- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
OK, so Washburn Rural's volleyball team may not have been perfect in Saturday's Class 6A sub-state tournament at Rural, but the 38-0 and nationally-ranked Junior Blues were pretty darn good, earning their fifth straight state tournament berth and their 23rd in the past 25 seasons with a dominating sub-state run.
The Junior Blues, ranked No. 8 in the nation, opened their day with a 25-10, 25-10 win over Topeka High before dispatching Garden City, 25-5, 25-9 in the championship match.
"I thought we were pretty sharp, especially in the second match,'' Bordewick said. "I thought we did a really good job of keeping them off-balance and I thought we were really aggressive in about everything we did, too.
"When we're aggressive serving we're going to miss one or two but we didn't miss after the first one or the second one. We would have a run and then we would miss and that makes a big difference.''
Washburn Rural celebrates its Class 6A sub-state championship Saturday at Rural. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Rural junior standout Brooklyn DeLeye said that the Junior Blues knew they needed to take care of business Saturday.
"Every team in sub-state is going to come and play their best so we just made sure we didn't let up or overlook teams.'' DeLeye said.
The Junior Blues put 14-22 Garden City away early in the championship match.
Rural took a 7-0 lead on a DeLeye kill and junior Chloe Carlgren delivered a kill to put her team in front, 15-4.
A long service run from DeLeye, including a pair of aces, put Rural up 19-4 before the Junior Blues closed out the 20-point win.
Rural took a 10-3 lead in the second set and used a pair of kills from junior Taylor Russell and a kill from sophomore Jada Ingram to take a 15-4 advantage.
Washburn Rural sophomore Jada Ingram delivers a kill in Saturday's Class 6A sub-state tournament at Rural. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Ingram later had back-to-back kills to give the Junior Blues a 19-5 advantage and Rural ended the match on a service ace from sophomore Zoe Canfield.
Next up for Rural is the 6A state tournament Friday and Saturday at Salina's Tony's Pizza Events Center and Bordewick said he and assistant Amanda Vanderbogart feel like the Junior Blues are ready for the challenge that awaits them at state.
"We really like where they're at mentally and I knew that they had plans to practice next week,'' Bordewick said. "That's what their goal was so we're going to show up Monday and take it one day at a time and hopefully get better at something.''
DeLeye agreed.
"We just know that we've got to show up and get even better this week to be ready to compete and hopefully get that end goal,'' she said.
Rural, second in 6A in 2019 and third a year ago, will be the No. 1 seed, but Bordewick said the fact that the Junior Blues are undefeated won't mean much when they take the floor.
"Everybody's really 0-0 and that's the way we've got to approach it,'' he said. "We'll be the No. 1 seed, but that doesn't mean anything. We've been there quite a few times and No. 1 seeds get knocked off sometimes so you can't rest anything on that.''
CLASS 6A SUB-STATE VOLLEYBALL
Match results
Topeka High def. Wichita South, 25-12, 25-12; Washburn Rural def. Topeka High, 25-10, 25-10; Garden City def. Wichita Southeast, 22-25, 25-13, 25-13; Washburn Rural def. Garden City, 25-5, 25-9.
SEAMAN ROLLS TO 5A BERTH
After ending a lengthy state tournament drought in 2020, Seaman earned a return trip to state with a pair of straight-set wins in Saturday's 5A sub-state hosted by Eisenhower in Goddard.
The Vikings, now 25-10, opened their day with a 25-13, 25-19 semifinal win over Kapaun Mt. Carmel and then took a 25-23, 25-19 win over Maize in the championship match.
The 5A state tournament will be played at Tony's Pizza Events Center in Salina next Friday and Saturday.
Topeka West sophomore MaKinsey Jones gets a spike through a pair of Valley Center defenders during Saturday's Class 5A sub-state tournament at West. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
WEST COMES UP SHORT
Topeka West's volleyball team earned the right to host a 5A sub-state tournament with an outstanding 27-9 regular season, but the Chargers' bid for a state berth ended with a tough three-set semifinal loss to Valley Center, which entered the tournament with a 13-20 record.
Valley Center took a 25-22 decision over the Chargers in the first set before West forced a third set with a 25-22 win.
Both teams had multiple match points in the third set before the Hornets finally prevailed, 31-29.
