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By RICK PETERSON
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Washburn University's Athletic Department will induct its 2022 Hall of Fame class at 10 a.m. Saturday prior to the Ichabods' 4 p.m. football game with Emporia State at Yager Stadium.
Entering the Washburn Hall of Fame will be recently retired women's basketball coach Ron McHenry, consensus All-American quarterback Dane Simoneau, soccer Academic and Athletic All-American Lisa Fahey, volleyball All-American Breanna Lewis, NAIA tennis standout Dana Backstrom and basketball All-American Rich Hamilton.
Hall of Fame capsules:
Dana Backstrom – tennis (1983-86)
Backstrom was a three-year member of the Lady Blues tennis team after transferring to Washburn from Missouri.
She won the NAIA District 10 Singles Championship her junior and senior seasons. She reached the NAIA National Championship Tournament twice and led the Lady Blues to the Central State Intercollegiate Conference regular-season title her senior season, when she was also the assistant coach for Peg Marmet.
Backstrom was the first Washburn women's tennis player to qualify for the NAIA National Tournament. She was also part of the NAIA District 10 championship as a senior with Jalynda Pancin.
Backstrom passed away on May 25 of this year after a heroic fight with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.
Rich Hamilton – basketball (1986-88)
Rich Hamilton led the Ichabods in scoring with 15.1 points a game in 1987-88, his senior year as he earned NAIA All-American honorable mention.
Hamilton played two years at Washburn and scored 850 points, averaging 13.7 a game.
His senior year he earned NAIA all-district honors, as well as a spot on the All-Central States Intercollegiate Conference team. His senior year he pulled down 9.4 rebounds a game to lead the team and he ended his two years at Washburn with averages of 13.7 points and 7.6 rebounds per game.
Hamilton finished fourth in career blocks with 67 blocks and third with 1.1 per game.
Hamilton was a 61-percent shooter in his two years, peaking with a 63-percent performance his final year.
Breanna Lewis – volleyball (2008-11)
A Seaman graduate, Lewis became the third Lady Blue to earn AVCA first team All-America honors when she finished her career in 2011.
She is fifth in Washburn history with a .321 career attack percentage and 17th with 1,091 kills. She hit over .320 her final three years and her .344 attack percentage as a senior is the sixth highest single-season percentage in school history.
Lewis also earned first team AVCA all-region and first team All-MIAA her senior year. She earned honorable mention AVCA all-region her sophomore and junior years and Daktronics second-team all-region recognition her junior year. She was an All-MIAA second-team pick her sophomore and junior years.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
No. 8-ranked Washburn volleyball is in the midst of a five-match road trip and will play at Missouri Southern and Pittsburg State Friday and Saturday.
Washburn volleyball will put its 12-2 record on the line Friday and Saturday with MIAA road matches at Missouri Southern and Pittsburg State. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Washburn is 12-2 overall and 4-2 in the MIAA after going 1-1 on the road last week.
Washburn will open the weekend at Missouri Southern, which is 6-8 overall and 1-4 in the MIAA.
Southern picked up its first conference win with a five-set thriller against Missouri Western Tuesday.
The Lions have already surpassed their win total from last year when they went 4-26 (1-19 MIAA).
Washburn leads the all-time series, 45-34, and has won 33 in a row against Missouri Southern.
Pittsburg State enters the week with a 10-6 record (4-3 MIAA) and will host Emporia State on Friday night before facing the Ichabods on Saturday.
The Gorillas are also coming off an exciting five-set win, taking down Central Oklahoma on Monday evening.
The Ichabods have won the last 26 meetings against the Gorillas and own a 72-21 series advantage.
Washburn is 3-1 in true road matches this year while seven of the Ichabods' 12 victories have been sweeps.
A year ago the Ichabods won both of their matches with Missouri Southern and all three matches with Pittsburg State.
WU's Sophie McMullen has registered a conference-best 28 service aces in 50 sets played. In 110 sets played last year at Northwest Missouri, McMullen landed 31 aces.
McMullen has had at least one ace in every match except one this season.
Washburn has recorded nine double-doubles from four different players since Sept. 9.
The Ichabod setters account for five of those double-doubles as Corinna McMullen has three and Sydney Conner two.
Jalyn Stevenson has three double-figure kills/digs matches and S. McMullen has one.
The Ichabods fell at Central Oklahoma in four sets last week before bouncing back with a sweep at Newman.
As a team, the Ichabods rank third among MIAA programs in hitting percentage (.240), kills per set (13.54), and assists per set (12.48).
Washburn has also held its opponents to a .160 hitting percentage, the third-lowest opponent attacking percentage in the league. The Ichabods have held 11 opponents to hitting .170 or lower.
