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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Winning a Centennial League volleyball championship is never one of Washburn Rural's biggest goals, with Kevin Bordewick's Junior Blues using the regular season to put themselves in position to make a run at the big championship -- the Class 6A title.
But winning league is a step in that direction and the Junior Blues, ranked No. 11 nationally, took that step Tuesday night at Seaman, wrapping up a perfect 8-0 league record with a 25-8, 27-25 win over Seaman and a 25-8, 25-12 win over Topeka High.
"(League's) never been one of our bigger priorities, to be honest, in all our years here,'' said Bordewick, whose Junior Blues have won seven state titles. "We're more concerned about getting better every day and we emphasize that and we talk about that ad nauseum. That's all we talk about, but if everything else goes like that then the league should care of it itself and sub-state should take care of itself.
"But we'd rather win it than lose it, definitely.''
And Washburn Rural did lose the league title in 2020, with Seaman rallying late to knock off the Junior Blues in the league finale at Topeka High to claim the championship.
Bordewick said he didn't talk much about that last year's loss to the Vikings, but he didn't need to.
"I think I said one thing yesterday in practice: 'Remember what happened at T-High last year,' and they go, 'Yep, yep, yep,' '' Bordewick said. "The difference between this team this year and last year is that we learned and remembered that and what that felt like and we didn't want to let it happen again.''
Washburn Rural volleyball players congratulate each other after wrapping up a 2-0 night and the Centennial League title Tuesday at Seaman. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Shawnee Heights' girls golf team put all six T-Birds in the top 10 individually en route to a 21-stroke victory in Monday's United Kansas Conference tournament at Painted Hills Golf Course in Kansas City, Kan.
Shawnee Heights' girls golf team poses for a picture with its United Kansas Conference championship trophy Monday at Painted Hills. [Twitter]
Senior Olivia Morgan led the T-Birds with an 18-hole score of 98, tying Leavenworth's Chloe Herring for the UKC individual championship and finishing as the runner-up in a scorecard playoff.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Seaman entered this past summer needing a girls tennis coach and Jamie Robinson seemed like a good fit.
But it was the Viking players who were the deciding factor in Robinson taking the job.
"I tell you what, they were practicing by themselves before I took the position, organizing and practicing among themselves, and I was so impressed with that,'' Robinson said.
"That was one of the impetuses for me to take the position because they were so disciplined and coordinated as a team. I was so impressed with them and I thought, "How can you not want to coach these girls? They have such a good attitude.' ''
Seaman tennis coach Jamie Robinson (right) visits with Viking athletic director Steve Bushnell during last week's city girls tennis tournament. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
The 63-year-old Robinson, who retired from his career in medical sales at the end of 2020, took on the Seaman's boys coaching job in the spring at the urging of former Viking coach Greg Lutz before adding the girls position this fall.
"I love it,'' he said. "I'm tapping into something that I never knew about myself. It's so rewarding to see the players coming off and smiling and you're the first person they look at. Or they'll look over to see if I'm over there watching. They know, and that's cool.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The Centennial League girls golf championship trophy is back in a familiar home.
After winning 10 straight league titles from 2010-19, Washburn Rural finished second to Manhattan in the 2020 league meet.
But the Junior Blues started a new streak on Monday at Western Hills Golf Course in decisive fashion, with all six Rural players placing between second and a tie for seventh en route to a 43-stroke victory over runner-up Emporia.
Senior Kaitlyn Crough took second place individually with a 75 while junior Avery Scott was third with a 76, senior Aliyah North tied for fourth with a 77 and juniors Annika Peterson and Mallory Nelson and senior McKenna Merrick all tied for seventh with 84s.
"It was definitely a goal of ours since the season ended last year to make sure that we took the league trophy back to Washburn Rural and accomplish a team goal that I know these seniors wanted very badly,'' Rural coach Jared Goehring said.
Washburn Rural's girls golf team poses for a picture with the Centennial League trophy after winning Monday's league meet by 43 strokes. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Lois Deeter
LOIS DEETER, Seaman
A junior former state medalist and Centennial League champion, Deeter captured her first city individual girls golf championship last Monday at Western Hills, shooting an even-par 70 to win the city title by a five-stroke margin over Washburn Rural's Kaitlyn Crough, a former city champ.
Jarin Sanders
JARIN SANDERS, Shawnee Heights
Sanders, a senior running back, had a career night last Friday as Shawnee Heights picked up its first football victory of the season, a 54-6 romp past Kansas City-Schlagle. Sanders carried the ball 15 times for 178 yards and scored five touchdowns as the T-Birds improved to 1-3.
