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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
If Tanner Newkirk's performance in Saturday's regional cross country meet is any indication, it may be a tough task for anyone in the Class 4A boys state field to take the title away from the reigning champ in next week's state meet at Wamego Country Club.
Newkirk, completing a sweep of city, Centennial League and regional titles, tuned up for state in impressive fashion at the Kanza Park course, posting a runaway win by 54 seconds in a five-kilometer time of 15 minutes, 16.67 seconds while helping the Wildcats earn a team berth for state with a runner-up finish.
"I think I'm in my best shape of the season and the work has obviously paid off,'' Newkirk said. "Today I felt really good and I was able to come out here and do really well.
"I knew I could beat my time from city and I knew this was a fast course so I decided I might was well come out here and try to run a (personal record) and run as fast as I can.''
Hayden senior Tanner Newkirk posted a 54-second win in Saturday's Class 4A regional cross country meet, pacing the Wildcats to a second-place team finish. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Newkirk achieved that goal by six seconds despite running alone for virtually the entire race.
"My body felt good and my lungs felt good so I thought today could be a good race,'' Newkirk said. "I just wanted to do all I could that's in my control to have my best race and it worked out well.''
Already a three-time state medalist, with second and first-place finishes, Newkirk is looking to end his high school career with a bang next Saturday.
"I'm really excited, I'm ecstatic,'' he said. "I'm looking to maybe set the course record and just run a really fast last cross country race.''
With Newkirk leading the way, Hayden finished second in the regional team standings by a 36-56 margin to Wamego.
Wildcat sophomore Aiden Amis finished eighth (17:10.41) while senior Ryan Rochford was 12th (17:24.85), sophomore Zach Moore 17th (17:47.83) and No. 5 runner Nick Lloyd, a junior, 18th (17:51.04).
Elliot Wrench finished second in Saturday's Class 4A regional cross country meet, leading Hayden's girls to a third-place team finish and a berth in the state meet. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Hayden's girls team also punched its ticket to the state meet with a third-place team finish, with sophomore Elliot Wrench finishing second individually in 20:26.26 to pace the Wildcats.
Sophomore Elaina Wolff placed 10th for the Wildcats (22:06.83), who also got a 16th-place finish from freshman Ryann Newkirk (22:40.94), an 18th from senior Riley Schmidtlein (22:53.12) and a 23rd-place finish from junior Catherine Doyle (23:43.90) to round out Hayden's top five.
Rock Creek sophomore Kyra Nippert was the girls individual champion in 19:48.36.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Seaman's girls cross country team turned in a strong performance in Saturday's Class 5A regional at the Kanza Park course.
In fact, the Vikings really couldn't have done much better.
Piper senior Grace Hanson won the individual title in a five-kilometer time of 18 minutes, 11.71 seconds, but Seaman claimed the next five spots to earn a perfect team score of 15 as the Pirates did not field a full team.
Junior Bethany Druse led the way with a second-place finish as Seaman's girls posted a perfect team score in Saturday's Class 5A cross country regional. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Junior Bethany Druse led the Vikings with a second-place finish in 18:59.45 while freshman Joslynn Grace was third (19:30.28), freshman Stella Appelhanz fourth (19:52.15), senior Emma Schultz fifth (19:52.97) and freshman Anna Becker sixth (20:18.42) to round out Seaman's top five.
"They did do their job,'' Seaman coach Rick Brading said. "We thought it would probably be Hanson and then us. That's what we thought and it was.
"All of our girls ran well for the day and most of them ran (personal records) today.''
Shawnee Heights' Kory Sutton (right) and Jackson Esquibel posted a 1-2 finish in Saturday's Class 5A boys cross country regional. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
The boys race also had a distinct Topeka flavor, with Shawnee Heights junior Kory Sutton and sophomore Jackson Esquibel posting a 1-2 individual finish while Shawnee Heights and Seaman finished second and third behind Lansing to earn team berths for next Saturday's state meet at Augusta.
"I felt great, I was ready to go,'' said Sutton, who captured his first regional title. "I was looking forward to running here. Last time I was here I ran a really big PR so I looked forward to coming out here and running fast and trying to get in some practice in for the fast pace that it's going to be next week at state.''
Sutton claimed the individual win in 15:45.01 while Esquibel was the runner-up in 15:49.77.
"We were definitely fighting back and forth,'' Suttong said. "(Esquibel) had a huge PR today. He ran great and he challenged me today.''
The T-Birds also got an 11th-place showing from junior Andrew Emerson (17:07.49) while freshman Stephen Carter was 18th (17:25.31) and sophomore Landon Staniec 26th (18:07.63) to finish off Heights' top five.
Third-place Seaman was paced by senior Jace Moore, fourth in 16:21.19, while senior Anson Appelhanz was 13th (17:09.99), junior Landon Stuke 14th (17:17.63), sophomore Adrian Swaim 15th (17:22.88) and freshman Alexander Newell 16th (17:23.30).
Lansing won the team title with 44 points while Heights was second with 58 points and Seaman third with 62 points.
Topeka West qualified a pair of individuals for the state meet, with senior Anna Phelps finishing 10th in the girls race and Charger senior Louis Wilson taking eighth in the boys race.
