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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
If things had gone like planned, Topeka West junior Lenny Njoroge would have entered Saturday's Joe Schrag Invitational cross country meet as the defending champion.
Instead, Njoroge, a Charger standout in cross country, soccer and track and field, was on the sidelines watching, still recovering from a broken leg suffered early in May in a club soccer game.
"It's pretty tough to watch,'' he said. "I miss it.''
But Njoroge, a Class 5A state medalist as both a freshman and sophomore, is doing everything he can to make the best of a situation he didn't expect to be in.
Lenny Njoroge
During Saturday's meet at the Kanza Park Course, Njoroge rooted on his Topeka West teammates while also making the rounds to visit with fellow competitors, all while wearing a constant smile on his face.
Njoroge's injury came about 12 hours after he won the city title in the 3,200-meter run in track.
"And then everything just collapses,'' Njoroge said. "Honestly, it was pretty hard, but I just tried to stay positive. I've got coaches around me helping me and keeping me positive.''
Topeka West junior Lenny Njoroge was the city champion in the 3,200 meters last spring before suffering a broken leg the next day. [File photo/TSN]
Njoroge is likely to miss the entire 2021 cross country season, but expects to be back in action next spring.
"I'm on schedule and I'm actually jogging right now,'' said Njoroge, who placed 12th in 5A cross country as a freshman and 11th last fall. "I'm starting some slow training and getting back into it step by step.
"The coaches and the doctors told me to take it easy this fall and then next track season I'll get back into it. They tell me I'll be back to being good and where I was, so by next year I'll be good.''
And Njoroge has every intention of continuing to participate in both cross country/track and soccer.
"I've still got love for both sports so I'll keep playing both,'' he said. "They're both my favorite sport.
"It was a pretty devastating time, but you've got to stay positive.''
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TopSports.news
Returning to the Wamego Country Club course Saturday where he won the Class 4A cross country title in 2020, Hayden star Tanner Newkirk was just as impressive.
In fact, the Wildcat senior was even better than he was in his state-winning run.
Newkirk clocked a winning 5-kilometer time of 15 minutes, 47.50 seconds on Saturday to top a field of 114 competitors in the Wamego Invitational while paring nearly six seconds off the 15:53.32 time that he recorded in the 4A state meet last fall.
Tanner Newkirk
Newkirk won Saturday by 14 seconds over Buhler senior star Tanner Lindahl.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Veteran Seaman girls cross country coach Rick Brading didn't enter the 2021 season with a pack mentality in mind for his team, but it seems to be working that way, and paying early dividends for the Vikings.
Junior Bethany Druse, a returning Class 5A state placer, led the pack with a second-place individual finish on Saturday at the Kanza Park course and her teammates followed close behind, with Seaman putting all its top five in the first 12 places en route to winning the team championship in Topeka West's Joe Schrag Invitational by a 30-41 margin over Blue Valley.
Junior Bethany Druse finished second to help Seaman win the girls team title in Saturday's Joe Schrag Invitational. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Druse clocked a five-kilometer time of 19 minutes, 45.51 seconds to finish as the runnerup to Blue Valley senior Tori Wingrove (18:33.32) while Seaman freshman Anna Becker finished fourth (20:23.48), senior Emma Schultz sixth (20:40.20), freshman Joslynn Grace seventh (20:42.11) and freshman Stella Appelhanz 12th (21:22.19).
"We're not trying to be a pack, it just happens that way,'' Brading said. "We just have some talented kids.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
If Topeka West goes on to have a breakout 2021 football season, the Chargers will no doubt remember Friday night's 36-32 Centennial League road win at Emporia as the impetus.
After trailing 7-6 at the end of the first quarter, Topeka West rallied to take a 14-10 halftime lead and a 28-16 advantage through three quarters before surviving Emporia's late-game rally to even its record at 1-1.
Tyrell Reed
Malachi Berg
Juniors Malachi Berg and Tyrell Reed both had big games for the Chargers, who bounced back from a 45-6 season-opening loss to Washburn Rural.
Berg accumulated more than 350 yards of total offense, throwing for one touchdown and running for a second TD, while Reed topped the 100-yard rushing mark and ran for three TDs, including a 55-yard run that proved to be the difference in the game.
The Chargers survived a huge passing game from Emporia quarterback Cam Geitz, who threw for all four of the 0-2 Spartans' touchdowns.
ROSSVILLE 56, ROCK CREEK 14 -- The defending Class 2A state champs rolled to their second win of '21, jumping out to 31-7 halftime cushion and putting the 0-2 Mustangs away with a 25-point third quarter.
Bulldawg senior quarterback Torrey Horak ran for a 16-yard touchdown and threw for a 49-yard TD to junior Kade Perine and a 30-yard TD to senior Corey Catron.
Torrey Horak
Corey Catron
Catron also scored on a 2-yard run while senior Kaden Brown had a 44-yard pick six for the Bulldawgs and scored on a 6-yard run.
The Bulldawgs also achieved a rare feat at the high school level, with junior Pedro Arantes kicking four field goals, connecting from 27, 27, 25 and 28 yards. Arantes also kicked four extra points to finish the night with 16 points.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Even though he fought back late in the season to advance to the Class 5A state meet for the second straight year, Kory Sutton was never himself in the 2020 cross country season.
But the Shawnee Heights junior standout is healthy this fall and the results are proof of that.
"I had an issue with the growth plate in my hip and it put me out for about a year before I was back to full strength and ready to run,'' Sutton said Saturday after taking the boys individual title in the Topeka West Joe Schrag Invitational at the Kanza Park Course, Sutton's second win in as many races on the year.
Shawnee Heights junior Kory Sutton posted his second straight individual win of the year in Saturday's Joe Schrag Invitational. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Sutton made progress in the spring track season and now feels like he's 100 percent.
"I never was 100 percent (in cross country) and I was just getting back into it right before track season,'' Sutton said. "But I feel great now.''