Bishop Carroll went on to claim the sub-state title, taking a 25-14, 25-14 win over the Hornets in the championship match.
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
If Tanner Newkirk's performance in Saturday's regional cross country meet is any indication, it may be a tough task for anyone in the Class 4A boys state field to take the title away from the reigning champ in next week's state meet at Wamego Country Club.
Newkirk, completing a sweep of city, Centennial League and regional titles, tuned up for state in impressive fashion at the Kanza Park course, posting a runaway win by 54 seconds in a five-kilometer time of 15 minutes, 16.67 seconds while helping the Wildcats earn a team berth for state with a runner-up finish.
"I think I'm in my best shape of the season and the work has obviously paid off,'' Newkirk said. "Today I felt really good and I was able to come out here and do really well.
"I knew I could beat my time from city and I knew this was a fast course so I decided I might was well come out here and try to run a (personal record) and run as fast as I can.''
Hayden senior Tanner Newkirk posted a 54-second win in Saturday's Class 4A regional cross country meet, pacing the Wildcats to a second-place team finish. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Newkirk achieved that goal by six seconds despite running alone for virtually the entire race.
"My body felt good and my lungs felt good so I thought today could be a good race,'' Newkirk said. "I just wanted to do all I could that's in my control to have my best race and it worked out well.''
Already a three-time state medalist, with second and first-place finishes, Newkirk is looking to end his high school career with a bang next Saturday.
"I'm really excited, I'm ecstatic,'' he said. "I'm looking to maybe set the course record and just run a really fast last cross country race.''
With Newkirk leading the way, Hayden finished second in the regional team standings by a 36-56 margin to Wamego.
Wildcat sophomore Aiden Amis finished eighth (17:10.41) while senior Ryan Rochford was 12th (17:24.85), sophomore Zach Moore 17th (17:47.83) and No. 5 runner Nick Lloyd, a junior, 18th (17:51.04).
Elliot Wrench finished second in Saturday's Class 4A regional cross country meet, leading Hayden's girls to a third-place team finish and a berth in the state meet. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Hayden's girls team also punched its ticket to the state meet with a third-place team finish, with sophomore Elliot Wrench finishing second individually in 20:26.26 to pace the Wildcats.
Sophomore Elaina Wolff placed 10th for the Wildcats (22:06.83), who also got a 16th-place finish from freshman Ryann Newkirk (22:40.94), an 18th from senior Riley Schmidtlein (22:53.12) and a 23rd-place finish from junior Catherine Doyle (23:43.90) to round out Hayden's top five.
Rock Creek sophomore Kyra Nippert was the girls individual champion in 19:48.36.
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Seaman's girls cross country team turned in a strong performance in Saturday's Class 5A regional at the Kanza Park course.
In fact, the Vikings really couldn't have done much better.
Piper senior Grace Hanson won the individual title in a five-kilometer time of 18 minutes, 11.71 seconds, but Seaman claimed the next five spots to earn a perfect team score of 15 as the Pirates did not field a full team.
Junior Bethany Druse led the way with a second-place finish as Seaman's girls posted a perfect team score in Saturday's Class 5A cross country regional. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Junior Bethany Druse led the Vikings with a second-place finish in 18:59.45 while freshman Joslynn Grace was third (19:30.28), freshman Stella Appelhanz fourth (19:52.15), senior Emma Schultz fifth (19:52.97) and freshman Anna Becker sixth (20:18.42) to round out Seaman's top five.
"They did do their job,'' Seaman coach Rick Brading said. "We thought it would probably be Hanson and then us. That's what we thought and it was.
"All of our girls ran well for the day and most of them ran (personal records) today.''
Shawnee Heights' Kory Sutton (right) and Jackson Esquibel posted a 1-2 finish in Saturday's Class 5A boys cross country regional. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
The boys race also had a distinct Topeka flavor, with Shawnee Heights junior Kory Sutton and sophomore Jackson Esquibel posting a 1-2 individual finish while Shawnee Heights and Seaman finished second and third behind Lansing to earn team berths for next Saturday's state meet at Augusta.
"I felt great, I was ready to go,'' said Sutton, who captured his first regional title. "I was looking forward to running here. Last time I was here I ran a really big PR so I looked forward to coming out here and running fast and trying to get in some practice in for the fast pace that it's going to be next week at state.''
