By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
State tournament teams Seaman, Washburn Rural and Hayden combined to put 10 players on the TopSports.news 2024 All-Shawnee County volleyball first team, led by Seaman two-time player of the year Maegan Mills.
Seaman, which finished second in Class 5A this fall after winning the state title in 2023, put a county-high four players on the all-county first team, with Mills joined by fellow Viking seniors Campbell Chabot, Ava Esser and Kinley Wilhelm while Viking coach Tatiana Dowling, a Seaman grad, was named the coach of the year for the second straight season after leading her team to a county-best 41-3 record and a county-best state tournament finish.
Hayden, which placed third in the 4A state tournament, is represented on the first team by senior Reagan McGivern and freshmen Hailey Schmidtlein and Blakely Walter, who were named co-Shawnee County newcomers of the year. McGivern is a first-team all-county repeat pick after earning first-team honors at Seaman as a junior.
Washburn Rural is represented on the all-county first team by seniors Layla Collins and Kate Hinck and junior Karsyn Horyna after helping the Junior Blues win the Centennial League championship and advance to the 6A state tournament.
Collins is a first-team All-Shawnee County repeat pick after being a second-team pick as a sophomore.
Shawnee Heights put seniors Kaydence Torrez and Taylor Brees on the first team while Silver Lake is represented by senior Ella Bolan, Rossville by sophomore Nora Burdiek and Topeka High by senior Jo'Mhara Benning.
Torrez and Bolan are first-team repeat picks while Burdiek was named the county newcomer of the year as a freshman.
All-Shawnee County first-team capsules:
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
City schools Washburn Rural, Topeka High and Hayden combined to earn 10 of 12 first-team spots on the 2024 All-Centennial League boys soccer team.
Washburn Rural, which won its 30th straight league championship (outright or shared) and finished third in the Class 6A state tournament, put five players on the all-league team, led by junior Dylan Willingham, who was named the Centennial player of the year.
Rural coach Brian Hensyel was named the league coach of the year while sophomore Brodye Kocher-Munoz was selected as the co-newcomer of the year
Willingham is joined on the first team by senior Ryder Nikkel and juniors Liam Morrison, Brandon Hamilton and Draden Chooncharoen.
Centennial League runnerup Topeka High put four players on the all-league first team -- seniors Ian Martinez, Antonio Aguirre and Jaime Alvarado and junior Billy Lutz -- while Hayden is represented by senior Cooper Grace.
Rural's Kocher-Munoz and juniors Drew Moore and Miles Cook received second-team honors along with Topeka High sophomore Carlos Acosta-Martinez.
Eight city players received honorable mention.
Manhattan's Ibrahim Alali and Junction City's Ethan Hileman round out the all-league first team while Junction City's Bruno Puche-Ferre was named the league's co-newcomer of the year.
ALL-CENTENNIAL LEAGUE SOCCER
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Senior Layla Collins, who led Washburn Rural to the league championship and a Class 6A state tournament berth, was voted the Centennial League 2024 volleyball player of the year as city schools garnered six of first-team spots.
Collins is joined on the first team by senior teammate Kate Hinck while Topeka High senior Jo'Mhara Benning also earned first-team all-league honors.
Hayden, which placed third in the Class 4A state tournament, put a league high three players on the first team -- senior Reagan McGivern and freshmen Hailey Schmidtlein and Blakely Walter.
Walter was also voted the Centennial League newcomer of the year while Washburn Rural's Kevin Bordewick and Hayden's Corrinne McGreevy were named the league co-coaches of the year.
Rounding out the first team were Manhattan's Bailey Busch and Emporia's Jade Xu.
City schools also dominated the all-league second team, with Topeka High's Campbell Dawson, Washburn Rural's Kasyn Horyna, Stella Kelly and Dayne Shriver and Hayden's Ella Foster earning second-team spots.
ALL-CENTENNIAL LEAGUE VOLLEYBALL
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
A whopping nine first-team repeat selections and seven state medalists headline the 2024 All-Shawnee County girls cross country team.
Leading the way are top-five individual state finishers Ryin Miller of Seaman and Rylee Ismert and Payton Fink of Washburn Rural, with Miller, a junior, the Class 5A runnerup and seniors Ismert and Fink finishing third and fifth in 6A.
Hayden senior Elliot Wrench posted a sixth-place finish in 4A while junior Emily Graf placed 14th in 6A and Seaman senior Stella Appelhanz and sophomore Brynn Spencer finished 17th and 18th in 5A.
Miller, Ismert, Fink, Wrench, Graf, Appelhanz and Spencer are all first-team All-Shawnee County repeat picks along with Washburn Rural senior Brooklyn Nolte and Hayden sophomore Sofia Harper.
Earning first-team all-county honors for the first time are Washburn Rural junior Kenzie Maddox and Seaman sophomore Kinley Robinson.
Washburn Rural coach Matt Swedlund was named the girls Shawnee County coach of the year after his Junior Blues swept city, Centennial League and Class 6A regional team titles and tied for the 6A team championship, finishing second to five-time champion Olathe West on a tiebreaker.
All-Shawnee County girls capsules:
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Three state medalists and five first-team repeat picks headline the 2024 All-Shawnee County boys cross country team.
