- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University volleyball star Faith Rottinghaus has been named the female winner of the MIAA's prestigious Ken B. Jones Award.
Rottinghaus was announced as the Ken B. Jones winner Monday night at the MIAA Award Celebration. The award recognizes the MIAA's top female and male student-athlete.
Nebraska-Kearney wrestler Matt Malcom was named the men's winner.
Rottinghaus, a Shawnee Heights graduate, completed her Ichabod volleyball career last fall, helping lead Washburn to the 2021 NCAA Division II National Championship Match, with WU finishing as the national runner-up with an overall record of 31-6 an 17-3 the MIAA.
Rottinghaus led NCAA Division II with 833 total digs and ranked third in the nation with 6.56 digs per set. She also led the Ichabods with 33 service aces and posted a service reception percentage of .980.
Rottinghaus concluded her career as Washburn's all-time dig leader with 2,676 career digs.
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Although Cooper Woestendick lives in Olathe, he has strong ties to Topeka.
The 15-year-old tennis phenom returned to his family roots for the 82nd annual Jayhawk Open and put on a show, claiming the Men's Open Singles championship with a 6-2, 6-3 win over University of Nebraska player Rudra Dixit Sunday at the Kossover Tennis Center.
Woestendick is the grandson of the late Delvy Lewis, a Topeka basketball legend and former Kansas Jayhawk star, and the son of Kristi (Lewis) Woestendick, who played basketball at Washburn Rural and Washburn University.
Cooper Woestendick said he welcomed the chance to compete in the Jayhawk, one of the Midwest's longest-running and most respected tournaments.
"I always love playing in Topeka,'' Woestendick said. "We've got family here and it's always nice to come back where I was born. And it's a great tournament with great players."
Although he was a youngster in the Men's Open Singles field and playing in his first Jayhawk, Woestendick said he entered the weekend with high hopes.
"I basically always expect to win and then if my opponent plays too good they play too good,'' Woestendick. "But I expected to win this tournament.''
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Saturday's Kansas Volleyball Association All-Star Match gave Katelynn Brogan the opportunity to make some new friends, get acquainted with a family member and close out her high school career with a victory.
Overall it was a good couple of days for the former Washburn Rural standout.
"It was fun,'' said Brogan, who helped the Red team take a 25-16, 25-18, 21-25, 25-17, 15-10 win over the Blue Saturday at Lee Arena. "I came in knowing nobody. I knew of people, but I had never talked to any of them. They were very welcoming and it was fun to get to know people.''
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Class 6A state tournament qualifier Washburn Rural and 5A qualifiers Seaman and Shawnee Heights combined to earn 12 first-team berths on the TopSports.news 2022 All-Shawnee County baseball team.
Washburn Rural, which earned a share of the Centennial League championship and finished third in the Class 6A state tournament, is represented on the all-county team by seniors Robby Bolin, Brock Howard and Carson Rosen, junior Ty Weber and sophomore Kyle Walker while Centennial tri-champion Seaman put seniors Dagen Brewer, Maclane Finley and Mason McConnaughey and junior Bryson Vawter on the first team and United Kansas Conference champ Shawnee Heights is represented by seniors Trevor Schattilly and Caden Walker and freshman Deacon Pomeroy.
Seaman's Brewer was tapped as the Shawnee County player of the year while the Vikings' Bryson Vawter earned the pitcher of the year award and Rural's Jay Mastin and Seaman's Trent Oliva were named co-county coaches of the year.
Rural's Walker was named the county newcomer of the year.
Also earning spots on the all-county first team are senior Torrey Horak of Rossville, senior Daigan Kruger of Silver Lake and senior Max Colombo of Topeka High.
Brewer, Vawter and Finley earned first-team All-Class 5A recognition from the Kansas Association of Baseball Coaches while McConnaughey and Shawnee Heights' Walker earned All-5A honorable mention.
Rural's Bolin was an All-6A second-team pick by the KABC while Rosen, Weber and Walker earned All-6A honorable mention.
Rossville's Horak and Silver Lake's Kruger were first-team All-3A picks by the KABC.
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
On Thursday night Russell Norton was approved by the USD 501 school board as Topeka West's new head football coach.
In a scant three days the veteran coach will hit the ground running as the Chargers begin summer workouts.
"We start on Monday and it's about getting to know the kids and learning who they are and then establishing the standards,'' Norton said. "I think that's the No. 1 thing, to make sure that we establish the standards of what Topeka West Charger football is going to look like.
"The program under my leadership is going to be about relationships and the only way you can have great relationships is by having great communication. I'm going to ask them what they're looking for and I'm going to tell them what I'm looking for and then we're going to create a dialogue to where we can learn one another and develop relationships on and off the field.''
Norton. who will turn 42 in the coming days, takes over for Ryan Kelly, who resigned his coaching job in mid-May to accept a position on Washburn University's coaching staff.
"There were quite a few things that interested me about this job,'' said Norton, who is also the general manager of the Topeka Tropics indoor football team.. "When I met with Mr. (Jeff) Buckendorff (West principal) and interviewed, I had a few other offers and turned those down because I felt like Topeka West was the best situation.
"Looking at some of the talent that was coming back I felt there was definitely some talent there and I think our brand of ball will fit in with Topeka West and we'll see what happens.''
Norton grew up on the East Coast, attending high school in North Carolina and playing college football at Fairmont State University in West Virginia.
He coached several seasons at the college level before moving over to the high school level, including his most recent stint at Oskaloosa High (1-8) last season.
Prior taking the Oskaloosa job Norton coached Southern Valley High School in Oxford, Neb.
"My wife is a (physician's assistant) so that's how we wound up in Nebraska,'' Norton said. "We took a program that was on a downslide and we turned it around, wound up making the playoffs and winning some games and breaking some records.
"We just kind of felt like we had done all we could do there. They were dropping down to Eight-Man football and I wasn't ready to give up trying to coach the 11-man game so we started looking.''
Kelly, a former Topeka West star, served as the Chargers' head coach for five seasons after previously coaching at Benedictine, his college alma mater.
Topeka West is coming off a 3-6 record last fall and will become a member of the United Kansas Conference this season.
"