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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn women's basketball will continue its season-opening home stretch to begin the 2022-2023 season, hosting the Washburn Classic Friday and Saturday at Lee Arena.
Washburn junior Mackenzie Gamble is averaging a team-high 14 points for the Ichabod women with eight 3-pointers in two games. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The Ichabods will play host to Southern Nazarene University at 6 p.m. on Friday evening before finishing up the two-day classic against Rockhurst at 3 p.m. Saturday.
In addition to Washburn's games, Pittsburg State will play Rockhurst at 4 p.m. on Friday and will face Southern Nazarene at 1 p.m. Saturday.
Washburn began this season last weekend with a split in the Washburn Crossover Classic against Southwest Oklahoma State University and Oklahoma Baptist.
Washburn started out the season with a win for the first time since the 2017-18 season, rolling to a 71-55 win over Southwest Oklahoma State last Friday. The Ichabods dropped a 43-42 decision to OBU on Saturday.
Junior Mackenzie Gamble is off to a hot start for Washburn, averaging 14 points while hitting eight of her 14 3-point attempts.
Former Bishop Miege standout Gabi Artis is averaging eight points for the Ichabods while senior Macy Doebele is averaging 7.5 points and 6.5 rebounds and junior Aubree Dewey is averaging 7.0 points, four rebounds and four assists.
Junior Lauren Cassady averages a team-high 7.5 rebounds for WU.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
No. 15-ranked Washburn University volleyball, last season's national runnerup, will be looking to defend its NCAA Central Region title this weekend in Wayne, Neb. as the Ichabods make their 17th trip to the NCAA tournament.
Washburn, coming off its first-ever MIAA Tournament championship, will open this year's postseason bid against No. 6-ranked Minnesota Duluth in a 12 p.m. Friday quarterfinal.
Washburn volleyball coach Chris Herron talks to his team Sunday night after the Ichabods were installed as the No. 6 seed in the NCAA Central Region. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
The Ichabods (24-7) are the regional tournament's No. 6 seed and will face No. 3 seed Minnesota Duluth (26-4). The Bulldogs fell in the NSIC semifinal against Concordia-St. Paul last week.
After losing their regular-season finale to Misouri Western, the Ichabods bounced back in a big way in the MIAA Tournament, defeating three straight nationally-ranked teams.
"We got an opportunity to show ourselves and show everybody that it wasn't necessarily about what happened in the past,'' Washburn libero Sydney Pullen said. "We had a new opportunity and we got to capitalize on that and it worked out well for us. We had a lot of fun.''
Washburn coach Chris Herron said his team did a great job of putting the pressure aside in the conference tournament and will try to do the same thing this week.
"We kept using the term, 'We're playing with house money here,' '' Herron said. "We played with no fear, we played loose. We danced a lot and there was lots of singing.
"Shayla (Conner, WU assistant) and the rest of our staff do an incredible job of keeping the team lose. They've done a really good job of keeping our kids ready.''
According to the regional seedings, Washburn is an underdog again this week, but Herron said the Ichabods can't worry about that.
"We're going to play really, really hard and then we're going to feel good about ourselves when we leave the building,'' he said.
"We have nothing to lose so we might as well give it our all,'' Pullen said.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The Washburn University men's basketball team won its 32nd straight home opener in a row Wednesday night in Lee Arena, taking a 70-63 decision over William Jewell.
The Ichabods rallied from an early 10-point deficit to improve to 2-1, getting a big lift off the bench from freshmen Jarmell Johnson and Brady Christiansen.
Washburn freshman Jarmell Johnson (right) is congratulated by teammate Connor Deffebaugh after hitting a big shot in Wednesday's 70-63 home win over William Jewell. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Washburn freshman Brady Christiansen (1) pulls down one of his 19 rebounds in Wednesday's 70-63 win over William Jewell at Lee Arena. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Johnson, a 6-foot-6 guard out of Denver, Colo., scored a team-high 14 points for the Ichabods while Christiansen, a 6-7 forward out of Lincoln, Neb., had nine points and grabbed 19 rebounds.
"I saw Brady's motor in high school and his size and a college-ready body, so I was excited about what we was going to be able to do, even as a freshman,'' Washburn coach Brett Ballard said. "But obviously I had no inclination that he'd get 19 rebounds in a big game against a good team. That was amazing.
"Jarmell's been a pleasant surprise. A month and a half ago we were thinking about maybe redshirting the kid. That shows you how much I know about anything. He's aggressive, he's not afraid of the moment and he's been a nice spark for us.''
Johnson scored 11 of his 14 points in the second half as the Ichabods led throughout the half.