Stevenson, a sophomore outside hitter, is ninth in the league with 150 total kills and knocked down a career-high 17 kills at Central Oklahoma last week.
Halle Meister is second in the conference and 11th in the nation with a .412 hitting percentage and has 121 kills while Kealy Kiviniemi recorded a career-high 16 kills in Wahburn's three-set win over Newman last Friday. She is fourth on the team with 74 kills and is hitting .326 on the season, which is the eighth-highest in the MIAA.
Sydney Pullen leads Washburn with 212 total digs and has had 12 double-figure dig matches with four being 20-plus dig performances.
C. McMullen has made all 14 starts at setter and leads the team with 305 assists. She dished out 11 assists and had a season-high 14 digs against Newman.
The Ichabods wrap up their five-match road trip next week with a Tuesday match at No. 6 Nebraska-Kearney before returning home for matches against Missouri Western and Central Missouri next Friday and Saturday.
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Washburn University soccer is finally back at Yager Stadium after a string of four road games and will play host to Missouri Western at 6 p.m. Friday and Northwest Missouri State at 1 p.m. Sunday.
The Ichabods enter the week with a record of 7-1-2.
Washburn goalkeeper Raegan Wells is only allowing .7 of a goal per game and has posted five shutouts for the Ichabods' soccer team. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Washburn has won seven of its first 10 games for the first time since 2006.
The Ichabods are coming off an 0-0 tie with Northeastern State on Sunday after taking a 1-0 win over Rogers State last Friday.
Washburn is 2-0-1 in conference play after defeating the Hillcats and tying with the RiverHawks and is tied for second place in the MIAA entering the week.
Ichabod goalkeeper Raegan Wells is allowing only .7 of a goal per game and has recorded a solo shutout in five games this season.
Jaedyn Johnson leads the Ichabods with five goals on only 16 total shots while Haley Rogers and Khloe Schuckman lead WU with 13 shots on goal. Johnson is tied for fourth in the MIAA in goals scored.
Eight different players have scored a goal for the Ichabods this season.
Washburn is third in the MIAA, averaging 7.7 shots on goal per game. The Ichabods also have the third-lowest goals allowed per game average at .7.
Western enters the week with a record of 3-4-3. Last week the Griffons tied with Nebraska-Kearney 1-1 and lost to Fort Hays State, 1-0.
Washburn has faced off with Missouri Western State 24 times in program history, with both schools winning 12 games.
Washburn has lost its last six matchups with the Griffons, with the Ichabods' last win coming on October 21, 2016.
Goalkeeper Keeley Kroonenberg leads the Griffons with 46 saves on the season and has played every minute so far.
Sunday's opponent, Northwest Missouri, enters the week with a record of 5-3-2.
Last week Northwest Missouri lost to Fort Hays State, 1-0, and beat Nebraska-Kearney, 4-0.
Four different players scored goals and recorded assists in the win over the Lopers.
Washburn holds a 12-8-4 lead in the series with Northwest Missouri State.
The last matchup between the two teams came in the 2021 MIAA tournament where Northwest Missouri State eliminated Washburn, winning 5-0.
The Ichabods have lost the last three matchups against the Bearcats, with the last win coming in 2018.
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Hayden's soccer team reached the .500 mark on the season with a 2-0 shutout victory over rival Seaman Thursday at Hayden.
Even though Hayden and Seaman are now in separate leagues, Wildcat coach Klaus Kreutzer said that the Seaman game is still important to his team.
"I think they're always a little more motivated when they play a couple or three teams in town here and I thought they played well,'' Kreutzer said. "Keeping them off the scoreboard was big.''
Hayden senior Chris Hayes (4), defended by Seaman junior Jacob Anderson, scored a goal in the Wildcats' 2-0 non-league win over the Vikings Thursday. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Hayden senior Jake Muller (3), defending Seaman sophomore Logan Townsend, was credited with assists on both Wildcat goals in Thursday's 2-0 win. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Hayden, which improved to 5-5-1, got the only goal it would need from freshman Lane Neuman at the 25:28 mark of the opening half off an assist from senior Jake Muller.
The Wildcats' 1-0 lead held up through halftime before Hayden added an insurance goal just 3:22 into the second half on a shot from senior Chris Hayes off Muller's second assist of the night.
Seaman, 2-6-2, had scoring opportunities in the both halves, but couldn't get the ball past Hayden junior Zachary Cook and sophomore Chase Blaser, who shared goalkeeping duties for the Wildcats.
"I've got two guys who are fairly inexperienced but they complement each other well,'' Kreutzer said.
The Vikings' best scoring opportunity came on a second-half penalty kick attempt by freshman Brody Anderson, but Blaser made the clean save to keep Seaman, which was coming off a 2-1 win over Kansas City-Turner on Tuesday, off the scoreboard.