Topeka West senior Adrian Lehman and Seaman junior Brody Anderson finished seventh and ninth individually in the Class 5A state meet while Washburn Rural freshman Henry Laubach finished 14th in 6A in his first state meet.
Lehman and Anderson are both all-county first-team repeat selections along with Shawnee Heights senior Evan Carter, Washburn Rural junior Brooks Kehoe and Rural senior Conner Olsen.
Washburn Rural, which won the city team championship, is also represented on the all-county team by senior Bodie King and freshman Clayton Fink, who helped the Junior Blues qualify for the 6A state meet as a team, while Rural coach Matt Swedlund was named the city boys coach of the year.
Topeka West's senior Mark Wilkie, Hayden junior Connor Baldwin and Shawnee Heights junior Max Esquibel were named to the all-county team for the first time.
All-Shawnee County boys capsules:
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Topeka High's soccer team was 9-1 and 11-3 at various points in the 2024 season and the Trojans went into its final game of the regular season tied for the Centennial League lead.
But injuries eventually caught up with the Trojans, who dropped their final three games, including a 2-0 Class 6A regional loss to Wichita Northwest Tuesday night at Hummer Sports Park.
"Injuries were a big part of it,'' Topeka High coach Derek Snook said of the Trojans' late-season slide. "We lost our mouthpiece on the backline with Manny (Salas) and Vador (Limon) both going out about 10, 11 games in, and not having Jaime (Alvarado) available as well and just being beat up and banged up really hurt us, and obviously Carlos (Acosta-Martinez) going out in this game.
"But we didn't do the things that we needed to do to finish either. The first 15 minutes of the game we had opportunities and just didn't finish.''
Northwest, the No. 12 West seed, improved to 7-10-0 while advancing to a regional final Thursday night while No. 5 seed Topeka High finished its season 11-6-0.
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural volleyball coach Kevin Bordewick has had a long line of Junior Blue teams qualify for the Class 6A state tournament, with eight state champions, and every one of those teams holds a special place in his heart.
And Bordewick is especially happy to be taking his 2024 Junior Blues to Salina for next weekend's state event after Washburn Rural turned in a dominating performance in Saturday's 6A sub-state at Rural.
The Junior Blues, now 30-6 on the season, opened their day with a 25-11, 25-8 semifinal win over Liberal before Rural, the No. 1 West seed, earned its state berth with a 25-14, 25-19 win over Lawrence Free State in the championship match.
Rural began the season with some question marks after heavy graduation losses, but Bordewick said he was very proud of how the Junior Blues have responded this fall.
"Every year is special,'' Bordewick said. "It's always just a little bit different group, and in this case it's a lot different group. We're relying on kids that we haven't had to rely on and through the course of the season they have really stepped up and we trust them.
"When you go through this whole process of the season, every day you hope to get better and better and I'm really proud of these kids because I think we've done that in large part.''
After dominating its semifinal match against Liberal (4-30), the Junior Blues, ranked No. 5 in 6A by the Kansas Volleyball Association, were locked in a tight first set with Free State (14-18) in the early going, including a 4-2 deficit and a tie at 5-5 before Rural took control.
The Junior Blues rode a long service run from senior Kate Hinck to go up 12-6 and went up 17-9 on a kill from senior Layla Collins.
Rural went in front 21-12 on a Collins service ace and also got a pair of kills from junior Karsyn Horyna before closing out the 11-point win on a dink from junior Stella Kelly.
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
(Kickoffs at 7 p.m., unless noted)
THURSDAY'S GAME
Class 2A
GALENA (4-4) at SILVER LAKE (6-2)
6 p.m. kickoff
Silver Lake, the No. 5 Class 2A East seed, will host No. 12 seed Galena in a Halloween Night battle to open the post season. Silver Lake finished second in 2A District 3, ending its regular season with a 29-12 win over Council Grove (5-3) as senior quarterback Dysen Schooler threw for 242 yards and three touchdowns and also ran for a 31-yard TD. Galena ended its regular season with a 36-20 win over Baxter Springs.
FRIDAY'S GAMES
Class 6A
TOPEKA HIGH (4-4) at JUNCTION CITY (4-4)
The Trojans and Centennial League rival Junction City will square off for the second time in four games in the opening round of the Class 6A playoffs. Topeka High was installed as the No. 9 West seed after a 49-24 non-league loss at Pittsburg Friday night while Junction City is the No. 8 seed in the West after a 38-0 league win over Emporia. Junction City took a 50-21 win over Topeka High in Week 6 of the regular season, also at Junction City.
WASHBURN RURAL (3-5) at MAIZE (4-4)
Washburn Rural is the No. 10 seed in Class 6A West and will travel to Maize to face the No. 7 West seed. The Junior Blues are coming off a 56-14 Centennial League road loss at unbeaten Manhattan Friday night. Washburn Rural will be facing a Maize team that has won four straight games, including a 50-0 win over Salina South in Week 8.
