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opeka High junior NiJaree Canady has been named Gatorade Kansas Softball Player of the Year after leading the Trojans to a 25-0 record and the Class 6A state championship. [File photo/TSN]
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
NiJaree Canady has piled up honor after honor during her junior year in basketball and softball for Topeka High and added arguably the biggest of them all on Friday when she was named the Kansas Gatorade Softball Player of the Year.
An All-Stater in both basketball and softball, Canady's Gatorade honor comes after she helped lead the Trojan to a perfect 25-0 season and High's first-ever Class 6A softball championship this spring.
The Gatorade award recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field.
As the state winner, Canady, Topeka High's first Gatorade softball winner, is now a finalist for the Gatorade National Softball Player of the Year award to be announced later this month.
Canady was a star for the Trojans as both a pitcher and hitter en route to earning Centennial League and All-Shawnee County player of the year honors.
Canady compiled a 21-0 record in the pitching circle with a miniscule 0.26 earned run average while striking out 226 batters in 107.2 innings. Canady turned in three complete-game pitching wins in the 6A state tournament, striking out 16 batters in all three games and not allowing an earned run.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Thursday was a day to celebrate Cheryl Gleason's 45-year career in education, including the past 32 years as an Assistant Executive Director for the Kansas State High School Activities Association.
But KSHSAA Executive Director Bill Faflick admitted that it was also a day he had been dreading -- when the Association said goodbye to Gleason, who will officially retire on July 1.
"I'd really rather postpone it,'' Faflick said during Gleason's retirement reception Thursday at the KSHSAA office. "Anybody that knows me knows that we work hard, and just like I've been taught, and has been modeled here in this building, we work together as a team and we support each other, and when one of your teammates goes away it's a challenge.
"But we know we're better because Cheryl Gleason has been here and that's why we can celebrate today because we can go on to bigger and better things because of Cheryl and her work. As an administrator here at the Kansas State High School Acitivites Association, Cheryl had an impact on the athletes, the coaches, the officials, the administrators across this state and certainly on her home team here in this office.''
Retiring KSHSAA assistant executive director Cheryl Gleason talks to visitors at Thursday's reception at the KSHSAA office. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Five Shawnee County high school golfers have earned All-State honors from the Kansas Golf Coaches Association, led by second-team picks Luke Leonetti of Washburn Rural and Alex Valdivia in 5A.
Luke Leonetti
Alex Valdivia
A junior, Leonetti was named to the All-Class 6A second team after winning individual titles in the city and Centennial League tournaments while Valdivia, a sophomore, was a second-team pick in 5A after finishing sixth in the state meet.
Turner Depperschmidt
Myles Alonzo
Bryce Badsky
Junior Tanner Depperschmidt of Washburn Rural earned honorable mention in 6A while Topeka West freshman Myles Alonzo received honorable mention in 5A and Silver Lake freshman Bryce Badsky received honorable mention in 3A after placing 13th at state.
KANSAS GOLF COACHES ASSOCIATION ALL-STATE
CLASS 6A
First team
Ty Adkins, Hutchinson; Thomas Gogel, Shawnee Mission East; Ian McCrary, Blue Valley Northwest; Eoin McLaughlin, Blue Valley; Patrick Neal, Olathe North; Chance Rinkol, Blue Valley.
Second team
James Ackerman, Blue Valley; Carson Baker, Blue Valley West; Theo Juhl, Garden City; Luke Leonetti, Washburn Rural; Davan Smith, Dodge City; Myles Tarvin, Olathe West.
Honorable mention
Turner Depperschmidt, Washburn Rural; Ben Elgas, Blue Valley; Cooper Scheck, Dodge City; Ben Slicker, Shawnee Mission East; Ryan Stonecash, Olathe West; Tyler Strong, Olathe South.
CLASS 5A
First team
Noah Holtzman, Carroll; Joey Langstraat, Basehor-Linwood; Nicklaus Mason, Mill Valley; Brent Rientjes, Kapaun Mt. Carmel; Asher Whitaker, Kapaun Mt. Carmel; Michael Winslow, St. Thomas Aquinas.
Second team
Austin Goodrum, Andover Central; Connor Hanrahan, St. Thomas Aquinas; Kyle Kasitz, Maize South; Cole Streck, Great Bend; Trent Sutherland, Arkansas City; Alex Valdivia, Shawnee Heights.
Honorable mention
Myles Alonzo, Topeka West; Taben Armstrong, Maize South; Jason Krannawitter, Hays; Layton Love, Maize South; Grant Waggoner, Maize South; Cooper Ward, Andover Central.
