Washburn Rural Junior Blues

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Coming off a runnerup team finish in Class 5A a year ago, Seaman put itself in position for another run at the tiltle Friday as senior singles star Emma Sweeney and the senior doubles team Camryn Lux and Camryn Lux advanced to Saturday's state semifinals at the Andover District Tennis Complex.

Seaman senior tennis star Emma Sweeney improved to 30-0 on Friday while advancing to the Class 5A singles semifinals for the third straight season. [File photo/TSN]

Sweeney, the No. 1 seed, rolled to a 6-1, 6-0 win over Kapaun Mt. Carmel's Juli Judkins in the quarterfinals to advance to Saturday's 9 a.m. semifinal against Andover sophomore Audrina Gjosa. 

Seaman seniors Cadence Speer and Camryn Lux improved to 30-4 Friday while advancing to Saturday's Class 5A doubles semifinals. [File photo/TSN] 

Lux and Speer, the No. 3 doubles seed, advanced to the semifinals with a 6-0, 6-0 quarterfinal win over Blue Valley Southwest seniors Anwita Golem and Ashley Grant and will now face Andover senior Rylie Nance and junior Kinsley Scholl, the No. 2 seed, in the semifinals. Lux and Speer are 30-4 on the season.

Seaman sophomore doubles players Brenna Prokop and Kallie Zurmely advanced to Saturday's consolation rounds and have assured themselves of state medals.

Rural's Katzer and Owen advance to Class 6A doubles semis

Washburn Rural's senior doubles team of Julia Katzer and Halle Owen advanced to Saturday's Class 6A state semifinals with a 6-0, 6-2 quarterfinal win over Shawnee Mission Northwest's Erin O'Neal and Nia Nightingale. 

Washburn Rural senior doubles players Julia Katzer and Halle Owen, now 30-4, advanced to Saturday's Class 6A semifinals with a pair of Friday wins. [File photo/TSN]

Katzer and Owen the No. 5 state seed, will now face top seed Chadana Vijaykumar and Siena Timperley of Blue Valley West in Saturday's 9 a.m. semifinal.

Now 30-4 on the season, Katzer and Owen have assured themselves of a top-four state finish.

Rural freshman Karmyn Faul advanced to Saturday's place matches and has assured herself of her first state medal.

Cair Paravel's Poole back in Class 3A-1A semifinals

Cair Paravel Latin senior singles standout Madilyn Poole, the No. 2 Class 3A-1A seed, advanced to the state semifinals for the second straight season after finishing third at state as a junior.

Cair Paravel senior Madilyn Poole improved to 23-1 with a pair of wins Friday in the Class 3A-1A state tournament, advancing to her second straight semifinal. [File photo/TSN]

Poole, now 23-1, is back in the semis after a pair of wins at the Kossover Tennis Center, including a 6-0, 6-1 quarterfinal win over Russell junior Anna-Marie Marsell.

Poole will now face sophomore Mila Simic of Hoisington in Saturday's 9 a.m. semifinal at Kossover.

Silver Lake junior Evelynn Thompson lost in the singles quarterfinals but advanced to Saturday's place matches. 

Hayden trio advances to Class 4A place matches

Hayden's junior doubles team of Hailey Caryl and Sophia Wichman and sophomore singles player Lana Hull had their Class 4A championship hopes dashed with quarterfinal losses Friday at Kossover Tennis Center, but the three players advanced to Saturday's place matches and have assured themselves of state medals..

The first round of state competition will begin at 9 a.m. on Saturday.

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By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Already a three-time Class 5A state singles medalist, including a runnerup finish a year ago, Seaman senior star Emma Sweeney will be looking to close out her outstanding prep career with a state title in Friday and Saturday's state tournament at the Andover District Tennis Complex.

Seaman senior tennis star Emma Sweeney enters this weekend's Class 5A state tournament at Andover as the No. 1 singles seed with a perfect 28-0 record. [File photo/TSN]

Sweeney has put together a banner 28-0 campaign so far with a sweep of city, United Kansas Conference and 5A regional titles for the second straight season and earned the No. 1 seed for this weekend's state event.

"Obviously I'm nervous, but I'm just trying to switch my focus onto the right things and just focusing on the things I control, my ground strokes, my intensity, my footwork, my attitude and just go out there and give it my all,'' Sweeney said.

Sweeney said it seems like only yesterday that she was getting ready for her first state meet.

"It literally flies by every single year and with it being my last year with my teammates I just want to have fun and just leave it all out there,'' she said.  

As a team Seaman is coming off its fifth straight United Kansas Conference title as well as a regional team championships and will be aiming for a third straight 5A team trophy after finishing third in 2024 and second a year ago.

Seaman seniors Cadence Speer and Camryn Lux won a Class 5A regional doubles title last Saturday for the team-champion Vikings. [File photo/TSN] 

Three-time regional champ Sweeney and the regional championship doubles team of seniors Camryn Lux and Cadence Speer led the way last Saturday at Kossover as the Vikings topped St. James Academy for the regional crown.

Seaman also got third-place finishes from junior Lilli Wiens in singles and from sophomores Brenna Prokop and Kallie Zurmely in doubles.

Lux and Speer are 28-4 on the season and the No. 3 seed for state while Prokop and Zurmely are 22-7 and seeded seventh. Wiens is the No. 15 singles seed with a 22-12 record.

Not only will Seaman's three seniors be closing out their prep careers this weekend, but it will also be the final tournament for Viking coach Jamie Robinson, who is retiring from coaching after a highly-successful run at the school.

"He's been great,'' Sweeney said. "He just works with every single girl and what they need specifically as a player and he also just knows how to coach you and how to adjust for each girl.

"He just has really helped us grow and help us love the sport.''

Topeka West will be represented at state by the senior doubles team of Mariana Bernard and Kailyn Bidwell, who are 12-16 on the season and the No. 19 state seed after qualifying with a sixth-place regional finish.

The 5A state tournament will start at 9 a.m. Friday and continue on Saturday with a 9 a.m. start.

Class 6A at Wichita Riverside Tennis Complex

Washburn Rural enters Friday and Saturday's state meet at Wichita with a ton of momentum after sweeping city, Centennial League and Class 6A regional team championships.

Washburn Rural senior doubles players Julia Katzer and Halle Owen enter the state tournament with a 28-4 record after sweeping city, Centenial League and regional titles. [File photo/TSN]

Junior Blue seniors Julia Katzer and Halle Owen won Friday's regional doubles title after winning city and league titles and are 28-4 on the season, earning the No. 5 state seed.

Rural's doubles team of junior Annie Henderson and freshman Kinley Ladd (22-6) finished second to teammates Katzer and Owen at regionals and are the No. 7 doubles seed while sophomore singles player Bridget Hoopes (17-10) was the singles runnerup at regionals and is the No. 9 state seed.

Freshman Karmyn Faul (27-6) posted a third-place singles finish in the regional meet and is seeded 15th for state.

The first round of state competition will begin at 9 a.m. both Friday and Saturday.

Class 4A at Kossover Tennis Center

Hayden finished third in Class 4A last season after winning the state championship in 2024 and the Wildcats are coming off a regional team title Saturday at Chanute while qualifying their entire team for state at the Kossover Tennis Center.

Hayden juniors Sophia Wichman and Hailey Caryl are coming off a Class 4A regional doubles title for the team-champion Wildcats. [File photo/TSN]

Wildcat juniors Hailey Caryl and Sophia Wichman won the regional doubles championship and will take an 17-4 record into the state meet as the fourth seed.

Hayden sophomore Lana Hull, 20-4, is the No. 7 singles seed while sophomore Ava Scheer (5-4) is the No. 20 singles seed and the doubles team of senior Kaelyn Gerdel and sophomore Elliott Gould (14-10) is the 21st seed for this weekend's tournament.

Hull was the regional runnerup while Scheer finished fifth in singles and Gerdel and Gould placed fifth in doubles.  

The first round of state competition will begin at 8:50 a.m. Friday and 9 a.m. on Saturday.

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Eight-time Class 6A state volleyball champion Washburn Rural got off to a very uncharacteristic 4-11 start to the 2026 season.

Washburn Rural volleyball celebrates a point during Thursday's Senior Night sweep over St. James Academy and Seaman. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Washburn Rural senior Samantha McIntosh (17) celebrates a service ace with her teammates Thursday at Rural. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

But as postseason looms in the very near future, Kevin Bordewick's Junior Blues are looking more than more like the team Rural fans have been accustomed to seeing.

Washburn Rural has won 13 of its last 15 matches to improve to 17-13 on the season after Thursday's Senior Night sweep over 5A No. 2-ranked St. James Academy and city rival Seaman.

"I feel like we're finally actually playing as a team now,'' said Molly Schuler, one of four Rural seniors recognized on Senior Night. "And it's really nice because I feel like a lot of people doubted us in the beginning of the season, but I think we're definitely coming together now.''

The Junior Blues opened Thursday with a 25-21, 25-20 win over St. James, avenging an earlier loss to the Thunder, before taking a 25-22, 25-19 win over Seaman in the final match of the night.

"I think the last two or three weeks we've made a lot of good strides,'' said Bordewick, who ranks No. 2 in Kansas for career victories. "We played last night in Kansas City and I don't think we played well at all, but then we turned around and I thought we were a lot sharper today, and probably especially against St. James.

"I thought we were really focused and zeroed in and I think when we do that and put pressure on other teams we sometimes are surprised and I tell them, 'I'm not surprised at what you guys can do.' And we've still got a ceiling that we've got to get to, but I do think we've improved a lot.''

Washburn Rural got things off to a quick start against St. James, opening up 5-1 and 9-3 leads and never trailed the remainder of the first set although the Thunder cut their deficit to 15-14.

Back-to-back service aces from sophomore Brynn Anderson put Rural at match point with a 24-16 lead and the Junior Blues survived a late 5-0 St. James rally to end the set on a Schuler kill.

The Junior Blues fell behind 5-2 in the seccond set and still trailed 14-11 before reeling off five straight points to go in front 16-14.

Rural eventually went up 21-18 on a kill from freshman Kyndall Cochran and 23-20 on a kill from junior Hadley Kilgore before closing out the five-point win.

By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news

THURSDAY'S GAME

(Kickoff at 7 p.m.)

MANHATTAN (4-2, 2-0 Centennial) vs. TOPEKA HIGH (1-5, 0-2 Centennial)

At Hummer Sports Park

Manhattan has won four straight games since an 0-2 start to the season while Topeka High is fighting a five-game losing streak. The Indians are coming off a 51-6 Centennial League win over Emporia while Topeka High dropped a 41-12 league decision to Junction City. Manhattan junior quarterback Mclain Aslin has completed 30 of 56 passes for 362 yards and six touchdowns and carried the ball 81 times for 576 yards and seven TDs. Senior Joseph Mortensen has carried the ball 32 times for 343 yards and six TDs.

FRIDAY'S GAMES

(Allkickoffs at 7 p.m.)

