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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Seaman's girls tennis team came within a point of capturing the team championship in Tuesday's 12-school Topeka West Invitational at Kossover Tennis Center.
Seaman junior Molly Gorman won the Topeka West Invitational title in No. 2 singles Tuesday at Kossover Tennis Center. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Seaman sophomore Emma Sweeney finished second in No. 1 singles in Tuesday's Topeka West Invitational. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Junior Molly Gorman won the No. 2 singles title and sophomore Emma Sweeney finished second in No. 1 singles to lead the way as the Vikings finished second to Olathe West in the team race by a 44-43 margin.
The Vikings also got a fifth-place finish in No. 2 doubles from Cameron Lux and KatlynHiebsch and a sixth-place finish in No. 1 doubles from Sidney Chinn and Peyton Henry.
Washburn Rural sophomore Julia Katzer posted a runnerup finish in No. 2 singles in Tuesday's Topeka West Invitational. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Washburn Rural, which finished fifth as a team, was led by sophomore Julia Katzer's runnerup finish in No. 2 singles while senior Carolina Chedzoy finished fifth in No. 1 singles.
City champions Emerie Catlin and Izzy Haggard, both seniors, placed third in No. 1 doubles.
Seaman, Shawnee Heights and Topeka West will all compete in next Monday's United Kansas Conference meet at Kossover while Washburn Rural will travel to Junction City next Monday for the Centennial League meet.
TOPEKA WEST INVITATIONAL
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By NICHOLAS GAINEY
Special to TopSports.news
Freshman Camilo Garcia scored three goals and assisted on another as the Topeka West boys soccer team earned an 8-0 United Kansas Conference win over visiting Basehor-Linwood on Tuesday night at Hummer Sports Park.
The host Chargers wasted little time getting on the scoreboard, with Morris Blick finishing off a deflected shot attempt to put Topeka West up 1-0 less than one minute into the game.
The Chargers’ attack continued to apply pressure to the Bobcats’ defense, but goalkeeper CJ Pate continued to turn away attempt after attempt.
Topeka West finally broke through in the 29th minute when Diego Gonzalez-Talavera’s cross found a wide-open D’Ante Smith Dilone’ on the opposite post, who took advantage of the golden opportunity to put the Chargers up 2-0.
Garcia would begin his career night in the 33rd minute, scoring his first goal of the evening off a pass from senior defender Jafet Rodriguez to extend the Charger lead.
Garcia added a second goal in the same minute, finding the back of the net from a pass by classmate Neko Juarez.
The Chargers continued their offensive surge in the 37th minute, with Garcia facilitating fellow freshman Valentin Del Real’s goal to put Topeka West up 5-0, a lead the Chargers would take into halftime.
Topeka West attempted 29 shots in the first half, with 20 coming on goal.
The second half started almost as quickly as the first, with Giancarlo Valenzuela finding Gonzalez-Talavera in the center of the box to give the Chargers their sixth goal less than two minutes into the second half of play.
With the Chargers still dominating control of the ball, Garcia finished off his hat trick with a strike set up by Gonzalez-Talavera, giving the sophomore his second assist of the night.
In the 56th minute, Valenzuela decided to get in on the scoring, taking a pass from Jacob Corwin and launching a long-range shot into the back of the Bobcat net, putting an end to the match.
Topeka West took 40 shots in the contest, with 26 being on target.
Gonzalez-Talavera led the offensive output with nine shots, while Smith Dilone’ had seven attempts.
Pate recorded 18 saves in net for the Bobcats.
Despite the dominant performance, Topeka West coach Josh Kutter wants his team to always keep their guard up.
“We’re working on staying focused one game at a time,” Kutter said. “No matter who we’re playing against, we need to be playing our best soccer.”
With Garcia leading a group of seven underclassmen in the starting lineup, Kutter feels optimistic about the Chargers going forward.
“(Garcia has) always been a very talented player coming in for us, and he’s part of a very talented group,” Kutter said. “Expectations for those guys is just keep working hard, keep doing what they’re doing, and they’re going to do big things.”
Topeka West will have a short turnaround, playing city rival Topeka High on Thursday at Hummer Sports Park.
The Trojans, winners of nine straight, pose a challenge, but Garcia embraces it.
“We just have to train and rest,” Garcia said. “That game is going to be a tough game, but we should be able to win.”
TOPEKA WEST 8,BASEHOR-LINWOOD 0
Basehor-Linwood (0-9-0) 0 0 – 0
Topeka West (5-2-0) 5 3–8
Topeka West -- Goals: Blick, Smith Dilone’, Garcia 3, Del Real, Gonzalez-Talavera, Valenzuela. Assists: Gonzalez-Talavera 2, Rodriguez, Juarez, Garcia, Valenzuela, Corwin.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Coming off a tough 2-1 non-league loss at Hayden on Monday, Seaman's struggles continued over the opening 12 minutes-plus of Tuesday's home United Kansas Conference contest against Shawnee Heights, with the Vikings spotting the T-Birds an early 2-0 advantage.
Junior Kaelon Taylor scored just before halftime to put Seaman in front 4-2 on the way to a 6-3 UKC soccer win over Shawnee Heights. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Seaman senior Bradley Williamson attempts to control the ball in Tuesday's 6-3 UKC soccer win over Shawnee Heights. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
But Seaman got things turned around in a hurry, scoring four straight first-half goals on the way to a 6-3 league triumph, improving to 6-3-0 overall and 4-1-0 in the UKC while handing Shawnee Heights its first league defeat.
