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THE PENNANT PLAYER PROFILE
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Christian Clark considered himself primarily a running back throughout his career at Shawnee Heights and his one year at William Penn.
But the 6-foot-1, 190-pound sophomore cornerback had the foresight to switch to the other side of the football at Washburn University, a move that's paid off for Clark and the Ichabods.
"Originally coming out of high school I did want to play running back and that was my main focus, but I guess maturing and being at William Penn I realized I really was a DB at heart,'' Clark said. "I've always been like naturally better at defense, so I just thought maybe I'd go somewhere else and play defense and I thought Washburn was a great fit, being close to home.''
Former Shawnee Heights standout Christian Clark, a sophomore cornerback for Washburn, comes up with a diving interception in the Ichabods' 29-10 win over Central Missouri. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
After seeing action in six games for Washburn in 2019 as a redshirt freshman and continuing to work at cornerback during the canceled 2020 campaign, Clark cracked the Ichabods' starting lineup this fall.
"This is my third year here now and it worked out pretty well for me because I redshirted at William Penn and got a grayshirt here, so I'm a sophomore on the field and I've got a lot of time left,'' Clark said. "It's worked out great because I've been able to learn the system and just get really comfortable here. I like it.
"I think especially physically it's better on my body and I like the challenge of cornerback, just being out there on your own a lot of times.''
Clark turned in a highlight-reel play in Washburn's 29-10 MIAA win over Central Missouri in the second game of the season, coming up with a diving interception to stop a Mules' scoring threat, the first interception of his college career.
"So far it's definitely the highlight of my career,'' he said. "It was a fun game, a really, really fun game. It made it better being the first home game of the season. Everyone comes out for that first game and being able to make that play was great.''
Clark has been in on seven tackles thus far for the 2-1 Ichabods, with two pass breakups to go with the interception.
He suffered a slight shoulder injury in last Saturday's 28-24 loss at Nebraska-Kearney and could miss Saturday's home game against Missouri Western (1 p.m. kickoff at Yager Stadium), but is confident he'll be back in action soon to continue making more and more progress in his role with the Ichabods.
"In high school you kind of play a little bit more off natural ability, and then playing on this level in a competitive league, you've got to really pay attention to technique and stuff,'' Clark said. "That was a big switch, just focusing on my technique and my core drill work, paying attention to where my eyes are and things like that.
"This is my first year really getting those key reps and I think over time I'm just going to get more comfortable out there. I'm still pretty raw in terms of playing corner, so I think as long as I just keep focusing and learning the game more, I think this is just the tip of what I can do.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Veteran Washburn University volleyball coach Chris Herron knows that being the No. 1 ranked team in NCAA Division II doesn't mean that anybody in the MIAA or across the D-II ranks are going to cut the Ichabods any slack.
But Herron, whose team took the court Tuesday night as a No. 1 for the first time in program history, also knows that being top-ranked is a nice reward for the school and Washburn players past and present who got the Ichabods to this point.
"It's cool for the program,'' Herron said after the Ichabods made their debut as a No. 1 with a 25-18, 25-15, 25-15 home MIAA win over Emporia State. "It's cool for our kids and all these kids that have come before, the (Dani) McHenrys and the Corrinne Stringers and Alyssa Carneys and all these kids that are from Topeka, Sarah Vicory and those kind of folks.
"Those folks helped build this program, so it's cool for them, too, and I hope that all of them are sharing in that. It only took us 20 years to get it.''
Washburn senior Allison Maxwell registers one of her 13 kills in Tuesday's 3-0 win over Emporia State. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Herron said the key now is for the Ichabods to continue doing the things that got them to No. 1.
"It's pretty cool, but what you have to do is just eliminate the noise, basically,'' Herron said. "You've got to manage all those expectations that now come with that.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural and Seaman look to be top contenders for the team title in Thursday's city girls tennis tournament, and both the Junior Blues and Vikings tuned up for that meet with solid performances in Tuesday's Washburn Rural Invitational at Kossover Tennis Center.
No. 2 doubles champions Hailey Beck and Shelby Schmutzler led the way as Rural tied three-time defending Centennial League champion Manhattan for the team championship in Tuesday's eight-school tournament while No. 1 doubles champs Grace Unruh and Lauren Sweeney paced Seaman, the defending city champion, to a third-place team finish.
