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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Lenny Njoroge has posted some big wins in his high school cross country career and there definitely could still be more to come.
But Saturday's city boys championship at Washburn Rural was special not only for the Topeka West senior, but for his school as well.
Topeka West senior Lenny Njoroge won his first city cross country title and the Chargers' first since 1993 in Saturday's city meet at Washburn Rural. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Njoroge, who posted his fourth straight individual win, clocked a winning five-kilometer time of 15 minutes, 30 seconds en route to becoming the first Topeka West boys runner to win a city championship since former Charger great Winston Tidwell in 1993.
"City titles are nice, I'm telling you,'' Njoroge said. "They're fun and you're representing your school and especially because we haven't won one in a lot of years, it feels special.''
Njoroge won by 18 seconds over Shawnee Heights junior Jackson Esquibel (15:48.1), with T-Bird senior Kory Sutton third in 15:54.1.
For the second straight week, Esquibel pushed Njoroge early in the race, which the West star said was a benefit.
"It helps a lot so I don't have to run by myself the first mile,'' Njoroge said. "I like him pushing me.''
Washburn Rural runners nailed down the next three spots and placed all of their top five in the top 14 individually as the Junior Blues topped Shawnee Heights for the team championship by a 38-53 margin.
Washburn Rural boys cross country poses with the championship trophy after winning the city team title Saturday at Rural. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
The top 20 medalists in Saturday's city boys cross country championships at Washburn Rural. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Senior Davin Johnson finished a team-high fourth (16:01.6) for the Junior Blues while senior Easton Dial was fifth (16:30.8) and senior Grayson Fink sixth (16:36.4).
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After finishing third in last year's city meet as as a freshman, Washburn Rural's Payton Fink had her sights set on a title Saturday at Rural and delivered a wire-to-wire win, leading the Junior Blues to a successful defense of their team championship.
Fink jumped out in front early en route to a decisive 30-second victory in a five-kilometer personal-record time of 18 minutes, 10.9 seconds to lead five Junior Blues in the top seven as Rural took the team title by a 21-35 margin over Seaman.
Washburn Rural sophomore Payton Fink won her first city individual cross country title Saturday, leading the Junior Blues to the team crown. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Washburn Rural's girls cross country team poses with its team trophy after winning the city championship by a 21-35 margin over Seaman. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
"I've been working for this for awhile and it just feels great to finally be here,'' Fink said. "Honestly, I just wanted to come out and see what I could do. I didn't really expect to PR today but obviously a PR is always great.''
Seaman got a runner-up individual finish from freshman Ryin Miller (18:40.7) and a fifth from senior Bethany Druse (19:31.2), but Rural rode its depth to the championship, with sophomore Rylee Ismert finishing third (18:54.3), senior Madeline Carter fourth (18:55.4), freshman Vilde Tronstad sixth (19:44.9) and junior Sydney Laster seventh (19:54.9) to round out the Junior Blues' top five.
"Our team is incredible,'' Fink said. "We have so many girls that are just up there strong, work hard every practice and we all do our workouts together. Everyone is in great shape for a good end of the season.''
"That's the kind of day we hoped for and they all just came out and did it,'' Washburn Rural coach Matt Swedlund said.
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By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
Hayden kept its undefeated season and Class 3A district championship hopes alive with a 38-0 shutout win over Royal Valley Friday night at Hayden, controlling every aspect of the game.
On offense, the Wildcats punished Royal Valley through the air and on the ground. Defensively, its core group forced turnovers and managed to keep Royal Valley out of its territory more times than not. On special teams, Hayden didn’t allow any big plays to give the Panthers momentum.
Hayden sophomore standouts Jett Wahlmeier (7) and Jensen Schrickel (9) hooked up for four touchdown passes in Friday's 38-0 Wildcat win over Royal Valley. [Photo by Sarah Carson/Speci
Hayden junior Finn Dunshee breaks away for a long touchown run in the Wildcats' 38-0 district win over Royal Valley. [Photo by Sarah Carson/Special to TSN]
“I thought we came out and executed well,” Hayden coach Bill Arnold said. “We were cleaner than we were last week. We tried to address some of the things we needed to fix this week in practice. I thought the kids brought the corrections from practice and brought it out to the field tonight.”