Viking senior Kaelin Loy, who contributed two goals an an assist said getting right back in action was a good way to bounce back from Monday's disappointing loss.
"It was very disappointing because that's an in-town rival, but I think it was good that we came back right away,'' Loy said. "We were angry and we were hungry for a win and to play Heights right after was really nice.''
Shawnee Heights junior Camden Granado (6) scored a goal in Tuesday's 6-3 UKC loss to Seaman. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Shawnee Heights (3-4-0, 3-1-0) needed barely a minute to get on the scoreboard with a goal from junior Jason Slay and the T-Birds made it a 2-0 game at the 27:17 mark of the opening half on a goal from junior Camden Granado.
But that seemed to be the wakeup call that Seaman was looking for, with the Vikings needing just 52 seconds to get on the board with a goal from senior Blake Toyne.
Senior Logan Townsend tied things up at the 14:33 mark and Loy broke the tie with the first of his two goals on the night with 3:34 left in the half before junior Kaelon Taylor ended the first-half scoring onslaught at the 1:42 mark.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural and Hayden fell short in their bids for the Centennial League girls golf championship Monday at Shawnee Country Club, with Manhattan successfully defending its league title.
But the Junior Blues and Wildcats both carded season-best team scores en route to second and third-place finishes and both Washburn Rural coach Jared Goehring and Hayden coach Jayson Duncan felt like Monday was a step forward for their teams with postseason rapidly approaching.
Washburn Rural posted a four-person score of 319, five strokes behind Manhattan, with five Junior Blues scoring between 76 and 83 and finishing in the top 11.
Washburn Rural senior Reece Randall tied for third place in Monday's Centennial League tournament, helping lead the Junior Blues to a second-place team finish. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Washburn Rural senior Natalie Peterson tied for sixth in Monday's Centennial League golf tournament. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Senior Reece Randall paced the Junior Blues with a a tie for third, shooting a 76, while senior Natalie Peterson tied for sixth (78), senior Colbey Stead placed 10th (82) and junior Lauren Cox and sophomore Kailyn Petersen tied for 11th place (83).
"Overall, it was a good day,'' Goehring said. "It was our lowest team score of the year and that's what you want to be doing this time of year. We had five girls all at 83 or better today and that's what we're going to need more of going into postseason in a week.''
Hayden junior Lauren Borjon finished second in Monday's Centennial League golf tournament, helping the Wildcats finish third as a team. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Hayden, the defending Class 4A state champion, finished five strokes behind Washburn Rural at 324, led by junior individual runnerup Lauren Borjon, who shot a 75 to finish three strokes behind individual champion Maddie Myers of Manhattan.
"It was good,'' Borjon said of her round. "It started off a little bad, but I finished really strong, and the team played good.
"I think we've come together a lot. I think we're definitely getting a lot closer and the scores are starting to get a lot closer and we're all starting to play really well.''
Hayden senior Addyson Baer posted a fifth-place individual finish in Monday's Centennial League golf tournament. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
The Wildcats also got a fifth-place finish from senior Addyson Baer (77) while junior Izzy Glotzbach tied for eighth (80).
"There's not a lot of teams in this, but there's a lot of quality,'' Duncan said. "You throw us and Rural and Manhattan in a tournament and there's some good things. We played really well and came up a little short, but it's a good sign of things to come.''
Rural's Randall put herself in position to challenge for the individual title most of the day before being derailed by a triple bogey, but still finished just a stroke behind Borjon, tying Emporia junior Elise Eckert for third place, and was happy with the way she battled throughout her round.
"I think I played really well today,'' Randall said. "I think I stayed positive even after that bad hole because I didn't let that snowball. I went to the next hole and I parred. I feel like that was kind of how I was all day. I didn't let a bad hole affect me, I just moved on.''
Randall was also proud with how the Junior Blues played as a team.
"We just put up our lowest team score, which is super exciting,'' Randall said. "Our team goal is to have four counting scores under 85 and we definitely accomplished that today.''
CENTENNIAL LEAGUE GOLF
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Alex Baxter
ALEX BAXTER, Topeka West
A senior golf standout, Baxter shot an 87 to win her first United Kansas Conference individual championship last Tuesday at Lakw Shawnee after finishing third in the conference tournament as a sophomore and second as a junior. Baxter's UKC title came a day after Baxter shot an 88 to tie for eighth place in the city championships.
Maegan Mills
MAEGAN MILLS, Seaman
The Seaman senior was voted the Most Valuable Player in Saturday's seven-school Seaman Invitational volleyball tournament after helping lead the Vikings to the team championship with a perfect 6-0 record. Mills helped Seaman, the defending Class 5A state champion, win all six of its matches in the round-robin event in straight sets as the Vikings improved to 21-1 on the season.
Ryin Miller
RYIN MILLER, Seaman
A junior cross country star, Miller won her fourth individual championship in as many starts this fall on Saturday, posting a five-kilometer time of 17 minutes, 14.1 seconds to win the Gold Division title in the prestigious multi-state Rim Rock Classic at Rim Rock Farm, north of Lawrence. Miller topped two-time Class 5A state champion Katelyn Rupe of Salina Central by just over three seconds (17:17.4).
