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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Payton Fink
PAYTON FINK, Washburn Rural
A sophomore, Fink followed up her city title with an individual win in last Saturday's Centennial League girls cross country meet at Manhattan's Warner Park. Fink led the Junior Blues to a one-two-three individual finish and the team championship by a 27-62 margin over Junction City. Fink clocked a winning five-kilometer time of 18 minutes, 53.9 seconds.
James Letcher Jr.
JAMES LETCHER JR., Washburn University
A 5-oot-8, 175-pound senior, Letcher became Washburn's all-time leader in receptions in last Saturday's 32-30 MIAA loss at Northwest Missouri. Letcher had eight catches for 129 yards to raise his career total to 197 receptions, passing Ichabod Hall of Famer Sam Sissom, who had 191 in his Washburn career. Letcher also passed the 5,000-yard mark in all-purpose yards, moving his total to 5,023 yards, and now trails Washburn's all-time leader, Hall of Famer Troy Slusser, who had 5,210 yards.
Lenny Njoroge
LENNY NJOROGE, Topeka West
The Topeka West senior posted his fifth straight individual win and sixth on the season in last Thursday's United Kansas Conference cross country meet at Shawnee Heights. Njoroge clocked a five-kilometer time of 16 minutes, 04.4 seconds to win by just under 21 seconds while remaining unbeaten against Kansas competition this fall.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University's soccer team (10-4-2 overall, 5-3-1 MIAA) scored six goals over a stretch of 50 minutes to run away with a 6-1 conference win over Newman (1-14-1, 1-8-0 MIAA) on Sunday afternoon at Yager Stadium.
Freshman Belle Kennedy, a Washburn Rural product, scored a team-high two goals in Washburn's 6-1 MIAA romp past Newman on Sunday at Yager Stadium. [File photo/TSN]
Former Washburn Rural star Belle Kennedy, a 5-foot-3 freshman, scored a team-high two goals for the Ichabods, giving her six goals in her first college season.
Through the first 25 minutes neither team could get on the scoreboard although the Ichabods had a significant possession and shot advantage early on.
Washburn's first goal came in the 28th minute on a long pass from Carlee Thompson to a sprinting Kennedy, who beat the Jets' goalie to the ball and drilled it into the back of the net.
Less than two minutes later Kennedy scored again with a header off of a corner kick by Haley Rogers to make it 2-0.
Just 33 seconds into the second half, Khloe Schuckman scored on a ball that was kicked around just a few yards away from the goal. Riley Wells eventually dished it to Shuckman, who scored her team-leading seventh goal of the season.
In the 52nd minute, Londyn Furnish drilled a kick from more than 25 yards out to score her first goal of the season and career.
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The 2022 All-Shawnee County girls tennis team -- Front row, from left: Haley Carpenter, Topeka High; Katie Krumins, Seaman; Lauren Sweeney, Seaman; Nina Del-Zio, Seaman; Emily Sheetz, Hayden; Ainzley Zulueta, Hayden; Meredith Kucera, Washburn Rural; Mena DiMarzio, Washburn Rural. Back row, from left: Adisyn Caryl, Topeka High; Annika Scheller, Shawnee Heights; Molly Gorman, Seaman; Lauren Sandstrom, Hayden; Hailey Beck, Washburn Rural; Kate Fritz, Washburn Rural; Ciana Evans, Washburn Rural. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Hayden's state championship trio of Lauren Sandstrom, Emily Sheetz and Ainzley Zulueta headline the 2022 All-Shawnee County girls tennis team, which includes nine state medalists.
Zulueta, a sophomore, finished off a 28-2 season with her second straight Class 4A state singles championship while Sandstrom, a junior, and sophomore Sheetz won the state doubles title to cap a 34-4 season as Hayden won its first-ever girls state tennis championship after earlier winning city and regional titles.
Seaman senior Lauren Sweeney, a four-year state qualifier in 5A, capped her high school career with a second-place state singles finish after winning the 5A doubles championship as a junior.
Sweeney is joined on the All-Shawnee County team by Viking senior two-time state medalist Nina Del-Zio and 5A doubles medalists Katie Krumins, a junior, and freshman Molly Gorman, who helped Seaman win United Kansas Conference and regional team titles.
Washburn Rural placed five of its varsity players on the all-county team after the Junior Blues won a 6A regional team title and finished second in the Centennial League tournament.
The Junior Blues got a ninth-place finish in the 6A state tournament from the senior doubles team of Kate Fritz and Meredith Kucera while senior Hailey Beck made it to state in doubles and junior Mena DiMarzio advanced in singles. Senior Ciana Evans earned an all-county spot by teaming with Beck to win the city title in No. 2 doubles.
Topeka High seniors Haley Carpenter and Adisyn Caryl made the all-county team after advancing to the 6A state tournament for the third straight season as doubles partners. Caryl made it to state four straight years in doubles.
