- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
EDITOR'S NOTE: Over the coming weeks TopSports.news will recognize Shawnee County's all-time best teams in 21 sports as part of our Best of the Best project. The project continues with girls soccer and readers will have the opportunity to vote for teams in that sport through July 29, with the top teams in all categories announced in late July and August. To cast a vote for the Best of the Best, click on https://take.quiz-maker.com/poll4873429xba7E716F-151 while email votes/nominations will be also accepted at
--------------------------------------------------------
Washburn Rural has been the city's dominant girls soccer team for more than a decade, with Brian Hensyel's not losing a game to a Topeka foe since 2011.
But Rural, which has posted nine straight top-four finishes in the Class 6A state tournament, will have plenty of competition, including five state champioship teams, when it comes down to picking the Top 10 in TopSports.news' Best of the Best project.
The Junior Blues have advanced to the state championship game in Kansas' largest class four times since 2015, most recently in '22, and continue to dominant the Centennial League.
Klaus Kreutzer's Hayden girls soccer team won its second staight Class 4A-1A state title in 2013. [Submitted photo to KSHSAA.org]
But Hayden counters with an impressive run of success in the 4A-1A ranks, with Klaus Kreutzer's Wildcats winning state championships in '12, 13 and '15 while also posting multiple runnerup state finishes.
Marc Serrano's Shawnee Heights team won the Class 5A-1A girls state title in 2004. [Submitted photo to KSHSAA.org]
Tim Collins' Topeka West girls soccer team won the city's first state title in 2001. [Submitted photo to KSHSAA.org]
Shawnee Heights also boasts an impressive resume, with Jessica Mainz, who went on to earn All-America honors at Washburn University, helping lead the 18-1-1 T-Birds to the 5A-1A title in '04 and Marc Serrano's teams posting runnerup state finishes in '05 and '07.
- Details
By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
College underclassmen rarely have a breakout year like freshman Taryn Burkhardt had for the Johnson County Community College softball team in the 2023 campaign.
Taryn Burkhardt
The former Silver Lake standout compiled an outstanding 504 batting average, the third-best for the 33-8 Cavaliers.
Her breakout year earned her All-Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference D-II and Region 6/Plains District first-team honors.
Burkhardt’s older sister Torey also played for Johnson County Community College. The family ties played a part in her decision to attend JCCC, and her older sister made it easier for her to settle into the college game.
“My sister actually went to Johnson County from 2018-2019, so I’ve been around this environment before,” Burkhardt said. “Coming in, I knew Johnson County had high standards for its athletes. I didn’t need to adjust to that because when I was at Silver Lake, they also had high standards for everyone. Just knowing that I had to work hard for a spot motivated me.
“There are plenty of people around here that are great and that are here for a reason, so I knew what I had to do. I think understanding you have to work hard to maintain or earn a spot anywhere was the biggest thing for me that I realized before I got here.”
In addition to her .500-plus batting average, Burkhardt had seven doubles, three triples, a home run, 51 runs scored with 18 driven in and a team-high 37 stolen bases. Her 51 runs ranked fourth in the conference and she wasthird in stolen bases. Burkhardt’s 37 steals are the seventh-best season in Johnson County Community College history.
“I’m not too far away from home, but coming to Johnson County was a big adjustment for me because I am such a homebody,” Burkhardt said. “I love being at home, so that adjustment of being away was hard.
“But I never thought I put too much pressure on myself, which helped me. I just knew that’s what I had to do if I wanted to be here. When I finally got adjusted, everything became fun.”
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
EDITOR'S NOTE: Over the coming weeks TopSports.news will recognize Shawnee County's all-time best teams in 21 sports as part of our Best of the Best project. The project continues with boys golf and readers will have the opportunity to vote for teams in that sport through July 28, with the top teams in all categories announced in late July and August. To cast a vote for the Best of the Best, click on https://take.quiz-maker.com/poll4871586x6ad24A9A-151 while email votes/nominations will be also accepted at
--------------------------------------------------------
Hayden and Washburn Rural have combined for seven state team championships in boys golf and figure to be top contenders for top spots on TopSports.news' Best of the Best Top 10 in that sport.
