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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn men's basketball coach Brett Ballard knows you don't lose players like Tyler Geiman, Jalen Lewis and Jonny Clausing without feeling it.
But as the Ichabods prepare to open official practice on Saturday for the 2022-2023 season, Ballard feels good about the group he'll go to battle with.
Michael Keegan (23) is a top returner for Washburn men's basketball, which officially opens practice on Saturday. [File photo/TSN]
Brett Ballard's Washburn University men's basketball team is coming off a 22-11 record and an NCAA Tournament appearance last season. [File photo/TSN]
"When you loe guys who were as good of players as Geiman and Lewis and Clausing and as good of people as they were, it's always concerning,'' said Ballard, whose Ichabods went 22-11 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season. "But I will say this about our returning core group of guys, they have been phenomenal, starting last spring.
"With our workouts last spring and this summer and with our fall stuff they have been really invested, really connected, great effort, attitude, all the things you look for, so that's really encouraging because you never know. You lose a group and you wonder what your culture's going to be like, but I'm really pleased with where this group is.''
Washburn will build this year's team around veterans like 6-foot-6 sophomore Michael Keegan, 6-3 junior Connor Deffebaugh, 6-3 junior Tyler Nelson and 6-4 sophomore Levi Braun.
Keegan averaged 9.4 points and 6.1 rebounds a year ago while Deffebaugh averaged 9.1 points and Nelson 6.5 points.
Braun, the former Hayden standout, averaged 4.1 points last season and connected on 32 3-pointers.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Former Washburn University women's basketball standout Lora Westling said she never really seriously thought about getting the chance to coach her alma mater as she climbed the coaching ranks.
But when longtime WU coach Ron McHenry announced his retirement following the 2021-2022 season, there was no doubt that Washburn was the place Westling wanted to be.
Lora Westling
"I was a little bit heartbroken. as I'm sure everyone was, when coach Mac decided to retire, but once that news kind of settled in, then of course I was interested,'' Westling said. "This is one of the best Division II jobs in the country,.so anybody who says they wouldn't be interested is lying to you.''
Westling played at Washburn from 2001 to 2005 and helped McHenry's Lady Blues win the school's first NCAA Division II national championship in 2005 before embarking on her coaching career.
Westling, who coached the past six seasons at Western Colorado, was tapped as McHenry's successor last spring and will get her official start on Saturday when the Ichabods begin practice for the upcoming season.
Westling said she is pleased with the progress the Ichabods, 14-16 last season, have made in the offseason.
"It's been great from the standpoint that the women in our program have been really receptive to all of the new and it's been a lot of new really quickly for them, not just technically on the floor but also culturally and just kind of getting adjusted to a whole new staff,'' Westling said.
"They've been tremendously receptive and I've been really proud of them for that. They've had great coachability and they're trying. I'm really fortunate to have two outstanding assistants (J'nae Squires-Horton and Will Marchino) here with me and we're all growing in the same direction. I'm really excited about the foundation that we're laying.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Nobody has to tell Washburn University star receiver/returner James Letcher Jr. how big he is -- the 5-foot-8, 175-pounder has been reminded of that his whole career.
But sometime Satuday afternoon in Maryville, Mo., the little guy that very few colleges gave a second look to is likely to stride proudly into Washburn's record book as the leading receiver in school history.
Senior star James Letcher Jr. is two catches away from being the leading receiver in Washburn school history. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
The Ichabod All-American will enter Saturday's 1:30 p.m. game at Northwest Missouri with 189 career receptions, just two catches behind Sam Sisson, who played at WU from 2002-2006.
"I just wanted to get on the field and play,'' Letcher said. "Coming out of high school I wasn't recruited that much, so I wasn't too sure if I was actually going to be able to play college football.