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By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
JaVion Lee scored on a 10-yard end-around sweep in overtime to give Topeka West a thrilling 28-22 win over USD 501 rival Topeka High Friday night at Hummer Sports Park, with the Chargers ending a 15-year losing streak against the Trojans.
Topeka West earned its first win against Topeka High since the 2005, forcing the overtime with a fourth-quarter touchdown and then taking the win on Lee's game-winning run.
“They (Topeka West) asked me to step up and I did,'' Lee said. "With me, I work hard. I was waiting for that moment to come my whole life. We did it, as a team. This was amazing for us.”
The Trojans and Charger defenses forced repetitive three and outs during the 24 minutes before both teams got their offenses untracked after halftime.
Jaq’Son Birdwhistle-Bush, Xavier Alexander and Elliot Cooper led the way defensively for the Chargers in the first half, keeping Topeka High’s stellar run game in check while Topeka High’s defense also shut down West's offense and didn’t allow a single point. Danny Saili, Jamari Pleasant and Isiah Kincade were led the pack to keep the Chargers from taking any control.
Half number two was the opposite of half, with both offenses turning the volume up in the highly-competitive game.
Although Topeka High running back Tylan Alejos was somewhat quiet in the first half, he was a man on a mission in the second half. Having 18 yards on 7 carries in the first half, he followed up by running the ball 13 times for 146 yards in the second half and was responsible for all three touchdowns for Topeka High.
Topeka West’s offense looked rejuvenated after getting shutout six straight quarters dating back to last week’s game against Manhattan. Malachi Berg threw for 197 yards and 176 of those yards were to Elliot Cooper. Cooper was the key performer in Friday's victory, snagging eight receptions.
High and West’s gun-slinging second-half approaches kept the game going back and forth and regulation would end with the teams tied up at 22 apiece.
Topeka High would win the coin toss and elected to take the ball first in overtime. The Trojans had to start at the 35-yard-line rather than the 10 due to two personal foul calls to end regulation.
Alejos gained 10 and 6 yards on back to back, but Topeka High ended up facing a 4th and 17 situation and quarterback Peyton Wheat desperation heave into the end zone fell incomplete.
Topeka West quickly maee the most of its ensuing posession, with Berg taking the snap, pump faking a pass to Kamen Jones and flipping the ball to Lee. High’s defense was fooled and Lee took the ball in for the game-ending TD.
“We trusted Lee’s speed to get in the end zone when we needed him most,'' Topeka West coach Ryan Kelly said.
The game plan against the Trojans developed throughout the entirety of the game for Topeka West.
“We ran the ball quite a bit up the gut in the beginning of the game but No. 77 (Saili) was beating us up inside,'' Kelly said. "He’s a tough kid to block. We had to dial up some of our perimeter run plays to spread the field out to get away from the middle.”
Kelly was pleased with the performance but knows the Chargers have plenty of room to grow.
“We are pretty young on the offensive line, so there’s a lot of bad habits we need to correct,'' he said. "We need to be able to run the ball more effectively if we want to keep the success going.”
The commander of the offense, Berg, was happy with the way things ended.
“This is our last time playing them (Topeka High) in the Centennial League, so I’m glad we were able to beat them,'' Berg said. "We came together strong as a team.”
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By KYLE MANTHE
The Washburn Review
Week 8 of Friday night football featured a matchup between two of the top teams in the city as the 5-2 Seaman Vikings visited the 6-1 Washburn Rural Junior Blues.
It was truly a tale of two halves as the defenses controlled early on and the offenses took over late, but it was the explosive offense of the Junior Blues which propelled them to a 42-31 Centennial League victory on Senior Night at Bowen-Glaze Stadium.
“This is one they will remember for a long time, a share of the league championship tonight, coming and playing a great game like this, an exciting game, that’s something they will always remember,” Washburn Rural coach Steve Buhler said.
Washburn Rural coach Steve Buhler talks to his team after the Junior Blues wrapped up a 7-1 regular season and clinched a share of the Centennial League title with a 42-31 win over Seaman Friday night. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
The defenses for each side were as good as advertised with a three and out for each team to begin the game.
Seaman would strike first, moving the ball in nine plays down to the 5-yard-line of Washburn Rural before senior Gavin Wilhelm knocked in a 22-yard field goal.
The Junior Blues responded with a nine-play drive of their own, ending in a 9-yard pass to junior Amr Sabbarini in the right side of the end zone from sophomore Branton DeWeese before the end of the first quarter.
Each side's defense controlled most of the second quarter with an interception coming from Washburn Rural’s senior Landon MacEwan, who finished with two takeaways in the game, but no points would come from the first turnover.
“I definitely think we were being physical, we pride ourselves on being a physical team, and I think we really got to them in the run game,” said Washburn Rural senior Robby Bolin.
With yards hard to come by on the ground, the Vikings would go to the air with a pass from senior Camden Barta to senior Brody Gormley, who tapped his toes at the back of the end zone for a 9-yard TD just before halftime.
