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Created: 28 March 2022

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Washburn Rural's Kevin Hedberg is one of the state's best known and most successful high school tennis coaches.

But the 43-year teaching and coaching veteran formally informed Washburn Rural's administrators on Monday that he is retiring at the end of the current school year.

"The classroom was fine, the kids were absolutely fantastic and treated me with a lot of respect and did what I asked -- teaching and tennis -- but it just seemed like time,'' Hedberg said. "For whatever reason, it just felt like time.''

Longtime Washburn Rural tennis coach Kevin Hedberg (left) jokes with a Junior Blues player during Monday's practice at Topeka Country Club while Rural senior Nick Luetje looks on. Hedberg will retire at the end of the current school year. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Hedberg turned 70 in February and said that landmark birthday got him thinking more about retirement.

"I started thinking about it a little bit about three months ago, honestly,'' Hedberg said. "When I turned 70, it was kind of a weird thing. You start thinking, 'Wow, when I was kid 70 was ancient, and I'm there.' ''

Hedberg is in his 32nd year at Washburn Rural after spending 11 years at Seaman.

Hedberg has coached five state championship teams at Rural (four boys and one girls), as well as singles and doubles champions in both boys and girls tennis and a long list of city and Centennial League title teams.

Hedberg, a former Division I college tennis player at South Florida, knows it will be hard to step away from teaching and coaching, but said it will be nice to be able to pursue other interests in retirement.

"'I'm driving down 61st Street towards Auburn Road the other day and I got to this one road and I thought, 'I've taught here 32 years and I've never driven down this road,' so I just drove down that road,'' said Hedberg, a member of the Topeka Tennis Association Hall of Fame. "The have-tos of your life just take over and you don't have time do do a lot of that stuff. Now I can do that.

"There's always going to be things at every job you don't like but the hardest thing about it for me will be walking away from the kids because I honestly think the kids have kind of kept me young. Ending that association with them is going to be hard but I've got to fill that void and I will. I'll figure something out to keep my spirits up that way.''

Hedberg's boys team will open the 2022 season on Tuesday in Rural's Too Big Invitational at Kossover Tennis Center and Hedberg said he's looking forward to the season.

"This is a great bunch of boys and they're just fun to be around and they have fun playing tennis,'' he said. "They're great as a group.''

Veteran Topeka West coach Kurt Davids said he has a great deal of respect for Hedberg and said he will definitely be missed.

"When I came here in 1993 it was easy to hold a grudge against Rural because of their success, but as time went on and I got to know not just Kevin but the rest of coaches in town and the league, you realize that everybody cares for each other and everybody wants everybody to be successful against everybody but themselves,'' Davids said. "Kevin was always a good example of that -- good advice, understood what we had to do and how we were trying to do things.

"I consider him a very dear friend now more so than a mortal enemy. He wants us to be successful, we want them to be successfu, up until the time they play us.''

 

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Created: 27 March 2022

The 2022 All-City girls bowling team: From left -- Katie Price, Seaman; Makenzie Millard, Seaman; Megan Wood, Topeka West; Kaitlyn Doyal, Washburn Rural; Amaya Buchanan, Washburn Rural; Karli Gilliland, Shawnee Heights. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Three state placers, including Class 5A-1A senior runner-up Makenzie Millard of state team champion Seaman, lead the 2022 All-City girls bowling team.

Millard, who posted a top-five state finish for the third straight season, is joined on the first team by junior teammate Katie Price after the Vikings captured the team championship by a 3,173-3,144 margin over Bishop Carroll in the state meet at Wichita Northrock Lanes.

Washburn Rural senior Kaitlyn Doyal placed fourth in 6A with a 616 three-game series while Topeka West sophomore Megan Wood placed 13th in 5A-1A with a 593 series.

Also earning first-team honors were Amaya Buchanan, who helped Rural finish third in 6A, and Shawnee Heights' Karli Gilliland, who qualified for the 5A-1A state tournament.

