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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural junior star Brooklyn DeLeye has been named the 2021-2022 Gatorade Kansas Volleyball Player of the Year.
DeLeye is the second Gatorade Kansas Volleyball Player of the Year to be chosen from Washburn Rural High School in Gatorade's 37th year of honoring Kansas high school athletes.
Washburn Rural junior volleyball star Brooklyn DeLeye has been named the Gatorade Kansas Volleyball Player of the Year after leading the Junior Blues to a 41-2 record this past fall. [File photo/TSN]
The Gatorade award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the court, distinguishes DeLeye as Kansas’ best high school volleyball player.
The 6-foot-2 junior outside hitter compiled 586 kills and 259 digs this past season, leading the 41-2 Junior Blues to 41 straight victories and a fourth-place finish in the Class 6A state tournament.
DeLeye, who has orally committed to Kentucky, also tallied 133 service aces, 38 assists and 26 blocks while posting a .563 kill percentage and a .438 hitting percentage.
The Class 6A Player of the Year, DeLeye is a three-time All-State first-team selection and is ranked as the nation’s No. 29 recruit in the Class of 2023 by PrepVolleyball.com. She concluded her junior year with a school-record for career kills with 1,633.
“Brooklyn DeLeye is the best all-around player in the state, hands down,” said Nancy Dorsey, coach of St. James Academy. “Playing their team is like playing a game of keep-away from Brooklyn.”
Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Volleyball Player of the Year award to be announced later this month, DeLeye joins an elite alumni association of state award-winners, including USA Volleyball players Kayla Banwarth (2006-07, Wahlert High School, Iowa), Alisha Glass (2005-06, Leland Public High School, Mich.), Jordan Larson (2004-05, Logan View High School, Neb.) and Foluke Akinradewo (2004-05, St. Thomas High School, Fla.).
DeLeye works in the Washburn Rural coffee shop and is the secretary of the school’s National Technical Honor Society. She has also volunteered locally as a youth volleyball and basketball coach.
DeLeye has maintained a weighted 4.18 GPA in the classroom.
The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states that sanction high school football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball, softball, and boys and girls track & field, and awards one National Player of the Year in each sport.
The selection process is administered by the Gatorade Player of the Year Selection Committee, which leverages experts including coaches, scouts, media and others as sources to help evaluate and
determine the state winners in each sport.
DeLeye joins recent Gatorade Kansas Volleyball Players of the Year Caroline Bien (2020-21, St. Thomas Aquinas High School), Kendra Wait (2019-20, Gardner Edgerton High School), Audrey Klemp (2018-19, St. James Academy), and Taylor Kuper (2017-18, Olathe Northwest High School), among the state’s list of former award winners.
Gatorade has a long-standing history of serving athlete communities and understands how sports instill valuable lifelong skills on and off the field. Through Gatorade’s “Play it Forward” platform, DeLeye has the opportunity to award a $1,000 grant to a local or national organization of their choosing that helps young athletes realize the benefits of playing sports. DeLeye is also eligible to submit a short video explaining why the organization they chose is deserving of one of twelve $10,000 spotlight grants, which will be announced throughout the year.
To date, Gatorade Player of the Year winners’ grants have totaled more than $3.5 million across more than 1,300 organizations.
Since the program’s inception in 1985, Gatorade Player of the Year award recipients have won hundreds of professional and college championships, and many have also turned into pillars in their communities, becoming coaches, business owners and educators.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Shawnee County boys and girls wrestlers turned in a strong weekend, led by team championships from the Shawnee Heights boys and Washburn Rural girls teams and multiple individual champions.
Here's a tournament by tournament look at the county highlights:
• Shawnee Heights boys rolled to the team championship by a 246.5-118.5 over Blue Valley North in Shawnee Mission South's Joel Rios Invitational, with eight T-Birds earning individual titles.
Brock Ferguson
Preston Hartman
Heights got individual championships from 120-pound senior Brock Ferguson (23-1), 132-pound sophomore Andrew Bonebrake (19-3), 138-pound senior Ty Lewis (21-3), 145-pound senior Joey Hilton (18-5), 152-pound junior Nick Freeland (16-6), 170-pound senior Cole Manrose (20-3), 182-pound senior Preston Hartman (18-2) and 195-pound junior Sean Wunder (17-6).
Bonebrake, Lewis, Freeland and Wunder recorded all five of their wins by fall while Ferguson recorded four pins and a technical fall.
Topeka West finished ninth in the tournament, led by 126-pound freshman Malachi Kuebler, who finished third and is 13-6 on the season.
• Washburn Rural's girls won the team title and Shawnee Heights finished third in the Blue Valley Southwest Xtreme Invitational, with the Junior Blues and T-Birds combining to win nine 'A' division individual championships.
Washburn Rural won the team title by a 454.5-404.5 margin over Spring Hill while Shawnee Heights was third with 332 points.
Addison Broxterman
Jaliah Johnson
The Junior Blues got 'A' division titles from 101-pound sophomore Kristen Rezac (13-4), 120-pound junior Addison Broxterman (17-1), 132-pound junior Alexis Fredrickson (17-2), 138-pound freshman Madison Davison (15-4), 143-pound sophomore Laiken Clark (14-4), 155-pound senior Jaliah Johnson (15-1) and 235-pound sophomore Sophia Ross (15-4).
Maranda Bell
Heights got wins from 115-pound junior Molly Busenitz (12-0) and 191-pound senior Maranda Bell (12-0).
• Washburn Rural's boys posted a strong third-place finish in the Derby Panthers Invitational, led by individual champions Easton Broxterman, Jonathan Morrison and Jacob Tangpricha.
