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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
An All-American at Washburn Rural who went on to turn in an outstanding career at Baker University on the field and in the classroom, Austin Halsey garnered the No. 1 spot in on the TopSports.News Shawnee County Best of the Best Top 25 for men's soccer.
Halsey finished his high school career as the most prolific goal scorer in Washburn Rural history, including 30 goals as a senior when he led the Junior Blues to a runner-up finish in the 2014 Class 6A state tournament.
Halsey, who finished with 57 career goals from '11-14, was the Gatorade Kansas Soccer Player of the Year as a senior and was selected to play in the High School All-American game.
Austin Halsey [BakerWildcats.com]
Halsey went on to play 83 career games for Baker, including the NAIA National Tournament, and was named the 2018 Champions of Character Award after earning multiple Academic All-America awards.
Former Hayden state champ Connor Beck, who scored 32 goals in his senior season and four in the 2012 state championship game, sits No. 2 on the Best of the Best list while young phenom Nati Clarke, one of the nation's top prospects, earned the third spot and Rural's Joah Hickel and Ross Boyd round out the top five.
Ross Boyd [FHSU Athletics]
Boyd ran away with the Readers Choice Award by more than 100 votes while Clark finished second and 2021 Washburn Rural graduate Ethan Hensyel third.
Here's a look at the Top 25 and Readers Choice Awards:
TSN TOP 25 BEST OF THE BEST MEN'S SOCCER PLAYERS
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By KEVIN HASKIN
TopSports.news
Kevin Haskin
Musings at the mid-month:
-- Since I punched the keyboard a month ago, some developments have surfaced on the college front.
-- Conference realignment is rarely a refreshing topic in these parts, and this latest round has been no different.
-- Kansas fans tend to express confidence while Kansas State fans tend to admit uneasiness as the two sides have a hot topic to quibble about on social media.
-- Thanks, Texas and Oklahoma for dousing Twitter with all things flammable after peddling your Red River spoils as a package deal to the SEC.
-- The latest realignment possibility, a vengeful three-way that could enable the Big Ten, ACC and Pac-12 to get even with the SEC, is potentially bothersome.
-- Will opportunities arise for Big 12 members to go power-fouring to another conference if a scheduling arrangement pans out for the three leagues saying up yours to the SEC?
-- Will the Big 12 find the right additives to remain legit, and can it collect rights fees from movers still considered shakers by more powerful conferences?
-- Will KU’s basketball heritage provide the boost it needs to land in a prime league, despite woeful football?
-- Will a solid football pedigree in the Big 12 matter for K-State as it battles perceived shortcomings?
-- Tout whatever you can, but it won’t be the value of our in-state series, which has been lopsided for a quarter-century or more.
-- K-State has bogarted the sunflowers in football, and KU has done the same in hoops.
-- I once enjoyed watching them clash, but the rivalry is best contested now on digital platforms.
-- If the programs split into separate leagues, well, so be it.
-- As for non-revenue sports, KU and K-State would still play out of convenience.
-- But conference realignment is never about convenience.
-- It’s not even about competitive gains (checking in on you, Nebraska).
-- Just money … driven by greed.
-- Applaud MLB for moving heaven and corn and getting life to imitate art in rural Iowa.
-- Easy to enjoy the entire made-for-TV moment. For a few magical hours, we could even tolerate Joe Buck.
-- Moving forward, staging MLB games in some minor league communities it abandoned would be a nice gesture if those places would have it.
-- Where would be the best place in Kansas to stage a Field of Dreams game?
-- Easy for me. I’d pick Blue Rapids, site of an October 1913 exhibition matchup between the New York Giants and Chicago White Sox.
-- Sadly, I doubt there’s enough corn, wheat, sorghum or sunflowers to replicate the mystical proportions generated by the theatrical splash in Iowa.
-- MLB halted its slump in popularity with a majestic home run.
-- One highlight from the Chiefs’ first exhibition game stood out: Chris Jones coaxed into performing his favorite yoga move.
-- That’s one more highlight than I usually take from a preseason game.
