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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.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
In its 39th year of honoring the nation’s most elite high school athletes, Gatorade has announced Seaman's Ryin Miller as the 2023-24 Gatorade Kansas Girls Track & Field Player of the Year.
Seaman star Ryin Miller has been named the Gatorade Kansas girls track and field athlete of the year for the 2023-2024 school year. [Photo by Jesse Bruner/Special to TSN]
Miller is the first Gatorade Kansas Girls Track & Field Player of the Year to be chosen from Seaman.
The award, which celebrates the nation’s top high school athletes for excellence on the field, in the classroom and in the community, distinguishes Miller as Kansas’ best high school girls track & field athlete.
Miller, who recently completed her sophomore season, won Class 5A titles in the 800 and 1,600-meter runs and finished second in the 3,200 in the state meet at Wichita's Cessna Stadium, leading the Vikings to a fourth-place finish as a team.
Miller ranked among the nation’s top five sophomores nationally in the 1,500 and 3,200 this spring and her personal-best times in the 1500 (4 minutes, 26.58), the 3,200 (10:13.97) and the 800 (2:10.25) all rank in the top three in state history.
“Ryin Miller became the Heartland’s fastest-rising talent over the last 12 months, having made the successful transition from the soccer pitch to the track oval,” said Rich Gonzalez, editor for PrepCalTrack.com. “This spring, she rocketed up the state’s all-time distance lists with head-turning momentum. Also a standout with the school’s basketball and cross-country programs, she built up stamina across the spectrum of sports, which helped make her an exceptional newcomer on the national scene.”
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By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
The Topeka Shawnee County Sports Awards and Hall of Fame induction ceremony turned into a family affair for the Stringers and Chipmans Wednesday night at the Washburn University Memorial Union.
Kelsey (Chipman) Stringer, a former volleyball star at Washburn Rural and Kansas State, speaks during Wednesday's Topeka Shawnee County Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Former Hayden state champion and Kansas State All-Big 12 offensive lineman Nick Stringer was inducted into the Topeka Shawnee County Sports Hall of Fame Wednesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Nick Stringer and Kelsey (Chipman) Stringer became just the second husband and wife to be inducted into the hall of fame, joining James Patrick and Nadira Hazim Patrick, inductees in 2012.
Introducing Kelsey was her brother, Bobby Chipman, while her father Bob Chipman, former Washburn men’s basketball coach and 2018 inductee, looked on. Introducing Nick Stringer was his father, former Hayden High School football coach Tom Stringer.
On top of entering the hall of fame together, the Stringers can look forward to celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary when they wake up tomorrow.
“I’m so proud to be from Topeka and part of Shawnee County,” Kelsey said. “The Chipman family and the Stringer family are people who have been in this community for a long time and are associated with athletics. So, to have the opportunity to go into the hall of fame together and to celebrate our community and our families was a special moment for us.”
