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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Topeka has produced some of the top boys and girls high school swimmers in Kansas history, multi-time state champions and record-setters, but when it comes to teams, a couple stand alone.
Rod Garman's 2018 Seaman boys swimming team made Topeka history, earning the city's first team state title. [Submitted photo to KSHSAA.org]
Rod Garman's 2018 Seaman boys team made history in the Class 5A-1A state meet as the only city team to claim a team championship, while prep stars Haley Molden and Sammie Schurig were triple gold medalists in 2010 as Washburn Rural's girls finished second in 6A, just 11 points out of first.state champs in 2010.
The Viking boys dominated the '18 state meet en route to a runaway 347-197 win over Bishop Miege as Zeke Metz won three gold medals and was named the 5A-1A swimmer of the meet while both Molden and Schurig were double individual state champs in '10 and also added a relay win.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Brent Reese-Hackett is getting a late start in his new position as Topeka West's head girls basketball coach, but will be looking to use his impressive background as a player and experience as a coach to make up for long time.
Former TCU basketball standout Brent Reese-Hackett is the new head girls basketball coach at Topeka West. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Reese-Hackett is taking over for Jeff Skar, who resigned after the 2022-2023 season, and Reese-Hackett was a late hire after Topeka West hit a snag that delayed the hiring process, accepting the job last month as teams across the state were finishing up their summer offseason work.
"It was late,'' Reese-Hackett admitted. "I looked at an email (Monday) and the accepted offer was July 11th.''
But it's hard to question Reese-Hackett's basketball pedigree, which could come into play as the new West coach plays catchup.
A native of Fort Worth, Texas, Reese-Hackett was a standout at Division I Texas Christian University from 2004-2008, appearing in 122 games with 88 starts.
Reese-Hackett finished his career with 1,098 points for the Horned Frogs while connecting on 190 3-pointers.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
It was an impossible task to fit 27 Shawnee County state softball championship teams into just 10 spots on the TopSports.news Best of the Best list.
But after a great deal of consternation and second-guessing, 12 state tournament winners received mention on the Best of the Best list, headed by a pair of co-No. 1s -- Shawnee Heights' 25-0 2017 Class 5A title team and Topeka High's 25-0 2021 6A champions.
Steve Giddens' 2017 Shawnee Heights softball team went 25-0 to win the Class 5A state title, the first in school history. [Submitted photo to KSHSAA.org]
Shane Miles' 2021 team, which went 25-0 to win Topeka High's first state softball title, shares the No. 1 spot on the Best of the Best list. [Submitted photo to KSHSAA.org]
Shawnee Heights sent retiring coach Steve Giddens out with a perfect 25-0 record and the T-Birds' first state softball championship in '17, capped by a 10-0 win over Blue Valley Southwest in the state final.
Top players for Heights included seniors Faith Rottinghaus and Kaisha Wells, juniors Kayleigh Bayless and Lydia Ostenson, sophomores Paige Petefish, Abbey Fischer and Sydney Wellshear and freshmen Jaycee Ginter and Aniya Holt.
Shane Miles' Trojans went a perfect 25-0 in '21 en route to the first state softball championship in Topeka High history and High's first of two straight titles.
Current Stanford star pitcher NiJaree Canady was dominant in the pitching circle for the Trojans, who allowed just one run at state, capped by a 7-1 win over Olathe North in the tiitle game.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The 2022 college football season turned in an instant for Washburn University tight end Trey Pivarnik.
Trey Pivarnik
Pivarnik, a 6-foot-4, 245-pound junior, went from thinking he had scored his first college touchdown against rival Emporia State to embarking on a long road back from a serious ankle injury.
After hauling in a pass from Kellen Simoncic, the former Hayden standout thought he got in the end zone against the Hornets, but in rapid fire order, the official ruled that Pivarnik was stopped outside the end zone and a second or so later he began to feel extreme pain.
After a long recovery from a serious ankle injury, Hayden product Trey Pivarnik is looking to have a big junior season for Washburn. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
"I did think I scored and that's why I stood up and when I stood up I felt my ankle dislocated and I thought, 'Oh shoot, something's not right.' '' Pivarnik said. "I was so excited, thinking that I had scored and wanted to stand up and celebrate with my teammates and that wasn't going to happen.
"I tore all the ligaments in my ankle and dislocated my peroneal tendon and actually dislocated my ankle on impact.''
Pivarnik suffered another setback midway through his recovery.
"I originally rehabbed for four months, went through all of that and started getting ready for spring ball and started running routes and had a couple of pops,'' Pivarnik said. "I got re-evaluated again and they found out that my tendon had not located yet and I had a couple of ligaments that still needed to be tightened up so I had to get surgery during spring ball.''
The good news is that Pivarnik has made major strides and was back on the field for the start of WU's fall camp on Monday and soon expects to be at full strength.
"My recovery's going really good. I'm going to be (100 percent),'' he said.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural's nationally-ranked 2009 Class 6A state championship team has been selected for the No. 1 spot on the TopSports.news Best of the Best boys soccer list.
Washburn Rural's 2009 Class 6A state championship team is No. 1 on the TSN Best of the Best boys soccer Top 10. [Submitted photo to KSHSAA.org]
Brian Hensyel's 20-1-0 Junior Blues beat Free State to win the Class 6A state title, finishing the season ranked No.11 in the nation while allowing only seven goals all season.
The Junior Blues' lone loss came against 5A state champion St. Thomas Aquinas, which went unbeaten on the season and was top-ranked in the nation.