Jadyn Baum, Washburn Rural

JUNCTION CITY (2-4, 2-1 Centennial) at WASHBURN RURAL (3-3, 2-0 Centennial )

Junction City is coming off a 41-12 Centennial League victory over Topeka High last Friday while Washburn Rural dropped a 14-7 decision at Millard West, Neb. Senior Jadyn Baum is one of the state's premier running backs for the Junior Blues.

Nas Williams-Brown, Topeka West

BASEHOR-LINWOOD (4-2, 4-2 UKC) vs. TOPEKA WEST (1-5, 1-5 UKC)

At Hummer Sports Park

Basehor-Linwood posted a 42-20 United Kansas Conference decision over Lansing while Topeka West dropped a 57-0 UKC decision to Spring Hill. Junior Nas Williams-Brown is a top player for the Chargers.

DE SOTO (6-0, 6-0 UKC) at SHAWNEE HEIGHTS (1-5, 1-5 UKC)

Shawnee Heights, which is in the midst of a five-game losing streak, dropped a 59-28 United Kansas Conference decision to undefeated Spring Hill last Friday while De Soto remained unbeaten with a 45-6 UKC win over Turner. Shawnee Heights senior quarterback Kolby Kutscher has completed 82 of 142 passes for 1,269 yards and 14 touchdowns while sophomore Fletcher Terrell has caught 35 passes for 757 yards and 11 touchdowns. T-Bird senior Trone Purvis has carried the ball 107 times for 562 yards and eight touchdowns.

CHASE COUNTY (4-2, 2-1 8-Man I District 3) vs. CAIR PARAVEL LATIN (4-2, 2-1 8-Man I District 3)

At Seaman

Cair Paravel is coming off a tough 54-50 district road loss at Lyndon while Chase County blanked district foe Northern Heights, 46-0. Cair Paravel senior Cole Haubold has carried the ball 53 times for 596 yards and 14 touchdowns and leads the Lions with 58 tackles (39 solo) with 11 tackles for loss. Junior quarterback Chase Hastert has completed 25 of 49 passes for 512 yards and nine touchdowns and carried the ball 46 times for 411 yards and four TDs.

Jairus Todwong, Hayden

HAYDEN (2-4, 2-0 3A District 3) at SANTA FE TRAIL (4-2, 1-1 3A District 3)

Hayden posted its second straight Class 3A District 3 win last Friday, a 42-13 romp past Perry-Lecompton, while Santa Fe Trail is coming off a 48-6 district loss to Baldwin. Sophomore Jairus Todwong leads Hayden with 494 yards and four touchdowns on 55 carries while senior Mason Becker has carried the ball 32 times for 279 yards and four rushing TDs. Junior quarterback Ryker Tetuan has completed 49 of 100 passes for 435 yards and senior Logan Power has caught 24 passes for 258 yards.

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

The Topeka Shawnee County Sports Hall of Fame inducted Jessica Mainz, C.B. McGrath, Mit Winter and Sam Winter into the local shrine Wednesday at the Cyrus Hotel.

Sam Winter, Mit Winter, Jessica Mainz and C.B. McGrath were inducted into the Topeka Shawnee County Sports Hall of Fame Wednesday night at the Cyrus Hotel. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Presented by the Topeka Area Sports Commission and sponsored by the Bill Kennedy Driving School, the four local greats were inducted as the class of 2026.

Mainz is a former Shawnee Heights and Washburn University multi-sport star while McGrath was a multi-sport star at Topeka West and basketball guard at the University of Kansas before embarking on a long college coaching career.

"Thinking about all the athletes who have gone through this community, it's a great honor,'' said Mainz, who is also a member of the Washburn Hall of Fame and MIAA Hall of Fame. "There's some huge names in there and just to be with them is really cool.'' 

"I had great teammates all the way and played on some really good teams,'' McGrath said of his career, which included 13 varsity letters in four sports at Topeka West followed by four seasons with Kansas basketball.

Mit and Sam Winter became the first brothers inducted into the Topeka Shawnee County Hall of Fame, with Mit and Sam both starring in basketball for Rural before going on to become standouts at William and Mary and Harvard, respectively.

"It's very cool that Sam and I are both being inducted to the Shawnee County Hall of Fame at the same time,'' Mit Winter said. "It makes it a little more special to get to do it together.''

Sam Winter agreed.

"He was my older brother so he kind of set the tone for me and was always like a role model for me, so to celebrate him any chance I get is a good thing,'' he said. 

The Topeka Shawnee County Hall of Fame honors past area athletes, coaches and contributors who have made a lasting mark on the Topeka community through sports.

 The 2026 inductees into the Topeka Shawnee County Sports Hall of Fame pose for a picture with past inductees who were in attendance Wednesday at the Cyrus Hotal.

The annual recognition provides an opportunity to celebrate the people whose accomplishments have helped shape the community’s sports tradition.

Hall of Fame capsules:

JESSICA MAINZ -- A multi-sport star at Shawnee Heights, Mainz went on to earn All-America honors and two MIAA Most Valuable Player awards in soccer at Washburn University, scoring 47 career goals, and also earned two MIAA Defensive Player of the Year awards in basketball and became the first woman in conference history to receive MVP honors in two different sports. Mainz is a member of the Washburn and MIAA halls of fame.

C.B. McGRATH -- McGrath earned 13 varsity letters in four sports at Topeka West and was named Kansas Basketball Player of the Year in 1994. He played point guard at the University of Kansas under Roy Williams before joining Williams’ coaching staff. At North Carolina, he served as an assistant coach on the 2005, 2009, and 2017 NCAA national championship teams and later became head coach at UNC Wilmington.

MIT WINTER -- Winter earned All-State and first-team All-Centennial League basketball recognition at Washburn Rural before becoming a four-year basketball letterman at William and Mary. His collegiate highlights included a 36-point performance against James Madison, with a perfect 17-for-17 performance at the free throw line, and the university’s President’s Award for Leadership, Sportsmanship, and Citizenship.

SAM WINTER -- Winter earned All-State, first-team All-City and All-Centennial League basketball honors at Washburn Rural before continuing his career at Harvard University. He led the Ivy League in rebounding in 2003 and went on to play professional basketball in Switzerland.

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Washburn Rural cross country champion Duke Graf and the Hayden tennis doubles team of Hailey Caryl and Sophia Wichman have been selected as the Brandon Aldridge State Farm Insurance Agency Rising Stars of the Week.

The Brandon Aldridge Agency will recognize top Shawnee County underclassmen throughout the 2026-2027 school year.

Here's a brief look at last week's accomplishments of Graf, Caryl and Wichman.

Duke Graf, Washburn Rural

DUKE GRAF, Washburn Rural

A junior cross country standout, Graf captured the boys individual title in Saturday's city championship at Shawnee Heights, leading Washburn Rural to the team crown.

Graf, who placed third in the city meet as a sophomore, clocked a winning five-kilometer time of 16 minutes, 42.6 seconds as the Junior Blues won the team championship by a 17-59 margin over Seaman.

Graf helped the Junior Blues win the Class 6A state team championship in 2025 by a single point over Blue Valley.

Hailey Caryl and Sophia Wichman, Hayden

HAILEY CARYL and SOPHIA WICHMAN, Hayden

Junior tennis standouts Caryl and Wichman claimed the doubles championship in Saturday's Class 4A regional at Chanute while leading the Wildcats to the team championship.

Caryl and Wichman earned the regional title with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Chanute in the doubles final.

Caryl plays tennis, basketball and soccer while Wichman splits time between tennis and volleyball in the fall and also plays basketball and soccer, helping the Wildcats win state titles in both of those sports as a sophomore.

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Duke Graf

DUKE GRAF, Washburn Rural

A junior cross country standout, Graf captured the boys individual title in Saturday's city championship at Shawnee Heights, leading Washburn Rural to the team crown. Graf, who placed third in the city meet as a sophomore, clocked a winning five-kilometer time of 16 minutes, 42.6 seconds as the Junior Blues won the team championship by a 17-59 margin over Seaman.

Alyson Hinck

ALYSON HINCK, Washburn Rural

Hinck, a sophomore cross country standout, earned her first city girls individual title in Saturday's city meet at Shawnee Heights while leading the Junior Blues to the team championship. After finishing as the individual runnerup as a freshman, Hinck clocked a winning five-kilometer time of 19 minutes, 32.7 seconds as Washburn Rural won the team title by a 17-40 margin over runnerup Seaman.

Julia Katzer 

JULIA KATZER, Washburn Rural

Katzer, a senior tennis star, teamed with Halle Owen to win Centennial League and Class 6A regional doubles championships and cap a sweep of city, league and regional titles while leading the Junior Blues to a sweep of the team titles in the three meets. Katzer and Owen defeated teammates Annie Henderson and Kinley Ladd 6-0, 6-0 in the league meet and 6-1, 6-2 at regionals.

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Washburn Rural experienced plenty of ups and downs in Monday's Class 6A girls golf sub-state at Lake Shawnee, but in the end Hayden Beck's Junior Blues achieved their main objective, earning a team berth for next week's state tournament.

Washburn Rural girls golf posted a third-place team finish in Monday's Class 6A sub-state tournament to earn a team berth for next week's state tournament. [Washburn Rural golf]

Rural, which carded a team score of 390, put all of six of its players in the top half of the field en route to earning a third-place team finish behind Olathe South and Lawrence Free State, which tied for the top spot with 371 team scores.

Brynley Scott paced Washburn Rural with a ninth-place individual finish in Monday's Class 6A sub-state at Lake Shawnee. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Reese Elliott earned a 10th-place finish for Washburn Rural in Monday's Class 6A sub-state tournament. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Brynley Scott shot a 95 to finish ninth individually while Reese Elliott was 10th with a 96, Kailyn Petersen tied for 11th with a 97, Emery Hall and LynnLee Mullins tied for 15th with a 102 and Liz Halstead tied for 18th with a 107.

"That's the goal at the start of every season,'' Beck said of earning the team berth for state. "You've got to get there to be able to progress past the first day and make day two and do the things we want to do as a team.

"So it wasn't necessarily our best stuff by no means today, but we've put together a squad that will fight for each other and be able to claw and scratch their way through to that next round that we've got to play.''

Now it's on to state, which will be held at Mayetta's Firekeeper Golf Course, just about 20 minutes north of Topeka, next Monday and Tuesday. 

CLASS 6A GIRLS GOLF SUB-STATE

At Lake Shawnee 

Team scores

Olathe South 371, Free State 371, Washburn Rural 390, Wichita East 450, Derby 469, Junction City 503.

Individual results

1. Alna Lam, Wichita Southeast, 75; 2. Claire Cummins, Free State, 79; 3. Caroline Parks, Olathe South, 85; 4. Grace Lam, Wichita East, 87; 5. Reese McNeil, Olathe South, 89; 6. Tola Jankowski, Free State, 90; 7. (tie) Raelynn Doshier, Derby, and Laurel Stancil, Free State, 94; 9. Brynley Scott, Washburn Rural, 95; 10. Reese Elliott, Washburn Rural, 96.  

