Seaman Vikings

By RICK PETERSON                                                                                                           

TopSports.news

Seaman sophomore boys cross country standout Brody Anderson and Hayden sophomore girls golf standout Lauren Borjon and have been selected by the Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency as the Rising Stars of the Week.

The Dan Key Agency will recognize top Shawnee County underclassmen throughout the bulk of the 2023-2024 school year.

Here’s a brief look at the accomplishments of Anderson and Borjon over the past week:

Seaman sophomore Brody Anderson has posted three straight top-eight individual finishes to open the 2023 cross country season. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

BRODY ANDERSON, Seaman 

Anderson continued his hot start to the 2023 cross country season, posting a city-best eighth-place finish among 82 runners in last Saturday's Shufelberger Top City Classic at Washburn Rural.

Anderson clocked a five-kilometer time of 16 minutes, 33.1 seconds to lead three city runners among the top 15 individual finishers.

Anderson began his sophomore season with a fifth-place finish in the Manhattan Invitational and led the Vikings to the team title in the Joe Schrag Invitational with a third-place finish.

Lauren Borjon finished second in a playoff in Monday's city girls golf tournament, helping lead the Wildcats to the team title in the city and Topeka West Invitational meets. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

LAUREN BORJON, Hayden

Borjon helped lead Hayden to the team title in Monday's Topeka City Girls Golf Championship at Western Hills Golf Course, with the Wildcats winning by a 322-335 margin over Washburn Rural to end the Junior Blues' 10-year championship run.

Borjon shot a 76 to tie Topeka High's Avery Zimmerman for the individual title, with Borjon finishing second in a playoff.

Borjon tied with Zimmerman for second in the Topeka West Invitational, which was held in conjunction with the city meet, as Hayden also won the team championship in that meet by a 322-333 margin over Blue Valley West. 

By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news

(All games at 7 p.m.)

FRIDAY GAMES

 Washburn Rural senior quarterback Branton DeWeese and the Junior Blues will face a huge test Friday against defending Class 6A state champion Manhattan at Bowen-Glaze Stadium. [File photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]

MANHATTAN (3-0, 1-0 Centennial League) at WASHBURN RURAL (3-0, 0-0 Centennial League) 

This figures to be one of the state's top matchups of the week, with Manhattan the defending Class 6A state champion and winner of 16 straight games dating back to 2021 while Washburn Rural is coming off back-to-back eight-win seasons and is off to a perfect start this fall. Washburn Rural notched a 51-15 non-league road win at Piper last Friday while Manhattan rolled to a 49-7 non-league win over Hays and has outscored its first three foes by a 137-45 margin. Friday's game will be the Centennial League opener for Washburn Rural.  

Hayden senior Finn Dunshee has rushed for 526 yards on just 25 carries for the 3-0 Wildcats while scoring eight total touchdowns. [File photo/TSN]

HAYDEN (3-0, 0-0 Class 3A District 4) at JEFFERSON WEST (1-2, 0-0 Class 3A District 4)

Hayden, which has outscored its opposition by a 146-37 margin, stayed unbeaten with a 49-23 non-league win at Rossville last week and will open Class 3A district play Friday night. Senior Finn Dunshee has rushed for 526 yards and seven touchdowns on just 25 carries and added an eighth touchdown on a pick six. Junior quarterback Jett Wahlmeier has completed 24 of 43 passes for 358 yards and four TDs while junior Jensen Schrickel has 10 catches for 132 yards and three touchdowns. Jeff West is coming off a 50-14 loss to Sabetha.  

LYNDON (3-0, 0-0 Eight-Man-I District 2) vs. CAIR PARAVEL LATIN (2-1, 0-0 Eight-Man-I District 2)

At Hummer Sports Park

Cair Paravel has posted back-to-back lopsided victories that ended by way of the 45-point spread rule, including a 62-8 win over Marais de Cygnes Valley last Friday. The Lions have outscored their past two opponents by a 122-20 margin. Lyndon is undefeated on the season, including a 70-24 romp past Frankfort last week. Friday's game opens Eight-Man Division II district play for both schools. Jase Pavlik completed 9 of 11 passes for 132 yards, 3 touchdowns and two 2-point conversions in the CPLS win over Marais des Cygnes while Jesiah Bonura rushed for 69 yards and two TDs on just four carries and Evan Will had two carries for 65 yards and two TDs.

 By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news b

The annual Topeka City Girls Tennis Championships were in the home stretch Thursday before lightning and eventually rain caused the completion of the meet to be pushed back to Monday at Kossover Tennis Center.

The city meet is scheduled to resume at 3 p.m. Monday.

