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Created: 29 July 2021

 By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Topeka High product Shara Stafford experienced incredible success at every level of an outstanding swimming career, earning the No. 1 spot on the TopSports.news Best of the Best Top 25 women's swimming list.

Stafford was a multi-event Class 6A champion and record-setter for Topeka High before claiming a national NCAA Division I championship in the 200-yard freestyle in 2010 while helping Florida claim a team championship.

 Shara Stafford [Submitted]

Shannon Suddarth [File photo]

A 13-time All-American for the Gators, Stafford went on to star at Missouri in her final season, earning Big 12 Newcomer of the Year honors while earning three more All-America honors and setting five school records for the Tigers.

Former Hayden star Shannon Suddarth earned the No. 2 spot on the Best of the Best list after winning four state titles for the Wildcats, becoming a nine-time All-American at Notre Dame and setting two Big East records that stood for 11 years, while Topeka West record-setter and Virginia All-American Emily Dicus and West star and NCAA Division II individual and team champion Kelli Dudley hold down the No. 3 and 4 positions in the Top 25.

Current Topeka West phenom Kadence Jeffries garnered the No. 5 position on the Best of the Best list on the strength of winning four Class 5A-1A individual state titles in as many attempts while still having a season of high school eligibility remaining.

Kadence Jeffries [File photo/TSN]

Jeffries, who swept the 200 and 500 freestyle events as a freshman and junior, also earned the Readers Choice Award while another current prep swimmer, Seaman's Gabby Grace, and former Washburn Rural and Kansas standout Sammie Schurig finished second and third in reader votes.

Here's a look at the Top 25 and Readers Choice Awards:

TSN TOP 25 BEST OF THE BEST WOMEN'S SWIMMERS

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Created: 29 July 2021

 By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

From top to bottom, the TopSports.news Best of the Best Shawnee County Top 25 list for women's softball may be the most balanced of any sport in the series.

The list includes national champions at multiple-levels and is chock full of former All-Americans and members of various halls of fame.

The softball is also an extremely diverse list, including players who played in the 1950s as well as players whose careers are still very much on the upswing.

Lisa Carey

In the end, former Washburn Rural star Lisa Carey, who went on to lead Oklahoma to an NCAA championship, got the nod as the No. 1 while rising stars Lauren Mills and NiJaree Canady garnered the next two spots.

 Lauren Mills

NiJaree Canady

Mills, who helped lead Seaman to a Class 5A state championship as a high school player, is currently a standout for a Wichita State team that advanced to the NCAA Tournament this past season while Canady helped lead Topeka High a perfect 25-0 season and the school's first-ever 6A state softball title.

Taylor Zordel

Former Washburn Rural multi-sport star and Emporia State All-American Taylor Zordel won the Readers Choice Award, with the current Washburn University assistant coach receiving more than 1,000 votes.

Topeka High product Jaryn Benning ranked No. 2 in reader votes while Mills was third, former Topeka High standout Ellena Cott-Laurie fourth and current Washburn standout Jaycee Ginter fifth. 

Here's a look at the Top 25 and Readers Choice Awards:

TSN TOP 25 BEST OF THE BEST WOMEN'S SOFTBALL PLAYERS

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Created: 29 July 2021

 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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Created: 15 July 2021

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.