Other Washburn Rural -- 11. (tie) Kailyn Petersen, 97; 15. (tie) Emery Hall and LynnLee Mullins, 102; 18. (tie) Liz Halstead, 107. 

Individual state qualifiers --Alina Lam, Wichita Southeast, 75; Grace Lam, Wichita East, 87; Raelynn Doshier, Derby, 94; Angela Palacios, Wichita East, 106; Karrington Shane, Wichita East, 107.

Seaman senior Chloe Schmidtlein placed third in Monday's Class 5A golf regional at Lake Shawnee to qualify for state as an individual. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Vikes' Schmidtlein leads trio of city 5A state qualifiers

Seaman senior Chloe Schmidtlein followed up her city and United Kansas Conference individual titles with a third-place finish in Monday's Class 5A state sub-state tournament at Lake Shawnee.

Schmidtlein carded an 88 to finish third behind Emily Taylor (78) of team champion De Soto and Aubery Ziolo (82) of third-place team qualifier Basehor-Linwood and was the top individual qualifier for next Monday and Tuesday's 5A state tournament at Hesston Golf Course.

Shawnee Heights Lauryn Valdivia earned an individual Class 5A state berth with a 10th-place individual finish in Monday's sub-state tournament. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Seaman's Kaitlynn Frye earned a Class 5A state berth with an 11th-place tie in Monday's regional tournament. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Schmidtlein was joined as an individual qualifier by Shawnee Heights' Lauryn Valdivia, who placed 10th with a 97 and Seaman's Kaitlynn Frye, who tied for 11th with a 99.

De Soto won the team title by a 387-391 margin over Hays, with Basehor-Linwood third at 395.

Seaman finished fifth at 411 while Shawnee Heights placed sixth at 446.

CLASS 5A GIRLS GOLF SUB-STATE

At Lake Shawnee 

Team scores

 De Soto 387, Hays 391, Basehor-Linwood 395, Emporia 407, Seaman 411, Shawnee Heights 446.

Individual results

1. Emily Taylor, De Soto, 78; 2. Aubrey Ziolo, Basehor-Linwood, 82; 3. Chloe Schmidtlein, Seaman, 88; 4. Taylen Koch, Emporia, 89; 5. (tie) Mckenzie Laster, De Soto, and Claire Fitzgerald, Basehor-Linwood, 91; 7. Kinley Pfannenstel, Hays, 93; 8. (tie) Giana Schumacher, Hays, and Brooklyn Koerner, Hays, 95; 10. Lauryn Valdivia, Shawnee Heights, 97.

Other Seaman -- 11. (tie) Kaitlynn Frye, 99; 19. (tie) Lauren Glasgow and Leah Crawford, 112;  24. (tie) Penelope Kruesi, 118; 27. (tie) Cara Beaton, 123.

Other Shawnee Heights -- 16. Avary Domme, 107; 24. (tie) Elsie Willmann, 118; 29. (tie) Ashlyn Mattox, 124.  

Individual state qualifiers -- Chloe Schmidtlein, Seaman, 88; Taylen Koch, Emporia, 89; Lauryn Valdivia, Shawnee Heights, 97; Kaitlynn Frye, Seaman, 99; Kelsey Shull, Emporia, 103; Kynlee Maxfield, Emporia, 103.    

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Rossville, last season's Class 1A state runnerup, opened Distict 2 play Friday night with a 49-0 home romp past Wabaunsee.

Junior quarterback Landen Lewis ran for four touchdowns and threw for a TD as the Bulldawgs improved to 4-2 on the season.

Lewis ran for 17, 2, 9 and 9-yard TDs and hit Cale Horak for a 23-yard score while Cael Horgan opened Rossville's scoring with  for a 1-yard TD and Gavin Sumner scored the final TD on a 1-yard plunge.

Austin Dohrman kicked five extra points and the Bulldawgs got a 2-point conversion on a pass from Cole Graves to Michael Cooney.

Rossville led 14-0 at the end of the first quarter and 28-0 at the half before adding 21 points in the second half to complete the shutout.

The Bulldawgs will travel to Mission Valley on Friday to face the 1-5 Vikings, who are coming off a 48-6 district loss to St. Marys

Eagles remain unbeaten with 89-0 district rout

Silver Lake continued its dominant 2026 season Friday night, improved to 6-0 Friday with a 89-0 home Class 2A District 3 rout over Maranatha Academy.

The Eagles will travel to Holton Friday night for a Big East League game.

Holton is 1-5 after a 43-0 loss to Nemaha Central.

Lions drop 54-50 district thriller to Tigers

Cair Paravel Latin gave host Lyndon a battle down to the wire Friday, falling 54-50 in an Eight-Man I District 3 game.

The Lions, now 4-2, will host Chase County in a district matchup Friday at Seaman.

Chase County is coming off a 46-0 district victory over Northern Heights.

Vikings stretch winning streak to four games

Seaman posted its fourth straight United Kansas Conference victory Friday night, rolling to a 55-0 road rout over Leavenworth.

The Vikings, 4-2 overall and in the UKC, will face a tough test Friday, going on the road to face 6-0 Spring Hill.

The Broncos are coming off of a 57-0 win over Topeka West.

Scots get back on track with 26-6 road win

Highland Park picked up its second victory of the season Friday night, posting a 26-6 Meadowlark Conference win at Kansas City-Harmon.

Now 2-4 on the year, Highland Park will be back at Hummer Sports Park on Saturday to host KC-Schlagle in a 12 p.m. Meadowlark game.

The Stallions are 2-4 on the season after a 30-26 loss to Atchison. 

T-Birds fall 59-28 at Piper

Shawnee Heights fell to 1-5 overall and in the United Kansas Conference Friday night, dropping a 59-28 decision at Piper.

The T-Birds will be back at home Friday, hosting 6-0 De Soto in a conference matchup.

The Wildcats are coming off a 45-6 UKC win over Turner.

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Washburn Rural's cross country team turned in a dominating performance in Saturday's city championships at Shawnee Heights, sweeping the top three individual places in both the girls and boys events while rolling to the team titles.

Sophomore Alyson Hinck (right) captured her first city girls cross country title for team-champion Washburn Rural on Saturday at Shawnee Heights. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Washburn Rural junior Duke Graf reacts as he crosses the finish line to win the city boys cross country title Saturday at Shawnee Heights. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

"I'm happy with it for sure,'' Rural coach Matt Swedlund said. "City is a good start to championship racing. You kind of get in the mindset and this is when you start talking about trophies and wanting to be our best in October, so this is a nice start to that process.''

Rural sophomore Alyson Hinck won the girls title in a five-kilometer time of 19 minutes, 32.7 seconds while junior Duke Graf took control early in the boys race on the way to a win in 16:42.6.

Rural sophomore Morgan Munson (19:35.8) and junior Reese Beardslee (19:47.3) finished second and third behind Hinck in the girls race, while freshman Kenadee Booher (21:14.7) was fifth and freshman Avery Kennedy (21:32.3) sixth to round out the Junior Blues' top five as Rural captured the team title by a 17-40 margin over Seaman.

Hinck earned her first city individual girls title after finishing second as a freshman. She ran with the top four runners for much of the race before pulling away down the stretch to win by 3.1 seconds over teammate Munson.

"I just wanted to stick with the people in front and not to go out too hard,'' said Hinck, also a state medalist in the 800 meters in track as a freshman. "I definitely locate where I need to start to kick.''

Hinck said a highlight of the day was Rural's one-two-three finish.

"That's so much fun,'' she said. "I'm so happy to run with my teammates and finish with them. It was a blast.''

Juniors Jaxson Adams (16:57.2) and Clayton Fink (17:05.8) posted second and third-place finishes behind Graf for the Junior Blues in the boys race while sophomore Julius Wood-Nichols (17:15.4) finished fifth and senior Bennett Wells (17:19.5) sixth to complete the top five scoring runners for Washburn Rural, which won the title by a 17-59 margin over Seaman.

Graf, who had finished third in the city meet as a sophomore before helping Rural win the Class 6A title, took the lead early in Saturday's race and ended up winning by nearly 15 seconds.

"I kind of had the mentality of either come with me or don't,'' Graf said of his strategy. "It seemed to work pretty well. I went out pretty hard the first mile and got a good gap and kind of just held.

"I fell off a little bit towards the end, but overall, first place, I'm pretty happy with it.'' 

Seaman's girls got a fourth-place individual finish from senior Brynn Spencer (20:07.8) while senior Kinley Robinson (21:46.9) placed seventh, freshman Brinley Cochran (21:57.2) eighth, freshman Morgan Ranson (22:22.6) 10th and senior Hannah Wempe (22:59.5) 11th.

Freshman Charlotte Richards (23:12.1) led third-place Shawnee Heights with a 12th-place finish while junior Emily Womack (23:14.2) paced fourth-place Topeka High with a 13th-place finish. 

Sophomore Trindon Jones (17:10.7) paced the runnerup Seaman boys with a fourth-place finish while sophomore Weston Kennedy (17:23.6) finished seventh.

Hayden junior Nick Newkirk (17:43.3) finished 10th. 

Washburn Rural, Topeka High and Hayden will compete in the Centennial League meet next Saturday at Kanza Park while Seaman, Shawnee Heights and Topeka West will run in the United Kansas Conference meet at De Soto on Thursday and Highland Park will compete in the Meadowlark Conference meet at Atchison on Thursday.  

CITY CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Washburn Rural girls tennis completed a sweep of city, Centennial League and Class 6A regional team championships Friday at Kossover Tennis Center, with the Junior Blues qualifying their entire team for state for the second straight season.

Washburn Rural poses for a team picture after winning the team championship in Friday's Class 6A tennis regional tournament at Kossover Tennis Center. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

The Junior Blues' doubles teams of seniors Julia Katzer and Halle Owen and junior Annie Henderson and Kinley Ladd posted a one-two finish while Rural sophomore Bridget Hoopes and freshman Karmyn Faul placed second and third in singles to punch their tickets to next Friday and Saturday's 6A state meet at Riverside Tennis Complex in Wichita.

"We were able to finish how we were seeded and that's always what your goal is,'' Washburn Rural coach Michelle Rose said. "We've got the triple trifecta going this year and I just want them to stay relaxed and play their best tennis.''

Washburn Rural senior doubles player Halle Owen returns a shot in Friday's Class 6A tennis regional tournament at Kossover Tennis Center. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Washburn Rural senior Julia Katzer (above) teamed with Halle Owen to win a second straight Class 6A regional doubles title Friday at Kossover Tennis Center. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Katzer and Owen, who earlier captured city and Centennial League titles, took a 6-1, 6-2 decision over teammates Henderson and Ladd in the regional doubles final.

Washburn Rural sophomore Bridget Hoopes finished second in singles in Friday's Class 6A regional at Kossover Tennis Center. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Hoopes advanced to the singles final before dropping a 6-0, 6-2 decision to Junction City senior standout Hannah Micheel.

After dropping a semifinal singles match to teammate Hoopes, Rural's Faul bounced back to take a 6-0, 6-1 win over Manhattan's Sutton Weixelman in the third-place match. 

