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Created: 04 May 2022

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Washburn Rural senior Mason Thieu and Topeka West juniors Ian and Miles Cusick followed up their city titles with Centennial League tennis championships Tuesday at Emporia, while Rural edged Topeka West for the team crown.

Washburn Rural senior Mason Thieu (left) poses with Junior Blues coach Kevin Hedberg after Tuesday's Centennial League tennis tournament at Emporia. Thieu went 5-0 without dropping a game to claim the singles title while Hedberg, who will retire at the end of the season, coached Rural to the team title in his final league meet. [Photo by Kamla Cusick/Special to TSN]

Topeka West juniors Miles Cusick (left) and Ian Cusick won the Centennial League doubles championship Tuesday at Emporia, topping teammates Gavin Chavez and Carter Cool 8-5 in the final. [Photo by Kamla Cusick/Special to TSN]

Thieu went through five matches on the day without dropping a single game, capped by an 8-0 win over Emporia's Brenden Kienholz in the singles final while West's Cusick twins emerged victorious in an all-Topeka West doubles championship match, taking an 8-5 decision over senior Gavin Chavez and junior Carter Cool.

In addition to Thieu's singles title, Washburn Rural got a third-place singles finish from junior Mason Casebeer, a fourth-place doubles finish from seniors Nick Luetje and Kyler Knudtson and a sixth-place doubles showing from seniors Kiyoon Park and Zach Willingham as the Junior Blues edged Topeka West for the team title, 86-83.

Along with West's one-two finish in doubles the Chargers got a fourth-place singles finish from James Maag and a ninth-place singles placing from sophomore Caden McGee.

Hayden tied Manhattan for third place in the team standings, led by senior Michael Standstrom and junior Gus Glotzbach, who posted a third-place doubles finish.

Seaman finished fifth as a team, led by Justin Kruse's fifth-place finish in doubles.

All seven city schools will compete in regional tournaments on Friday, vying for state tournament berths.

Washburn Rural and Topeka High will compete in a Class 6A regional at Kossover Tennis Center, while Highland Park, Seaman, Shawnee Heights and Topeka West will take part in a 5A regional at De Soto and Hayden will compete in a 4A regional hosted by Bishop Miege.

CENTENNIAL LEAGUE TENNIS  

Team scores

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Created: 04 May 2022

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

For the 15th time over the past 16 years, Topeka area high school football players got the opportunity to show off their talents for college coaches in Tuesday's Junior Combine at Shawnee Heights.

Ninety-seven players, most who will be seniors in the 2022 season, were on hand for the Combine while right at 20 colleges had representatives on hand.

"The sole reason why we do this is to give great football players in our area a chance to get exposure and allow college coaches to kind of eye test them and see what they look like,'' said Shawnee Heights coach Jason Swift, Combine organizer.

Seaman's Logan Cox goes through a drill during Tuesday's Junior Combine at Shawnee Heights. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Topeka West quarterback Malachi Berg runs a 40-yard dash during Tuesday's Junior Combine at Shawnee Heights. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Participants took part in a variety of drills/tests, including a 40-yard dash (electronically timed), standing long jump. vertical jump, pro-agility 5-10-5 shuttle, bench press (maximum reps at 185 pounds), 3 cone L drill and 1 on 1 route running and lineman agility drills.

Swift said the Junior Combine is a chance for college coaches to get an up-close look at prospective recruits, some for the first time.

After the Combine high school coaches also got the chance to meet with the NCAA Division II, NAIA and junior college coaches in attendance.

"I know we've had several kids where a coach says, 'Yeah, I remember them from the Combine,' and that allows them to follow them through the fall and the recruiting process,'' Swift said. "This is great for that. The other reason why I love this is we piggyback the college night right on top of this so these coaches are allowed to meet with a lot of our area high school coaches and talk about our players and our prospects.

"It's really beneficial for colleges and the players.''

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Created: 03 May 2022

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Kevin Muff will always be thankful for the opportunity Washburn Rural gave him after he left college coaching.

But Muff, who coached the Junior Blues to the Class 6A state championship game in 2019, has decided its time for a change, confirming Tuesday that he has resigned as Rural's head boys basketball coach after five seasons. Muff plans to continue teaching and serving as an assistant track and field coach at the school.

Kevin Muff, who coached Washburn Rural to the Class 6A state championship game in 2019, has resigned as the Junior Blues' head boys basketball coach. [File photo/TSN]

"Rural took me in at a time where I was in a transition from college back to high school and for that I'm forever grateful,'' Muff said. "They gave me an opportunity to kind of re-establish myself and get back on my feet, so for that I'm extremely thankful. This season was a tough season (9-13 record) and this is more about thinking maybe it's just time to take a step back.''

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Created: 03 May 2022

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Topeka High boys basketball coach and athletic director Ty Baumgardner confirmed Tuesday that he is leaving High to accept a coaching position at Collins Hill High School in Suwanee, Ga., where he coached earlier in his career.

Baumgardner has served as Topeka High's athletic director for two years and coached the Trojans' basketball team last season. Baumgartner's position at Collins Hill is pending approval by the district school board.

Topeka High boys basketball coach and athletic director Ty Baumgardner confirmed Tuesday that he has accepted a coaching position at Collins Hill High School in Suwanee, Ga. [File photo/TSN]

"My wife still lives in Georgia and has a really good job in the same school district, loves who she works for and we just couldn't, this last couple of years, find anything close to that here that we felt she should come here for,'' Baumgartner said. "I wasn't looking for a job. We were going to make it work here, but the the coach (at Collins Hill) that took my place when I left ended up leaving and going back to where he came from and they reached out to me to gauge my interest in possibly coming back.

"And it was just kind of one of those deals where it was like, 'Maybe this is a little bit of fate,' because quite honestly it's the only job I would have gone back to Georgia for. I had already been there before, so you have the familiarity of it, a lot of the same people are still there at the school and then it's only about 15 minutes from where we live. And at the end of the day the family needed to be back together.''

Topeka High posted a 4-17 record this past season, but made improvement over the 2020-2021 campaign and Baumgartner felt that improvement would continue.

"It's hard to leave because I've got a good group coming back here and I felt like we really laid the foundation for the future this year, but family's got to come first,'' Baumgardner said.

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