-- Good to see Byron Pringle snag a TD reception, too, while wondering if the Chiefs could be better off rotating wideouts not named Tyreek Hill.
-- The Chiefs offensive line, however, better keep Mahomes from shifting into reverse.
-- Stories shared about Willie Nicklin can be told for days.
-- Stories Willie shared with you last forever.
-- I know. Once after the Topeka High legend coached the Trojans to a Topeka Invitational crown, a couple of us saw daybreak leaving Willie’s home.
-- Oh, and we made trips to the horse track, where few studied a form quite like Willie, and trips to the casino, where few played third base at the blackjack table with such precision.
-- Also enjoyed many a night when I spotted Willie out with his incredible partner, Leslie Miller.
-- Everyone knew the man – boosters and rivals, coaches and players, business owners and mayors. Even those who didn’t know him struck up conversations as if they did.
-- To get to know Willie in a different capacity, as a young sportswriter, provided sensational insight, as much about life as basketball.
-- Those he befriended and impacted spoke Saturday at a celebration for Willie staged on his namesake court.
-- “It’s not a dungeon,” Willie would insist when speaking of the fabled Troy gym. “You ever go up steps to sit in a dungeon?”
-- Many memories ran through my mind as I sat behind the bench where Willie orchestrated his teams.
-- And, above the locker room where he offered his colorful commentary, but only after he assessed points per possession, long before the stat became conventional.
-- Ed Whitlock remembered crying while sitting in the stands and watching the TIT after Willie suspended him one season.
-- Before Willie reinstated High’s 1973 state championship standout, Whitlock remembered his coach asking three questions.
-- “Will you be a better teammate?” “Will you be a better student?” “Will you be a better son?”
-- For Whitlock, those words shaped his life … and could have for any of us.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Narrowing down candidates for the TopSports.news Shawnee County Best of the Best women's soccer list was a tough chore.
Picking the Top 25 was even tougher, but in the end former Shawnee Heights and Washburn University star Jessica Mainz got the nod as No. 1 at the top of a a talent-heavy group of athletes.
Mainz scored 97 goals and dished out 44 assists for Shawnee Heights, helping lead the T-Birds to a state team championship in 2004 and a runner-up finish in '05, before going on to become an All-American and a two-time MIAA player of the year while setting 14 career records and 15 single-season records.
Jessica Mainz [Washburn Athletics]
Also a basketball standout for WU, Mainz was the first Washburn soccer player to be inducted into the school's Hall of Fame.
Another former T-Bird, Leea Murphy, sits No. 2 on the Top 25 after starring for Heights and helping North Carolina win the '03 NCAA national championship, while perennial city, Centennial League and Class 6A state power Washburn Rural earned the next five positions and earned 11 spots overall, led by No. 3 Kaira Houser, No. 4 Darby Hirsch and No. 5 Kelly Lemke.
More than 4,200 votes were cast in Readers Choice Awards balloting, with two athletes receiving more than 1,400 votes and five receiving more than 100 votes.
Kelly Lemke [Twitter]
Lemke ended up No. 1 in the Readers Choice voting with nearly 1,900 votes while Washburn Rural alum Kate Schroeder was No. 2 and former Seaman standout Chelsea Hopkins third.
Here's a look at the Top 25 and Readers Choice Awards:
TSN TOP 25 BEST OF THE BEST WOMEN'S SOCCER PLAYERS
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
It was something Brittany Force had long thought about, but she thought the possbility of sharing the winner's circle with her father, John, might have been an impossible dream.
Sunday at Heartland Motorsports Park the impossible came true, with John winning the Funny Car championship and Brittany the Top Fuel crown in the Menards NHRA Nationals presented by PetArmor.
Brittany and John Force celebrate their wins in Sunday's Menards NHRA Nationals at Heartland Motorsports Park. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
John Force out-ran No. 1 qualifier J.R. Todd to notch the 154th national event win of his legendary career with his 10th Topeka victory while No. 1 qualifier Brittany knocked off Clay Millican to post her first win of the season and her first at HMP.
It was the first time in Camping World Drag Racing Series history that a father and child duo shared the winner's circle.
