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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Tayson Horak
TAYSON HORAK, Rossville
A senior quarterback, Horak had a hand in five Rossville touchdowns as the Bulldawgs rallied from a 17-point deficit with 5:30 remaining to advance to the Class 1A state football sub-state round with a 42-38 win over top seed and previously-unbeaten Jackson Heights on the road Friday night. Horak threw for touchdown passes of 17, 39, 35 and 25 yards and scored the game-winning TD on a 6-yard run as the Bulldawgs improved to 8-3 on the season with their eighth straight victory.
L.J. Minner Jr.
LJ MINNER Jr., Washburn University
A 6-foot, 205-pound sophomore linebacker out of Ferguson, Mo., Minner registered 14 tackles as Washburn ended its season with a 35-28 win at Northeastern State. Minner finished his season with 103 total tackles (59 solo), 8.0 tackles for loss, 5.0 sacks, four forced fumbles and one fumble recovery for the Ichabods.
Tre Richardson
TRE RICHARDSON, Washburn University
A 5-foot-10, 175-pound sophomore receiver, the former Highland Park multi-sport star scored the game-winning touchdown with 48 seconds remaining in Washburn's season-ending 35-28 road win at Northeastern State, hauling in a 10-yard pass from Sam Van Dyne. Richardson also set up an Ichabod touchdown with an 84-yard kickoff return. Richardson caught five passes for 52 yards and had 166 all-purpose yards in the win.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
State tournament teams Seaman, Washburn Rural and Hayden combined to put 10 players on the TopSports.news 2024 All-Shawnee County volleyball first team, led by Seaman two-time player of the year Maegan Mills.
Seaman senior Maegan Mills (23) has been named the TSN Shawnee County volleyball player of the year for the second straight season. [Photo by Jesse Bruner/Special to TSN]
Seaman's Tatiana Dowling has been named the Shawnee County coach of the year for the second straight season. [File photo/TSN]
Seaman, which finished second in Class 5A this fall after winning the state title in 2023, put a county-high four players on the all-county first team, with Mills joined by fellow Viking seniors Campbell Chabot, Ava Esser and Kinley Wilhelm while Viking coach Tatiana Dowling, a Seaman grad, was named the coach of the year for the second straight season after leading her team to a county-best 41-3 record and a county-best state tournament finish.
Hayden freshman Hailey Schmidtlein has been named the Shawnee County co-newcomer of the year. [File photo/TSN]
Hayden freshman Blakely Walter has been named the Shawnee County volleyball co-newcomer of the year. [File photo/TSN]
Hayden, which placed third in the 4A state tournament, is represented on the first team by senior Reagan McGivern and freshmen Hailey Schmidtlein and Blakely Walter, who were named co-Shawnee County newcomers of the year. McGivern is a first-team all-county repeat pick after earning first-team honors at Seaman as a junior.
Washburn Rural is represented on the all-county first team by seniors Layla Collins and Kate Hinck and junior Karsyn Horyna after helping the Junior Blues win the Centennial League championship and advance to the 6A state tournament.
Collins is a first-team All-Shawnee County repeat pick after being a second-team pick as a sophomore.
Shawnee Heights put seniors Kaydence Torrez and Taylor Brees on the first team while Silver Lake is represented by senior Ella Bolan, Rossville by sophomore Nora Burdiek and Topeka High by senior Jo'Mhara Benning.
Torrez and Bolan are first-team repeat picks while Burdiek was named the county newcomer of the year as a freshman.
All-Shawnee County first-team capsules:
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Thirteen Shawnee County players have earned Kansas Volleyball Association All-State recognition, including four first-team picks.
Seaman senior Campbell Chabot earned KVA All-State first-team honors in Class 5A after helping the Vikings finish second in Class 5A this fall. [Photo by Jesse Bruner/Special to TSN]
Seaman senior Maegan Mills earned first-team KVA All-State honors in Class 5A for the second straight season after helping lead the Vikings to a runnerup state finish. [Photo by Jesse Bruner/Special to TSN]
Hayden senior Reagan McGivern earned a spot on the KVA Class 4A All-State first team after helping the Wildcats finish third in 4A. [Photo by Selena Favela/Special to TSN]
Rossville sophomore Nora Burdiek was named to the KVA All-Class 2A All-State team. [Submitted photo]
Seniors Campbell Chabot and Meagan Mills, who helped lead Seaman to a runnerup finish in Class 5A, were named to the All-5A first team while Hayden senior Reagan McGivern earned first-team honors in 4A after helping the Wildcats post a third-place state finish and Rossville sophomore Nora Burdiek was a first-team pick in 2A after helping the Bulldawgs win a regional championship this fall.
