Twenty Shawnee County players receive All-State recognition from Kansas Softball Coaches Association
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Twenty Shawnee County softball standouts have received 2024 All-State recognition from the Kansas Softball Coaches Association, led by seven first-team picks.
Washburn Rural junior Avery Rupp and Topeka High senior McCall Beall received first-team honors in Class 6A while Silver Lake senior Kaibryn Kruger and juniors Kendra Cook and Taylor Zordel and Rossville seniors Hailey Horton and Kinsey Perine were first-team picks in 3A.
Washburn Rural junior Avery Rupp earned first-team All-Class 6A honors from the Kansas Softball Coaches Association. [File photo/TSN]
Topeka High senior McCall Beall was named to the All-Class 6A softball first team by the KSCA. [Submitted photo]
Silver Lake junior Taylor Zordel (right) has been named to the All-Class 3A first team after helping lead the Eagles to a runnerup state finsh. [File photo/TSN]
SilverLake senior Kaibryn Kruger earned All-Class 3A first-team honors from the Kansas Softball Coaches Association. [File photo/TSN]
Silver Lake junior Kendra Cook is a first-team All-Class 3A All-State pick. [File photo/TSN]
Rossville senior Kinsey Perine earned first-team All-Class 3A honors from the Kansas Softball Coaches Association. [File photo/TSN]
Rossville senior Hailey Horton is a first-team Kansas Softball Coaches Association All-Class 3A selection. [File photo/TSN]
Washburn Rural's Makayla Ekis, Reagan Chapman and Olivia Koch and Topeka High's Jo'Mhara Benning were named to the All-6A second team while Seaman's Kaelyn O'Rourke, Reagan McConnell, Jersey Jellison and Kinsley Smith and Shawnee Heights' Taylor Brees were named to the All-5A second team and Silver Lake's Kailyn Hanni and Rossville's Brooke Springer were All-3A second-team picks.
Silver Lake's Kira Lowery and Rossville's Emma Mitchell received All-3A honorable mention.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Growing up in Atchison in the 1990s, Dwayne Anthony developed an admiration for the Hayden boys basketball program from afar.
Dwayne Anthony
Now the former Topeka West assistant will get a bird's eye view of the tradition-rich Wildcat program, landing his first head coaching opportunity at the school.
Anthony, who spent the past six seasons on Rick Bloomquist's staff at West, was named Hayden's new head coach on Monday, replacing Trey Brown, who resigned after one season last month to accept an assistant's position at MidAmerica Nazarene University.
"It's just a privilege,'' Anthony told TopSports.news. "When I was in high school this was one of the few Topeka teams I even played in high school, so I've had kind of a connection. And that was in the (Ben) Meseke years so that was a big game for me every year of my high school years.
"So I've always been fond of Hayden in that way and then I was so blessed to be with coach Bloom over at West when I did get an opportunity to get back into basketball and coaching over the last few years. And I would always watch and see what was gong on in the city because I'm just so connected to so many people just being in the community that I'm kind of a fan of everyone.''
When Brown announced that he was stepping down at Hayden, the 1996 Atchison graduate immediately showed interest in the position.
"It's a little familiar to me as far as the school setting because I'm from Atchison and it was a (Class) 4A and the same size and similar,'' Anthony said. "I've noticed that they just seem to have some guys that really have a love and a passion and a work ethic that despite the talent sometimes throughout the years they go hard and do their best and that was something I'd seen from the outside looking in.
"And given that my own situation changed (with Bloomquist stepping down at West) I was blessed to take advantage and that they hired me as the head coach and I'm excited.''
Anthony was scheduled to meet with his new team on Monday and said he plans to hit the ground running.
"I just want to get in there and get going,'' he said. "It seems like a family atmosphere, so I want to meet family. I want to meet family tonight and get in the gym and see what they're doing and what's working and just kind of get a feel on that level.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Shawnee County high schools have submitted their nominations for senior athletes for the 19th annual Topeka Shawnee County High School Sports Awards, which will be presented on June 26 along with the induction of the 2024 Hall of Fame class.
TopSports.news, in partnership with A-1 Lock and Key, Washburn University, Capital Label, Peggy's Tax and Accounting and the Jamie Hornbaker State Farm Insurance Agency, will host the Topeka Shawnee County Sports Awards and Hall of Fame induction ceremonies at the Washburn University Memorial Union.