Class 5A
TOPEKA WEST (1-7) at SEAMAN (6-2)
Topeka West and Seaman will face off for the second time this season, with the Vikings taking a 53-6 United Kansas Conference win over the Chargers in Week 3. UKC champion Seaman is coming off a 42-28 conference loss to De Soto on Friday while West dropped 58-21 UKC decision to Piper. Seaman is the No. 3 Class 5A West seed while Topeka West is the No. 14 seed.
PITTSBURG (6-2) vs. HIGHLAND PARK (6-2)
At Hummer Sports Park
Highland Park ended up as the No. 8 seed in Class 5A East and drew a tough opening round opponent in No. 9 seed Pittsburg, also 6-2. The Purple Dragons ended their regular season with a 49-24 home non-league decision over Topeka High. Highland Park capped its regular season on Thursday night with a 38-28 Meadowlark Conference victory over Kansas City-Washington.
SHAWNEE HEIGHTS (2-6) at SPRING HILL (7-1)
Shawnee Heights picked up its second win of the season Friday night, taking a 69-30 United Kansas Conference road decision over Kansas City-Turner, while Spring Hill edged Louisburg, 14-13. Spring Hill is the No. 5 Class 5A East seed whlile Heights is the No. 12 seed. Junior quarterback Aiden Scott completed 23 of 28 passes fo 387 yards and six touchdowns against Turner while Parker Busenitz had seven catches for 142 yards and two TDs and Tyren Parker has six catches for 121 yards and two TDs.
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Senior Rylee Ismert followed up her Centennial League individual cross country title with a Class 6A regional win on Saturday at Kanza Park, leading Washburn Rural to the team championship.
Ismert took individual honors with a five-kilometer time of 18 minutes, 06.7 seconds, one of four Junior Blues in the top eight spots as Rural took the team title by a 45-55 margin over Lawrence Free State.
Rural senior Payton Fink finished third in 18:17.3 while junior Emily Graf was fifth (18:58.9) and senior Brooklyn Nolte eighth (19:32.6). Junior Kenzie Maddox finished 29th (21:55.2) to round out the Junior Blues' scoring runners.
Ismert used the same strategy Saturday that had produced a league title a week earlier, staying with Fink early before taking control of the race over the final mile.
"My goal was pretty much the same as last week, to run together and then just to see when it felt right to push,'' Ismert said.
Ismert said she feels like she's running the best she's ever run over the past few weeks.
"Honestly, I just really started having more faith in myself and I've been training really hard all week,'' Ismert said.
Rural's girls have now swept city, league and regional team titles and are on the short list of state title contenders next Saturday at Rim Rock Farm, north of Lawrence.
"That's where we want to be, that's the plan,'' Washburn Rural coach Matt Swedlund said. "We have a few things to figure out. We'll work on tweaking some stuff this week and want to be competing for that title next Saturday.''
The Junior Blue boys tied Manhattan for second place with 86 points and finished third on a tiebreaker to garner the final team berth for state. Centennial League champion Junction City earned the team championship with 60 points, led by senior individual champion Ethan Fontaine, who clocked a time of 15:51.1.
Freshman Henry Laubach finished third in 16:06.0 to pace Washburn Rural while junior Brooks Kehoe finished eighth (16:24.3), senior Bodie King 15th (16:33.7), freshman Clayton Fink 28th (17:09.1) and senior Chris Quarles 32nd (17:20.0).
"It's survive and advance,'' Swedlund said. "We got a good look at Junction City and Manhattan last week at league, so we knew if we could be competitive with those two teams and stay as close as possible that would give us a good shot. I felt we ran well, I was happy with that.''
The 6A girls race is scheduled for an 11:10 a.m. start next Saturday at Rim Rock while the boys race is the final race of the day at 12:55 p.m.
CLASS 6A REGIONAL CROSS COUNTRY
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
(All kickoffs at 7 p.m.)
THURSDAY'S GAME
KC-WASHINGTON (6-1, 4-1 Meadowlark) vs. HIGHLAND PARK (5-2, 4-1 Meadowlark)
At Hummer Sports Park
Highland Park snapped a two-game losing streak with a 70-0 non-league rout over Kansas City-East, Mo. last Thursday at Hummer Sports Park while Kansas City-Washington is coming off a 20-6 Meadowlark Conference victory over KC-Schlagle. Thursday's game could have serious implications on seeding for the Class 5A playoffs, with Washington tied for the No. 2 East seed and Highland Park tied for the No. 7 East seed. The top eight seeds will host games in the first round of the playoffs next week. Scot senior Jamon Wilson has accumulated 1,449 all-purpose yards, including 510 rushing yards and seven touchdowns on 45 carries, 16 receptions for 349 yards and three TDs and 565 kick/punt return yards. Sophomore quarterback G'Honi Montgomery has carried the ball 67 times for 590 yards and six TDs while junior Dontrail Fox has completed 48 of 100 passes for 899 yards and 10 TDs.
