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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural won its sixth straight girls team championship in Saturday's city cross country meet at Kanza Park while Seaman junior star Ryin Miller won her second straight individual title.
Seaman junior Ryin Miller remained undefeated on the season while winning her second straight city title Saturday at Kanza Park. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Seniors Payton Fink (left) and Rylee Ismert finished second and third individually on Saturday to lead Washburn Rural to its sixth straight city girls cross country team championship. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Miller, who set a state record at at Kanza earlier in the fall, won the individual title by a minute and 13 seconds with a five-kilometer time of 17:08.3 on the newly-reworked course while Matt Swedlund's Junior Blues went 2-3-4 and put all of their top five in the top nine places as Rural took the team title by a 24-31 margin over Seaman.
Undefeated on the season, Miller said she didn't feel completely comfortable on Saturday, but was just pleased to get the job done.
"I'm not sad, but I'm not happy either,'' Miller said. "I was hoping to PR (personal record). Obviously they added a little onto the course (approximately 80 meters) and I think that had something to do with it and it was a little hotter than we anticipated I think.
"I just didn't feel my best today, but I still ran a good time so I'll take it.''
Fink, a former city champion, finished second for Washburn Rural in 18:21.2 while senior Rylee Ismert finished third (18:43.8) and junior Emily Graf was fourth (19:15.2).
Senior Brooklyn Nolte finished eighth (19:55.9) and junior Kenzie Maddox ninth (20:28.7) to round out Rural's top five.
Swedlund said he appreciated the tough team battle the Junior Blues got from Seaman.
"That's kind of been the story the last several city meets, you've got Seaman and Washburn Rural up there battling it out,'' Swedlund said. "Our girls are fast but their girls are fast so you've got to get it done on the day.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Saturday was business as usual for Washburn Rural's boys cross country team, which rolled to its 18th straight city boys team title at Kanza Park.
Seaman junior Brody Anderson captured his first city boys individual cross country championship Saturday at Kanza Park. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
But there was also some new in the city championships, with Seaman junior standout Brody Anderson winning his first city individual crown after finishing second in 2023 while freshman Henry Laubach made an immediate impact in his first city meet with a third-place finish to pace the perennial-champion Junior Blues.
Matt Swedlund's Washburn Rural team used its pack mentality to produce a decisive 30-79 margin over Topeka West in the team race, with Laubach leading the way as Junior Blues put three runners in the top five and all of their top five in the top 10 places.
Anderson clocked a winning five-kilometer time of 15 minutes, 36.7 seconds in his second city meet, winning by a 21-second-plus margin over Topeka West senior standout Adrian Lehman (15:58.3).
"It was good,'' Anderson said. "I went out pretty fast. I knew the course changed beforehand (approximately 80 meters longer) and I went out and walked it. It was good to see something a little extra on Kanza and I still ran a great time.
"It's championship season and I've been looking forward to it all season. I came out guns a blazing I feel like and it's paid off and I keep seeing some great times.''
Freshman Henry Laubach finished a team-high third in Saturday's city meet as Washburn Rural won its 18th straight boys team title. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Laubach continued his outstanding rookie campaign for the Junior Blues with a third-place time of 16:17.0.
"He's so natural,'' Swedlund said. "He's just a natural talent and having the middle school right there and being ablt to watch him compete and seeing him in the summers and stuff, he's where we thought he'd be.''
Junior Brooks Kehoe finished fourth (16:38.0) for the Junior Blues while senior Bodie King was fifth (16:42.8), senior Connor Olsen eighth (16:59.0) and freshman Duke Graf 10th (17:17.2) to complete Rural's top five.
"I was happy,'' Swedlund said. "Our two through four, five, that's right where we wanted them to be so I was happy with that.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The Hayden and Seaman girls tennis teams will be out in full force next Friday and Saturday for state tournaments after qualifying their entire teams and capturing regional team championships on Saturday.
Two-time Class 4A state singles champion Ainzley Zulueta won a regional title Saturday at Kossover Tennis Center. [File photo/TSN]
Hayden senior Emily Sheetz, a two-time state champion, won a Class 4A regional doubles championship Saturday at Kossover Tennis Center. [File photo/TSN]
Hayden senior Ainzley Zulueta captured the regional singles title in the Class 4A regional at Kossover Tennis Center while senior Emily Sheetz and freshman Sophia Wichman won the doubles championship as the Wildcats topped Bishop Miege for the team title.
Zulueta and Sheetz earned their shot at their third state titles with Saturday's regional championships.
Zulueta, undefeated on the season, rolled through her four regional matches will dropping a game, posting four straight 6-0, 6-0 victories, including a 6-0, 6-0 win over Bishop Miege sophomore Ella Daniel in the championship match.
Sheetz and Wichman won the doubles title with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Chapman juniors Avery Baer and Meredith Kuntz.
Hayden also got a third-place singles finish from junior Grace Funk and a fifth-place doubles showing from senior Avery O'Bray and junior Izzy Glotzbach.
