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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Seaman's doubles stars Grace Unruh and Lauren Sweeney have been tested on multiple occasions this fall, but the Viking duo continues to pass every test.
Unruh, a senior, and Sweeney, a junior, remained unbeaten on the season in Tuesday's Topeka West Invitational, posting a perfect 3-0 record to win the No. 1 doubles title at Kossover Tennis Center.
After surviving a couple of tough tests from Class 6A opposition in last Saturday's Emporia tournament, Unruh and Sweeney lost just two games on the day in Tuesday's tournament, including a 6-0, 6-0 win over Salina Central in the championship match.
"They don't panic, they don't press and they wait and they play their game and execute their game plan,'' Seaman coach Jamie Robinson said of Unruh and Sweeney, who improved to 24-0 on the season. "They don't play safe, but just do what they need to do.''
Seaman's Lauren Sweeney (left) and Grace Unruh remained unbeaten on the season Tuesday, winning the No. 1 doubles title in the Topeka West Invitational. [File photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Unruh and Sweeney were part of a big day by city players in the 12-school Topeka West tournament, including a team championship by city champ Washburn Rural.
Washburn Rural senior Sheriden Wichman won the No. 1 singles championship while the Junior Blues also got a win from the No. 2 doubles team of Hailey Beck and Shelby Schmutzler as well as a second-place finish from Mena DiMarzio in No. 2 singles and from Meredith Kucera and Kate Fritz in No. 1 doubles en route to the team title by a 51-50 margin over Salina Central.
Washburn Rural senior Sheriden Wichman won the No. 1 singles championship in Tuesday's Topeka West Invitational, helping the Junior Blues win the team title. [File photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Wichman took the No. 1 singles crown with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Salina Central's Janae Montoya while Beck and Schmutzler survived a tight match with Salina Central in the No. 2 doubles final to take a 7-6 (8-6 tiebreaker), 6-4 victory.
In addition to the win by Unruh and Sweeney, third-place Seaman got third-place finishes in No. 1 singles from Nina Del-Zio and in No. 2 singles from Katie Krumins.
TOPEKA WEST INVITATIONAL TENNIS
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Winning a Centennial League volleyball championship is never one of Washburn Rural's biggest goals, with Kevin Bordewick's Junior Blues using the regular season to put themselves in position to make a run at the big championship -- the Class 6A title.
But winning league is a step in that direction and the Junior Blues, ranked No. 11 nationally, took that step Tuesday night at Seaman, wrapping up a perfect 8-0 league record with a 25-8, 27-25 win over Seaman and a 25-8, 25-12 win over Topeka High.
"(League's) never been one of our bigger priorities, to be honest, in all our years here,'' said Bordewick, whose Junior Blues have won seven state titles. "We're more concerned about getting better every day and we emphasize that and we talk about that ad nauseum. That's all we talk about, but if everything else goes like that then the league should care of it itself and sub-state should take care of itself.
"But we'd rather win it than lose it, definitely.''
And Washburn Rural did lose the league title in 2020, with Seaman rallying late to knock off the Junior Blues in the league finale at Topeka High to claim the championship.
Bordewick said he didn't talk much about that last year's loss to the Vikings, but he didn't need to.
"I think I said one thing yesterday in practice: 'Remember what happened at T-High last year,' and they go, 'Yep, yep, yep,' '' Bordewick said. "The difference between this team this year and last year is that we learned and remembered that and what that felt like and we didn't want to let it happen again.''
Washburn Rural volleyball players congratulate each other after wrapping up a 2-0 night and the Centennial League title Tuesday at Seaman. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Shawnee Heights' girls golf team put all six T-Birds in the top 10 individually en route to a 21-stroke victory in Monday's United Kansas Conference tournament at Painted Hills Golf Course in Kansas City, Kan.
Shawnee Heights' girls golf team poses for a picture with its United Kansas Conference championship trophy Monday at Painted Hills. [Twitter]
Senior Olivia Morgan led the T-Birds with an 18-hole score of 98, tying Leavenworth's Chloe Herring for the UKC individual championship and finishing as the runner-up in a scorecard playoff.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Seaman entered this past summer needing a girls tennis coach and Jamie Robinson seemed like a good fit.
But it was the Viking players who were the deciding factor in Robinson taking the job.
"I tell you what, they were practicing by themselves before I took the position, organizing and practicing among themselves, and I was so impressed with that,'' Robinson said.
"That was one of the impetuses for me to take the position because they were so disciplined and coordinated as a team. I was so impressed with them and I thought, "How can you not want to coach these girls? They have such a good attitude.' ''
Seaman tennis coach Jamie Robinson (right) visits with Viking athletic director Steve Bushnell during last week's city girls tennis tournament. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
The 63-year-old Robinson, who retired from his career in medical sales at the end of 2020, took on the Seaman's boys coaching job in the spring at the urging of former Viking coach Greg Lutz before adding the girls position this fall.
"I love it,'' he said. "I'm tapping into something that I never knew about myself. It's so rewarding to see the players coming off and smiling and you're the first person they look at. Or they'll look over to see if I'm over there watching. They know, and that's cool.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The Centennial League girls golf championship trophy is back in a familiar home.
After winning 10 straight league titles from 2010-19, Washburn Rural finished second to Manhattan in the 2020 league meet.
But the Junior Blues started a new streak on Monday at Western Hills Golf Course in decisive fashion, with all six Rural players placing between second and a tie for seventh en route to a 43-stroke victory over runner-up Emporia.
Senior Kaitlyn Crough took second place individually with a 75 while junior Avery Scott was third with a 76, senior Aliyah North tied for fourth with a 77 and juniors Annika Peterson and Mallory Nelson and senior McKenna Merrick all tied for seventh with 84s.
"It was definitely a goal of ours since the season ended last year to make sure that we took the league trophy back to Washburn Rural and accomplish a team goal that I know these seniors wanted very badly,'' Rural coach Jared Goehring said.
Washburn Rural's girls golf team poses for a picture with the Centennial League trophy after winning Monday's league meet by 43 strokes. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