FRIDAY'S GAMES
DE SOTO (6-1, 5-1 UKC) at SEAMAN (6-1, 6-0 UKC)
Seaman clinched a share of the United Kansas Conference title with a 28-14 win over previously-unbeaten Basehor-Linwood last Friday and can clinch the outright championship with a win over De Soto. The Vikings are currently tied for the No. 2 West Class 5A seed. De Soto rolled to a 67-28 non-league win over Blue Valley Southwest last Friday and the Wildcats are tied for the No. 2 East 5A seed. Seaman senior Max Huston has completed 96 of 151 passes for 1,650 yards and 18 touchdowns and has rushed for 443 yards and seven TDs on 70 attempts. Senior Bryer Finley has 53 receptions for 1,069 yards and 14 TDs while junior Kaden McKinney has carried the ball 94 times for 598 yards and 10 TDs. Junior Carter Brian leads the Vikings with 75 tackles (42 solo) with seven tackles for loss.
PIPER (2-5, 2-4 UKC) vs. TOPEKA WEST (1-6, 1-6 UKC)
At Hummer Sports Park
Topeka West dropped a 57-0 United Kansas Conference decision to Leavenworth last week while Piper took a 51-16 UKC win over Kansas City-Turner. West enters the final game of the regular season tied for the No. 12 seed in Class 5A West.
COUNCIL GROVE (5-2, 1-2 Class 2A District 3) at SILVER LAKE (5-2, 2-1 Class 2A District 3)
Both Silver Lake and Council Grove will be looking to bounce back from losses, with the Eagles dropping a 35-21 Class 2A District 3 decision to undefeated Osage City while Council Grove lost a 22-6 district game to St. Marys. Silver Lake had a four-game win streak snapped by Osage City, which pulled away late in a game that was tied 14-14 at halftime.
HAYDEN (6-1, 3-0 Class 3A District 4) at JEFFERSON WEST (1-6, 0-3 Class 3A District 4)
Hayden clinched the Class 3A District 4 championship last Friday with a 50-16 district win over Perry-Lecompton while Jefferson West posted its first win of the season, taking a 29-6 non-district win over Atchison County. Wildcat senior quarterback Jett Wahlmeier has completed 78 of 114 passes for 1,175 yards and 14 touchdowns while junior Kade Mitchell has carried the ball 60 times for 546 yards, caught 21 passes for 374 yards and scored 16 total touchdowns. Senior Jensen Schrickel has caught 22 passes for 356 yards and scored nine total TDs. Junior Jude Krentz leads Hayden with 68 total tackles (38 solo) while sophomore Mason Becker is 38 of 38 on extra-point attempts.
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
For the second time in two weeks Rossville rolled to a decisive victory over Wabaunsee Friday night, posting a 47-13 home win in the first round of the Class 1A playoffs.
No. 4 East seed Rossville will be back at home Friday, hosting No. 5 McLouth (7-2), a 64-20 winner over Pleasanton Friday night.
Rossville, which is now 6-3 and in the midst of a six-game win streak, jumped out on top 14-0 in the first quarter Friday night over the Chargers, getting 51 and 9-yard touchdown runs from junior Conner Bush (Vincent Daniel kick).
The Bulldawgs then tacked on three more TDs in the second quarter to open up a commanding 34-6 halftime advantage. Senior quarterback Tayson scored a pair of TDs in the period on 13 and 17-yard runs while junior Andre Johnson scored from 3 yards out. Daniel kicked a pair of extra points.
Bush scored his third touchdown of the game on a 25-yard run in the third quarter and Horak finished Rossville's scoring midway through the fourth quarter with his third TD, a 27-yard run (Daniel kick).
HAYDEN 56, HIAWATHA 6 -- Hayden, which improved to 8-1,took the lead for good with a touchdown on its opening possession and scored on four of its five first-half drives on the way to a dominating 56-6 home win over Hiawatha in the opening round of the Class 3A playoffs.
Defensively, Hayden recovered two Hiawatha fumbles and picked off two passes.
Wildcat senior quarterback Jett Walmeier was 10 of 13 passing for 190 yards and a touchdown while senior Jensen Schrickel had three receptions for 41 yards and had six carries for 110 yards and two TDs.
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Silver Lake in Class 3A and Rossville in 2A opened volleyball postseason in impressive fashion on Monday, with both the Eagles and Bulldawgs going 3-0 to capture regional tournament titles and advance to sub-state competition on Saturday.
Silver Lake posted three straight-set wins to win the 3A regional it hosted while Rossville duplicated that feat in the 2A event at Atchison.
The 27-9 Eagles advanced to a Saturday 3A sub-state at Royal Valley while the 20-14 Bulldawgs will compete in a 2A sub-state at Maranatha Academy in Shawnee.
Silver Lake opened its regional bid with a 25-15, 25-15 win over Sabetha, followeed by a 25-10, 25-13 victory over Riley County and a 25-13, 25-18 win over Perry-Lecompton.
The Eagles are the No. 2 seed for Saturday's Royal Valley sub-state and will play the second match against No. 3 Santa Fe Trail (28-8).
The Silver Lake-Santa Fe Trail winner will take on the winner of the first match between No. 1 Royal Valley (29-7) and No. 4 Marysville (13-19) for the sub-state title, with the winner advancing to the 3A state tournament at Hutchinson Nov. 1-2.
Rossville took a 25-8, 25-17 win over Cair Paravel Latin in its first regional match before taking a 25-2, 25-11 win over Valley Falls and a 25-21, 25-21 win over Maur Hill Mt. Academy.