But what may surprise local fans is that neither the Wildcats or the Junior Blues rank No. 1 for the most titles in Shawnee County history, which could make putting together a Top 10 list a very interesting endeavor.
Don Williams' Washburn Rural boys golf team took home the Class 6A boys golf championship in 1997, the first of three state crowns for the Junior Blues. [Submitted photo to KSHSAA.org]
Chris Shanks' Hayden boys golf team won the Class 4A golf title in 2001 as John Newcomer captured the individual championship. [Submitted photo to KSHSAA.org]
Topeka High hasn't won a state golf title in 62 years, but there was a time when the Trojans ruled the Shawnee County roost, capturing a county-high eight titles between 1929 and '61.
Neil White and Earl Bonebrake gave High its first title in '29, winning the state Two-Man title by a 325-330 margin over Salina and the Trojans also garnered Two-Man crowns in '31, '34, '35, '37 before sweeping Two-Man and Four-Man championships in '49 and adding a second Four-Man title in '61.
In recent decades Washburn Rural and Hayden have set the local standard, with the Junior Blues winning 6A titles in 1997, '09 and '15 and the Wildcats capturing 4A crowns in '01, '08, '11 and '14.
Don Williams coached Washburn Rural to a tiebreaker win over Shawnee Mission Northwest in '97 after both teams finished at 325 while Jeff Stromgren and Jared Goehring have also led the Junior Blues to state titles.
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
OTTAWA -- A lot of high school athletes can't wait to spread their wings and leave their home state for their college careers.
Former Washburn Rural star Ty Weber (42), a freshman-to-be at Washburn University, will play for the East in Saturday night's Kansas Shrine Bowl at Hays. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Former Washburn Rural star linebacker Ty Weber opted to stay closer to home -- a lot closer -- signing with Craig Schurig's Washburn University program to play his college football.
"It's about 12 minutes,'' said Weber, who will play for the East in Saturday night's Kansas Shrine Bowl at Hays before reporting to the Ichabods.
Weber, the Shawnee County defensive player of the year as a junior and senior, said Washburn was always at the top of his list of prospective colleges.
"It's the community,'' Weber said. "It's an honor to be able to suit up in my hometown of Topeka and to stay and play in front of all the fans and all the people who have supported me along the way. It's really a great honor.''
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
EDITOR'S NOTE: Over the coming weeks TopSports.news will recognize Shawnee County's all-time best teams in 21 sports as part of our Best of the Best project. The project continues with girls golf and readers will have the opportunity to vote for teams in that sport through July 27, with the top teams in all categories announced in late July and August. To cast a vote for the Best of the Best, click on https://take.quiz-maker.com/poll4871448xAa4145c1-151 while email votes/nominations will be also accepted at
--------------------------------------------------------
It shouldn't be a big surprise that longtime state powers Washburn Rural and Hayden headline the list of contenders for TopSports.news' Best of the Best Top 10 in girls golf.
After all, the Junior Blues and Wildcats are the only Shawnee County schools to win state team championships in the sport, with both Washburn Rural and Hayden winning five titles apiece.
Washburn Rural won the Class 6A-5A girls golf state title in 2005, the Junior Blues' first of five state championships. [Submitted photo to KSHSAA.org]
Hayden's girls golf team swept the Class 4A individual and team championships in 2008, with Lauren Falley taking individual honors and the Wildcats winning the team title by 18 strokes. [Submitted photo to KSHSAA.org]
But picking the top spot out of the state championship teams promises to be a much tougher task.
Washburn Rural won its first state championship in Class 6A-5A under Jeff Stromgren in 2005 while the Junior Blues have captured four 6A titles under current Rural coach Jared Goehring, including back-to-back titles in 2013 and '14 and in '16 and '17.
