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By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
The Topeka West Charger football team will continue to hunt for its first win of the season after dropping a meeting with undefeated Basehor-Linwood 59-6 Thursday at Hummer Sports Park.
Topeka West celebrates a big play in Thursday's 59-6 UKC loss to undefeated Basehor-Linwood. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The fifth loss in as many tries ensures the character building will continue for at least another week for the Chargers.
“We knew coming in that this wasn’t an easy turnaround,” said Topeka West coach Trey Parker. “The kids knew. We sat them down and told them it wouldn’t be easy to get where we want to be. But they’re bought in, and they understand that it’s a process.
“Obviously, right now we’re not seeing what we want to see, but we’ll get there soon. I think the kids are starting to see that.”
The Bobcats controlled Thursday’s contest from the outset, scoring on their first play from scrimmage on a long pass. They added scores on another pass, a long run play, and a field goal in the first half to lead 24-0.
The highlight of the night for the Chargers came early in the second half. Topeka High scored on a long pass from quarterback Jacob Brewster to a streaking Alesecio Batson, who finished a 79-yard scoring play.
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By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
A crowded Hummer Sports Park buzzed with a playoff atmosphere Thursday as ascending Topeka soccer teams Topeka High and Topeka West collided. The Chargers claimed the meeting of familiar rivals, 2-1.
Topeka West freshman Valentin Del Real (3) celebrates the Chargers' first goal in Thursday's 2-1 soccer win over USD 501 rival Topeka High. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Topeka West jumped out to an early lead when freshman Valentin Del Real launched a blast from well outside the penalty box that slid just past the fingertips of the Trojan goalkeeper.
Senior LaRon Fulton (3) scored Topeka High's lone goal in Thursday's 2-1 loss to city rival Topeka West. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Topeka High answered in short order when senior LaRon Fulton played a rebound into the net to tie the score.
It was the Chargers who recorded a second score before intermission.
Sophomore Diego Gonzalez-Talavera received a pass from Del Real and punched home what wound up being the deciding goal.
“Our guys are capable of this kind of play, and I think they’re finally starting to find the back of the net and finishing,” said Charger coach Josh Kutter.
Topeka West improved to 6-2, one win shy of last year’s total.
Gonzalez-Talavera said the Chargers feel the momentum growing.
“Obviously, it’s a good win against our rivals. We came out and showed them how we can play,” the sophomore captain said. “People don’t expect much from us because we’re Topeka West and we don’t have a great history. But now that we’re building up the team year by year, it’s beginning to look better for us and we’re starting to win more games.”
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
There were a lot of things that veteran Washburn University football coach Craig Schurig felt good about in the wake of last Saturday's 24-16 MIAA road win at Missouri Western.
Al-Mani Jimerson and the Washburn defense gave up just one touchdown last week at Missouri Western as the Ichabods earned their first win with a 24-16 MIAA decision over the Griffons. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
But the thing that Schurig cherished the most was seeing the pure joy his players exemplified after notching their first victory of the season.
"It was cool seeing our players excited after a game because they've been dejected,'' Schurig said. "And that's one of the joys of coaching is seeing your guys excited and smiling after a game.
"That's probably the thing you miss the most, to see them happy after a game, because they had played hard and when you don't get the reward you're not happy. We still made some mistakes but had enough in us to finish it off. We rose up and made the necessary plays, so that's good for our confidence.''
Redshirt freshman noseguard Al-Mani Jimerson agreed with his coach that finding a way to win was huge for the Ichabods.
"It definitely was great, finally getting over that hilltop,'' said Jimerson, a St. Louis, Mo. native. "But we know we're not satisfied. We've still got more to go. We've still got a tough schedule, we've still got to finish the season so this is just one game of many that's going to come.''
"I felt really good about the game,'' added Ichabod sophomore receiver Maury Sullivan, who also hails from St. Louis. "I felt like we responded to going down (10-7 at halftime) very well because a lot of times when you go down it's easy to put our heads down and get under a rock but I thought we responded pretty well and came out the second half striking.''