"I feel like my teammates trust me, coach trusts me and coach's standard never changes,'' Johnson said. "He always expects us to play how he wants to play no matter if you're a starter, coming off the bench, five minutes, two minutes. Whenever I get on the floor I just give it all I've got.''
Christiansen's 19 boards, including 11 on the offensive end, were the most by a WU player since Brady Skeens grabbed 22 boards on two occasions in 2017.
"I just worry about what the team needs and I just bring my toughness and my energy and I know it's going to pay off and help the team win,'' Christiansen said. "All the hard work you put in over the offseason is paying off and you've just go keep coming in and working and see where things go from there.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural, which captured its 28th straight Centennial League boys championship (outright or shared) and finished fourth in the Class 6A state tournament, leads the 2022 Topeka All-City boys soccer team with four first-team picks.
Senior forward Easton Bradstreet was one of four Washburn Rural players named to the All-City boys soccer first team after scoring 29 goals this fall and 57 in his career. [File photo/TSN]
Highland Park senior Vellamy Diaz was an All-City first-team repeat pick after being named the All-Meadowlark Conference soccer co-player of the year. [File photo/TSN]
Shawnee Heights senior Jordan Garvin (9) was a first-team All-City pick after earlier being named the United Kansas Conference player of the year. [File photo/TSN]
The Junior Blues are represented on the 15-member first team by senior forward Easton Bradstreet, senior defender Rishi Sandir, senior midfielder Ty Stead and junior forward Devon Rutschmann while veteran Washburn Rural coach Brian Hensyel was named the city coach of the year after leading Rural to a 16-5 record and a third straight trip to the 6A final four.
Bradstreet ended his high school career with a share of Rural's career scoring record with 57 goals, including 29 goals his senior season.
Topeka High, which went 11-6 on the season, put three players on the All-City team -- sophomore forward CJ Brown, senior forward Aidan Morrison and senior defender Alexis Salas-Garcia.
United Kansas Conference champion Shawnee Heights (11-6-1) is represented by on the first team by senior forward Jordan Garvin, the UKC player of the year, and senior midfielder Isaac Wilson while Hayden (8-9-1) put senior midfielder Chris Hayes and senior forward Jake Muller on the first team and Seaman (3-12-2) is represented by senior defender Joseph Budge and senior goalkeeper Ayden Thompson.
Senior forward Vellamy Diaz, the Meadowlark Conference co-player of the year, made the All-City team for Highland Park (10-7-1) while Topeka West is represented by junior defender Isaac Gonzalez-Talavera.
Diaz, Muller and Wilson are all first-team All-City repeat picks while Hayes, Thompson, Garvin, Brown, Morrison, Salas-Garcia, Bradstreet and Rutschmann all received honorable mention in 2021.
The All-City team was determined by a vote of city coaches.
TOPEKA ALL-CITY SOCCER
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Twenty-five city players have earned All-United Kansas Conference football recognition, led by seven first-team picks.
Shawnee Heights junior running back Allen Baughman was one of four T-Birds to earn first-team spots on the All-United Conference football team. [File photo/TSN]
Seaman senior Bryson Vawter earned All-United Kansas Conference first-team recognition at running back. [File photo/TSN]
Topeka West senior Xavier Alexander (32) was named the All-UKC first-team punter and also received honorable mention at running back. [File photo/TSN]
Shawnee Heights put a city-high four players on the All-UKC first team, with junior running back Allen Baughman, senior offensive lineman Gavin Zuperku, junior all-purpose pick Jayden Moore and junior defensive lineman Christian Gonzales all earning first-team berths.
Seaman is represented on the first team by senior running back Bryson Vawter and senior offensive lineman Sean Miller while Topeka West senior Xavier Alexander was named the All-UKC first-team punter.
Earning second-team all-conference honors on offense were Topeka West senior quarterback Malachi Berg, Seaman junior receiver Callen Barta, Shawnee Heights junior tight end Jayden Holly and Shawnee Heights junior lineman Rykan Carver.
Eight city players earned second-team spots on defense -- Seaman senior lineman Kasen Hasenkamp, Topeka West junior lineman Kyrece Robinson, Seaman senior linebacker Jaxson Thomas, Shawnee Heights junior linebacker Alex Dittman, Shawnee Heights senior linebacker Sean Wunder, Seaman junior back Jack Bloom, Shawnee Heights senior back Jayden Berry and Heights senior back Jaye Jones.
In addition to earning first-team honors at punter, West's Alexander received All-UKC honorable mention on offense while Seaman's Vawter, a first-team running back, received honorable mention on defense. Six other city players received honorable mention.
ALL-UNITED KANSAS CONFERENCE FOOTBALL
