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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Hayden senior Jake Muller and junior Finn Dunshee both earned a pair of gold medals to lead the way as Hayden's boys track and field team qualified in eight events for next week's state meet at Wichita in Friday's Class 4A regional at Shawnee Mission North.
Hayden junior Finn Dunshee (right) won the 100-meter dash title in Friday's Class 4A regional and also ran on the Wildcats' winning 4x100 relay. [File photo/TSN]
Hayden senior Jake Muller won a regional title in the 300 hurdles and also ran on the Wildcats' winning 4x100 relay Friday at Shawnee Mission North. [File photo/TSN]
Dunshee won the boys 100-meter dash in 10.98 seconds and Muller won the 300 hurdles in 38.78 seconds while both also teamed with sophomores Liam Stegman and Jensen Schrickel to win the 4x100 relay in 43.00.
Stegman, Muller, Schrickel and Dunshee also qualified for state with a second-place regional finish in the 4x400 relay (3:23.92) while Muller also qualified in the 110 high hurdles with a third-place regional finish (16.01) and Shrickel finished third in the 400 dash (49.83).
Senior Joe Otting qualiied for state in a pair of field events, placing second in the discus at 148 feet, 3 inches and fourth in the javelin (173-6).
Hayden junior Natalie Hillebert won a Class 4A regional title on Friday in the 400-meter dash. [File photo/TSN]
Hayden's girls also picked up a regional victory, with junior Natalie Hillibert winning the girls 400 in 58.15 seconds.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Highland Park senior star Tre Richardson went four for four in his individual events in Thursday's Class 5A track and field regional at the Olathe District Athletic Complex while Shawnee Heights junior distance ace Jackson Esquibel pulled off the distance triple to pace city athletes.
The top four regional placers in all 18 events qualified for state, which will be contested in and around Wichita State's Cessna Stadium next Friday and Saturday.
Highland Park senior Tre Richardson tuned up for next week's state track meet with four Class 5A regional wins Thursday at Olathe. [File photo/TSN]
Shawnee Heights junior Jackson Esquibel won three gold medals in Thursday's Class 5A regional meet at Olathe, winning the 800, 1,600 and 3,200-meter runs. [Submitted photo]
Richardson, the defending 5A state champion in the 200-meter dash and a multi-time state medalist, won the 100 and 200-meter dashes, the long jump and triple jump while Esquibel, a returning state medalist, won the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 meters.
Richardson clocked a winning time of 10.49 seconds in the 100 and 21.83 in the 200 and soared 23 feet, 3.50 inches in the long jump and 45-8.50 in the triple jump.
Esquibel started his day with a win in the 1,600 in 4:23.02 and won the 800 in 1:59.55 and the 3,200 in 9:42.42
Other city boys individual regional winners included Shawnee Heights sophomore Tyler Wedl in the pole vault (12-0) and T-Bird junior Alex Dittman in the javelin (155-5) while Seaman won the 4x800 relay (8:19.23).
Shawnee Heights' boys qualified for state in 12 of 18 events while Seaman qualified for state in eight events and Highland Park five.
Seaman senior Bethany Druse won a Class 5A regional title in the 800 meters Thursday night and also helped the Vikings to a win in the 4x800 relay. [File photo/TSN]
Seaman senior Bethany Druse, the reigning 5A state champ in the girls 800, won Thursday's 800 in 2:15.46 and also helped the Vikings win the 4x800 relay in 10:15.01.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After winning a Class 5A-1A state swimming title as a sophomore in 2022, Seaman junior star Avery Walz obviously would have loved to have added a second championship on Saturday at the Capitol Federal Natatorium.
Seaman junior Avery Walz was a first-team All-State pick after posting four top-five finishes in the Class 5A -1A swimming and diving meet Saturday at the Capitol Federal Natatorium. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
But although she fell just short of that goal, Walz and her Viking teammates were still all smiles after Grace posted four top-five finishes, including a second and a third individually, to help lead Seaman to a top-five team finish for the third straight season.
"We're real excited,'' Avery Walz said. "We came in with high expectations and to swim well and I think we did. We swam amazing, so I'm real proud of our whole team.''