Recent Seaman graduate Taylin Stallbaumer has been nominated in two seasons for the Topeka Shawnee County Sports Awards after helping the Vikings win Class 5A volleyball and basketball titles. [File photo/TSN]
Silver Lake senior Makenzie McDaniel is a nominee for the 2024 Topeka Shawnee County Sports Awards after helping the Eagles win the Class 3A state basketball title as a senior. [File photo/TSN]
A Class 6A state swimming champion as a senior, Washburn Rural's Brogan Meier is a nominee for the 2024 Topeka Shawnee County Sports Awards. [File photo/TSN]
Hayden's Finn Dunshee (middle) was a three-time state champion in the 2024 state track championships and also helped lead the Wildcats to a Class 3A runnerup finish in football. [File photo/TSN]
TopSports.news will present awards to the top female and male athletes in the fall, winter and spring seasons, as well as overall female and male athletes of the year and the most inspirational female and male. A complete list of nominees is listed below.
To be eligible, an athlete must have compiled a cumulative grade point average of 3.0. Athletes were nominated by their schools' athletic directors and coaches.
In addition to the Topeka Shawnee County Sports Awards, Khloe Schuckman and Braden Rose will be honored as Washburn University Athletes of the Year and Bob Benoit, Jim Golden, Kelsey (Chipman) Stringer and Nick Stringer will be inducted as the 2024 Topeka Shawnee County Hall of Fame class.
A committee of local media members will select the 2024 high school winners, including the selection of overall female and male athletes of the year.
General admission tickets for the Topeka Shawnee County sports awards banquet are $30 per person and include dinner.
Ticket information is available at topsports.news.
TOPEKA SHAWNEE COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS AWARDS NOMINEES
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Kerry Darting's Darting Basketball Academy has continued to add new programs in its 10 years of existence, and the DBA will take another big step this summer with the addition of an international element.
Twenty-four high school aged players representing 11 different countries are scheduled to arrive in Topeka on July 2nd and stay through July 22nd to train.
Kerry Darting instructs young players during a Darting Basketball Academy event. DBA is celebrating its 10th season in 2024 and will add an international flavor this summer. [File photo/TSN]
Players from Australia, Brazil, Italy, Spain, Croatia, Serbia, Lithuania, Slovenia and Dubai are scheduled to take part in the DBA program.
"These kids are coming here because they want to play college basketball, so there will be a lot of college coaches coming in to watch them for the whole three weeks at nights when we're scrimmaging and working out and practicing,'' Darting said.
In addition to helping the international contingent find a college home Darting said the program will also benefit up and coming players in the Topeka area.
"I think it's huge just for the local kids and the area because we'll have the better players coming in and scrimmaging with (the international players) every night, so it will give them the chance to play against some good competition,'' Darting said.
"The college coaches will come in to watch the international kids, but at the same time, if there's kids locally that want to play collegiately and are good, the college coaches will have a good opportunity to watch them play as well.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Taylin Stallbaumer has been a winner in four different sports since she stepped on the Seaman campus four years ago, including Class 5A state team championships in volleyball and basketball as a senior.
And Stallbaumer picked up a couple more wins Saturday as she closed out her high school career in the Kansas Volleyball Association All-Star Match at Washburn's Lee Arena.
Former Seaman star Taylin Stallbaumer (middle) is congratulated by her Red teammates after a kill in the KVA All-Star Match. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Stallbaumer, who will play volleyball at Johnson County Community College this fall, helped the Red team take a 25-20, 25-20, 22-25, 25-14, 15-9 win over the Blue and was honored with the Joan Lundstrom Wells Award of Excellence at the conclusion of the match, one of the KVA's four individual awards.
"It means a lot because these girls here are really talented, really good,'' Stallbaumer said. "You've got girls going all over the country, so to be a part of that team and to be with all of them, that means a lot.''
Stallbaumer played in Saturday's all-star match less than two weeks after completing her high school soccer career in the Class 5A state quarterfinals.
"This past week I think I was at two practices,'' Stallbaumer said. "We were all a little rusty.''
The recent Seaman graduate had just three practices with her Red teammates but the team seemed to be a good fit from the outset, leading for the majority of the match en route to the 4-1 victory.
"I think it's really important when you're with a new team to get to know your teammates and I feel like we did a really good job of that,'' Stallbaumer said. "Going out to dinner, team practices, we had a lot of team bonding and I feel like we really just got to know each other.
"We care for one another and I feel like that showed on the court today.''
Taylin Stallbaumer receives a hug from her Seaman coach, Tatiana Dowling, during Saturday's pre-match introductions for the Kansas Volleyball Association All-Star Match. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Stallbaumer led the Red with 44 assists and also had 19 digs.