Sutton claimed the individual win in 15:45.01 while Esquibel was the runner-up in 15:49.77.
"We were definitely fighting back and forth,'' Suttong said. "(Esquibel) had a huge PR today. He ran great and he challenged me today.''
The T-Birds also got an 11th-place showing from junior Andrew Emerson (17:07.49) while freshman Stephen Carter was 18th (17:25.31) and sophomore Landon Staniec 26th (18:07.63) to finish off Heights' top five.
Third-place Seaman was paced by senior Jace Moore, fourth in 16:21.19, while senior Anson Appelhanz was 13th (17:09.99), junior Landon Stuke 14th (17:17.63), sophomore Adrian Swaim 15th (17:22.88) and freshman Alexander Newell 16th (17:23.30).
Lansing won the team title with 44 points while Heights was second with 58 points and Seaman third with 62 points.
Topeka West qualified a pair of individuals for the state meet, with senior Anna Phelps finishing 10th in the girls race and Charger senior Louis Wilson taking eighth in the boys race.
- Details
By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
JaVion Lee scored on a 10-yard end-around sweep in overtime to give Topeka West a thrilling 28-22 win over USD 501 rival Topeka High Friday night at Hummer Sports Park, with the Chargers ending a 15-year losing streak against the Trojans.
Topeka West earned its first win against Topeka High since the 2005, forcing the overtime with a fourth-quarter touchdown and then taking the win on Lee's game-winning run.
“They (Topeka West) asked me to step up and I did,'' Lee said. "With me, I work hard. I was waiting for that moment to come my whole life. We did it, as a team. This was amazing for us.”
The Trojans and Charger defenses forced repetitive three and outs during the 24 minutes before both teams got their offenses untracked after halftime.
Jaq’Son Birdwhistle-Bush, Xavier Alexander and Elliot Cooper led the way defensively for the Chargers in the first half, keeping Topeka High’s stellar run game in check while Topeka High’s defense also shut down West's offense and didn’t allow a single point. Danny Saili, Jamari Pleasant and Isiah Kincade were led the pack to keep the Chargers from taking any control.
Half number two was the opposite of half, with both offenses turning the volume up in the highly-competitive game.
Although Topeka High running back Tylan Alejos was somewhat quiet in the first half, he was a man on a mission in the second half. Having 18 yards on 7 carries in the first half, he followed up by running the ball 13 times for 146 yards in the second half and was responsible for all three touchdowns for Topeka High.
Topeka West’s offense looked rejuvenated after getting shutout six straight quarters dating back to last week’s game against Manhattan. Malachi Berg threw for 197 yards and 176 of those yards were to Elliot Cooper. Cooper was the key performer in Friday's victory, snagging eight receptions.
High and West’s gun-slinging second-half approaches kept the game going back and forth and regulation would end with the teams tied up at 22 apiece.
Topeka High would win the coin toss and elected to take the ball first in overtime. The Trojans had to start at the 35-yard-line rather than the 10 due to two personal foul calls to end regulation.
Alejos gained 10 and 6 yards on back to back, but Topeka High ended up facing a 4th and 17 situation and quarterback Peyton Wheat desperation heave into the end zone fell incomplete.
Topeka West quickly maee the most of its ensuing posession, with Berg taking the snap, pump faking a pass to Kamen Jones and flipping the ball to Lee. High’s defense was fooled and Lee took the ball in for the game-ending TD.
“We trusted Lee’s speed to get in the end zone when we needed him most,'' Topeka West coach Ryan Kelly said.
The game plan against the Trojans developed throughout the entirety of the game for Topeka West.
“We ran the ball quite a bit up the gut in the beginning of the game but No. 77 (Saili) was beating us up inside,'' Kelly said. "He’s a tough kid to block. We had to dial up some of our perimeter run plays to spread the field out to get away from the middle.”
Kelly was pleased with the performance but knows the Chargers have plenty of room to grow.
“We are pretty young on the offensive line, so there’s a lot of bad habits we need to correct,'' he said. "We need to be able to run the ball more effectively if we want to keep the success going.”
The commander of the offense, Berg, was happy with the way things ended.
