- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Former Washburn Rural football star JC Heim has never been a fan of sitting.
JC Heim
So when the Washburn University football coaching staff opened the door for the 6-foot-3, 225-pound linebacker to play as a true freshman, Heim jumped at the chance.
And two games into his college career Heim has taken full advantage of that opportunity.
"I knew I had great people in front of me and I was surrounded by great leaders around me,'' Heim said. "We had a great summer together and putting on the weight and the size through this awesome strength and conditioning program that we had throughout the summer definitely helped me get prepared for fall camp.
"And with the group of leaders we have, it helped me become successful throughout fall camp to learn the plays, get the plays down and be able to make plays.''
Washburn freshman linebacker JC Heim (25) posted five tackles in the second college game of his career, last Saturday's 31-21 loss to No. 5-ranked Colorado School of Mines. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Heim saw spot duty on defense and also played on special teams in the Ichabods' season-opener at Emporia State, recording one assisted tackle, and stepped up his work load in last week's 31-28 loss to Colorado School of Mines, recording five tackles on the day.
- Details
By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
The Topeka West boys soccer team continues to stack wins, going on the road to Seaman Thursday night to get its fourth win of the season, 2-1 over the Vikings.
The battle of 3-1 teams in the Class 5A class didn’t disappoint.
Topeka West junior Giancarlo Valenzuela (10) scored the game's first goal in Thursday's 2-1 Charger win over Seaman. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Topeka West celebrates a goal in Thursday's 2-1 UKC soccer win over Seaman. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The Chargers withstood several near-misses by the Vikings early, then scored the first goal with 7:14 remaining before halftime when Giancarlo Valenzuela launched a long bomb from well outside the penalty box that eluded the Vikings’ leaping goalkeeper.
Seaman senior Lucas Cross (19) is congratulated after scoring the Vikings' lone goal in Thursday's 2-1 loss to Topeka West. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Seaman tried to grab the momentum from the visitors just two minutes into the second half. The Vikings’ Lucas Cross took a pass in the heart of the Charger defense and punched home a shot to tie the score at 1-1.
Topeka West didn’t let the home team enjoy the moment for long. Just six minutes later, the Chargers’ Diego Gonzalez-Talavera guided a pass through the Seaman defense to teammate Cain Cianciarulo, who headed the ball in for what turned out to be the winning score.
“Since we started seeing these guys come together, we could tell that we have guys with a lot of talent,” said Charger coach Josh Kutter. “We’ve been talking about putting together a full 80 minutes as a team and working on that mental toughness to stay focused for a whole game. I think tonight they showed that.”
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Now in his third season as a member of the Pittsburg State University football staff, former Topeka High standout Tyrell Everett has settled in nicely to Southeast Kansas.
Tyrell Everett
"I definitely have,'' said Everett, the Gorillas' assistant head coach, defensive line coach and defensive run game coordinator. "They treat me so good down here. Our head coach (Tom Anthony) is like family to me and this community has definitely welcomed me in and the players are unbelievable. Of course the standards are high here and we coach them hard, but we love them so much on and off the field.''
But the 32-year-old Everett, who will be in Yager Stadium for Saturday's 1 p.m. Pittsburg State-Washburn MIAA contest, knows he wouldn't where or who is today without his Topeka roots and the challenges he faced and overcame along the way.
"Everything I've done I've been blessed by the good Lord upstairs and it's exciting to be able to represent my city,'' Everett said. "I think that's what I'm most excited about. Wherever I go I say I'm from Topeka, Kansas and I don't bat an eye.
"When you look at all I've been through and the stuff that I've overcome, and to be able to come out of the environment that I was able to come out of and make it and then be able to come back and coach in that environment and allow people to see that you can thrive out of Topeka, it's just fun to be part of that fraternity and to be able to say, 'Hey, I'm from Topeka.' ''
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Since suffering its lone loss of the 2024 season in its fourth game -- a 5-2 non-league defeat to Blue Valley West -- Washburn Rural's boys soccer team has bounced back exactly how Junior Blues coach Brian Hensyel hoped it would, with a string of wins.
The Junior Blues stretched their current win streak to three games Thursday at Hayden, with Rural rolling to a 7-0 Centennial League win over the Wildcats to improve to 6-1 overall and a perfect 3-0 in the league.
Washburn Rural junior Dylan Willingham (19) scored two goals and had two assists in Thursday's 7-0 Centennial League soccer victory over Hayden. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Washburn Rural senior Pierce Cannon (left) had two goals and an assist in Thursday's 7-0 Centennial League soccer win over Hayden. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Since the loss to Blue Valley West, the Junior Blues have outscored their three opponents by a 20-1 margin.
"In the game we lost we saw some negative energy when we fell behind, and for the first time had any adversity, so we spent a lot of time talking about staying positive and not letting one mistake become five mistakes and they've done a good job since then,'' Hensyel said.
"Obviously, we've played pretty well and we've scored some goals and really, it's been a really, really good season. We had one bad half. We had kind of a bad start to our Blue Valley West game, went down 2-0, tied it up and then gave up three goals late. We've had about 20 bad minutes so far this season but we're going to find out next week. We go to Iowa next week and those teams are all great, so we better be ready.''
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After suffering a pair of tough home losses to open the 2024 season, Davy Phillips' Washburn University soccer team posted a pair of shutout victories last weekend to get back on track.
After dropping a 2-0 season-opening loss to Missouri-St. Louis and a 2-1 loss to Maryville, the Ichabods defeated Southwest Minnesota State 2-0 and Wayne State College, 1-0 to even their record at 2-2.
Senior forward Riley Wells helped Washburn University soccer post a pair of shutout victories last weekend. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
"Davy knew those were tough teams coming into it and he warned us about that, so we got those out of the way, we got the losses out of the way, and especially getting six points last weekend it was huge for us and for confidence,'' Washburn senior forward Riley Wells said.
"The vibes weren't great (after the season-opening losses), but I think that next week in practice we just continued to work harder and get better and fine tune the things that we needed to work on. We didn't get too down on ourselves and we knew we were better than that.''
Now the Ichabods will be looking to keep rolling when they conclude their non-conference schedule with a pair of neutral site contests against the Black Hills State (S.D.) Yellow Jackets and Western Colorado Mountaineers Friday and Sunday.
"I think we stepped up last weekend and I think this streak will continue if we work together and continue to get better each week,'' said Wells, who has scored seven goals with seven assists in her WU career.
Both games will be played in Kearney, Neb. at the facilities of fellow MIAA member Nebraska-Kearney. The Ichabods will face the Yellow Jackets on Friday and the Mountaineers on Sunday, with both matches scheduled to kick off at 11 a.m.
The Ichabods, the NCAA Division II national runnerup last season, are ranked 20th in the latest United Soccer Coaches Division II Women's National poll.
Wells and fellow senior Khloe Schuckman scored their first goals of the 2024 campaign in the win over Southwest Minnesota State, while the Ichabod defense held the Mustangs without a shot until the 80th minute.
Former Washburn Rural star Belle Kennedy scored her first goal of the season in the victory over Wayne State. Kennedy stole the ball from a Wildcat player and took it all the way to the goal.
Rural product Hailey Beck posted back-to-back shutouts in goal for the Ichabods. Beck made a career-high five saves in the victory over Wayne State.