"We had some things figured out last game,'' Seaman coach Tim Nussbaum said. "I was pretty happy with our performance versus Turner and I thought we'd go on to bigger and better things today and just kind of reverted back to not scoring. We kind of did a lot of ball-watching and it just wasn't our day.''
Hayden will travel to Manhattan for a Centennial League game next Tuesday while Seaman will play a United Kansas Conference at Lansing.
HAYDEN 2, SEAMAN 0
Seaman (2-6-2) 0 0 -- 0
Hayden (5-5-1) 1 1 -- 2
Hayden -- Goals: Lane Neuman, Chris Hayes. Assists: Jake Muller 2. Shutout: Zachary Cook, Chase Blaser.
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(All kickoffs at 7 p.m.)
Washburn Rural junior quarterback Branton DeWeese threw for a pair of TD passes in last week's 28-25 loss to unbeaten Manhattan. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
JUNCTION CITY (3-1, 0-0 Centennial) at WASHBURN RURAL (3-1, 0-1 Centennial)
Washburn Rural suffered its first loss of the season last Friday, a 28-25 Centennial League decision at unbeaten Manhattan, while Junction City improved to 3-1 with a 28-21 non-league win over perennial Class 5A power Bishop Carroll. The Blue Jays will be making their league debut on Friday. Washburn Rural junior quarterback Branton DeWeese threw for a pair of touchdown passes against Manhattan while senior running back Ma'kenttis Adams scored on a 76-yard touchdown run.
ROSSVILLE (2-2, 1-0 district) at SILVER LAKE (2-2, 0-0 district)
The Bulldawgs and Eagles will square off in the annual War on 24, regarded as one of the state's premier rivalries. Rossville opened Class 2A District 3 play with a 49-8 romp past previously-unbeaten Atchison County last week while Silver Lake is coming off a 44-28 loss to Mid-East League opponent Rock Creek. Junior quarterback Camden Horak and senior Braiden Hensley had big nights for the Bulldawgs against Atchison County, connecting on four touchdown passes. Rossville opened its scoring with a 48-yard TD pass from Horak to Hensley and also hooked up on 20, 58 and 13-yard TD strikes.
Shawnee Heights junior Allen Baughman (5) has rushed for 781 and 10 touchdowns for the 3-1 T-Birds. [Photo by Sarah Carson/Special to TSN]
DE SOTO (3-1, 3-0 UKC) at SHAWNEE HEIGHTS (3-1, 3-1 UKC)
Shawnee Heights ran its winning streak to three games with a 27-0 shutout over Basehor-Linwood last Friday. The T-Birds have now outscored their past three opponents by an 87-30 margin since a season-opening loss to Piper. Allen Baughman, a junior running back, carried the ball 29 times for 284 yards and three touchdowns against Basehor-Linwood and has 781 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns on the season. De Soto's lone loss was a 28-21 loss to Washburn Rural in Week 2. The Wildcats are undefeated in United Kansas Conference competition, including a 57-16 win over Leavenworth last week.
Senior Tre Richardson has rushed for 896 yards and 15 TDs and has 453 receiving yards and eight TDs for 4-0 Highland Park. [File photo/TSN
HIGHLAND PARK (4-0) at LINCOLN COLLEGE PREP (4-1)
Highland Park remained unbeaten overall and in the Meadowlark Conference with a 74-0 romp past KC-Harmon last Thursday at Hummer Sports Park. Scot senior star Tre Richardson scored all six times he touched the ball as the Scots put the game out of reach with a 50-0 first quarter. Richardson has rushed for 896 yards and 15 touchdowns on 45 attempts, caught 13 pases for 453 yards and eight TDs and also passed for a TD. Highland Park, off to a 4-0 start for the first time since 1995, will step outside its conference and state on Friday to face a Lincoln Prep team that is 4-1 after a 14-13 win over Van Horn, its third straight victory.
HAYDEN (4-0, 1-0 district) at PERRY-LECOMPTON (1-3, 0-1 district)
Hayden opened Class 3A District 4 competition last Friday with a 52-14 home win over Jefferson West last week while Perry-Lecompton opened district play with a 49-18 loss to Holton. The Wildcats put the Tigers away early, scoring the first 37 points by the 8:04 mark of the second quarter and leading 44-7 at the half. Senior JC Cummings opened Hayden's scoring with a 16-yard run and also scored on a 58-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Jett Wahlmeier. Junior Finn Dunshee scored on a 29-yard pass from Wahlmeier and a 53-yard run. Hayden also got touchdowns from seniors Braydn Rose and Dylan Foster and junior Broderick Desch.
