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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Towards the end of James Letcher Jr.'s monster 2021 football season for Washburn University, the All-American receiver/returner was unsure if he would return for the 2022 campaign.
Washburn star receiver/returner James Letcher Jr. will return for his final season this fall after earning five All-America honors in 2021. [Photo by Phil Anderson/Special to TSN]
Letcher went through Senior Day activities for the Ichabods and hinted after Washburn's NCAA Playoff loss to Harding that his college career may have been over.
But after doing considerable soul-searching, it only took Letcher a matter of weeks to decide he needed to return to Washburn for one last go-around this fall.
"I think it took a couple of weeks,'' Letcher said during Tuesday's MIAA Media Day in Kansas City, Mo. "I wanted to take my time and make the right decision for me and my family. I talked to God, I talked to my parents and I talked to a couple of family members about what they thought.
"It was all up to me at the end of the day, but with the input I got it helped me make the decision to come back.''
The 5-foot-8, 165-pound Letcher, who earned All-America honors from five different organizations last fall, also studied his NFL Draft prospects before deciding that pro football could wait a year.
"I don't know if too many people know, but I'm definitely wanting to go to the NFL,'' Letcher said. "I tell people all the time, 'I'm going to the NFL.' But with COVID a lot of players had another extra year, just like I did, so last year the draft class was super, super deep with a lot of receivers and that was the biggest point that made me come back.''
Last fall Letcher led Washburn with 68 receptions for 927 yards and 10 touchdowns for the 9-3 Ichabods, earning All-MIAA first-team honors as a wide receiver and a returner as well as being named the MIAA Special Teams Player of the Year after returning 24 kickoffs for 685 yards and two touchdowns, tying an Ichabod single-season record, and averaging 13.18 yards per punt return.
Now Letcher, who has already earned his bachelor's degree in law enforcement, is turning all his attention on making sure that he and the Ichabods have another big season this fall.
"If I have as good of a year or better than the year I had last year I think everything with me personally and the NFL will take care of itself,'' the former Piper star said. "I'm not too worried about individual stats. As long as we do good as a team, I feel like that will also take care of me as well and whoever else on the team that would like to go to the NFL.''
Letcher knows that as one of the MIAA's most recognizable stars, opposting teams will be putting even more attention on him this season, and he's fine with that.
"I love it., I love it,'' he said. "Especially coming from Kansas we get overlooked a lot, so I've always had that chip on my shoulder that I've got to prove people wrong, that I've got to do things right and I've got to make the big play.
"I've got a lot of friends around the conference and even last year they talked about me being the guy they talked about, 'We've got to get him, we've got to make sure we have an eye on him at all times.' I kind of got used to it last year and I know they're going to be on me even more this year, but that's fine because if they double me I know Peter (Afful) or Collin (Wilson) or anybody else on the team is going to get open.''
The Ichabods, picked No. 4 in the MIAA preseason polls, will open fall camp on Aug. 8 and will open the 2022 season on Sept. 1 at Yager Stadium against Lincoln.
"I'm looking forward to it,'' Letcher said. "I'm excited for myself and I'm excited for my team and I'm ready to get going.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Former Seaman coach Rod Garman, who coached Seaman to the 2018 Class 5A-1A boys state championship, earned the No. 1 position on TopSports.news' Top 10 Best of the Best Shawnee County Coaches swimming and diving list.
Rod Garman
Elaine Pardee
Chet Laney
Jeff Handley
Seaman's championship season capped an impressive three-year climb for Garman's Vikings, who finished eighth in 2016 and fifth in 2017 before winning the 2018 title by 150 points.
Garman continues to be heavily involved in the sport as an administrator for the Kansas State High School Activities Association.
Former Washburn Rural coach Elaine Pardee, who was the Junior Blues' first swimming coach, holds down the No. 2 spot on the Best of the Best list, followed by the late Chet Laney, a legendary coach at Topeka High.
Former Washburn Rural and Seaman coach Jeff Handley and former Hayden head coach and current assistant Laura Schmidt round out the top five on the Top 10.
Current Topeka High coach Kenneth Bennett was a decisive winner in the Reader's Choice poll, while Garman and Schmidt 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 Topeka High coach Gunner Kelly is No. 6 on the Best of the Best list, followed by Topeka West Hall of Famer Ed Poort, Seaman coach Bernie Tuck, Bennett and former Hayden coach Stephanie Stark 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 SWIMMING COACHES
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Former Shawnee Heights and Washburn University volleyball star Faith Rottinghaus is one of the MIAA's two nominees for the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year award.
