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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
It's been an extremely busy time for Washburn University head football coach Zach Watkins as he began putting his stamp on the Ichabod program since being named the 38th head coach in WU history on Nov. 26.
Zach Watkins, who was named Washburn's head football coach in late November, announced his full-time coaching staff on Thursday. [File photo/TSN]
[Graphic courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Watkins, a Washburn Hall of Famer and former Ichabod defensive coordinator, took a major step in that process on Thursday, announcing his seven member full-time coaching staff as preparations gear up for the 2025 season.
Former Ichabod star Dane Simoneau is the lone full-time holdover from Craig Schurig's 2024 staff and will serve as WU's offensive coordinator while two other members of Watkins' first coaching staff have ties to the school.
"Making some staff changes, that's never easy, but you have to put your vision on the program,'' Watkins told TopSports.news Thursday. "During that time, with the staff changes there were a lot of responsibilities put on just a few people, but Dane Simoneau and our young coaches (primarily graduate assistants) did a great job of handling all the things that needed to be done as we hired fulltime staff.
"It's been a lot with recruiting, to our current players and making sure their grades and finals are good. It's been very hectic but it's been very rewarding to work through all that stuff. Now, to get the full staff here, we have recruiting visits coming up and all the processes that have to happen with that. The entire recruiting process is accellorating from from what it used to be, so between making the staff changes and the new staff coming in, it's put us a little bit behind, but we're going to rebound just fine.''
Watkins said he's very happy with the staff he's been able to assemble.
In addition to Simoneau, Kaleb Koch, who will serve as WU's defensive coordinator, and Jarvis Harrod, who will coach defensive backs and serve as special teams coordinator, both played for the Ichabods and were graduate assistants for WU.
Watkins' staff also includes former Kansas State star and Oklahoma State assistant Travis Britz while all of the new additions have extensive coaching experience at the high school and/or collegiate level.
"I think the most important thing in a program is the people and that's the players, the coaches, the administration,'' Watkins said. "People make every situation good or bad and wanting to be a head coach and preparing to be a head coach that's the No. 1 thing that you have to be aware of is what people are available to your staff and who can you go after.
"So I had a bunch of ideas of guys I wanted to talk to. I had a lot of conversations for limited spots and I think we've got a very good staff put together.''
Watkins said getting his staff in place was a major milestone but he also knows that he and his coaches will be working non-stop all the way until the opening of the 2025 season in the fall.
"It was the hiring process, right into our current players' final grades, right into recruiting, right into the new semester starting, into workouts and spring ball,'' Watkins said. "It never ends and it's really good to be full go all the time because there's no other way to work than to be all in and do it full speed.''
A look at Watkins' full-time coaching staff:
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The 2025 portion of the Shawnee County high school basketball season begins with a pair of doubleheaders on Friday, Jan. 3.
Highlighting Friday's slate is a boys clash between USD 501 rivals Highland Park and Topeka High as well as an all-city twinbill between Hayden and Shawnee Heights. Topeka High's girls will also be in action Friday, hosting Wichita Life Prep Academy.
Here's a glance at all four of Friday's games involving county teams:
FRIDAY GIRLS
Senior Millie Ramsey leads 5-0 Hayden with a 13.8 scoring average. [File photo/TSN]
Sophomore KK Emmot is averaging a team-high 20.5 points for Shawnee Heights. [File photo/TSN]
SHAWNEE HEIGHTS (3-1) at HAYDEN (5-0)
Shawnee Heights completed its pre-holiday slate with a 57-40 United Kansas Conference win at Topeka West while Hayden, third-ranked in Class 4A by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association, remained unbeaten with a 56-37 win over defending 6A champion Shawnee Mission South to close out 2024. Shawnee Heights sophomore KK Emmot ranks No. 4 in the city of Topeka with a 20.5 scoring average and has hit 13 3-pointers while T-Bird senior Kaydence Torrez is averaging 12.5 points and a team-high 8.8 rebounds. Senior Millie Ramsey is averaging a team-high 13.8 points and 9.3 rebounds for Hayden and reached the 1,000-point milestone for her career against SM South. Senior Brylee Meier is averaging 13 points and 5.8 rebounds for the Wildcats with 11 3-pointers while freshman Hailey Schmidtlein is averaging 12.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4.5 steals. Game time: 4 p.m.