All-City capsules:

AMAYA BUCHANAN, Washburn Rural -- Buchanan helped Waashburn Rural post a third-place finish in the Class 6A state tournament, shooting a 524 series. Buchanan finished seventh in the Centennial League tournament with 568 series and finished sixth in 6A regional competition with a 538.

KAITLYN DOYAL, Washburn Rural -- Doyal finished her high school career with a 4th-place finish in the Class 6A state tournament, bowling a 616 series to help lead the Junior Blues to a third-place team finish. Doyal won the individual Centennial League title with a 668 series.

KARLI GILLILAND, Shawnee Heights -- Gilliland qualified for the Class 5A-1A state tournament as a senior, rolling a 525 series at state. Gilliland placed fifth in 5A-1A regional competition with a 603 series.

MAKENZIE MILLARD, Seaman -- Millard finished off her banner high school career with a runner-up individual finish in the Class 5A-1A state while leading the Vikings to the state team championship. Millard, who place fifth as a sophomore and fourth as a junior, bowled a 697 series at state as Seaman took the team crown. Millard shot a 709 to win a regional title and finished second in the Centennial League with a 636. 

KATIE PRICE, Seaman -- A junior, Price was part of Seaman's Class 5A-1A state championship team, bowling a 538 series. Price placed third at regionals with a 630 series and finished fifth in the Centennial League tournament with a 576 series.

MEGAN WOOD, Topeka West -- Wood completed her sophomore season with a 13th-place finish in the Class 5A-1A state tournament with a 593 series. Wood took third in the Centennial League tournament with a 590 series and placed sixth in 5A-1A regional competition with a 601.

ALL-CITY GIRLS BOWLING

FIRST TEAM

Amaya Buchanan, Washburn Rural; Kaitlyn Doyal, Washburn Rural; Karli Gilliland, Shawnee Heights; Makenzie Millard, Seaman; Katie Price, Seaman; Megan Wood, Topeka West.

SECOND TEAM

Kaitlyn Evans, Seaman; Claire Ireland, Washburn Rural; Gabbi McCarthy, Topeka High; Kayla Mize, Seaman; Brenna Rutschman, Topeka West; Cheyenne Turkin, Seaman.

HONORABLE MENTION

Abby Dodd, Hayden; Laura El-Koubysi, Shawnee Heights; Emily Ireland, Hayden; Corina Roberts, Highland Park; Renee Spinner, Highland Park; JaeLinn Thetford, Seaman.

 

Details

Created: 27 March 2022

The 2022 All-City boys bowling team: From left -- Zander White, Seaman; Jack Easum, Seaman; Ethan Burns, Seaman; Logan Glinka, Washburn Rural; Josh Hammons, Washburn Rural; Alec Granger, Washburn Rural. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Seaman put a city-high three bowlers on the 2022 All-City boys bowling team after capturing the Class 5A-1A team championship.

The Vikings are represented by three state medalists -- juniors Ethan Burns and Zander White and senior Jack Easum -- after winning the state title by a 3,483-3,472 margin over Eisenhower in the state tournament at Wichita's Northrock Lanes.

Burns finished 10th at state while White was 17th and Easum placed 19th for the Vikings.

Washburn Rural put 6A state placer Josh Hammons and Junior Blues teammate Logan Glinka on the All-City team while Topeka High standout Alec Granger rounds out the first team.

All-City capsules:

ETHAN BURNS, Seaman -- Burns capped his 2022 season with a team-high 10th-place state finish (668 series) to lead the Vikings to the team championship. Burns was the Centennial League individual champion with a 668 series and finished fourth in 5A-1A regional competition with a 697.

JACK EASUM, Seaman -- Easum finished his high school career as a state champion, finishing 19th individually with a 634 series as Seaman claimed the team title. Easum bowled an outstanding 747 series to win a 5A-1A regional title and placed 12th in the Centennial League tournament with a 618 series.

LOGAN GLINKA, Washburn Rural -- Glinka posted a 10th-place finish in the Centennial League tournament with a 623 three-game series to help the Junior Blues win the league team championship by  3,503-3,499 margin over Seaman. Glinka bowled a 669 series earlier in the season to finish fifth in the Washburn Rural triangualar and placed fifth with a 625 in Topeka High's quad.

