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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Nobody has to tell Washburn University star receiver/returner James Letcher Jr. how big he is -- the 5-foot-8, 175-pounder has been reminded of that his whole career.
But sometime Satuday afternoon in Maryville, Mo., the little guy that very few colleges gave a second look to is likely to stride proudly into Washburn's record book as the leading receiver in school history.
Senior star James Letcher Jr. is two catches away from being the leading receiver in Washburn school history. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
The Ichabod All-American will enter Saturday's 1:30 p.m. game at Northwest Missouri with 189 career receptions, just two catches behind Sam Sisson, who played at WU from 2002-2006.
"I just wanted to get on the field and play,'' Letcher said. "Coming out of high school I wasn't recruited that much, so I wasn't too sure if I was actually going to be able to play college football.
"Believe it or not, I was actually going to go to Fort Hays at first. I liked the coach they had and the way they were talking to me about how much they wanted me. I was like, 'OK, I think this is where I want to go,' but they didn't get to offer me and then Washburn came in and offered me. That was the only reason I ended up coming here because they offered me. If nobody would have offered me I don't think I would have been playing, but I think everything worked out great.''
Fast forward to the 2022 season and Letcher is in line to finish among the top five in WU history in virtually every receiving/return category.
Letcher's 24.9 yards per kickoff return is second all-time at Washburn, his 2,482 receiving yards rank fifth and his 25 TD receptions also rank No. 5.
His 4,840 career all-purpose yards rank second all-time at Washburn and Letcher ranks third among active NCAA Division II players with 4,903 all-purpose yards, fourth with 2,521 receiving yards and third with his 189 receptions.
"I didn't even know if I was going to play on a team, so being able to work this hard and have unrealistic dreams come true is just crazy,'' Letcher said. "I never would have thought I would be at the top of the list for receptions or top five or top 10 in any of these things, but it's really a blessing and I can't do nothing but thank God and thank my parents for making me this monster on the field.''
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By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural continued its outstanding volleyball season with a pair of impressive wins over Seaman and Olathe West on Thursday night at Rural.
The Lady Blues' Senior Night wins over Olathe West and Seaman were as hard-earned and as sweet as it gets.
Washburn Rural is the No. 1 team in Class 6A for a reason. The Lady Blues have taken down imposing teams throughout the entire 2022 campaign. Washburn Rural welcomed Class 5A No. 3/United Kansas Conference champion, Seaman, and Class 6A No. 3 Olathe West on Thursday.
Washburn Rural volleyball celebrates a point during Thursday's triangular sweep over Olathe West and Seaman at Rural. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
“Every match has its ups and downs, luckily we had a lot more ups than we did downs,” Washburn Rural coach Kevin Bordewick said. “Olathe West is one of the tallest teams we’ve seen all year. It also seemed like Seaman was just as tall. I thought we played well against Olathe West and we had to battle against Seaman.
“We allowed (Seaman) to go on too many big runs. I think we allowed three runs to Seaman of four or more points. We can’t allow those big runs because a team like Seaman will get you on that.”
Washburn Rural had its way in both sets against Olathe West. The Lady Blues only trailed one time (1-0) throughout the entire two sets. Chloe Carlgren, Brooklyn DeLeye, Layla Collins and the entire Washburn Rural squad dominated the match.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
It was an unfamiliar course, but a very familiar finish for Topeka West senior star Lenny Njoroge in Thursday's United Kansas Conference cross country meet at Shawnee Heights.
Njoroge posted his sixth win in seven races on the year, including five straight, in the UKC meet, clocking a five-kilometer time of 16 minutes, 04.4 seconds to win by just under 21 seconds.
Topeka West senior Lenny Njoroge cruises down the home stretch en route to the UKC title Thursday at Shawnee Heights. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
"I ran this course freshman year but it's so different,'' Njoroge said. "It's like it's been flipped upside down, but I was very comfortable.
:"My goal was to just push the pace and not let anyone go with me because I know they're very good. I just wanted to push the pace so I could break away.''
Njoroge, who is undefeated against Kansas competition and has not finished lower than second, jumped out in front early on and, as has been the case in all of his victories, lengthened his lead over the final half of the race.''
"It all depends on the race, every race is different,'' Njoroge said of his strategy. "In one race you might find a guy who's taking it out fast and then you're comfortable the next mile. The next race you might just cruise the whole race.''
Shawnee Heights junior Jackson Esquibel (back) tracked down and passed De Soto's Joshua Fullmer at the end of the race to finish second in the UKC cross country meet Thursday at Heights. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Shawnee Heights junior Jackson Esquibel came on strong at the end of the race and overtook De Soto senior Joshua Fullmer for second place, helping the T-Birds finish second as a team behind De Soto (37-65). Esquibel clocked a time of 16:25.1 while Fullmer was third in 16:28.4.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Veteran Seaman girls cross country coach Rick Brading has seen enough meets to know that Thursday's United Kanas Conference meet was going to be a nail-biter between his Vikings and De Soto.
And Thursday's league meet at Shawnee Heights was every bit as tight as Brading through it would be, with Seaman taking the league team championship by 31-35 margin over the Wildcats.
Seaman's girls cross country team edged De Soto 31-35 for the United Kansas Conference title, giving Seaman a sweep of the league titles in the four girls sports contested in the fall. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Freshman Ryin Miller finished second individually in Thursday's UKC meet, helping Seaman win the team championship. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
"We thought it could even be a tie,'' Brading said. "We thought it was going to be that tight, so it was pretty exciting.''
Seaman freshman Ryin Miller, who clocked a five-kilometer time of 19 minutes, 16.8 seconds and senior Bethany Druse (20:02.5) finished two-three individually to lead the Vikings while sophomore Stella Appelhanz placed seventh (20:37.5), senior Leah Spurlock ninth (20:59.8) and junior Savannah Sampson 15th (21:19.1) to round out Seaman's top five.
"We thought things would shake out different in the (number) four-five area but Bethany kind of trumped that by beating all three of (De Soto's) frontrunners,'' Brading said. "It didn't happen the way I thought it would shake out but man, I'm telling you, we're excited.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Russsell Norton's stint as Topeka West football coach has come to at least a temporary end after just six games into his first season.
West principal John Buckendorff released a statement to football parents earlier this week, stating in part that "Head Football Coach Russell Norton is currently dealing with a personal situation requiring him to step away from his duties. We have requested that everyone respect his privacy at this time.''
Russell Norton has stepped away from his duties as Topeka West's football coach to deal with a personal situation according to a statement released by the school. [File photo/TSN]
The statement went on to state that defensive coordinator Tre Parker will step in as the Chargers' interim coach.
An attempt to reach Norton by text was unsuccessful.
Topeka West will be at Hummer Sports Park on Friday night to host Shawnee Heights in a 7 p.m. United Kansas Conference contest.
Norton coached Topeka West to a 1-5 record this fall, with the Chargers coming off their lone victory, a 26-21 UKC road win at Kansas City-Turner last Friday night.
Norton was named Topeka West's head coach in early June after Charger coach Ryan Kelly stepped down as coach to accept a position on Washburn University's football staff..
Norton previously coached several seasons at the college level before moving over to the high school level, including his most recent stint at Oskaloosa High (1-8) in 2021.
Prior taking the Oskaloosa job Norton coached Southern Valley High School in Oxford, Neb.
Topeka West posted a 3-6 record last fall and is in its first season as a member of the United Kansas Conference this season.