Broxterman, a freshman, won the 106-pound title, while sophomore Morrison was the 113-pound champion and senior Tangpricha bested the field at 126 pounds.
Broxterman went 5-0 with four pins while Morrison was 5-0 with three pins and a technical fall and Tangpricha was 5-0 with three pins.
Kendra Hurla
• Four Bulldawg standouts captured individual championships in the Rossville Invitational.
Rossville sophomore Kendra Hurla, a returning state champion, won the 126-pound girls championship while her Bulldawg teammate, Keera Lacock, finished second.
The Bulldawg boys got wins from 138-pounder Colby Hurla, 160-pounder Sam Twombly and 220-pounder Barrett Lietz.
Hayden 220-pounder Juan Roman-Perez finished second in the boys division while Hayden's Elaina Wolff (109) and Kylie Carswell (115) posted third-place finishes in the girls division.
• Highland Park finished third as a team in the Shawnee Mission South Girls Mixer, led by individual runner-ups Kimberly Rodriguez (106), Ruby Hernandez (132) and Celeste Gonzalez (191).
Topeka West finished ninth as a team, led by runner-up Trysten Johnson (235).
Daigan Kruger
• Silver Lake's boys finished fourth in the Burlington Invitational, getting an individual championship from senior 170-pounder Daigan Kruger, who improved to 16-0 on the season.
Sophomore Chase Root (12-4) finished second at 152 pounds for the Eagles while senior Tristan VandeVelde (16-1) was second at 182 pounds and junior Kaden Walker finished third at 220 pounds.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Ketraleus Aldridge
KETRALEUS ALDRIDGE, Highland Park
Aldridge, a 6-foot-4 junior, scored 56 points in two Highland Park boys basketball victories on the week as the Scots improved to 7-0 overall and 6-0 in the Centennial League. Aldridge scored 34 points (21 in the first half) in the Scots' 70-41 non-league win at Atchison on Tuesday and scored 22 points on Friday in Highland Park's 64-31 home league romp past Manhattan.
Jack Bachelor
JACK BACHELOR, Washburn Rural
Bachelor, a 6-2 junior, scored a game and career-high 28 points in Tuesday night's 56-51 home Centennial League win over Topeka High as Washburn Rural's boys basketball team evened its record at 3-3 overall and in the league. Bachelor went nine of nine from the field with seven 3-pointers.
Elijah Brooks
ELIJAH BROOKS, Topeka West
A 6-4 senior, Brooks scored a game-high 32 points and grabbed eight rebounds as Topeka West's boys basketball team opened the 2022 portion of its schedule with a 70-54 Centennial League road victory over Hayden Friday night, improving to 5-1 overall and 4-1 in the league.
Ty Henry
TY HENRY, Seaman
Henry, a 6-5 senior, scored 47 points in two Seaman victories on the week as the Vikings improved to 5-2 overall and in the Centennial League. Henry scored 18 points in the Vikings' 66-44 home win over Hayden on Tuesday and followed that up with a 29-point night Friday at Topeka High as Seaman rolled to a 68-47 win at Topeka High.
Jalen Lewis
JALEN LEWIS, Washburn University
Lewis, a 5-11 junior, scored 25 points, including 20 in the first half, as Washburn's men's basketball team improved to 8-6 on the season with a 76-64 home MIAA victory over Missouri Western Saturday at Lee Arena. Lewis canned six 3-pointers in the game as the Ichabods moved to two games over .500 for the first time this season.
Aisya Taylor
AISYA TAYLOR, Highland Park
A 5-8 senior, Taylor scored a game-high 23 points as Highland Park's girls basketball team garnered its first victory since the 2019-2020 season with a 61-38 non-league win over Sumner Academy. last Tuesday. Taylor hit a pair of 3-pointers against the Sabres and also went three of three from the free throw line.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
HAYDEN (1-5, 1-5) at TOPEKA HIGH (1-7, 1-6)
Tuesday night's game between the Wildcats and Trojans has been postponed due to COVID-19 protocols. The Centennial League conntest has been re-scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 25.
Shawnee Heights senior Nate Pewe (1) and the T-Birds will host Leavenworth Tuesday night in an UKC contest. [File photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
LEAVENWORTH (3-3, 1-0) at SHAWNEE HEIGHTS (5-1, 1-0)
Shawnee Heights is coming off a big week, posting a 73-70 non-league win at Bonner Springs on Tuesday before taking a 56-35 win over Lansing Friday in the T-Birds' United Kansas Conference opener. Sophomore Jacob Malcom led Shawnee Heights with 11 points while senior Nate Pewe added nine points, senior Carter Olson and sophomore Brennon Dodge scored eight points each and senior Jarin Sanders seven. Leavenworth is coming off a 74-42 UKC win over Turner.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
HAYDEN (4-2, 4-2) at TOPEKA HIGH (7-0, 7-0)
Tuesday night's game between the state-ranked Wildcats and state-ranked Trojans has been postponed due to COVID-19 protocols. The Centennial League contest has been re-scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 20.
Junior Emari Doby scored a career-high 25 points for Shawnee Heights in last Friday's 67-61 loss to Lansing. [File photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
LEAVENWORTH (2-3, 1-0) at SHAWNEE HEIGHTS (3-2, 0-1)
Shawnee Heights is coming off a tough 67-61 United Kansas Conference loss to Lansing last Friday night at Heights. Junior Emari Doby had a big night for the T-Birds, scoring a career-high 25 points. Junior Riley Showalter added 14 points for the T-Birds against the Lions. Leavenworth is coming off a 69-23 UKC win over Turner.
