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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Traditionally, Hayden football has been a run first offense.
But the Wildcats showed off their passing game Friday night on the way to wrapping up the Class 3A District 4 championship with a 50-16 romp past Perry-Lecompton on Senior Night at Hayden.
Senior Jett Wahlmeier threw for 240 yards and three TDs and also ran for a TD in Hayden's 50-16 win over Perry-Lecompton Friday night. [Photo by Kyle Manthe/TSN]
"I'm not going to let teams put eight guys in the box on us,'' Hayden coach Bill Arnold said. "I mean we've got way too many weapons that can catch the ball and we've got a quarterback that makes good decisions back there so we're going to take what they give us and that was pretty open.''
Hayden senior quarterback Jett Wahlmeier completed 15 of 18 pass attempts for 240 yards and three touchdowns as the Wildcats improved to 6-1 overall and a perfect 3-0 in the district.
"We all get excited when we call a pass play in the huddle and they all rally around me to get them the ball,'' Wahlmeier said.
"We just want to get better as a team and we've got to round out some rough edges. Obviously, this (a district title) is our goal every year and this is the first step to getting a state championship.''
Junior Kade Mitchell caught four passes for 122 yards, including a 61-yard TD, in Hayden's 50-16 district win over Perry-Lecompton. [Photo by Kyle Manthe/Special to TSN]
Senior Jensen Schrickel rushed for 59 yards on six carries and caught four passes for 54 yards, including a 24-yard TD, in Hayden's 50-16 win over Perry-Lecompton. [Photo by Kyle Manthe/Special to TSN]
Wahlmeier hit junior Kade Mitchell for a 61-yard touchdown, senior Jensen Schrickel for a 24-yard TD and senior Treyton Tetuan for a 21-yard score while also connecting with Schrickel for a 2-point conversion and scoring on a 21-yard run to key the Hayden rout.
Hayden capped its game-opening drive with an 8-yard Broderick Desch run (Schrickel 2-point conversion from Wahlmeier) and made it a 15-0 game early in the second quarter on a 3-yard run by junior Jude Krentz before making it a three-score game on Wahlmeier's long TD to Mitchell with 8:03 left in the first half.
Perry-Lecompton (2-5, 1-2) got on the scoreboard late in the half on a disputed 3-yard TD run by junior quarterback Garrett Metcalfe.
Metcalfe fumbled on the play and after a long discussion the officials ruled that Metcalfe had crossed the goal line before the ball came loose.
Metcalfe hit senior Eli Dean for a 2-point conversion to cut the Kaws' deficit to 22-8 but Hayden answered with Wahlmeier's 24-yard TD strike to Schrickel (Becker kick) with 45.9 seconds left in the half to take a commanding 29-8 halftime lead.
Wahlmeier's TD run boosted Hayden's lead to 36-8 with 3:47 left in the third quarter (Becker kick).
Then, after Perry-Lecompton got its second touchdown on a 7-yard run from senior Bronzen Rush on the first play of the fourth quarter, Hayden pulled away to the final margin with Wahlmeier's TD pass to Tetuan and a 44-yard interception return from junior Xander Blasing.
"Offensively we still haven't hit our stride I don't think,'' Arnold said. "There's still room to get to the ceiling. Defensively, I thought we played hard and we played pretty good. They (the Kaws) put you in some bad situations because they spread you out so wide.''
Becker went six of six on extra-point kicks and is now 38 of 38 on the season.
Schrickel led Hayden's rushing attack with six carries for 59 yards while Mitchell caught four passes for 122 yards.
Hayden will close out its regular season next Friday night with a district game at Jefferson West.
HAYDEN 50, PERRY-LECOMPTON 16
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Hayden girls tennis stars Ainzley Zulueta and Emily Sheetz kept their bids for a third Class 4A state championships on Friday at Kossover Tennis Cente while Seaman sophomore Emma Sweeney also advanced to the state semifinals in the 5A state tournament.
Zulueta, the two-time state singles champ and the No. 1 seed this weekend, went 2-0 on Friday without dropping a game and will face the No. 5 seed in a 9 a.m. semifinal while Sheetz, who won back-to-back doubles championships in 2022 and 2023 with '24 Hayden graduate Lauren Sandstrom and will try for a third crown on Saturday with freshman Sophia Wichman.
Hayden senior Ainzley Zulueta will be shooting for her third Class 4A state tennis championship Saturday at Kossover Tennis Center. [File photo/TSN]
Hayden freshman Sophia Wichman (left) and senior Emily Sheetz are the No. 2 doubles seed in the Class 4A state tournament and advanced to Saturday's semifinals with two straight wins on Friday. [File photo/TSN]
Sheetz and Wichman, who are coming off a regional championship and are the No. 2 seed for state and went 2-0 Friday to advance to a 9 a.m. semifinal doubles showdown with No. 6 seed Circle.
Seaman sophomore Emma Sweeney, a state medalist as a freshman, advanced to Saturday's Class 5A singles semifinals. [File photo/TSN]
Sweeney, a state singles medalist as a freshman, went 2-0 in the 5A state tournament on Friday to advance to a 9 a.m. semifinal to face the No. 1 tournament seed.
Seaman junior Molly Gorman, a two-time state medalist in doubles, went 3-1 on Friday in her first state tournament in singles and can still finish as high as fifth place on Saturday.
Seaman's doubles team of senior Sidney Chinn and junior Peyton Henry also went 3-1 on Friday and can still finish as high as fifth in 5A.
Hayden junior Grace Funk in singles and the junior doubles team of Izzy Glotzbach and Avery O'Bray both went 2-1 in their first three matches on Friday.
Topeka High junior singles player Madeline Deters won her first two 6A singles matches on Friday before losing in the quarterfinals to the No. 2 seed.
