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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After posting fourth-place finishes in the Class 5A state tournament the past two seasons, Tatiana Dowling's Seaman volleybll team is setting its sights even higher this fall.
And the Vikings have taken four steps in the right direction to open the 2023 season, with Tuesday's 25-15, 24-19, 25-21 home dual sweep over Baldwin boosting Seaman's record to 4-0 on the season.
"I think any time that you come away with three wins in a five-set match, that's great,'' Dowling said. "I do think we need to work on our consistency and staying (at a high level) the whole entire time.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
WAMEGO -- Perennial Class 6A state girls golf power Washburn Rural isn't where it wants to be by fhe end of the 2023 season, but the Junior Blues are getting closer.
Jared Goehring's team shot a season-low 335 on Tuesday at Wamego Country Club to finish second to Centennial League rival Manhattan, which carded a 332 four-person score.
"There's definitely improvement,'' Goehring said. "We've got a long ways to go still, but I like the makeup of this team. I like the leadership on this team so far and we know we've got work to do but there's no doubt that these girls will contine to get better each day.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
If it seems like it's been forever since Collin Wilson ended his high school days at Washburn Rural and embarked on his college football career at Washburn University, Wilson can relate.
"I just turned 25 July 8th,'' Wilson said. "It's crazy, it goes by fast.''
The 6-foot-2, 210-pound wide receiver played his final high school season for Rural in 2016 and has played 24 games with five starts for Washburn in three seasons over a seven-year span (including a redshirt year) with 67 catches for 947 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Wilson had his best year for the Ichabods in 2019 with 37 catches for 543 yards while averaging a team-best 14.7 yards per catch and tying for the team lead with seven touchdown receptions while earning All-MIAA honorable mention.
But Wilson was then inactive for two straight seasons due to the Covid-cancelled season in '20 and temporarily transferring out of the WU program during the '21 campaign before returning to the Ichabods in '22.
Having already earned his nursing degree and working in that field, Wilson could have walked away from football and waded full speed into his profession, but he opted instead for a final go-around with the Ichabods.
"It was a couple of things,'' Wilson said about his decision to return. "I wanted to be a leader for some of the young guys on the team, guys who want to get the most our of their career, and just show them how they can do that. And then really I just felt like I didn't accomplish everything I was capable of throughout high school and college.
"I feel like I've always been capable of more and I felt like this is a good opportunity to show that, so I came back. Work's always there. that's not going anywhere. I've been able to work all summer so I haven't really missed out on that too much. It's football. You've only got so long to play it.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Seaman cross country and track and field coaching legend Bob Camien passed away Sunday at the age of 76 after a long illness.
Camien was living in Naples, Fla. with his wife, Julie, at the time of his death.
Camien and close friend and fellow coach Rick Brading both came to Seaman as shop teachers and coaches in the 1979-1980 school year,
"We taught beside each other in the woodworking shop and metal shop, and coached both track and cross country together for 30 years,'' said Brading, Seaman's head girls cross country and girls track and field coach. "Coach Camien was the real deal. He pushed his athletes hard because he wanted them to be fierce competitors.
"Nothing was more exciting to him than to see two athletes going stride for stride, battling down the stretch all the way to the finish line."
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
ALLEN BAUGHMAN, Shawnee Heights
Shawnee Heights' star senior running back carried the ball 34 times for 164 yards and scored a pair of touchdowns as the T-Birds opened their 2023 season with a 42-0 United Kansas Conference home victory over Piper last Friday night, avenging an 11-point loss to the Pirates in '22. Baughman also caught two passes for 38 yards.
JACKSON ESQUIBEL, Shawnee Heights
The T-Bird senior, a state champion in track and multi-time state placer in cross country, opened his 2023 cross country season with the individual championship in last Thursday's Basehor-Linwood Bobcat Invitational at Wyandotte County Park, posting a five-kilometer time of 16:06.1 to best a field of 176 runners by 17 seconds.
JC HEIM, Washburn Rural
A senior running back/linebacker, Heim stood out on offense, defense and special teams as Washburn Rural held on for a 26-25 non-league victory over Wichita East last Friday night at Bowen-Glaze Stadium. Heim had a pass interception on defense, rushed for 39 yards on seven carries and blocked a Blue Aces extra point attempt late in the game to preserve Rural's one-point advantage.