CLASS 6A GIRLS TENNIS REGIONAL

By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news

FRIDAY'S GAMES

(Allkickoffs at 7 p.m.)

Mason Becker, Hayden

PERRY-LECOMPTON (3-2, 1-1 3A District 3) at HAYDEN (1-4, 1-0 3A District 3)

Hayden picked up its first win of the season last Friday, opening Class 3A District 3 play with a 32-21 home win over Baldwin. Perry-Lecompton picked up a district win by forfeit over KC-Bishop Ward last Friday. Hayden senior Mason Becker scored 19 of the Wildcats 31 points against Baldwin and has rushed for 171 yards and three touchdowns on 27 attempts on the season. Sophomore Jairus Todwong leads the Wildcats with 493 yards and four touchdowns on 54 carries. Junior quarterback Ryker Tetuan, who missed the Baldwin game with an injury, has completed 42 of 91 pass attempts for 376 yards and two touchdowns. Senior Landon Power has 18 catches for 174 yards.

Nas Williams-Brown, Topeka West

SPRING HILL (5-0, 5-0 UKC) at TOPEKA WEST (1-4, 1-4 UKC)

Topeka West dropped a 50-8 United Kansas Conference road decision at Leavenworth last Friday and faces another tough test this week against undefeated Spring Hill. Spring Hill stayed unbeaten last Friday with a 76-35 UKC win over Shawnee Heights. West junior Nas Williams-Brown has established himself as one of the top offensive threats in the conference. 

WABAUNSEE (2-3, 0-0 1A District 2) at ROSSVILLE (3-2, 0-0 1A District 2)

Rossville is coming off a big 47-20 Big East League win at Royal Valley last Friday and opens Class 1A District 2 play this week. Bulldawg junior Landen Lewis had a hand in six touchdowns against Royal Valley, running for four TDs and passing for a pair of scores. Lewis has completed 65 of 93 passes on the season for 831 yards and nine touchdowns and has carried the ball 84 times for 572 yards and 12 TDs. Cael Horgan has 21 catches for 296 yards and a TD while Cale Horak has 13 catches for 255 yards and three TDs and Dalen Dick has 17 catches for 177 yards and two TDs. Wabaunsee is coming off an 18-14 loss to Jackson Heights.

CAIR PARAVEL (4-1, 1-0 8-Man I District 3) at LYNDON (2-2, 1-0 8-Man I District 3)

Cair Paravel Latin is off to a quick start in its return to the Eight-Man ranks, improving to 4-1 on the season and 1-0 in Eight-Man I District 3 with last week's 54-6 romp past Pleasanton. Lyndon is coming off a 56-14 rout over Northern Heights. Cair Paravel senior Cole Haubold has rushed for 453 yards and 11 touchdowns on 38 attempts while junior quarterback Chase Hastert has completed 18 of 32 passes for 353 yards and five touchdowns and rushed for 318 yards and four TDs on 36 attempts. Haubold has been in on 42 tackles (25 solo) with eight tackles for loss.

JoJo Kingcannon, Highland Park

HIGHLAND PARK (1-4, 1-2 Meadowlark) at KC-HARMON (3-2, 1-1 Meadowlark)

Highland Park returns to Meadowlark Conference play Friday night and will be looking to bounce back after dropping a 52-0 non-league decision to Blue Valley Southwest last week. The Scots are led by senior quarterback JoJo Kingcannon, who has been forced to shoulder must of the offensive load after the loss of Shawnee County Top 22 running back G'Honi Montgomery in the second game of the season.

Cale Ketter, Seaman

SEAMAN (3-2, 3-2 UKC) at LEAVENWORTH (3-2, 3-2 UKC)

Seaman stretched its winning streak to three games last Friday with a 62-0 home United Kansas Conference romp past KC-Turner. Leavenworth is also coming off a win, taking a 50-8 UKC decision over Topeka West. Seaman senior quarterback Cale Ketter has completed 94 of 146 passes for 1,546 yards and 18 touchdowns while senior Coy Barta has 34 receptions for 747 yards and seven TDs. Junior Quentin Moravec has carried the ball 68 times for 521 yards and five TDs. 

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Coming off a disappointing 5-2 road loss Tuesday night at Wichita Bishop Carroll, Washburn Rural's boys soccer team was in need of a bounce-back win Thursday.

Senior star Brodye Kocher-Munoz made sure that happened, scoring all five of the Junior Blues' goals in a 5-0 Centennial League win over Manhattan at McElroy Field.

Washburn Rural coach Brian Hensyel waits to congratulate Brodye Kocher-Munoz after the senior star scored his fifth goal in Thursday's 5-0 win over Manhattan. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Kocher-Munoz scored the only goal the Junior Blues would need at the 21:52 mark of the first half and had a hat trick by halftime, scoring his second and third goals of the night 21 seconds apart at the 4:45 and 4:24 mark.

Kocher-Munoz added his fourth goal at the 29:12 mark of the second half and picked up goal No. 5 with 9:18 remaining before Rural coach Brian Hensyel removed him from the game.

Washburn Rural senior Brodye Kocher-Munoz receives a hug from coach Brian Hensyel after scoring a career-high five goals, one off the school record. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

"I feel like if we score first, the energy just keeps building up and we just keep bringing it on teams, so that was the motivation tonight,'' Kocher-Munoz said.

"I just found out how to get open and just had to come up and bury them in the back of the net.''

Hensyel said that the Junior Blues count a lot on Kocher-Munoz to come through.

"He's one of the returning guys from last year's (state championhip) team that was very special and he made a lot of plays last year,'' Hensyel said. "It's hard to be the guy that everybody knows is trying to attack and knows is the person that we need, but that's his job.

"He knows that, so it was nice to see him tonight play a really good game.''

Senior Myles Didde (right) registered two assists in Washburn Rural's 5-0 Centennial League win over Manhattan Thursday. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN] 

Senior Myles Didde was credited with a pair of assists for the Junior Blues while juniors Miles Doyal and Kaden Myers combined for the shutout in goal as Washburn Rural improved to 5-5-2 overall and 3-0 in the Centennial League.

"We've just got to get rolling in the right direction,'' Hensyel said. "We want to win the league, but outside of that it's all about the end of the year for us. That's how it always has been.

"We may have to go on the road (in postseason), which is kind of unusual for us, but I still think we're capable and I tell these guys every day, in a one-game scenario is there anybody in the state you couldn't beat one night, one game and I think we could be in any game with any team, so that means anything's possible.''

The Junior Blues will return to action next Tuesday, traveling to Emporia for a Centennial League contest.

WASHBURN RURAL 5, MANHATTAN 0

Manhattan (4-7-0, 2-2-0)         0 0 -- 0

Washburn Rural (5-5-2, 3-0-0) 3 2 -- 5

Washburn Rural -- Goals: Brodye Kocher-Munoz 5. Assists: Myles Didde 2. Shutout: Myles Doyal, Kaden Myers.

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Washburn Rural sophomore volleyball standout Brynn Anderson and Hayden sophomore football standout Jairus Todwong have been selected as the Brandon Aldridge State Farm Insurance Agency Rising Stars of the Week.

The Brandon Aldridge Agency will recognize top Shawnee County underclassmen throughout the 2026-2027 school year.

Here's a brief look at last week's accomplishments of Anderson and Todwong.

Brynn Anderson, Washburn Rural

BRYNN ANDERSON, Washburn Rural

A 5-foot-11 leftside hitter, Anderson helped lead Washburn Rural to a 4-1 record and a second-place finish in Saturday's Centennial League tournament.

Anderson helped the Junior Blues post victories over Emporia (25-13, 25-20), Hayden (25-23, 25-15), Junction City (25-16, 25-8) and Topeka High (25-15, 25-14) while Rural's lone loss came against Manhattan (25-21, 25-17).

Anderson earned first-team All-Shawnee County honors in volleyball and basketball as a freshman while also earning a Class 6A state berth in track and field.

Jairus Todwong, Hayden 

JAIRUS TODWONG, Hayden

Todwong, a 6-foot, 180-pound running back/free safety, carried the ball 14 times for 123 yards in Friday's 31-21 Class 3A District 3 home football victory over Baldwin as Hayden picked up its first win of the season.

Todwong has rushed for a team-high 493 yards and four touchdowns on 54 attempts over the first five games of the season.

Todwong, who earned varsity playing time as a freshman, has also caught eight passes for 103 yards, returned four kickoffs for 77 yards and three punts for 84 yards.

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Jadyn Baum

JADYN BAUM, Washburn Rural

A senior running back, Baum carried the ball 22 times for 183 yards and all three of Washburn Rural's touchdowns in Friday's 24-8 home Centennial League victory over Emporia. Baum scored touchdowns on runs of 20, 5 and 40 yards as the Junior Blues improved to 3-2 on the season and 2-0 in the league.

Mason Becker 

MASON BECKER, Hayden

Becker, a senior, scored 19 of Hayden's 31 points in Friday's 31-21 home Class 3A District 3 victory over Baldwin as the Wildcats picked up their first win of the season. Becker scored on runs of 58 and 11 yards and kicked a 30-yard field goal and four extra points. 

Landen Lewis 

LANDEN LEWIS, Rossville

A junior quarterback, Lewis had a hand in six touchdowns in Rossville's 47-20 Big East League road victory at Royal Valley. Lewis scored on runs of 1, 5, 35 and 20 yards and also threw for 17 and 57-yard TDs as the Bulldawgs improved to 3-2 on the season.

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Washburn Rural won its 17th Centennial League girls tennis championship in 23 seasons Monday at Kossover Tennis Center, regaining the crown after a brief two-year absence.

Washburn Rural's tennis team poses for a picture after winning the Centennial League championship Monday at Kossover Tennis Center. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

The Junior Blues rode a one-two doubles finish from Julia Katzer and Halle Owen and Annie Henderson and Kinley Ladd to a 40-31 win over Junction City, with Hayden placing third with 29 points.

Katzer and Owen took a 6-0, 6-0 decision over teammates Henderson and Ladd in the doubles final while the Junior Blues also got a fourth-place singles finish from Bridget Hoopes and a fifth from Karmyn Faul.

"Overall, it's been a very fun, exciting day,'' Washburn Rural coach Michelle Rose said. "I've seen some of our players play with the courage and the desire and the belief in themselves and I think as a coach you always want your players to believe in themselves and when you actually see them do it, it's really satisfying.''

Washburn Rural seniors Julia Katzer (left) and Halle Owen captured the Centennial League doubles title Monday at Kossover Tennis Center, leading the Junior Blues to the team title. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Katzer and Owen won the Centennial Leagues doubles championship after earning their second straight No. 1 doubles title in the recent city tournament.

"It's really nice,'' Owen said of the league title. "We've put in a lot of hard work during this season and the offseason and I know that our (No.) 2 team has, too, so it's nice playing them in this final, which was really fun.''

"It's kind of building our confidence as we go into regionals and state,'' Katzer said. "It's really exciting. We've worked really hard for this moment and I can't wait to see how our season ends.''    

Junction City senior Hannah Micheel won the singles championship with a 6-0, 6-0 decision over Hayden sophomore Lana Hull.

