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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Rossville volleyball stretched its winning streak to seven matches with a dominating performance in Saturday's Rossville Invitational, with the Bulldawgs posting five straight-set victories to claim the tournament championship.
Rossville volleyball is now 7-0 on the 2025 season after winning its invitational tournament on Saturday with a 5-0 day. [Rossville volleyball]
Rossville, which was ranked No. 10 in the Kansas Volleyball Association Class 2A preseason state rankings, opened its day with a 25-11, 25-21 win over Waverly, followed by a 25-14, 25-23 win over Baldwin, a 25-20, 25-17 victory over Iola and a 25-19, 25-15 win over Iola before winning the tournament title with a 25-19, 25-19 win over Burlington.
Dani Dodge's Bulldawgs got a dominating performance at the net from junior Nora Burdiek, who registered double-digit kills in all five matches.
Burdiek had 11 kills against Waverly, 15 against Baldwin, 14 versus Iola, 12 against Wellsville and 12 kills in the Bulldawgs' final match win over Burlington.
Burdiek now has 90 kills on the season for the 7-0 Bulldawgs after posting 26 kills in a pair of Big East League wins over Sabetha earlier in the week.
Rossville also got a big day from freshman setter Kenna Perine on Saturday, with Perine contributing 117 assists in her five matches.
Perine registered 27 assists against Waverly, 21 against Baldwin, 24 against Iola, 21 against Wellsville and 24 against Burlington.
Perine had a total of 35 assists in her high school debut on Tuesday against Sabetha and now has 152 assists on the year.
Junior G'Honi Montgomery rushed for 113 yards on 12 carries in Friday's 32-6 Highland Park win at KC-Wyandotte. [File photo/TSN]
Scots roll to 32-6 season-opening win over Bulldawgs
Highland Park football began its quest for a fourth straight winning season Friday night with a 32-6 Meadowlark Conference road win over Kansas City-Wyandotte.
Scot junior G'Honi Montgomery rushed for 113 yards on just 12 attempts against Wyandotte while junior JoJo Kingcannon had 103 yards on just four carries.
Senior quarterback Dontrail Fox had 22 passing yards and a touchdown for Hi Park.
Defensively, junior Rayshon Pollard led the Scots with seven tackles while also recording a pair of sacks.
Highland Park will be at Hummer Park Friday to host KC-Sumner Academy in a Meadowlark Conference contest (7 p.m. kickoff).
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Brody Anderson
BRODY ANDERSON, Seaman
A Class 5A state medalist in cross country and track, Anderson opened his senior cross country season with the boys individual championship in Saturday's Manhattan Invitational at Warner Park. Anderson captured the Manhattan individual title for the second straight season with a five-kilometer time of 15 minutes, 11.48 seconds.
Nora Burdiek
NORA BURDIEK, Rossville
A junior multi-sport standout, Burdiek helped lead Rossville to the team championship in Saturday's Rossville Invitational volleyball tournament with five straight-set victories. Burdiek registered double-digit kills in all five matches, with highs of 15 and 14 kills and at least 11 kills in all five matches. Burdiek now has 90 kills on the season for the 7-0 Bulldawgs.
John Hoytal
JOHN HOYTAL, Washburn Rural
Hoytal, a senior quarterback, helped lead Washburn Rural football to a thrilling 51-41 non-league season-opening road win at city rival Shawnee Heights on Friday. Hoytal completed 11 of 20 passes for 201 yards against the T-Birds, including a 64-yard touchdown pass to Gavin Vantuyl and a 31-yard TD strike to Nate Selm.
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By CHARLES SPURLOCK
Special to TopSports.news
MANHATTAN -- On a cool Saturday morning the 2025 cross country season began for six local schools at Warner Memorial Park.
Seaman's Brody Anderson opened his senior cross country season with the individual boys title in Saturday's Manhattan Invitational. [File photo/TSN]
There were five races (boys and girls varsity, boys and girls junior varsity, boys C). The girls junior varsity and boys C race were four-kilometer races, while the rest were at the standard five-kilometer distance.
In the boys race, Seaman senior Brody Anderson and Wamego senior Peyton Parker were neck-and-neck for the first mile, but Anderson pulled away in the remainder of the race, finishing first with a time of 15 minutes, 11.48 seconds. Washburn Rural sophomore Henry Laubach was able to track down Wamego’s Parker and finished second in a time of 15:43.33.
“I didn’t want to think about it being the first race of the season, but kept it in the back of my mind,'' Anderson said. "I wanted it to come naturally and I was able to have a good race on a tough course.
"I’ve been training for the past six or seven weeks really hard and I feel that I needed to prove a point to start the season.''
Washburn Rural sophomore Henry Laubach (1935) finished second individually in Saturday's Manhattan Invitational, leading the Junior Blues to the team title. [File photo/TSN]
Washburn Rural won the team event over Wamego and Olathe Northwest. In addition to runnerup Laubach, the Junior Blues had three other runners win medals by finishing in the top twenty -- senior Brooks Kehoe finished fifth in 16:40.82, Duke Graf finished 10th in 16:57.92 and Clayton Fink finished 11th in 17:01.88.
In the varsity girls race, Washburn Rural finished second in the team event behind host Manhattan and Olathe Northwest finished third.