Shawnee Heights junior Jette Glasenapp was playing for the city championship in No. 1 singles Thursday when lightning and rain pushed back the tournament to Monday. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Washburn Rural junior Carolina Chedzoy was playing for the city title in No. 1 singles when the tournament was postponed because of inclement weather. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

The No. 1 singles and doubles championships were well under way, with Shawnee Heights junior Jette Glasenapp facing Washburn Rural junior Carolina Chedzoy in the No. 1 singles final and Hayden senior Lauren Sandstrom and junior Emily Sheetz taking on Seaman senior Katie Krumins and sophomore Molly Gorman in the No. 1 doubles final.

By Todd Fertig 

TopSports.news

Seaman volleyball cruised to two wins at the Vikings' home triangular Tuesday and added an important piece to their team in the process.

The Vikings handled Shawnee Heights and Topeka West, continuing their mission to return to the state tournament for the third consecutive season.

Seaman senior Brooklyn Gormley serves the ball during the Vikings' UKC sweep over Shawnee Heights and Topeka West Tuesday at Seaman. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

Seaman senior Taylin Stallbaumer sets the ball during Tuesday's UKC triangular at Seaman. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

“I feel like we’re really progressing well. We’re still not completely flowing together, but I think it will come,” Seaman senior Brooklyn Gormley said. “We’ve got to just keep working and know that we can beat any team if we play together and play our game.”

“I think we just need to put it all together all the time,” added Seaman coach Tatiana Dowling. “We do something really good one night, then something else really great the next night. We just need all the parts to come together and make it a whole.”

Gormley said that the 25-13-, 25-11 victory over Shawnee Heights in particular demonstrated progress by the Vikings.

“We’ve been really going at it lately in practice, working to keep our energy up,” Gormley said. “The last time we played Shawnee Heights we were kind of down and it was a back-and-forth match. This time I think we really stuck with it and pushed and made it our speed.”

 By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Washburn Rural had ruled the city's girls golf roost for a full decade, but Monday's city tournament belonged to Hayden and Topeka High senior Avery Zimmerman, who earned the team and individual championships at Western Hills.

Hayden girls golf poses for a team picture after winning the city girls golf championship by a 322-335 margin over Washburn Rural Monday at Western Hills. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Topeka High senior Avery Zimmerman won the city girls golf title Monday at Western Hills on the first playoff hole. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Hayden halted Washburn Rural's run of 10 straight city team titles by a 322-335 margin over the Junior Blues while Zimmerman won her first city individual title on the first hole (No. 1) of a sudden death playoff with Hayden sophomore Lauren Borjon after both players carded five-over-par 76s.

Zimmerman will play soccer in college at Emporia State and said Monday's win was a good start towards finishing off her high school golf career with a bang.

Kerry Zimmerman moves in to congratulate daughter Avery Zimmerman after her sudden death win in Monday's city girls golf tournament at Western Hills. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Kerry and Avery Zimmerman exchange a hug after Avery won the city girls golf title in a playoff Monday at Western Hills. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

"I'm so happy,'' Zimmerman said. "It just feels like all my hard work is finally playing off and I didn't have the best round last week so this week having a good round just makes me really happy. This is one of the most important ones.''

 By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

A change in racing strategy led to Washburn Rural cross country standout Payton Fink's first individual victory of the 2023 season in Saturday's Shufelberger Top City Classic at Rural.

Washburn Rural junior Payton Fink (600) runs with Junction City senior Lorna Rae Pierce (310) and Seaman sophomore Ryin Miller (498) in Saturday's Shufelberger Top City Classic at Rural. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Instead of jumping out in front early, the Rural junior held back a little in the early stages of the five-kilometer event before taking control over the final mile en route to a nine-second win in 18 minutes, 10.1 seconds, one of three runners in the top 10 for the second-place Junior Blues.

"We talked about this before the race how the last meets I've kind of gone out too fast and then fallen behind so I just tucked myself behind and about the two-mile where all the uphills were I decided to make my move and tried my best to hold it,'' Fink said. 

Junction City senior Lorna Rae Pierce was the individual runnerup in 18:19.6 while Seaman sophomore Ryin Miller finished third in 18:36.6.

Fink said she felt comfortable with her new strategy.

"I felt really relaxed about the two-mile,'' Fink said. "My legs felt good, like they had something left in them, so it was nice to have a little left for the last mile.''

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Shawnee Heights was down, but certainly not out in Friday's United Kansas Conference clash with city rival Seaman at Wetter Field.

Down by 21 points early in the third quarter, the T-Birds mounted an impressive comeback, capped by a 10-yard touchdown run from senior quarterback Ryeki Tuley that gave Shawnee Heights a 33-30 overtime win over the Vikings.

Shawnee Heights senior Jayden Holly heads upfield after hauling in a pass from T-Bird quarterback Ryeki Tuley Friday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

Shawnee Heights sophomore David Wakes looks for running room Friday night against Seaman. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

"We had a designed QB keeper to the left side and I had my running back blocking for me and he told me to just hit that edge and go,'' Tuley said. "I had some fantastic blocking by my tight end and my running back and it was wide open. Anybody could have ran it in, really. It was fantastic.''