Funk's lone regional loss came in the semifinals to teammate Zulueta.
Hayden will be back at Kossover for the 4A state meet next Friday and Saturday.
Seaman pulled off the rare feat of compiling a perfect team score for the second straight tournament Saturday at Bonner Springs.
The Vikings, who were perfect in last Monday's United Kansas Conference tournamet, repeated that performance at regionals, with sophomore Emma Sweeney and junior Molly Gorman going one-two in singles and senior Sidney Chinn and junior Peyton Henry winning the doubles championship in an all-Seaman final against sophomores Kaylyn Hiebsch and Camryn Lux.
Seaman sophomore Emma Sweeney captured the singles championship in Saturday's Class 5A regional tennis tournament at Bonner Springs. [File photo/TSN]
Seaman senior Sidney Chinn (right) and junior Peyton Henry won the doubles title in Saturday's Class 5A regional tennis meet at Bonner Springs. [File photo/TSN]
Sweeney, now 27-3 on the season, took a 6-1, 6-1 win over Gorman (26-4) in the singles final while Chinn and Henry (24-5) took a 6-4, 6-0 win over Hiebsch and Lux (6-4, 6-0) as Seaman won the regional team title by a 26-14 win over Piper.
Seaman will compete in the 5A state tournament next Friday and Saturday at the Andover District Tennis Complex.
Lions' Poole qualifies for 3A-1A state meet
Cair Paravel Latin sophomore Madilyn Poole finished as the singles runnerup in the Class 3A-1A regional tournament at Marysville on Saturday, becoming the Lions' first-ever girls state qualifier.
Sophomore Madilyn Poole finished second in Saturday's Class 3A-1A regional at Marysville to qualify for state. [File photo/TSN]
Poole, 19-6 on the season, dropped a 6-4, 6-1 decision to Kansas City Christian senior Lauren Seitz (24-4) in the regional championship match.
Poole scored all six of Cair Paravel's team points as the Lions finished fifth.
Sophomore Madilyn Poole became Cair Paravel's first girls tennis state qualifier Saturday in Marysville. [File photo/TSN]
Poole will compete in the 3A-1A state tournament next Friday and Saturday at Wichita's Riverside Tennis Complex.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The Washburn University women's soccer team pulled away in the second half for a 3-0 home MIAA win over visiting Missouri Southern on Friday night at Yager Stadium.
Washburn junior Belle Kennedy scored what proved to be the game-winning goal in Friday's 3-0 MIAA soccer win over Missouri Southern. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
The Ichabods will close out their two-game homestand at 1 p.m. on Sunday against Pittsburg State.
Both WU and Southern traded possession and scoring opportunities in the early stages of Friday's game.
The Lions (1-6-4 overall, 0-3-2 MIAA) nearly got on the board first, but Washburn sophomore goalkeeper Hailey Beck made a difficult save in the top left corner of the goal off a shot from Missouri Southern's Presley Whitmire in the 12th minute.
Beck, a Washburn Rural product, made another impressive save in the 30th minute, knocking a long-range attempt from Whitmire over the crossbar to keep the game scoreless.
The first half would end in a 0-0 defensive deadlock, despite the Ichabods (6-2-2, 3-0-1) holding an 11-3 advantage in shot attempts.
Much like last Friday's contest at Nebraska-Kearney, the Washburn offense came alive in the second half.
In the 58th minute, a pass from Khloe Schuckman split the Lion defense and found an open Belle Kennedy, who found the back of the net for the second game in a row.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University volleyball posted its fourth straight win and ninth sweep of the season on Friday, dispatching Fort Hays State in three sets on Friday night.
Junior Bella Limback led Washburn with 12 kills in Friday's 3-0 MIAA sweep over Fort Hays State. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
The Ichabods will face their first ranked opponent of the season on Saturday, taking on No. 3-ranked Nebraska Kearney on the road.
After taking Friday's first set, 25-22, Washburn (13-3 overall, 4-2 MIAA) worked quicker in each of the next two sets, winning 25-21 in the second and 25-15 to close out the night.
Austin Broadie led off the match with a kill and five points later a slam from Keilah Rivers made it a 5-1 set.
The Ichabods doubled up the Tigers (9-6, 1-5 MIAA) at 14-7 after an ace from Seaman product Maddie Steiner.
Fort Hays State began to make up ground, pulling within one on two occasions before finally tying the set at 20 after a 4-0 run.
After the set was tied at 22 Washburn took advantage of an attacking error and won the final three points as Emma Williams wrapped up the set with an ace.
In the second set a string of five points in a row for the Ichabods put them up 6-2 early, capped off by a block from Rivers and Bella Limback.
The Tigers pulled within one before another Washburn run, this time of six in a row featuring two kills each for Jalyn Stevenson and and Alex Dvorak.
The Ichabods hit .257 as a team in the set with 16 kills as the offense held off a late run down the stretch with Limback ending the set on a kill.
Back-to-back aces from Stevenson put Washburn up 7-3 to start the third set.
