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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The best news about the 2021 high school sports year for Shawnee County high schools was that there was one.
COVID-19 wreaked havoc on 2020, resulting in an early end to state basketball tournaments, the cancellation of all spring sports and forcing wholesale delays and contingency plans through the fall of '20.
But by the time the calendar hit '21 there was a return to some sense of normalcy.
A decision by the USD 501 school board kept Highland Park, Topeka High and Topeka West wrestling teams off the mats through the entire '20-'21 campaign, but when practice started in November for '21-'22 the Scots, Trojans and Chargers were back in action.
Shawnee County prep teams took full advantage of their opportunities to compete in '21, with county schools winning five state boys and girls team championships and county athletes combining for 16 individual titles.
Here's a look at TopSports.news' top 10 Shawnee County boys prep stories of 2021, with the girls top 10 coming up next::
Rossville's football team hoists the Class 2A state championship trophy last month after winning its second straight title and fifth since 2014. [File photo/TSN]
1. DAWG DAYS -- Derick Hammes’ Rossville Bulldawgs captured their second straight Class 2A state football championship and an amazing fifth title since 2014, capping a second straight 13-0 season with a 32-12 win over Beloit in the state final. The Bulldawgs overcame some adversity along the way, including an injury to star senior quarterback Torrey Horak which kept him out of multiple games, but star running back Corey Catron took over at QB and the Bulldawgs didn't miss a beat, outscoring its opposition 611-111 on the season.
Washburn Rural's wrestling team captured its first-ever Class 6A boys state team championship in 2021, also the first ever for a Topeka school. [File photo/TSN]
2. DATE WITH DESTINY -- After knocking on the door with a pair of Class 6A runner-up finishes, Washburn Rural's wrestling team knocked the door down, rolling to the first-ever team championship by a Topeka school by a commanding 159.5-112 margin over Olathe North. The Junior Blues clinched the title before the final round, putting a whopping five wrestlers in the finals and getting individual championships from Jonathan Morrison, Jacob Tangpricha and Bishop Murray (more on that below) and runner-up finishes from Austin Fager and David Huckstep.
Bishop Murray won his third Class 6A state individual title last season while helping lead Washburn Rural to the Class 6A state team title. [File photo/TSN]
3. THRICE AS NICE -- Washburn Rural wrestling standout Bishop Murray captured the third Class 6A individual state championship of his carreer, joining former Highland Park star and multi-time Olympian Melvin Douglas as the only city wrestlers to win three state titles while helping lead the Junior Blues to their historic team championship. Murray won the 120-pound title to cap a 29-1 senior season while posting four top-three state finishes.
Shawnee Heights' Jeremiah Smith won three Class 5A state titles in the 2021 Class 5A state track meet. [File photo/TSN]
4. IMPRESSIVE FIRST IMPRESSION -- After having his freshman track and field season wiped out by COVID-19, Shawnee Heights' Jeremiah Smith established himself as one of the state's best early last spring when he broke T-Bird legend Marcel Carter's school-record in the 100-meter dash. Smith went on to capture three Class 5A individual state titles in the State Track and Field Championships, winning the 110-meter hurdles in 14.74 seconds, the 100 dash in 10.52 and the 200 dash in 21.92.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Six Shawnee County basketball teams earned spots in the latest Kansas Basketball Coaches Association state rankings, with the undefeated Highland Park's boys moving up three spots to No. 3 in Class 5A while Topeka West moved into the 5A rankings at No. 7.
Junior Brooklyn DeLeye and the Washburn Rural girls remain ranked No. 2 in the KBCA Class 6A state rankings. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Washburn Rural, Topeka High, Hayden and Silver Lake remain ranked on the girls side, with Rural No. 2 and Topeka High No. 6 in 6A, while Silver Lake moved from eighth to fifth in 3A and Hayden remained No. 10 in 4A.
Top-ranked girls teams include Shawnee Mission Northwest in 6A, St. Thomas Aquinas in 5A, Bishop Miege in 4A, Hugoton in 3A, Sterling in 2A, Burlingame in 1A-Division I and Central Plains in 1A-Division II.
Top-ranked boys teams include Free State in 6A, Maize in 5A, Miege in 4A, Hesston in 3A, Hillsboro in 2A, Olpe in 1A-Division I and Hanover in 1A-Division II.
KANSAS BASKETBALL COACHES ASSOCIATION STATE RANKINGS
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Former star pitcher Jordan Cooper has become a star multi-tasker over the past few years.
After ending his nine-year professional pitching career, the former Shawnee Heights All-Stater and Wichita State All-American turned his focus on his future, earning his bachelor's degree through Kansas State and then serving as Washburn University's pitching coach while beginning work on his law degree at WU.
