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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
A group of nine former Shawnee County standouts and one rising star who represent seven different sports kick off the TopSports.news' Shawnee County All-Time Top 100 project.
From gymnastics, which is no longer offered at county high schools, to shooting, which was never a KSHSAA sport, to more traditional sports like volleyball, golf, track and field and cross country and the state's fastest growing sport of girls wrestling, TSN's first group of 10 Top 100 honorees includes seven individual state champions as well as three state champions, including four-time Class 6A team volleyball champ Kelsey Lewis of Washburn Rural.
The first group out of the gate also features the youngest Top 100 honoree, Seaman track and cross country star Ryin Miller, who has already earned her spot as one of Kansas' all-time bests in just two years of high school.
TSN SHAWNEE COUNTY ALL-TIME TOP 100 WOMEN’S ATHLETES
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
On Tuesday, July 9, TopSports.news will kick off its three-week project picking its Top 100 greatest women's and men's athletes in Shawnee County history.
After receiving input from current and past media professionals with more than 100 years of combined experience, TSN will kick things off with its No. 91 through 100 picks on its all-time women's list and will continue posting women's and men's picks 10 at a time before culminating with the Women's Top 10 on July 27 and the Men's Top 10 on July 28.
Topeka sports legend Mike Torrez was a world champion with the New York Yankees and won 185 games as a Major League pitcher in an 18-year career. [File photo]
Former Shawnee Heights star Gary Woodland won the 2019 U.S. Open and continues to compete on the PGA Tour. [PGA Tour]
Topeka High grad Chris Barnes is a PBA Hall of Famer, who also helped the Trojans win a state basketball title. [PBA Tour]
Topeka West state champion Sheri Norris was an All-American tennis player at Arizona State before playing on the pro tennis tour. [File photo]
Former Topeka High star NiJaree Canady received national pitcher of the year and player of the year honors as a sophomore pitcher for Stanford. [Stanford Athletics]
Former Washburn Rural multi-sport star Brooklyn DeLeye is currently a star for Kentucky's volleyball team and a member of the U.S. Under21 national team. [Kentucky Volleyball]
County athletes have made their mark in a variety of sports at the high school, collegiate, national amateur and professional levels over the years and TSN's goal is to recognize as many of those athletes as possible.
The only Top 100 requirement is that eligible candidates must have grown up in Shawnee County or attended one of the county's 10 high schools.
While it's an impossible task to honor all the deserving individuals and not everybody will agree with TSN's selections, we hope that you enjoy this trip down memory lane that recognizes local athletes dating from those born in the 1800s to those just beginning to make their mark.
TSN SHAWNEE COUNTY ALL-TIME TOP 100 ATHLETES TENTATIVE SCHEDULE
July 9 -- Women's No. 91 through 100.
July 10 -- Men's No. 91 through 100.
July 11 -- Women's No. 81 through 90.
July 12 -- Men's No. 81 through 90.
July 13 -- Women's No. 71 through 80.
July 14 -- Men's No. 71 through 80.
July 15 -- Women's No. 61 through 70.
July 16 -- Men's No. 61 through 70.
July 17 -- Women's No. 51 through 60.
July 18 -- Men's No. 51 through 60.
July 19 -- Women's No. 41 through 50.
July 20 -- Men's No. 41 through 50.
July 21 -- Women's No. 31 through 40.
July 22 -- Men's No. 31 through 40.
July 23 -- Women's No. 21 through 30.
July 24 -- Men's No. 21 through 30.
July 25 -- Women's No. 11 through 20.
July 26 -- Men's No. 11 through 20.
July 27 -- Women's No.10 through 1.
July 28 -- Men's No. 10 through 1.
Related Stories and Videos
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Former Washburn Rural multi-sport star Brooklyn DeLeye was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player and Best Spiker after helping lead the U.S. Women's U21 National Team to the 2024 NORCECA Women’s U21 Continental Championship gold medal with a 25-12, 25-16, 25-16 win over Puerto Rico on Sunday in Toronto, Canada.
Former Washburn Rural multi-sport star Brooklyn DeLeye was named the most valuable player for Team USA, which won the NORCECA Women’s U21 Continental Championship gold medal Sunday in Toronto. [File photo/TSN]
Washburn Rural graduate Brooklyn DeLeye (front row, fourth from right) helped U.S. Volleyball post a perfect 5-0 record in the NORCECA Women’s U21 Continental Championship, with Team USA winning all five matches in straight sets. [USA Volleyball]
With the title, the U.S. automatically qualified for the 2025 Women’s U21 World Championship.
The U.S., which did not lose a set in five wins in the tournament, finished the gold medal match with significant margins in kills (46-24), blocks (9-2), and aces (7-3).
DeLeye, a 6-foot-2 Kentucky sophomore, and fellow outside hitter Julia Blyashov both reached double-digits and recorded seven kills in the final match.
DeLeye led all players with four aces to finish with 11 points, while Blyashov contributed two blocks and an ace for 10 points.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Former Hayden basketball star Mark Turgeon and current Hummer Sports Park director Annette Wiles are part of the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame's 12-member 2024 induction class, which will be inducted on Sunday, Oct. 13, in Topeka.
Kansas Sports Hall of Fame chairman Jim Dunning, Jr. announced the selection of the 2024 inductees on Sunday.
