- Details
By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
Shawnee Heights' volleyball team ruled its home court Thursday night, posting a perfect 3-0 record in a non-league quadrangular.
Led by senior Kali Henry and junior Elise Curry, the T-Birds took a 23-25, 25-16, 25-22 three-set win over Manhattan before sweeping Seaman, 25-23, 25-23, and Silver Lake, 25-21, 25-16.
“I really liked what I saw tonight,'' Shawnee Heights coach Sami McHenry said. "This was the first real competition that we’ve had on our level so far this season, and I’m excited to see what’s in store for us.”
Shawnee Heights' volleyball team went undefeated in Thursday's non-league quadrangular at Heights. [Photo by Isaac Deer/TSN]
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The last time Washburn University played Central Missouri back in 2019, the Mules hung 55 points on the Ichabods in a 55-27 victory.
Washburn's defense turned the tables in a big way Thursday night, limiting Central Missouri to 187 total yards and one touchdown as the Ichabods improved to 2-0 with a 29-10 victory in their home opener in front of 6,354 fans at Yager Stadium.
The Ichabod 'D' set the tone in the first half, allowing Washburn to take a 16-10 lead to the locker room at halftime despite committing four first-half turnovers. WU then pitched a shutout in the second half as the Ichabods pulled away for the decisive 19-point victory.
"We definitely wanted to get back at these guys,'' junior safety Kevin Neal Jr. said. "We've been working super hard with the COVID year and everything, so we wanted to come out here and put our best foot forward and that's what we did tonight.''
Washburn cornerback Christian Clark, a Shawnee Heights product, comes up with a diving interception in the first half of the Ichabods' 29-10 MIAA win over Central Missouri. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Central Missouri, which fell to 0-2, was held to just 70 rushing yards on 28 attempts and 117 passing yards on a 15 of 33 performance.
"The defense just played lights out,'' Washburn coach Craig Schurig said. "We were just all over the place on offense. It was like, 'Man, we should be up.' We had good field position and just not putting in points, but the second half I thought our defense even played better than the first half and it felt like we were playing downhill and it would eventually break.''
Former Shawnee Heights standout Christian Clark stopped one Mules scoring threat with a diving interception and senior Marquise Manning stopped another threat with an interception and 41-yard return.
"We knew we had them,'' Manning said. "We out-played them physically and we knew coming in we had a really good team.''
Neal paced the Ichabods with six solo tackles while former Topeka High standout Jacob Anderson, a senior, added five stops, including two tackles for loss.
Despite its first-half turnover woes (three interceptions and an inadvertant touch on a punt), Washburn rolled up 485 yards of total offense while scoring the final 23 points of the game.
Senior quarterback Mitch Schurig threw for 249 yards and three TDs on a 19 of 34 night (two interceptions) while Washburn rushed for 236 yards on 43 attempts.
- Details
THE PENNANT PLAYER PROFILE
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
This past spring was one of the toughest times of Allison Sadler's life.
But after surviving that stretch, the senior setter for Washburn University's No. 4-ranked volleyball team is determined to make this fall one of her best.
When the 2020 fall season was wiped out by COVID-19 and pushed back to an unofficial/abbreviated season in the spring, Sadler was left trying to navigate her first semester of law school while also continuing to play volleyball.
After getting through a tough spring semester, Washburn senior setter Allison Sadler says she is enjoying herself more than ever. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
- Details
THE PENNANT PLAYER PROFILE
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
K.J. Turner grew up in Texas and even started his college football career there.
But the Mesquite, Texas native has found a second home in Kansas after being lured to the state to finish his career at Washburn.
"I played at Tyler Junior College and I transferred here in February of 2019 and it was a great decision,'' said Turner, a 5-foot-10, 190-pound defensive back. "I came here and met a lot of fun guys and a lot of them are my close friends now. That's really what's made the experience even better.''
Washburn senior K.J. Turner and the Ichabods will be looking to improve to 2-0 when WU hosts Central Missouri Thursday night. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Tuesday marked Aliyah North's one-year anniversary in high school golf and the Washburn Rural senior gave herself and the Junior Blues a gift to mark the occasion.
After playing primarily softball and volleyball growing up, North took up golf last fall as a junior and made her competitive debut as a member of the Junior Blues' split squad (second six) in the Washburn Rural Invitational last September at Wamego Country Club.
Aliyah North
And although her score of 105 wasn't anything to send ripples through the golfing community, North knew right away that she had made the right decision.
"I kind of just saw my brother and dad playing a lot and I figured I'd give it a shot,'' North said. "I wasn't planning on playing my junior year, but after getting a lesson from Josh (Nahm, a teaching pro), he convinced me it would be good to join the team my junior year and I'm so extremely glad that I did.
"I was pretty nervous (for the first meet) and it was really rainy and windy that day, so it was a rough one to start off on, but after the first couple of holes I kind of settled in. I loved it.''