Sophomore Ahsieyrhuajh Rayton leads Topeka High's girls with a 20.8 scoring average and has hit a city-high 14 3-pointers. [File photo/TSN]
WICHITA LIFE PREP ACADEMY (5-7) at TOPEKA HIGH (2-2)
Topeka High has been idle since posting a 58-40 win over Notre Dame de Sion in the third-place game of the De Soto Hardwood Classic and will be facing a Life Prep Academy team that has already played 12 games while facing schools from seven different states. The Fire are coming off a 51-42 loss to Fort Smith, Ark.-Northside. Trojan sophomore Ahsieyrhuajh Rayton is No. 3 in the city in scoring with a 20.8 average and has connected on a city-high 14 3-pointers while junior Keimara Marshall is averaging 11.3 points and is also averaging 4.3 steals and 3.0 assists. Game time: 6 p.m.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Seaman's Max Huston and Kaden Jordan, Washburn Rural's Caden Estrada and Hayden's Jensen Schrickel are among the 88 players who have been selected to play in the 2025 Kansas Shrine Bowl all-star football game, which will be played on Saturday, June 21, at Memorial Stadium in Dodge City.
Estrada, Huston, Jordan and Schrickel will all play for the East team while Seaman coach Jared Swafford will serve as an assistant coach for the East.
Estrada, Huston, Jordan and Schrickel were all named to the All-Shawnee County Top 22 this past season.
Caden Estrada
A 6-foot-1, 285-pound senior, Estrada filled several roles on the offensive line for the 3-6 Junior Blues and moved up to the All-Shawnee County Top 22 after being a Second 22 pick as a junior. Estrada earned first-team All-Centennial League recognition the past three seasons and helped Washburn Rural post an 11-1 record and advance to the Class 6A semifinals his junior season.
Max Huston
Huston, a 6-1, 185 senior quarterback, completed 170 of 266 passes for 2,532 yards and 29 touchdowns and rushed for 779 yards and 13 TDs as the Vikings posted an 8-3 record and advanced to the quarterfinal round of the 5A playoffs. Huston was named the Shawnee County co-offensive player of the year and was an All-United Kansas Conference first-team pick and All-Shawnee County Top 22 selection for the second straight season.
Kaden Jordan
A 6-2, 305 senior nose tackle, Jordan was named the Shawnee County defensive player of the year and was an All-United Kansas Conference first-team selection after helping lead the Vikings to an 8-3 record, the UKC championship and the 5A quarterfinals. Jordan was in on 57 total tackles with 15 tackles for loss, two sacks and a forced fumble. Jordan moved up to the All-Shawnee County Top 22 this past season after being a Second 22 pick in 2023.
Jensen Schrickel
Schrickel, a 5-10, 160 junior wide receiver/defensive back, was a three-time All-Shawnee County Top 22 selection after helping lead Hayden to an 11-2 record and a second straight runnerup finish in Class 3A. A multi-time state champion in track and field, Schrickel caught 49 passes for 799 yards, carried the ball 56 times for 606 yards, had six kickoff returns for 176 yards, had five punt returns for 80 yards and scored 23 total touchdowns and a 2-point conversion. Defensively, Schrickel was in on 33 tackles and he was named the county all-purpose athlete of the year.
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NOTE: Statistics for city boys basketball teams were compiled by Seaman girls coach Matt Tinsley. The following stats are the first of three statistical reports which will be released during the 2024-2025 season, capped by the season-ending stats.
Highland Park senior Ja'Corey Robinson leads the city in scoring, rebounding, steals and blocked shots. [File photo/TSN]
SCORING
Name, school Gms. Pts. Avg
Robinson, Highland Park 4 90 22.5
Sanchez, Shawnee Heights 4 71 17.8
Bonner, Seaman 5 82 16.4
Finley, Seaman 5 78 15.6
Williams, Highland Park 4 58 14.5
Rowley, Washburn Rural 5 72 14.4
Ballard, Washburn Rural 5 70 14.0
Paul, Topeka West 4 55 13.8
Guest, Topeka High 5 66 13.2
Pavlik, Cair Paravel 6 77 12.8
Aldridge, Topeka High 5 59 11.8
Kelley, Highland Park 4 45 11.3
Pomeroy, Shawnee Heights 4 44 11.0
Wiltz, Seaman 5 53 10.6
Hales, Highland Park 4 41 10.3
REBOUNDING
Name, school Gms. Total Avg.
Robinson, Highland Park 4 44 11.0
Pomeroy, Shawnee Heights 4 38 9.5
Kelley, Highland Park 4 34 8.5
Sanchez, Shawnee Heights 4 30 7.5
Ford, Topeka West 4 27 6.8
Finley, Seaman 5 28 5.6
Roeder, Cair Paravel 6 33 5.5
Lee, Shawnee Heights 4 22 5.5
Paul, Topeka West 4 22 5.5
Ballard, Washburn Rural 5 27 5.4
Rowley, Washburn Rural 5 27 5.4
Kuta, Hayden 5 26 5.2
Smith, Seaman 5 26 5.2
Hanika, Hayden 5 25 5.0
Hoytal, Washburn Rural 5 25 5.0
Highland Park junior Jamon Wilson (3) leads the city in assists with a 7.8 average. [File photo/TSN]
ASSISTS
Name, school Gms. Total Avg.