Cair Paravel went 1-2 on the day, posting a 25-15, 25-16 win over Valley Falls. The Lions dropped a three-set decision to Maur Hill-Mt. Academy, which took a 25-22, 15-25, 25-20 win.
Rossville is the No. 2 seed for the Maranatha Academy sub-state on Saturday and will play the second match of the day aganst No. 3 Pleasant Ridge (21-13).
The winner of that match will play for the sub-state title against the winner of the match between top seed Maranatha Academy (34-6) and No. 4 Jefferson North (16-20).
The sub-state champ will advance to the state tournament Nov. 1-2 at Dodge City.
Other Saturday sub-states involving local schools:
Class 6A at Washburn Rural
Washburn Rural (28-6) is the No. 1 6A West seed and will host a four-school sub-state Saturday.
The Junior Blues will face No. 16 West seed Liberal (4-29) in the 1 p.m. match, followed by a match between No. 8 seed Topeka High (16-18) and No. 9 Free State (13-17).
The two winners will face off at approximately 3 p.m. for the sub-state title, with the winner moving on to the 6A state tournament Nov. 1-2 at Salina.
Class 5A at Seaman
Defending 5A champion Seaman will host a 5A sub-state Saturday, with the 35-2 Vikings the No. 1 West seed.
Seaman will play No. 16 Topeka West (13-21) in the first match of the tournament followed by the other semifinal between No. 8 Emporia (23-12) and No. 9 Maize South (23-13).
The two winners will advance to the sub-state final, with the tournament champion advancing to the 5A state tournament Nov. 1-2 at Salina.
Class 5A at Blue Valley Southwest
Shawnee Heights (17-18) is the No. 8 East seed and will face No. 9 Basehor-Linwood (17-18) in the second match of the day.
The winner will advance to take on the winner between No. 1 seed Blue Valley Southwest (29-5) and No. 16 Kansas City-Turner (9-21).
The sub-state champ will move on to the 5A state tournament Nov. 1-2 at Salina.
Class 5A at St. Thomas Aquinas
Highland Park is the No. 10 East seed (11-12) and will face No. 7 Spring Hill (19-17) in a sub-state semifinal.
The winner of that match will face the semifinal winner between No. 2 Aquinas (27-5) and No. 15 Leavenworth (11-20) for the sub-state title, with the winner advancing to the 5A state tournament Nov. 1-2 at Salina.
Class 4A at Hayden
Hayden, the No. 3 East seed at 27-10, will host a 4A sub-state on Saturday (2 p.m. start).
The Wildcats will face No. 14 Baldwin (10-22) in a semifinal match while No. 6 Paola (21-12) will take on No. 11 Parsons (15-18) in the other semifinal.
The winner of those two matches will play for the sub-state title, with the winner advancing to the 4A state tournament Nov. 1-2 at Hutchinson.
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural's soccer team achieved one of its goals for the 2024 season Tuesday night at McElroy Field, extending its Centennial League title streak to 30 seasons (outright or shared) with a 4-0 win over Topeka High.
But there is still work to be done according to Rural coach Brian Hensyel.
"Every year we want to win the league championship because if you do it means you've kept the streak going, but it also means you've won some games and if you win all your league games and you win the league you're setting yourself up for good stuff in the playoffs,'' Hensyel said.
"So Step 1 we wanted to win tonight because we obviously want to keep that league championship here, but honestly for seeding we're trying to win both games this week and finish on a good note and try to play as many games at home (in postseason) as possible.''
Washburn Rural, now 11-2-2 overall and capping a perfect 5-0 Centennial League run, scored the only goal it would need at the 17:43 mark of the first half on a goal from junior Drew Moore and added goals from juniors Dylan Willingham at the 11:27 mark and Draden Chooncharoen with 5:27 left in the half to take a commanding 3-0 halftime advantage.
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Hayden three-time Class 4A state singles champion Ainzley Zulueta headlines the 2024 All-City girls tennis team, which includes 13 state medalists.
Zulueta capped her high school career with an undefeated senior season, going through the postseason without losing a game as the Wildcats won their second state team title in three seasons.
All six of Hayden's players earned 4A state medals while helping the Wildcats sweep city, Centennial League, regional and state championships.
The Wildcats got a runnerup 4A double finish from senior Emily Sheetz and freshman Sophia Wichman while junior Grace Funk placed ninth in singles and juniors Izzy Glotzbach and Avery O'Bray finished 11th in doubles..
United Kansas Conference and 5A regional team champion Seaman, which finished third at state, also put six players on the All-City team.
Viking sophomore Emma Sweeney placed fourth in 5A singles while junior Molly Gorman finished 10th in singles and senior Sidney Chinn and junior Kaylyn Henry placed 12th in doubles. Seaman sophomores Kaylyn Hiebsch and Camryn Lux were also state qualifiers in doubles.
Washburn Rural's senior doubles team of Emerie Catlin and Isabelle Haggard placed ninth in the Class 6A state tournament after sweeping city, Centennial League and 6A regional titles while Junior Blue singles state qualifiers Carolina Chedzoy also earned an All-City spot.
