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High diving star Cowdin tunes up for stretch run with Topeka Invitational title
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Topeka High senior diving star Jaxon Cowdin has been playing a little bit of catchup while working through a lingering ankle injury he suffered last summer.
Topeka High senior Jaxon Cowdin won the diving title in Tuesday's Topeka High Invitational. [File photo/TSN]
But with his bid for a fourth straight city title coming up on Thursday, followed by Centennial League and Class 6A state competition, Cowdin served notice in Tuesday's Topeka High Invitational at the Capitol Federal Natatorium that he's rounding into form just in time for his stretch run.
In his first 11-dive competition of the season, Cowdin bested the field of nine divers with a score of 394.00, while Free State's Gavin McIntosh was second with a score of 351.75.
"It's more like a test of for one, stamina, and two, consistency, and three, who's got all their stuff put together,'' Cowdin said. "You see a lot of dudes crash and burn on 11 dives. I felt pretty decent, but there's still a lot to clean up.''
Cowdin hurt his ankle back on July 3rd, but his recovery from that injury has last a lot longer than he ever expected.
"It was not healing and it was bad for like a couple of months and then I finally started doing stuff on it, rehabbing it and everything like that and it's almost back to 100 percent now,'' Cowdin said.
Cowdin felt like he was a little bit behind at the start of the season, but is feeling good about where he is now.
"I think (the injury) definitely played a factor, but now that I'm starting to really kind of get into my groove of things, everything's getting better,'' he said.
Nex up is Thursday's city meet and Cowdin's shot at a perfect four for four city run.
"I really try not to think about it a whole lot,'' Cowdin said. "I try not to psych myself up or make myself nervous and I don't think I'm going to be nervous going into it at all.
"We're going to see what happens and obviously I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure I don't get beat, but if I do, hopefully it's by one of my teammates.''
Topeka High's Dawson Blankenship posted a win in the 100-yard butterfly in Tuesday's 12-school Topeka High Invitational. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Topeka High also got a win from Dawson Blankenship in the 100-yard butterfly in 59.04 seconds while Blankenship posted a third-place finish in the 200 individual medley (2:25.96).
Lawrence Free State won the team championship by a 538-339 win over Lawrence, with Seaman third with 243 points.
Peyton Holmes anchors Seaman's 200-yard free relay to a win in Tuesday's Topeka High Invitational. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Seaman's foursome of Kinser Barbosa, Jeremiah Moylan, Theron Carlson and Peyton Holmes posted a win in the 200 freestyle relay in 1:36.03 while Barbosa finished third in the 100 freestyle (51.96) and third in the 100 backstroke (1:03.33).
Hayden finished sixth as a team, one point ahead of Topeka High (188-187).
Palmer Heskett finished fourth for the Wildcats in the 200 IM (2:29.52) while Ryan Carson was fourth in the 100 butterfly (1:03.79).
Thursday's city meet at Cap Fed will get under way at 1:30 p.m.with the diving competition, followed by swimming competition at 5 p.m.
TOPEKA HIGH INVITATIONAL
WU women looking to bounce back from loss in Thursday night rematch with No. 8 Tigers
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University women's basketball returns to Lee Arena for a three-game homestand, beginning with a rematch against Fort Hays State at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday.
Washburn women's basketball will be looking to bounce back from a six-point loss to Missouri Western when the Ichabods host No. 8-ranked Fort Hays State on Thursday. [File photo/TSN]
Washburn is 11-9 on the year overall and 5-5 in the MIAA after suffering a 62-56 road loss at Missouri Western last Saturday while Fort Hays State, 16-2, 7-2, won its third straight game last time out, defeating Central Oklahoma 81-72 on the road on Saturday.
And while Lora Westling's Ichabods know they face a tough test against the No. 8-ranked Tigers, WU is determined to give FHSU a much tougher battle than it did in an 83-53 MIAA loss at Hays back on Dec. 7 when the hosts raced out to a 48-12 halftime lead.
WU played without junior star Yibari Nwidadah due to concussion protocol in that game while sophomore starter Madelyn Amekporfor was limited after just coming out of protocol.
"We're going to have our full lineup, which wasn't the case the first time,'' Westling said. "We were kind of scrambling that week, and that's not to take anything away from them, it was just that we were trying things that we hadn't tried yet early in the season.
"We have to defend better, we have to keep people out of foul trouble and we have to be solid because that's what Hays is. They're very, very solid.''
Amekporfor said she and her teammates are definitely fired up to get another shot at the Tigers.
"I was limited minutes that game and I was kind of half what I had been the whole season, so I didn't really get to do as much as I wanted to and have as much of an impact,'' Amekporfor said. "But I know that we're going into (Thursday's) game all healthy and all ready to go, so I think that will be a much different game than it was the first time.
"We're a much better, stronger team than we were the first time.''
WU also gained a little bit extra motivation from the fact that they didn't feel like they played well last Saturday against Western, a loss that snapped the Ichabods' three-game win streak.
"We played pretty poorly Saturday,'' Westling said. "Getting into the film we didn't execute the things we wanted to do, didn't defend things we knew were coming and just weren't as focused as we needed to be and had way too many unforced turnovers.
"We know progress isn't a straight line and you're going to have some of those dips and we definitely had a dip Saturday, but we've had a good response and I feel like we're ready for this week's challenge.''
Perfect 10: Ballard gives Ichabods high marks for how they've handled responsibilities of 19-0 start
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Coaches have a whole list of things they're concerned about and Washburn University men's basketball coach Brett Ballard is no exception.
No. 1-ranked Washburn will be aiming for its 20th straight win in Thursday's 7:30 p.m. MIAA home game against Fort Hays State. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
But one thing Ballard doesn't waste time worrying about is how his Ichabods are going to handle their responsibilities on and off the court, including the pressures that go along with being 19-0 (10-0 in the MIAA) and ranked No. 1 in the nation for the third straight week.
"Ten out of ten as far as preparation on the court, off the court and how they've handled everything,'' said Ballard, whose Ichabods begin a three-game homestand at 7:30 p.m. Thursday against Fort Hays State. "It's been a lot of fun. The daily preparation's been there, effort, energy, coachability, all that stuff's been off the charts, really good.''
The Ichabods blasted Missouri Western 85-52 on Saturday in St. Joseph, the largest margin of victory in series history, as WU tied a program record with its 19th straight win to open the season. Washburn can set the win mark in Thursday's game.
While the Ichabods are enjoying their success, sophomore standout Brayden Shorter said there's no over-confidence in the Washburn camp.
"I feel like one of the best parts about us is we don't look past any team,'' Shorter said. "Just the level of compete that we all have I feel like is definitely for sure what's gotten us to the point that we're at right now.
"It does feel good, but I just feel like we are really grateful for the opportunity and we get ready for every single game like it's going to be the team that could beat us and we're all just trying to keep doing what we're doing.''
The Tigers are 13-5 overall and 6-3 in the MIAA play after falling at Central Oklahoma, 75-65, on Saturday, snapping a four-game winning streak. Washburn won the first meeting of the season with the Tigers in the second MIAA game of the season, 71-57 in Hays.
Washburn is one of two undefeated teams remaining in the NCAA Division II ranks, joining No. 2 Daemen (14-0).
