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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Since graduating early from Seaman, Callen Barta has devoted most all of his time in Manhattan getting ready for his college football career at Kansas State.
"It's been very big for me, especially going through spring ball with all of them, really building a relationship with them and even with all the coaches and knowing the new defense,'' Barta said. "It's just been a blast, I'm having a lot of fun.''
Seaman product and Kansas State freshman Callen Barta takes a break during Sunday's Kansas Shrine Bowl practice at Ottawa University. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
But Barta is taking a break from his Wildcat prep this week to play for the East in Saturday's Kansas Shrine Bowl at Emporia State's Welch Stadium, jumping at the chance to get an opportunity to play in the state's premier all-star game.
"My dad (Jerry) played in it and he told me what an amazing time he had, and I knew it was for a great cause, so it's a privilege to be out here with all my guys,'' Barta said.
Barta said that KSU coach Chris Kleiman and his staff encourages the Wildcat signees to play in the Shrine Bowl.
"We actually have a lot of K-State guys here -- me, Gus (Hawkins), Kaedin (Massey) and Holden Bass are all here,'' Barta said. "(Coach) actually recommends it because he knows it's for a great cause, too.''
A wide receiver/defensive back, Barta caught 77 passes for 1,441 yards and 17 touchdowns as a senior for Seaman while recording 36 tackles and intercepting five passes, returning one for a touchdown.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
A lot of times when an athlete grows up in one particular city, they can't wait to spread their wings and go out to see what the rest of the sports world has to offer.
But after studying their options, recent Washburn Rural graduate JC Heim and Shawnee Heights product Christian Gonzales decided that home-town Washburn University had everything they were looking for in a college.
Former Shawnee Heights star lineman Christian Gonzales (75) will play for the East in Saturday's Kansas Shrine Bowl. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Former Washburn Rural star JC Heim (right) will play for the East in Saturday's Kansas Shrine Bowl at Welch Stadium. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
So a few weeks after competing for the East in Saturday's Kansas Shrine Bowl at Emporia State's Welch Stadium, Heim and Gonzales will make the short trip to Washburn to begin their first season in an Ichabod uniform.
"Honestly, it's like in my backyard and I feel like if they're giving me the opportunity to go play for them that gives me a chance to represent my city and try to put them back on the map,'' Gonzales said.
Heim said Washburn was also a relatively easy choice for him and twin brother Jaren.
"The biggest thing for me was the community support I had while I was at Washburn Rural and I think that's just going to carry on at Washburn University,'' Heim said. "And just the coaching staff all the way around, how they recruited me, how they talked to me, how they treated me as a person, and not only me but my brother (Jaren), and how they told us we'd fit in.''
Gonzales said that the Heims also influenced his decision to go to WU.
"Once I saw the Heims were going to sign there, I had played youth ball with them from like third grade up, so I knew that once they signed, that it would be the right choice,'' Gonzales said.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Sixteen city girls soccer players have earned All-State honors from the Kansas High School Soccer Coaches Association, including six first-team selections.
Kate Hinck, Washburn Rural
Hayley Legg, Washburn Rural
Washburn Rural, which finished third in Class 6A, is represented on the All-6A first team by junior forward Kate Hinck and senior midfielder Hayley Legg while 4A-1A state runnerup Cair Paravel put senior forward Katherine Keys, sophomore forward KellyAnn Chada, junior forward Zahra Friess and senior defender Trinity Childs on the first team.
Katherine Keys, Cair Paravel Latin
KellyAnn Chada, Cair Paravel Latin
Zahra Friess, Cair Paravel Latin
Trinity Childs, Cair Paravel Latin
Keys was selected as the co-forward of the year in 4A-1A.
Washburn Rural juniors Destiny Higgs and Addyson Kaberline were named to the All-6A second team.
Shawnee Heights junior Isabel Van Fleet and freshman Morgan Robinson were named to the All-5A second team while Hayden sophomore Carsyn Broxterman was a second-team All-4A-1A pick and six city players received All-State honorable mention.
KANSAS HIGH SCHOOL SOCCER COACHES ASSOCIATION ALL-STATE TEAMS
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Linemen, football's unsung heroes, will be in the spotlight on Tuesday, July 9, when Shawnee Heights hosts its annual "Battle of the Bigs'' lineman challenge (5:30 p.m. start).
The "Battle of the Bigs'' is billed as an opportunity for offensive and defensive linemen to have fun over the summer in a non-contact competition.
Appoximately 85 linemen representing seven city and area high schools took part in the 2023 Battle of the Bigs, competing in a variety of drills/activities while vying for individual and team prizes.
Former Shawnee Heights football standout Christian Gonzales participates in last summer's Battle of the Bigs. [File photo/TSN]
Washburn Rural senior Jacob Hawks takes part in the 2023 Battle of the Bigs at Shawnee Heights. [File photo/TSN]
"We do it because the skill guys get to have fun all summer and the linemen, all they do is push sleds and work in the weight room, so we see this as kind of a way to reward the linemen and kind of create that unity in their unit,'' Shawnee Heights coach Jason Swift said. "They always say they have a great time.
"We wanted to do something fun for the linemen. Linemen are always like, 'How come we don't get to do 7 on 7, how come we don't get to do stuff?' So that's why we put this together: 'Let's make it a fun day, non-contact, but competitive. More importantly, we want to help build that brotherhood inside the trenches.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Tanner Gardner holds college degrees from Stanford and Harvard, was an All-American wrestler and a member of multiple halls of fame.
Tanner Gardner, a 2003 Shawnee Heights graduate and 2018 inductee into the Topeka Shawnee County Sports Hall of Fame, took over as the director of athletics at Pepperdine University earlier this month. [Pepperdine Athletics]
Former Shawnee Heights state champion and Stanford All-American wrestler Tanner Gardner is the new director of athletics at Pepperdine University. [Stanford Athletics]
But the new athletic director at Division I Pepperdine University in the beautiful ocean-front city of Malibu, Calif. will never forget where it all started -- in the small close-knit community of Tecumseh at Shawnee Heights High School.
"I'm really grateful to God for this opportunity and it's a place that when you're growing up you never really expected to be,'' Gardner told TopSports.news in a phone interview. "I never envisioned that I'd be the athletic director at Pepperdine. It's like I got one good opportunity after another and kind of parlayed one into the next.''
Gardner took over as A.D. at Pepperdine this month after a successful stint as a deputy athletic director at Rice University, but said he wouldn't be where he is without the values he learned through wrestling and his coaches, including former Heights coach Bob Gonzales.
Gardner was a two-time undefeated Class 5A state champion for the T-Birds, graduating in 2003, and went on to become Stanford's first three-time wrestling All-American before eventually getting into athletic administration.
"I got into wrestling because of Gonzo, I got good at wrestling because of a lot of good coaches and I got to Stanford because I was good at wrestling,'' Gardner said. "It went on from there and now I'm the athletic director at Pepperdine, so I'm really a product of those who helped me get to where I am.
"I'm really grateful for the opportunity to lead such a distinguished department at really a terrific university that has their values straight and has great leadership.''
Gardner said he felt the lure to enter the field of athletic administration after finishing his academic career at Stanford and receiving his master's degree from Harvard.
"When I was in college I never considered that as a career but through some professional and personal experiences once I got out of college I felt a calling to go be an athletic director,'' Gardner said. "I'm a man of faith and I feel like it was a calling from God. That was in 2009 and it took me about five years to get my first job in college athletics but since I've been in it, it felt really affirming and that this is what I wanted to do.''