Hayden sophomore Lana Hull posted a runnerup Centennial League singles finish Monday, leading the Wildcats to a third-place team finish. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

In addition to Hull's runnerup singles finish Hayden got a third-place doubles finish from juniors Hailey Caryl and Sophia Wichman.

Washburn Rural and Topeka High will compete in a Class 6A regional Friday at Kossover, vying for state berths.

"We're super excited to be hosting regionals at Kossover,'' Rose said. "We welcome anyone in the community to come out and watch. It's going to be a fun, great day of tennis.''

Hayden will travel to Chanute for a 4A regional Friday and Saturday.  

CENTENNIAL LEAGUE GIRLS TENNIS

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Individual champion Brynn Spencer led Seaman to the team title in Saturday's Seaman Invitational at Shawnee North Community Center.

Spencer, a senior, clocked a winning five-kilometer time of 19 minutes, 44.37 seconds to win by more than 39 seconds while the Vikings also got a third-place finish from senior Kinley Robinson (20:39.91) and a fifth from freshman Morgan Ranson (20:47.86) en route to the team title by a 38-45 margin over Piper.

Senior Brynn Spencer captured the girls individual title to lead Seaman to the team championship in Saturday's Seaman Invitational cross country meet at Shawnee North. [File photo/TSN]

Freshman Brinley Cochran finished 15th (21:44.01) and senior Hannah Wempe 20th (22:33.86) to round out Seaman's top five scoring runners.

A split team from Washburn Rural finished fifth with 130 points while Topeka High finished sixth (167) and Shawnee Heights seventh (174).

Sophomore Clara Dillon paced Rural with an 18th-place finish (21:54.28) while junior Emma Womack placed 25th (23:11.43) to lead Topeka High and freshman Claudia Memmet finished 33rd (23:41.07) to lead Shawnee Heights.

Blue Valley Northwest won the boys team title with 23 points while Seaman's boys finished fourth as a team with 94 points as sophomore Trindon Jones led the Vikings with a ninth-place finish in 16:57.52.

A split team for Washburn Rural finished fifth (99 points), with freshman Mariner Svaty placing 16th (17:34.44) and junior Gauge Dial finishing 18th (17:37.42).

Shawnee Heights finished seventh as a team (199 points) and Topeka High eighth (213) while Topeka West had four individual runners.

Senior Andrew Schulte led Shawnee Heights with a 22nd-place finish (17:47.53) while Topeka High junior Oliver Snethen placed a team-high 28th (18:01.35) for the Trojans and senior Ezra Phelps led Topeka West with a 35th-place finish (18:11.02).

The city championships will be contested next Saturday at Shawnee Heights (9 a.m. start).

SEAMAN INVITATIONAL

By CHARLES SPURLOCK

Special to TopSports.news

The Washburn Rural Junior Blues battled against Centennial League foe Emporia Spartans on Homecoming night Friday in Topeka. In a game where the Spartans gained more yards offensively, it was the Junior Blues who gained the upper hand, winning 24-8.

On the Junior Blues' opening possession, they had a nine-play, 58-yard drive, culminating in a 20-yard touchdown run by senior Jadyn Baum, giving Washburn Rural a 7-0 lead.

Washburn Rural senior Jadyn Baum rushed for 183 yards and scored three TDs in Friday's 24-8 win over Emporia. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]

Both teams remained scoreless for the remainder of the first quarter but Washburn Rural was able to get back on the scoreboard four minutes into the second quarter on Baum’s second touchdown of the game, a 5-yard run that gave the Junior Blues a 14-0 lead.

Just three minutes later, Rural was able to extend its lead on a 22-yard field goal by senior Ryan Austin and the Blues took a 17-0 lead into halftime.

Senior Max Bervert caught two passes for 59 yards in Washburn Rural's 24-8 win over Emporia. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]

The third quarter saw both teams make excellent adjustments, but with just 1:33 left in the third stanza, Baum scored his third touchdown of the night on a spectacular 40-yard run. Baum followed up last week’s three touchdown performance against Topeka High by repeating the feat against Emporia.

The Spartans were finally able to get on the scoreboard with just a little over a minute left in the game on a 1-yard run by senior running back Ben Collins. They were able to convert the two-point conversion on a pass from sophomore quarterback Cael Claibourn to senior wide receiver Talon Kirk.

Washburn Rural improved their record to 3-2 on the season and will travel out of state next Friday night to face the Millard West Wildcats of Omaha, Neb. Kickoff will be at 7 p.m.

WASHBURN RURAL 24, EMPORIA 8

Emporia (2–3. 0-2)              0 0 0 8 -- 8

Washburn Rural (3-2, 2-0) 7 10 7 0 -- 24

Washburn Rural -- Baum 20 run (Austin kick)

Washburn Rural -- Baum 5 run (Austin kick)

Washburn Rural -- Austin 22 field goal

Washburn Rural -- Baum 40 run (Austin kick)

Emporia -- Collins 1 run (Kirk pass from Claibourn)

Individual statistics

Rushing -- Emporia:Collins 26-146; Rodecap 10-37, Claibourn 14-18, Kirk 1-1, Clifton 1-(-5). Washburn Rural:Baum 22-183, Lone 3-1, Ingold 2-(-10), Wallace 2-(-16).

Passing -- Emporia:Claibourn 5-10-1, 55 yards. Washburn Rural:Wallace 4-13-0, 71 yards.

Receiving -- Emporia:Franklin 1-23, Kirk 1-17, Kline 1-13, Rodecap 1-3. Washburn Rural:Bervert 2-59, Schumacher 1-7, Whiteside 1-5.

Punting -- Emporia:Franklin 3-39.0. Washburn Rural: Austin 3-39.3.

By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news

(Allkickoffs at 7 p.m.)

FRIDAY'S GAMES

Jadyn Baum, Washburn Rural (26) 

EMPORIA (2-2, 0-1 Centennial) at WASHBURN RURAL (2-2, 1-0 Centennial)

Washburn Rural opened Centennial League play with a 34-7 win over city rival Topeka High at Hummer Sports Park last Friday while Emporia dropped a 32-6 Centennial League game against Junction City. Washburn Rural senior star running back Jadyn Baum carried the ball 34 times for 180 yards and three touchdowns against the Trojans. Emporia sophomore quarterback Cael Claibourn has completed eight of 18 passes for 234 yards and five touchdowns and rushed for 289 yards and five TDs on 26 attempts. Spartan senior Ben Collins has 414 rushing yards and five touchdowns on 75 attempts.

Jairus Todwong, Hayden

BALDWIN (3-1, 1-0 3A District 3) at HAYDEN (0-4, 0-0 3A District 3)

Hayden, which has advanced to the Class 3A state championship game three straight seasons, will open Class 3A District 3 competition Friday night. The Wildcats are coming off a 49-28 loss to St. Mary's South Side, Mo. last Friday while Baldwin opened district play with a 28-0 shutout victory over Perry-Lecompton. Hayden sophomore Jairus Todwong carried the ball 18 times for 97 yards and two touchdowns against St. Mary's while senior Logan Power had seven catches for 88 yards. Bulldawg senior quarterback Bryis Alford has completed 28 of 48 passes for 439 yards and four touchdowns and carried the ball 40 times for 345 yards and eight TDs.

Cale Ketter, Seaman

TURNER (0-4, 0-4) at SEAMAN (2-2, 2-2)

Seaman has won two straight games since an 0-2 start, including a 41-17 United Kansas Conference victory over Lansing last Friday, while Turner is still looking for its first win of the season after a 56-7 non-league loss to Leavenworth. Seaman senior quarterback Cale Ketter has completed 80 of 130 passes for 1,322 yards and 12 touchdowns while senior Coy Barta has caught 30 passes for 685 yards and five TDs. Junior running back Quentin Moravec has carried the ball 59 times for 418 yards and four TDs. Bryson Fehr has 50 tackles for the Vikings (30 solo), with six tackles for loss.

BV SOUTHWEST (0-4) vs. HIGHLAND PARK (1-3)

At Hummer Sports Park

Highland Park dropped a 12-6 Meadowlark Conference nailbiter on the road to Kansas City-Sumner Academy last Friday while Blue Valley Southwest remained winless with a 41-28 loss to traditional state power Bishop Miege. Senior JoJo Kingcannon has been the go-to guy for Highland Park, which lost senior star G'Honi Montgomery to a season-ending injury in the second game of the season. Blue Valley Southwest junior quarterback Michael Dunn has completed 64 of 129 passes for 824 yards.

Trone Purvis, Shawnee Heights 

SPRING HILL (4-0, 4-0 UKC) at SHAWNEE HEIGHTS (1-3, 1-3 UKC)

Shawnee Heights will be looking to bounce back from a 58-40 United Kansas Conference road loss to Topeka West while Spring Hill remained unbeaten with a 24-0 conference win over Basehor-Linwood. T-Bird senior quarterback Kolby Kutscher has completed 46 of 85 passes for 760 yards and eight touchdowns while sophomore Fletcher Terrell has caught 17 passes for 366 yards and six TDs. Senior Trone Purvis has carried the ball 74 times for 413 yards and five touchdowns. 

CAIR PARAVEL LATIN (3-1, 0-0 8-Man-I District 3) vs. PLEASANTON (2-2, 1-0 8-Man-I District 3)

At Veritas Christian, Lawrence

Cair Paravel surpassed is 2025 win total with a 54-8 romp past Rural Vista last Friday and will host Pleasanton in a Eight-Man Division I District 3 contest at Veritas Christian School in Lawrence. Pleasanton is coming off a 38-36 win over Northern Heights. Cair Paravel senior Cole Haubold has carried the ball 21 times for 331 yards and seven touchdowns while leading the Lions with 32 tackles (20 solo) and seven tackles for loss. Junior quarterback Chase Hastert has completed seven of 18 passes for 215 yards and four TDs and has 234 rushing yards and four TDs on 24 carries. 

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

The Topeka Shawnee County Sports Hall of Fame will induct four local greats on Wednesday, Oct. 14, at the Cyrus Hotel in downtown Topeka.

Former Shawnee Heights and Washburn University multi-sport star Jessica Mainz will be one of four 2026 Topeka Shawnee County Sports Hall of Fame inductees on Oct. 14. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]

Powered by the Topeka Area Sports Commission and sponsored by the Bill Kennedy Driving School, the event will induct Jessica Mainz, C.B. McGrath, Mit Winter and Sam Winter as the Class of 2026.

Mainz is a former Shawnee Heights and Washburn University multi-sport star while McGrath was a multi-sport star at Topeka West and basketball guard at the University of Kansas before embarking on a long coaching career.

Mit and Sam Winter, both Washburn Rural graduates, will be the first brothers inducted into the local shrine. Mit and Sam both starred in basketball for Rural before going to to become standouts at William and Mary and Harvard, respectively.   

The formal induction ceremony will begin at 5 p.m. in the Cyrus Hotel ballroom and conclude at 6:30. The evening will connect the newest class with those already enshrined and celebrate the athletic legacy of Topeka and Shawnee County.

