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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Nearly 29,000 reader votes have been received since TopSports.news kicked off its Best of the Best project in early July.
Now it's time to honor Shawnee County's all-time greats in a series of lists over the month of August.
More than 500 current and former county athletes received Best of the Best votes in 23 different sports/categories, including 44 men's bowlers, 36 baseball players, 34 women's bowlers and football players, 33 men's cross country runners, 31 women's soccer players and 30 men's tennis players.
Eight sports compiled more than 1,200 reader votes, while four sports topped the 2,000-vote mark, two topped 4,000 votes and women's bowling led the way with more than 9,300 votes.
Melvin Douglas
Dajia Anderson
Chris Barnes
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THE PENNANT PLAYER PROFILE
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Grant Bruner took a leap of faith in 2017 when he made the decision to play his college football at Washburn University.
Not only was Bruner, a former All-Stater at Gretna High School, leaving his home state of Nebraska but came to Washburn without a scholarship, joining WU as a walk-on.
It's a decision that has paid off for Bruner and the Ichabods.
"Coming out of high school I wasn't a big camp guy, I didn't go to a lot of camps and I didn't have a lot of exposure,'' said Bruner, a 6-foot, 220-pound linebacker. "Coach (Eric) Eisenbarth (former WU assistant) came up and visited me and got me down here on a visit and just talking with coach (Craig) Schurig and then coach (Zach) Watkins was the big seller.
"(Watkins) was a really good linebacker here and it was worth taking a chance coming down here as a walk-on. I knew I could compete at this level and I'm just glad that I chose Washburn. I wouldn't change anything.''
After coming to Washburn as a walk-on out of Gretna, Neb., junior linebacker Grant Bruner (43) led the Ichabods in tackles in 2019. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
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THE PENNANT PLAYER PROFILE
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
It's only been the last couple of years that Washburn University senior quarterback Mitch Schurig decided for sure that he wanted to coach when his playing days are done.
"That's probably when I figured, 'You know what, I'll have an education degree, I love football, I like basketball and all those sports, so why not try to continue to coach and be a part of the game?' '' Schurig said.
Washburn senior quarterback Mitch Schurig plans to follow his father, Ichabod head coach Craig Schurig, into the coaching field after completing his senior season. [Washburn Athletics]
But even Mitch knows that decision was probably a given, considering the fact that he has spent his entire life as the son of a coach -- Ichabod head coach Craig Schurig.
"The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree,'' Mitch Schurig said. "It was probably inevitable but I love the game, so I'd love to share my knowledge with the young kids.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Washburn was tapped for middle-of-the-pack finishes in both MIAA preseason football polls released Tuesday as part of the conference's Media Day activities at the Kansas City Convention Center.
The Ichabods were picked sixth in the coaches poll and seventh in the media poll after posting a 6-5 record in 2019 and having the 2020 season canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Washburn coach Craig Schurig said he never puts much stock in polls, noting that this year's projections were even more of a crapshoot due to the long layoff.
"You're probably (picked) the way the season was in 2019, maybe," Schurig said of the polls. "We feel good about our team, and obviously polls are polls and you get rewarded for past performance. We realize, 'Hey, we got some work to do.'
"You hope to use it as motivation. When people doubt you, it should motivate you to do higher things.''
Veteran Washburn University football coach Craig Schurig, flanked by Washburn University standouts Grant Bruner and Mitch Schurig, speaks at Tuesday's MIAA Media Day in Kansas City, Mo. [Photo by Rick Peterson]
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
By the time Chris Ridley finished his first book on his high school football coach, Baldwin legend Merle Venable, his book on another one of his coaching idols, Washburn Rural's Ron Bowen, was already in the works.
Buoyed by the success of "Venable: Part Legend, All American,'' which was released last fall, Ridley almost immediately turned his focus to writing "Never Seen A Finer Day,'' which chronicles the long coaching career of Bowen, who compiled a record of 156-73 in 23 seasons as Rural’s head football coach with three Class 5A state championships in the 1980s and a 6A runner-up finish.
Ron Bowen, the subject of the biography "Never Seen a Finer Day,'' guided Washburn Rural to three Class 5A state football championships and a runner-up finish in 6A during his 23-year tenure at the school. [Submitted]
Longtime Washburn Rural football assistant and former Rural athletic director Chris Ridley is the author of "Never Seen A Finer Day,'' a biography on former Junior Blues football coach Ron Bowen. [Submitted]
