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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
With the biggest cross country meets of the year rapidly approaching, Topeka West cross country star Lenny Njoroge is comfortable with every aspect of his career.
And that continues to show in Njororoge's results, with the West senior notching his fourth individual win in five races on the year in Saturday's Seaman Invitational at Shawnee North Community Park.
Topeka West senior Lenny Njoroge clocked a winning time of 15:45.96 in Saturday's Seaman Invitational at Shawnee North Community Park. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Shawnee Heights junior Jackson Esquibel finished second in the Seaman Invitational, leading the T-Birds to the boys team title. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Njoroge, who has not finished lower than second this fall, captured Saturday's title in a five-kilometer time of 15 minutes, 45.96 seconds, leading a one-two-three individual finish by city runners.
"This year I feel so comfortable,'' Njoroge said. "I'm in good shape and during that race I was just trying to cruise and push the pace when I could.''
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By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
Silver Lake snapped it's two-year losing drought against Rossville with Friday night’s 22-21 electrifying War On 24 overtime victory in Silver Lake.
With everything on the line, Silver Lake coach Logan Pegram put all of his chips on the table and went for the 2-point conversion for the win in overtime. Quarterback Tanner Martin connected on a bullet pass with Troy Heiman in the end zone to give Silver Lake the victory.
Silver Lake junior quarterback Tanner Martin threw for a TD and the game-winning 2-point coversion in overtime to give the Eagles a 22-21 win over Rossville Friday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Silver Lake's Troy Heiman (11) caught a TD pass and the game-winning 2-point converion to give the Eagles a 22-21 overtime win over Rossville. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
“When I was in the huddle, I asked, 'Who wants to go win it?' ” Pegram said. “I said, 'Troy Heiman, do you want to go win this game?' He looked at me and said, 'sure.' I said, 'Say yes, bud.' He then said, 'Yes sir.' ”
Silver Lake was trailing by 14 points halfway through the fourth quarter, but the Eagles were able to make the correct adjustments to put themselves in a position to win.
“We put the game in the seniors’ hands,” Pegram said. “Our seniors and team stepped up to make big plays. The win feels great and I love the way the seniors stepped up.”
The Eagles had to scratch and claw against the defending Class 2A state champions. The win wasn’t handed to them, they had to fight until the end.
It wasn’t the prettiest offensive performance in the first half by the Eagles. The first play of the game by Silver Lake was a bobbled snap, coughing up the football 11 seconds into the rivalry contest.
Rossville’s defense forced several fourth-down stops and the Dawgs did a stellar job of keeping Silver Lake’s star players in check.
The Bulldawgs perfected the “bend don’t break'' style of defense in the first half. Rossville prevented Silver Lake from scoring twice in the red zone and had an interception by Trenton Barker.
The Eagles' defense matched Rossville’s intensity and grit. Silver Lake forced a Rossville fumble in the end zone and also had an interception in the end zone by Elijah Bames.
Rossville would overcome the soaring Eagle defense with a 6-yard touchdown by Braiden Hensley to give the Dawgs a 7-point lead with 2:45 to go in the second quarter.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Coming off a big road victory, Washburn University football returns home Saturday to face Emporia State in a 4 p.m. Hall of Fame contest at Yager Stadium.
Washburn sophomore quarterback Kellen Simoncic has thrown for 11 touchdowns entering Saturday's 4 p.m. MIAA contest against Emporia State at Yager Stadium. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Saturday's meeting will be the 118th all-time between the two teams, with Washburn 3-1 overall and in the MIAA and Emporia State 2-2 and 2-2.
Washburn bounced back from a 21-13 home loss to Nebraska-Kearney in Week 3 with a 38-31 overtime victory at Missouri Western last Saturday while Emporia State is coming off a 14-13 loss to No. 14-ranked Pittsburg State last Saturday in Emporia.
The Washburn-Emporia State series is the second-most played series in NCAA Division II history as South Dakota Mines and Black Hills State have reclassified to NCAA Division II. Those two schools have met 134 times dating back to 1895.
The Hornets lead the all-time series 58-53-6 and have won seven of the last nine meetings dating back to 2012. Prior to that the Ichabods ran off eight straight wins over the Hornets from 2004 to 2011.
Emporia State topped Washburn 35-30 a year ago at Welch Stadium as the Ichabods' late-game comeback rally from a 35-10 deficit coming up short.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Aside from winning a second straight Centennial League title, Washburn Rural's goals for the 2022 football season are still in play.