All of this while Jordan and his wife, Camri, began building a family that includes four children between seven months and five years old.
All the late night studying, long roadtrips, diaper duty and the like paid a big dividend on Friday when Cooper earned his Juris Doctor law degree from Washburn in a Lee Arena graduation ceremony.
"I was excited for my family and I was excited for me and my wife to finally be done with kind of grinding to get through law school,'' Cooper said. "We made some sacrifices family-wise to get that done, so I was definitely proud of that.''
Washburn University pitching coach Jordan Cooper, a former star at Shawnee Heights and Wichita State, poses with wife Camri and the couple's four children after Cooper received his Juris Doctor degree from Washburn last Friday. [Twitter]
Like most young athletes, Cooper had another plan in mind for his future when he left Wichita State after being drafted in the ninth round of the MLB Draft by the Cleveland Indians.
"I had hoped to play in the big leagues and not have to worry about it,'' said Cooper, who was drafted in the 17th round out of high school by the Boston Red Sox.
That didn't quite work out, although Cooper reached the AAA level, and he eventually decided to follow his father, Jeff, into law while also being able to stay active in baseball as WU's pitching coach the past three seasons.
"I also thought long and hard about coaching as a career, but I just wanted to be home and be in Topeka,'' Cooper said. "I had been off running around long enough and wanted to come home to help my kids grow and coach their summer teams and just be at home more.
"My dad is an attorney here in Topeka so that was kind of the guide for that. He runs his own law office so I wanted to help him. He's been a big influence on my life, so I kind of wanted to follow in his footsteps and then also at some point leave the door open to still stay in the game some and maybe be involved as a player agent/representation at some point, too.''
Jordan's decision to try to earn his law degree coincided with he and Camri's quickly growing family.
The Cooper's oldest daughter, Blakely, is 5 years old, while son Coy will turn 3 in February and twins Bowie (daughter) and Cash (son) are seven months old.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Unversity's men's basketball team looked to be on its way to a third straight win when the Ichabods opened up an 11-point lead less than nine minutes into the first half of Monday's home MIAA contest against Northeastern State, WU's final game of 2021.
But instead of celebrating, the Ichabods were left to do some soul-searching after the RiverHawks stormed back to take an 85-82 win, snapping an eight-game losing streak against Washburn.
"I just haven't been able to reach this team yet,'' Washburn coach Brett Ballard said after the Ichabods fell to 6-6 overall and 2-3 in the MIAA. "This is as poor of a coaching job as I've done and I just haven't been able to reach them.
"Our consistency's just not there, our discipline's not there, our execution's not there, our toughness isn't there. We've always out-competed teams here and we're not doing that right now and I've got to get it figured out.''
Tyler Geiman
Levi Braun
Washburn appeared to be in control when it jumped out in front 7-2, 18-11 and 24-13, but the RiverHawks (7-4, 2-3) fought back to within five points at the half (37-32) and went up 49-45 with 11:44 remaining.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Elijah Brooks
ELIJAH BROOKS, Topeka West
A senior, Brooks scored 50 points on the week and reached the 1,000 point mark for his career in two Topeka West boys basketball wins as the Chargers improved to 4-1. Brooks had 18 points (11 in the fourth quarter) in West's 57-55 Tuesday win at Shawnee Heights and scored 32 points with eight rebounds and seven assists in the Chargers' 78-65 win at Manhattan on Friday.
Jaliah Johnson
JALIAH JOHNSON, Washburn Rural
Johnson, a two-time state placer, won the 155-pound championship in the LadyCat Classic at Basehor-Linwood, helping two-time state champion Washburn Rural win the team title by a 295-221 margin over Dodge City. Johnson, third at state the past two seasons, improved to 12-1 on the season.
Juan'Tario Roberts
JUAN'TARIO ROBERTS, Highland Park
Roberts, a senior, scored 45 points on the week as Highland Park's boys basketball team posted a pair of victories to improve to 5-0 on the season. Roberts scored 22 points in the Scots' 71-69 win over Seaman on Tuesday and followed that up with a 23-point game on Friday as Highland Park posted a 62-50 win at Topeka High. Roberts hit the 1,000-point mark for his career in Friday's win.
Kiki Smith
KIKI SMITH, Topeka High
A junior guard, Smith scored 44 points on the week in two Topeka High girls basketball wins as the Trojans improved to 5-0 on the season. Smith led High with 14 points in a 38-36 win over Emporia on Tuesday and had 30 points on Friday in the Trojans' 86-16 romp past USD 501 rival Highland Park.
