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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Corrinne (Stringer) McGreevy played in 100s of big matches as a volleyball star for Hayden and at the Division I and II college level.
But McGreevy was in a whole new position on Monday night, making her debut as the head coach at her alma mater in a dual match at Topeka High.
Former Hayden star Corrinne McGreevy made a triumphant debut as the Wildcats' volleyball coach Monday night, with Hayden taking a 3-0 dual win at Topeka High. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
"I was more nervous than any high school game or college volleyball game,'' McGreevy said. " I'm not going to lie, more nervous than I ever have been.in volleyball.''
Fortunately for McGreevy, her Hayden team did its best to put her nerves at ease, rolling to a 25-10, 25-23, 25-10 dual win over Centennial League foe Topeka High.
"We're getting to know each other and building that trust and they had to see me on the sidelines as their coach, like, 'How's she going to be?' '' McGreevy said. "I know I can be a little fiery, a little nutty, but I mean well.
"We all have to trust each other and connect and that's what it's about is trust because when you can trust each other and you want those people in your foxhole, good things are going to happen.''
Hayden celebrates its 25-10 first-set victory over Topeka High in Monday's 3-0 dual sweep over the Trojans. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Hayden rolled to wins in the first and third sets, but the Wildcats' most impressive win might have come in the middle set as McGreevy's team rallied 17-11 and 19-15 deficits to pull out the win and take a commanding 2-0 lead in the match.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Former Hayden football standout Brent Peavler has had to wait his turn for the Washburn University defense, but now it's Peavler turn.
Former Hayden standout linebacker Brent Peavler (33) will open his senior season for Washburn University Thursday night at Pittsburg State. [File photo/TSN]
The 6-foot-2, 225-pound linebacker, who will kick off his sixth year in the Ichabod program Thursday night at Pittsburg State, has appeared in 25 games while collecting 52 tackles and 23 solo stops while being used primarily in a reserve role.
But with Washburn graduating multiple linebackers, including first-team All-American Grant Bruner, Peavler will get his opportunity to be a marquee player for the Ichabods.
"It's been a long five years, coming up on six now, and I had to wait behind three All-Americans, which is good,'' the 23-year-old Peavler said. "Washburn is known for having really good linebackers and hopefully this year I can prove some people wrong and show that maybe I should have been playing a little bit earlier.
"We lost Bruner and we lost D-Mac (Derrick McClendon) and it's going to be me and it's going to be some younger guys that haven't had a lot of reps so it's up to us. We're big communicators on the back end so it will be up to us to communicate and really just step right into it, especially the younger guys, and get this thing going right away with Pitt.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Editor's note: TopSports.news has finished its tour of preseason football practices at all 10 Shawnee County high schools and will post preview stories over the coming days leading into the opening games of the 2023 season Sept. 1.
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If there was a high school football team in Kansas that had a tougher schedule than Topeka High did last fall they'll have to prove it to Trojan coach Carlos Kelly.
Carlos Kelly's Topeka High Trojans will be looking to improve on last fall's 1-8 record despite an extremely tough '23 schedule. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
And Topeka High, coming off a 1-8 season in 2022 while facing teams that posted a 72-29 combined record, will face that same gauntlet of a schedule this fall.
"We open up the season in Weeks 1 and 2 with the 2022 (Class) 5A state runnerup, Maize (12-1), and 6A state champion Manhattan (13-0),'' Kelly said.
The Trojans will also take on Hays (10-2 last fall), Washburn Rural (8-3), Wichita Northwest (8-3) and Junction City (7-3).
But although he knows the Trojans will face a tough challenge again this fall, Kelly is counting on four-year starters BJ Canady and Isaiah Kincade to lead the way as Topeka High aims to make progress in '23.
"It's still going to be a tough season but BJ and Isaiah and guys like that are really hungry,'' said Kelly, who is starting his fourth season as High's head coach. "This senior class, and there's very few of them, there's like four, but those four have have pulled the younger classes together so we had a really, really great summer.
"We were able to take 38 kids to Pitt State (camp) and that was a great experience because they were automatically thrown into the fire against teams like Bartlesville, Okla. and all those schools that already have spring ball and we step off the bus with only two practices. A lot of daubers went down and heads went down, but we just had to pick ourselves up. We had three days there and it gave them a good wakeup call about how they needed to prepare this summer.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University offensive lineman Jacob Glendinning is a mountain of a man at 6-foot-6, 320 pounds.
Washburn offensive lineman Jacob Glendinning is looking to close out his Ichabod career with a big senior year after earning third-team All-MIAA recognition a year ago. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
But after five-plus years of college weight training and conditioning, the former Washburn Rural football and wrestling stantout is carrying very few excess pounds as he gets ready to kick off his final season in an Ichabod uniform Thursday night at Pittsburg State.
"I've dropped about 10 pounds, but just being in the weight room with (David) Trupp (WU strength coach) and the guys working out every summer puts the muscle mass on you and you definitely become a college football player quick when you make that jump from high school to college,'' Glendinning said.
"I'm bigger now than I was in high school for sure. The baby fat's gone. It's all muscle and stuff that helps me out on the field move people.''
The 2018 Washburn Rural graduate has put together a very solid career at Washburn, playing in 29 games with 23 starts and earning All-MIAA third-team recognition a year ago when he helped the Ichabods average 401.5 yards of total offense, which ranked fourth in the conference.
Glendinning feels proud of what he's been able to accomplish at WU and is looking to cap his college career with his best year yet.
"I think that coming out of high school I had high expectations for myself and what I was going to do with the awards I came out with my senior year, going to the Shrine Bowl and being regarded as one of the best in the state,'' Glendinning said. "And coming to Washburn has really helped me propel myself to that next opportunity to achieve the dreams I have.
:"Last year I was third-team all-conference and this year I'm shooting to be first-team all-conference and then see if I can get any All-American honors and go from there.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Editor's note: TopSports.news has finished its tour of preseason football practices at all 10 Shawnee County high schools and will post preview stories over the coming days leading into the opening games of the 2023 season Sept. 1.
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Logan Pegram bleeds Silver Lake maroon and gold ... always has, always will.
Former Silver Lake football star Logan Pegram is starting his second season as the Eagles' head coach. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
And as the former Eagle standout prepares to open its second season as his alma mater's head football coach he can't imagine a position he'd rather be in.
"We've got really kids and I say it until I'm blue in the face, it's a great community, good people, high expectations, everything you want from young people these days,'' Pegram said.
Silver Lake posted a solid 6-3 record in his first year at the school and is confident the Eagles are ready to take another step forward this fall.
"We had a really good summer,'' Pegram said. "My skill guys really, really bought in and we ask a lot of them with 7 on 7s and defensive focus, camps and everything that we do nowadays.
"We went up to Mill Valley and had a really good 7 on 7 and beat some really good teams. What we ask of the kids in the summer is hard because you still want them to be kids, but they also know that what they want to accomplish takes a little bit extra than you're used to giving right now.''
