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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The Darting Basketball Academy held its second annual Community Give Back Shoe Drive Camp Wednesday at Topeka Collegiate School, raising more than 50 pairs of new basketball shoes to be distributed to local children.
Kerry Darting instructs campers during Wednesday's DBA Community Give Back Shoe Drive Camp at Topeka Collegiate School. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
The Darting Basketball Camp raised more than 50 pairs of new basketball shoes for local children in Wednesday's Community Give Back camp. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Former local high school standouts and city coaches served as instructors for Wednesday's camp, which included 51 boys and girls participants who all donated a new pair of sneakers to be distributed by the Topeka non-profit group Sole Reason.
"Everybody brought a pair and we even had some families that didn't have a kid here who brought in a pair of shoes,'' DBA's Kerry Darting said. "We're probably about 60, 70 pairs of shoes, which is really good.
"(Sole Reason) is going to come pick them up and they distribute them throuhout the Topeka schools.''
Darting said DBA plans to continue to making the Community Give Back Shoe Drive Camp an annual event.
"The kids have fun and they're able to help the community so it's a really good thing over the holidays to do for the community,'' Darting said.
If interested in donating a pair of sneakers, email Kerry Darting at
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The Washburn University women's basketball team will play its final non-conference game of the 2022-23 regular season on Thursday, hosting Bethany College in a 7 p.m. non-conference game at Lee Arena.
The Ichabodw, 4-5 on the season, last played on Dec. 17, dropping a 57-44 home MIAA decision to Missouri Western.
Washburn's women's basketball team will play its final non-conference game of the 2022-2023 season Thursday night against Bethany. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Bethany is 9-5 this season and has won its last three official games. The Swedes played an exhibition at MIAA member Fort Hays State on Dec. 19, losing to the Tigers, 80-46.
Thursday's contest will mark exactly one year since Washburn and Bethany last played each other when the Ichabods came away with a 71-50 home win. Thursday's game will count as an exhibition for Bethany.
Washburn is averaging 53.6 points per game and has a 36.9 field goal percentage. The Ichabods are third in the MIAA and ninth in all of Division II in fewest points allowed per game, holding opponents to just 53.8 points per game.
Through nine games, Washburn's defense has not allowed more than 64 points in a game and has held two opponents to 45 or fewer points.
Junior point guard Aubree Dewey has started all nine games for the Ichabods, averaging 10.9 points per game and ranks seventh in the MIAA with 3.4 assists per game.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
With the start of a new year just five days away, it's natural to get excited about what the future may hold.
But while looking forward to 2023, it’s also important that we don't forget those we lost in 2022, including seven men and women who had a lasting impact on sports, some in the Topeka area and others on a national scale.
Former Shawnee Heights state championship basketball coach Bob Bodenheimer, Kansas City Chiefs legendary quarterback Len Dawson, University of Kansas legend and NFL star John Hadl, former Washburn University men's basketball standout David Johnson, former Kansas State quarterback and Wildcat assistant coach Matt Miller, Topeka native and women's sports torchbearer Billie Jean Moore and highly-successful former Rossville football coach Hal Taliaferro all passed away in 2022.
Miller passed away at the age of 49 just eight days into 2022 while Bodenheimer passed away on May 7 at the age of 86, the 87-year-old Dawson passed on Aug. 24, the 54-year-old Johnson passed on Sept. 17, Hadl passed on Nov. 30 at 82 years old, Moore passed on Dec. 14 at 79 and Taliaferro passed away on Tuesday, Dec. 27.
Here’s a brief look at the legacy the six left:
Bob Bodenheimer
BOB BODENHEIMER
Bodenheimer coached Shawnee Heights' boys basketball team to back-to-back Class 5A state championships in 1988 and 1989.
Bodenheimer's '87-88 T-Bird team posted an 18-6 record and his '88-'89 title team went 18-5. Shawnee Heights beat Campus in the '88 state championship game and McPherson in the '89 title game.
Bodenheiemer's T-Birds captured the Centennial League championship in 1988, were the co-league champs in '89, '91 and '92 and won the league title outright again in '93.
He was born December 30, 1935, in Osage City and graduated from Osage City High School, attended the College of Emporia and received his master’s degree in mathematics from Kansas State.
Bodenheimer began his career in education at Garnett and had stints at Landon Middle School, Jardine Middle School, Highland Park High and Shawnee Heights, retiring in 2004.
In addition to his coaching success at Heights, Bodenheimer was an assistant coach for Highland Park teams that won two Class 4A state basketball championships and in 1976 captured the only Grand State championship in Kansas history.
Len Dawson
LEN DAWSON
The NFL Hall of Fame quarterback led the Chiefs to a pair of Super Bowls, including their first Super Bowl title.
Dawson played for the Chiefs from 1962 through '75, playing until he was 40 years old, and also put together a long and successful broadcast career in television and radio.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
At some point in the past there may have been a better overall year for Shawnee County girls high school sports than 2022.
Then again, maybe not.
County schools captured state team championships in five different sports in three different classifications while county athletes combined to win 10 individual state titles.
That depth of talent made it nearly impossible to narrow down TopSports.news' list of the top Shawnee County girls stories to just 10, and even harder to decide which accomplishments deserve to be at the top of the list, but here goes.
Topeka High's softball team celebrates its 2022 Class 6A state title after a 2-1 win over city rival Washburn Rural. [File photo by Isaac Deer/TSN]
1. CHAMPIONSHIP RE-RUN -- After posting a perfect 25-0 record and winning the school's first state softball title in 2021, Topeka High had a tougher path to a second straight Class 6A championship in 2022, but Stanford signee NiJaree Canady and the Trojans got the job done, taking a nail-biting 2-1 win over Washburn Rural in an all-city final to cap a 22-3 season. Canady ended her high school career with a second straight Gatorade Kansas Player of the Year award while then-senior Elycia Joyce and then-juniors Adisyn Caryl and Alesia Alvarez earned All-6A first-team honors.