Topeka High junior Madeline Deters finished eighth in singles in the 6A state tournament and is joined on the All-City team by state doubles qualifiers Ava Ritter, a junior and freshman Hailey Caryl.
All-City selections are based on finishes in the city meet and the recommendations of city coaches.
All-City capsules:
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Rossville posted its fourth straight Class 1A District 2 win on Friday while improving to 4-3 overall with a 28-0-home win over Olpe.
The Bulldawgs were in control throughout the game, scoring the only touchdown they would need on a 28-yard run by senior quarterback Tayson Horak at the 7:23 mark of the opening quarter (Vincent Daniel kick).
Horak added a 10-yard passing touchdown to Kameron Badura (Daniel kick) with 3:26 left in the second quarter to give Rossville a 14-0 halftime advantage.
Seth Catron scored on a 15-yard run with 1:21 left in the third quarter (Daniel kick) to put the Bulldawgs in front 21-0 and Mahki Jackson added a 5-yard TD run midway through the fourth quarter (Daniel kick) to give Rossville its final margin.
Rossville goes on the road to face district foe Wabaunsee (3-4, 2-2) on Friday.
CAIR PARAVEL LATIN 74, MARANATHA ACADEMY 6 -- Cair Paravel Latin snapped its five-game losing streak in resounding fashion Friday night at Yager Stadium, rolling to a Class 1A District 2 victory over Maranatha Academy.
The Lions improved to 2-5 overall and 1-3 in the district.
CPLS will close out its regular season Friday night at Olpe (5-2, 3-1).
JUNCTION CITY 17, WASHBURN RURAL 0 -- Junction City entered the game giving up 35 points a game before blanking the Junior Blues 17-0 in a Centennial League game at Bowen-Glaze Stadium.
The Blue Jays took advantage of a Rural turnover to go up 7-0 in the first quarter on a 2-yard run by junior Justice Fonoti.
The Blue Jays added a 31-yard field goal from senior Ethan Hileman to take a 10-0 halftime advantage, forcing two Rural turnovers and three punts in the opening half.
Junction City used a nine-play, 80-yard drive to get its final score of the night on a 6-yard TD run by junior Jamarcus Tyson.
Junction City improved to 3-4 overall and 2-1 in the Centennial League while Rural fell to 3-4 and 2-1.
The Junior Blues will close out the regular season at undefeated Manhattan Friday night.
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Hayden senior tennis star Ainzley Zulueta capped one of the most dominant postseason runs in Kansas history on Saturday at Kossover Tennis Center, capturing her third Class 4A singles championship while leading the Wildcats to their second team title in three seasons.
In fact, although a rare player may equal it, no netter will ever surpass what Zulueta accomplished this fall, going through both regionals and the state tournament without dropping a single game while posting eight straight 6-0, 6-0 victories.
Zulueta finished off her undefeated season and amazing postseason run with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Buhler freshman Sofia Spies in Saturday's state championship match.
Zulueta admitted that a perfect run wasn't necessarily a goal when postseason began, but the deeper she went, particularly in the state tournament, the more realistic it became.
"That wasn't my main goal going into it, but once I started at regionals without dropping a game that was kind of my goal going into state,'' Zulueta said.
Spies came within a point of ending Zulueta's streak when she jumped out to a 40-0 lead in the first game of the final, but Zulueta battled back to win that game and was in control the remainder of the match.
"Once I got past that first game I was really set on just staying in the point and not thinking about what would happen afterwards, just so I could stop her from getting a game, I guess,'' Zulueta said. "That was my goal.''
After winning state titles as a freshman and sophomore, Zulueta had to sit out her junior high school season after attending a tennis academy in Texas.
But she said that just made her more determined to add title No. 3.
"I was way more determined to win it this year,'' Zulueta said. "I wasn't expecting to go 0 and 0 throughout the whole entire tournament, but that makes it a lot more memorable.''
Zulueta, who will play collegiately at Ferris State (Mich.), said that winning multiple state titles became a goal before she ever got to Hayden after watching former Wildcat four-time champ Brooklyn Hunter.
"I would always look up to Brooklyn Hunter and I used to watch her when she was here, so my parents kind of instilled that goal in me. They were like, 'You could definitely do it,' so that kind of made it my goal going into high school,'' she said.
"That definitely kind of made me a lot more motivated throughout high school.''
All six members of the Hayden team earned state medals on Saturday, which made the weekend that much more memorable.
Senior Emily Sheetz, a two-time state doubles champion and four-time state medalist, teamed with freshman Sophia Wichman to finish second in doubles while junior Grace Funk finished ninth in singles and juniors Izzy Glotzbach and Avery O'Bray posted an 11th- place doubles finish.
No. 2 seed Sheetz and Wichman dropped a 6-1, 6-2 decision in the doubles final to Independence's top seeds Callie Schlorholtz, a senior, and junior Brooklyn Mattix.
Funk defeated Bishop Miege sophomore Ella Daniel 9-7 in the ninth-place singles match while Glotzbach and O'Bray took an 8-2 win over Miege's Mary Jeanne Thompson, a junior, and senior Shea Coughlan in the 11th-place match.
