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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
(Games at 7 p.m., unless noted)
THURSDAY'S GAME
Class 5A
SHAWNEE HEIGHTS (7-2) vs. HIGHLAND PARK (7-2)
At Hummer Sports Park
Highland Park won its first playoff game since 1991 and only its third in school history last Friday, rolling to a 55-7 win over Meadowlark Conference foe Kansas City-Harmon, while Shawnee Heights advanced with a 68-0 first-round playoff win over KC-Sumner Academy. The two city rivals will be meeting for the first time since the 2017 season. Highland Park senior Amari Taylor has rushed for 568 yards and seven touchdowns on 63 attempts while junior Jamon Wilson has rushed for 368 yards and three touchdowns and caught 26 passes for 474 yards and six TDs. Shawnee Heights senior Allen Baughman has carried the ball 141 times for 690 yards and 12 TDs while T-Bird senior quarterback Ryeki Tuley has passed for 1,861 yards and 19 touchdowns and rushed for 343 yards and six scores on 79 attempts. Senior Jayden Moore has caught 50 passes for 620 yards and five TDs. Heights senior Alex Dawkins has been in on 60.5 tackles with 15 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks. The winner of Thursday night's game will advance to a state quarterfinal to take on the winner of Friday's game between Blue Valley Southwest (8-1) and Lansing (5-4).
FRIDAY'S GAMES
Class 6A
JUNCTION CITY (6-2) at WASHBURN RURAL (9-0)
Washburn Rural, the No. 1 West seed, opened its playoff quest with a 48-7 win over winless Wichita North last Friday while Junction City advanced with a 27-18 win over Wichita Heights. Rural and Junction City will be playing for the second time this season, with the Junior Blues taking a 28-7 Centennial League win over the Blue Jays earlier this fall. Washburn Rural has already won nine straight games for the first time since a perfect 12-0 season in 1989 and is within a win of winning 10 games for the first time since 1992. The winner of Friday's game will advance to the 6A quarterfinals to face the winner of Friday's game between Wichita Northwest (7-2) and Wichita East (7-2). With a win Friday Rural would also be at home for the quarterfinals.
Class 5A
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
No. 8-ranked Washburn University soccer put a program-record nine players on the 2023 All-MIAA team released by the conference Wednesday.
The Ichabods took home four individual honors, with coach Davy Phillips winning his first coach of the year award, senior Raegan Wells named goalkeeper of the year, junior Jordan Tenpas tapped as the MIAA defensive player of the year and Washburn Rural product Mackinly Rohn honored as co-freshman of the year.
Washburn had at least one player on all three teams along with two honorable mentions.
The Ichabods were most represented on the first team with four selections -- Wells, Tenpas, junior Khloe Schuckman and sophomore Washburn Rural product Belle Kennedy.
Emporia State graduate student Hannah Woolery, a former Cair Paravel Latin star, earned first-team All-MIAA recognition while the Hornets' Mackenzie Dimarco, a senior, was unanimously picked as the conference offensive player of the year.
Phillips wins coach of the year for the first time at Washburn after winning his first and the program's second MIAA regular-season championship with a 9-1-1 record in conference play. With a win last week at Fort Hays State Washburn won its 15th game, tying a program record, and is 15-2-1 on the year.
Wells was a first-team selection for the first time in her career and also took home goalkeeper of the year honors for the first time.
It's the fourth time overall that Wells has been an All-MIAA selection. Wells started and played in all 18 games for a total of 1,575 minutes, the most on the team. Wells set a career-best with just .51 goals per match and had a .820 save percentage. She recorded 10 solo shutouts and combined for an eleventh.
Tenpas was named the defensive player of the year and a first team All-MIAA selection in her first season as an Ichabod. Tenpas played 1,190 minutes on the year and played in 14 matches, starting all 14. She was part of nine shutouts in the matches she played and also recorded one point with an assist.
Rohn was named the MIAA co-freshman of the year for 2023 and earned second-team honors after tying for the conference lead with seven assists. She added three goals with one game-winner for 13 points on the year, third on the squad. Rohn played all 18 matches, making 16 starts, and played 1,037 minutes. Her seven assists are the second-most in a season by a Washburn freshman in program history.
Schuckman earned first team All-MIAA honors for a second straight season as a forward and earns all-conference honors for a third straight season. Schuckman played and started in all 18 matches, playing 1,195 minutes overall. She was second on the team in goals and assists with six goals and a career-high four assists on the year for 16 points. She led the Ichabods with 38 shots and had four match winning goals.
Kennedy joins the first team as a midfielder after playing and starting all 18 matches and playing 1,090 total minutes. She earns all-conference recognition for the second straight season to begin her career. Kennedy scored five total points with two goals and one assist. One of her two goals was a match-winner. She also helped the Ichabods to 11 shutouts on the year and was third in shots with 23.
Viviana Soto-Herrera earns second-team recognition and is a member of the all-conference team for a second straight season as a midfielder. She played in 17 matches and started in all 17, playing 1,060 minutes. She was third on the team with five goals and added two assists for a career high 12 points on the season. She finished second on the Ichabods with 24 total shots. Her five points against Newman on Oct. 22 are the most by a player in a single match for Washburn this season.
Taylor Bockover is a third team All-MIAA selection and earns all-conference honors for the first time in her career as a defender. Bockover played and started in all 18 matches for a total of 1,193 minutes, fourth most on the team and second among defenders. She helped the Ichabods ring up 11 shutouts on the year.
