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A1 Lock & Key Performers Oct. 12, 2026
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Duke Graf
DUKE GRAF, Washburn Rural
A junior cross country standout, Graf captured the boys individual title in Saturday's city championship at Shawnee Heights, leading Washburn Rural to the team crown. Graf, who placed third in the city meet as a sophomore, clocked a winning five-kilometer time of 16 minutes, 42.6 seconds as the Junior Blues won the team championship by a 17-59 margin over Seaman.
Alyson Hinck
ALYSON HINCK, Washburn Rural
Hinck, a sophomore cross country standout, earned her first city girls individual title in Saturday's city meet at Shawnee Heights while leading the Junior Blues to the team championship. After finishing as the individual runnerup as a freshman, Hinck clocked a winning five-kilometer time of 19 minutes, 32.7 seconds as Washburn Rural won the team title by a 17-40 margin over runnerup Seaman.
Julia Katzer
JULIA KATZER, Washburn Rural
Katzer, a senior tennis star, teamed with Halle Owen to win Centennial League and Class 6A regional doubles championships and cap a sweep of city, league and regional titles while leading the Junior Blues to a sweep of the team titles in the three meets. Katzer and Owen defeated teammates Annie Henderson and Kinley Ladd 6-0, 6-0 in the league meet and 6-1, 6-2 at regionals.
Chargers earn leg up in UKC soccer race with 4-2 win over T-Birds
By TODD FERTIG
TopSports.news
Topeka West recorded a contentious 4-2 win over Shawnee Heights Monday at Bettis Sports Complex – a victory with significant historical and league title implications.
Topeka West celebrates one of two goals from junior Makaly Martinez (11, white jersey) in Monday's 4-2 soccer win over UKC and city rival Shawnee Heights. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The Chargers gained a leg up in the four-team race for the United Kansas Conference crown by improving to 11-1 overall, 5-1-0 in the league. The T-Birds dropped to 5-1-1 in the race that also includes De Soto and Piper.
“We’ve been looking forward to this one all year,” Topeka West coach Josh Kutter said. “Everyone played their hearts out on both sides. It was fun and stressful to watch.”
Junior Makaly Martinez put the Chargers up 20 minutes into the game by converting a long pass from junior Collin McGee.
After Shawnee Heights tied the game just before half, Martinez put the Chargers up again, scoring on a penalty kick 10 minutes into the second half.
“We kept working hard, playing as a team,” Martinez said of putting his team ahead twice. “We didn’t get in our heads. We just kept pushing to keep us in the game.”
Topeka West junior Valentin Del Real (10) scored two goals in Monday's 4-2 UKC soccer win over Shawnee Heights. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Just three minutes later, junior Valentin Del Real gave the Chargers an insurance goal off an assist by senior Henry Miller. After Shawnee Heights scored to make the count 3-2, Del Real scored again, this time on a long breakaway. It was the fourth goal scored in just a nine-minute span.
“I’m really proud of the mental toughness of the kids,” Kutter said. “One thing we know we can do, we have the players and the ability to score goals and either equalize or break away.
“(Martinez and Del Real) are players that have always had that ability to take off and make great plays happen.”
“We’ve been playing together for a long time, since we were little, so we have good chemistry,” Martinez said. “We communicate well, we play good around each other, and that creates a lot of chances.”
During the flurry of second-half goals, tempers escalated. A number or yellow cards and a red card were dealt, and several long stoppages were required to sort things out.
“It’s that in-town rivalry that everyone gets up for. You could tell through the game – high emotions,” Kutter said. “These guys have been talking about this for well before the game and then for a little bit after the game, they’re gonna talk about it. It’s just good fun. It’s those in-town friends that they’ve played competitively with. It’s just a lot of pride.”
Topeka West had not defeated Shawnee Heights in years. That was not surprising in the past. But the high-quality Charger teams of the past two years were frustrated by not getting over the hump against the T-Birds. The streak finally ended Monday.
“This means a lot because we’ve been losing to that team since my freshman year,” said the junior Martinez. “So, beating them this year, scoring goals, it feels great. This is a great rivalry game, and it means a lot to us.”
Rural golf earns Class 6A state berth, Vikes' Schmidtlein paces three 5A qualifiers
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural experienced plenty of ups and downs in Monday's Class 6A girls golf sub-state at Lake Shawnee, but in the end Hayden Beck's Junior Blues achieved their main objective, earning a team berth for next week's state tournament.
Washburn Rural girls golf posted a third-place team finish in Monday's Class 6A sub-state tournament to earn a team berth for next week's state tournament. [Washburn Rural golf]
Rural, which carded a team score of 390, put all of six of its players in the top half of the field en route to earning a third-place team finish behind Olathe South and Lawrence Free State, which tied for the top spot with 371 team scores.
