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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Retiring Silver Lake football coach C.J. Hamilton earned the No. 1 spot on TopSports.news' Top 10 Best of the Best Shawnee County Coaches list after ending his 47-year high school coaching career as the winningest coach in Kansas history and No. 15 all-time in the nation.
Former Silver Lake coach C.J. Hamilton is the winningest coach in Kansas history and ranked No. 15 nationally with 447 wins. [Submitted photo]
Former Washburn Rural coach Ron Bowen led the Junior Blues to three Class 5A state titles and a 6A runner-up finish during a 23-year stint at the school. [Submitted photo]
Rossville coach Derick Hammes has led the Bulldawgs to five state titles over the past eight seasons. [File photo/TSN]
Hamilton posted a career record of 447-98, leading the Eagles to eight state championships and reaching 18 state championship games.
Hamilton's victory total, titles and championship game appearances are all Kansas records while his 447 wins rank No. 15 all-time nationally.
Washburn Rural legend Ron Bowen, who won 156 games with three Class 5A state titles and a 6A runner-up finish in his 23-year career with the Junior Blues, earned the No. 2 spot on the Best of the Best list, just ahead of Rossville coach Derick Hammes, the most dominant coach in the county over the past decade with five state titles in eight seasons.
Rounding out the top five are Seaman legend Chuck Logan, who recorded seven undefeated seasons in the 1920s and 1930s, and former Hayden coach Tom Stringer, who led the Wildcats to a pair of undefeated 4A state titles.
Hammes earned the No. 1 spot in the Reader's Choice poll, garnering more than 2,000 votes, while former Topeka High coach Walt Alexander and Bowen finished second and third in balloting by TSN readers.
A five-person panel of current and past sports media professionals with more than 150 years of combined experience met to help determine the final Best of the Best Top 10.
Current Hayden coach Bill Arnold, who has a state title and three state runner-up finishes, is No. 6 on the Best of the Best list while Topeka High's Buck Weaver, who won 100 games and had three undefeated seasons in the 1920s, '30s and '40s, is No. 7.
Former Topeka High coach Walt Alexander is No. 8 on the Best of the Best list, followed by Topeka West Hall of Famer Frank Walton and former Rossville and current Washburn Rural coach Steve Buhler to round out the top 10.
Here's a look at the Top 10 and Readers Choice Awards:
TSN TOP 10 BEST OF THE BEST FOOTBALL COACHES
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Former Topeka West coach Joe Schrag, who earned not only state but national acclaim for a legendary career that spanned more than four decades, earned the No. 1 spot on TopSports.news' Top 10 Best of the Best Coaches list for cross country, narrowly edging out former Hayden perennial state contenders Kathy Strecker and Ben Meseke.
Former Topeka West coach Joe Schrag has been honored by five halls of fame for his legendary four-decade career with the Chargers, winning eight state championships in cross country and track. [Submitted]
Former Hayden coach Kathy Strecker led the Wildcat girls to six state titles over three decades before moving on to the college level at Rockhurst. [Hayden High]
Ben Meseke
Bob Camien
Schrag coached West's boys for 41 seasons and the Charger girls for 29, earning induction into the National High School Athletic Coaches Hall of Fame as well as four other halls of fame.
Schrag led West to four state championships as well as five second-place finishes and coached West to a total of eight state championships in cross country and track and field.
Strecker and Meseke were a one-two coaching punch for Hayden, with the Wildcat legends leading Hayden to six state championships apiece spanning three decades.
Rounding out the top five are former Seaman coach Bob Camien and current Viking coach Rick Brading, who both led Seaman teams to state titles.
Schrag also earned the No. 1 spot in the Reader's Choice poll, winning by more than 600 votes, while current Washburn Rural coach Matt Swedlund and Strecker finished second and third in balloting by TSN readers.
A five-person panel of current and past sports media professionals with more than 150 years of combined experience met to help determine the final Best of the Best Top 10.
Former longtime Washburn Rural coach Scott Shufelberger is No. 6 on the Best of the Best list while his former star runner, Swedlund, is No. 7.
Longtime former Shawnee Heights coach Fred Wiens is No. 8, followed by Bob Karr and Ken Darting, who led Seaman's boys and Silver Lake's girls to state championships in the late 1970s.
Here's a look at the Top 10 and Readers Choice Awards:
TSN TOP 10 BEST OF THE BEST CROSS COUNTRY COACHES
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
OTTAWA -- Torrey Horak loved playing quarterback for Rossville, but the two-time Class 2A state champ knew there would probably come a day when he would have to change primary positions.
That day will come next month when the 5-foot-11, 170-pounder reports to Central Missouri, where he will play safety.
Former Rossville star Torrey Horak (6) will play a final high school game with former teammate Corey Catron (2) in Saturday's Kansas Shrine Bowl at Pittsburg. [File photo/TSN]
"A couple of schools looked at me for safety, one as a receiver and one as a running back, so I had a couple of different options but I really fell in love with Central Missouri and I feel like that's home to me now,'' Horak said.
But before he switches to the defensive side of the football, Horak, who played both ways for Rossville, will get one last chance to play quarterback for the East in Saturday night's 7 p.m. Kansas Shrine Bowl at Pittsburg.
