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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Things got a little crazier at the end than Topeka High soccer coach Derek Snook probably would have preferred, but the Trojans achieved their only objective Monday night, advancing to a Class 6A regional final with a 2-1 win over Wichita Southeast at Hummer Sports Park.
With the win, Topeka High improved to 9-6-2 and earned a spot in Thursday's regional championship game at Dodge City against the winner of Tuesday's game between defending 6A state champ Dodge City and Wichita West.
"I was proud of the effort for sure,'' Snook said. "I'm pretty proud of these boys, the way they've fought and the effort they've put out. A win's a win and we keep moving.''
Topeka High soccer coach Derek Snook (center) talks to his team after Monday's 2-1 Class 6A regional win over Wichita Southeast. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
After a scoreless first half, Topeka High got second-half goals from junior Aiden Morrison and sophomore Victor Mesta to take control, but Southeast (8-8-1) certainly didn't go quietly.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
When Monday's Class 4A-1A regional opener between Hayden and Cair Paravel Latin went to penalty kicks after 110 minutes of scoreless soccer, Hayden standout senior goalkeeper Gabe Rankey knew he was going to end the day either feeling really good or really, really bad.
As it turned out Rankey was wearing a big smile after the Wildcats outscored the Lions 4-1 in PKs to escape with a 1-0 victory at Hayden.
"It was pretty fun that we won,'' Rankey said. "If we lost it would have been probably the worst experience of my life.''
With the victory Hayden, now 12-5-0 on the season, advanced to Thursday's regional final to host the winner of Tuesday's game between Independence and Berean Academy while Cair Paravel ended its season 4-10-1.
Hayden's Camden Schrickel (right) and Cair Paravel's Joe Havens get tangled up while trying to control the ball in Monday's Class 4A-1A soccer regional at Hayden. The Wildcats won 1-0 in penalty kicks. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Hayden had numerous scoring opportunities throughout the contest, but Cair Paravel goalkeeper Jacob Hershberger turned in an oustanding performance to give his team a chance, keeping the Wildcats off the scoreboard through 80 minutes of regulation, plus two 10-minute overtime periods and two five-minute OT sessions to send the game to PKs.
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2021 All-Shawnee County girls golf -- From left: Avery Zimmerman, Topeka High; Lois Deeter, Seaman; Avery Scott, Washburn Rural; Kaitlyn Crough, Washburn Rural; McKenna Merrick, Washburn Rural; Aliyah North, Washburn Rural; Kate Roeder, Hayden. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural garnered four spots on the All-Shawnee County girls golf team after the Junior Blues swept city, Centennial League and regional team titles before finishing second in last week's Class 6A state tournament.
The Junior Blues are represented by seniors Kaitlyn Crough, McKenna Merrick and Aliyah North and junior Avery Scott, who all earned 6A state medals this fall.
Also earning spots on the seven-member All-Shawnee County first team were Seaman junior Lois Deeter, Hayden senior Kate Roeder and Topeka High sophomore Avery Zimmerman.
Deeter claimed the city title and tied for fifth in the 5A state tournament while Roeder finished second in the 4A state meet and Zimmerman qualified for the 6A state tournament as an individual.
Named to the second team were Seaman junior Aspen Burgardt and sophomore Avery Samuelson, Hayden sophomore Avery Grunert and junior Ava Teply, Washburn Rural junior Mallory Nelson and sophomore Raegan Petersen, Shawnee Heights senior Olivia Morgan and Silver Lake freshman Taylor Zordel.
All-County first-team capsules:
KAITLYN CROUGH, Washburn Rural -- Crough capped her high school career with an 11th-place finish in the 6A state tournament, earning the second state medal of her career, as Rural finished second as a team at state after sweeping city, Centennial League and regional titles. A former city champ, Crough was the runner-up in the city and league meets.
LOIS DEETER, Seaman -- A junior, Deeter tied for fifth in the 5A state tournament after winning the city title by five strokes and finishing second in regional competition. Deeter, who also tied for fifth in the state tournament as a freshman, shot an even-par 70 in the city tournament and posted a career-low 66 in the Manhattan Invitational.
McKENNA MERRICK, Washburn Rural -- Merrick, a senior, earned a 6A state medal with a tie for 19th place to help Washburn Rural finish second as a team. Merrick also tied for seventh in the Centennial League tournament as the Junior Blues won the team title.
ALIYAH NORTH, Washburn Rural -- In her first year as a varsity player the Rural senior finished fifth in the 6A state tournament for the runner-up Junior Blues after finishing as the runner-up in regional competition, tying for fourth in the Centennial League and taking third in the city meet as Rural won city, league and regional team titles.