Washburn Rural seniors Emerie Catlin and Izzy Haggard fell in the 6A doubles quarterfinals.
Both Deters and Catlin and Haggard can still finish as high as fifth place.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Looking to jump start the second half of their 2024 season, Washburn University football returns home for a 1 p.m. contest Saturday against Missouri Southern in Yager Stadium.
Highland Park product Tre Richardson scored Washburn's lone touchdown last Saturday in a 38-7 road loss at Fort Hays State. [File photo/TSN]
Washburn, 1-5 overall, 1-4 in the MIAA, is coming off a 38-7 loss at Fort Hays State last Saturday while Missouri Southern (1-6, 0-5) lost to No. 17-ranked Emporia State at home, 49-30.
Washburn's Chase McCoy is 19th in the nation in sacks and leads the MIAA in sacks at 0.8 per game while Highland Park product Tre Richardson is 29th in the nation and third in the MIAA in all-purpose yards, averaging 129.5 yards per game. Richardson is also 36th in the nation in receiving yards with 471 and 34th in receiving yards per game with 78.5.
The Ichabods have played the seventh-toughest schedule in the nation so far this season.
Washburn leads the all-time series with the Lions, 28-22-1, and has won seven of the last eight in the series.
The Lions broke a seven-game winning streak by the Ichabods with their win in Yager Stadium in the 2023 WU home opener, taking a 30-23 win to break a 10-game losing streak in Topeka.
Washburn has won 19 of the last 22 in the series and 10 of the last 12 overall.
Southern quarterback Luke Sampson is 139 of 249 passing with 12 touchdowns and seven interceptions, passing for 236 yards per game.
Draper Parker leads the Lions with 67 yards per game on 37 catches, averaging 12.8 yards per catch.
Colton Bass leads the team with 54 tackles while adding two interceptions.
De'Shawn Larson leads the Lions in rushing with a 45-yard per game average and two touchdowns.
Missouri Southern is ranked 10th in the MIAA in scoring offense at 19.4 points per game and 10th in the MIAA in scoring defense, allowing 40.3 points a game.
Missouri Southern has the ninth-ranked offense in the league, averaging 326.7 yards of total offense a game, and they are ninth in the MIAA in total defense, allowing 446.4 yards per game.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University volleyball will play the middle leg of its three-week road trip this weekend as the Ichabods face Missouri Southern at 6 p.m. on Friday and Central Missouri at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
Washburn volleyball, 13-4 on the season, will remain on the road this weekend, playing at Missouri Southern and Central Missouri. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
The Ichabods are 13-4 on the year overall and 4-3 in the MIAA.
Washburn went 1-1 last weekend with a sweep over Fort Hays State on Friday before falling 3-0 to No. 3-ranked Nebraska-Kearney on Saturday.
Senior Jalyn Stevenson is the team leader with 189 kills (3.00 per set) while hititng .225 across her 17 starts. She is also second on the squad in digs with 189 and in aces with 21.
Stevenson is 11th in the MIAA in kills and 18th in kills per set while ranking 19th in total digs. The senior has six double-doubles on the year and 10 matches with 10-plus kills.
Junior Alex Dvorak leads the Washburn defense at the net with 80 blocks on the year. She sits fourth on the team in kills with 125 and is second with a .376 hitting percentage. The junior is 26th in the nation and second in the MIAA in blocks per set while ranking 28th nationally in hitting percentage and third in the conference. She has hit over .300 in 13 of 17 matches.
Sophomore Taylor Rottinghaus, a Shawnee Heights product, has a team-high 299 digs (4.75 per set) across 17 matches. She has chipped in 65 assists and served 13 aces.
She is 52nd in the nation and seventh 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.
Corinna McMullen paces Washburn with 385 assists (6.21 per set) through 17 matches with 15 starts. She is also third on the team with 138 digs while serving a team-high 24 aces. The junior is 10th in the MIAA in assists per set, ninth in total assists and fourth in aces. She has five double-doubles on the year and three matches with at least 30 assists.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The Washburn Ichabod women's soccer team will begin a four-game road trip this weekend with matches against the Northeastern State RiverHawks and the Rogers State Hillcats.
The Ichabods, No. 16 spot in the USC National poll, will take on the RiverHawks at 7 p.m. on Friday before facing the Hillcats at 1 p.m.
No. 16-ranked Washburn soccer will put its 7-2-2 record on the line with a pair of MIAA road games this weekend in Oklahoma. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Washburn is 7-2-2 on the season and currently in a tie for second place in the MIAA with a 4-0-1 record. Washburn and Central Missouri sit five points behind league-leader Missouri Western.
Washburn picked up a pair of home conference victories over Missouri Southern and Pittsburg State last week, each by a 3-0 margin.
Missouri Southern held the Ichabods scoreless in the first half, but Washburn exploded for three goals in the second half to earn the victory. Washburn defeated Pittsburg State in the first-ever matchup between the two schools.
Sophomore goalkeeper Hailey Beck, a Washburn Rural product, is tied for second nationally with six shutouts posted in goal. Beck's 0.371 goals against average is good for 14th in Division II, while her 0.852 save percentage places her in a tie for 41st.
Beck currently sits in first place all-time at Washburn in save percentage and goals against average.
Junior Rural grad Belle Kennedy is tied for 13th nationally with three game-winning goals.
For the second week in a row, Kennedy broke a scoreless tie in the second half with her goal in the 58th minute against Missouri Southern. Kennedy split through the Lion defense and received a short pass from Khloe Schuckman, giving Kennedy a quality scoring opportunity.
With her goal against Missouri Southern, Kennedy moved to third in game-winning goals in Washburn history.
