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By CHARLES SPURLOCK

Special to TopSports.news

BONNER SPRINGS -- Wyandotte County Park provided the backdrop for the 2025 United Kansas Conference cross country meet Thursday. The Seaman girls and boys teams were the top local finishers, with the girls finishing fifth and the boys coming in second while the day was also highlighted by the return of senior star Ryin Miller.

 

Seaman junior Brynn Spencer was the individual runnerup in Thursday's UKC cross country meet. [File photo/TSN]

In the girls race, Seaman junior Brynn Spencer finished in second place with a time of 19:46.90, behind conference champion Elizabeth Arenas of Piper.

“I was very proud of how I ran today, despite running alone most of the race,'' Spencer said. "I knew there were lots of rolling hills on the course, so my goal was to push up the hills and use the downhills to get some energy back.”

Seaman senior Ryin Miller returned from injury to place third in Thursday's UKC meet in Kansas City, Kan. [File photo/TSN]

Miller, the 2024 Class 5A runnerup and a five-time state champ in track, finished third in the race in a time of 20:36, which was her first race of the season due to an injury. Miller talked about dealing with the prolonged injury and the opportunity to race Thursday.

“This season has been very challenging and the hardest thing I’ve ever had to face as an athlete,'' she said. "There are so many highs and lows in sports, but because of the lows we grow, learn and truly are stronger because of it. I’ve been extremely fortunate with injury in playing four sports.

"Today was great to toe the line and give it all for my team considering that I’ve had zero running-related training. I still have lots of work to do to finish getting totally healthy and increasing my mileage and fitness again.”

Spencer and Miller were both recognzied as first-team All-UKC with their respective finishes.

 

Seaman senior Brody Anderson won his second straight UKC individual cross country title Thursday. [File photo/TSN]

In the boys race, Seaman senior Brody Anderson won his fifth race of the season in a time of 15:38.30.

“The race went great today and I’m excited to get back-to-back conference individual titles,'' Anderson said. "Coach (Luke) Wiens and I had a plan to get out and do enough to win while feeling great. The course ran well, not my favorite, but I can’t choose where I run and have to adapt to each situation I’m put in.”

With the season coming down to the final two weeks, Anderson talked about the regional race next weekend.

“I feel great going into regionals and trust my fitness and the training of Coach Wiens to put myself in a great spot against a stacked regional,” he said. 

With the victory, Anderson was named first team All-UKC while junior teammate Conner Bloom finished 11th in 17:18.50, garnering second-team All-UKC honors.

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By CHARLES SPURLOCK

Special to TopSports.news

JUNCTION CITY -- Centennial League title implications were on the line Friday night as the Washburn Rural Junior Blues traveled west to take on the Junction City Blue Jays, who posted a 35-20 win.

 

Jadyn Baum, Washburn Rural

Junction City (5-2 overall, 3-0 in the league) took the opening kickoff and methodically drove the ball down the field with a mixture of the run and pass. In the wildcat formation, junior linebacker Khaliel Walker took the snap and handed off to senior wide receiver Lovell Autry who ran it in for a 4-yard touchdown, giving the Blue Jays a 7-0 lead with 6:20 left in the opening quarter.

While Junction City’s drive took almost six minutes, the Junior Blues (5-2, 2-1) answered in a little over a minute when Jadyn Baum scored on a 51-yard touchdown run, tying the game at 7.

 

The Blue Jays' next possession was a little over five minutes and on the first play of the second quarter, senior Conrad Gomez threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Autry, giving Junction City a 14-7 lead.

The Junior Blues were able to drive the ball into Blue Jay territory, but Ryan Austin’s 37-yard field goal attempt was wide left. Rural’s defense stiffened and forced a Junction City punt about halfway through the second quarter.

 

Washburn Rural’s next possession changed the complexion of the game. On a third down play, senior quarterback John Hoytal wasn’t able to maintain a high snap from center, fumbled and Junction City recovered the fumble at midfield. Hoytal was injured on the play, requiring him to be placed on a stretcher and taken off the field on a cart.

 

The teams traded possessions to complete the second quarter and Junction City took a 14-7 lead to the locker room.

Washburn Rural had the first possession of the second half and junior Gavin Vantuyl took over at quarterback, led the Junior Blues down the field and tied the game at 14-14 on a 31-yard touchdown run.

 

The game remained tied for only 14 seconds as senior Kingston Timms took the ensuing kickoff down the left sideline, cut across the field and scored on a 95-yard return, giving the Blue Jays a 21-14 lead.

 

Rural’s next possession ended in a failed fake punt, giving Junction City excellent field position with a little over six minutes left in the third quarter. The Blue Jays capitalized on the turnover and scored another touchdown on a 19-yard pass from Gomez to junior Brody Boeckman, extending their lead to 28-14.

 

In the final twelve seconds of the third quarter, Junction City scored their third touchdown of the stanza. From the wildcat formation, Walker took the snap and scored on a 5-yard run. The Blue Jay lead was now 35-14, heading into the fourth quarter.

 

Washburn Rural had the only score of the final quarter on a 10-yard pass from Vantuyl to senior Nate Selm. The extra point was blocked, accounting for the final score of 35-20.

 

With the win, Junction City will claim the Centennial League title and will host Emporia next Friday night to finish the regular season.

 

Washburn Rural will return home to face Manhattan on Friday night. 

 

JUNCTION CITY 35, WASHBURN RURAL 20

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By TODD FERTIG

TopSports.news

Washburn Rural gave a sendoff to a group of seniors who don’t figure to finish their high school careers anytime soon. The group of 12 seniors dominated Seaman 9-1 in their final regular-season game at McElroy Field, but they figure to host several more games come playoff time.

Senior Dylan Willingham netted four scores and added two assists to lead the rout.

Senior Dylan Willingham had four goals and two assists in Washburn Rural's 9-1 Senior Night win over Seaman Thursday night. [File photo/TSN]

“I love this group,” Willingham said. “We’ve worked really well together, and our chemistry is really tight. We are all really good friends and we all love coming out here and playing together.

“I think as a group we’re a really good team and we have got a shot this year at winning the whole thing.”

Willingham put the Junior Blues up early at 34:11 in the first half. Seaman locked down the net for the next 20 minutes, however, until Willingham scored again.

Even then, the Vikings weren’t going away. Seaman senior Kaelon Taylor broke through the Junior Blue defense to cut the Washburn Rural lead to 2-1.

But at that point, the home team poured it on, scoring three more times in the remaining eight minutes of the period. The Junior Blues came back with four goals in the first 16 minutes of the second period to induce an early exit.

Washburn Rural improved to 11-1-1 with two games remaining – at Hummer Sports Park to face Topeka High next Monday and at Blue Valley North next Thursday.

“Every time we’ve had really successful teams here, we’ve had big, strong, successful senior classes, and this one’s as good as we’ve had,” said Washburn Rural coach Brian Hensyel. “I told the guys before the game that one of the great parts of my job is when you have a really good senior class that make your job easy. 

"They promote being good teammates. They work hard. They buy into what their coaches are telling them. Over a four-year time period, they can really develop into some really good soccer players.'' 

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