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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Tylan Alejos
Tylan Alejos, Topeka High
A 5-foot-9, 195-pound senior running back and strong safety, Alejos was a standout on both sides of the ball for Topeka High in the 2020 season, earning All-City honors at running back while receiving All-Centennial League honorable mention.
Camden Barta
Camden Barta, Seaman
A senior quarterback/free safety, Barta played free safety for the 7-2 Vikings last season and backed up All-City Top 11 quarterback Reid Cowan. Barta is expected to move into the starting quarterback position for Seaman this fall.
Malachi Berg, Topeka West
Still just a junior, Berg is starting his third season as Topeka West's starting quarterback. The 6-3, 195-pound Berg received All-City honorable mention last season and will be looked on to provide leadership for the Chargers this fall.
Robby Bolin
Robby Bolin, Washburn Rural
A 6-2, 190-pound senior wide receiver/safety, Bolin was an All-City Top 11 selection last fall, catching 29 passes for 863 yards and eight touchdowns. Bolin received second-team All-Centennial League recognition on offense and honorable mention on defense and also received All-6A honorable mention.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
A layoff of 656 days will end Thursday night for Washburn University's football team, with the Ichadods traveling to Jefferson City, Mo. to face Lincoln in WU's 2021 MIAA season-opener (6 p.m. kickoff).
Washburn has been idle since ending the '19 season with a 57-41 win over Nebraska-Kearney.
Prior to the 2020 season being canceled due to the COVID pandemic, 1895 was the last time the Ichabod football team had a season in which no games counted toward its record.
And although the Ichabods have continued to practice off and on over the last year-plus, Washburn coach Craig Schurig said it's way past time to play a game.
"If you look at all the practices we've had, it was around 25 in the fall, 25 or so in the spring plus the 20-plus we've had now, so that's about 75 practices without a game,'' Schurig said. "That's a lot of practice, so even the coaches are like, 'Yeah, we're ready to play.'
"Usually coaches are like, 'We could use another week,' but we're ready.''
Schurig said he feels like his team is coming off a very productive fall camp.
"We feel like our practices went well,'' Schurig said. "We have a pretty veteran group, so it was pretty smooth. We just feel like we're prepared and hopefully we play well.''
James Letcher Jr. is top returner for Washburn's football team, earning honorable mention All-America honors in 2019 for the 6-5 Ichabods. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Hayden's soccer team had to wait a couple extra days to make its season debut, with Monday's scheduled opener postponed due to COVID-19 protocols at Ottawa.
But the Wilcats quickly made up for lost time, opening up a 3-0 lead on the way to a 3-1 win over Centennial League rival Topeka High Wednesday at Hayden.
"We were all ready to play Monday and just get that first game in,'' said Hayden junior standout Jake Muller, who had a two goals and an assist in the Wildcat victory. "We've been practicing for so long and it's exciting to play, so when that game was canceled it was tough, but we were ready for today.''
Topeka High senior Sergio Ramirez (left) advances the ball as Hayden's Tyler Broxterman defends in Wednesday's 3-1 Wildcat win over the Trojans at Hayden. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Muller got Hayden on the board at the 16:23 mark of the opening half off an assist by junior Chris Hayes, the lone goal of the first half.
The Wildcats then put the game away with two goals within 16 seconds of each other early in the second half.
Muller scored at the 34:39 mark off a pass from junior Nick Padilla and then Muller found Hayes for Hayden's final goal at the 34:23 mark.
"I thought we played really good,'' Muller said. "We still have stuff to work on, but I thought our effort was there.''
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THE PENNANT PLAYER PROFILE
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Things are about to get real for senior Faith Rottinghaus and her Washburn University volleyball teammates and the former Shawnee Heights multi-sport standout couldn't be more excited.
The powerhouse Ichabods, who open the 2021 season at home Thursday against Cameron University, had the entire '20 season wiped out by COVID-19 and Rottinghaus admitted that it's been a tough stretch for everybody in the program.
"It was extremely weird and it was really hard on us all, just kind of mentally taxing,'' said the two-time All-MIAA first-team libero/defensive specialist. "We were continuing to go into the gym and looking forward to getting to play but yet we didn't know if we were going to play or when we were going to play.
"It was a little bit mentally challenging from that aspect of it and to stay in good physical shape was kind of challenging. We really relied on each other and support from our teammates and coaches and motivation from each other.''
Former Shawnee Heights star Faith Rottinghaus, a two-time All-MIAA first-team pick, is stoked to play her final season for Washburn's volleyball team. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Just two games into the 2021 season, there's still some things that Washburn Rural soccer coach Brian Hensyel wants to see his team clean up moving forward.
But Hensyel also knows that if the Junior Blues keep finding the back of the net the way they have in back-to-back five-goal games, Rural is going to be hard to beat.
After opening the season with a 5-0 shutout over Kapaun Mt. Carmel last Friday, Washburn Rural followed that up with a 5-1 win over city rival Shawnee Heights Tuesday night at McElroy Field.
"The offense is clicking,'' Hensyel said. "We scored a bunch of goals the first half the other night and scored the second half tonight. Ten goals in two games obviously is pretty good.
"We have some offensive weapons but Shawnee Heights played hard and they made it really tough for us. We had to earn some goals and eventually kind of broke free, but we let them back in the game a little bit just by doing silly stuff. It's August, it's early in the season and we've got to clean some of those things up, simple things.''
Washburn Rural sophomore Benett Hallauer (left) tries to control the ball in Tuesday's soccer game vs. Shawnee Hieghts. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