“It was a hard-fought seven points we held them to in the first half, so we were kind of in that position and knew that coming out we were going to have to execute the same way we were and unfortunately we didn’t,” said Seaman coach Jared Swafford.
The Junior Blues struck fast out of halftime, with Bolin breaking a tackle and taking an 84-yard pass from DeWeese to the house on the third play.
“We came into halftime and nothing was really working so we came out, made some adjustments and stuff started firing and it just worked out,” Bolin said.
After punts from each side Seaman would counter with a catch and run of 65 yards by Gormley into the end zone, putting the Vikings back out in front, but not for long. Two plays later Washburn Rural junior Ma’Kenttis Adams bounced outside for a 28-yard touchdown run to flip the scoreboard.
After a kick return back to the 20-yard-line by Seaman sophomore Jack Bloom, Barta was able to connect with senior P.J. Vargas for a 17-yard touchdown throw just three plays later.
Next came the longest drive of the quarter, a nine-play balanced attack from the Junior Blues ending in another touchdown pass from DeWeese to Sabbarini from 24 yards out to end the high scoring quarter at 28-24 Rural.
“We went in and just re-adjusted our protection for Branton (DeWeese) and when we were able to give him time it allowed our wide receivers to gain a little separation on the guys that were pressing at the line,” said Buhler.
A quick Viking punt and a 75-yard catch by senior Adrian Tibbetts set up the second DeWeese to Bolin touchdown throw, this time from 20 yards out to break the game open at 35-24. After a second consecutive three-and-out from Seaman, Washburn Rural would need only one play to find the end zone as JC Heim took a handoff 90 yards with just under 10 minutes to play.
The Vikings would get into the end zone one more time on a 3-yard score from Barta to senior Braden Colley but it was too late as the ensuing onside attempt failed.
“I think we will bounce back, we had a great week of practice, we've got great senior leadership, and I like our chances to go out and give ourselves a shot in the playoffs in every game,” said Swafford.
At 7-1 on the year the Junior Blues claimed a share of the Centennial League title with Manhattan and Junction City.
Both Rural and Seaman will be set for home playoff games on Oct. 29, with opponents to be determined late Friday or early Saturday.
“We are excited, we are ready to go, we have been talking about this since last November,'' Buhler said. "This is where we wanted to be, we wanted a top-four seed, I think we got that tonight, hopefully with the win we put ourselves right where we want to be and now the second season starts.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Shawnee Heights football coach Jason Swift had a couple of primary goals in mind entering Friday night's United Kansas Conference game against Turner.
First and foremost the T-Birds wanted to win, clinch a .500 regular season and continue to build momentum for the Class 5A playoffs, goals the T-Birds took care of when they went in front 21-0 in the opening four minutes.
And on Homecoming night at Wetter Field, Swift and his coaching staff also wanted to give as many T-Birds as possible the opportunity to get a chance to share in what became a 60-0 runaway win.
"Football's a great sport because it's a team win,'' Swift said. "We always say that it doesn't matter if you play scout team, one play or every play you have an equal value in our program, so seniors, juniors, sophomores they all took a lot of pride in this and let's get everyone on the field and let's throw a shutout, too.
"I think those were the two things we wanted to do and we accomplished them.''
Shawnee Heights senior Jarin Sanders (4) is congratulated by his teammates after scoring one of his three touchdowns in Friday's 60-0 win over Turner. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
With Friday's win Shawnee Heights is expecting to host Sumner Academy in a first-round 5A playoff game next Friday night. Playoff pairings will be announced by the Kansas State High School Activities Association late Friday or early Saturday.
Shawnee Heights, which won for the fourth time over its past five games, put the 1-7 Bears away with 21 points in the first 3:27 of the contest and Heights took a huge 47-0 advantage to the locker room at the half, forcing a running clock through the entire second half.
And as far as sharing the wealth, Heights' sideline looked like a revolving door.
Swift alternated senior quarterbacks Callan Carver, Braeden Brown and Raiden McGrew, and all three had a hand in building the T-Birds' big cushion.
Carver ran for one touchdown and threw for two TDs in his limited duty while Brown and McGrew both passed for scores.
Sanders, the T-Birds' standout senior running back, rushed for 94 yards on 12 attempts and scored three touchdowns -- 24 and 4-yard runs and an 11-yard reception from Carver.
Heights senior Ayden McDaniel also scored three touchdowns, scoring on runs of 27 and 15 yards and catching a 40-yard TD from McGrew. He finished the game with 89 rushing yards on just six carries.
Shawnee Heights senior Carter Olson stretches out to catch a pass in Friday's 60-0 win over Turner. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Senior Braedon Ginter caught a 17-yard TD pass from Brown while senior Carter Olson caught a 5-yard TD pass from Carver.
In addition to using three quarterbacks the T-Birds also used three place-kickers on extra points, with senior Jaxon Correll, junior Carson Christian and junior Pablo Gonzalez combining for six PATs.
It all added up to a fun night for the T-Birds.
"Man, it was a lot of fun,'' Sanders said. "The crowd was great, there were a lot of people out here, and it was good to see all the young guys get an opportunity because they show up to everything.
"They don't miss anything and they don't get the same opportunities that the varsity does, so it was good to see them out here.''
