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By RICK PETERSON

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Belle Kennedy will go down as one of the top players in Washburn Rural girls soccer history, and the senior remembers most every second of her prep career ... both the good and the bad.

Now the Junior Blues' star midfielder wants to do everything she possibly can to end her career with the best memories yet. 

"I think the thing that really struck me was COVID (in 2020) because we had like a whole season just taken from us, but I can remember games perfectly back to freshman year,'' Kennedy said. "Like I can tell you the game I broke my hip; I can tell you about all of that.''

Washburn Rural senior Belle Kennedy (10) is off to a hot start this spring after earning Class 6A midfielder of the year honors last season. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]

Kennedy, who has already scored six goals in six games this season, made an immediate impact for Washburn Rural as a freshman after moving to Topeka from California, helping the Junior Blues post a runner-up finish in the Class 6A state tournament.

And last season as a junior Kennedy helped lead Rural to a third-place state finish, scoring 17 goals and 12 assists and being named the 6A midfielder of the year.

But Kennedy has also had to work her way through disappointment, missing a chunk of her freshman year with the broken hip she suffered in a game against Seaman and missing all of her sophomore year when COVID-19 wiped out the entire season.

"My friend, Hunter McWilliams, was at my house and the second we heard it -- it was on the news that Governor (Laura) Kelly was shutting down all the school districts -- Hunter and I cried,'' Kennedy said. "We were heart-broken because we were so excited for our season.

"We had lost some strong players but we were still a really good team so we have all this faith and then it was just stripped from us.''

Kennedy and the Junior Blues bounced back with a banner 17-3-1 campaign a year ago and the fourth-ranked Junior Blues are off to a perfect 6-0 start this spring entering Monday's 6:30 p.m. home opener against four-time deending 6A state champion Blue Valley West.

Washburn Rural senior Belle Kennedy has helped the Junior Blues post second and third-place state finishes in her high school career. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]

"Every game I try to remember the little things,'' Kennedy said. "It's different than club because high school is where you make more memories with your friends and your teammates because you're with them all day because you see them at school. So I try to remember every game to the best of my ability.

"You want to play as hard as you can every game because literally every game you play in league is going to be the last time you play that team, at least until playoffs start. People I know from other teams, I'll talk to them after games and it's nice to chat and be able to stand on our field or on their field and just be like, 'This is my last year, I'm going to give it all I've got.' ''

A team captain, Kennedy has set the bar high for the 2022 campaign, including trying to help the Junior Blues to win the program's first-ever state championship.

"Right now the biggest thing, my biggest goal, is to win state,'' Kennedy said. "That's my No. 1 goal because I promised coach (Brian) Hensyel my freshman year that we would do it, or at least try to the best of my ability to do it,'' she said. "A personal goal is just to try to get midfielder of the year again. I got it junior year so if I got it junior year why can't I do it again?''

While all of Kennedy's current focus is on helping the Junior Blues mount a title bid, she is also excited about her future after signing a letter of intent with hometown Washburn University.

"I looked at Washburn and it was not my first choice location-wise, but the second I went in and toured that place I fell in love,'' Kennedy said. "When you were on campus it didn't feel like you were in Topeka. The coach (Davy Phillips), the players, the dorms are great and the athletic facilities are off the charts.''

Kennedy got an added bonus when teammate and fellow All-Stater McWilliams made the decision to join her in the Ichabod fold.

"I think that honestly was like a cherry on top,'' Kennedy said.

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