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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural and Blue Valley North battled to an 0-0 deadlock over 80 minutes Thursday at McElroy Field before Mother Nature won the overtime.
With severe storms rapidly approaching, the Junior Blues and Mustangs completed regulation before the decision was made to call the game, resulting in a scoreless tie.
Washburn Rural senior Ben Buesing (right) and Blue Valley North's Will Matthews follow the flight of the ball Thursday night at McElroy Field. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Washburn Rural senior Tyler Faurot (3) pressures Blue Valley North's Beau Chiaverini in Thursday's 0-0 tie at McElroy Field. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Washburn Rural finished its regular season 11-2-3 while Blue Valley North finished 6-8-2 on the year.
The Junior Blues will either be the No. 3 West seed in Class 6A and will be at home for a regional semifinal at 6 p.m. on Monday. Rural's Senior Night festivities were pushed back to Monday.
Obviously, Washburn Rural coach Brian Hensyel would have preferred to have had a chance to pull out a victory in overtime Thursday, but he understood the decision.
"We played 80 minutes, that's a full game,'' Hensyel said. "Yeah, the overtime is nice to try to settle it but it was a pretty fair, even battle and each team had their chances with the wind and neither team could find the back of the net .
"It was a good challenge for us right before the playoffs to play a good Kansas City team, so we're happy with it.''
Washburn Rural senior Ryder Nikkel advances the ball in Thursday's 0-0 deadlock with Blue Valley North. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Senior Matthew Houser executes a header in Thursday's Washburn Rural 0-0 tie with Blue Valley North. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Now the Junior Blues, third in 6A last season, will try to gear up for the start of postseason.
"I still feel like we haven't reached our peak and haven't put it all together for an entire game yet,'' Hensyel said. "You know the performances are fine, but in the playoffs we've got to find another gear.
"We kind of play in spurts and I'm not sure we've played a full 80 minutes the entire season, so we're going to have to do that next week. It's a brand new slate and it doesn't really matter what our record is. You go to the tournament and see what happens.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University volleyball will face Emporia State for the second time in 18 days at 3 p.m. on Saturday to finish a five-match road trip.
Washburn volleyball will close out a road swing at Emporia State on Saturday. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
The Ichabods are 15-4 overall and 6-3 in the MIAA after overcoming a pair of 0-1 deficits last weekend to come away with a 3-2 win over Missouri Southern and a 3-1 victory against Central Missouri.
Senior Jalyn Stevenson leads Washburn with 217 kills while hititng .219 across 19 starts. She is also second on the squad in digs with 221 and in aces with 24.
Stevenson is eighth in the MIAA in kills and 15th in kills per set while ranking 18th in total digs. She has seven double-doubles on the year and 12 matches with 10-plus kills.
She ranks 19th in program history with 1,208 career kills. She will move into 18th with four more kills. She is also eighth on the program charts in aces and 20th in digs. She needs four aces to move up to eighth.
Alex Dvorak leads the Washburn defense at the net with 93 blocks on the year. She sits third on the team in kills with 140 and is second with a .363 hitting percentage.
The junior leads the MIAA in both blocks and blocks per set while ranking seventh and 16th nationally, respectively. She is also 39th in the nation and third in the conference in hitting percentage. In 13 of 19 matches she has recorded at least five blocks.
Shawnee Heights product Taylor Rottinghaus has a team-high 343 digs across 19 matches. She has contributed 70 assists and served 18 aces. The sophomore is eighth in the MIAA in digs per set while ranking eighth among conference players in total digs. She has at least 10 digs in every match.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The Highland Park Alumni Association will host its 2024 Hall of Fame and Sports Wall of Honor induction ceremony at 4 p.m. Saturday in the high school library.
Chauncey McBride, a 1988 Highland Park graduate, and 2002 Hi Park grad Grant Gould will be inducted into the Highland Park Sports Wall of Honor while Valerie Patterson, a 1973 Highland Park graduate, and the late Susan (Gresham) Guffey, a 1966 grad, will be inducted into the school's Hall of Fame.
