- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
As the son of longtime Washburn University football coach Craig Schurig, Mitch Schurig has spent most of his life around the WU program, including the last five years as a quarterback for the Ichabods.
Mitch Schurig
So it probably wasn't a big shock that once Mitch decided to pursue a coaching career, he ended up at Washburn.
The fact that Schurig got the opportunity to join the Ichabod staff as a full-time assistant just a year after completing his playing career was probably a little bit of a surprise, and the the fact that the former All-MIAA QB will be coaching the Ichabod defensive line may be an even bigger surprise.
But when Washburn opens fall camp on Monday Schurig will be on board and ready to go.
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
When former multi-sport Seaman standout Raigan Kramer made the decision to sign with NCAA Division I softball power Arkansas, she realized she would probably have to wait her turn to move into a prominent role for the Razorbacks.
Arkansas softball player Raigan Kramer answers questions from a group of young players Friday at The Warehouse in downtown Topeka. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Former Seaman star Raigan Kramer, now a sophomore at Arkansas, watches a player go through a baserunning drill Friday at The Warehouse. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Arkansas sophomore softball player Raigan Kramer poses for a picture with a group of young players after a baserunning clinic Friday at The Warehouse. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
That was a big adjustment for a player who was rarely out of the game for the Vikings in either softball or basketball during her high school career.
"It's definitely a reality check, but I enjoy the competitiveness of the program and how good we are, and if you want to play for a good program it's going to be like that, so I knew that going in,'' said Kramer, who was The Warehouse Sports Training Facility in downtown Topeka Friday to give baserunning tips to young players.
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Heartland Motorsports Park has been on the NHRA national drag racing schedule since the facility opened in 1989, hosting at least one national event every season except 2020 when Topeka's largest sporting event was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The facility that bills itself as the "House of Speed'' will be back in action Friday through Sunday when the stars of the Camping World Drag Racing Series return to Topeka for the 2022 Menards NHRA Nationals presented by PetArmor.
Gearing up for race week, here’s a look back at 15 of the great moments in Topeka drag racing history from the perspective of someone who's had the privilege of attending every national event since the track opened:
Drag racing legend John Force won the Funny Car title at Heartland Motorsports Park in 2021, his track-record 10th Topeka win. [File Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
1. John Force called his Funny Car win at Heartland in 2008 the biggest of his career. That’s saying a lot for a driver who has won 16 championships and an NHRA-record 155 national events as a driver and 21 world championships as an owner with John Force Racing.
What made the 2008 victory stand out was that it was Force’s first victory after a serious crash at Dallas in '07 that ended his season and put his career in jeopardy.
“Coming back from that wreck, that race was key,” Force told The Topeka Capital-Journal in an interview. “It showed that I could still drive, that I could still cut it.
"I knew even then my legs were still weak. I struggled just getting in and out of the car, but to get that win after a year of rehab was huge -- to be there and hear those fans scream the way they did.”
2. In 1990 the late Gary Ormsby put Topeka on the national racing map, becoming the first driver in NHRA history to break the 4.9-second and 295 mile-per-hour barriers in his Top Fuel dragster, clicking off a pass of 4.881 seconds at 296.06 mph.
Ormsby, who won the 1989 Top Fuel championship, died after a battle with cancer on Aug. 28, 1991. Ormsby ran his final race at HMP, defeating Lori Johns in a match race.
Ormsby will always be linked with Heartland Park, with the main entrance into the facility named Gary Ormsby Drive after his death.
3. The 1993 Sears Craftsman Nationals at HMP delivered a double dose of history in the Funny Car class when Chuck Etchells and Jim Epler both broke the four-second and 300-mph barriers.
Etchells became the first Funny Car racer to run in the fours with a 4.987 pass while Epler recorded the first 300-mph run with a 300.40 pass.
Former Funny Car star Courtney Force posted the 100th win by a woman in NHRA history at Heartland Motorsports Park in 2014. [Photo by NHRA]
4. Courtney Force topped Cruz Pedregon in the 2014 Funny Car final at HMP to post the 100th event win by a woman in NHRA history.
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Silver Lake's Logan Pegram and Washburn Rural's Brad Johnston, who are taking over retiring Kansas coaching legends C.J. Hamilton and Kevin Hedberg, are part of a group of 19 new varsity head coaches who have been announced by Shawnee County high schools for the 2022-2023 school year.
Brad Johnston will take over as Washburn Rural's tennis coach in 2022-2023, replacing Kevin Hedberg who retired after 32 years at the school. [File photo/TSN]
Logan Pegram
Alex Hutchins
Pegram, a former Silver Lake standout, takes over as the Eagles' head football coach for Hamilton, the state's winningest football coach, who retired after 47 years at the school, while Johnston is the new Washburn Rural girls and boys tennis coach, replacing Hedberg, who led the Junior Blues to five state team championships in 32 seasons and coached a total of 43 years at Seaman and Rural.
Joining Johnston as a new head coach for Washburn Rural is former Hays boys basketball coach Alex Hutchins, who is taking over as the Junior Blues' boys basketball coach from Kevin Muff.
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
If it hadn't been the final day of the Topeka Golf Association Bill McDonald Champions Stroke Play Tournament Gary Lucas might have been tempted to skip playing golf Tuesday on a day when the temperature reached 100 degrees, with a feel-like temp of 110.
Gary Lucas (right), receiving his first-place award from the Topeka Golf Association's Stacy Kramer, won the Bill McDonald Champions Stroke Play title in a playoff. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
But Lucas not only played Tuesday at Topeka Country Club, but earned the tournament championship in the city event for players aged 40 and over, shooting a 36-hole score of 145 with rounds of 72 and winning the title in a sudden death playoff with C.C. Metzler.
"Probably today I would't have been playing, but riding in a cart it wasn't too bad,'' Lucas said. "There was enough shade out there and the wind was blowing, so it actually felt cooler today than it did yesterday because there was a little more breeze.''
Lucas, who also recently won the Topkeka Country Club club championship, was pleased with the way he played in the Champions event.
"I thought I played pretty solid, although I threw some simple shots away,'' Lucas said.
Metzler, who had rounds of 73 and 72, was satisfied with his runner-up finish.
"I hit the ball well, I couldn't complain about that at all,'' Metzler said. "But I've been struggling with my putting for two or three years.
"I don't mind losing to this guy (Lucas) any day. We play together a lot and he's a great guy and a great player and he deserves to win.
BILL McDONALD CITY CHAMPIONS STROKE PLAY TOURNAMENT
