Details

Created: 14 November 2021

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Washburn University's football team is headed to the NCAA Division II playoffs for the first time since 2011, earning the No. 7 seed in Super Region 3.

Making the playoffs for the fourth time in program history, the 9-2 Ichabods will face off against Harding in Saturday's first round in Searcy, Ark.

Washburn's football players react to Sunday's announcement that they are in the NCAA Division II playoff field. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Washburn, which has won six straight games, was No. 9 in last week's Super Region 3 rankings, but used last Saturday's 38-28 win over Missouri Southern and some key results from other games involving playoff contenders to gain the final berth out of Region 3.

Former Hayden standout Brooks Peavler, a senior linebacker, said the Ichabods felt good about their playoff chances after Saturday.

"We knew what we needed to happen as far as the other teams, and it happened, so we had a good feeling, but you never know,'' Peavler said. "There's a lot of good teams out there so we were nervous, but I feel like we deserved it and they threw us in.

"We were sitting there sweating for sure, but it's a cool opportunity.''

Washburn senior linebacker Garett Barnett-Kruger was also cautiously optimistic about the Ichabods' playoff chances.

"Obviously I was a little worried, because you never know how it can shake out with picking the regions, but I believed in Washburn magic,'' Barnett-Kruger said. "We've had some Washburn magic the last couple of years, so I had a feeling we were going to get in.

"I was here in 2017 when we went to our bowl game and that was a great experience, but you always are hungry for more, hungry for the next level, the next step, so getting up to that upper echelon was really a great feeling.''

Washburn's football team, celebrating its NCAA D-II playoff bid, will be making the 14th postseason appearance in program history. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Washburn assistant coach Zach Watkins said he had a "gut feeling'' the Ichabods were going to get the playoff bid.

"A team like this, they deserve to be in,'' Watkins said. "Going 9-2 in the MIAA is an accomplishment in and of itself and to beat the teams we beat and the close losses we had, we deserved it and I'm excited to be in.''

Read more …

Details

Created: 14 November 2021

Topeka West boys basketball coach Rick Bloomquist, acknowledging Charger fans during last year's Class 5A state tournament, will officially begin his 10th season at West on Monday. [File photo/TSN]

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

When schools across Kansas open preseason basketball practice Monday, Rick Bloomquist will be on the floor, just like he has been for most of the past four decades

But Bloomquist, who was diagnosed with Stage 3 squamous cell carcinoma in February and suffered a setback earlier this fall, wasn't sure that was going to be possible, which makes Monday even more special for the veteran Topeka West boys coach.

"There's no question,'' said Bloomquist, who is starting his 10th season with the Chargers. "Going through therapy every day you think, 'I'm not going to be able to do it, it's not going to happen,' but I was determined.

"I didn't want last season to end and I wanted this season. If I had to crawl on my hands and knees with cancer therapy I would have done it, but there was doubt if it was going to happen. There's always doubt, but you've got to overome that.''

The 2020-2021 season was one of the most rewarding years of Bloomquist's long career, with the Chargers posting a 21-3 record and advancing to the Class 5A state championship game for only the third time in West school history..

Bloomquist continued to coach the Chargers after receiving his cancer diagnosis late in the regular season before undergoing eight weeks of intense treatment to treat the cancer in his lymph nodes and neck.

The 67-year-old Bloomquist was declared cancer free early in the summer, but his recovery has not been without bumps along the way.

"It's slower than I ever thought it would be,'' said Bloomquist, who has won more than 500 games as a high school coach. "I thought that once I was finished with the cancer treatments I was on my way to recovery. I was really in a good mood and people told me that I would have setbacks and I thought, 'Well, one day I won't feel good,' but I didn't know what was coming. I didn't know it was going to hit me in the face. It went backwards, it just went severely backwards.

"The recovery period has been somewhat harder than the treatment period because what's happened with me is the radiation created severe scar tissue and I got to the point where I couldn't hardly open my mouth. I dropped back down to 138 pounds because I was eating so poorly.''

Eventually Bloomquist, who feared that the cancer had returned, went back in to be tested early in the school year.

"I had another biopsy because the pain was worse than it was before I went in for treatment,'' he said. "They told me I was still cancer free but I had a lot of scar tissue and it did a lot of damage.''

Doctors prescribed hyperbaric oxygen therapy, which has helped Bloomquist to start turning the corner in his recovery.