The Topeka Shawnee County Hall of Fame honors past area athletes, coaches and contributors who have made a lasting mark on the Topeka community through sports.

The annual recognition preserves their stories and provides an opportunity to celebrate the people whose accomplishments have helped shape the community’s sports tradition.

Hall of Fame capsules:

JESSICA MAINZ -- A multi-sport star at Shawnee Heights, Mainz went on to earn All-America honors and two MIAA Most Valuable Player awards in soccer at Washburn University, scoring 47 career goals, and also earned two MIAA Defensive Player of the Year awards in basketball and became the first woman in conference history to receive MVP honors in two different sports. Mainz is a member of the Washburn and MIAA halls of fame.

C.B. McGRATH -- McGrath earned 13 varsity letters in four sports at Topeka West and was named Kansas Basketball Player of the Year in 1994. He played point guard at the University of Kansas under Roy Williams before joining Williams’ coaching staff. At North Carolina, he served as an assistant coach on the 2005, 2009, and 2017 NCAA national championship teams and later became head coach at UNC Wilmington.

MIT WINTER -- Winter earned All-State and first-team All-Centennial League basketball recognition at Washburn Rural before becoming a four-year basketball letterman at William and Mary. His collegiate highlights included a 36-point performance against James Madison, with a perfect 17-for-17 performance at the free throw line, and the university’s President’s Award for Leadership, Sportsmanship, and Citizenship.

SAM WINTER -- Winter earned All-State, first-team All-City and All-Centennial League basketball honors at Washburn Rural before continuing his career at Harvard University. He led the Ivy League in rebounding in 2003 and went on to play professional basketball in Switzerland.

For event information contact Mike Bell at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Seaman tennis star Emma Sweeney continued her outstanding senior season Tuesday at Kossover Tennis Center, claiming the No. 1 singles championship in the 11-school Topeka West Invitational.

Senior Emma Sweeney won the No. 1 singles title in Tuesday's Topeka West Invitational, leading the Vikings to a second-place team finish. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

The two-time city champion, who took an 8-1 win over Junction City's Hannah Micheel in Tuesday's championship match, led the Vikings to a second-place team finish behind Blue Valley West (53-51).

Seaman's Cadence Speer (left) and Camryn Lux posted a runnerup finish in No. 1 doubles in Tuesday's Topeka West Invitational. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Seaman's Lilli Wiens finished second in No. 2 singles in Tuesday's 11-school Topeka West Invitational. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

In addition to Sweeney's title, Seaman got second-place finishes from Lilli Wiens in No. 1 singles, Camryn Lux and Cadence Speer in No. 1 doubles and Prokop and Kallie Zurmely in No. 2 doubles.

Wiens dropped an 8-2 decision to Blue Valley West's Angie Wang in the No. 2 singles final while BV West took an 8-2 win over Lux and Speer in the No. 1 doubles final and took an 8-5 win over Prokop and Zurmely in the No. 1 doubles title match. 

A split team from Washburn Rural finished seventh as a team while Shawnee Heights finished ninth and Topeka West 11th.

The Centennial League tournament will be held at Kossover on Monday while the United Kansas Conference meet will be contested on Tuesday at Kossover. 

TOPEKA WEST INVITATIONAL GIRLS TENNIS

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Julia Katzer

JULIA KATZER, Washburn Rural

A senior, Katzer teamed with Halle Owen to win a second straight city tennis championship in No. 1 doubles last Thursday at Kossover Tennis Center, leading the Junior Blues to the team title by a 32-28 margin over Seaman. Katzer and Owen earned the championship with an 8-3 win over Hayden juniors Hailey Caryl and Sophia Wichman in the final.

Halle Owen

HALLE OWEN, Washburn Rural

Owen, a senior, teamed with Julia Katzer to win a second straight city tennis championship in No. 1 doubles last Thursday at Kossover Tennis Center, leading Washburn Rural to the team title by a 32-28 margin over Seaman. Owen and Katzer earned the championship with an 8-3 win over Hayden juniors Hailey Caryl and Sophia Wichman in the final.

 Chloe Schmidtlein

CHLOE SCHMIDTLEIN, Seaman

Schmidtlein, a senior, captured her first individual championship in last Monday's city girls golf tournament at Cypress Ridge, shooting a 78 to take medalist honors by a whopping nine strokes. Schmidtlein is a returning Class 5A state medalist, tying for 19th as a junior. 

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

A week after posting a nine-stroke victory in the city tournament Seaman senior Chloe Schmidtlein added the United Kansas Conference individual title by two strokes Monday at Painted Hills Golf Course in Kansas City, Kan.

Seaman senior Chloe Schmidtlein shot a 79 to win the UKC individual title by two strokes. [File photo/TSN]

Schmidtlein carded a 79 while De Soto's Mckenzie Laster and Basehor-Linwood's Aubrey Ziolo tied for second with 81s.

The Vikings finished second as a team, with Spring Hill ending Seaman's UKC championship reign by a 367-378 margin.

Seaman also got a tie for eighth from Kaitlynn Frye with a 91 while Penelope Kruesi (99) and Cara Beaton (109) rounded out the Vikings' top four.

Shawnee Heights finished sixth as a team, led by Lauryn Valdivia' tie for eighth (91).   

UNITED KANSAS CONFERENCE GIRLS GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP

At Painted Hills 

Team scores

Spring Hill 367, Seaman 378, Basehor-Linwood 387, De Soto 387, Piper 399, Shawnee Heights 413, Turner 578.

Individual results

1. Chloe Schmidtlein, Seaman, 79; 2. (tie) Mckenzie Laster, De Soto, and Aubrey Ziolo, Basehor-Linwood, 81; 4. (tie) Claire Fitzgerald, Basehor-Linwood, and Emily Taylor, De Soto, 84; 6. Lydia Herthel, Spring Hill, 85; 7. Kinsley Miller, Spring Hill, 90; 8. (tie) Kaitlyn Frye, Seaman; Addison Nichols, Spring Hill, and Lauryn Valdivia, Shawnee Heights, 91.

Other Seaman -- Penelope Kruesi 99, Cara Beaton 109, Lauren Glasgow 115, Leah Crawford 125.

Other Shawnee Heights -- Elsie Willmann 101, Avery Domme 101, Ashlyn Mattox 120. 

Senior Kailyn Petersen finished second in Monday's Centennial League tournament to lead Washburn Rural to a runnerup team finish. [File photo/TSN]

Petersen, Junior Blues post runnerup Centennial League finishes

Washburn Rural finished second as a team to defending Class 6A state champion Manhattan in Monday's Centennial League tournament at Stagg Hills in Manhattan while Junior Blues senior Kailyn Petersen was the individual runnerup.

Individual champion Maddie Myers shot a sizzling 69 to take medalist honors by 12 strokes over Petersen (81) while the Indians won the team title by a 346-362 margin over the Junior Blues.

Rural's Reese Elliott finished fifth individually (89) while Liz Halstead finished ninth (95) and Emery Hall and LynnLee Mullins tied for 10th (97). 

Senior Brooke Johnson paced Hayden with a third-place individual finish (85) as the Wildcats finished third as a team. 

CENTENNIAL LEAGUE GIRLS GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP

At Stagg Hill 

Team scores

Manhattan 346, Washburn Rural 362, Hayden 387, Emporia 418, Junction City 458.

Individual results

1. Maddie Myers, Manhattan, 69; 2. Kailyn Petersen, Washburn Rural, 81; 3. Brooke Johnson, Hayden, 85; 4. Taylen Koch, Emporia, 87; 5. Reese Elliott, Washburn Rural, 89; 6. Lilly Nelson, Manhattan, 91; 7. (tie) Gabby Fehr, Manhattan, and Addy Crouch, Manhattan, 93; 9. Liz Halstead, Washburn Rural, 95; 10. (tie) Emery Hall, Washburn Rural; LynnLee Mullins, Washburn Rural, and Emily Hartung, Manhattan, 97.

Other Washburn Rural -- Brynley Scott 99.

Other Hayden -- Avery Becker 100, Morgan Johnson 101, Emma Matthews 101, Esa Herarra 104, Maura Tolin 106.

Topeka High -- Braylin Selk 139, Riley McMillian 148.

Host Eagles win title in invitational

Silver Lake posted an 11-stroke team win in Monday's Silver Lake Invitational at Cypress Ridge, winning by a 384-395 margin over Holton.

 The Eagles' Zara Nilsson shot an 85 to finish a stroke behind medalist Addison Fechter of Jefferson West while Silver Lake's Avenley Head finished third with an 89.

Rossville finished fifth as a team but the Bulldawgs got a sixth-place finish from Elley Sanders (97), an eighth from Maya Donovan (99) and a tie for 10th from Gloria Stebbins (102).

SILVER LAKE INVITATIONAL GIRLS GOLF 

At Cypress Ridge

Team scores

Silver Lake 384, Holton 395, Jefferson West 401, Osage City 403, Rossville 413, Silver Lake 'B' 469.

Individual results

1. Addison Fechter, Jefferson West, 84; 2. Zara Nilsson, Silver Lake, 85; 3. Avenley Head, Silver Lake, 89; 4. Bree Barrow, Holton, 91; 5. Brynlee Harmon, Osage City, 93; 6. Elley Sanders, Rossville, 97; 7. Alyssa Stich, Holton, 98; 8. Maya Donovan, Rossville, 99; 9. Adalie Alley, Holton, 101; 10. (tie) Gloria Stebbins, Rossville, and Sawyer Serna, Osage City, 102.

Other Silver Lake -- Ashley Hanna 105, Savanah Wende 105, Morgan Ackerly 110, Ali Gerber 116, Alissa Thomas 116, Addy Just 117, Addison Beyer 117, Ciara Hall 119.

Other Rossville -- Joan Pottorf 115, Reese Olejnik 118. 

By TODD FERTIG

TopSports.news

Washburn Rural rode running back Jadyn Baum to a 34-7 victory over Topeka High at Hummer Sports Park Friday. The Junior Blues improved to 2-2 and picked up a win to open Centennial League play.

Senior Jadyn Baum rushed for 180 yards and three touchdowns in Washburn Rural's 34-7 win over Topeka High. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

Washburn Rural was without its top two quarterbacks due to injury, but coach Steve Buhler had a plan. He put the Junior Blues on Baum’s back, and the senior came through.

The state wrestling champion carried the ball 32 times for 160 yards in the first half, scoring all three of Washburn Rural’s touchdowns to stake the visitors to a 21-0 advantage. Once the game was in hand, Baum carried just two more times, resting most of the second half.

“When they told me he had 32 carries at halftime, it kind of shocked me a little bit,” Buhler said. “But with a new quarterback, a young sophomore quarterback, (Baum) knew we were going to have to rely on him and on the offensive line. I thought the line did a really nice job of giving him some room to run. And he just does some phenomenal things.”

“That was a first for me,” Baum said about the number of first half carries. “My body feels good. It was definitely draining, but it’s worth it. If the team needs me to have 30 carries in the first half, I’ll do it every game.”