It all added up to the team championship by a 40-28 margin over McPherson, with Independence third with 26 points.
"It is a great weekend, and that was our whole goal,'' Hayden coach Christy Sheetz said of the team championship. "I knew going into it with Zulueta being back and Emily being strong at the doubles position that we had a great chance, especially because we were just very deep this year and the goal was always the team championship.''
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural senior Rylee Ismert has put together a very solid cross country career, including a Class 6A state medal as a junior and top-five finishes in city, league and regional competition.
But wins had been hard to come by for the Junior Blue standout, something she took care of Saturday with a decisive individual championship by more than 18 seconds in the Centennial League meet on Rural's home course.
Ismert clocked a five-kilometer time of 18 minutes, 02.9 seconds to lead the way as Washburn Rural placed three runners in the top five and all of its top five in the top 12 spots as the Junior Blues rolled to the league team title by a 28-54 margin over Manhattan.
Ismert said her pre-race goal was to stick as long as possible with senior teammate Payton Fink, the 2023 league champ.
"That was the plan because I knew that we would both push each other if we stayed together,'' Ismert said.
Ismert eventually took the lead about the two-mile mark and pulled away for the win while Fink finished second in 18:21.4.
"I guess I just kind of felt it,'' Ismert said. "I felt better than I thought I was going to, so I put a little surge into it and wanted to see what happened.''
Junior Emily Graf was fifth (18:52.6) for the Junior Blues while senior Brooklyn Nolte finished 10th (19:38.8) and junior Kenzie Maddox 12th (20:21.0) to round out the Junior Blues' top five.
"We've been training really hard this season and our coaches have been giving us really good workouts and it's paying off a lot for us,'' Ismert said.
Hayden got a seventh-place finish from senior Elliot Wrench (19:24.1).
Junction City senior Ethan Fontaine won the boys individual title in 15:49.4 to lead the way as the Blue Jays put five runners in the top 11 en route to winning the team championship by a 28-43 margin over Manhattan.
Washburn Rural finished third with 61 points as Henry Laubach continued his outstanding freshman season with a second-place finish behind Fontaine in 15:49.4.
The Junior Blues also got a top-10 finish from junior Brooks Kehoe (16:25.6), who placed ninth.
Hayden finished fifth in the boys standings with 127 points whle Topeka High was sixth with 158 points.
Washburn Rural and Topeka High will be vying for state berths in a Class 6A state regional meet next Saturday at Kanza Park, with the girls race at 10:35 a.m. and the boys at 11:45.
Hayden will compete in a 4A regional next Saturday at Blue Valley Southwest, with the girls running at 10 a.m. and the boys at 11:10.
State competition will be held on Saturday, Nov. 2, with 6A competing at Rim Rock Farm north of Lawrence and 4A competing at Wamego Country Club.
CENTENNIAL LEAGUE CROSS COUNTRY
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.
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.
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.
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
(All kickoffs at 7 p.m.)
THURSDAY'S GAME
KC-EAST, MO. (0-6) vs. HIGHLAND PARK (4-2)
At Hummer Sports Park
Highland Park will be looking to bounce back with a big non-league victory Thursday night against winless Kansas City-East, Mo. after suffering back-to-back road losses at Wichita East and Meadowlark Conferference power Atchison. The Scots are coming off a 62-21 loss to Atchison and will be eyeing a big offensive game Thursday after being outscored 136-27 over its past two games. Highland Park has outscored its foes 201-136 on the eason while East has been outscored 353-43 on the year. Senior running back Jamon Wilson, junior quarterback Dontrail Fox and sophomore running back G'Honi Montgomery have turned in big years for the Scots.
FRIDAY'S GAMES
PERRY-LECOMPTON (2-4, 1-1 Class 3A District 4) at HAYDEN (5-1, 2-0 Class 3A District 4)
Hayden is coming off a big 31-7 Class 3A District 4 road win at Holton last week and is in control of the District 4 race. Perry-Lecompton is also coming off a win, taking a 43-14 decision over Jefferson West. Hayden junior Kade Mitchell has carried the ball 54 times for 507 yards and caught 17 passes for 251 yards while scoring 15 total touchdowns. Senior quarterback Jett Wahlmeier has completed 62 of 95 passes for 934 yards and 11 touchdowns while senior Jensen Schrickel has caught 17 passes for 295 yards and scored seven TDs. Sophomore Mason Becker is 32 of 32 on extra point attempts while senior Jude Krentz leads the Wildcats with 53 tackles (30 solo).
BASEHOR-LINWOOD (6-0, 5-0) at SEAMAN (5-1, 5-0 UKC)
Friday's game is likely to decide the United Kansas Conference championship, with both the Bobcats and Vikings entering the night 5-0 in the conference. Seaman took a 59-34 UKC win at Shawnee Heights last week while Basehor-Linwood took a 44-6 non-league win over Tonganoxie. Seaman has won four straight games since a non-league loss to Class 6A Shawnee Mission East. Viking senior quarterback Max Huston has completed 75 of 121 passes for 1,365 yards and 17 touchdowns and has rushed for 381 yards and four TDs on 51 attempts. Junior Kaden McKinney has carried the ball 84 times for 574 yards and 10 TDs while senior Bryer Finley has caught 43 passes for 879 yards and 13 touchdowns. Junior linebacker Cameron Brian leads Seaman with 60 tackles (31 solo), while recording five tackles for loss.
