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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The 2021 soccer season didn't get off to a great start for Shawnee Heights, with the T-Birds dropping a 5-1 decision to Class 6A powerhouse Washburn Rural in their season-opener.
But Nic Simons' T-Birds responded to that loss by winning 14 of their next 15 games, putting the capper on a 14-2-0 regular season with a 3-1 non-league victory over Manhattan Thursday night at the Bettis Family Sports Complex.
"We went into this year wanting to initally test where we were the first game of the season and we certainly found out,'' Simons said. "And we wanted to test what progress we made by the last game of the season and I think we did and we have made progress.
"Opening the season with a 5-1 loss is certainly humbling and we used that as motivation to play everybody else as competitively as we possibly could and I told the kids all year, 'We have to be tough and we have to have grit,' and they've shown it in the face of adversity.''
Shawnee Heights senior Garrison Johnson (center) and junior Jovany Retana (left) scored goals and sophomore Brennon Dodge (right) had an assist in the T-Birds' 3-1 non-league soccer win over Manhattan Thursday night at the Bettis Family Sports Complex. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Shawnee Heights, which won the United Kansas Conference championship, never trailed against the 10-5-1 Indians after getting on the scoreboard at the 22:35 mark of the first half on a goal from junior Jovany Retana off an assist from sophomore Brennon Dodge.
The score remained 1-0 through the first half before Shawnee Heights scored twice within 19 seconds early in the second half to put the game out of reach.
T-Bird senior Garrison Johnson converted a penalty kick at the 32:34 mark of the second half and then junior Isaac Wilson made it 3-0 seconds later off an assist from junior Jordan Garvin.
Manhattan's lone score came on an own goal with 17:36 left to play, but the Indians couldn't muster any more serious scoring chances.
Shawnee Heights senior goalkeeper Jaden Rodriguez comes up with a save on a shot from Manhattan senior Marco Zambrano in the T-Birds' 3-1 win Thursday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
"We really haven't put together a compete game,'' Simons said. "We have had stretches of brilliance followed by some knucklehead stuff on the field, but this has probably been our most complete game that we've played all year.''
Shawnee Heights will be at home for the first round of the Class 5A playoffs next Tuesday. Postseason pairings will be determined on Saturday.
SHAWNEE HEIGHTS 3, MANHATTAN 1
Manhattan (10-5-1) 0 1 -- 1
Shawnee Heights (14-2-0) 1 2 -- 3
Manhattan -- Goal: Own goal.
Shawnee Heights -- Goals: Jovany Retana, Garrison Johnson, Isaac Wilson. Assists: Brennon Dodge, Jordan Garvin.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Highland Park will hold its 2021 Hall of Fame and Sports Wall of Honor induction ceremonies on Saturday at Highland Park, inducting three individuals into the school's Hall of Fame and two former Scot standouts into the Sports Wall of Honor.
Social time will begin at 3:30 p.m., followed by the 4 p.m. ceremony in the Highland Park Media Center.
Highland Park will induct Lowell Dicke, Bill Gahnstrom and Angela Cervantes into its Hall of Fame and Terry Douglas and Danny Kingcannon into the Sports Wall of Honor.
Highland Park Hall of Fame and Sports Wall of Honor inductee capsules:
Lowell Dicke
LOWELL DICKE
A 1957 Highland Park graduate, Dicke served as senior class president and received the Bausch Lomb award as outstanding student in science. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in economics with honors and a minor in history, philosophy and French from the University of Kansas in 1961. He received the Arthur Boynton scholarship given each year to the outstanding student in economics.
Following graduation Dicke attended Yale University and received an M.A. in economics with first honors and an LLB in international law from the Yale Law School with second honors.
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By KYLE MANTHE
The Washburn Review
After four weeks at the top of the AVCA rankings Washburn volleyball had dropped to No. 2 ahead of its match against Fort Hays State Tuesday night at Lee Arena.
With a top-five matchup against Central Missouri looming later this week the focus was still on the task at hand.