The class includes seven individuals who have ties to Olympic competition, including a gold medalist, paralympic medalist and the only American to be named a head track and field starter for two Olympic Games.
The group also includes national champion coaches, collegiate champions, All-Americans and American-record holders.
“This is an accomplished group and one the Hall of Fame is extremely proud to recognize,” Dunning said in a release. “They bring a considerable diversity of backgrounds and talents to the Hall. In this an Olympic year, I believe it is wonderful to shine a light on seven inductees with Olympic connections.”
Former Hayden and Kansas basketball standout and longtime college coach Mark Turgeon is part of the 2024 Kansas Sports Hall of Fame induction class. [Maryland Athletics]
Turgeon helped lead Hayden to a pair of state championships, including a perfect 25-0 record in 1983.
Turgeon was an All-Stater for the Wildcats before going to play on four NCAA Tournament qualifiying teams at Kansas and carving out a successful coaching coaching career, including stints at Wichita State and Maryland.
Current Hummer Sports Park director Annette Wiles will be inducted into the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame on Oct. 13. [Fort Hays State Athletics]
Wiles was a two-time NAIA Basketball All-American and NAIA Tournament MVP for Fort Hays State before embarking on a successful coaching career.
The HOF Class of 2024 also includes former University of Kansas football coach Mark Mangino, former Emporia State and Kansas baseball coach Dave Bingham, former Kansas City Chiefs star and NFL Hall of Famer Will Shields, Kansas State star and Olympic high jump gold medalist Erik Kynard, national long jump champ Melvin Lister, American swimming record-holder Ron Neugent, two-time Olympic Games head starter Kelly Rankin, NCAA and Olympic javelin qualifier Scott Russell, Paralympic Games bronze medalist Kevin Saunders and All-America punter and longtime Kansas State assistant coach Sean Snyder.
The 2024 class brings the total number of inductees to 340, with the first class in 1961 including such legends as Dr. James Naismith, Mike Ahearn, Glenn Cunningham, Walter Johnson and Jess Willard.
Created by the Kansas State legislature in 1961, the hall has operated for 63 years and is located at the Wichita Boathouse.
The 2024 induction ceremonies on Oct. 13 will be held in the Sunflower Ballroom at the Hotel Topeka City Center (1717 Southwest Topeka Blvd.), beginning with a 5 p.m. reception followed by the 6 p.m. induction ceremony.
“Topeka as the location for the induction makes sense for several reasons, but the fact that all of our inductees are either from, live or competed collegiately in the Manhattan-Topeka-Lawrence-Kansas City corridor creates an opportunity for more of their family and friends to attend,” Dunning said. “This event is about the honorees, and we want to do as much as we can to make it special for them.”
Tickets for the reception and induction ceremony are $100 and will go on sale Monday, July 15, at www.kshof.org. For ticket packages and sponsorship opportunities, contact Dunning at 316-641-0162.
Hall of Fame capsules:
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
EMPORIA -- Recent Hayden product Carter Charvat was right in the middle of the East's 36-25 Kansas Shrine Bowl victory ... literally.
Hayden product Carter Charvat (middle) blocks for East quarterback Dylan Dunn during Saturday's 36-25 East win over the West at Emporia. [Photo by Mac Moore/KSHSAA Covered]
Charvat was pressed into service at center for the East and played the unfamiliar position for all but the last few plays as the East posted its first Shrine victory since 2018 Saturday night at Emporia State's Welch Stadium.
"It was a great experience, I loved it all,'' said Charvat, a Benedictine signee. "I was playing center, which I hadn't done in a while. I was a linebacker, but I guess center, might as well. They just told me first day, 'Center,' and I was like, 'I'll take it, thank you,' and it worked out.
"It was pretty fun to play alongside those best in the state. That was a lot of fun. They're good and they know a lot and they helped me a lot.''
Hayden's Carter Charvat (54) celebrates with Lyndon's Tanner Heckel and Olathe South's Bryce Noernberg during Saturday's 36-25 East Shrine Bowl win at Emporia. [Photo by Mac Moore/KSHSAA Covered]
Charvat did his part, performing flawlessly on his snaps in the shotgun formation.
"That's scary because you can't really fire off when you're snapping the ball,'' he said. "It was weird, something to get used to for sure.''
The West took the opening kickoff and went up 3-0 on a 42-yard field goal from Blaise Harper of McPherson at the 10:35 mark of the first quarter but the East scored the next 20 points to take control.
Brigham Young University signee Dylan Dunn (Blue Valley Southwest) got the East on the board with a 23-yard touchdown pass to Adrion Seals (Eudora) at the 5:41 mark of the first quarter and Dunn hit Elijah Hakim (Olathe West) for a 2-point conversion to put the East up 8-3.
Tanner Heckel (Lyndon) scored from a yard out (conversion pass failed) to increase the East's lead to 14-3 with 3:13 left in the first and the East opened the second quarter with Dunn's second TD pass of the night, a 25-yarder to Olathe South's Bryce Noernberg (conversion failed) to give the East a 20-3 halftime advantage.
"The first half we kind of put them in the dirt a little bit and I feel like second half we came out a little sluggish but I feel like our defense really picked it up and our offense got it going for us in the second half,'' said Seaman product Callen Barta, who will play at Kansas State.