“This is our last time playing them (Topeka High) in the Centennial League, so I’m glad we were able to beat them,'' Berg said. "We came together strong as a team.”
- Details
By KYLE MANTHE
The Washburn Review
Week 8 of Friday night football featured a matchup between two of the top teams in the city as the 5-2 Seaman Vikings visited the 6-1 Washburn Rural Junior Blues.
It was truly a tale of two halves as the defenses controlled early on and the offenses took over late, but it was the explosive offense of the Junior Blues which propelled them to a 42-31 Centennial League victory on Senior Night at Bowen-Glaze Stadium.
“This is one they will remember for a long time, a share of the league championship tonight, coming and playing a great game like this, an exciting game, that’s something they will always remember,” Washburn Rural coach Steve Buhler said.
Washburn Rural coach Steve Buhler talks to his team after the Junior Blues wrapped up a 7-1 regular season and clinched a share of the Centennial League title with a 42-31 win over Seaman Friday night. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
The defenses for each side were as good as advertised with a three and out for each team to begin the game.
Seaman would strike first, moving the ball in nine plays down to the 5-yard-line of Washburn Rural before senior Gavin Wilhelm knocked in a 22-yard field goal.
The Junior Blues responded with a nine-play drive of their own, ending in a 9-yard pass to junior Amr Sabbarini in the right side of the end zone from sophomore Branton DeWeese before the end of the first quarter.
Each side's defense controlled most of the second quarter with an interception coming from Washburn Rural’s senior Landon MacEwan, who finished with two takeaways in the game, but no points would come from the first turnover.
“I definitely think we were being physical, we pride ourselves on being a physical team, and I think we really got to them in the run game,” said Washburn Rural senior Robby Bolin.
With yards hard to come by on the ground, the Vikings would go to the air with a pass from senior Camden Barta to senior Brody Gormley, who tapped his toes at the back of the end zone for a 9-yard TD just before halftime.
“It was a hard-fought seven points we held them to in the first half, so we were kind of in that position and knew that coming out we were going to have to execute the same way we were and unfortunately we didn’t,” said Seaman coach Jared Swafford.
The Junior Blues struck fast out of halftime, with Bolin breaking a tackle and taking an 84-yard pass from DeWeese to the house on the third play.
“We came into halftime and nothing was really working so we came out, made some adjustments and stuff started firing and it just worked out,” Bolin said.
After punts from each side Seaman would counter with a catch and run of 65 yards by Gormley into the end zone, putting the Vikings back out in front, but not for long. Two plays later Washburn Rural junior Ma’Kenttis Adams bounced outside for a 28-yard touchdown run to flip the scoreboard.
After a kick return back to the 20-yard-line by Seaman sophomore Jack Bloom, Barta was able to connect with senior P.J. Vargas for a 17-yard touchdown throw just three plays later.
Next came the longest drive of the quarter, a nine-play balanced attack from the Junior Blues ending in another touchdown pass from DeWeese to Sabbarini from 24 yards out to end the high scoring quarter at 28-24 Rural.
“We went in and just re-adjusted our protection for Branton (DeWeese) and when we were able to give him time it allowed our wide receivers to gain a little separation on the guys that were pressing at the line,” said Buhler.
A quick Viking punt and a 75-yard catch by senior Adrian Tibbetts set up the second DeWeese to Bolin touchdown throw, this time from 20 yards out to break the game open at 35-24. After a second consecutive three-and-out from Seaman, Washburn Rural would need only one play to find the end zone as JC Heim took a handoff 90 yards with just under 10 minutes to play.
The Vikings would get into the end zone one more time on a 3-yard score from Barta to senior Braden Colley but it was too late as the ensuing onside attempt failed.
“I think we will bounce back, we had a great week of practice, we've got great senior leadership, and I like our chances to go out and give ourselves a shot in the playoffs in every game,” said Swafford.
At 7-1 on the year the Junior Blues claimed a share of the Centennial League title with Manhattan and Junction City.
Both Rural and Seaman will be set for home playoff games on Oct. 29, with opponents to be determined late Friday or early Saturday.
“We are excited, we are ready to go, we have been talking about this since last November,'' Buhler said. "This is where we wanted to be, we wanted a top-four seed, I think we got that tonight, hopefully with the win we put ourselves right where we want to be and now the second season starts.''