Brynley Scott paced Washburn Rural with a ninth-place individual finish in Monday's Class 6A sub-state at Lake Shawnee. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Reese Elliott earned a 10th-place finish for Washburn Rural in Monday's Class 6A sub-state tournament. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Brynley Scott shot a 95 to finish ninth individually while Reese Elliott was 10th with a 96, Kailyn Petersen tied for 11th with a 97, Emery Hall and LynnLee Mullins tied for 15th with a 102 and Liz Halstead tied for 18th with a 107.
"That's the goal at the start of every season,'' Beck said of earning the team berth for state. "You've got to get there to be able to progress past the first day and make day two and do the things we want to do as a team.
"So it wasn't necessarily our best stuff by no means today, but we've put together a squad that will fight for each other and be able to claw and scratch their way through to that next round that we've got to play.''
Now it's on to state, which will be held at Mayetta's Firekeeper Golf Course, just about 20 minutes north of Topeka, next Monday and Tuesday.
CLASS 6A GIRLS GOLF SUB-STATE
At Lake Shawnee
Team scores
Olathe South 371, Free State 371, Washburn Rural 390, Wichita East 450, Derby 469, Junction City 503.
Individual results
1. Alna Lam, Wichita Southeast, 75; 2. Claire Cummins, Free State, 79; 3. Caroline Parks, Olathe South, 85; 4. Grace Lam, Wichita East, 87; 5. Reese McNeil, Olathe South, 89; 6. Tola Jankowski, Free State, 90; 7. (tie) Raelynn Doshier, Derby, and Laurel Stancil, Free State, 94; 9. Brynley Scott, Washburn Rural, 95; 10. Reese Elliott, Washburn Rural, 96.
Other Washburn Rural -- 11. (tie) Kailyn Petersen, 97; 15. (tie) Emery Hall and LynnLee Mullins, 102; 18. (tie) Liz Halstead, 107.
Individual state qualifiers -- Alina Lam, Wichita Southeast, 75; Grace Lam, Wichita East, 87; Raelynn Doshier, Derby, 94; Angela Palacios, Wichita East, 106; Karrington Shane, Wichita East, 107.
Seaman senior Chloe Schmidtlein placed third in Monday's Class 5A golf regional at Lake Shawnee to qualify for state as an individual. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Vikes' Schmidtlein leads trio of city 5A state qualifiers
Seaman senior Chloe Schmidtlein followed up her city and United Kansas Conference individual titles with a third-place finish in Monday's Class 5A state sub-state tournament at Lake Shawnee.
Schmidtlein carded an 88 to finish third behind Emily Taylor (78) of team champion De Soto and Aubery Ziolo (82) of third-place team qualifier Basehor-Linwood and was the top individual qualifier for next Monday and Tuesday's 5A state tournament at Hesston Golf Course.
Shawnee Heights Lauryn Valdivia earned an individual Class 5A state berth with a 10th-place individual finish in Monday's sub-state tournament. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Seaman's Kaitlynn Frye earned a Class 5A state berth with an 11th-place tie in Monday's regional tournament. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Schmidtlein was joined as an individual qualifier by Shawnee Heights' Lauryn Valdivia, who placed 10th with a 97 and Seaman's Kaitlynn Frye, who tied for 11th with a 99.
De Soto won the team title by a 387-391 margin over Hays, with Basehor-Linwood third at 395.
Seaman finished fifth at 411 while Shawnee Heights placed sixth at 446.
CLASS 5A GIRLS GOLF SUB-STATE
At Lake Shawnee
Team scores
De Soto 387, Hays 391, Basehor-Linwood 395, Emporia 407, Seaman 411, Shawnee Heights 446.
Individual results
1. Emily Taylor, De Soto, 78; 2. Aubrey Ziolo, Basehor-Linwood, 82; 3. Chloe Schmidtlein, Seaman, 88; 4. Taylen Koch, Emporia, 89; 5. (tie) Mckenzie Laster, De Soto, and Claire Fitzgerald, Basehor-Linwood, 91; 7. Kinley Pfannenstel, Hays, 93; 8. (tie) Giana Schumacher, Hays, and Brooklyn Koerner, Hays, 95; 10. Lauryn Valdivia, Shawnee Heights, 97.
Other Seaman -- 11. (tie) Kaitlynn Frye, 99; 19. (tie) Lauren Glasgow and Leah Crawford, 112; 24. (tie) Penelope Kruesi, 118; 27. (tie) Cara Beaton, 123.
Other Shawnee Heights -- 16. Avary Domme, 107; 24. (tie) Elsie Willmann, 118; 29. (tie) Ashlyn Mattox, 124.
Individual state qualifiers -- Chloe Schmidtlein, Seaman, 88; Taylen Koch, Emporia, 89; Lauryn Valdivia, Shawnee Heights, 97; Kaitlynn Frye, Seaman, 99; Kelsey Shull, Emporia, 103; Kynlee Maxfield, Emporia, 103.