Hall of Fame biographies:
Valerie Patterson
Hall of Fame
Valerie Patterson
Educator (Class of 1973)
Valerie was born and raised in Topeka as one of four children Vickie, Lori and Melvin Jr. of Melvin Sr. and Maxine Patterson where they lived in the eastern part of the Oakland community. Val graduated from Highland Parking High school in 1973 as well as all of her siblings. She attended Topeka Public Schools beginning at Washington Elementary, Dawson and State Street Elementary Schools, transitioning to Holliday Junior High and then went on to Highland Park High School. While at Highland Park she was involved in cheerleading, volleyball and track and field as well as serving on the Human Relations Board. Valerie was named Highland Park’s Homecoming Queen in 1973.
After graduating from Highland Park in 1973 she attended Emporia State University where she received a Bachelor of Secondary Education with an emphasis in Physical Education in 1977 and received her Master’s in Administration in 1996. Valerie’s entire career has been spent working in the Topeka Public School District. She stated that she thoroughly enjoyed Teaching Physical Education at Highland Park Central Elementary, Lowman Hill Elementary and at Highland Park High School. While teaching she coached at both Highland Park Junior High and Highland Park High School that gave her added pleasure to her career. In 1996 the world of administration grabbed hold of her and she served from 1996 – 2015 at Topeka West High School, Highland Park Central, Topeka Public School Administration, Highland Park High School, Quincy Elementary and finally at Topeka High School.
Over the years she has received various awards, honors and recognitions that include Topeka Public School’s Administrator of the Year in 1996, Commencement Speaker for Topeka West’s Class of 2000, City of Topeka’s Human Relations Commission’s Black History Month Honoree in 2005, Emporia State University’s Bridge Builder’s Forum, Leadership Greater Topeka Class of 2002, Topeka Public School’s First African American Female Coach 2024 as part of the Brown v Board of Education 70th year celebration.
Valerie is retired and enjoys spending time with her daughter, Simone throughout the 33 years of her life. In addition she has three niece’s Courtney Starnes (Corey), Chelsey Sudduth and MacKenzi Patterson who stay busy with their kids, hobbies and college. She admits that at her age she also has a great niece Cami and nephew Christian who enjoy the things she enjoyed the most -Sports!!! She states that she is so proud and blessed for her family! She does love Flowers, Flowers, and Flowers - both inside and outside. When she is not watching or attending sporting events or handling her flowers, she is spending time renovating the Patterson family home for its next generation. Valerie’s community involvement continues with her teaching Sunday school at New Mount Zion Baptist Church, participates in Commit to Community Service Projects with her Sorority- Delta Sigma Theta, and is a board member of the Topeka Public Schools Foundation and recently served as their past president. When she finds down time, she enjoys watching HGTV, a variety of movies and tons of sports.
Susan Guffey
Hall of Fame
Susan (Gresham) Guffey
Philanthropist (Class of 1966)
The late Susan (Gresham) Guffey dreamed big and showed it, taking each and every opportunity she could find as a teen. As a Scot at Highland Park High School in the 1960s, she took part in as many clubs as possible. She cheered on the sidelines for the football and basketball teams as part of the Pep Club and Bonnie Lassie Drill Team, acted in school plays alongside her thespian friends, and spoke up for her classmates as part of the Student Congress. Susan served as a member of the Highlander yearbook and Bagpiper newspaper staffs, selling ads and leading as editor during her senior year of high school. Her efforts and leadership earned her a seat in Quill and Scroll, the international honor society for high school journalists. In opening her eyes to the world, Susan helped host international students as part of the American Field Service student organization.
