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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
A 14-2-0 regular-season record is impressive enough, but the way Shawnee Heights' boys soccer team has achieved that mark is even more impressive.
Fighting injuries, illness and the like, Heights coach Nic Simons has waited all season for his T-Birds to be at full strength, but Simons couldn't be prouder of how the team has handled each and every challenge heading into Tuesday's 6 p.m. Class 5A regional contest at the Bettis Family Sports Complex.
"We have not had all 11 starting players out on the field at the same time, not one game,'' Simons said after last Thursday's 3-1 win over Manhattan. "But everybody on the team has played minutes and everybody on the team has picked each other up and we've gotten goals from sophomores all the way up through seniors and from kids who play relatively little minutes to kids that play the whole game.''
Nic Simons and his 14-2-0 Shawnee Heights soccer team will open Class 5A postseason Tuesday night at the Bettis Family Sports Complex. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Junior Jordan Garvin is a top player for Shawnee Heights, which will open 5A postseason Tuesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
After dropping a 5-1 decision to 15-0-0 Washburn Rural to open the season, the only other blemish on the United Kansas Conference-champion T-Birds' record is a double-overtime loss to De Soto.
"It's just been nothing but incredible,'' Simons said of Heights' success. "What a testament to these kids, they're wonderful.''
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Rossville's football team wrapped up a perfect 2021 regular season and extended its winning streak to 21 straight games dating back to 2019 with a 51-6 romp past Mission Valley Friday night.
The 8-0 Bulldawgs opened up a 14-0 first-quarter advantage and went on to build an insurmountable 38-0 lead at the half before taking a 45-0 advantage into the fourth quarter.
Corey Catron
Bulldawg senior Corey Catron scored on 8 and 54-yard runs and also threw for a pair of touchdowns -- 5 yards to Kaden Brown and 21 yards to Kade Perine.
Rossville also got 1 and 4-yard TD runs from Trenton Barker and a 40-yard score from Tayson Horak.
Pedro Arantes kicked a 29-yard field goal and six extra points.
Rossville will begin defense of its Class 2A state title with a Friday night home game against Republic County (3-4).
CAIR PARAVEL LATIN 56, WICHITA LIFE PREP 6 -- Cair Paravel Latin improved to 8-0 with a 56-6 road romp past Life Prep, putting the game away with 56 points in the first half.
Cair Paravel senior quarterback Carter Brian completed all five of his pass attempts for 186 yards and four touchdowns.
Carter Brian
Junior Jachin Bonura caught three passes for 112 yards and two TDs while senior Noah Hastert caught two passes for 87 yards and two touchdowns.
Cair Paravel will host Manhattan Christian at Highland Park Friday night.
HAYDEN 31, BISHOP WARD 28 -- Hayden wrapped up the Class 3A District 3 title with its sixth straight victory, improving to 7-1 overall with a 31-28 win over Bishop Ward.
The Wildcats played without injured senior standout Jack Chisham, but got key contributions from JC Cummings, TL Thompson and quarterback Gavin Arnold in the win.
Hayden led 19-7 at the half and went up 25-7 and 31-14 before the Cyclones mounted a late comeback.
Cummings scored three touchdowns on the night while Thompson also had a TD.
Hayden will open the 3A playoffs at home Friday against Hiawatha (4-4).
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Washburn's football team moved to 6-2 on the season Saturday, taking a wild 29-17 road win at Central Oklahoma, the Ichabods' third straight victory.
The Ichabods scored on a 90-yard kickoff return by James Letcher Jr. and a 75-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown by Braden Rose in the final minutes to pull out the victory.
James Letcher Jr.
Braden Rose
After the Bronchos (4-4) blocked an Ichabod punt to take over at Washburn 41-yard-line, UCO needed only two plays to take a 17-16 lead with just over three minutes to play in the game.
However, on the ensuing kickoff Letcher returned the ball 90 yards to paydirt as the Ichabods went back in front 22-17 (conversion failed).
With the Ichabods holding a five-point lead, Central Oklahoma drove to the Washburn 20, but UCO's Keats Cahool was sacked at the 25 by Malick Fall and Rose picked up the ball and ran 75 yards for the game-clinching score, staking the Ichabods to a 29-17 lead with nine seconds left.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural's girls cross country team rode its fourth straight 1-2-3 individual finish to a Class 6A regional team title Saturday at Milford State Park, with the Junior Blues completing a sweep of the city, Centennial League and regional championships.
Rural junior Madeline Carter captured the individual championship in a five-kilometer time of 18:46.20, while senior Khloi Bird finished second in 19:11.70 and freshman Payton Fink finished third in 19:19.10 to lead the was as the Junior Blues took the team title by a 41-52 margin over Manhattan.
Madeline Carter
Khloi Bird
Payton Fink
Freshman Rylee Ismert finished 15th (20:30.10) for the Junior Blues while sophomore Sydney Laster rounded out Rural's top five with a 20th-place finish (21:08.60).
