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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After combining for 10 gold medals in league competition, city swimming stars Luke Perkins of Shawnee Heights and Brogan Meier and Jack Miranda of Washburn Rural lead the city contingent into Friday and Saturday's state championships at the Shawnee Mission School District Aquatic Center.
Eight-time Class 5A-1A state medalist Luke Perkins will swim his final state meet Friday and Saturday in Shawnee Mission. [File photo/TSN]
![Washburn Rural standout Brogan Meier looks up at the scoreboard after winning the Centennial League title in the 100-yard backstroke. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]](/images/2024/08/Brogan_Meier_100_yd_BS2804.jpg)
Washburn Rural returning state medalist Brogan Meier will compete in the Class 6A state meet Friday and Saturday in Shawnee Mission. [File photo/TSN]
Washburn Rural Jack Miranda will swim in the Class 6A state meet this weekend after winning three Centennial League gold medals last week. [File photo/TSN]
Perkins, a senior, captured four gold medals in his final United Kansas Conference meet last week. Perkins, winning the 200-yard individual medley (2:02.46) and the 100 butterfly (52.83) and swimming on the T-Birds' winning 200 medley relay (1:44.59) and the winning 200 free relay (1:33.47).
Both Meier and Jack Miranda captured three gold medals -- two individual wins and a relay victory -- in last week's Centennial League meet. Meier won the 100-yard freestyle (48.79 seconds) and the 100 backstroke (55.76) while Miranda won the 200 freestyle (1:46.47) and the 500 free (4:53.69). Meier and Miranda also swam on Rural's winning 400 free relay (3:26.57).
Perkins has been a mutlti-time state placer in the Class 5A-1A state meet three straight seasons, including four state medals a a junior after earning two medals as a freshman and sophomore.
Perkins placed second in the 5A-1A 100 butterfly and sixth in the 200 individual medley as a junior while also helping the T-Birds place fifth in the 200 medley relay and sixth in the 200 free relay.
Perkins enters this year's state meet seeded No. 2 in the 100 butterfly (52.63) and No. 4 in the 200 individual medley (2:01.12) while Shawnee Heights is the No. 5 seed in the 200 medley relay (1:41.44) and fourth in the 200 free relay (1:33.47).
Meier was a 6A state medalist last season, placing eighth in the 500 freestyle. Meier also finished 13th in the B Final in the 200 free at state and helped the Junior Blues finish 10th in the 400 free relay.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural junior wrestling standout Kristen Rezac and Shawnee Heights sophomore basketball standout Jaret Sanchez have been selected by the Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency as the Rising Stars of the Week.
The Dan Key Agency will recognize top Shawnee County underclassmen throughout the 2022-2023 school year.
Here’s a brief look at the accomplishments of Rezac and Sanchez over the past week:
Washburn Rural junior wrestler Kristen Rezac (left) has been named the Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency girls Rising Star of the Week after winning a 105-pound Class 6A-5A regional title last week. [Submitted photo/Washburn Rural women's wrestling]
KRISTEN REZAC, Washburn Rural
Rezac captured a Class 6A-5A regional girls wrestling championship in the 105-pound division last Saturday at Wichita Southeast, helping the Junior Blues win their fourth straight regional team title by a 221-135 margin over Wichita North.
Rezac, who improved to 31-5 on the season, finished off her regional title with a second-period pin (2 minutes, 36 seconds) over Kapaun Mt. Carmel's Taylor Barringer.
As a sophomore, Rezac finished fourth in the 6A-5A state tournament, helping the Junior Blues finish second as a team, and she is a returning first-team All-Shawnee County selection.
Shawnee Heights sophomore Jaret Sanchez has been named the Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency boys Rising Star of the Week after scoring a total of 37 points in two T-Bird wins. [File photo/TSN]
JARET SANCHEZ, Shawnee Heights
Sanchez scored a game-high 20 points and hit four 3-pointers in last Tuesday's 67-48 home victory over city and United Kansas Conference rival Topeka West.
Sanchez followed that up with a 17-point night in Tuesday's 66-54 UKC win over Lansing, helping Shawnee Heights improve to 13-4 overall and 10-3 in the conference.
Shawnee Heights is currently ranked No. 10 in Class 5A by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After sweeping Tonganoxie on the road Monday, Hayden's girls and boys basketball teams posted their second wins in as many nights on Tuesday, taking a home Centennial League sweep over Junction City.
