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Hayden senior swimmer Olivia Kerr won a pair of individual events in the Wildcats' season-opening meet. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
First-year Hayden girls swimming coach John-Martin Schmidt began the 2021 season with high hopes for his Wildcats.
"We are all very excited to get back to racing after last season,'' said Schmidt, a Hayden alum and former multi-time state champion for the Wildcats. "We have a younger team, led by our 10 seniors who provide lots of experience and leadership.
"We have one of the best teams in Topeka and can't wait to get to our first meet.''
Hayden got that chance in last week's season-opening Topeka West Invitational at the Capitol Federal Natatorium and the Wildcats' solid performance only added to Schmidt's high expectations.
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A day after having its nine-game win streak ended by Fort Hays State, the Washburn softball team started a new streak with a doubleheader sweep over Nebraska-Kearney Saturday at Gahnstrom Field.
The Ichabods needed an extra inning to take a 7-6 win in the first game before dominating the second game 7-0 behind pitcher Raegen Hamm to improve to 19-4 and 5-1 in the MIAA.
Washburn pitcher Raegen Hamm threw a second-game shutout in the Ichabods' 7-0 win over Nebraska-Kearney Saturday. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
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After a long wait, Rossville senior Alex Sherer is getting the opportunity to play high school tennis for Hayden as a co-op player. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
It was a day that was four years in the making, but Alex Sherer finally got the chance to play high school tennis Saturday at Kossover Tennis Center.
Sherer has played the summer circuit for nearly a decade, but circumstances had prevented the senior from playing for a high school team until he took the court for Hayden in Saturday's Washburn Rural quadrangular.
It was everything Sherer, a Rossville High student who is playing for Hayden as a co-op player, thought it would be.
"Tennis is so individual, but I love the team aspect of everything in a lot of different sports, so just being with my teammates is a lot of fun,'' Sherer said.
The Sherers had approached the Rossville district about the possibility of adding a tennis program or setting up a co-op program when he started high school, but that didn't happen right away. Rossville and Hayden did eventually come up with an agreement that woud have allowed Sherer to compete as a co-op player for the Wildcats last spring but COVID-19 wiped out the entire season.
That left Sherer, regarded as one of the top players in the state, one last season to play at the high school level, and he is determined to make the most of it.
Shearer will compete for Hayden during the regular season before representing Rossville in Class 3A-1A postseason.
"Last year I missed the opportunity to play with one of my buddies, Ronan (Boyle), who finished fourth at (Class) 4A state a couple of years ago,'' Sherer said. "That sucked, but getting to play with Gus (Glotzbach) and Michael (Sandstrom), and Patrick (Gorman), all those guys are super great, they've been super-accepting, so I'm just having a blast.''
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Washburn Rural junior Kyler Knudtson won three matches on the day, helping the Junior Blues go 3-0 in Saturday's tennis quadrangular at Kossover Tennis Center. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural boys tennis team may not have any stars, at this point anyway, but the Junior Blues showed off their depth in Saturday's Washburn Rural quadrangular at Kossover Tennis Center, posting a perfect 3-0 record while winning 24 of 27 matches on the day in Rural's first competition since 2019.
Kevin Hedberg's team opened the day with a 6-3 win over Hayden before taking 9-0 wins over Topeka High and Junction City. Hayden finished second in the quad, following up its loss to Washburn Rural with an 8-1 win over Junction City and a 9-0 decision over Topeka High.
"It's just great to be out here, but the other side of it is all of us, since we missed a season, everybody needs match play, everybody needs experience and, quite frankly, you don't need it playing your teammates,'' Hedberg said. "You get it when you play other people, so this was a good day.''
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Washburn's Jaycee Ginter looks for a pitch as Washburn takes on Fort Hays State (photo by Rex Wolf /TSN )
Freshman Jaycee Ginter threw the first-no hitter for Washburn softball in more than a decade Friday against Fort Hays State. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University freshman pitcher Jaycee Ginter treated Friday's performance against Fort Hays State like it was just another day.
It wasn't.
Making only the ninth start and 12th appearance of her college career, the former Shawnee Heights softball star hurled Washburn's first no-hitter in more than a decade and was just one walk away from a perfect game as the Ichabods topped the Tigers 2-0 in the first game of a MIAA doubleheader en route to a split at Gahnstrom Field.
Ginter, who improved to 8-1 on the season, was the first Washburn pitcher to pitch a no-hitter since Kelsey Novotny accomplished that feat on Feb. 19, 2011.
"I was excited, but I really don't think that I did anything that special,'' Ginter said. "I think my team was basically there backing me up. They made a lot of defensive plays that kind of helped me.''
Ginter did say she continues to feel more comfortable at the collegiate level with each outing.
"It defnitely took some getting used to, but now that the season is up and going I feel more confident and just better about myself,'' Ginter said.
