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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Seaman junior cross country standout Brody Anderson and Hayden junior golf standout Lauren Borjon have been selected by the Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency as the Rising Stars of the Week.
The Dan Key Agency will recognize top Shawnee County underclassmen throughout the bulk of the 2024-2025 school year.
Here’s a brief look at the accomplishments of Anderson and Borjon over the past week:
Seaman junior Brody Anderson has been named the Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency male Rising Star of the Week after winning the individual title in last week's UKC cross country championships. [File photo/TSN]
BRODY ANDERSON, Seaman
Anderson followed up his city championship with the individual title in last Thursday's United Kansas Conference meet at Pierson Park in Kansas City, Kan.
Anderson won the UKC title in a five-kilometer time of 16 minutes, 21.42 seconds, leading the Vikings to a second-place team finish behind conference champion De Soto.
In just his second year of high school cross country, Anderson captured his first UKC title after winning his first city crown a week earlier and has posted five individual wins on the season.
Hayden junior Lauren Borjon has been named the Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency female Rising Star of the Week after leading the Wildcats to their second straight Class 4A girls golf title. [File photo/TSN]
LAUREN BORJON, Hayden
Borjon posted a career-best third-place individual finish in Tuesday's Class 4A girls golf tournament at Hesston, leading Hayden to its second straight double-digit team championship.
Borjon finished third with a 36-hole total of 157, carding rounds of 76 and 81 as the Wildcats repeated as the team champ by a 15-stroke margin over runnerup Wellington (698-713).
The Hayden standout is now a three-time state medalist, finishing 20th as a freshman for the third-place Wildcats and placing 15th as a sophomore as Hayden won the team crown by 37 strokes.
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By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
A wild night from start to finish ended with a 38-28 Highland Park win over Kansas City-Washington that gave the Scots second place in the Meadowlark Conference.
Senior Jamon Wilson had a huge night for Highland Park in Thursday's 38-28 Meadowlark Conference win over KC-Washington. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Sophomore G'Honi Montgomery (35) celebrates a touchdown with Highland Park teammate Tremaine Savage Thursday night in the Scots' 38-28 win over KC-Washington. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Late in the first period, with the Scots leading 6-0 on a touchdown run by G’Honi Montgomery, both teams were sent to the locker rooms and fans were sent to their cars by a severe thunderstorm. They returned at 8:55 p.m. after an hour and a half delay.
Highland Park coach Jermaine Monroe praised the Scots for how they handled the disruption.
“At first, because we thought it was only going to be 30 minutes, we told the boys to be quiet, leave your cell phones away, just stay focused on the game,” Monroe said. “But when we knew it was going to be longer than an hour, we let them take their shoulder pads off, call their parents to make sure everything was OK.
"Then we put some music on, had everyone jump around and have some fun, just keeping the energy high. And that’s what they did. They came out with a lot of energy after that.”
Jamon Wilson sent a jolt of energy throughout the stadium whenever he touched the ball.
When Highland Park needed a big play, Wilson came through. After recording his first score from 14 yards out, he bailed the team out of a jam midway through the second period. Following a botched kickoff return, the Scots found themselves pinned at their 1-yard line. But after giving the Scots some breathing room on his first carry of the drive, Wilson outraced the Wildcats 94 yards to the end zone on the second play of the drive.
Wilson took a short pass from Dontrail Fox 25 yards for the Scots’ fourth touchdown of the first half, increasing the lead to 26-6 as the clock struck 10 p.m.
Early in the second half, the Scots increased their lead to 32-6 on a 10-yard touchdown run by Wilson. Even when the Wildcats responded with a touchdown late in the third quarter, it appeared the Scots would cruise to an easy victory. Both teams began inserting substitutes in the fourth quarter.
But with Highland Park leading 38-12 midway through the final period, things went a little crazy. KC-Washington quarterback Savion Stone began throwing and running for big chunks of yardage, racking up two Wildcat scores in just a few minutes time.
With the outcome no longer in doubt, the point spread became the issue. Both teams were battling for playoff seeding. The battle raged until 11:30 p.m., with the Wildcats attempting on-side kicks and the Scots throwing long passes rather than taking a knee to run out the clock.
“I wanted us to just focus on the down that we’re in, not focus on championships or seeding or anything like that. Just think about the next play,” Monroe said. “But then when it got down to where they cut it to 10 and we needed to win by 13, that’s when we started thinking playoffs.”
The Scots failed to gain the desired 13-point margin and will await their playoff seeding. But with second place in the Meadowlark Conference locked up, Wilson took a moment to reflect on how far the Highland Park program has come.