Ana Muruzabal received All-MIAA honorable mention as a forward in her second season at Washburn. Muruzabal played in 17 matches, all off the bench, but led the Ichabods in goals with seven and in points with 17 as she added three assists. She netted one game-winning goal in her 599 total minutes on the field. Her seven goals are tied for the fourth most by a junior in program history.
Josie Boyle also received All-MIAA honorable mention on defense. Boyle started and played in 13 matches, logging 1,154 minutes, only sitting out 16 minutes in the matches she played in. She earns all-conference honors for the first time in her career. She was a part of eight shutouts in 2023 and helped out offensively with one goal.
Cair Paravel product Woolery recorded three goals and four assists for 10 points on the season. Woolery also recorded 39 shots and 23 shots on goal. Across her 17 matches played, Woolery played 1353 minutes, the third most for the Hornets this season.
Woolery's four assists this season have increased her Emporia State career record total to 25, which also is tied for fifth-most in MIAA history. In addition to her career assist total, Woolery ranks second in shots and shots on goal and third in points and goals in program history. In her career, she has played and started 81 matches for the Hornets.
Washburn begins the MIAA Championship Tournament as the No. 1 seed and will face No. 8 Missouri Western at 6 p.m. Friday in Yager Stadium.
2023 ALL-MIAA WOMEN'S SOCCER
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
By coach Brian Hensyel's own admission, Washburn Rural wasn't at its best in Tuesday's Class 6A soccer quarterfinal against Garden City.
But the Junior Blues were good enough.
Washburn Rural was pushed to overtime by Garden City, but sophomore Draden Chooncharoen scored the game-winning goal at the 3:10 mark of the first overtime period off an assist from senior Devon Rutschmann to give the Junior Blues a 2-1 victory over the Buffaloes at McElroy Field.
"We did not have our best performance tonight,'' Hensyel said. "Hats off to Garden City. They had a good game plan -- they kind of jammed the middle on us -- but every (playoff) run we've made in the past there's always kind of been one ugly game. That's also sometimes the sport of soccer, it's hard to finish. We had our chances in the first half to break it open and we couldn't do it.
"We let them hang around and we let them hang around and they found a goal. To our credit, we kept telling the guys, we've got to get the ball to certain people's feet and let them go to work. We did that with Devon and all year we've been preaching if we attack the end line and put balls across the box it's just hustling to get near the box and the guy that hustles more than anybody on this team is Draden Chooncharoen, and as soon as that ball came across, he was beating everybody to that ball.''
With Tuesday's win Washburn Rural improved to 18-1-0 on the season entering Friday's 6:30 p.m. state semifinal against Shawnee Mission West (14-3-2) at Hummer Sports Park.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
FRIDAY'S GAMES
Class 6A
DERBY (10-1) at WASHBURN RURAL (11-0)
Washburn Rural, the No. 1 West seed, is coming off a 35-14 home playoff win over Wichita East last Friday while Derby advanced with a 23-21 win over 2022 Class 6A state champion Manhattan. Rural has won 11 straight games since dropping a 36-21 state quarterfinal decision at Derby a year ago while Derby has won 10 straight since a 33-19 loss to Manhattan in the opening game of the '23 season.
Rural senior quarterback Branton DeWeese has completed 111 of 180 pass attempts for 1,644 yards and 27 touchdowns while junior Lafayette Thompson has rushed for 559 yards and four TDs on 93 attempts and senior JC Heim has 453 yards and nine TDs on 67 carries.
Senior Titan Osburn has 29 pass receptions for 528 yards and 11 touchdowns and Thompson has 22 catches for 278 yards and three scores.
Defensively, JC Heim has been in on 153 tackles (91 solo) with 17 tackles for loss while Jaren Heim has 116 tackles (62 solo) with 10 tackles for loss and senior Jamond Lane has 67 stops (38 solo) with eight tackles for loss and four sacks.
Junior King Leonard has nine interceptions on the season while junior Wilson Miller has five interceptions. Both Leonard and Miller have returned interceptions for touchdowns.
Derby senior quarterback Braxton Clark has completed 80 of 110 pass attempts for 1,246 yards and 14 touchdowns in seven games and has rushed for 268 yards and seven TDs on 59 attempts.
Panther senior Derek Hubbard has rushed for 917 yards and 13 TDs on 124 carries while senior Colton Ruedy has 40 receptions for 706 yards and four TDs and junior Da'saahn Brame has 39 catches for 807 yards and 12 scores.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Seaman junior Maegan Mills has been named the United Kansas Conference volleyball offensive player of the year while Viking coach Tatiana Dowling has been named the UKC coach of the year.
Mills was one of four city players named to the All-United Kansas Conference first team, with Seaman senior Brooklyn Gormley, Shawnee Heights junior Kaydence Torrez and Toeka West senior Addison Brooks also earning first-team honors.
Lansing senior Tabor Scanlon was named the UKC defensive player of the year and also was a first-team pick, along with De Soto senior Aubrey Scott, Lansing senior Anna Laincz and Piper junior Abbie Roth.
Seaman senior Taylin Stallbaumer and junior Campbell Chabot were second-team All-UKC honorees while Shawnee Heights junior Taylor Brees and Topeka West senior Siana Sanchez also were named to the second team.
ALL-UNITED KANSAS CONFERENCE VOLLEYBALL