By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Shawnee County high schools captured a pair of boys state team titles in 2024 while county athletes combined to earn a whopping 16 individual/relay championships, led by three athletes who captured multiple gold medals.
Shawnee Heights' bowling team is No. 1 on TopSports.news' list of the Top 10 boys high school sports stories of 2024 after winning its first-ever Class 5A state boys bowling title while Hayden baseball garnered the No. 2 spot after the Wildcats caught fire in postseason to capture the 3A state crown.
Individually, Shawnee Heights distance ace Jackson Esquibel capped his high school career with his third career state title in two sports while Washburn Rural's Easton Broxterman became a two-time state wrestling champ and Hayden's Finn Dunshee and Jensen Schrickel and Seaman's Aaron Merritt all captured multiple state track and field championships in 2024.
Here's a look at TopSports.news' Top 10 Shawnee County boys prep stories of 2024:
Shawnee Heights' bowling team celebrates its first-ever Class 5A boys state team championship last March in Wichita. [File photo/TSN]
1. PERFECT PEAK -- Shawnee Heights' boys bowling team had been knocking at the door all season, posting top-three team finishes in city, league and regional competition. The T-Birds knocked that door down in the Class 5A state tournament in Wichita, capturing the school's first boys state bowling team title by a 3,547-3,519 margin over Kansas City-Turner while Seaman finished third at 3,353 as United Kansas Conference teams swept the top three places. Shawnee Heights won the championship after not having a state qualifier in the 2023 state meet and despite not having a senior on the state team (two freshmen, two sophomores, two juniors) as the T-Birds put four bowlers in the top 20. Junior Caden Cochrane finished third individually with a 685 three-game series while freshman Trey Donath was eighth, freshman Evan Jones ninth and sophomore Henry Schattilly 18th.
Hayden's baseball team celebrates its 2024 Class 3A state championship in Manhattan. [Photo by Jesse Bruner/Special to TSN[
2. PERFECT PEAK PART II -- Struggling to reach the .500 mark late in the season, Hayden's baseball team earned a Class 3A state tournament berth as the No. 7 seed and completed its Cinderella run to the state championship with a 5-3 win over top seed Wichita Trinity in Manhattan, finishing the season 18-12. Hayden then-junior pitcher Liam Annand went 6.2 innings pick up the win in the title game while allowing three runs on just four hits before then-sophomore Aiden Roberts closed out the victory with an inning of relief as the Wildcats picked up their first state title since 2015. Then-sophomore Kade Mitchell went two for three with three RBI. Then-junior Cooper Grace keyed the Wildcats' title run, earning first-team All-State honors.
Shawnee Heights 2024 senior Jackson Esquibel (3657) ended his high school distance career with three Class 5A state titles in two sports. [File photo/TSN]
3. DISTANCE KING -- Shawnee Heights 2024 graduate Jackson Esquibel joined an elite group of distance runners when he won Class 5A state titles in back-to-back-to-back seasons. Esquibel ended his junior track season in 2023 with the 5A state championship in the 3,200 meters and followed that up with the 5A individual cross country title in the fall of '23 before capping his high school career with a second straight 3,200 title in the 2024 state meet. Esquibel also finished second in the 1,600 meters in track as a junior and senior before beginning his college career at Kansas State.
Washburn Rural senior Easton Broxterman has already won a pair of Class 6A state wrestling titles and has been a three-time state finalist. [File photo/TSN]
4. STILL ADDING TO HIS LEGACY -- Washburn Rural senior wrestler Easton Broxterman is early in his final high school season for the Junior Blues and with every win continues to cement his legacy as one of the best ever in Kansas. Broxterman advanced to the state championship match as a freshman and followed that up with back-to-back Class 6A titles. The Shawnee County Wrestler of the Year in 2024, Broxterman capped a 49-1 junior season with a 15-0 technical fall in the 132-pound final, ending the match just 27 seconds into the second period after building a 13-0 first-period advantage. Broxterman will wrestle collegiately at Army.
Hayden 2024 grad Finn Dunshee won three gold medals in the '24 Class 3A state track and field championships. [Photo by Jesse Bruner/Special to TSN]
Hayden then-junior Jensen Schrickel was a three-time gold medalist in the 2024 Class 3A state track and field championships. [Photo by Jesse Bruner/Special to TSN]
5. A GREAT DAY TO BE A WILDCAT -- Hayden's track team didn't quite have enough depth to challenge Holcomb for the Class 3A team championship, with the Longhorns placing in 12 of 18 events on the way to an 80-61 margin over the Wildcats. But no team in 3A could match the Wildcats' quality, with Hayden winning five events, two more than any other team in the field. Hayden 2024 grad Finn Dunshee swept the 100 and 200-meter dashes while then-junior Jensen Schrickel won the long jump and Dunshee and Schrickel teamed with then-juniors Liam Stegman and John Strickland to win 4x400-meter relay.
Seaman 2024 grad Aaron Merritt won a pair of Class 5A state titles in the 2024 track and field championships. [Photo by Jesse Bruner/Special to TSN]
6. FINISHING WITH A FLOURISH -- Seaman 2024 graduate Aaron Merritt capped his high school track career in grand style, winning the first two Class 5A gold medals of his high school career while also adding a second-place relay finish for the Vikings. Merritt won the 100-meter dash and the 110-meter hurdles and also anchored Seaman's 4x100 relay to a second-place finish. Merritt's winning times in the 110 hurdles (14.48 seconds) and 100 dash (10.32) in the state meet were the fastest in all classes.
7. FANTASTIC FALL -- Perennial state football contender Hayden posted an outstanding 11-2 record this past fall as Bill Arnold's Wildcats reached the Class 3A state championship game for a second straight season. Hayden jumped out to a 19-12 halftime lead before Andale took control in the second half to cap a perfect 13-0 season wih a 36-19 victory. Seniors Broderick Desch, Jensen Schrickel, Treyton Tetuan and Jett Wahlmeier and juniors Jude Krentz and Kade Mitchell all earned TSN All-Shawnee County Top 22 honors for the Wildcats.
8. MAT MASTERS -- In addition to Easton Broxterman's second straight state title, three other city wrestlers earned state crowns as Topekans made a statement in state competition. Washburn Rural senior Brody Byrne (157) and then-junior Kristjan Marshall (150) gave the third-place Junior Blues three champs while then-sophomore Landen Kocher-Munoz also made the finals. Shawnee Heights 2024 grad Rykan Carver also struck gold, with Carver winning at 285 pounds for the T-Birds.
9. WORTH THE WAIT -- Seniors Brogan Meier and Jack Miranda ended banner high school swimming careers with their first Class 6A state championships and also added second-place individual and relay finishes while leading Washburn Rural to a tie for third place in the 6A team standings. Meier won the 50-yard freestyle and finished second in the 100 butterfly while Miranda won the 500 free and finished second in the 200 free and both Meier and Miranda helped Rural finish second in the 400 free relay.
10. WORTH THE WAIT PART II -- Washburn Rural 2024 senior Josh Sulzen-Watson won the Class 6A state championship in the javelin in his final high school meet while the Junior Blues' foursome of '24 senior Shane Jueneman, then-sophomores Liam Morrison and Draden Chooncharoen and then-junior Isaiah Terry sat through a long weather delay before winning the 6Atitle in the 4x400 relay in the final event of the 2024 state meet as the Junior Blues finished fourth as a team, just two points out of third.