The Wildcats had a lot to play for on their Senior Night. With a win over Royal Valley, Hayden now faces Holton for the district championship next Friday at Holton.
“With the district championship on the line, we didn’t need much inspiration this week,” Arnold said. “We don’t have to do much to wake up for a Holton and Hayden district championship game.”
Before Hayden’s district championship date with Holton, the Wildcats had business to take care of against Royal Valley.
Hayden has historically picked apart Royal Valley in its gridiron contests. In the nine meetings between the two schools, Hayden has won all nine. The Wildcats have outscored Royal Valley, 380-52.
It was evident early on that the Wildcats were going to have their way again with Royal Valley on both sides of the ball.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After back-to-back losses to Centennial League and Class 6A powers Manhattan and Junction City, Washburn Rural's football team was needing something good to happen Friday night against Topeka High.
The Junior Blue turnaround started on the very first play from scrimmage when High fumbled the ball away at its 20-yard-line and set the tone for the rest of the night, with Washburn Rural rolling to a 66-6 Centennial League romp at Hummer Sports Park.
Washburn Rural senior Lukas Hanks is mobbed by his teammates after scoring a first-half touchdown in the Junior Blues' 66-6 win over Topeka High. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Washburn Rural junior defensive lineman Jamond Lane (61) scored the Junior Blues' final touchdown on a 44-yard interception return in a 66-6 win over Topeka High. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Washburn Rural opened up a commanding 52-0 halftime advantage and a running clock was used throughout the second half as the Junior Blues improved to 4-2 overall and 1-2 in the Centennial League.
"We needed to get back to feeling good about ourselves and that we can play football and we're a good football team,'' Washburn Rural coach Steve Buhler said. "To be honest, this week in practice we were a little sluggish. I was a little worried about coming into tonight but our kids had fun tonight.
"They were flying around and that was kind of part of the game plan for both sides of the ball. We just needed to get back in a rhythm and back to having fun playing together.''
Topeka High's early turnover led to a 32-yard Dayten Smoot field goal at the 10:58 mark of the first quarter and the game had turned into a 31-0 rout by the end of the quarter, with the Junior Blues adding an 8-yard Ma'kenttis Adams touchdown run, a Lukas Hanks 5-yard TD, a 33-yard scoring pass from Branton DeWeese to Titan Osburn and a 1-yard DeWeese plunge.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Brad Johnston's first Class 6A girls regional tennis tournament as Washburn Rural's head coach was a great one, with the Junior Blues qualifying their entire team for next week's state tournament while taking home the regional team championship.
Washburn Rural seniors Meredith Kucera (left) and Kate Fritz won a Class 6A regional doubles title Friday at Kossover Tennis Center, leading the Junior Blues to the regional team title. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Rural seniors Kate Fritz and Meredith Kucera led the way with the regional doubles title while senior Hailey Beck and junior Claire Ireland added a third-place doubles finish and junior Mena Di Marzio and senior Kayla Peter added third and fourth-place finishes in singles.
"I've got to love first year and we come in and we get all four (entries) in the semifinals and it's the girls, it's not me,'' Johnston said. "It's all what they put the work in doing and it's the time they spend on the court outside of what I do.''
Fritz and Kucera followed up Monday's Centennial League doubles title with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Topeka High seniors Haley Carpenter and Adisyn Caryl in Friday's regional final as the Junior Blues avenged their one-point loss to Manhattan in the league meet with a one-point regional team win over the Indians (21-20).
Beck and Ireland dropped a 6-3, 6-2 semifinal decision to Fritz and Kucera in the semifinals but bounced back to take third with a 6-1, 6-3 decision over Manhattan while DiMarzio and Peter finished third and fourth place in singles after both players dropped semifinal matches to Manhattan.
"Our (No. 2) doubles team, this is the first matches they got to play and No. 1 doubles is rolling right now and everybody feels like they're kind of hitting their peak,'' Johnston said.
Topeka High also had plenty to celebrate Friday, with freshman Madeline Deters and junior McCall Beall finishing fifth and sixth in singles to join Caryl and Carpenter as state qualifiers.
