year with our shots just barely missing or having other things not go our way early in games. It was nice for us to be in a good situation like that early.
“Having momentum a minute into the game is nice.”
The strong defense for both teams would prevent anyone from coming close to scoring for 29:25 after Zimmerman’s goal.
Cair Paravel would answer back after the early 1-0 Topeka High lead. Freshman Zahra Lewis was able to separate herself from a group of Trojans and win the battle by kicking in the Lions' first goal of the night.
Topeka High regained the lead as Thomas scored her first goal that would slide over defenders' heads far away from where the goalie was.
Carpenter would end the first half with a goal giving the Lady Trojans a two-goal lead heading into the half.
After halftime, goals were harder to come by. The defense by both teams was exceptional and it made it hard for the offense to come up with anything.
Thomas would drill in her second goal from the deep Northeast corner with 3:09 left in the game.
That final goal from Topeka High would be the dagger in an impressive win.
Topeka High (3-2) will face Topeka West at Hummer Sports Park next Tuesday.
TOPEKA 4, CAIR PARAVEL LATIN 1
Cair Paravel 1 0 – 1
Topeka High 3 1 – 4
Goals: Topeka High – Thomas 2, Zimmerman, Carpenter. Cair Paravel – Lewis.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
City swimmers and divers claimed six wins in Wednesday's Topeka High Invitational, including two wins apiece from Topeka West senior Kadence Jeffries and sophomore Avery Walz, while Washburn Rural, Seaman and Shawnee Heights went two-three-four in the team standings in the 10-school event.
Jeffries won the 200-yard freestyle in 1 minute, 57.03 seconds and the 500 freestyle in 5:10.53 while A. Walz won the 100 freestyle in 54.52 and the 100 backstroke in 1:02.48.
A. Walz also teamed with Joslynn Grace, Gabby Grace and Tauren Walz to win the meet-ending 400 free relay in 2:45.29.
Topeka High's Brianna Delvin was the one-meter diving champion with a score of 223.20.
Washburn Rural rode its depth to a second-place team finish behind Free State (611-423) while Seaman was third (261) and Shawnee Heights (201).
Runner-up Washburn Rural's foursome of Molly Didde, Shelby Schmutzler, Taryn Lemke and Makenna Pritchard finished second in the 200 freestyle relay in 1:53.35 and Mara Bare, Kiersten Harris, Lemke and Pritchard finished third in the 200 medley relay (2:00.30).
Pritchard finished third in the 100 free (56.50) and Bare finished third in the 100 backstroke (1:07.12).
In addition to its three victories, G. Grace, A. Walz, J. Grace and T. Walz finished second in the 200 medley relay (1:54.98), G. Grace was second in the 200 freestyle (2:03.82) and the 100 freestyle (55.56), J. Grace was second in the 200 individual medley (2:22.11) and T. Walz third in the 50 free (25.78).
Shawnee Heights was fourth in the 400 free relay and fifth in the 200 medley relay and Ashtynn Landry placed fith in the 100 free.
TOPEKA HIGH INVITATIONAL
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Mason Casebeer was a solid doubles player for Washburn Rural's boys tennis team last spring as a sophomore, including a 12th-place state finish in Class 6A and a spot on TopSports.news' 2021 All-Shawnee County team.
But Casebeer has switched to singles for the 2022 season, a move that has paid early dividends for both Casebeer and the Junior Blues as a team.
Casebeer went a perfect 3-0 in No. 1 singles in Wednesday's Seaman quadrangular at Kossover Tennis Center as Washburn Rural posted 4-0 sweeps over Topeka West, Lawrence and Seaman.
"It's a lot more work,'' Casebeer said of his transition. "It's a lot more running, instead of worrying about just one side. It's a lot more open court so it's a lot more diffcult, but it's more fun. I do like it.''
In doubles there's two players to share both the credit and the blame, but Casebeer knows that in singles it's all on him, both the good points and the bad.
"I like that more,'' Casebeer said. "I've done a lot of team sports in my life and I kind of came to tennis because I can put it more on to me than others. I like the responsibility of it.''
One of Casebeer's regular training partners is Rural state-class senior singles player Mason Thieu and Casebeer said Thieu has helped him improve.
"He's really fun to play against because he's really good,'' Casebeer said. "Rarely do I get points against him but when I do it's always a good rally and it's always a good one.''
Casebeer came to tennis after trying several of other sports and feels like he's found his perfect match in tennis.
"I fell in love with the sport,'' he said. "My (younger) brother started it really and I normally follow after him so once he started I started and I just loved the sport after that.''
Lawrence went 2-1 in Wednesday's quad, posting 4-0 win over Seaman and Topeka West, which was playing a split squad. Seaman went 1-2, with a 3-1 win over West.
SEAMAN TENNIS QUADRANGULAR
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Five Shawnee County high school soccer teams received mention in the Week 2 Kansas High School Soccer Coaches Association girls state rankings.
Washburn Rural is ranked No.4 in Class 6A after getting the 2022 season off to a perfect 5-0-0 start while Hayden is No. 3 in 4A-1A after starting the year 3-0-1 and Cair Paravel Latin is No. 8 in 4A-1A at 3-2-0.
Topeka High received votes in the 6A poll while Shawnee Heights received votes in 5A.
KHSSCA COACHES POLL WEEK 2
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Rossville's softball team ran its record to 6-0 Tuesday night with an 11-0, 17-0 Mid-East League doubleheader sweep over Riley County.
Sophomore Kinsey Perine homered in both games while sophomore Ryan Leathers also had a pair of homers on the day.
Perine homered and had two runs batted in for the Bulldawgs in the 11-0 first-game victory while sophomore Emma Mitchell went 2-2 with two RBI.
Vanesa Quinones improved to 3-0 on the season with the shutout pitching performance, recording five strikeouts.
The Lady Dawgs wrapped up the sweep with a 17-0 win in the nightcap.
Mitchell went 4 for 5 with a double and a triple while Perine went 4 for 5 with her homer and a triple.
Brinley Dyche moved to 3-0 with the pitching victory, recording five strikeouts.
Hayden soccer blanks Tonganoxie, 6-0
Hayden improved to 3-0-1 on the season with a 6-0 non-league road romp Tuesday at Tonganoxie.
The Wildcats opened up a 2-0 halftime advantage and turned the game into a rout with four second-half goals.
Hayden got a pair of goals from junior Sloane Sims while junior Jenessa Broxterman, senior Macy Smith and sophomore Jill Lenherr also scored goals. The Wildcats' sixth goal came on a Tonganoxie own goal.
Sophomore Mary Burenheide contributed a pair of assists while seniors Riley Schmidtlein, Elizabeth Dunshee and Kate Roeder were also credited with assists.
Smith and sophomore Hannah Schmitz combined for the shutout in goal.
HAYDEN 6, TONGANOXIE 0
Hayden 2 4 -- 6
Tonganoxie 0 0 -- 0
Hayden -- Goals: Sims 2, Broxterman, Smith, Lenherr, own goal. Assists: Burenheide 2, Schmidtlein, Dunshee, Roeder. Shutout: Smith, Schmitz.
Lions' Everhart signs with Baker
Cair Paravel Latin soccer standout Ethan Everhart signed a college letter of intent with Baker University on Tuesday.
Everhart received first-team All-City recognition last fall and also received All-Shawnee County honorable mention in basketbal this past season.