“I think we needed to get some momentum tonight and I think we did that,'' said senior setter Allison Sadler, who reached 3,000 career assists the weekend prior. "We know Thursday is going to be a really big game and so we didn’t overlook this game whatsoever, but we really wanted to get that momentum going,”
Allison Sadler
Washburn would take care of the Tigers in straight sets, 25-19, 25-14, and 25-18. The win was the Ichabods' second in a row and moved them to 19-2 overall.
Mis-communication early on caused the Ichabods to fall into an early 10-6 deficit but once the defense settled in Washburn tied the set at 15 and rode five straight points to end the set.
Sadler helped control the offense, with 15 assists in the set and a kill of her own, while senior middle hitter Allison Maxwell picked up three blocks up front.
“I think forcing the middle early helped and our passers did a really good job this game of getting me up at the net, so I had all three options most of the time,” Sadler said.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
EMPORIA -- Washburn Rural girls golf coach Jared Goehring was quick to admit that the Junior Blues didn't get the day they were looking for in Tuesday's final round of the Class 6A state tournament at Emporia Municipal Golf Course.
But Goehring was just as quick to credit Blue Valley West four-time state individual champ Julia Misemer and her Jaguar teammates after West rallied from a seven-stroke deficit after the first day to claim the championship by a seven-stroke margin over the Junior Blues (678-685).
"We had an outstanding Round 1 and we had a solid front nine here today and just didn't have enough in the tank on the back nine, and Blue Valley's a solid team,'' Goehring said. "They've proven they can go in the low 300s this year and Misemer's one of the best, if not the best, that we've ever seen in the state.''
Washburn Rural's girls golf team poses with the Class 6A second-place trophy after Tuesday's tournament in Emporia. [Submitted]
Rural senior Aliyah North, making her first state appearance, finished fifth individually with a 36-hole total of 160 (77-83) while senior Kaitlyn Crough finished 11th at 172 (84-88), junior Avery Scott tied for 12th at 173 (85-88) and senior McKenna Merrick tied for 19th at 180 (88-92).
Rural sophomore Raegan Petersen tied for 22nd (182) and junior Mallory Nelson tied for 39th (192).
Goehring said he knew his team was hurting after Tuesday's round.
"It means a lot to them and of course they want to play well and have a good showing for the program and for themselves,'' he said. "I'm just wishing Aliyah and McKenna and Kaitlyn could have finished at the top one last time together.''
Misemer shot a pair of 73s at state to capture her fourth straight 6A state individual championship by a four-stroke margin over Shawnee Mission East senior Tess Roman.
Although Rural came up short Tuesday, the second-place state finish capped a banner season for the Junior Blues, including a sweep of city, Centennial League and regional titles.
"We had a tremendous year,'' Goehring said. "There's been one team that beat us all season and they beat us twice. Hats off to them. Their girls stepped up today on the back nine and responded better than ours did.''
Topeka High sophomore Avery Zimmerman, competing as an individual, shot back-to-back 95s to tie for 33rd place.
CLASS 6A STATE GOLF
Team scores
Blue Valley West 678, Washburn Rural 685, Shawnee Mission East 706, Olathe East 721, Olathe Northwest 723, Olathe West 731.
Individual results
1. Misemer, Blue Valley West, 73-73--146; 2. Roman, Shawnee Mission East, 72-78 -- 150; 3. (tie) Lyons, Olathe West, 80-79 -- 159, and Neal Shawnee Mission South, 75-84 -- 150; 5. North, Washburn Rural, 77-83 -- 160; 6. Neese, Blue Valley, 82-82 -- 164; 7. (tie) Berquist, Free State, 88-79 -- 167, and Rodriguez, Blue Valley West, 87-80 -- 167; 9. Armstrong, Dodge City, 89-79 -- 168; 10. Warren, Garden City, 89-81 -- 170; 11. Crough, Washburn Rural, 84-88 -- 172; 12. (tie) C. Scott, Olathe East, 84-89 -- 173; A. Scott, Washburn Rural, 85-88 -- 173, and Sullivan, Olathe Northwest, 87-86 -- 173; 15. Hearshman, Olathe Northwest, 175; 16. Kim, Blue Valley West, 89-88 -- 177; 17. Chilukuri, Olathe East 90-88 -- 178; 18, Kidwell, Blue Valley North, 94-85 -- 179; 19. (tie) Blaketer, Shawnee Mission East, 90-90 -- 180; Merrick, Washburn Rural, 88-92 -- 180, and Olivia Still, Blue Valley North, 97-83 -- 180.