Read more …

Details

Created: 13 November 2021

By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news

The Washburn women's basketball team outscored Oklahoma Baptist 14-2 in overtime to capture a 62-50 victory on Saturday afternoon, with the Ichabods evening their record at 1-1.

Washburn opened the game with 10 unanswered points and closed out the first quarter with a 12-2 lead. The Ichabods ended the first half on a 7-2 run and took a 24-16 advantage into halftime. 

The Bison (0-2) started to chip away at the deficit making four 3-pointers in the third quarter to trim Washburn's lead to 37-35 heading into the fourth frame. 

Lauren Cassaday made a layup with 8:28 left in regulation to start a 7-0 Ichabod scoring run over the next three minutes of play. With 3:44 on the clock, Oklahoma Baptist responded with a 6-0 run of its own to pull within three, 46-43.

With just one second on the clock, OBU's Jaylin Stapleton hit a 3-pointer to tie the score at 48-all. The Ichabods in-bounded the ball and found MackenzieGamble, but her buzzer-beating shot attempt bounced around the rim and off to the side as time expired.

Hunter Bentley

The Bison scored the first points of overtime on a layup, but that would be the only points they scored in extra time as Hunter Bentley responded with seven points in a row with a three-pointer, a fast break layup and free throws.

KatieGlatczak scored the final points of the afternoon with a 3-pointer with just over a minute left in OT. 
 
The Ichabods shot 37.5 percent from the field while the Bison finished with a 27.6 clip. Washburn went 9 for 24 from 3-point range and Oklahoma Baptist was 8 for 18. The Ichabods won the battle on the boards, 45-40. Washburn also forced 20 turnovers and turned that into 17 points. 
 
Bentley was 7 for 11 from the field and hit three triples to finish with a team-high 20 points. Gamble was 5 for 10 from behind the arc and had 17 points. Abby Oliver played 40 minutes and grabbed 13 rebounds to go with her nine points, three steals and two blocks. 
 
Mallory Lockhart hit seven of Oklahoma Baptist's eight three-pointers, finishing the game 7 for 13 from deep to lead the team with 21 points.

The Ichabods will play their home opener on Wednesday, Nov. 17 against Benedictine College. 

AUGUSTANA MEN 72, WASHBURN 58

The Augustana Vikings jumped out to a 22-8 lead 9:20 into the game and never looked back as they handed the Ichabod their first loss of the season in a 72-58 loss. 

Read more …

Details

Created: 13 November 2021

By KYLE MANTHE

The Washburn Review

The 2013 season was the last time Washburn University volleyball claimed part of the MIAA regular season championship.

A victory for the No. 2 Ichabods would change that as they faced No. 5 Northwest Missouri State. With Senior Night on deck the anticipation was high, which made the result harder to swallow even with a record-breaking performance.

“They rolled us, you saw it, they served us off the floor,” said WU coach Chris Herron. “It wasn’t a good night for us.” 

For the first time all season the Ichabods fell without taking a set, losing 17-25, 18-25, and 16-25. The loss moved them to 17-3 in conference play, tied for second, while senior libero Faith Rottinghaus moved up to first place all alone among Washburn’s career digs leaders, with 2,480.

“She is awesome, she is so good, to be honest with you whatever kind of player she is, she is that type of student-athlete, she is that type of person,'' Herron said. "I don’t have anything but glorious things to say about that young lady.'' 

Former Shawnee Heights star Faith Rottinghaus, with her family during Senior Night ceremonies, became Washburn's career digs leader Saturday. [Photo by Kyle Manthe/Special to TSN]]

The first set was as intense as expected, as each side traded blows through the middle stages of the set. The offense from Northwest Missouri became too much for the Ichabods to handle, as the Bearcats hit .341 in the set. The loss set was still historic as Rottinghaus recorded 11 digs to officially set the record.

“Honestly, I didn’t even know, like I had an idea that I was close but I didn’t know how close so I didn’t know it was going to come tonight so it was bittersweet,” Rottinghaus said. “It’s still an accomplishment that I should be proud of and hopefully after all this emotion settles down I will be.”

Washburn got off to a fast start in the second set, leading 5-2 but it quickly dissipated as the Ichabods offense started to struggle. Northwest Missouri took the lead at 6-5 and did not look back, holding Washburn to an .071 attack percentage in the set as a team.

“When you don’t service you can’t run an offense, so when you are hitting under .100 who are you going to beat? No one,” Herron said.

Read more …