Avery Walz posted a second-place finish in the 200-yard individual medley in 2 minutes, 04.22 seconds and a third in the 100 freestyle in 52.77 and teamed with her junior twin sister Tauren Walz, junior Avery Samuelson and sophomore Joslynn Grace for a third-place finish in the 200 free relay (1:44.65) and with the same three swimmers for a fifth-place finish in the meet-opening 200 medley relay (1:44.23).
Avery said she was pleased with her day after helping Seaman finish fifth as a team after fifth and fourth-place finishes in '21 and '22.
"I swam pretty welI,'' she said. "I was really close to both of my best times in the 200 IM and the 100 free and in the 200 freestyle relay I went 23.7 on the end and that was my best time in that so I'm really happy.''
Seaman junior Tauren Walz earned second-team All-State recognition after earning four medals in Saturday's Class 5A-1A swimming and diving championships. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Sophomore Joslynn Grace earned second-team All-State honors after helping Seaman finish fifth in the Class 5A-1A state swimming and diving championships. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Tauren Walz posted a fifth-place finish in the 100 breaststroke (1:09.13) and a sixth in the 100 butterfly (59.89) while Grace finished fifth in the 200-yard IM (2:16.78).
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By KYLE MANTHE
Special to TopSports.news
Sometimes a scoreboard or a box score doesn’t tell the full story of a game.
That was the case Thursday night as Seaman soccer’s season was ended by back-to-back Class 5A state champions St. Thomas Aquinas, 4-1, in the regional championship at Seaman.
Seaman's soccer team, which had its season ended by perennial state contender Aquinas, huddles up Thursday night at Seaman. [Photo by Kyle Manthe/Special to TSN]
Seaman senior Jaycee Schumann scored the Vikings' lone goal in Tuesday' 4-1 Class 5A regional loss to St. Thomas Aquinas. [Photo by Kyle Manthe/TSN]
Seaman coach Tim Nussbaum and the Vikings know firsthand the challenges that come with facing a powerhouse Aquinas team after they were defeated 7-0 last season. Which is why Nussbaum was pleased with the fight of his team on Thursday.
“The effort was outstanding, I give the effort a 10/10. There for a while it was 2-1 and we were pushing and pushing, I thought we were right in it and had a couple of opportunities I thought it could be 2-2,” Nussbaum said. “I think we just kind of broke at the end, the floodgates kind of opened at the end, it was 2-1 then 3-1, 4-1 so the game was more of a 2-1, 2-2 game, but there is a reason why they are continuously highly ranked.”
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By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
SILVER LAKE -- For the second straight year, Rossville’s softball team will be dancing in the Class 3A state tournament after a 4-0 regional semifinal victory over Sabetha and a 4-1 championship win against Highway 24 foe Silver Lake on Thursday afternoon at Silver Lake.
Rossville softball celebrates its Class 3A regional championhip after Thursday's 4-1 win over Silver Lake. [Photo by Isaac Deer/TSN]
Rossville's softball team celebrates after earning a return trip to the Class 3A state tournament. [Photo by Isaac Deer/TSN]
The Bulldawgs knew they had an uphill battle on Thursday, but they also knew that they were one of the best teams in Class 3A for a reason. Class 3A No. 1-ranked Silver Lake took a doubleheader sweep against Rossville during the regular season on the same field they played in the regional championship.
Facing the same team twice is hard, but going toe-to-toe with a rival school for a third time is daunting. In this case, Silver Lake couldn’t overcome Rossville’s sudden surge of energy going into the regional championship game.
“It feels very sweet to come back and get them,” Rossville coach John Nitsch said. “We’re still not hitting the ball that we’re capable of hitting, but the pitching and defense was solid and kept us in it. The defense and pitching are good enough to really keep us in any game. Today, we were good enough to get by.”
Rossville catcher Hailey Horton agreed with Nitsch’s statement on the joyous feeling of avenging their losses against its deepest foe.
“It feels amazing getting the win this time after those two losses earlier this year,” Horton said. “Beating (Silver Lake) in regionals to go to state is just amazing. We had the energy to start out the game because this game meant a lot to us. We knew we could do it, and we believed in each other. We really wanted to beat them.”