Hayden sophomore Norma Greco (30) led the way with 14 points in Tuesday's 48-21 Centennial League win over Junction City. [File photo/TSN]
Hayden senior Joe Otting scored 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the Wildcats' 56-45 Centennial League win over Junction City. [File photo/TSN]
Hayden's girls, tied for the No. 10 spot in the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association Class 4A rankings, rolled to a 48-21 win over the Blue Jays while Hayden's boys posted a 56-45 win over Junction City.
Hayden's girls, who improved to 11-6 overall and 3-5 in the Centennial League, got 14 points from sophomore Norma Greco while junior Lauren Sandstrom added 11 points and sophomore Brylee Meier 10.
The Hayden boys, now 9-8 overall and 3-5 in the league, got a double-double from senior Joe Otting, who finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds, while senior Jake Muller added 13 points.
Hayden built a 29-21 lead at the half before pulling away down the stretch.
SEAMAN GIRLS 61, LEAVENWORTH 22 -- Seaman, the top-ranked team in Class 5A for the past four weeks, rolled to its 16th win in 17 starts on the season, taking a 61-22 United Kansas Conference road victory at Leavenworth.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University's women scored 20 points in the fourth quarter and made crucial free throws to avenge its overtime loss at Northwest Missouri from 10 days ago with a 62-59 overtime win over the Bearcats on Tuesday evening in Lee Arena.
Macy Doebele and the Washburn women celebrate Tuesday's 62-59 home overtime MIAA win over Northwest Missouri. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
It was back-and-forth scoring to start the game, with neither team leading by more than two points until Washburn freshman Natalia Figueroa buried a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Washburn (10-14 overall, 6-12 MIAA) an 11-8 advantage at the end of the opening quarter.
The score continued to stay within two or fewer points for the entire second quarter, with ties at every odd number starting at 11 until Ichabod freshman Yibari Nwidadah broke the 17-all score with a free throw with 1:38 left in the half. That would be the final point for either team as the Ichabods held an 18-17 lead at halftime.
Emma Chapman and Aubree Dewey teamed up to score the Ichabods' first nine points of the second half and grew the lead to 27-23 at the 5:59 mark.
Northwest Missouri (13-12, 8-11 MIAA) closed out the quarter strong, going on a 13-3 tear in the final 5:46 to lead 36-30 heading into the fourth.
The Bearcats hit two free throws to start the final stanza to go up by a game-high eight points, but Washburn quickly trimmed the deficit down to one with a pair of jumpers from Dewey and a 3-pointer from Gabi Artis. Northwest Missouri answered with a 3-pointer of its own and led 46-43 when Figueroa hit another big triple to level the score with 3:12 to go in regulation.
With just under three minutes left, the Bearcats went one of two at the free throw line and then 56 seconds later, Chapman was fouled and made both of her shots from the charity stripe to put the Ichabods ahead, 48-47.
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By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
Even without key senior standouts Bo Aldridge and Quentin Adams for undisclosed reasons, top-ranked (Class 5A) Highland Park performed at an extremely high level in an 80-51 Meadowlark Conference romp past No. 1 (4A) Atchison Tuesday night at Hi Park.
Atchison has lost just twice on the season, with both losses coming at the hands of Highland Park, which defeated the Phoenix 66-47 earlier in the year.
Highland Park senior Tre Richardson scored a game-high 25 points as the Scots remained unbeaten with an 80-51 win over Atchison Tuesday night. [File photo/TSN]
Similar to Highland Park, Atchison has consistently rolled over opponents in the 2023 campaign and Scots coach Mike Williams admitted that Tuesday's victory was one of the most fulfilling victories he has had in his tenure at Highland Park due to how his team played a high-quality opponent without some of its key pieces.
“Initially, if you’re down two starters, people will think that we are down, but our guys aren’t thinking that at all,” Williams said. “Everyone probably came in here thinking that we won’t be as good, but our guys’ mindset didn’t change. That’s the special thing about this group; we have kids that can do a wide variety of things on the basketball court.”
Tuesday night wasn’t the first time Highland Park had to make additions and subtractions within its lineup this season. Players have been out occasionally with injuries, school activities, travel basketball and more.
During the off-season Williams said it was a point of emphasis for Highland Park to play a technically sound brand of basketball regardless of who the Scots did or didn’t have suited up to hit the court.
“We were able to pull from those experiences when we were missing guys this evening,” Williams said. “Since it wasn’t the first time we played under-manned, it was easy for us to go back and talk about those experiences and types of games. We play a certain style, and tonight we didn’t do that as much. We played a lot of zone tonight, but it worked. Not only did it work, but it also gave us some flexibility to do a lot of different things.”