KATE ROEDER, Hayden -- Roeder, a senior, turned in an outstanding performance in the 4A state tournament, posting a second-place individual finish to lead the Wildcats to a third-place team finish. Roeder also tied for seventh place individually in 4A regional competition and she placed seventh in the city tournament.
AVERY SCOTT, Washburn Rural -- A junior, Scott tied for 12th place individually in the 6A tournament, helping Rural finish second as a team after the Junior Blues swept city, Centennial League and regional titles. A two-time state medalist, Scott finished fourth at regionals, third in the Centennial League and tied for fourth in the city tournament.
AVERY ZIMMERMAN, Topeka High -- Zimmerman, a sophomore, qualified for the 6A state tournament as an individual and went on to tie for 33rd place at state. Zimmerman also placed sixth individually in the Centennial League tournament and she tied for eighth in the city tournament.
ALL-SHAWNEE COUNTY GIRLS GOLF
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Malachi Berg
MALACHI BERG, Topeka West
A junior quarterback, Berg rushed for one touchdown and threw for two TDs as Topeka West ended a long losing streak against USD 501 rival Topeka High with a 28-22 overtime victory. Berg rushed for 66 yards on 14 carries, including a 22-yard touchdown, and completed 12 of 19 passes for 197 yards and 13 and 60-yard TDs.
Madeline Carter
MADELINE CARTER, Washburn Rural
Carter, a junior, captured the individual girls title in Saturday's Class 6A regional cross country meet at Milford State Park, clocking a five-kilometer time of 18 minutes, 46.20 seconds. Carter led a 1-2-3 finish by the Junior Blues for the fourth straight meet, with Rural winning the regional team championship by a 41-52 margin over Manhattan.
Branton DeWeese
BRANTON DeWEESE, Washburn Rural
A sophomore quarterback, DeWeese completed 11 of 18 passes for 294 yards and four touchdown passes as 7-1 Washburn Rural clinched a share of the Centennial League championship with a 42-31 victory over Seaman. DeWeese threw for 9, 84, 24 and 20-yard touchdowns in the win.
James Letcher Jr.
JAMES LETCHER JR., Washburn University
Letcher put Washburn ahead to stay with a 90-yard kickoff return for a touchdown with 3:10 remaining as the Ichabods went on to take a 29-17 MIAA win at Central Oklahoma, improving to 6-2 with their third straight victory. Letcher also caught five passes and had 186 all-purpose yards in the Washburn win.
Tanner Newkirk
TANNER NEWKIRK, Hayden
The defending Class 4A state cross country champion, Hayden's senior star won a Class 4A boys individual regional title Saturday at the Kanza Park course, posting a five-kilometer time of 15 minutes, 16.67 seconds to win by 54 seconds. Newkirk led the Wildcats to a second-place team finish and a state team berth.
Kory Sutton
KORY SUTTON, Shawnee Heights
A junior, Sutton won his first individual regional title, clocking a five-kilometer time of 15 minutes, 45.01 seconds in the Class 5A regional at the Kanza Park course. Sutton led Shawnee Heights to a second-place team finish and a berth in the 5A state meet at Augusta.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
A 14-2-0 regular-season record is impressive enough, but the way Shawnee Heights' boys soccer team has achieved that mark is even more impressive.
Fighting injuries, illness and the like, Heights coach Nic Simons has waited all season for his T-Birds to be at full strength, but Simons couldn't be prouder of how the team has handled each and every challenge heading into Tuesday's 6 p.m. Class 5A regional contest at the Bettis Family Sports Complex.
"We have not had all 11 starting players out on the field at the same time, not one game,'' Simons said after last Thursday's 3-1 win over Manhattan. "But everybody on the team has played minutes and everybody on the team has picked each other up and we've gotten goals from sophomores all the way up through seniors and from kids who play relatively little minutes to kids that play the whole game.''
Nic Simons and his 14-2-0 Shawnee Heights soccer team will open Class 5A postseason Tuesday night at the Bettis Family Sports Complex. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Junior Jordan Garvin is a top player for Shawnee Heights, which will open 5A postseason Tuesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
After dropping a 5-1 decision to 15-0-0 Washburn Rural to open the season, the only other blemish on the United Kansas Conference-champion T-Birds' record is a double-overtime loss to De Soto.
"It's just been nothing but incredible,'' Simons said of Heights' success. "What a testament to these kids, they're wonderful.''