“This will be one I'll never forget.'' said Brittany Force, who moved to second in Top Fuel points. "This has been on my bucket list for as long as I can remember. I remember there have been so many close calls where we thought, 'Hey, this could be our day that we're gonna double up.' To win a race is hard enough and then to do it with your teammates, it’s almost impossible. So it's like you almost put it on the backburner.
“To double up with your dad on the same day, where you both run well all weekend long, and then you double up, it just seems impossible. So today, we pulled off the impossible, and it's pretty cool that we'll always share this. This will be a special racetrack for us and it's pretty cool to have that with him.”
John Force, who took over the Funny Car points lead for the first time since 2014, agreed.
“I had a good day,” Force said. “Robert (Hight) was probably my toughest race because it’s hard to beat Robert. I just had a car that was pretty fast, wasn’t the quickest, but I got the win. What was special was to do it with Brittany. With Courtney and Ashley (his daughters), I never got the chance because they were always Funny Car, and usually beat me, but with Brittany I finally got that double up. It means a lot. We’re a family of racers.''
Rookie Dallas Glenn won in Pro Stock, using a perfect .000 reaction time in the final round to top Kyle Koretsky.
It was only the sixth perfect reaction time in a final round in Pro Stock as Glenn earned his second victory.
“It's hard to put this win into words,” Glenn said. "But it's just like this is like a dream come true. This season, it's taught me a lot. I've had a lot of highs and I've had some lows where I've been struggling and we've gotten a little taste of everything this year.
“I felt like I did my job really well and the car is just working really good right now. I'm really excited for the Countdown (to the Championship) coming up here and Indy next because we’ve got a really fast car for it.”
Dallas Glenn hoists his Pro Stock championship trophy after winning the Menards NHRA Nationals Sunday at Heartland Motorsports Park. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
MENARDS NHRA NATIONALS
FINISHING ORDER
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
EDITOR'S NOTE: Drag racing legend John Force sat down with TopSports.news for an extended interview Saturday before going on to win the Funny Car title Sunday in the Menards NHRA Summer Nationals at Heartland Motorsports Park. Force notched the 154th national event win of his career en route to taking over the Funny Car points lead.
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Even though he knows it was the right decision, drag racing's GOAT, John Force, said that sitting out all but two races of the 2020 NHRA season due to COVID-19 was one of the toughest things he's ever done.
But the 16-time Funny Car world champion and 21-time championship owner, is back in his happy place, racing and winning in the Camping World Drag Racing Series.
"I had to park it for a number of reasons and it hurt me more or as much as anybody not being able to race, because that's what makes me go,'' Force told TopSports.news. "I'm so happy just to come in to Topeka and people go, "Wow, your personality changes.' ''
At 72 years old, 16-time world champion Funny Car driver John Force is still one of racing's best. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Force's return to Topeka for the first time since 2019 was delayed by inclement weather that forced him to spend a nearly-sleepless Thursday night in Tulsa, Okla., but compared to what the world has gone through while fighting through the COVID-19 pandemic, Force said that was just a minor inconvenience.
"I spent the night in Tulsa, we all got stuck there, but that's where my mom was born so I got to see a little bit of the town,'' said Force, who arrived at HMP Friday in plenty of time for the first round of qualifying. "As tired as I was Friday night, two hours sleep, when I got in that car I was young again. I came alive.''
The 72-year-old Force admits that part of his life was missing when he was out of racing a year ago.
"I do it because I love it and it was gut-wrenching,'' Force said. "There were nights I stayed up and I sat in front of the TV and I cried. I just sat there and said, "They're out there and doing it. How can they do it and I can't?' Now they only ran 10 races, but if I would have kept all my people on I would have went under.
"At the end of the day it was hard on me and I don't want to get in to being corny, but I had to sit down and have mental talks. I had to go to the church. I had to go sit down and say, 'This ain't working here, somebody talk to me.' It's just a matter of you've got to find yourself in any kind of a crisis and that's what I had to do.''
Normally Force is wrapped up in racing 24/7, but took advantage of the time off to spend more time with his family, including his four grandchildren.
