WU senior Andrew Orr & teammates celebrate their NCAA D-II Central Region championship.

[Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

Seaman coach Matt Tinsley name UKC girls' basketball Coach of the Year.

[File Photo/TSN]

Washburn Rural senior Amare Jones named Centennial League Boys' Player of the Year.

[Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]

Rossville junior Rylee Dick named to All-Big East First Team.

[file photo/TSN]

WU Coach Brett Ballard’s jubilation as the Ichabod’s won the NCAA D-II Central Regional championship.

[Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

Junior Kailyn Hanni, Silver Lake, named to All-Big East First Team.

[File Photo/TSN]

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Key Performers of the Week

Rising Stars Intro 002AA

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Four-time Top Fuel world champion Steve Torrence made the only run in the 3.70s on Friday night at Heartland Motorsports Park, earning the provisional No. 1 spot at the Menards NHRA Nationals presented by PetArmor.

F3TsijAW8AAPm40Four-time Top Fuel champ Steve Torrence talks to the media Friday night at Heartland Motorsports Park. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Torrence recorded a run of 3.764 seconds at 326.24 miles per hour in his 11,000-horsepower Capco Contractors/Toyota dragster to close out Friday's lone round of qualifying in a side-by-side clash with points leader Justin Ashley.

If it holds through Saturday's final two qualifying rounds, Torrence, who is currently second in points behind Ashley, would notch his first No. 1 qualifier this season and No. 35 of his career.

“This is a huge confidence-booster, just for getting the momentum going early in the weekend and getting us set up to go into (Saturday) for the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge,” Torrence said. “We needed to have a good qualifying run tonight to set us up to go into that race tomorrow with a competitive car and try to compete for those three points.

“That's going to be huge going into the Countdown, where we're able to kind of cut that lead down or see if we can cut it to nothing between now and then with Justin Ashley being so far ahead of us.

"These guys, we've been working hard. Everybody is putting in a whole lot of blood, sweat and tears in this thing.”

Clay Millican, who has a pair of wins this season, is currently second with his 3.813 at 316.15 and Ashley’s run of 3.818 at 322.88 puts him third. Ashley currently has five victories this season.

Top Fuel qualifying continues at 3 p.m. Saturday, with eliminations getting under way at 11 a.m. on Sunday.

MENARDS NHRA NATIONALS

At Heartland Motorsports Park

FRIDAY QUALIFYING RESULTS

Top Fuel -- 1. Steve Torrence, 3.764 seconds, 326.24 mph; 2. Clay Millican, 3.813, 316.15; 3. Justin Ashley, 3.818, 322.88; 4. Leah Pruett, 3.834, 293.41; 5. Tony Schumacher, 3.835, 316.15; 6. Josh Hart, 3.867, 314.68; 7. Austin Prock, 4.039, 254.71; 8. Lex Joon, 4.106, 251.39; 9. Terry Totten, 4.193, 274.33; 10. Scott Palmer, 4.208, 223.36; 11. Brittany Force, 4.309, 168.98; 12. Antron Brown, 4.438, 184.85; 13. Doug Kalitta, 4.725, 159.63; 14. Mike Salinas, 4.978, 140.80; 15. Buddy Hull, 5.633, 120.46; 16. Jacob McNeal, 6.094, 97.81.

Not Qualified: 17. Shawn Langdon, 7.934, 74.60.

Funny Car -- 1. Robert Hight, Chevy Camaro, 3.948, 321.19; 2. Ron Capps, Toyota Supra, 3.950, 314.17; 3. Bob Tasca III, Ford Mustang, 3.967, 316.60; 4. John Force, Camaro, 3.977, 317.12; 5. Paul Lee, Dodge Charger, 4.014, 308.35; 6. J.R. Todd, Supra, 4.023, 318.77; 7. Matt Hagan, Charger, 4.040, 312.93; 8. Tim Wilkerson, Mustang, 4.044, 304.74; 9. Cruz Pedregon, Charger, 4.091, 303.91; 10. Terry Haddock, Mustang, 4.152, 287.96; 11. Alex Laughlin, Charger, 4.230, 289.38; 12. Jack Wyatt, Charger, 4.270, 245.54; 13. Dave Richards, Mustang, 4.320, 257.04; 14. Chris King, Charger, 4.571, 223.91; 15. Chad Green, Mustang, 5.013, 148.09; 16. Blake Alexander, Mustang, 5.384, 138.36.

Pro Stock -- 1. Greg Anderson, Chevy Camaro, 6.677, 205.38; 2. Erica Enders, Camaro, 6.686, 204.63; 3. Troy Coughlin Jr., Camaro, 6.704, 205.16; 4. Aaron Stanfield, Camaro, 6.705, 204.70; 5. Kyle Koretsky, Camaro, 6.706, 204.20; 6. Dallas Glenn, Camaro, 6.715, 205.07; 7. Cristian Cuadra, Ford Mustang, 6.716, 203.92; 8. Jerry Tucker, Camaro, 6.725, 205.10; 9. Deric Kramer, Camaro, 6.741, 203.12; 10. Camrie Caruso, Camaro, 6.743, 205.13; 11. Fernando Cuadra Jr., Mustang, 6.751, 203.49; 12. Chris McGaha, Camaro, 6.793, 203.61; 13. Mason McGaha, Camaro, 6.793, 202.70; 14. Bo Butner, Camaro, 7.511, 125.34; 15. Fernando Cuadra, Mustang, 18.121, 45.00; 16. Matt Hartford, Camaro, 24.683, 36.18.

Not Qualified: 17. David Cuadra, broke.

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