Washburn Rural also qualified its boys team for next Saturday's 6A state meet at Augusta, with the Junior Blues (65 points) finishing third behind Free State (36) and Manhattan (41).
Alex Holmes
Senior Alex Holmes placed third individually in 16:19.30 and sophomore Hayden Keller was sixth in 16:49.00 to lead the Junior Blues, while senior Spencer Haddock was 14th (17:18.30), junior Davin Johnson 18th (17:33.00) and senior Ishaan Patel 25th (18:00.90) to complete Rural's scorers.
Junior Michael Christopher qualified for state as an individual for Topeka High, finishing 21st (17:43.30).
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
OK, so Washburn Rural's volleyball team may not have been perfect in Saturday's Class 6A sub-state tournament at Rural, but the 38-0 and nationally-ranked Junior Blues were pretty darn good, earning their fifth straight state tournament berth and their 23rd in the past 25 seasons with a dominating sub-state run.
The Junior Blues, ranked No. 8 in the nation, opened their day with a 25-10, 25-10 win over Topeka High before dispatching Garden City, 25-5, 25-9 in the championship match.
"I thought we were pretty sharp, especially in the second match,'' Bordewick said. "I thought we did a really good job of keeping them off-balance and I thought we were really aggressive in about everything we did, too.
"When we're aggressive serving we're going to miss one or two but we didn't miss after the first one or the second one. We would have a run and then we would miss and that makes a big difference.''
Washburn Rural celebrates its Class 6A sub-state championship Saturday at Rural. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Rural junior standout Brooklyn DeLeye said that the Junior Blues knew they needed to take care of business Saturday.
"Every team in sub-state is going to come and play their best so we just made sure we didn't let up or overlook teams.'' DeLeye said.
The Junior Blues put 14-22 Garden City away early in the championship match.
Rural took a 7-0 lead on a DeLeye kill and junior Chloe Carlgren delivered a kill to put her team in front, 15-4.
A long service run from DeLeye, including a pair of aces, put Rural up 19-4 before the Junior Blues closed out the 20-point win.
Rural took a 10-3 lead in the second set and used a pair of kills from junior Taylor Russell and a kill from sophomore Jada Ingram to take a 15-4 advantage.
Washburn Rural sophomore Jada Ingram delivers a kill in Saturday's Class 6A sub-state tournament at Rural. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Ingram later had back-to-back kills to give the Junior Blues a 19-5 advantage and Rural ended the match on a service ace from sophomore Zoe Canfield.
Next up for Rural is the 6A state tournament Friday and Saturday at Salina's Tony's Pizza Events Center and Bordewick said he and assistant Amanda Vanderbogart feel like the Junior Blues are ready for the challenge that awaits them at state.
"We really like where they're at mentally and I knew that they had plans to practice next week,'' Bordewick said. "That's what their goal was so we're going to show up Monday and take it one day at a time and hopefully get better at something.''
DeLeye agreed.
"We just know that we've got to show up and get even better this week to be ready to compete and hopefully get that end goal,'' she said.
Rural, second in 6A in 2019 and third a year ago, will be the No. 1 seed, but Bordewick said the fact that the Junior Blues are undefeated won't mean much when they take the floor.
"Everybody's really 0-0 and that's the way we've got to approach it,'' he said. "We'll be the No. 1 seed, but that doesn't mean anything. We've been there quite a few times and No. 1 seeds get knocked off sometimes so you can't rest anything on that.''
CLASS 6A SUB-STATE VOLLEYBALL
Match results
Topeka High def. Wichita South, 25-12, 25-12; Washburn Rural def. Topeka High, 25-10, 25-10; Garden City def. Wichita Southeast, 22-25, 25-13, 25-13; Washburn Rural def. Garden City, 25-5, 25-9.
SEAMAN ROLLS TO 5A BERTH
After ending a lengthy state tournament drought in 2020, Seaman earned a return trip to state with a pair of straight-set wins in Saturday's 5A sub-state hosted by Eisenhower in Goddard.
The Vikings, now 25-10, opened their day with a 25-13, 25-19 semifinal win over Kapaun Mt. Carmel and then took a 25-23, 25-19 win over Maize in the championship match.
The 5A state tournament will be played at Tony's Pizza Events Center in Salina next Friday and Saturday.
Topeka West sophomore MaKinsey Jones gets a spike through a pair of Valley Center defenders during Saturday's Class 5A sub-state tournament at West. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
WEST COMES UP SHORT
Topeka West's volleyball team earned the right to host a 5A sub-state tournament with an outstanding 27-9 regular season, but the Chargers' bid for a state berth ended with a tough three-set semifinal loss to Valley Center, which entered the tournament with a 13-20 record.
Valley Center took a 25-22 decision over the Chargers in the first set before West forced a third set with a 25-22 win.
Both teams had multiple match points in the third set before the Hornets finally prevailed, 31-29.
Bishop Carroll went on to claim the sub-state title, taking a 25-14, 25-14 win over the Hornets in the championship match.