Washburn Rural's volleyball team dogpiles on the court after winning the 2022 Class 6A state title, the eighth in school history. [Photo by Jeff Jacobsen/Action Images Photography]
2. BUMP, SET, DOMINATE -- Perennial state volleyball power Washburn Rural was 1-1 two matches into the 2022 season before going on a 44-match tear to win its eighth Class 6A title under Kevin Bordewick, capped by a 25-21, 26-24 win over Blue Valley. Bordewick surpassed the 1,000-victory mark for his career during the season while Junior Blue star Brooklyn DeLeye, a multi-time Class 6A player of the year and Kentucky signee, went over the 2,000 mark for career kills.
Former Topeka West swimming star Kadence Jeffries finished her high school career six for six at state in her individual events. [File photo/TSN]
3. STREAK COMPLETE -- Topeka West swimming star Kadence Jefferies kept her incredible streak intact of never losing an individual race in the Class 5A-1A state meet. Jeffries swept the 200 and 500-yard freestyle state titles as a freshman in 2019. Then, after the '20 season was canceled due to COVID-19 Jeffries swept the same two events in '21 and '22, winning the 200 as a senior in 1 minutes, 53.29 seconds and the 500 in 5:03.66. Jeffries is now swimming for NCAA Division I Nebraska Omaha. Joining Jeffries as a 5A-1A state champion was Seaman sophomore Avery Walz, who won the 100 breaststroke in 1:06.03, helping the Vikings finish fourth in 5A-1A as a team.
Washburn Rural poses for a team picture after winning the Class 6A basketball title last March in Wichita. [Submitted photo]
4. SAME SONG, DIFFERENT VERSE -- Washburn Rural set the table for this fall's Class 6A volleyball championship with a run to the 6A basketball title last spring. The Junior Blues went 23-2 on the season, capped by a dominating 40-23 win over Derby in the state final. Brooklyn DeLeye, Zoe Canfield, Jada Ingram, Chloe Carlgren and Destiny Ochs were members of both the basketball and volleyball championship teams, along with coach Kevin Bordewick, who won his 10th 6A title as a head coach (eight volleyball, two basketball). Bordewick was also a part of three state championship teams in basketball as an assistant to Bill Annan.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Shawnee County high schools had plenty to celebrate in 2022, with county teams capturing three boys state team titles in three different sports while county athletes combined to earn nine individual championships.
Washburn Rural wrestling is No. 1 on TopSports' list of the top 10 boys high school sports stories of 2022 after winning its second straight Class 6A state team title while Seaman basketball is right behind the Junior Blues after winning the first boys state basketball championship in school history.
Individually, former Hayden distance ace Tanner Newkirk led the way with a record-setting three-win perfomance in the state track and field championships while 2022 was also about Highland Park's football team ending an eight-year losing skid with a breakout year, Shawnee Heights sprint star Jeremiah Smith running the fastest 100-meter dash in Kansas history and Washburn Rural senior Easton Bradstreet earning his place in Rural soccer history.
Here's a look at TopSports.news' top 10 Shawnee County boys prep stories of 2022, with the girls top 10 coming up next:
Washburn Rural senior Austin Fager flips Junior Blues coach Josh Hogan to the mat in celebration last season after winning the 182-pound Class 6A state championship to clinch Rural's second straight state team title. [Photo by Jeff Jacobsen/Action Images Photography]
Washburn Rural senior Aidan Boline won the Class 6A 160-pound state championship as a senior, helping the Junior Blues repeat as state team champs. [Photo by Jeff Jacobsen/Action Images Photography]
1. DATE WITH DESTINY PART II -- After posting a pair of Class 6A runner-up finishes, Washburn Rural's wrestling team captured the first-ever boys team championship by a Topeka school in 2021. The Junior Blues, with new coach Josh Hogan at the helm, made it two in a row in 2022, with senior state champions Aidan Boline and Austin Fager and then-freshman runner-up Easton Broxterman leading the way as Rural won the title by a 151-142.5 margin over Derby.
Seaman's boys basketball team celebrates the 2022 Class 5A state championship after its 66-47 win over De Soto in the title game. [File photo/TSN]
2. RUN FOR THE AGES -- A little past the halfway mark of the 2021-2022 high school basketball season, Seaman's basketball team was sitting with a so-so 7-7 record. Eleven wins later, including a dominating state tournament run, Craig Cox's Vikings were the Class 5A boys state champions for the first time in school history. With seniors Ty Henry, Mateo Hyman and Gavin Wilhelm and then-juniors Kaeden Bonner and Aron Davis setting the tone, Seaman won all three of its state games by double-digits, including a 66-47 romp past De Soto in the championship game.
Hayden distance star Tanner Newkirk ended his high school career with three Class 4A individual titles and two 4A state meet records in the 2022 state track and field championships. [File photo/TSN]
3. TANNERIFIC -- Tanner Newkirk capped his outstanding distance running career for Hayden with a record-setting performance in the state track and field championships at Wichita State's Cessna Starium. Now a freshman at Kansas, Newkirk, a former state cross country champ, pulled off the rare distance triple in Class 4A, winning the 3,200 meters in 8 minutes, 58.88 seconds, the 1,600 in 4:12.25 and the 800 in 1:55.0 while setting state meet records in the 3,200 and 1,600 and posting the No. 5 time in state history in the 3,200. Newkirk was joined as a Wildcat state champ by then-freshman Jensen Schrickel, who won the 4A long jump title.
