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By TODD FERTIG

TopSports.news

After a year’s absence, the Centennial League boys swimming championship trophy will return to the Washburn Rural trophy case. The Junior Blues took revenge on last year’s champion, Manhattan, in the league meet at the Capitol Federal Natatorium Thursday.

Washburn Rural poses for a team picture after winning the 2026 Centennial League swimming championship Thursday at the Capitol Federal Natatorium. [Photo by Todd Fertig/TSN]

Manhattan and Washburn Rural have taken turns with the trophy since 2022, and this year was the Junior Blues’ year to take the title, scoring 511 points to Manhattan’s 421.

The Junior Blues demonstrated their depth by winning all three of the meet’s relay races. Washburn Rural and Manhattan also displayed their dominance on the all-league teams. Of the 24 swimmers and divers to receive first- or second-team All-Centennial League recognition, 12 were from Washburn Rural and eight were from Manhattan.

“It means a lot to the boys for (the trophy) to be in our trophy cabinet, for them to be able to walk by every day and see it and know that they earned it back,” Washburn Rural coach Bob Burdick said. “It leaves kind of a hollow spot when it goes away. But Manhattan’s a great competitor. Great team, great coach. So, it makes it special when you earn it.”

Junior Daniel Allen won four gold medals for team-champion Washburn Rural in Thursday's Centennial League swimming meet. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

Leading the Junior Blues was junior Daniel Allen, who placed first in two individual events and was part of two first-place relays. Other top scorers included freshman Braeden Montgomery and sophomore Thomas Appuhn, both of whom were part of two winning relays and took home a first and a second in individual events.

Sophomore Thomas Appuhn was part of three victories for team-champion Washburn Rural in Thursday's Centennial League swimming meet. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

Freshman Braeden Montgomery helped lead Washburn Rural to the Centennial League swimming title Thursday at the Capitol Federal Natatorium. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN] 

“Winning the league trophy feels great,” Appuhn said. “The team is doing really good this year and it was a team effort to get the trophy back. Getting it back was one of the key ambitions this year, so we made sure we had a diverse team that was able to swim all the events that we needed in order to get it.

“We had a developmental season last season, just trying to get more swimmers to practice and swim year round instead of just during the high school season. So this feels great.”

The only Topeka school to take home a medal was Topeka High, whose senior Will Stewart placed third in the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle.

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By TODD FERTIG

TopSports.news

Topeka West girls basketball coach Angie Ketterman found a bright spot in her team’s 63-40 United Kansas Conference home loss to Leavenworth Friday -- the Chargers fought to the end.

Senior Addaline Hall paced Topeka West with 13 points in Friday's UKC loss to Leavenworth. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

Despite trailing by double digits from late in the first period on, the Topeka West girls battled and scrapped to the final buzzer. The Chargers’ intensity produced a number of tense exchanges and a bevy of whistles in the fourth period. Ketterman said afterward she appreciated her team’s effort and attitude.

“I feel like we really battled a lot harder than we have in the past,” Ketterman said. “That’s what we’ve been really talking about, especially on defense.”

Topeka West junior Sydney VanDyke scored 10 points in Friday's UKC loss to Leavenworth. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

Senior Addaline Hall led Topeka West with 13 points, followed by Sydney VanDyke with 10. But the Chargers struggled at the offensive end, hitting just 13 of 56 shot attempts.

“Tonight, we missed a lot of our free throws,” Ketterman said. “We missed some of those easy things. But I feel like our girls battled. They got very frustrated the last minute and a half. That shows that they really wanted this. They played hard.

“I’m not going to take that away from them. They did play hard. But we missed a lot of free throws and some easy shots.”

Ketterman said that in the Chargers’ three remaining games, she hopes to see similar tenacity and effort, which will serve as a foundation for improvement.

“I hope to see us keep battling like that, to show the younger ones what it takes to get those wins,” Ketterman said.

LEAVENWORTH GIRLS 63, TOPEKA WEST 40

Leavenworth 17 11 16 19 -- 63

Topeka West    9 11 10 10 -- 40

Leavenworth (7-12, 5-7) – Walker 4-12 3-4 14, Huewitt 4-12 6-8 14, Brown 6-11 3-6 16, Allen 1-4 0-0 2, M. McIntyre 4-12 1-2 9, Graham 0-3 0-2 0, P. McIntyre 0-3 2-2 2, McCann 2-3 0-0 6, Noell 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 21-60 15-24 63.

Topeka West (5-14, 2-11) – Allen 1-11 2-2 4, Gonzales 2-5 2-2 7, VanDyke 3-17 4-10 10, Hall 4-16 5-8 13, McGlory 1-5 0-0 2, Kutina 2-2 0-0 4, Ogles 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 13-56 13-22 40.

3-point goals – Leavenworth 6 (Walker 3, McCann 2, Brown), Topeka West 1 (Gonzales). Total fouls – Leavenworth 21, Topeka West 21. Fouled out – Allen. Technical fouls – VanDyke. 

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

After playing seven of their previous nine games on the road, Washburn University women's basketball returns home to Lee Arena Thursday as the Ichabods host Arkansas-Fort Smith in a 5:30 p.m. MIAA contest.

 

Senior star Yibari Nwidadah and the 15-7 Washburn women will be back in Lee Arena to host Arkansas-Fort Smith Thursday night. [File photo/TSN]

 

Washburn is 15-7 overall and 8-5 in the MIAA after a 64-58 Saturday loss at Central Missouri State while Arkansas-Fort Smith is 4-18 overall and 3-10 in the MIAA after falling 73-68 at home to No. 8-ranked Fort Hays State.

 

"We're just happy to be home again,'' Washburn coach Lora Westling said. "And this team certainly has our attention and our respect.

 

"They're much better than their record says. You look at their wins, they beat Drury, they beat Missouri Southern. They almost beat Hays and they beat Kearney, so they're pretty good.''

 

Ichabod senior star Yibari Nwidadah said the key for Washburn is to be prepared to get back on track Thursday after last Saturday's loss.

 

"Obviously we know we need to get better and we started on Monday preparing ourselves for another tough game,'' Nwidadah said. "Obviously, in this conference everyone can play with anyone and we know that the way we prepare in the beginning of the week will put us in the best position we can be for Thursday and Saturday.''

 

Nwidadah averages team-highs of 12.1 points 7.6 rebounds for Washburn while also shooting 55.5 percent from the floor. She has cracked double figures in 13 games with five double-doubles and ranks second in the MIAA in offensive rebounds per game and eighth among conference players in rebounds per game.

 

With 286 career offensive rebounds Nwidadah ranks third in program history and is fifth in overall rebounds with 783 career boards. Her career field goal percentage of .575 is the third best in program history and she ranks 13th among all Ichabods with 1,247 career points.

 

Nwidadah is also 11th in program history with 69 career blocked shots. 

 

With the end of her college career on the horizon, Nwidadah said she wants to make sure she ends things with a bang.

 

"Obviously, it's getting closer and closer each day, but I just want to embrace every moment because I don't want to look back and be like, 'Oh man, I wish I could have done this or could have done that,' '' she said. "I just want to make sure I enjoy the time I have left.''

 

Senior Payton Sterk averages 11.2 points for the Ichabods and has connected on a team-high 33 3-pointers and has scored 14-plus points in nine games this season. Sterk ranks 13th in the MIAA in 3-pointers.

 

Sterk's career free throw percentage of 86.3 percent is the best for any Ichabod.

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