 Sophomore quarterback Jaihonis Wallace made his first career start in Washburn Rural's 34-7 win over Topeka High Friday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

Junior Isaiah Whiteside caught a 13-yard touchdown pass in Washburn Rural's 34-7 win over Topeka High. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

With senior quarterbacks Gavin Vantuyl and Gabriel Taylor sidelined, the Junior Blues turned to JV starter Jaihonis Wallace. The sophomore fired a touchdown strike to junior Isaiah Whiteside to open the second half. Wallace, who finished up the fourth period of the Junior Blues’ previous game, completed six of his 10 attempts for 72 yards.

“I was helping him out with signals and just helping him on confidence,” Baum said. “Obviously, a sophomore being put in that position after watching two quarterbacks go down in the same game, that’s pretty nerve-wracking. So, whatever I can do to help him, I’m gonna do. I think he did good.

"There’s always room for improvement, but he’s hungry. I love his dedication. He’s like a sponge in practice, just soaking up everything on the varsity level, adapting to everything.”

After the Junior Blues’ Ryan Austin booted field goals of 28 and 22 yards, Washburn Rural went deep into its bench.

“It’s good for our young guys,” Buhler said. “You know, they put in a lot of work. That’s why we tell them, we suit them up to get an opportunity to play on Friday night. It kind of whets their appetite a little bit. We usually see better practices and better JV and freshman performances. So, it’s good to get them in.”

The Junior Blues are on a four-game string of alternating losses and wins. Buhler said the team remains positive with four games remaining, three in the wide-open Centennial League.

“I think it’s a resilient group,” Buhler said. “Week 1 we had a rough week, but we came back, bounced back with a win against Olathe South. Last week was a rough week for us (losing 34-23 to Bishop Carroll). We came back with a good performance tonight.”

The Junior Blues’ defense totally throttled Topeka High in the first half, during which the Trojans never advanced past their own 41-yard-line. Topeka High managed just five yards of total offense prior to intermission and finished with just 117 yards for the entire game, much of which came on a 53-yard scoring dash by Ricardo Dowd late in the contest.

“(I liked) the consistency of the defense all night,” Buhler said. “We talked about that with them all week. Offensively, we didn’t do that, had some penalties that kind of killed some drives. But defensively we played a clean football game. We were disciplined in the things we were doing, and I really liked the effort and the focus they played with tonight.”

WASHBURN RURAL 34, TOPEKA HIGH 7

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

After a two-year absence, Washburn Rural re-claimed the Topeka city girls tennis team championship Thursday at Kossover Tennis Center.

Washburn Rural poses for a team picture after winning the city girls tennis championship by a 32-28 margin over Seaman Thursday at Kossover Tennis Center. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Two-time city No. 1 doubles champs Julia Katzer and Halle Owen led the way as the Junior Blues won three of four divisions on the way to a 32-28 victory over 2025 champion Seaman while 2024 champ Hayden finished third with 24 points.

Washburn Rural seniors Halle Owen (left) and Julia Katzer won their second straight city title in No. 1 doubles Thursday at Kossover Tennis Center. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN] 

Katzer and Owen, both seniors, earned their repeat city title with an 8-3 win over Hayden juniors Hailey Caryl and Sophia Wichman and said their biggest thrill of the day was helping the Junior Blues win the team championship.

"We didn't win as a team last year, so I just really wanted to come through with that win so we could help the team out,'' Katzer said.

"It was a goal going in,'' Owen said of the team title. "I know we have a lot of strong players and we have a lot of strong underclassmen coming up, so I think that with a lot of the hard work that we've put in it's been good and it's paying off to win as a team.''

Washburn Rural also got city titles in No. 2 singles from Karmyn Faul and in No. 2 doubles from Annie Henderson and Kinley Ladd.

Faul topped Cair Paravel Latin's Mia Poole 8-6 in the No. 2 singles final while Henderson and Ladd took an 8-4 win over Seaman in the No. 2 doubles title match.

"The girls stayed patient, they remembered to play their game and stayed focused, and when you have a lead keep that gas pedal down and don't let up because these girls at these other schools are relentless and they're not going to stop,'' Washburn Rural coach Michelle Rose said.

Seaman senior Emma Sweeney won her second straight city title in No. 1 singles Thursday at Kossover Tennis Center, remaining undefeated on the season. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Undefeated Seaman senior star Emma Sweeney won her second straight No. 1 singles championship to pace the runnerup Vikings, taking an 8-0 win over Cair Paravel's Madelyn Poole in the final.

Sweeney, the Class 5A singles runnerup as a junior, lost just one game on the day after receiving a first-round bye, improving to 13-0 on the season.

"I think I've been playing pretty loose so far and that's always the goal, just to play better each day,'' Sweeney said. "I think I can always do better and work harder but so far I think I've been putting my all into each match and not taking anyone easy and just playing loose. That's the whole point.

"We've been working really hard as a team and we talk every single day about how we're going to put it all out there this year. Getting second in singles and as a team last year it was a big hurt, but we're coming back and we're all just ready to leave it out there.''

TOPEKA CITY GIRLS TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP

By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news

(Allkickoffs at 7 p.m.)

THURSDAY'S GAME

Fletcher Terrell, Shawnee Heights [File photo/TSN]

SHAWNEE HEIGHTS (1-2, 1-2) vs. TOPEKA WEST (0-3, 0-3)

At Hummer Sports Park

Shawnee Heights is coming off a 62-7 United Kansas Conference road loss at Seaman last Friday while Topeka West dropped a 42-14 UKC decision at Lansing. Shawnee Heights senior quarterback Kolby Kutscher has completed 39 of 68 passes for 673 yards and six touchdowns while sophomore Fletcher Terrell has caught 15 passes for 537 yards and five TDs. Senior Trone Purvis has carried the ball 45 times for 229 yards and two TDs. Junior Malachi Lee leads the T-Birds with 27 tackles (20 solo). Topeka West junior quarterback Josiah Wilkie has completed 33 of 63 passes for 372 yards and two TDs. Junior Nas Williams-Brown has rushed for 269 yards and two TDs on 25 carries while senior Micah Emerson has 11 catches for 197 yards and three TDs. Sophomore Payson Skelton leads the Chargers with 22 tackles.

FRIDAY'S GAMES

Jadyn Baum, Washburn Rural [Photo by Doug Walker/TSN]

TOPEKA HIGH (1-2, 0-0) vs. WASHBURN RURAL (1-2, 0-0)

At Hummer Sports Park

The Trojans and Junior Blues will square off Friday in the Centennial League opener for both schools. Both the Trojans and Junior Blues will be looking to bounce back from losses, with Topeka High dropping a 46-19 road decision at Wichita Southeast and Washburn Rural falling at home to undefeated Wichita Bishop Carroll, 34-23. The Junior Blues were within five points in the fourth quarter despite losing both of their senior quarterbacks, Gavin Vantuyl and Gabriel Taylor,  to injuries. Rural star senior running back Jadyn Baum finished the night with 208 rushing yards and 74 and 70-yard TDs on 23 carries. Senior Courtney Sanders is a top player for Topeka High.

ST. MARY'S SOUTH SIDE, Mo. (2-2) at HAYDEN (0-3)

After three straight games on the road, Hayden wil play its home-opener against its second straight out-of-state opponent. At halftime Hayden will officially re-name its stadium Tom Stringer Family Stadium in honor of the Wildcats' legendary football coach, who passed away in 2025. Hayden is coming off a 57-12 loss at Missouri power St. Pius X, 4-0 on the season. South Side, located in St. Louis, is coming off a 42-7 loss to undefeated Jackson, Mo. 

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Washburn Rural junior cross country standout Clayton Fink and Hayden junior volleyball standout Hailey Schmidtlein have been selected as the Brandon Aldridge State Farm Insurance Agency Rising Stars of the Week.

The Brandon Aldridge Agency will recognize top Shawnee County underclassmen throughout the 2026-2027 school year.

Here's a brief look at last week's accomplishments of Fink and Schmidtlein.

Clayton Fink, Washburn Rural (510) [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

CLAYTON FINK, Washburn Rural

Fink placed fifth among 99 runners in Saturday's Shufelberger Top City Classic at Washburn Rural, leading the Junior Blues to the team championship by a 50-77 margin over Blue Valley Northwest.

Fink clocked a five-kilometer time of 16 minutes, 29.49 seconds to pace three Rural runners in the top 10 individually.

As a sophomore Fink helped lead Washburn Rural to the Class 6A state team championship by a single point.

Hailey Schmidtlein, Hayden [Photo by Scott Paske/KSHSAA Covered]

HAILEY SCHMIDTLEIN, Hayden

A three-sport athlete, Schmidtlein has helped lead Hayden volleyball to a 10-3 start to the 2026 season, including a sweep of the Wildcats' home-opening triangular last Thursday.

Schmidtlein played a big role as Hayden, No. 2-ranked in Class 4A by the Kansas Volleyball Association, took a 25-12, 25-21 victory over Ottawa and a 25-22, 25-17 win over city rival Shawnee Heights.

As a sophomore in 2025-2026, Schmidtlein helped the Wildcats win state championships in basketball and soccer while Hayden posted a runnerup state finish in volleyball.

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Washburn Rural's girls tennis team continued its hot start to the 2026 season on Tuesday at Kossover Tennis Center, sweeping the singles and doubles titles in its seven-school invitational tournament.

Washburn Rural girls tennis poses for a team picture after a strong performance in Tuesday's Washburn Rural Invitational at Kossover Tennis Center. [Submitted photo] 

Michelle Rose's Junior Blues swept the singles and doubles championships for Rural's White team on Tuesday in their final tuneup for Thursday's city tournament, finishing second to Maize by a 63-56 margin.

Washburn Rural's Karmyn Faul won the singles title in Tuesday's Washburn Rural Invitational at Kossover Tennis Center, earning the championship in a tiebreaker. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Washburn Rural seniors Julia Katzer (left) and Halle Owen won the doubles title for the host Junior Blues in Tuesday's Washburn Rural Invitational. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Rural's Karmyn Faul captured the singles championship with an 8-7 (7-5 tiebreaker) victory over Maize's Brooke Youngers in the final while the Junior Blues went one-two in doubles, with Julia Katzer and Halle Owen taking an 8-2 win over teammates Annie Henderson and Kinley Ladd, who competed for Rural's Blue team.

"I'm 100 percent pleased,'' Rural coach Michelle Rose said of the Junior Blues' start to the season. "We are very deep. We are blessed to have three very, very talented freshmen joining us, which has really just added more depth and drive for our juniors and seniors to keep up and hold their spot. We're going to be solid for the next three or four years.

"We have three awesome seniors and they're doing a great job of showing leadership and I just want them to really go out on a positive note and play their best tennis. If that's a win that's great, but the more important thing is for them to walk off the court proud.''

Lily Wiens finished third in singles Tuesday, leading Seaman to a third-place team finish in the Washburn Rural Invitational at Kossover Tennis Center. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN] 

Seaman posted third and fourth-place finishes in singles, with Lily Wiens taking an 8-6 win over teammate Kaylyn Hiebsch in the third-place match, while the Vikings also got a fourth-place doubles finish from McKenna Shipp and Elizabeth Pfeifer. 