Washburn Rural senior Layla Collins received second-team all-state recognition in 6A while Seaman senior Ava Esser was a second-team All-5A pick, freshmen Hailey Schmidtlein and Blakely Walter were second-team selections in 4A and Silver Lake senior Ella Bolan was a second-team honoree in 3A.
Rural senior Kate Hinck received All-6A honorable mention while Seaman seniors Maggie Moulden and Kinley Wilhelm received honorable mention in 5A and Hayden junior Ella Foster received honorable mention in 4A.
KANSAS VOLLEYBALL ASSOCIATION 2024 ALL-STATE
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University women's basketball fell just short of picking up its first win on Saturday afternoon in Quincy, Ill., falling 70-67 to the host team in the final game of the Quincy Classic.
Yibari Nwidadah scored a career-high 29 points with eight rebounds and four blocks in Washburn's 70-67 Saturday loss to Quincy. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
The Ichabods will stay on the road to face William Jewell on Tuesday, with tipoff set for 5:30 p.m.
After creating a 5-2 lead early, Washburn (0-4) rode the hot hand of Yibari Nwidadah in the first quarter as she scored 10 straight points for the Ichabods to put them ahead 15-8 with 3:58 left in the frame.
The WU lead grew to double figures after Madelyn Amekporfor went 2-2 at the line at the 1:15 mark. The Hawks (3-1) offense got going late in the first as they cut the lead to eight, ending the quarter down 25-17.
Quincy scored the first four points of the second quarter and picked up the aggressiveness offensively. They went 8-10 at the free throw line in the second quarter alone after not shooting from the charity stripe in the first.
After Washburn shot 50.0 percent from the floor in the first quarter they were held to 5-17 shooting (29.4) in the second.
The Hawks went from down seven to up 31-28 with 4:24 left in the half before the Ichabods finished the half strong, beginning with a trey from Brooke Gomez to break a 32-32 tie and using a 10-4 run to end the half leading 42-36.
Both sides traded baskets coming out of the half. After the Washburn lead was reduced to four a 3-pointer by Payton Sterk and a free throw by Amekporfor put it back up to eight at the 4:54 mark of the third. Each team struggled to score as both shot under 30.0 prcent from the floor. A second chance opportunity by Nwidadah extended Washburn's lead from the quarter's beginning as it ended 53-46.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
In a season full of big plays for Washburn University football, Tre Richardson came through with one of the biggest on Saturday in Tahlequah, Okla., helping the Ichabods end their 2024 season with a 35-28 win over Northeastern State.
Former Highland Park star Tre Richardson caught the game-winning TD pass in Saturday's 35-28 Washburn win over Northeastern State. [File photo/TSN]
Washburn, which capped a 3-8 season, scored the tiebreaking touchdown with 48 seconds to play as Richardson pulled down a 3rd-and-10 pass from Sam Van Dyne in the back corner of the end zone for the game-winner, capping an 11-play, 75-yard drive that took 4:05 off the clock.
"Tre Richardson, getting the ball in his hands makes great things happen as everybody knows,'' Washburn coach Craig Schurig told KTPK Radio after the game. "We listen to our players and Tre said he felt like he could get them on a corner route and that's what it was. (Sam) put it on the money and it connected so we didn't have to rely on a fourth-down play and it felt good.''
After Richardson's TD (Trenton Brehm kick) Northeastern State (2-9) drove down to the Ichabod 28-yard-line, but the RiverHawks' final pass into the end zone was picked off by DeAndre Washington, giving the Ichabods their 12th straight win over Northeastern State.
The Ichabods took their first lead of the game at the 9:54 mark of the first quarter when Jaquez White picked off a Dereus Dortch pass and returned it 30 yards for the touchdown on his first interception of the season.
The RiverHawks came right back with a 75-yard drive of their own to tie the score with 5:34 to play.
Neither team would score the rest of the quarter and Washburn returned to the scoreboard with 8:01 to play in the opening half when Lucas Oitker had a 2-yard run up the middle, putting Washburn up 14-7.
The RiverHawks came right back and tied the score at 14-14 after a 3:02 drive but on the RiverHawks' kickoff, Richardson returned the ball 84 yards to the NSU 11-yard-line and then Tyler Bowden scampered 11 yards on the one-play touchdown drive, breaking the deadlock and putting Washburn up 21-14 at halftime.