"Offense is definitely something that I love, but I'm getting an opportunity to play at a high level with some really high-class athletes that not everybody gets that opportunity, so I'm going to take it and I'm going to run with it and we'll see where it goes,'' Horak said. "I'm really excited to get down there.''
Horak said he knew Central Missouri was the right place for him after visiting the Warrensburg campus.
"My mom (Wendi) was down on my official visit with me and she really enjoyed it and we both just kind of felt like it fit my personality really well,'' Horak said. "So far I've been there all summer and I feel like that still holds up.''
Horak also reached out to older brothers Tucker, a former running back at Pittsburg State, and Thatcher, who played baseball at Washburn, for their input.
"I talked to Thatcher and Tucker because both of them had had some experience in the recruiting process and really both of them just said to just enjoy it,'' Torrey Horak sai. "They said, 'Don't stress over it. The right school will come to you and when your decision's made you'll enjoy it.' And to this point I definitely have.''
Horak thinks this week's training camp at Ottawa University will help him get ready to begin his college career.
"Our fall camp, I've seen some leaks of the schedule and it's going to be intense, but this week with having two and three practices a day I feel like it will kind of build up my stamina a little bit and kind of give me an idea of what's coming when fall camp rolls around,'' he said.
Saturday night's game will also give Horak one last chance to play with former Rossville teammate and close friend Corey Catron, who will play slotback for the East, while Bulldawg coach Derick Hammes is an East assistant. Horak and Catron were named the Shawnee County co-offensive players of the year after leading the Bulldawgs to a second straight 13-0 season last fall.
"I think this is going to be an incredible week and I'm just blessed to be here, really,'' Horak said during an East practice session. "I'm excited for this.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
OTTAWA -- Former Seaman standout Casen Stallbaumer is all set to join what is quickly becoming a Viking pipeline to Emporia State.
Rossville football coach Derick Hammes, an East assistant, works with former Seaman standout Casen Stallbaumer (left) during a Shrine Bowl practice at Ottawa University. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
A first-team All-Shawnee County pick last fall, Stallbaumer will compete for the East in Saturday's Kansas Shrine Bowl at Pittsburg State before he reports to the Hornet football team early next month along with his former Viking teammate and cousin, Camden Barta, also an All-County pick in 2021.
"It's a great program and it just felt like home down there,'' the 6-foot-2, 200-pound Stallbaumer said during an East practice session at Ottawa University. "It's not too far away and then I've got my cousin going there, too, so that just makes it a lot better.''
Stallbaumer and Barta will join two other former Seaman standouts, Dalton and Reid Cowan, on the ESU football team while another Viking product, Riley Cowan, is a member of the Hornet women's soccer team.
"There's three Cowans down there -- Dalton, Reid and Riley -- and I know them all real well,'' Stallbaumer said.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Geoff Poston, who won a pair of state championships at Seaman after building a state contending program at Topeka West before moving to the college level, earned the No. 1 spot on TopSports.news' Top 10 Best of the Best Coaches list for bowling.
Geoff Poston coached Seaman to boys and girls state bowling titles and Topeka West to a runner-up state finish before starting the Ottawa University bowling program. [Photo/Ottawa University]
Former PBA star Bob Benoit has coached Seaman to three Class 5A-1A state bowling championships, including a sweep of the boys and girls titles in 2022. [Pininterest.com]
Poston, a star bowler himself, led Seaman's girls to the Class 5A-1A state championship in 2011 and coached the Viking boys to the 5A-1A title in 2017 while also recording three runner-up state finishes before launching the Ottawa University bowling program. Before going to Seaman, Poston coached Topeka West to runner-up and a pair of third-place state finishes.
Bob Benoit, No. 2 on the Best of the Best list, was a standout on the PBA Tour before taking over as Seaman's head coach and leading the Vikings to the 5A-1A boys team title in 2019 and a sweep of the boys and girls crowns this past season. Benoit's teams have also recorded three other top-three state finishes.
Former Topeka West coach Mike Thompson holds down the No. 3 spot on the Best of the Best list after leading the Chargers to a 5A-1A girls team title in 2015 and the boys championship in 2018.
Rounding out the top five are current Shawnee Heights coach Scott Mercer and former T-Bird coach Nick Harris, who led Heights to the 2010 girls state title.
Poston also earned the No. 1 spot in the Reader's Choice poll, winning by more than 350 votes, while Mercer and Benoit finished second and third in balloting by TSN readers.
A five-person panel of current and past sports media professionals with more than 150 years of combined experience met to help determine the final Best of the Best Top 10.
Current Washburn Rural coach Jolene Ricard is No. 6 on the Best of the Best list while former Rural coach Ed Lee checks in at No. 7.
Former Seaman coach Bob Calderwood is No. 8, followed by longtime Shawnee Heights assistant Laurie Crimmins and longtime Topeka West assistant Mark Gingrich, who have both been a part of state championship teams.
Here's a look at the Top 10 and Readers Choice Awards:
TSN TOP 10 BEST OF THE BEST BOWLING COACHES
