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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural's soccer team came out of the gate with a bang against Wichita Northwest Thursday, scoring a goal just 2:21 into the game.
But that would be the highlight of the day for the Junior Blues, who were held scoreless the rest of the game in a 1-1 non-league tie with the Grizzlies in steady to heavy rain most of the match at McElroy Field.
.Washburn Rural sophomore Hayden McWilliams (left) battles Wichita Northwest junior Payton Benoit in Thursday's 1-1 tie at McElroy Field. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Freshman Kate Hinck scored for the Junior Blues at the 37:39 mark of the opening half off an assist from senior Reagan Allen and Rural had a flurry of scoring opportunities a few minutes later, but Northwest senior goalkeeper Morgan Dunn came up with several huge saves to keep Rural out of the goal.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Topeka West's Miles and Ian Cusick are the Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency Boys Athletes of the Week after winning city and Centennial League doubles titles. [Submitted]
IAN and MILES CUSICK, Topeka West
Ian and Miles Cusick, junior twin brothers, teamed up to win the city tennis championship in No. 1 doubles for the second straight season.in last Thursday's city tournament at Kossover Tennis Center.
The Cusicks took an 8-1 win over Washburn Rural's Kyler Knudtson and Nick Luetje in the championship match, helping the Chargers win a share of the city team title with Rural.
The Cusicks followed that up with a second straight Centennial League doubles title at Emporia on Tuesday.
Seaman junior Bethany Druse is the Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency Girls Athlete of the Week after setting a school record and a current state best in the 800 meters in 2:15.19 last Friday. [File photo/TSN]
BETHANY DRUSE, Seaman
A junior, Druse set the Seaman school record in the girls 800 meters in last Friday's Bob Camien/Claudia Welch Invitational at Seaman.
Druse won the event in a time of 2 minutes, 15.19 seconds to eclipse the previous school record of 2:16.2.
Druse's time was the best girls 800 meters clocking in the state this spring.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Cair Paravel Latin School girls soccer improved to 10-3-0 on the season with a 9-0 romp past Bishop Seabury Tuesday night.
Sophomore Katherine Keys and freshman Zahra Lewis combined for seven goals, with Lewis scoring four goals and Keys adding three. Sophomore Allison Schwarz was also credited with a goal for the Lions.
Lewis was also credited with two assists while junior Sage Schwarz, sophomore Kaitlyn Colombo and sophomore Corinne Stapleton also had assists.
The Lions have now won seven straight games.
CAIR PARAVEL LATIN 9, BISHOP SEABURY 0
Cair Paravel Latin 6-3 -- 9
Bishop Seabury 0 0 -- 0
Cair Paravel -- Goals: Lewis 4, Keys 3, A. Schwarz. Assists: Lewis 2, Sage Schwartz, Colombo, Stapleton.
Silver Lake senior Taryn Burkhardt (middle) signed a softball letter of intent with Johnson County Community College on Wednesday at Silver Lake. [Twitter]
EAGLES' BURKHARDT SIGNS WITH JCCC
Silver Lake senior multi-sport standout Taryn Burkhardt signed a letter of intent to play softball for Johnson County Community College on Wednesday at Silver Lake.
In addition to softball, Burkhardt also was a first team All-Mid-League selection in volleyball, was a member of the dance team and leader of Eagle Eye Photography.
She has also excelled in the classroom with a 3.90 grade point average.
CENTENNIAL LEAGUE SOFTBALL RACE STILL TIGHT
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Graphic courtesy of Washburn Athletics
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The 2022 MIAA softball champion Washburn Ichabods placed six members on the All-MIAA team including the Player of the Year and Coach of the Year as announced by the conference office Wednesday.
Sophomore pitcher/outfielder Jaycee Ginter, a former Shawnee Heights star, was named the MIAA Player of the Year and was a unanimous selection All-MIAA first-team as a pitcher/utility player, becoming the first Ichabod to win the award since Tish Williams in 2009 as a junior and only the third Washburn softball player to win the MIAA top honor, with Jenny Klamm named in 1993.
This season Ginter leads the nation in pitching wins with 28, which also ranks second out of all the NCAA divisions. Ginter has recorded a 28-3 overall record with 21 complete games and a school-record 256 strikeouts with a 1.61 ERA.
At the plate Ginter leads the Ichabods with 53 runs batted in, hitting .386 with 13 doubles, eight home runs and a .683 slugging percentage. Ginter was also a first-team selection as a sophomore in 2021.
Coach Brenda Holaday was the unanimous pick as the MIAA Coach of the Year, her second COY honor since 2018, after leading the squad to a 42-11 regular season record and a 24-2 mark in conference play for the Ichabods' third MIAA title. The Ichabods were tabbed sixth in the MIAA preseason poll.
Sophomore third baseman Marrit Mead repeats as a first-team selection after winning the honor in 2021.
Mead leads the nation in doubles with 22 and is fourth in the nation with 79 hits. This season Mead leads the Ichabods with a .427 batting average, scoring a team-high 56 runs while driving in 40 runs and stealing 21 bases and drawing a team-best 21 walks. Mead was also selected to the newly-formed MIAA Gold Glove team at third base.
Senior designated player Ashton Friend also repeats as a first team All-MIAA pick from the league's coaches after recording a .336 batting average with a team-high 14 home runs. She is second on the team with 50 RBI and has a .651 slugging percentage. Friend is ranked 21st in the nation in home runs and 22nd in the nation in RBI.
Junior Paige Robbins was a second team All-MIAA pick after batting .393 with 44 hits and eight doubles while driving in 21 runs.
Earning honorable mention All-MIAA honors were sophomore shortstop AutymnSchreiner and junior second baseman Hadley Kerschen. Schreiner enters the postseason with a .329 batting average with 47 hits and eight doubles while driving in 20 runs. She has been hit by a pitch 13 times this season, which is an Ichabod single-season record. Kerschen is batting 3.19 with 35 RBI and 53 hits while scoring 37 runs.
2022 MIAA Softball Awards
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Traditional city baseball powers Seaman and Shawnee Heights, who have combined for 13 state titles, renewed their long rivaly Tuesday at Optimist Field, with Viking pitchers Bryson Vawter and Maclane Finley stealing the show in the Vikings' 3-1 win.
Vawter, a junior, and senior Finley combined for a no-hitter while recording 15 strikeouts as Seaman improved to 14-2 and pushed its winning streak to four games.
Seaman junior Bryson Vawter threw five no-hit innings with nine strikeouts in the Vikings' 3-1 win over Shawnee Heights on Tuesday. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Seaman senior Maclane Finley combined with Bryson Vawter for a no-hitter in Tuesday's 3-1 win over Shawnee Heights while also going 2 of 3 at the plate with two RBI. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Vawter threw the first five innings for the Vikings, recording nine strikeouts while walking two and hitting a batter.
"I felt pretty good,'' Vawter said. "I was throwing the fastball and blowing it by them. That was what was working and then I had a little wrinkle in there and threw the curveball and it seemed to work a little bit. My main thing was just getting ahead (in the count) and when I got behind I walked them. All I had to do was throw strikes and let my defense work and they made some good plays out there.''
Shawnee Heights, which fell to 10-8, scored its lone run in the third inning, with Vawter issuing back to back walks before Braeden Brown came around to score after a pair of groundouts.
"Walks are killing me and that's my biggest problem right now,'' Vawter said.