The Scots went 0-9 in Wilson’s freshman season and owned a losing streak that stretched back eight years. The fact they are concerned at all about playoff seeding is monumental.
“It’s been a great experience changing history,” Wilson said. "When I first got here, it was definitely tough. The buy-in was tough. And then we finally got guys to buy in and we changed the culture. This was a big win for the seniors being our last game with playoff seeding playing a huge factor.”
HIGHLAND PARK 38, KC-WASHINGTON 28
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural and Blue Valley North battled to an 0-0 deadlock over 80 minutes Thursday at McElroy Field before Mother Nature won the overtime.
With severe storms rapidly approaching, the Junior Blues and Mustangs completed regulation before the decision was made to call the game, resulting in a scoreless tie.
Washburn Rural senior Ben Buesing (right) and Blue Valley North's Will Matthews follow the flight of the ball Thursday night at McElroy Field. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Washburn Rural senior Tyler Faurot (3) pressures Blue Valley North's Beau Chiaverini in Thursday's 0-0 tie at McElroy Field. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Washburn Rural finished its regular season 11-2-3 while Blue Valley North finished 6-8-2 on the year.
The Junior Blues will either be the No. 3 West seed in Class 6A and will be at home for a regional semifinal at 6 p.m. on Monday. Rural's Senior Night festivities were pushed back to Monday.
Obviously, Washburn Rural coach Brian Hensyel would have preferred to have had a chance to pull out a victory in overtime Thursday, but he understood the decision.
"We played 80 minutes, that's a full game,'' Hensyel said. "Yeah, the overtime is nice to try to settle it but it was a pretty fair, even battle and each team had their chances with the wind and neither team could find the back of the net .
"It was a good challenge for us right before the playoffs to play a good Kansas City team, so we're happy with it.''
Washburn Rural senior Ryder Nikkel advances the ball in Thursday's 0-0 deadlock with Blue Valley North. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Senior Matthew Houser executes a header in Thursday's Washburn Rural 0-0 tie with Blue Valley North. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Now the Junior Blues, third in 6A last season, will try to gear up for the start of postseason.
"I still feel like we haven't reached our peak and haven't put it all together for an entire game yet,'' Hensyel said. "You know the performances are fine, but in the playoffs we've got to find another gear.
"We kind of play in spurts and I'm not sure we've played a full 80 minutes the entire season, so we're going to have to do that next week. It's a brand new slate and it doesn't really matter what our record is. You go to the tournament and see what happens.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University volleyball will face Emporia State for the second time in 18 days at 3 p.m. on Saturday to finish a five-match road trip.
Washburn volleyball will close out a road swing at Emporia State on Saturday. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
The Ichabods are 15-4 overall and 6-3 in the MIAA after overcoming a pair of 0-1 deficits last weekend to come away with a 3-2 win over Missouri Southern and a 3-1 victory against Central Missouri.
Senior Jalyn Stevenson leads Washburn with 217 kills while hititng .219 across 19 starts. She is also second on the squad in digs with 221 and in aces with 24.
Stevenson is eighth in the MIAA in kills and 15th in kills per set while ranking 18th in total digs. She has seven double-doubles on the year and 12 matches with 10-plus kills.
She ranks 19th in program history with 1,208 career kills. She will move into 18th with four more kills. She is also eighth on the program charts in aces and 20th in digs. She needs four aces to move up to eighth.
Alex Dvorak leads the Washburn defense at the net with 93 blocks on the year. She sits third on the team in kills with 140 and is second with a .363 hitting percentage.
The junior leads the MIAA in both blocks and blocks per set while ranking seventh and 16th nationally, respectively. She is also 39th in the nation and third in the conference in hitting percentage. In 13 of 19 matches she has recorded at least five blocks.
Shawnee Heights product Taylor Rottinghaus has a team-high 343 digs across 19 matches. She has contributed 70 assists and served 18 aces. The sophomore is eighth in the MIAA in digs per set while ranking eighth among conference players in total digs. She has at least 10 digs in every match.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The Highland Park Alumni Association will host its 2024 Hall of Fame and Sports Wall of Honor induction ceremony at 4 p.m. Saturday in the high school library.
Chauncey McBride, a 1988 Highland Park graduate, and 2002 Hi Park grad Grant Gould will be inducted into the Highland Park Sports Wall of Honor while Valerie Patterson, a 1973 Highland Park graduate, and the late Susan (Gresham) Guffey, a 1966 grad, will be inducted into the school's Hall of Fame.