Now the Ichabods will be aiming to continue their turnaround in Saturday's 3 p.m. MIAA game against Northwest Missouri State in Yager Stadium, part of Washburn's Hall of Fame Day.
Washburn is 1-3 overall and 1-2 in the MIAA) entering Saturday's game while the Bearcats are 3-2, 3-1 in the MIAA after topping No. 11-ranked Emporia State 14-9 for their third straight win last week.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Finally getting a chance to play in the friendly confines of Lee Arena was worth the wait for the Washburn University volleyball team.
Washburn University volleyball celebrates a point in Thursday's 3-1 MIAA win over Pittsburg State at Lee Arena. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Playing at home after 12 straight matches on the road in front of a spirited crowd of 953 Thursday night, the Ichabods delivered a 3-1 MIAA win over Pittsburg State.
"The crowd was awesome,'' Washburn coach Chris Herron said. "Wow! There were like 1,000 people here and it was crazy.
"Our freshmen were like, 'Holy cow! This is amazing.' It was a ton of fun.''
Ichabod senior standout Jalyn Stevenson agreed.
"It was amazing,'' Stevenson said. "It feels like it's been forever. It definitely took a toll on us starting off with the entire first month of our season being away and especially with so many tournaments, but this was really great.
"Our student section brings so much energy and having our fans here and our families it's a great feeling.''
Each of the first two sets went to Washburn (10-3 overall, 1-2 MIAA). 25-16 and 25-15, before the Gorillas (6-7, 1-2) got on the board with a 28-26 third-set victory. The Ichabods then closed out their first MIAA victory of the season with a dominating 25-15 win in the fourth set.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University will induct its 2024 Hall of Fame class on Saturday in a ceremony prior to the 3 p.m. Ichabod football game with Northwest Missouri.
Entering the Hall of Fame will be five individuals who were all selected as All-Americans, All-MIAA and school record-holders during their Ichabod careers.
The newest inductees include Trent Hearn (football), Marissa (Cox) Horstick (volleyball), Mollie Lacy (volleyball), Tish Williams (softball) and Jemi Johnson (basketball).
The 2000-01 Ichabod men's basketball team, which advanced to the national championship game will also be inducted.
WU Hall of Fame capsules:
Trent Hearn, Washburn football
Trent Hearn – football – 2002-06
Hearn finished his Ichabod career as the all-time leading rusher in program history with 3,154 yards and now ranks third. He scored 48 career rushing touchdowns on the ground as an Ichabod, which is the most rushing touchdowns in program history by 13 over the next-closest person. He still owns the Ichabod single-season record with 1,203 rushing yards set in 2005, the year the Ichabods won the MIAA Championship and made their first NCAA Playoff appearance.
Hearn also ranks fifth on the single-season rushing chart with 1,116 yards in 2003 and his 111.6 rushing yards per game for a season in 2003 is ranked second all-time. The 20 touchdowns he scored in 2005 is No. 1 on the Ichabod single-season chart and it set the junior class season rushing record. He finished his Ichabod career with 12 100-yard rushing games and he is still the Ichabods' all-time leading scorer with 296 points, scoring 49 total touchdowns.
He was named the Ichabod team MVP in both 2005 and 2006 and was a third-team all-region selection in 2005, an honorable mention all-region pick in 2003 while also earning the MIAA Freshman of the Year award in 2003. He was also a second-team all-MIAA selection in 2003, 2005 and 2006.
Marissa (Cox) Horstick, Washburn volleyball
Marissa (Cox) Horstick – volleyball – 2011-14
Horstick was a first-team American Volleyball Coaches Association and a second team Daktronics All-American selection in 2013 after earning honorable mention All-American honors in 2014. She was a first team All-MIAA selection in 2013 and 2014.
Her 1,254 career kills rank 14th on the all-time chart at Washburn and she owns the school record for the most kills in a single MIAA Tournament match with 27. Her .318 attack percentage ranks eighth on the career chart at Washburn and her 327 total blocks is 18th.
She is one of 18 members of the Ichabod 1,000 kill club at Washburn and one of 10 to have 1,000 kills and 300 blocks in a career.
