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By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
Though at less than full strength, Topeka High found some positives to take away from a 51-13 non-league defeat at the hands of undefeated Liberal at Hummer Sports Park Thursday.
Topeka High junior Tevante Ewing scored both of the Trojans' touchdowns in Thursday's 51-13 loss to Liberal at Hummer Sports Park. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Trojan head coach Carlos Kelly was unavailable for the game for an undisclosed reason according to Topeka High administrators. Filling his place was assistant Brandon Mitchell.
The Trojans faced a number of obstacles on the night.
Not only was Kelly absent, but Zane Smith, starting quarterback the first two games of the season, was in street clothes on the sideline. Star defensive end BJ Canady exited the game early, apparently due to injury.
“We got a couple of big-game guys who weren’t able to go for us,” Mitchell said. “We were missing our starting linebacker and a starting defensive lineman. That really hurts defensively. And on offense, we were trying some different things out, had some different guys at different positions. We have quarterback issues with our quarterback being out.
“It’s just one of those things. You just live with what you have. We rolled with it.”
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Shawnee Heights boys soccer coach Nic Simons felt like his team was knocking at the door for most of Thursday's United Kansas Conference match at Seaman.
Shawnee Heights junior Owen Phillips (middle) is mobbed by his teammates after scoring the T-Birds' first goal in a 3-0 United Kansas Conference soccer win at Seaman. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
And although it took longer than Simons would have preferred, the T-Birds finally knocked the door down, scoring all three of their goals over the final 16:43 to take a 3-0 shutout win over the host Vikings.
"The whole game we thought we were kind of just knocking on the door,'' Simons said. "We had a couple of goals called out of the net that were offside and at halftime we told the boys, 'Keep battling, keep battling.' We've been injured for the first part of the season and I think the boys just kind of came out ready to work and I really felt like tonight, especially in the second half, we just out-worked them.''
Shawnee Heights sophomore Juan Garcia is congratulated by his teammates after giving the T-Birds a 2-0 lead in Thursday's 3-0 soccer win at Seaman. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Shawnee Heights, which improved to 2-4-0, got the only goal it would need with just under 17 minutes remaining on a shot from junior Owen Phillips and added insurance goals from sophomore Juan Garcia and junior Jackson Freeman over fhe final four and a half minutes.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Faith Rottinghaus will go down in history as one of the all-time best in Washburn University's proud volleyball history, earning All-American honors and playing for a national title with the Ichabods.
Former Shawnee Heights multi-sport standout Taylor Rottinghaus has made a major contribution as a freshman for Washburn volleyball, which opens MIAA play Friday and Saturday at Lee Arena. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Freshman Taylor Rottinghaus has played in all seven matches for 6-1 Washburn, leading the Ichabods with 80 digs and adding 15 assists. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
But just a few matches into her freshman season, Faith's younger sister Taylor is well on her way to carving out her own niche at Washburn.
Both Faith and Taylor were three-sport standouts at Shawnee Heights and the two both play the same position, defensive specialist/libero, in volleball.
That makes comparisons between the sisters inevitable, but WU coach Chris Herron said he does his best to avoid such talk.
"I've got to be honest with you, it would be unfair to anybody,'' Herron said. "We never try to compare kids but everybody's going to do that because her sister was not just good, she was great, and going to be a Hall of Fame player.
"But this kid's as athletic or more athletic than any libero we've ever had. She can go get balls, she's ridiculously fast and she's fearless. I don't want to (compare) because she's her own athlete, but she's just as good an athlete as Faith and that's saying something.''
Taylor Rottinghaus said she appreciates her coaches and others involved with Washburn volleyball letting her find her own way.
"They've done a really good job,'' Taylor said. "They talk to me about (Faith) in a different aspect. They'll check up on her and everything but when it's on the court it's Taylor Rottinghaus, it's not Faith Rottinghaus.
"That's really nice because I went to the same high school as her and it was always Faith's little sister, and coming here I was expecting it to be Faith's little sister or Faith's mini-me, but they've done a really good job of making it Taylor Rottinghaus.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Shawnee Heights junior girls tennis standout Jette Glasenapp and Highland Park junior football running back/defensive back Jamon Wilson have been selected by the Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency as the Rising Stars of the Week.
The Dan Key Agency will recognize top Shawnee County underclassmen throughout the bulk of the 2023-2024 school year.
Here’s a brief look at the accomplishments of Glasenapp and Wilson over the past week:
Shawnee Heights junior foreign exchange student Jette Glasenapp is 14-1 on the 2023 girls tennis season while playing No. 1 singles for the T-Birds. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
JETTE GLASENAPP, Shawnee Heights
Glasenapp, a foreign exchange student from Berlin, Germany, is 14-1 this fall while playing No. 1 singles for the Shawnee Heights girls tennis team.
Glasenapp won the championship in Wednesday's Topeka High Invitational at Kossover Tennis Center, going 4-0 on the day, including a 6-0, 6-0 win over Junction City's Hannah Micheel in the No. 1 singles final.
Glasenapp has won 114 of 142 games this season for an 80 percent winning percentage.
Highland Park junior Jamon Wilson scored three touchdowns to help lead the Scots to a 32-26 Meadowlark Conference win over KC-Schlagle last Friday. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
JAMON WILSON, Highland Park
Wilson, a junior running back/defensive back, helped lead Highland Park to a 32-26 Meadowlark Conference victory over Kansas City-Schlagle last Friday at Hummer Sports Park.
Wilson scored three touchdowns in the game for the Scots, who improved to 2-0 on the season.
Wilson caught a 75-yard touchdown pass from Craig Sipple and ran for 10 and 54-yard TDs. Wilson finished with 104 rushing yards on just seven attempts and also threw for a 2-point conversion.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After scoring just three goals over its first four games, Seaman's boys soccer team doubled that total Wednesday night, rolling to a 6-0 shutout victory over United Kansas Conference foe Topeka West at Hummer Sports Park.
Jace Brake (12) scored Seaman's first goal and also had a pair of assists in the Vikings' 6-0 soccer win over UKC foe Topeka West Wednesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Blake Toyne celebrates one of his two goals in Seaman's 6-0 soccer win over Topeka West Wednesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The Vikings, who won their second straight game to improve to 2-3, got the only goal they would need from Jace Brake just 7:42 into the game and held a 2-0 advantage after a goal from Blake Toyne with 14:13 left in the first half.
The score remained 2-0 at halftime before Seaman added four goals in the second half to turn the game into a rout.
"We had a couple of games where the score was lopsided against us,'' Seaman coach Tim Nussbaum said. "It's kind of nice to have a game where we got the score a little lopsided.
"We defended very well first off and after we defended well then you can create opportunities and I thought we created a lot of good opportunities tonight.''