By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news

(All games at 7 p.m. unless noted)

THURSDAY'S GAME

LIBERAL (2-0) vs. TOPEKA HIGH (0-2)

At Hummer Sports Park

Topeka High is coming off a 55-19 loss to reigning Class 6A state champion Manhattan in the Trojans' Centennial League opener last Thursday while Liberal improved to 2-0 with a 47-14 win over Emporia. Topeka High scored its first touchdowns of the season in the Manhattan loss, with Isaiah Kincade catching a 70-yard TD pass from Zane Smith, Malachi Murph scoring on a 99-yard pick-six and Jayden Norman catching a 26-yard TD pass from CJ Ross. 

Seaman junior quarterback Max Huston has thrown for 12 touchdowns in two games for the 2-0 Vikings, including seven TDs in last week's 59-6 UKC win over KC-Turner. [File photo/TSN]

 FRIDAY GAMES

SEAMAN (2-0, 2-0) at SHAWNEE HEIGHTS (2-0, 2-0) 

Seaman posted its second straight lopsided United Kansas Conference decision last Friday, a 59-6 home win over Kansas City-Turner, while Shawnee Heights improved to 2-0 with a 26-25 UKC win at Lansing. Seaman junior quarterback Max Huston threw for seven touchdowns in the Vikings' win over Turner and now has 12 TD passes on the year, while Shawnee Heights senior quarterback Ryeki Tuley threw for 343 yards and two touchdowns on a 24 of 37 performance and also ran for a TD in the T-Birds' win over Lansing.

Hayden senior Finn Dunshee (33) rushed for 154 yards and scored three touchdowns in the Wildcats' 56-7 win over Silver Lake last Friday. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

Hayden senior Jude Konrade (52) is congratulated by his teammates after scoring a defensive touchdown in Friday's 56-7 win over Silver Lake. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

HAYDEN (2-0) at ROSSVILLE (1-1)

Hayden rolled to a 56-7 home win over traditional state power Silver Lake last Friday while Rossville dropped a 26-20 decision to Riley County, with the Falcons scoring the game-winning touchdown with three and a half minutes left at Rossville. Hayden senior Finn Dunshee rushed for 154 yards and three TDs on just eight carries against Silver Lake, scoring on runs of 7, 56 and 29 yards, while senior Jude Konrade scored a defensive touchdown on a 24-yard fumble return. Rossville rallied from a 12-0 deficit to knot the game at 20 before Riley County pulled out the win. 

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Shawnee Heights boys soccer coach Nic Simons felt like his team was knocking at the door for most of Thursday's United Kansas Conference match at Seaman.

Shawnee Heights junior Owen Phillips (middle) is mobbed by his teammates after scoring the T-Birds' first goal in a 3-0 United Kansas Conference soccer win at Seaman. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

And although it took longer than Simons would have preferred, the T-Birds finally knocked the door down, scoring all three of their goals over the final 16:43 to take a 3-0 shutout win over the host Vikings.

 "The whole game we thought we were kind of just knocking on the door,'' Simons said. "We had a couple of goals called out of the net that were offside and at halftime we told the boys, 'Keep battling, keep battling.' We've been injured for the first part of the season and I think the boys just kind of came out ready to work and I really felt like tonight, especially in the second half, we just out-worked them.''

Shawnee Heights sophomore Juan Garcia is congratulated by his teammates after giving the T-Birds a 2-0 lead in Thursday's 3-0 soccer win at Seaman. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Shawnee Heights, which improved to 2-4-0, got the only goal it would need with just under 17 minutes remaining on a shot from junior Owen Phillips and added insurance goals from sophomore Juan Garcia and junior Jackson Freeman over fhe final four and a half minutes.

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

After scoring just three goals over its first four games, Seaman's boys soccer team doubled that total Wednesday night, rolling to a 6-0 shutout victory over United Kansas Conference foe Topeka West at Hummer Sports Park.

Jace Brake (12) scored Seaman's first goal and also had a pair of assists in the Vikings' 6-0 soccer win over UKC foe Topeka West Wednesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

Blake Toyne celebrates one of his two goals in Seaman's 6-0 soccer win over Topeka West Wednesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

The Vikings, who won their second straight game to improve to 2-3, got the only goal they would need from Jace Brake just 7:42 into the game and held a 2-0 advantage after a goal from Blake Toyne with 14:13 left in the first half.

The score remained 2-0 at halftime before Seaman added four goals in the second half to turn the game into a rout.

"We had a couple of games where the score was lopsided against us,'' Seaman coach Tim Nussbaum said. "It's kind of nice to have a game where we got the score a little lopsided.

"We defended very well first off and after we defended well then you can create opportunities and I thought we created a lot of good opportunities tonight.''