ALEC GRANGER, Topeka High -- Granger moves up to the All-City first team after being a second-team pick in 2021 and earning a berth in the Class 6A state tournament. Granger turned in a solid season as a senior, including a 642 series and a fourth-place finish in the season-opening Topeka High quadrangular.

JOSH HAMMONS, Washburn Rural -- Hammons rolled a 638 three-game series to post a 10th-place individual finish in the 6A state tournament. Hammons placed second in the Centennial League with a 726 series and was fifth at regionals with a 664.

ZANDER WHITE, Seaman -- White finished 17th in the 5A-1A state meet with a 643 series to help Seaman win the state team championship. White placed ninth in the Centennial League with a 625 series and also finished ninth in 5A-1A regional competition with a 659 series.

ALL-CITY BOYS BOWLING

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Details

Created: 28 March 2022

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Dagen Brewer

DAGEN BREWER, Seaman

A senior infielder/catcher, Brewer helped Seaman's baseball team open its 2022 season with a 3-2, 3-1 non-league doubleheader sweep of Basehor-Linwood last Saturday at the Optimist Field. Brewer doubled for the Vikings' first hit of the season in the fifth inning of the first game and reached base six times on the day with three hits.

Jaycee Ginter

JAYCEE GINTER, Washburn University

Ginter, a former Shawnee Heights star, picked up both pitching victories in Saturday's Washburn softball doubleheader MIAA sweep at Central Missouri, raising her season total to a nation-best 17 wins. Ginter hurled a complete game in the Ichabods' 10-2 first-game win, giving up seven hits while striking out eight batters. Ginter came on in relief in the second game, throwing 6.2 innings and striking out 10 hitters while allowing just one run in Washburn's 5-3 12-inning win as the Ichabods improved to 24-11 overall and 6-2 in the MIAA. Ginter also had a two-run double in the opener and a run-scoring double in the second game.

Kadence Jeffries

KADENCE JEFFRIES, Topeka West

Jeffries, who has never lost an individual race in Class 5A-1A state competition, opened her senior swimming season with a pair of dominating victories in last Thursday's Topeka West Invitational at the Capitol Federal Natatorium. The four-time state champion, who has signed a letter of intent with Nebraska Omaha, picked up decisive victories in the 200-yard freestyle in 1 minute, 56.59 seconds and the 100 breaststroke in 1:08.57. Jeffries was a double state champ in both 2019 and 2021, with the '20 season canceled due to COVID-19.

 Belle Kennedy

BELLE KENNEDY, Washburn Rural

Kennedy, who was named the Class 6A midfielder of the year last season as a junior, scored a pair of goals last Friday at Washburn Rural's girls soccer team, third in 6A last season, opened its 2022 season with a 4-0 non-league road victory at Kapaun Mt. Carmel. Kennedy has signed a letter of intent with Washburn University.

Tanner Newkirk

TANNER NEWKIRK, Hayden

Newkirk, who has signed a letter of intent with Kansas, opened his senior track and field season with a dominating performance in the boys 3,200-meter run in last Friday's Free State Early Bird Invitational in Lawrence. Newkirk clocked a winning time of 9 minutes, 18.14 seconds in the event, winning by just over 40 seconds. Newkirk's time in his first race of the season eclipsed his best time of the 2021 campaign, whiich was the best in Shawnee County. by 20 seconds.

Jeremiah Smith

JEREMIAH SMITH, Shawnee Heights

A three-time Class 5A state track champion last spring as a sophomore, Smith made his junior debut with a big win in the boys 110-meter hurdles in last Friday's Free State Early Bird Invitational. Smith, who won state titles last season in the 100 and 200-meter dashes and the 110-meter hurdles, posted a season-opening win in the 110 hurdles in 14.45 seconds, winning by more than two seconds.Smith's time Friday night was just off his season-best of 14.34 seconds in 2021.