Former Shawnee Heights and Washburn volleyball star Faith Rottinghaus has been nominated by the MIAA for the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year Award. [File photo/TSN]
Rogers State softball pitcher Andrea Morales was also nominated by the MIAA for the NCAA Woman of the Year award.
Rottinghaus, the MIAA's 2021-22 Female Student-Athlete of the Year, is one of 151 total student-athletes combined between NCAA Division I, II, and III and one of 39 from the Division II ranks to be nominated by conference offices for the prestigious award.
Rottinghaus will now move forward and be considered for Top 30 honors, which will be released in October and consist of 10 nominees from each of the three NCAA divisions.
From there, the selection committee will narrow the pool to three finalists from each division.
The NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics will select the 2022 Woman of the Year from the nine finalists.
At January's NCAA Convention in San Antonio, the national Top 30 honorees will be celebrated, and the NCAA Woman of the Year will be announced.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Washburn University was picked fourth out of 12 teams in the 2022 Mid-America Intercollegiate Atheltics Association Football Preseason Polls, released during the MIAA Media Day on Tuesday.
Craig Schurig's Washburn football team was picked fourth in both MIAA preseason polls, released Tuesday. [File photo/TSN]
The Ichabods received 98 points in the coaches poll, two points behind No. 3 pick Pittsburg State, which received one first-place vote, and 22 points ahead of No. 5 Fort Hays State.
Washburn received 226 points and one first-place vote in the media poll, 11 points behind Pittsburg State amd 46 points ahead of Fort Hays State.
The Ichabods posted a 9-3 record and advanced to the NCAA Division II playoffs last season.
Defending MIAA champion Northwest Missouri was tabbed No. 1 in both the coaches and media preseason polls.
The 2022 MIAA football season officially kicks off Thursday, September 1. Teams will playi an 11-game conference schedule that concludes on Saturday, November 12.
Washburn will open the 2022 season at Yager Stadium against Lincoln.
In the coaches poll, Northwest Missouri earned 119 total votes and the majority of first-place votes with 10 for the top spot in the poll.
Nebraska Kearney earned one first-place vote and totaled 104 points to finished second.
Emporia State was slated No. 6 in the coaches poll while Central Missouri and Missouri Western finished in a tie for seventh. Central Oklahoma was selected ninth, Missouri Southern 10th, Northeastern State 11th and Lincoln 12th.
The Bearcats also topped the preseason media poll, collecting 22 first-place votes to total 296 points.
Nebraska Kearney was ranked second by the media with 263 points and one first-place vote.
ESU also finished sixth in the media poll while the Griffons of Missouri Western clinched the No. 7 spot, Central Oklahoma was tabbed eighth and Central Missouri ninth. Missouri Southern, Northeastern State and Lincoln completed the media poll.
2022 MIAA Football Coaches Poll
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Former Washburn Rural softball coach Brenda Holaday, who led the Junior Blues to a 351-93 record, 16 Class 6A state tournament berths and seven state championship games before moving on to Washburn University, earned the No. 1 position on TopSports.news' Top 10 Best of the Best Shawnee County Coaches softball list.
Brenda Holaday coached Washburn Rural to multiple Class 6A state softball championships before moving on to a successful career at Washburn University. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Lee Schmidt
Holaday went over the 500-win mark for career victories in the 2022 season, leading the Ichabods to the MIAA regular-season title and a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
Holaday served as an assistant on Rural's state championship team in 1995 and led the Junior Blues to titles in 2008 and 2014 as well as five second and three third-place state finishes.
All 10 coaches in the TSN Best of the Best Top 10 led teams to state championships, including eight who won multiple state titles.
Lee Schmidt, who led Hayden to three Class 4A state championships, holds down the No. 2 spot on the Best of the Best list, followed by former Silver Lake coaches Bob Craig and Mark Workman, who led the Eagles to four state titles apiece, and former Shawnee Heights coach Steve Giddens.
Silver Lake, one of the state's most dominant softball programs, put a total of four coaches in the Top 10, with No. 8 Brad Womack winning three championships and No. 9 Dave Boxberger two.
Holaday and Topeka High coach Shane Miles earned the No. 1 and No. 2 spots in the Reader's Choice poll, while Seaman state championship coach Jay Monhollon ranked 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.
Two-time Shawnee Heights state champ Tara Griffith is No. 6 on the Best of the Best list, followed by Miles, Womack, Boxberger and Monhollon 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 SOFTBALL COACHES