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
By this point in the 2024 high school tennis season, Seaman singles players Emma Sweeney and Molly Gorman have faced off against each other more than they can probably count.
Sweeney and Gorman play each other most every day in practice and also faced each other in the championship matches of the United Kansas Conference and Class 5A regional tournaments.
Gorman, a junior, and sophomore Sweeney admit that constantly going up against a teammate and close friend can get old, but the Viking standouts would welcome another meeting in this Friday and Saturday's Class 5A state tournament at the Andover District Tennis Complex.
Sweeney, who placed 11th in 5A as a freshman, is the No. 5 state seed with a 27-3 record while Gorman, a two-time state doubles medalist, is the No. 11 seed at 25-4, with two of her losses coming against Sweeney.
"It's hard, especially because me and Molly are such good friends off the court that it's just so hard and upsetting always having to play and go against her,'' Sweeney said.
Gorman agreed.
"At practice yes (it gets old) and I don't like playing her when it comes to meets, but we've got to do it,'' Gorman said.
But both players agree that playing each other also makes them both better.
"She hits the ball super aggressive and she's good on moving me around,'' Sweeney said of Gorman. "It's either way at practice at the end of the day. Me and Molly just are always trying to push each other and make each other better each day.''
Said Gorman: "Even though it gets tiring, it benefits me and it should benefit her I think.''
The good news for both Sweeney and Gorman is that if they face each other this weekend it's likely to be a very good weekend for both of them, with the two players on opposite sides of the bracket and will only play if both players advance to the state final or end up facing off in a place match.
Seaman is coming off United Kansas Conference and regional team championships -- posting perfect team scores in both events -- and will be looking to take home a team trophy (top three) this weekend after qualifying its entire team for state.
Seaman senior Sidney Chinn and junior Peyton Henry won the regional doubles title last Saturday in Bonner Spring while topping sophomore teammates Kaylyn Hiebsch and Camryn Lux in the championship match.
Chinn and Henry are 23-5 on the season and the No. 10 seed for state while Hiebsch and Lux are 22-8 and seeded No. 13.
The 5A state tournament will start at 10 a.m. Friday.
Class 6A at Prairie Village Harmon Park Tennis Complex
Washburn Rural and Topeka High combined for seven state qualifiers for this weekend's Class 6A state meet at Harmon Park.
Regional team champion Rural qualified the senior doubles team of Emerie Catlin and Izzy Haggard and senior singles player Carolina Chedzoy and sophomore Julia Katzer for state out of last Thursday's regional tournament at Wichita while Topeka High qualified junior singles player Madeline Deters and the doubles team of junior Ava Ritter and freshman Hailey Caryl.
Catlin and Haggard won the regional doubles title after earlier winning city and Centennial League titles while Chedzoy and Katzer finished second and fifth in singles.
Catlin and Haggard are 21-4 on the year and are the No. 5 state seed while Chedzoy, a returning state medalist, is 17-10 and the No. 9 singles seed while Katzer is 17-10 and the No. 20 seed.
Topeka High's Deters placed third at regionals and is the No. 10 state seed with a 24-6 record while Caryl and Ritter took fifth at reegionals and are the No. 18 doubles seed with a 22-8 record.
The first round of state competition will begin at 10 a.m. Friday.
Class 3A-1A at Wichita Riverside Tennis Complex
Cair Paravel Latin sophomore Madilyn Poole finished second in singles in the Class 3A-1A regional tournament last Saturday at Marysville, becoming the school's first girls state tennis qualifier.
Poole is 19-6 on the season and has been installed as the No. 8 seed for Friday and Saturday's state meet at Wichita's Riverside Tennis Complex.
CITY STATE TENNIS QUALIFIERS
Class 6A
At Harmon Park, Prairie Village
Topeka High -- Singles: Madeline Deters, sr., 24-6. Doubles: Hailey Caryl, fr., and Ava Ritter, jr., 22-8.
Washburn Rural -- Singles: Carolina Chedzoy, sr., 17-10; Julia Katzer, so., 17-10. Doubles: Emerie Catlin, sr., and Izzy Haggard, sr., 21-4.
Class 5A
At Andover District Tennis Complex
Seaman -- Singles: Emma Sweeney, so., 27-3; Molly Gorman, jr., 25-4. Doubles: Peyton Henry, jr., and Sidney Chinn, sr., 23-5; Kaylyn Hiebsch, so., and Camryn Lux, so., 22-8.
Class 4A
At Kossover Tennis Center, Topeka
Hayden -- Singles: Ainzley Zulueta, sr., 20-0; Grace Funk, jr., 8-3. Doubles: Emily Sheetz, sr., and Sophia Wichman, fr., 12-2; Izzy Glotzbach, jr., and Avery O'Bray, jr., 11-7.
Class 3A-1A
At Riverside Tennis Complex, Wichita
Cair Paravel Latin -- Singles: Madilyn Poole, so., 19-6.