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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
A mere three inches were the difference between a banner day and a so-so one for Washburn Rural junior Zsamar Sipple in Thursday's Centennial League track and field meet at Rural.
The Junior Blues' standout jumper was a double league champion with wins in the long jump and triple jump by a combined three inches over Highland Park sophomore Tre Richardson, helping lead Rural to a second-place team finish behind Manhattan (197.25-128).
Washburn Rural junior Zsamar Sipple had a big day in Thursday's Centennial League meet, capturing the boys long jump and triple jump titles by a total of three inches. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Sipple won the long jump with a personal-best of 22 feet, 4.50 inches, two inches further than Richardson (22-2.50), and then waged an even closer back and forth battle with Richardson in the triple jump, needing a career-best jump of 46-1 to edge his Highland Park rival by exactly an inch (46-0).
Highland Park sophomore Tre Richardson placed second in the Centennial League long jump and triple jump and won the 200-meter title Thursday at Washburn Rural. [File photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Four Shawnee Heights athletes earned individual United Kansas Conference championships in Thursday's UKC track and field championships at Heights.
On the boys side, Aidan Hicks won the javelin event with a throw of 154 feet, 3 inches to lead a 1-2-3 T-Bird finish while Jacob Myers added a win in the pole vault at 11 feet.
Shawnee Heights' Jacob Myers won the pole vault championship in the United Kansas Conference with a vault of 11 feet. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Nadia Emperley and Shelby Butterfield picked up wins for Shawnee Heights in the girls division, with Emperley winning the javelin with a toss of 125-10 and Butterfield winning the 300-meter hurdles in 48.42 seconds.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn's baseball team had a whopping nine players receive All-MIAA recognition Wednesday, led by senior second-team honorees Brock Gilliam and Brett Ingram.
Washburn pitcher Brock Gilliam has been named to the All-MIAA second team after posting a 6-2 regular-season record with 100 strikeouts. [File photo]
Washburn's Brett Ingram earned second-team All-MIAA honors after hitting .318 with six home runs and 32 RBI in the regular season. [File photo]
Gilliam, a starting pitcher, went 6-2 in 12 regular-season starts, posting a 4.00 earned run average and 100 strikeouts, which has tied a school record and ranked second in the MIAA. Gilliam is five strikeouts away from setting Washburn's career strikeout record and he has had three games with 13 strikeouts.
Ingram earned second-team honors as a designated hitter after hitting .318 with six home runs, seven doubles, 32 runs batted in and 25 runs scored.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Highland Park sophomore Tre Richardson took a day off from playing shorstop for the Scots' baseball team last Friday, but he wasn't home sitting on the couch.
Instead, the four-sport standout was busy winning the city boys 200-meter dash title and finishing second in the long jump in the Joe Schrag City Invitational track and field meet, accounting for all of the Scots' 18 points in the meet.
Tre Richardson
Tuesday Richardson was back on the baseball field for a doubleheader against Washburn Rural and Thursday he'll be at Washburn Rural to compete in the Centennial League track championships, continuing a hectic lifestyle that has become his norm.
"It's fun playing every sport,'' saud Richardson, who also plays football and basketball for the Scots. "You don't get a break, but you get to play a different sport all the time.
"I don't like sitting around. It's boring, a waste of time.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural's 2021 baseball season got off to somewhat of a rocky start, with the Junior Blues suffering injuries to a pair of key players and stumbling out of the gate to a 2-4 record.
But now the Junior Blues are playing the way Rural coach Jay Mastin knew they could, giving themselves a chance at the Centennial League championship with 12 wins in their last 13 games, including a 17-1, 20-1 sweep over Highland Park Tuesday at Hummer Sports Park.
Next up for the 14-5 Junior Blues is a trip to Manhattan Wednesday to complete a suspended game (3-3 in the top of the second), with the winner of that contest taking the league title.
"We feel real good,'' Mastin said. "These guys have got a lot of fight in them. We're playing for a league title and there's a chance to host a regional as well, so we have a lot to play for. This is an exciting time of the year and knowing that our last game of the (regular season) is for league title just adds a lot.
"I knew we were going to be competitive, I knew we had some talent, and getting off to that slow start kind of surprised me a little bit, but I knew the fight was in them, I knew the desire was there.''