Other Washburn Rural -- 22. (tie) Petersen, 89-93 -- 182; 39. (tie) Nelson, 95-97 -- 192.
Topeka High -- 33. (tie) Zimmerman, 190.
Hayden's girls golf team poses with its third-place trophy after Tuesday's Class 4A state tournament at Salina. Senior Kate Roeder (center) posted a second-place individual finish. [Photo by Kyle Grunert/Special to TSN]
ROEDER, HAYDEN PLACE SECOND IN 4A
Hayden senior Kate Roeder ended her high school career with a second-place finish in the Class 4A state tournament Tuesday at Salina Municipal Golf Course, leading the way as the Wildcats earned the third-place team trophy.
Roeder had rounds of 84 and 82 to finsh at 166 and was the state runner-up behind Tonganoxie junior Hayden York, who shot a 75 Tuesday after an opening-round 87 to win the title by four strokes.
Hayden sophomore Hannah Reynoldson earned a state medal with a tie for 19th place after a final-round 93 following a 91 to finish at 184.
Sophomore Avery Grunert tied for 23rd at 189 (100-89), sophomore Kyleigh Johnson tied for 30th at 197 (100-97) and junior Ava Teply finished 42nd at 206 (105-101).
Wamego won the team championship by a single stroke over Winfield (717-718) while Hayden finished at 736, 34 strokes in front of fourth-place Tonganoxie.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
It isn't much of a chore to handle winning, but what has made veteran Shawnee Heights football coach Jason Swift so proud is how his suddenly-hot T-Birds handled losing.
Coming off an injury-ravaged 1-8 campaign in 2020, Heights was looking for a turnaround this fall, only to start the current season with three heartbreaking losses by a total of 11 points, including a 1-point double-overtime loss to Bonner Springs and a 3-point loss to Lansing.
Having lost 10 straight games at that point, it would have been easy for the T-Birds to give up. Instead, they learned how to win.
Jason Swift's Shawnee Heights' football team has bounced back from an 0-3 start to put itself in a position to earn a home berth for the first round of the Class 5A playoffs. [File photo/TSN]
"What I'm the most proud about is the makeup of this team, specifically the seniors,'' said Swift, whose T-Birds will take a 3-4 record into Friday night's Homecoming game against Turner. "They had a tough year last year and we went into this year not knowing who we were. As coaches we believed in them and we were excited for the season and we kept telling them, 'We're going to have a good year,' but it didn't happen at the start.
"The first three games were really close losses. We were making mistakes and they were mistakes you make when you hope to win a game and not believe you'll win a game.''
Shawnee Heights' shot at a successful season was hanging by a thread at that point, but the T-Birds have responded with their best football of the year, including back-to-back wins over highly-respected De Soto (21-20) and Blue Valley Southwest (23-7).
"We as coaches were looking at each other and were like, "These kids can do it, we just can't lose these kids,' '' Swift said. "While the assistant coaches have just been outstanding in letting the kids know that we believe in them, you've just got to believe in yourself and it really came down to 16, 17 and 18-year-old kids making up their minds to do it.
"The way they practiced every day after a loss was exceptional. They practiced harder than most teams I've been a part of, and the grit of this team is incredible. The kids never wavered. Never once did we have to re-sell them, 'Hey, we can be a good team.' It's all been them. They never got on each other but they just continuously pushed each other and practices got more and more competitive. We made plays and we made stops and got it done against De Soto and then the week going into Southwest was our best week of practice. When we got on the bus to go to Southwest we knew we were going to be good.''
With a win Friday over the 1-6 Bears Shawnee Heights can not only post a .500 regular-season record, but depending on what happens in other Class 5A contests, the T-Birds have a good shot to earn a homefield advantage for their first game in the playoffs.
