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NHRA Funny Car driver Alexis DeJoria will compete in the Menards NHRA Nationals Friday through Sunday at Heartland Motorsports Park. [Photo courtesy of Rebilas Photography]
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
When NHRA Funny Car veteran Alexis DeJoria stepped away from the sport at the end of the 2017 season, the five-time race winner knew it was something she needed to do.
But that two-year break also proved to the 43-year-old driver of the Bandero ROKiT Toyota Camry just how important racing is to her.
"Taking that time off was imperative to just like balance my life out,'' DeJoria told TopSports.news. "I had so much going on and then my daughter (Bella) was turning 15 and I couldn't parent by proxy. I needed to be there with her and teach her how to drive and do all those great things and being on the road so much takes its toll on a marriage and that was really difficult as well, so I was lucky enough to be able to take that time away and kind of just take a look at everything and take time to clarify everything that was really important to me.''
One of those important things was drag racing, with the former U.S. Nationals champion teaming with NHRA veterans Del Worsham and Nicky Boninfante to launch a new team in 2020.
Alexis DeJoria [Photo courtesy of Rebilas Photography]
"Taking that time away really did make me appreciate everything that I've accomplished in NHRA and everything that I want to accomplish,'' DeJoria said. "Sometimes you take a break and then when you come back to something, it's that much more better. I don't know even how to say it. There's no words, it's just like this was obviously what I was supposed to do in every way, shape or form and taking that time away really made that clear.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
It's probably a good bet to say that local stars Abby Glynn and Rachel Stous haven't reached their peak in women's golf, with their careers seemingly still on the upswing.
But Washburn Rural product Glynn and Topeka High's Stous have already accomplished enough to earn the top two spots on the TopSports.news Shawnee County Best of the Best Top 25.
Glynn edged Stous for the No. 1 spot after earning three Class 6A state medals and helping Rural capture three Class 6A state team championships and a runner-up finish during her prep career before going on to become a standout at Kansas and winning the Missouri Amateur title in 2020.
Abby Glynn [KU Athletics]
Rachel Stous [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Stous, meanwhile, was a four-time 6A state medalist for the Trojans and has established herself as one of the state's top amateurs, including a win in the Kansas Amateur earlier this summer.
Former four-time 4A state medalist and two-time state champ Brooke LaRue (Hayden) earned the No. 3 spot on the Top 25 while former state champs Lauren Falley (Hayden), Megan Lucas (Washburn Rural), Adin Stromgren (Washburn Rural) and Caroline Setter (Hayden) took the next four spots.
Glynn and Stous also finished one-two in the Readers Choice balloting, with Lucas, now playing at Wichita State, third in reader votes.
Here's a look at the Top 25 and Readers Choice Awards:
TSN TOP 25 BEST OF THE BEST WOMEN'S GOLFERS
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The Washburn University Athletic Department has announced its six-member 2021 Hall of Fame class, which will be enshrined on Oct. 9 in a morning ceremony prior to the Ichabods' MIAA football game against Fort Hays State.
The Hall of Fame class of six accumulated nine All-America awards earned during their combined 29 years competing for Washburn teams.
The induction class Kate Hampson, Matt Cahill, Joe Hastings, Zach Watkins, Sam Sissom and Logan Stutz will join the 149 former student-athletes, coaches and administrators who have been honored for their contributions to Washburn Athletics.
The six former Washburn greats will also be recognized at halftime of the Oct. 9 football game against the Tigers.
Washburn Hall of Fame capsules:
Matt Cahill – Football – 1979-82
Matt Cahill finished his career as WU's all-time leader in total tackles and assisted tackles on the Ichabod charts. In 1982 his 120 total tackles were the highest single-season tally in school history and his 69 assisted tackles were second that same season. He had a career-high 16 tackles against Nebraska-Kearney on Nov. 13, 1982. As a sophomore in 1980, he was fifth on the team in tackles with 65 total stops adding a fumble recovery. His junior season he recorded 64 tackles which was the second-highest total on the team, leading to his outstanding senior campaign.
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NHRA Top Fuel driver Justin Ashley, the 2020 Rookie of the Year, will compete in the Menards NHRA Nationals Friday through Sunday at Heartland Motorsports Park. [Photos by Ron Lewis Photography]
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Justin Ashley's most recent race in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series was a good news/scary news scenario for the second-year Top Fuel driver.
The 2020 NHRA Rookie of the Year advanced to his second career final in the NHRA Winternationals nearly two weeks ago, but an extremely hot day in Pomona, Calif. took a toll on the 26-year-old Ashley, who had to be pulled from his SmartSanitizer Top Fuel dragster powered by Strutmasters.com before the final run after suffering symptoms of severe heat exhaustion.
Ashley is back in tip-top condition as he prepares to compete in this weekend's Menards NHRA Nationals at Heartland Motorsports Park and looks back at the scary situation in Pomona as a learning experience.
Justin Ashley
"I was feeling fine the next morning,'' Ashley told TopSports.news. "I definitely had to sleep on it and it and obviously it was kind of a crazy situation, one that I'll definitely be able to learn from. But by the time it was all said and done I just had to sleep on it and wake up the next morning and at that point I just felt so much better. And then the following day, almost two days later, I felt like I was finally back to full strength.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
With a list of candidates that includes 11 Shawnee County football players that made it to the National Football League, three that played in the Super Bowl and numerous other college standouts as well as two of the most prolific high school stars in Kansas history, picking a No. 1 for TopSports.news' Best of the Best Top 25 was a arduous task.
In the end, the guy that helped put local football on the map back in the 1970s, former Shawnee Heights/Kansas star and longtime Cincinnati Bengal linebacker Tom Dinkel, gets the nod.
Tom Dinkel [Submitted]
Dinkel, who helped the Bengals reach the Super Bowl after the 1981 season, played seven seasons in the NFL and also played in the USFL for the Jacksonville Bulls after being drafted in the fifth round by Cincinnate in the fifth round of the '78 draft.
Troy Wilson [1994 Fleer Cards]
Taking the next two spots on the Top 25 were Super Bowl alums Troy Wilson (Shawnee Heights) and Michael Wilhoite (Highland Park), who both put together extended pro careers, while former NFL players Kyle McNorton (Seaman) and Trey Lewis (Washburn Rural) round out the top five, just ahead of Chicago Bears rookie Teven Jenkins (Topeka High), New York Jets third-year play Corey Ballentine (Shawnee Heights) and Cincinnati Bengals rookie Wyatt Hubert (Shawnee Heights).
Ky Thomas [TSN file photo]
Topeka High product Ky Thomas and Rossville's Tucker Horak, who carved out history-making high school careers, went one-two in the Readers Choice Awards, combining for more than 500 reader votes. Horak is currently a senior running back at Pittsburg State while Thomas is a redshirt freshman back at Minnesota.
Former Rossville and Kansas standout lineman Duane Zlatnik, currently an assistant coach for Washburn Rural, also received considerable reader support, finishing No. 3 in Readers Choice balloting.
Here's a look at the Top 25 and Readers Choice Awards:
TSN TOP 25 BEST OF THE BEST FOOTBALL PLAYERS