But Junior Blues veteran coach Steve Buhler knows some serious soul-searching will be order after Friday night's disappointing 24-6 Centennial League loss to Junction City at Bowen-Glaze Stadium.
Washburn Rural senior Dayten Smoot (3) goes up to make an outstanding catch in Friday's 24-3 Junior Blue loss to Junction City. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Washburn Rural, which fell to 3-2 overall and 0-2 in the league race, jumped out in front 6-0 with 3:01 left in the first quarter on a 15-yard touchown pass from Branton DeWeese to Amr Sabbarini (kick) blocked, but Junction City (4-1, 1-0) dominated the rest of the game, taking advantage of four Rural turnovers and several costly penalties to score the final 24 points.
"You just can't do the things we're doing right now against good football teams and expect to come out on top,'' Buhler said. "And I'll put the blame all on me. We've seen this for the last couple of weeks and we tried some things, but I've got to go home this weekend and look at it from a fresh perspective and figure out what I can do to help these guys during the week to get their heads were they need to be and quit making these mistakes.
"We've got to win these next three games to put ourselves in the best position possible going into the playoffs and when we hit that first week of the playoffs in Week 9, it's 0-0 and let's see if we've improved and we'll see who the better teams are at that point.''
Junction City, which won its fourth straight game since a season-opening loss to Hays, took the lead for good on an 18-yard TD pass from Xavion Felton to Shelton Butler-Lawson with 10:53 left in the opening half and Aidan Field tacked on the extra point to put the Blue Jays in front, 7-6.
It was still a one-point game at the half, but Junction City got a second chance after a Rural penalty on fourth down and capped an 8-yard scoring drive with a 4-yard Felton scoring run (Field kick) to take a 14-6 lead at the 6:43 mark of the third quarter.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University's Athletic Department will induct its 2022 Hall of Fame class at 10 a.m. Saturday prior to the Ichabods' 4 p.m. football game with Emporia State at Yager Stadium.
Entering the Washburn Hall of Fame will be recently retired women's basketball coach Ron McHenry, consensus All-American quarterback Dane Simoneau, soccer Academic and Athletic All-American Lisa Fahey, volleyball All-American Breanna Lewis, NAIA tennis standout Dana Backstrom and basketball All-American Rich Hamilton.
Hall of Fame capsules:
Dana Backstrom – tennis (1983-86)
Backstrom was a three-year member of the Lady Blues tennis team after transferring to Washburn from Missouri.
She won the NAIA District 10 Singles Championship her junior and senior seasons. She reached the NAIA National Championship Tournament twice and led the Lady Blues to the Central State Intercollegiate Conference regular-season title her senior season, when she was also the assistant coach for Peg Marmet.
Backstrom was the first Washburn women's tennis player to qualify for the NAIA National Tournament. She was also part of the NAIA District 10 championship as a senior with Jalynda Pancin.
Backstrom passed away on May 25 of this year after a heroic fight with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.
Rich Hamilton – basketball (1986-88)
Rich Hamilton led the Ichabods in scoring with 15.1 points a game in 1987-88, his senior year as he earned NAIA All-American honorable mention.
Hamilton played two years at Washburn and scored 850 points, averaging 13.7 a game.
His senior year he earned NAIA all-district honors, as well as a spot on the All-Central States Intercollegiate Conference team. His senior year he pulled down 9.4 rebounds a game to lead the team and he ended his two years at Washburn with averages of 13.7 points and 7.6 rebounds per game.
Hamilton finished fourth in career blocks with 67 blocks and third with 1.1 per game.
Hamilton was a 61-percent shooter in his two years, peaking with a 63-percent performance his final year.
Breanna Lewis – volleyball (2008-11)
A Seaman graduate, Lewis became the third Lady Blue to earn AVCA first team All-America honors when she finished her career in 2011.
She is fifth in Washburn history with a .321 career attack percentage and 17th with 1,091 kills. She hit over .320 her final three years and her .344 attack percentage as a senior is the sixth highest single-season percentage in school history.
Lewis also earned first team AVCA all-region and first team All-MIAA her senior year. She earned honorable mention AVCA all-region her sophomore and junior years and Daktronics second-team all-region recognition her junior year. She was an All-MIAA second-team pick her sophomore and junior years.
