- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural's football team is coming off back-to-back banner seasons, posting 16 wins over the 2021 and 2022 campaigns, including an 8-3 record last fall.
And with a strong returning nucleus, Steve Buhler's Junior Blues would appear to have the experience and talent to be a major player in the Centennial League and Class 6A ranks this season.
Washburn Rural football coach Steve Buhler returns a strong nucleus from a team that went 8-3 and reached the third round of the Class 6A playoffs a year ago. [File photo/TSN]
"Especially with our senior group, they've been playing a lot of varsity football and the expeection now, even from them, is to go a step further,'' said Buhler, who is starting his 11th season at Rural and has a 173-96 career mark. "You've got a lot of steps to keep working towards if you haven't won that state championship yet, so we always have something in front of us to keep working on, but I think the expectation is to be there late in the season, late in the playoffs and see where you can put yourself.''
Washburn Rural returns 30 lettermen, including five starters on both sides of the ball and 10 returners who earned TopSports.news All-Shawnee County recognition (Top 22, Second 22 or honorable mention) a year ago.
That group includes returning senior Top 22 picks Packson Bettis, Branton DeWeese, JC Heim and Titan Osburn.
Washburn Rural senior linebacker JC Heim (25) is a returning TopSports.news All-Shawnee County pick. [File photo/TSN]
Bettis, a 6-foot-3, 235-pound defensive end, recorded 61 tackles (38 solos) with 10 sacks, 13 tackles for loss, 12 quarterback pressures and a forced fumble last season while Heim, a 6-3, 215 outside linebacker, was in on 73 tackles (48 solos) with 15 tackles for loss, five sacks,
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Topeka sports legend Gary Woodland made the stunning announcement Wednesday morning that he will undergo surgery on Sept. 18 for the removal of a lesion on his brain.
Topeka sports legend Gary Woodland, a Shawnee Heights graduate and 2019 U.S. Open champ, confirmed Wednesday that he will have surgery on Sept. 18 to remove a lesion on his brain. [PGA Tour]
Woodland, the former Shawnee Heights basketball and golf star and 2019 U.S. Open champion, shared the following post on all of his social media platforms:
“I wanted to share a recent health development with you. On Sept. 18th I'll be having surgery to remove a lesion found on my brain. I was diagnosed a few months ago and have been trying to treat symptoms with medication. After consulting with multiple specialists and discussing with my family, we’ve made the decision that surgery to remove the lesion is the best course of action. I’m in good spirits with my family and team by my side and so thankful for the love and support of everyone.”
Topekan Gary Woodland hoists his 2019 U.S. Open trophy at Pebble Beach. [PGA Tour]
The 39-year-old Woodland is a four-time winner on the PGA Tour and won the 2019 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. He was also a member of the winning 2019 U.S. Presidents Cup.
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Veteran Washburn Rural volleyball coach Kevin Bordewick knew that the defending Class 6A champions, who graduated an ultra-talented senior class, were going to face growing pains in the early going this fall, particularly with senior standout Zoe Canfield still sidelined with an injury.
And that has proven to be the case, with the Junior Blues off to a 1-2 start on the year after home losses Tuesday night to Shawnee Mission East and perennial state contender St. James Academy.
Washburn Rural senior standout Jada Ingram spikes the ball during Tuesday's home triangular. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
But Bordewick, who has coached Rural to eight state championships, said the Junior Blues' longtime goals won't change and that it's up to Rural as a team to take the steps it needs to take to right the ship..
"This is a group where we have a lot of new parts,'' Bordewick said. "Even the parts that were back from last year, Zoe can't play yet and Jada (Ingram) is in a different position, and as good as she is, she stil has to learn how to play that position.
"But it's on us. We still need to pass, we still need to set and we're not doing those things very well, but we had spurts. We knew it was probably going to be a learning process and it's a day to day thing. We'll just have to get better.''
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Both Washburn Rural soccer coach Brian Hensyel and Shawnee Heights coach Nic Simons got at least some if not all of what they wanted to accomplish inTuesday night's non-league city showdown at McElroy Field.
Hensyel's Junior Blues got the biggest prize, a 3-1 victory, but Simons' T-Birds got a stiff early-season test that he thinks will benefit his team over the rest of the 2023 campaign.
Benett Hallauer scored a pair of goals for Washburn Rural in Tuesday's 3-1 soccer win over Shawnee Heights. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Washburn Rural, which improved to 2-0, never trailed after a Benett Hallauer goal just 53 seconds into the game and went up 3-0 before Shawnee Heights got on the scoreboard in the final five minutes.
Hallauer's early goal held up for a 1-0 halftime advantage and Rural made it a 2-0 game on a penalty kick from sophomore Dylan Willingham with 22:48 remaining before Hallauer, a senior, recorded his second goal of the night off an assist from senior Devon Rutschmann to cap the Junior Blues' scoring.
Senior Brayden Lehnherr picked up the victory in goal for Washburn Rural's in Tuesday's 3-1 soccer win over Shawnee Heights. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Senior Brayden Lehnherr, filling in for injured starter Ethan Uhlrig, picked up the victory in goal for the Junior Blues.
"We like playing games against teams like this because when you have somebody that's a city rival they obviously want to beat us,'' Hensyel said. "It's going to be a good intense game and that gets you prepared for the season.
"Even though they're not in our league anymore, it's a fun game for us to play.''
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After spending most of his life as a multi-sport athlete, former Shawnee Heights standout Tyce Brown became a full-time football player prior to the 2022 season for Washburn University.
Former Shawnee Heights multi-sport standout Tyce Brown is looking forward to moving into a starting role for Washburn at receiver this fall. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
It's a decision the 6-foot, 185-pound wide receiver feels has, and will continue, to pay dividends this fall and beyond.
"For sure,'' said Brown, who began his college career in baseball at Xaver before briefly playing both baseball and football at WU. "Having a spring this year, it was huge. I got to get a lot of time with Kellen (Simoncic, Washburn quarterback) and just get to know the receivers more, get to know the whole room more because you've got a lot of new faces and just get with the coaches and hash out those details and those things I need to clean up this year.''
In his second year with the Washburn football team Brown was a solid backup, playing in 10 games and recording 23 catches for 250 yards and two touchdowns while averaging 10.9 yards per catch.
Brown had a career-high 68 receiving yards and seven catches against Central Oklahoma.
"I'm always eager for more, there's always room for improvement, but I was happy I was able to get on the field and get that experience in front of the crowd,'' said Brown, who has 30 career catches for 347 yards. "It was awesome playing in my hometown in Topeka, but I'm always looking to get better.''