CLASS 4A
First team
Drayton Cleaver, Chanute; Jacob George, Winfield; Deitrik Gill, Wellington; Blake Saffell, Wellington; Dylan Tyner, Wamego; Zachary Vandervoort, Pratt.
Second team
Richard Blevins, Ottawa; Karson Kuepker, Andale; Levi Long, Wamego; Jimmy Welsh, Bishop Miege; Andrew Willson, Tonganoxie; Jack Winkler, Bishop Miege.
Honorable mention
Chadd Brown, Augusta; Carson Floersch, Clay Center; Zach Hoang, Rose Hill; Jace Lawrence, Wellington; Laken Smith, Wellington; Brett Wyckoff, Wellington.
CLASS 3A
First team
Blake Buessing, Santa Fe Trail; Tyler Duncan, Santa Fe Trail; Harrison Middleton, Cheney; Jackson Rader, Marysville; Lucas Schueffler, Wichita Trinity; Lane Workman, Santa Fe Trail.
Second team
Kyle Eggers, Neodesha; Riley Johnson, Frontenac; Josh Martin, Anderson County; Vinny Pile, Frontenac; Anthony Rogers, Caney Valley; Lucas Roth, Hesston.
Honorable mention
Bryce Badsky, Silver Lake; Keegan O'Shea, Cheney; Lane Prewitt, Santa Fe Trail; Lane Richards, Anderson County; Ty Sides, Phillipsburg; Kordell Webb, Wichita Trinity.
CLASS 2A
First team
Caleb Gilliland, Sacred Heart; Nick Ison, Colgan; Parker Krob, Plainville; Easton Reynolds, Yates Center; Kameron Shaw, Sacred Heart; Zach Surface, Sterling.
Second team
Ashton Dowell, Hoxie; Brady Frickey, Ellis; Will Hedges, Seabury; Jon Hoover, Berean Academy; Kobe Hoover, Washington County; Jack King, Yates Center.
Honorable mention
Mark Bogner, Erie; Nate Elmore, Sacred Heart; Ian Fink, Oakley; Drew Heinz, Ellinwood; Mikey Matteucci, Sacred Heart; Hunter Newell, Sacred Heart.
CLASS 1A
First team
Brandon Befort, Osborne; Isaac Domsch, Atwood; Jaxon Koehn, South Gray; Trent Mars, Centralia; Spencer Wishon, Oberlin; Kendrick Woody, Atwood.
Second team
Reagan Bowles, Atwood; Aiden Gerstner, Frankfort; Cali Kellinberger, Ashland; Connor Langlais, Hutchinson Central Christian; Grant Theurer, South Central; Grady Wolters, Osborne.
Honorable mention
Spencer Coup, Solomon; Jaydon Hahn, Hodgeman County; Joey Hardwick, Frankfort; Dayton Lantz, Osborne; Cade Mangan, Tribune; Landon Uhl, South Central.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After dropping a tough 19-hole championship match in Sunday's City Men's Match Play golf tournament, former Topeka High standout Rachel Stous bounced back in a big way, claiming her second straight championship in the Kansas City Women's Match Play tournament Wednesday at Swope Memorial Golf Course in Kansas City, Mo.
Stous had also won the KC Match Play event in 2019 before last year's tournament was canceled due to COVID-19.
Wednesday's tournament final went back and forth before Stous parred the final hole to close out a 1-up victory over Derby's Kenni Henson.
Topeka High product Rachel Stous, taking a shot in last Sunday's City Men's Match Play tournament, won her second straight Kansas City Match Play championship Wednesday in Kansas City, Mo. [File photo/TSN]
"Especially after I was so close in the (TGA City) Men's Match Play, to go out and finish and win this one felt pretty good,'' Stous told The Topeka Capital-Journal.
Stous lost the first two holes of Wednesday's match against Henson and was down three holes through four (the match started on the back nine) before rallying to take the lead on her 11th hole of the day.
Stous eventually went up by two holes with two to play before closing out the match on the final hole of regulation.
Stous had advanced to the tournament final with a two and one semifinal win over Kaitlyn Hanna of Omaha, Neb. while .Henson, a Wichita State junior, reached the final with a three and two win over former Washburn Rural state champ Megan Lucas, who also plays at Wichita State.
In the Silver Bracket, former Washburn Rural standout Abby Glynn fell in the semifinals, dropping a two and one decision to Scarlet Weidig of Costa Rica.
Seaman standout Lois Deeter fell in her first-round match, two and one.
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