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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After giving birth to her and husband TJ's fifth child on Aug. 13, Corrinne McGreevy took time away from her duties as Hayden's volleyball coach to focus on her newborn son.
But McGreevy knew that the Wildcat program was in excellent hands in her absence, turning the reins over to her high school coach, Jesica Farmer-Walter.
McGreevy was back on the bench Tuesday night, tag-teaming the coaching duties with Farmer-Walter as Hayden earned straight-set victories over Centennial League foes Emporia (25-15, 25-18) and Topeka High (25-12, 25-18) at High.
"Farmer has been such a lifesaver,'' McGreevy said. "I mean she has got them all ready. She has all the lineups and everything and I just come in and she kind of lets me do my thing and it's been awesome. She's been the backbone.''
When McGreevy comes back on a full-time bases, Farmer-Walter, who coached Hayden to five state titles, will serve as assistant coach for her former star.
"It's come full circle,'' McGreevy said. "She went from yelling at me all the time and making me run all the time to now we're sitting on the sidelines best friends coaching together.''
The young Wildcats, who have just two seniors on the roster, are now 4-1 on the season after Tuesday's triangular sweep, with their lone loss coming against perennial Class 6A power Washburn Rural in three sets.
"I'm so proud of them,'' McGreevy said. "The young ones have stepped up and our junior, sophomore and senior leaders, they've all just really came together and support each other and they've done a great job.''
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By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
A 3-2 loss to Eudora on Tuesday kept the Hayden boys soccer team out of the win column, but was a sign of improvement and effort for the team to build on.
Trailing 3-1 at the intermission, the Wildcats shut down the visiting Cardinals’ offense and scored a goal with 5:50 remaining to raise the temperature of the final minutes.
“The effort was good. We just didn’t make very good decisions at times,” Hayden coach Klaus Kreutzer said. “I told the guys their effort was good, but we have to play with that effort and intensity when we’re close, not to get close. We have to have that intensity the whole game.”
Junior Uriel Cruz led the fight for the Wildcats, scoring in each half. His goals were assisted by senior Evan George and junior Lane Neuman.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
(All kickoffs at 7 p.m.)
THURSDAY NIGHT'S GAME
WICHITA HEIGHTS (0-1) vs. TOPEKA HIGH (1-0)
At Hummer Sports Park
Topeka High began the Jason Filbeck coaching era with a 52-19 non-league road win over Wichita West, equaling its win total from both the 2022 and 2023 seasons (1-8). Wichita Heights, which posted a 5-4 record last fall, opened its season with a 48-0 loss to Wichita East, a Class 6A quarterfinalist last season. High scored the first 20 points against Wichita West and never looked back, getting three touchdowns from senior Tevante Ewing. The Trojans went in front 32-6 at the half and led 46-6 at the 7:46 mark of the third quarter before cruising the rest of the way.
FRIDAY NIGHT'S GAMES
SHAWNEE HEIGHTS (0-1, 0-0) vs. TOPEKA WEST (0-1, 0-1)
At Hummer Sports Park
Both Shawnee Heights and Topeka West are looking for their first wins after tough season-openers last week. Shawnee Heights dropped a 42-21 decision to Washburn Rural, a Class 6A semifinalist last season, while West dropped a 56-6 decision to De Soto, which went 8-2 last fall. West is looking to improve on last season's 1-8 record while Shawnee Heights went 8-3 in 2023 but returns just two defensive starters and its placekicker from that team. Junior quarterback Aiden Scott threw for 322 yards and two touchdowns on a 24 of 40 performance against Rural while AJ Gallegos had eight catches for 82 yards and Tyren Parker had six catches for 98 yards. Royce Daniels was in on 14 tackles and Cayden Lindsey 11 for the Heights defense. The T-Birds took a 62-12 United Kansas Conference win over the Chargers last fall.
ST. MICHAEL ARCHANGEL (1-1) at HAYDEN (1-0)
St. Michael Archangel, located in Lee's Summit, Mo., will come across the state line to face Hayden in the Wildcats' home opener. St. Michael opened its season with a 35-28 win over Summit Christian before dropping a 57-7 decision to St. Pius X last week. St. Michael Archangel posted a 10-3 record in 2023. Hayden, the Class 3A runnerup last season, opened its season with a 35-7 road win over Eudora. Senior quarterback Jett Wahlmeier went 16 of 21 passing for 277 yards and a TD against Eudora while senior Jensen Schrickel had six receptions for 87 yards and junior Kade Mitchell rushed for 81 yards and two TDs on 13 carries. Jude Krentz was in on a team-high seven tackles for the Wildcats.
ST. MARYS (1-0) at ROSSVILLE (0-1)
St. Marys went 7-4 last season after winning the Class 1A state title in 2022 and opened the current season with a 30-6 win over Perry-Lecompton. Rossville opened its season with a 33-26 overtime road loss to rival Silver Lake in the annual War on 24. Bulldawg senior quarterback Tayson Horak rushed for 161 yards and two touchdowns on 18 attempts and completed 10 of 20 passes for 89 yards in his first start as Rossville's quarterback.
NEMAHA CENTRAL (0-1) at SILVER LAKE (1-0)
Two-time defending Class 2A state champion Nemaha Central had its 26-game winning streak snapped by Marysville last Friday, with the Bulldogs taking a 16-8 win over the Thunder, while Silver Lake opened 2024 with a 33-26 overtime decision over rival Rossville in the annual War on 24. Silver Lake senior quarterback Dysen Schooler completed 16 of 29 passes for 264 yards and three touchdowns and also kicked two field goals and three extra points while junior Dayne Johnson caught 11 passes for 149 yards and two TDs.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Two seasons ago Class 6A state champion Washburn Rural volleyball graduated Brooklyn DeLeye, one of the most accomplished players in Kansas history and now a star at Kentucky and for the Team USA Under-21 team.
And last year the Junior Blues graduated a pair of Division I athletes, Jada Ingram (UNLV volleyball) and Zoe Canfield (Kansas basketball), but Rural continues to crank out winners, improving to 6-0 to start the current season with straight-set wins over Gardner-Edgerton and Basehor-Linwood Monday night at Rural.
Washburn Rural, which has won eight 6A state titles under Hall of Fame coach Kevin Bordewick, took a 25-21, 25-18 win over Gardner-Edgerton before capping its night with a 25-13, 25-21 win over Basehor-Linwood.
"We're still pretty inexperienced when it comes to varsity experience, but I do like the way we've progressed since our jamboree,'' Bordewick said. "Even tonight I don't think we were necessarily that sharp but there were some really good things.
"We did some nice things on defense as far as digging and had a couple of blocks. We need to get better at that and we need to have connections with our setters and hitters a little bit more but overall I've been pretty pleased with how we have progressed.''
Senior Layla Collins, a returning starter, is also proud of the way her team has started the season.
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By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
The Topeka High boys soccer team continued to bolster its resume with a 9-1 win over Highland Park at Hummer Sports Park Monday night.
Senior Antonio Aguirre ripped through the Highland Park defense for four goals and fellow senior Ian Martinez added a hat trick to lead the Trojans.
The win, coupled with a 5-1 victory over Hayden last week, has the 2-1 Trojans on an upward trajectory. Their lone loss was a double- overtime decision at Lawrence.
“We’ve had three good performances for sure. Losing that tough game against Lawrence, we felt we played well enough to win,” said Topeka High coach Derek Snook. “Then coming out and playing well against Hayden, and this game is another step.
“We feel like we still have room to improve. We can be as good as we want to be. Moving forward, it’s just about getting better every day.”