Annika Scheller, a junior foreign exchange student from Germany, earned an all-county berth with a third-place No. 1 singles finish in the city tournament and also placed fourth in the UKC meet.
All-Shawnee County capsules:
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Four Shawnee County schools qualified their entire teams for girls state golf, which will get under way Monday across the state, while three county schools will have individual qualifiers at state.
Washburn Rural finished second in the Class 6A state tournament a year ago while Hayden earned a third-place finish in 4A.
Fou returning state medalists headline the county contingent, led by Seaman senior Lois Deeter, who has posted top-five finishes in 5A in her previous two state tournaments.
Washburn Rural senior Avery Scott tied for 12th in last year's 6A state meet while Hayden junior Hannah Reynoldson tied for 19th in 4A and Silver Lake sophomore Taylor Zordel tied for 16th in 3A-1A.
Seaman is coming off a regional team championship in 5A while Hayden finished second in a 4A regional, Rural third in a 6A regional and Silver Lake fourth in a 3A-1A event to earn state team berths.
The 36-hole state tournaments will get under way at 9 a.m. on Monday, with the field cut to the top six teams and the top 18 individuals after 18 holes for Tuesday's final round.
Here's a class-by-class look at state, followed by a list of country participants:
CLASS 6A
Washburn Rural led the 6A team standings at the halfway point a year ago on the way to a runner-up finish and qualified for this year's state tournament at Salina Municipal Golf Course with a third-place finish in the Lawrence regional at Eagle Bend.
Washburn Rural senior Avery Scott tied for 12th in last season's Class 6A state tournament, helping the Junior Blues finish second as a team. [File photo/TSN]
The Junior Blues finished with a season-low team score of 330, taking third behind Olathe West (322) and Olathe Northwest (323). Manhattan earned the fourth team berth for state with a 343 total.
Sophomore Reece Randall had a breakout performance for Washburn Rural, placing sixth with an 80 to lead the Junior Blues.
Seniors Mallory Nelson and Scott tied for eighth individually with 83s while freshman Lauren Cox tied for 11th with an 84.
Junior Raegan Petersen tied for 14th with an 85 and sophomore Natalie Peterson was 19th with a 90.
Topeka High junior Avery Zimmerman, a state qualifier as a sophomore, earned a return trip to state, tying for 23rd with a 92.
CLASS 5A
Seaman won last Tuesday's 5A regional at Lake Shawnee in a tiebreaker over St. Thomas Aquinas to qualify the Vikings entire team for Monday's state tournament at Hesston Golf Course.
Seaman senior Lois Deeter has posted a pair of top-five Class 5A state finishes in her only two state tournament appearances. [File photo/TSN]
Deeter shot an 83 to finish second individually while junior Avery Samuelson was third with a 94, junior Riley Adams tied for sixth with a 100 and sophomore Anna McLaughlin tied for 12th with a 102 to round out the Vikings' top four.
Both Seaman and St. Thomas Aquinas finished with a four-person score of 379, with sophomore Jaycee Zimmerman giving the Vikings the title with a fifth score of 105.
Topeka West sophomore Alex Baxter tied for 10th place with a 101, earning an individual berth for the state tournaments, while Shawnee Heights junior Karlyn Bowman also earned a state berth, shooting a 104 to tie for 16th place.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The Washburn Ichabods rallied to take a 30-29 lead with 24 seconds to play but No. 16-ranked Northwest Missouri moved the ball 43 yards in three plays after a 38-yard kickoff return to kick a 36-yard field goal and escape with a 32-30 MIAA win Saturday in Maryville, Mo.
The Ichabods (4-3) took the one-point lead on a 10-yard run by sophomore quarterback Kellen Simoncic with 24 seconds to play on a 4th-and-goal situation. However, a big kickoff return by the Bearcats put Northwest (5-2) in position and pass plays of 20 yards and 23 yards to the Ichabod 19 set up the game-winning field goal.
James Letcher Jr. became Washburn's all-time receptions leader in Saturday's 32-30 MIAA loss at Northwest Missouri. [File photo/TSN]
Washburn led 24-23 with 7:15 to go in the game when Simoncic hit Peter Afful on a 28-yard touchdown pass, finishing off a 78-yard, five-play drive. However, Northwest came back on an 11-play, 70-yard drive to take a 29-24 lead after the two-point conversion pass failed.
With 11:52 to go in the game, Simconcic hit former Shawnee Heights standout Tyce Brown for the first touchdown reception of his college career as the Ichabods cut the Bearcat lead to 23-17 after neither team scored in the third quarter.
The Ichabods were down 2-0 when Northwest recorded a safety against the Ichabods and then the Bearcats would go up 9-0 on a touchdown pass with 3:49 to play in the opening quarter. Washburn got on the board on a 33-yard field goal by Kameron Lake with 14:12 to play in the first half.