Wilson, Highland Park 4 31 7.8
Robinson, Highland Park 4 25 6.3
Pavlik, Cair Paravel 6 35 5.8
Hales, Highland Park 4 19 4.8
Leonard, Washburn Rural 5 20 4.0
Williams, Highland Park 4 16 4.0
Sanchez, Shawnee Heights 4 14 3.5
Bonner, Seaman 5 17 3.4
Ballard, Washburn Rural 5 16 3.2
Finley, Seaman 5 15 3.0
Hoytal, Washburn Rural 5 13 2.6
Rowley, Washburn Rural 5 13 2.6
McFadden, Topeka High 5 12 2.4
Zuniga, Seaman 5 11 2.2
Guest, Topeka High 5 11 2.2
Hastert, Cair Paravel 6 13 2.2
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NOTE: Statistics for city girls basketball teams were compiled by Seaman girls coach Matt Tinsley. The following stats are the first of three statistical reports which will be released during the 2024-2025 season, capped by the season-ending stats.
Washburn Rural sophomore Maddie Vickery leads the city of Topeka in scoring with a 22.6 average. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
SCORING
Name, school Gms. Pts. Avg
Vickery, Washburn Rural 5 113 22.6
Carter, Highland Park 3 64 21.3
Rayton, Topeka High 4 83 20.8
Emmot, Shawnee Heights 4 82 20.5
Becker, Seaman 5 93 18.6
I. McGlory, Topeka West 4 66 16.5
Ramsey, Hayden 4 55 13.8
Gragg, Seaman 5 66 13.2
Meier, Hayden 4 52 13.0
Schmidtlein, Hayden 4 51 12.8
Torrez, Shawnee Heights 4 50 12.5
Esser, Seaman 5 60 12.0
Marshall, Topeka High 4 45 11.3
Hinck, Washburn Rural 5 52 10.4
Broils, Highland Park 3 31 10.3
Highland Park sophomore Pearmella Carter is the city leader in rebounding with a 10.7 average. [File photo/TSN]
REBOUNDING
Name, school Gms. Total Avg.
Carter, Highland Park 3 32 10.7
Benning, Topeka High 4 39 9.8
Ramsey, Hayden 4 37 9.3
Vickery, Washburn Rural 5 46 9.2
Hinck, Washburn Rural 5 44 8.8
Torrez, Shawnee Heights 4 35 8.8
Broils, Highland Park 3 25 8.3
Esser, Seaman 5 39 7.8
Caryl, Topeka High 4 29 7.3
Hall, Topeka West 4 29 7.3
Vega, Shawnee Heights 4 28 7.0
Becker, Seaman 5 31 6.2
Wilhelm, Seaman 5 31 6.2
Keeling, Topeka West 4 23 5.8
Meier, Hayden 4 23 5.8
Seaman senior Anna Becker leads the city of Topeka with a 6.4 assist average. [File photo/TSN]
ASSISTS
Name, school Gms. Total Avg.
Becker, Seaman 5 32 6.4
Brees, Shawnee Heights 4 14 3.5
Hinck, Washburn Rural 5 17 3.4
Sanders, Highland Park 3 10 3.3
Marshall, Topeka High 4 12 3.0
Wilhelm, Seaman 4 14 2.8
Vega, Shawnee Heights 4 11 2.8
Beaton, Seaman 5 13 2.6
Gragg, Seaman 5 13 2.6
Emmot, Shawnee Heights 4 10 2.5
Meier, Hayden 4 10 2.5
Greco, Hayden 4 10 2.5
Vickery, Washburn Rural 5 12 2.4
Schmidtlein, Hayden 4 9 2.3
Hirschi, Washburn Rural 5 11 2.2
Highland Park senior Tahtionna Broils is the city steals leader with 4.7 per game. [File photo/TSN]
STEALS
Name, school Gms. Total Avg.
Broils, Highland Park 3 14 4.7
Hartz, Highland Park 3 14 4.7
Greco, Hayden 4 18 4.5
Schmidtlein, Hayden 4 18 4.5
Sanders, Highland Park 3 13 4.3
Marshall, Topeka High 4 17 4.3
Hinck, Washburn Rural 5 19 3.8
Jones, Highland Park 3 10 3.3
Becker, Seaman 5 14 2.8
Torrez, Shawnee Heights 4 11 2.8
Brees, Shawnee Heights 4 11 2.8
Rayton, Topeka High 4 11 2.8
Vega, Shawnee Heights 4 10 2.5
I. McGlory, Topeka West 4 10 2.5
Miller, Seaman 4 9 2.3
Keeling, Topeka West 4 9 2.3