Hall of Fame biographies:
Valerie Patterson
Hall of Fame
Valerie Patterson
Educator (Class of 1973)
Valerie was born and raised in Topeka as one of four children Vickie, Lori and Melvin Jr. of Melvin Sr. and Maxine Patterson where they lived in the eastern part of the Oakland community. Val graduated from Highland Parking High school in 1973 as well as all of her siblings. She attended Topeka Public Schools beginning at Washington Elementary, Dawson and State Street Elementary Schools, transitioning to Holliday Junior High and then went on to Highland Park High School. While at Highland Park she was involved in cheerleading, volleyball and track and field as well as serving on the Human Relations Board. Valerie was named Highland Park’s Homecoming Queen in 1973.
After graduating from Highland Park in 1973 she attended Emporia State University where she received a Bachelor of Secondary Education with an emphasis in Physical Education in 1977 and received her Master’s in Administration in 1996. Valerie’s entire career has been spent working in the Topeka Public School District. She stated that she thoroughly enjoyed Teaching Physical Education at Highland Park Central Elementary, Lowman Hill Elementary and at Highland Park High School. While teaching she coached at both Highland Park Junior High and Highland Park High School that gave her added pleasure to her career. In 1996 the world of administration grabbed hold of her and she served from 1996 – 2015 at Topeka West High School, Highland Park Central, Topeka Public School Administration, Highland Park High School, Quincy Elementary and finally at Topeka High School.
Over the years she has received various awards, honors and recognitions that include Topeka Public School’s Administrator of the Year in 1996, Commencement Speaker for Topeka West’s Class of 2000, City of Topeka’s Human Relations Commission’s Black History Month Honoree in 2005, Emporia State University’s Bridge Builder’s Forum, Leadership Greater Topeka Class of 2002, Topeka Public School’s First African American Female Coach 2024 as part of the Brown v Board of Education 70th year celebration.
Valerie is retired and enjoys spending time with her daughter, Simone throughout the 33 years of her life. In addition she has three niece’s Courtney Starnes (Corey), Chelsey Sudduth and MacKenzi Patterson who stay busy with their kids, hobbies and college. She admits that at her age she also has a great niece Cami and nephew Christian who enjoy the things she enjoyed the most -Sports!!! She states that she is so proud and blessed for her family! She does love Flowers, Flowers, and Flowers - both inside and outside. When she is not watching or attending sporting events or handling her flowers, she is spending time renovating the Patterson family home for its next generation. Valerie’s community involvement continues with her teaching Sunday school at New Mount Zion Baptist Church, participates in Commit to Community Service Projects with her Sorority- Delta Sigma Theta, and is a board member of the Topeka Public Schools Foundation and recently served as their past president. When she finds down time, she enjoys watching HGTV, a variety of movies and tons of sports.
Susan Guffey
Hall of Fame
Susan (Gresham) Guffey
Philanthropist (Class of 1966)
The late Susan (Gresham) Guffey dreamed big and showed it, taking each and every opportunity she could find as a teen. As a Scot at Highland Park High School in the 1960s, she took part in as many clubs as possible. She cheered on the sidelines for the football and basketball teams as part of the Pep Club and Bonnie Lassie Drill Team, acted in school plays alongside her thespian friends, and spoke up for her classmates as part of the Student Congress. Susan served as a member of the Highlander yearbook and Bagpiper newspaper staffs, selling ads and leading as editor during her senior year of high school. Her efforts and leadership earned her a seat in Quill and Scroll, the international honor society for high school journalists. In opening her eyes to the world, Susan helped host international students as part of the American Field Service student organization.
After graduating in 1966 from Highland Park, Susan served in the Navy for a couple of years as a photographer. She then returned to Topeka to work as a reporter and photographer for local papers, before getting a position with the Associated Press. Her work and experiences took her all over the world. She was briefly married to Thomas Guffey and had a son Sean. Susan later married Gene Priestman, a veteran she had met during her military career who had founded the Scitor Corporation, a prominent defense and national security contractor. The couple’s work frequently took them around the world. Her son shared that “They were happy, friendly people.” The couple lived a quiet happy life in their later years frequently donating to various causes, such as animal shelters, libraries, children’s museums and numerous startup nonprofit businesses. After her husband’s death, Susan kept up the couple’s philanthropic efforts with intermittent donations to Highland Park High School over the past decade. Former principal Dale Cushinberry recalled that he met her as she toured the school. When she asked how she could help, he said the school had a goal of having every student read three modern novels. Cushinberry said the problem was that the school didn’t have three modern novels. The next week, he received a check to meet that need, and then some. Other gifts followed, one for $200,000.