Washburn Rural senior Emily Graf (left) finished third in Saturday's Manhattan Invitational. [File photo/TSN]
The Junior Blues were led by three medalists, with Emily Graf finishing third in 19:16.37, Kenzie Maddox fifth in a time of 19:42.26 and Alyson Hinck sixth in 19:46.61.
The Seaman Lady Vikes had one medalist in junior Brynn Spencer, who finished 12th in a time of 20:14.58. Seaman senior Ryin Miller did not run in the race as she is working through an injury.
Hayden’s lone runner and medalist, Sofia Harper finished 20th in a time of 21:05.88.
Team Scores & Individual Results
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
No. 22-ranked Washburn University volleyball moved to 4-0 on the year and completed an undefeated opening weekend at the Oredigger Volleyball Classic on Saturday with a 3-1 win over Davenport and a 3-0 sweep of Valdosta State on Saturday.
Washburn volleyball celebrates a point in Saturday's Oredigger Classic. [Photo by Zach Greer/Colorado School of Mines]
The Ichabods will host the Washburn Invitational next Friday and Saturday.
After the first set against Davenport Washburn found itself trailing for the first time this season, but the Ichabods rallied to win the next three sets and take the match, 20-25, 25-17, 25-14 and 25-15.
Washburn fell behind early in the first set 9-5 and the Davenport lead grew to as high as eight points at 21-13 as the Ichabods were unable to make up ground.
The second set went back-and-forth at the start, with four ties in the first 14 points.
But Washburn was able to create some separation, leading 13-9 after a 4-point run. The Ichabod offense rebounded from the first set, hitting .348 as a team in the second.
Bella Limback knocked down a kill to secure the 8-point second-set win and tie the match.
In the third set the Ichabods built an early lead.
Back-to-back kills from Brynne Topoliski pushed the lead to five at 17-12.
A kill from Keilah Rivers made it 19-14 and started a 7-0 run for Washburn to end the set at 25-20 on an ace from Taylor Rottinghaus.
The fourth set was another quick start for the Ichabods, with WU going in front 6-1 after consecutive kills from Natalie Hedlund.
The Panthers rallied to keep it close before a 4-0 Washburn run put it in front 14-6 after two kills by Austin Broadie. The Ichabod offense had its most efficient hitting set of the match, hitting .414 in the fourth set to clinch the match with a 10-point victory.
Offensive production was big in Washburn's favor, with the Ichabods hitting .328 to just .132 for Davenport with a 53-41 advantage in kills. The Ichabods led in assists, 51-39, as well as digs, 57-42, and 8-5 in blocks.
Broadie led the offensive attack with 13 kills while hitting .526. Corinna McMullen led the passing attack with 23 assists and added 11 digs for a double-double. Sydney Conner also had a double-double with 21 assists and 11 digs.
Abby Alan led Davenport with 15 kills and Madison Berry had 37 assists.
Washburn earned its third sweep of the weekend in decisive fashion over Valdosta State. The Ichabods won all three sets by 10 or more points, 25-13, 25-12 and 25-15.
The Ichabods pulled away in set one with a 9-1 run, capped off by a kill from Broadie to go up 17-10. The Blazers managed just three more points the rest of the set as they were held to a -.138 attacking percentage by the Washburn defense.
In the second set, a 5-0 run in the middle of the action created separation once again.
Limback started the run with a kill and Rivers capped off the run with an ace to put Washburn up 17-9. The burst turned into a larger 11-1 run to provide a double digit lead.
Josie Cleveringa came off the bench to end the 13-point win with a kill.
After starting the third set tied 3-3, Emery Keebaugh slashed two straight kills to kick off a 9-1 run. The offensive attack continued as Washburn knocked down 18 kills in the set while hitting .419 as a team as the Ichabods went on to win the set and match, 25-15.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Northwest Missouri State controlled the tempo from the outset Saturday at Yager Stadium, handing Washburn a 34-7 loss in the MIAA opener for both schools.
Washburn junior D.J. Bell scored the Ichabods' lone touchdown Saturday on a 69-yard pass from Justin Lewis. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Washburn junior D.J. Bell (10) celebrates Saturday's 69-yard TD pass from Justin Lewis with teammate Teondre Carter. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The Bearcats struck quickly in the first quarter with a pair of touchdown passes, building a 13-0 lead.
The Ichabod defense held strong in the second quarter, keeping Northwest off the board, but the visitors extended their advantage in the second half behind a balanced offensive attack that finished with nearly 500 total yards.
"It's a humbling loss, especially against a really good MIAA team,'' Washburn coach Zach Watkins said. "That's our entire season are games like that against quality opponents like that. We'll watch the film and we'll get better.
"This game does not define us. We'll be ready to go next week.''
Washburn's lone score came early in the fourth quarter when quarterback Justin Lewis connected with wide receiver D.J. Bell for a 69-yard touchdown strike down the sideline.
Aidan Battle tacked on the extra point to pull Washburn within 27-7.
The Ichabods finished with 143 yards of total offense, including 162 through the air as Lewis completed 14 of 30 passes.
Lewis was sacked five times, which contributed to Washburn's negative rushing total of minus-19 yards.
"We struggled the ball last week and again this week,'' Watkins said. "We've addressed it and we'll address it again. Coaching's never done, the improvements are never done and we've got to improve in a big way from Week 2 to Week 3 to be a good (Colorado School of Mines) team.''