After graduating in 1966 from Highland Park, Susan served in the Navy for a couple of years as a photographer. She then returned to Topeka to work as a reporter and photographer for local papers, before getting a position with the Associated Press. Her work and experiences took her all over the world. She was briefly married to Thomas Guffey and had a son Sean. Susan later married Gene Priestman, a veteran she had met during her military career who had founded the Scitor Corporation, a prominent defense and national security contractor. The couple’s work frequently took them around the world. Her son shared that “They were happy, friendly people.” The couple lived a quiet happy life in their later years frequently donating to various causes, such as animal shelters, libraries, children’s museums and numerous startup nonprofit businesses. After her husband’s death, Susan kept up the couple’s philanthropic efforts with intermittent donations to Highland Park High School over the past decade. Former principal Dale Cushinberry recalled that he met her as she toured the school. When she asked how she could help, he said the school had a goal of having every student read three modern novels. Cushinberry said the problem was that the school didn’t have three modern novels. The next week, he received a check to meet that need, and then some. Other gifts followed, one for $200,000.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Former Washburn Rural star Belle Kennedy feels like the vibe among the Ichabod soccer team is starting to feel a lot like it did last season when WU posted a runnerup finish in the NCAA Division II national tournament.
Washburn junior midfielder Belle Kennedy (12) leads the 9-2-2 Ichabods with three game-winning goals. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
And that could spell continued bad news for future opponents of the Ichabods, who have not suffered a loss over their last 11 games entering MIAA road games against Central Missouri and Fort Hays State this weekend.
Washburn opened its season with back-to-back non-conference losses but have not allowed a goal since, establishing a school-record shutout streak while improving to 9-2-2 overall and 6-0-1 in the MIAA.
The Ichabods, who cracked the top 15 in the latest USC National poll, will make the trip to Warrensburg, Mo. to battle the Jennies in a 6 p.m. Friday contest before heading to Hays to face the Tigers in a 2 p.m. contest on Sunday.
The Ichabods remain in a tie for second place in the MIAA with Central Missouri with 19 points, three points behind Missouri Western.
"It feel like it's the same rhythm as last year where we struggled a little bit in the beginning but throughout this season we're getting to the point where we're approaching it like each game could predict where we end up within the national poll, within the MIAA,'' said Kennedy, a returning All-MIAA first-team pick who is tied for 19th nationally with three game-winning goals.
"It's not necessarily like we're taking it more serious, but we're making our journey more specific. In the beginning it's more about figuring out, 'OK, how do we want to play this year? Do we want to play a certain style? Do we want to switch our style?' And right now we've figured out our style, we're narrowing it down and perfecting it more so that each game we're getting better and better.''
Kennedy, a junior midfielder, said the Washburn hot streak has been fueled by its defense.
"Our defense is insane,'' Kennedy said. "You could put any forward against our defense and we are still strong. We're really resilient. The beginning of the year was a little rough but it always is when you're still trying to figure everything out, but at this point now, we can handle any forward and any duo or any three sets of forwards they put against us.''
Kennedy is also very proud of how her former Washburn Rural teammate, Hailey Beck, is performing for the Ichabods in her first season as WU's starting goalkeeper.
Beck is tied for first nationally with 10 shutouts posted in goal. Beck's 0.313 goals against average is good for fifth in Division II and her 0.879 save percentage ranks 15th in the country.
"I'm very, very proud,'' Kennedy said of Beck. "She's done an incredible job, honestly, stepping up and taking on the role of being our goalkeeper. She's been doing amazing.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After four previous double-overtime ties, Hayden's boys soccer team looked as if it might be headed towards another deadlock Wednesday.
But this time the Wildcats found a way to get the game-winner, with senior Preston Meitner scoring off a pass from junior Aiden Roberts with 5:17 left in the second 10-minute extra session to give Hayden a 2-1 non-league win over Leavenworth on Senior Night at Hayden.
Hayden senior Preston Meitner (13) scored the game-winning goal in Wednesday's 2-1 double-overtime soccer win over Leavenworth. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Hayden coach Klaus Kreutzer admitted that the Wildcats, who finished the regular season at 5-7-4, were getting a little tired of the string of OT contests.
"It takes its toll, but having said that, it shouldn't come to that,'' Kreutzer said. "You've got to do the work early and we had opportunities.''
But Kreutzer said Wednesday's come-from-behind victory should give Hayden momentum entering Class 4A-1A regionals next week.
"At least we ended the season on a good note, so I'm feeling good about what we're going to do next week,'' Kreutzer said.