Seaman No. 1 doubles partners Lauren Sweeney (left) and Grace Unruh exchange a high five after winning a point in Tuesday's championship match in the Washburn Rural Invitational. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Unruh and Sweeney remained undefeated on the season with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Washburn Rural's Meredith Kucera and Kate Fritz in the No. 1 doubles final while Beck and Schmutzler remained unbeaten in No. 2 doubles with a 6-3, 6-0 win over Maize.
Washburn Rural also got second-place finishes in No. 1 singles from Sheriden Wichman and in No. 2 singles from Mena DiMarzio en route to sharing the title with Manhattan, which got championships from Jill Harkin in No. 1 singles and Maura Wiens in No. 2 singles.
"It was a great day and a great tournament,'' veteran Washburn Rural coach Kevin Hedberg said. "It's good to play full two out of three sets today because that's what we'll play at regionals and you have to get ready for that.''
Seaman's Unruh and Sweeney swept city, Centennial League and Class 5A regional doubles titles in 2020 before finishing fourth at state and Viking coach Jamie Robinson said the pair has put in the time to put themselves in a contending position again this fall.
"They practice before practice and after practice and it pays off,'' Robinson said.
The Vikings also got a third-place finish from Nina Del-Zio in No. 1 singles and from Katie Krumins in No. 2 singles.
Thursday's city tournament will also be played at Kossover, beginning at 3 p.m.
WASHBURN RURAL TENNIS INVITATIONAL
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Even though Seaman junior standout Lois Deeter opted not to play the 2020 high school golf season, she was still playing the sport she loves, probably as much, if not more, than ever.
Now Deeter is back with her Viking teammates this fall, and appreciating every minute of it.
"I love my team,'' Deeter said Monday after winning her first city title by five strokes with an even-par 70. "They're so supportive and fun on and off the course.''
After a season away from high school golf, Seaman junior Lois Deeter is off to a great start this fall, including a city title on Monday. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Deeter used her time away from high school golf to put in intense work on her game, traveling to Texas to compete in a series of big tournaments and finishing as high as third.
"There's some pros and cons to it,'' Deeter said. "I grew a lot from going and traveling and playing with some really good girls, but I did miss the team, going out and supporting each other.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The tournaments get bigger from here on out, but Washburn Rural's girls golf team started its stretch run in impressive fashion Monday at Western Hills Golf Course.
The Junior Blues ran their winning streak in the city tournament to nine straight, placing five players in the top six spots en route to a 41-stroke victory over Seaman.
"It's always one that we highlight on the schedule,'' Washburn Rural coach Jared Goehring said. "The girls have pride in playing well in the city and when you are expected to come out and play well it adds a little bit of pressure, but I thought the girls responded very well today to that.''
Washburn Rural's golf team poses for a team picture after winning its ninth straight city championship Monday at Western Hills. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Seaman junior Lois Deeter shot an even-par 70 to take the city individual title by five strokes, but Washburn Rural swept the next five placers to run away with the team championship.
. @RuralGolf wins ninth straight city title by 41 strokes, @SeamanSchools junior @lois_deeter shoots an even-par 70 to win individual title by five strokes. ... bit.ly/3AGrbWZ
Washburn Rural junior Kaitlyn Crough finished second in Monday's city tournament with a 75, helping Rural win its ninth straight city title. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Rural senior Kaitlyn Crough finished second with a 75, while senior Aliyah North was third with a 76, juniors Avery Scott and Mallory Nelson tied for fourth with 80s and junior Annika Peterson placed sixth with an 86.
"Sure, we could have putted better, we could have done a little bit better with our short games, but we'll get that cleaned up for next week,'' Goehring said. "It was a good day for the program.
"We just want to keep building for the end of the season run. This marks the halfway point today. This was event No. 5 for us and we'll go right into the Centennial League next week and we want to keep building and playing our best golf in October and I think we're headed in the right direction.''
Deeter captured her first city title Monday after finishing second as a freshman and opting out of the 2020 season and said she was very happy with her round.
"I'll take that any day,'' Deeter said. "Shooting even is awesome. My short game was really good today. My drives were a little right and left, going back and forth, but I had good up and down shots getting on the green.''
Monday's city tournament was held in conjunction with the Topeka West Invitational and both Deeter and Washburn Rural also claimed titles in that event.
Deeter won that title by the same five-stroke margin that she had in the city event, while Rural won the team championship by a 31-stroke margin over Blue Valley West.
CITY GIRLS GOLF TOURNAMENT
