By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
A frantic Washburn University comeback came up short in Saturday's 31-28 football loss to Fort Hays State at Yager Stadium.
Washburn junior Caeden Spencer had a 42-yard pick-six in Saturday's 31-28 MIAA loss to Fort Hays State. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Washburn junior Caeden Spencer scores on a 42-yard pick-six in Saturday's 31-28 MIAA loss to Fort Hays State. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Washburn (1-7, 0-7) trailed 31-14 with 2:29 to play in the third quarter before trimming the Fort Hays State lead to 31-21 with 6:08 remaining when Teondre Carter, who made his first career start, scored from 5 yards out.
Carter's touchdown run was set up after the Ichabods' Nasjon Porter blocked a Tiger field goal attempt and Kamble Haverkamp returned it 34 yards.
After a 59-yard pass from Sam Van Dyne to DJ Bell set the Ichabods up at the Tiger 5, Carter went out the left side for the score.
On the Tigers' next possession, the Washburn defense held the Tigers to a punt and Bell returned it 47 yards to the Tiger 42-yard-line.
After passes to Tyce Brown and Triston Johnson, Van Dyne hit Johnson for a 25-yard touchdown pass, pulling the Ichabdos within three with 2:35 to go.
After an Ichabod kickoff, the Tigers converted on a third and four from the 31 and three plays later ran out the clock for the win.
The Tiger (6-2, 5-2 MIAA) led 14-0 at the end of the first quarter and it was not until the 11:34 mark of the second quarter the Ichabods got on the board, with a 6-yard touchdown run by Carter cutting the Tiger lead to 14-7.
FHSU added to its lead with a 44-yard field goal with 8:59 to play in the opening half building a 17-7 lead.
The Ichabods punted on their next drive, with Jake Zeller's 39-yard punt douwned at the 1-yard line.
Five plays later WU's Caeden Spencer picked off a Tiger pass and returned it 42 yards for a touchdown, cutting the Tigers' halftime lead to 17-14.
Carter led the Ichabods with 56 yards rushing and two touchdowns and Van Dyne finished 19 of 33 passing for 202 yards and a touchdown.
Bell had six catches for 82 yards and Johnson had five catches for 55 yards and a score.
Defensively, Josh Grant had nine tackles with seven solo stops for the Ichabods and Jaquez White, C.J. Callaghan, L.J. Minner Jr. and Spencer all had seven tackles.
The Tigers outgained the Ichabods 487 yards to 280, running 82 plays compared to 58 for Washburn.
The Ichabods return to action Saturday, hosting Northwest Missouri as part of Washburn's Homecoming festivities with a 1 p.m. kickoff.
Viviana Soto-Herrera had two goals and an assist in Sunday's 3-0 Washburn soccer win at Newman. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
No. 8 WU soccer blanks Newman, 3-0
No. 8 Washburn (14-1-1, 8-0-1) won its fourth straight match on Sunday afternoon, picking up a 3-0 road win over Newman (2-13-1, 1-8-0).
The Ichabods will battle for first place in the MIAA on Friday on the road against Fort Hays State.
With Sunday's win Washburn earned its 10th shutout of the season and stayed undefeated in conference play.
For the first time all season the Ichabods held a team without a shot for the entire match.
Viviana Soto-Herrera gave the Ichabods the only goal they would need, scoring in the 16th minute to give Washburn a 1-0 halftime advantage.
Washburn added a couple of insurance goals later in the match. Soto-Herrera scored her second goal in the 83rd minute off an assist from Khloe Schuckman and Ana Muruzabal netting her seventh goal of the season with two minutes remaining off an assist from Soto-Herrera to complete the scoring.
Raegan Wells picked up her ninth solo shutout of the season.
Chris Herron picked up his 600th win as Washburn's volleyball coach in Saturday's 3-1 win over Missouri Southern. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Ichabods give Herron 600th WU win in 3-1 win over Lions
No. 21-ranked Washburn (14-6, 8-5) split the opening two sets of Saturday's match against Missouri Southern (12-11, 5-9) before winning the next two sets to take a 3-1 home win and give coach Chris Herron his 600th win at the school.
The Ichabods head on the road Tuesday to face Fort Hays State at 6 p.m.
Washburn started the match with its quickest set of the day, winning 25-11, before slipping in the second and falling 25-15.
But the Ichabods recovered quickly with 25-12 and 25-18 wins to close the match.
The Ichabods wasted no time in the first set, going up 7-1 after four straight points closed out by a Rachel Schwensen kill. The lead grew to double-digits in the midst of an 8-0 run which included back-to-back blocks by Jalyn Stevenson and Bella Limback in the middle of the spurt.
Washburn hit .379 as a team in the first set with 13 kills, the final one coming from Rylee Unruh to close out the set.
After 12 points in the second set the Ichabods had doubled the Lions score at 8-4. WU led 11-8 before Missouri Southern won its longest string of points of the match to go up 16-11. After hitting .379 in the first set Washburn dropped to -.026 in the second. The Lions won the final two points of the set to complete the double-digit victory.
Missouri Southern kept that momentum early into the third with a quick 6-4 lead, but a 6-0 burst beginning with a kill by Schwensen put the Ichabods in front for good in the set. Washburn grew the lead to double–figures in the midst of another 6-0 run, this one closing out the set on another kill by Schwensen.
Both sides split the first 12 points of the fourth set 6-6. The Ichabods won the next four beginning with a kill from Stevenson and ending with Iyannah Jackson making a solo block.
A pair of 3-0 bursts in the middle of the set provided cushion for Washburn, which held Missouri Southern to under .000 attacking in the final two sets.
The Lions got within five late in the fourth set but never closer with the Ichabods winning the final point on an attacking error by MSU.
Stevenson had a double-double with 17 kills and 13 digs while hitting .239 in the match. Schwensen added eight kills and three blocks with a .261 attacking percentage. Four Ichabods reached double-figures in digs, led by Seaman product Maddie Steiner and Sydney Conner with 17. Corinna McMullen paced Washburn with 21 assists and had 12 digs for a double-double.
Washburn senior won the 2023 MIAA men's individual cross country championship on Friday, leading the Ichabods to a second-place team finish. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Kibet wins MIAA cross country title, Washburn men second
Washburn senior David Kibet led from start to finish, winning the MIAA Cross Country Championships individual title and leading the Ichabods to a program-best second-place finish on Friday afternoon at Gans Creek Country Club.
Kibet's time is the second-fastest eight-kilometer time in program history and he topped his previous time at the Gans Creek Course by 36 seconds from 2022.
Kibet became the first individual champion at the MIAA meet since Jacob Klemz won the title in 2017.
Kibet's time of 24:00.92 was just over four seconds faster than Central Missouri's Brian Mitei and six seconds over Missouri Southern's Gidieon Kimutai.
Donald Kibet finished eighth with a time of 24:40.29 and Gabriel Chinya was 14th in a time of 24:58.05.
Kibet earns All-MIAA honors with his finish and Chinya was an honorable mention all-MIAA honoree.
Pittsburg State won the championship with 67 team points.
Washburn Ichabod women's team finished eighth as a team in the MIAA meet.
Lexie Fontaine led the Ichabods, finishing 22nd overall in a time of 22:36.19.
Pittsburg State won the title with 51 total team points.
