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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
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Veteran Washburn Rural soccer coach Brian Hensyel, who has not lost to a boys or girls city opponent in more than a decade earned the No. 1 position on TopSports.news' Top 10 Best of the Best Shawnee County Coaches soccer list, edging Hayden legend Klaus Kreutzer who earned the No. 2 spot.
Washburn Rural coach Brian Hensyel, No. 1 on TSN's Best of the Best soccer list, has not lost to a city opponent in more than a decade while reaching the state championship game nine times. [File photo/TSN]
Veteran Hayden soccer coach Klaus Kreutzer has led the Wildcats to five state titles and eight state championship games. [File photo/TSN]
Hensyel, who has been Washburn Rural's boys coach for 17 seasons and the girls coach for 16 seasons (2020 season was canceled due to COVID), has not dropped a city boys game since his first season in 2005 and he has not lost to a city girls foe since 2011 while winning two state championships and posting seven second-place finishes in Kansas' largest class.
Kreutzer is the all-time city leader with five state team championships, leading the Wildcat girls to state titles in 2012, 2013 and 2015 and the Hayden boys to championships in 2000 and 2012.
Joe Waldron, who led Topeka High to the city's first state soccer championship in 1997, holds down the No. 3 spot on the Best of the Best list while Shawnee Heights state champ Marc Serrano and Topeka West state champ Tim Collins round out the top five.
Kreutzer and former Seaman coach Louis De Leonardo earned the No. 1 and No. 2 spots in the Reader's Choice poll, garnering more than 4,200 votes apiece, while Hensyel 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.
Longtime former Shawnee Heights coach Mike Balint is No. 6 on the Best of the Best list, followed by former Washburn Rural state champion Lionel Suarez, former Topeka High and Shawnee Heights coach Steve Loy, Di Leonardo and current Cair Paravel coach Doug Woolery 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 SOCCER COACHES
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural coach Jared Goehring, former Rural coach Jeff Stromgren and former Hayden coach Dan Key, who combined for 12 state championships in girls and boys golf, swept the top three positions on TopSports.news' Top 10 Best of the Best Shawnee County Coaches golf list.
Current Washburn Rural golf coach Jared Goehring has led the Junior Blues to five state titles and 13 top-three state finishes. [File photo/TSN]
Jeff Stromgren coached Washburn Rural to boys and girls state golf championships before coaching Washburn University men's golf for nine seasons. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Former Hayden coach Dan Key coached the Wildcats to five state golf titles (four girls, one boys). [Submitted]
Goehring, who has led Washburn Rural to four Class 6A state girls titles as well as a boys championship in Kansas' largest class, earned the No. 1 spot on the Best of the Best list while No. 2 Stromgren led the Junior Blue boys and girls teams to 6A titles before moving on to the college level at Washburn University and Key coached Hayden to four 4A girls titles and one boys crown.
Rounding out the top five are former Shawnee Heights head coach and current Topeka West assistant Lynn Riney and the late Don Williams, who coached Washburn Rural's boys to a 6A championship in 1997..
Stromgren and Goehring, who served as an assistant under Stromgren, earned the No. 1 and No. 2 spots in the Reader's Choice poll, garnering more than 2,000 votes, while Key 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.
Former two-time Hayden state champ Denis Stanley is No. 6 on the Best of the Best list, followed by former Topeka West coach Jack Wiley, former Shawnee Heights coach Steve Giddens, former Silver Lake coach Alan Cunningham and former Topeka West coach Frank Walton 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 GOLF COACHES
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Retiring Silver Lake football coach C.J. Hamilton earned the No. 1 spot on TopSports.news' Top 10 Best of the Best Shawnee County Coaches list after ending his 47-year high school coaching career as the winningest coach in Kansas history and No. 15 all-time in the nation.
Former Silver Lake coach C.J. Hamilton is the winningest coach in Kansas history and ranked No. 15 nationally with 447 wins. [Submitted photo]
Former Washburn Rural coach Ron Bowen led the Junior Blues to three Class 5A state titles and a 6A runner-up finish during a 23-year stint at the school. [Submitted photo]
Rossville coach Derick Hammes has led the Bulldawgs to five state titles over the past eight seasons. [File photo/TSN]
Hamilton posted a career record of 447-98, leading the Eagles to eight state championships and reaching 18 state championship games.
Hamilton's victory total, titles and championship game appearances are all Kansas records while his 447 wins rank No. 15 all-time nationally.
Washburn Rural legend Ron Bowen, who won 156 games with three Class 5A state titles and a 6A runner-up finish in his 23-year career with the Junior Blues, earned the No. 2 spot on the Best of the Best list, just ahead of Rossville coach Derick Hammes, the most dominant coach in the county over the past decade with five state titles in eight seasons.
Rounding out the top five are Seaman legend Chuck Logan, who recorded seven undefeated seasons in the 1920s and 1930s, and former Hayden coach Tom Stringer, who led the Wildcats to a pair of undefeated 4A state titles.
Hammes earned the No. 1 spot in the Reader's Choice poll, garnering more than 2,000 votes, while former Topeka High coach Walt Alexander and Bowen 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.
Current Hayden coach Bill Arnold, who has a state title and three state runner-up finishes, is No. 6 on the Best of the Best list while Topeka High's Buck Weaver, who won 100 games and had three undefeated seasons in the 1920s, '30s and '40s, is No. 7.
Former Topeka High coach Walt Alexander is No. 8 on the Best of the Best list, followed by Topeka West Hall of Famer Frank Walton and former Rossville and current Washburn Rural coach Steve Buhler 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 FOOTBALL COACHES