"Believe it or not, I was actually going to go to Fort Hays at first. I liked the coach they had and the way they were talking to me about how much they wanted me. I was like, 'OK, I think this is where I want to go,' but they didn't get to offer me and then Washburn came in and offered me. That was the only reason I ended up coming here because they offered me. If nobody would have offered me I don't think I would have been playing, but I think everything worked out great.''
Fast forward to the 2022 season and Letcher is in line to finish among the top five in WU history in virtually every receiving/return category.
Letcher's 24.9 yards per kickoff return is second all-time at Washburn, his 2,482 receiving yards rank fifth and his 25 TD receptions also rank No. 5.
His 4,840 career all-purpose yards rank second all-time at Washburn and Letcher ranks third among active NCAA Division II players with 4,903 all-purpose yards, fourth with 2,521 receiving yards and third with his 189 receptions.
"I didn't even know if I was going to play on a team, so being able to work this hard and have unrealistic dreams come true is just crazy,'' Letcher said. "I never would have thought I would be at the top of the list for receptions or top five or top 10 in any of these things, but it's really a blessing and I can't do nothing but thank God and thank my parents for making me this monster on the field.''
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By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural continued its outstanding volleyball season with a pair of impressive wins over Seaman and Olathe West on Thursday night at Rural.
The Lady Blues' Senior Night wins over Olathe West and Seaman were as hard-earned and as sweet as it gets.
Washburn Rural is the No. 1 team in Class 6A for a reason. The Lady Blues have taken down imposing teams throughout the entire 2022 campaign. Washburn Rural welcomed Class 5A No. 3/United Kansas Conference champion, Seaman, and Class 6A No. 3 Olathe West on Thursday.
Washburn Rural volleyball celebrates a point during Thursday's triangular sweep over Olathe West and Seaman at Rural. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
“Every match has its ups and downs, luckily we had a lot more ups than we did downs,” Washburn Rural coach Kevin Bordewick said. “Olathe West is one of the tallest teams we’ve seen all year. It also seemed like Seaman was just as tall. I thought we played well against Olathe West and we had to battle against Seaman.
“We allowed (Seaman) to go on too many big runs. I think we allowed three runs to Seaman of four or more points. We can’t allow those big runs because a team like Seaman will get you on that.”
Washburn Rural had its way in both sets against Olathe West. The Lady Blues only trailed one time (1-0) throughout the entire two sets. Chloe Carlgren, Brooklyn DeLeye, Layla Collins and the entire Washburn Rural squad dominated the match.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
It was an unfamiliar course, but a very familiar finish for Topeka West senior star Lenny Njoroge in Thursday's United Kansas Conference cross country meet at Shawnee Heights.
Njoroge posted his sixth win in seven races on the year, including five straight, in the UKC meet, clocking a five-kilometer time of 16 minutes, 04.4 seconds to win by just under 21 seconds.
Topeka West senior Lenny Njoroge cruises down the home stretch en route to the UKC title Thursday at Shawnee Heights. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
"I ran this course freshman year but it's so different,'' Njoroge said. "It's like it's been flipped upside down, but I was very comfortable.
:"My goal was to just push the pace and not let anyone go with me because I know they're very good. I just wanted to push the pace so I could break away.''
Njoroge, who is undefeated against Kansas competition and has not finished lower than second, jumped out in front early on and, as has been the case in all of his victories, lengthened his lead over the final half of the race.''
"It all depends on the race, every race is different,'' Njoroge said of his strategy. "In one race you might find a guy who's taking it out fast and then you're comfortable the next mile. The next race you might just cruise the whole race.''
Shawnee Heights junior Jackson Esquibel (back) tracked down and passed De Soto's Joshua Fullmer at the end of the race to finish second in the UKC cross country meet Thursday at Heights. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Shawnee Heights junior Jackson Esquibel came on strong at the end of the race and overtook De Soto senior Joshua Fullmer for second place, helping the T-Birds finish second as a team behind De Soto (37-65). Esquibel clocked a time of 16:25.1 while Fullmer was third in 16:28.4.
