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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Hayden was the most recent school to win the Class 4A boys tennis championship and the ultimate goal for James Sandstrom's Wildcats this spring will be to repeat.
But after having the entire '20 season wiped out by COVID-19, Hayden, like teams across the state, will be starting over in many respects this season.
The Wildcats return junior Michael Sandstrom, who placed fifth in 4A doubles two years ago as a freshman, but otherwise it's a brand new lineup for a Hayden team which edged Wichita Trinity Academy by a 39-35 margin for the 2019 4A title in Pratt.
So far, however, James Sandstrom has liked what he's seen out of the Wildcats in preseason practice.
"The chemistry is really good and everything is about building towards state, and how we can do at state,'' Sandstrom said. "We'll see how the team comes together, but it really is about how we match up at the state level and not having a season last year, there's a lot of question marks and a lot of uncertainty, but at the same time a lot of erxcitement.''
Junior Michael Sandstrom returns for Hayden's tennis team after placing fourth in Class 4A in doubles as a freshman. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Players who are expected to challenge for varsity time this season include senior Johnny Holloway, juniors Tyler Broxterman, Patrick Gorman and Aidan Butcher and sophomore Guz Glotzbach.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After guiding Washburn Rural to the first boys state wrestling championship in school history, Damon Parker announced Tuesday night on Twitter that he is stepping down as the Junior Blues' coach.
Parker will continue to coach Washburn Rural's girls team, which has captured back to back state championships since the Kansas State High School Activities Association made girls wrestling an official sport.
Washburn Rural's Damon Parker announced Tuesday night on Twitter that he is stepping down as the Junior Blues' boys head wrestling coach after leading Rural to the state title last month. Parker will continue to coach Rural's girls team. [File photo/TSN]
In announcing his decision on Twitter, Parker said:
"At this point, it is time for a new transition. The long hours of growing and maintaining this program's excellence have taken a toll on my health and the time has come to hand the program off to a coach who can dedicate the time and energy to keeping Rural wrestling running at an optimal level. Therefore, effective at the end of the 2020-21 school year, I am humbly resigning my position as boys head wrestling coach at Washburn Rural High School. This is not a spur of the moment decision; it has been many years in the making. However, I made a promise to myself and the Washburn Rural community that we would accomplish each of the tasks, and now that they all have been complete, it is time to move on."
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Hayden's girls soccer team posted its first win of the 2021 season with a 10-0 romp past Centennial League foe Topeka West Tuesday night at Hummer Sports Park.
Six players scored goals for the Wildcats, including juniors Elizabeth Dunshee and Kate Roeder and freshmen Elaine Wolf and Jill Lenherr with two goals apiece while sophomore Sloane Sims and junior Natalie McElroy also scored goals for Hayden.
Wolf and junior Riley Schmidtlein were credited with two assists apiece while Lenherr, Roeder, sophomore Janessa Broxterman and junior Abby Dodd also had assists for the Wildcats.
HAYDEN 10, TOPEKA WEST 0
Hayden -- Goals: Elaine Wolf 2, Elizabeth Dunshee 2, Jill Lenherr 2, Kate Roeder 2, Sloane Sims, Natalie McElroy. Assists: Elaina Wolf 2, Riley Schmidtlein 2, Jill Lenherr, Kate Roeder, Jenessa Broxterman, Abby Dodd.
CAIR PARAVEL LATIN 7, HERITAGE CHRISTIAN 1
Cair Paravel Latin's girls soccer team opened its 2021 season with a 7-1 victory over Olathe Heritage Christian Tuesday night.
BLUE VALLEY SOUTHWEST 6, SHAWNEE HEIGHTS 1
Shawnee Heights dropped a 6-1 girls soccer decision to Blue Valley Southwest Tuesday night.
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Washburn star Tyler Geiman has been named a third-team NCAA Division II All-American. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
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Tyler Geiman continued his honors haul Tuesday, with the Ichabod star senior point guard being named a third-team NCAA Division II All-American by the Conference Commissioner's Association as voted on by the D-II members of the College Sports Information Directors of America.
On Monday Geiman earned first-team National Association of Basketball Coaches All-Central District honors.
Geiman, one of two players in Division II to average at least 20 points, 6 assists and 6 rebounds this season, was a unanimous first-team all-MIAA selection and a member of the MIAA All-Defensive team and a member of the MIAA All-Tournament team.
Geiman led the 20-7 Ichabods in scoring (20.3), assists (6.0) and rebounds (6.3) and recorded the first triple-double in Washburn history with 17 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists against Northeastern State on Feb. 23. Geiman scored a career-high 32 points against Central Oklahoma on Jan. 30.
Geiman is the first CoSIDA All-America selection since Will McNeill earned All-American honors in 2011-12 and 2012-13. Brady Skeens was a Basketball Times All-American selection in 2018.
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Washburn senior golf standout Andrew Beckler took individual honors in the Washburn Invitational by 13 strokes while the Ichabods won the team title by 9 strokes. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University senior golf standout Andrew Beckler finally did have a bad hole in the Washburn Invitational, carding a triple bogey on the 435-yard No. 17 hole at Topeka Country Club in Tuesday's final round of the 54-hole tournament.
But that was the only misstep in a spectacular performance by the former Washburn Rural star, who put together rounds of 64, 68 and 68 (13 under par) to win the individual tournament championship by 13 strokes while leading the Ichabods to the team championship by a whopping nine strokes.
Beckler, who tied the TCC amateur course record with an opening-round 64 on Monday, began the day with a 9-stroke advantage over the field and kept his foot on the gas Tuesday, with his final round still the low score in the field despite the one bad hole.
"It was still rock solid,'' Beckler said. "I played really well, just one loose swing cost me, but I can't focus on that when I had so many good things happen this week, so many positives to take away. You've got to look at those.''