Shawnee Heights also competed in Tuesday's tournament, finishing seventh as a team.

Rural, Seaman and Shawnee Heights will all be back at Kossover on Thursday for the annual city tournament, with the Vikings entering the event as the defending champion.

Seaman earned its first city title since 2015 in the 2025 meet by a 32-28 margin over Washburn Rural.

WASHBURN RURAL GIRLS TENNIS INVITATIONAL

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Jadyn Baum

JADYN BAUM, Washburn Rural

A senior running back, Baum carried the ball 23 times for 208 yards Friday night, including touchdown runs of 74 and 70 yards, in Washburn Rural's 34-23 non-league loss to Wichita Bishop Carroll at Bowen-Glaze Stadium.

JC Heim

JC HEIM, Washburn University

Heim, a junior linebacker, was in on 12 tackles with 1.5 tackles for loss, a forced fumble and a game-clinching pass interception in the Ichabods' 14-10 MIAA home victory over Central Oklahoma Saturday in Yager Stadium as Washburn improved to 2-1-1 on the season.

Alyson Hinck

ALYSON HINCK, Washburn Rural

A sophomore, Hinck turned in a fourth-place individual finish in a field of 87 runners in Saturday's Shufelberger Top City Classic cross country meet at Washburn Rural, clocking a five-kilometer time of 19 minutes, 26.24 seconds as the Junior Blues finished third as a team in the 13-school field. 

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Washburn University junior linebacker JC Heim has been named the MIAA defensive player of the week following the Ichabods' 14-10 home win over Central Oklahoma on Saturday.

 Washburn junior linebacker J.C. Heim has been named the MIAA Defensive Player of the Week following the Ichabods' 14-10 win over Central Oklahoma on Saturday. [File photo/TSN] 

Heim, a former Washburn Rural star, finished the game with 12 total tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, a sack, a forced fumble and the game-sealing interception.

Late in the first half, UCO had the ball inside the Ichabod one and the Bronchos ran five plays without scoring a touchdown, settling for a field goal, while Heim collected four tackles on the drive.

In the fourth quarter with 1:54 to go, Heim's breakup on a fourth-down UCO pass play returned possession to the Ichabods at the UCO 48.

After an Ichabod punt, UCO took possession with 1:30, but Heim picked off a UCO pass at the WU 40 to seal the win for Washburn.

His forced fumble came at the WU 24 after a sack and fumble returned the ball back to the Ichabods at the WU 38.

Washburn is back in action Saturday at Nebraska-Kearney with a 1 p.m. start.

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Monday's city high school girls golf championship at Cypress Ridge was marked by something old and something new.

Washburn Rural poses for a team picture after posting a 29-stroke victory in Monday's city girls golf tournament at Cypress Ridge. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN] 

After a one-year absence, Washburn Rural regained its traditional place atop the city ladder, capturing its 12th city team championship in the 14-year history of the event by 29 strokes over Hayden as Hayden Beck won his first city title as the Junior Blues' head coach.

But Monday also saw Seaman senior Chloe Schmidtlein win her first city individual title by nine strokes with a 78 after finishing seventh in 2025.

Seaman senior Chloe Schmidtlein shot a 78 Monday to win her first city individual title by nine strokes at Cypress Ridge. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Washburn Rural rode its balance to the team crown, with the Junior Blues putting all of its top four players in the top eight individually.

Washburn Rural senior Kailyn Petersen shot an 87 to tie for second place in Monday's city girls golf tournament at Cypress Ridge. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN] 

Washburn Rural sophomore Reese Elliott tied for second in Monday's city golf tournament with an 87. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Senior Kailyn Petersen and sophomore Reese Elliott tied for second behind Schmidtlein with 87s while Brynley Scott and LynnLee Mullins shot 95s to tie for seventh place.

"I think that we're getting where we need to be, and I think it's a testament to the work they've put in,'' Beck said. "We've been inside because it's been a rough year with the weather. All teams are dealing with it, but our girls have shown up every practice that we've had to move inside and they've got a lot of good work in.

"We've been pounding the short game and I'm starting to see a little bit of a difference from where we were at the start of the year to where we are now, so it's awesome to see us be able to put four scores together and kind of be where we're supposed to be.''

Schmidtlein, who helped Seaman win the city team title as a junior, used a red-hot start to her decisive individual victory, shooting under par over her front nine and holding a comfortable lead for the remainder of her round despite cooling off a bit.

Schmidtlein said that winning the city title was a goal entering Monday's tournament. 

"I talked to my dad about it before the round and I was like, 'It would be really cool to go win city today, I think I could do it,' '' Schmidtlein said.

"But I didn't get too focused on it because if I set a goal and focus too much on it then I sometimes just go completely downhill.''

And now that she did win the city title, Schmidtlein is hoping to ride that momentum into the United Kansas Conference, regional and state meets.

"I feel like I can go perform well,'' she said.

Brooke Johnson tied for second with an 87 to lead Hayden to a runnerup team finish in Monday's city golf tournament. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Brooke Johnson tied for second with an 87 for team runnerup Hayden while Morgan Johnson finished sixth with a 92 and Emma Matthews placed 10th with a 103.

In addition to Schmidtlein's individual victory, third-place Seaman got a fifth-place finish from Kaitlynn Frye, who carded 90.

Shawnee Heights' Lauryn Valdivia earned an individual medal with a ninth-place finish for the T-Birds, shooting a 97.   

Baldwin won the championship in the Topeka West Invitational, held in conjunction with the city tournament, by a 32-stroke margin over Washburn Rural (332-364) as Peyton Wright shot a 73 to post a five-stroke individual win for the Bulldawgs. 

TOPEKA CITY GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Defending Class 6A boys state cross country champion Washburn Rural is off and running again, including a team title in Saturday's Shufelberger Top City Classic at Rural.

Junior Clayton Fink (510) posted a fifth-place individual finish to lead Washburn Rural to the boys team title in Saturday's Shufelberger Top City Classic. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Washburn Rural sophomore Alyson Hinck turned in a fourth-place girls individual finish in Saturday's Shufelberger Top City Classic as Rural finished third as a team. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

The Junior Blues put three runners in the top nine spots on the way to a decisive 50-77 victory over Blue Valley Northwest while Rural's girls also turned in a banner day, with three runners placing in the top eight individually en route to a third-place team finish behind Shawnee Mission East and Mill Valley.

"Both the boys and girls teams ran great,'' Rural coach Matt Swedlund said. "It's always fun to host and show off our beautiful home course.''

Saturday's meet is named in honor of former longtime Washburn Rural coach Scott Shufelberger, who Swedlund ran for in high school.

Junior Clayton Fink paced Rural's boys in Saturday's meet with a fifth-place individual finish among 99 runners in a five-kilometer time of 16 minutes, 29.50 seconds.

Junior Duke Graf (511) placed seventh in Saturday's Shufelberger Top City Classic for the team-champion Washburn Rural boys. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Rural, which captured the 2025 6A team championship by a single point, also got a seventh-place finish from Duke Graf (16:48.40) and a ninth-place showing from junior Jaxson Adams (16:53.30) while sophomore Julius Wood-Nichols placed 13th (17:04.90) and senior Cohen Thiessen 16th (17:13.90) to round out the Junior Blues' top five.

"The boys ran solid and are progressing nicely,'' Swedlund said.

Seaman finished ninth as a team with 186 points, led by sophomore Trindon Jones, who placed 14th (17:09.00).

Shawnee Heights got a 29th-place finish from sophomore Miles Hadley (17:40.40) on the way to an 11th-place team finish while Topeka West finished 12th as a team, getting a team-high 66th-place finish from senior Ezra Phelps (18:40.10).

Washburn Rural junior Reese Beardslee (547) finished sixth in Saturday's Shufelberger Top City Classic. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]  

Sophomore Alyson Hinck led Washburn Rural's girls with a fourth-place individual finish among 85 competitors in 19:26.40 while junior Reese Beardslee was two spots back in sixth place (19:31.20) and sophomore Morgan Munson finished eighth (19:41.80).

Sophomore Quinn Nolte finished 29th (21:05.10) and freshman Kenadee Booher 34th (21:21.30) to round out Rural's scoring runners as Rural finished with 81 points to finish third behind SM East (58) and Mill Valley (68).

Seaman senior Brynn Spencer (496) finished ninth in Saturday's Shufelberger Top City Classic. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Seaman senior Brynn Spencer, a returning 5A state medalist, placed ninth (19:43.00) for the seventh-place Vikings. 

SHUFELBERGER TOP CITY CLASSIC

GIRLS

Team scores

Shawnee Mission East 58, Mill Valley 68, Washburn Rural 81, Olathe North 101, Olathe West 105, Gardner-Edgerton 177, Seaman 185, Olathe South 197, Blue Valley Northwest 206, Junction City 225.

Individual results

1. Charlotte Hardy, SM East, 18:11.80; 2. Audrey Howard, Mill Valley, 18:22.10; 3. Lyla Speicher, SM East, 18:52.20; 4. Alyson Hinck, Washburn Rural, 19:26.40; 5. Hailey Hanna, Mill Valley, 19:30.20; 6. Reese Beardslee, Washburn Rural, 19:31.20; 7. Molly DeGregorio, Olathe West, 19:34.90; 8. Morgan Munson, Washburn Rural, 19:41.80; 9. Brynn Spencer, sr., Seaman, 19:43.00; 10. Karsyn Hitchcock, Olathe North, 19:43.60.

Other Washburn Rural -- 29. Quinn Nolte, 21:05.10; 34. Kenadee Booher, 21:21.30; 47. Avery Kennedy, 22:35.20; 69. Clara Dillon, 23:38.30;  

Other Seaman -- 33. Morgan Ranson, 21:18.90; 40. Kinley Robinson, 21:56.10; 48. Brinley Cochran, 22:39.90; 64. Hannah Wempe, 23:27.30; 78. Jaydin Frickey, Seaman, 24:44.70; 80. Avery Villines, 25:07.20.

Shawnee Heights -- 79. Claudia Memmet, 24:51.40; 84. Hazel Rondash, 25:51.20; 85. Piper Geil, 28:05.60.

BOYS

Team scores

Washburn Rural 50, Blue Valley Northwest 77, Shawnee Mission East 84, Mill Valley 113, Olathe West 156, Gardner-Edgerton 158, Olathe South 163, Shawnee Mission West 172, Seaman 186, Junction City 214, Shawnee Heights 302, Topeka West 338.

Individual results

1. Jacob D'souza, Blue Valley Northwest, 15:35.20; 2. Graham Anderson,  Mill Valley, 15:58.20; 3. Kallan Horveath, SM West, 16:14.60; 4. Anthony Testa, Junction City, 16:15.90; 5. Clayton Fink, Washburn Rural, 16:29.50; 6. George Clifford, SM East, 16:30.30; 7. Duke Graf, Washburn Rural, 16:48.40; 8. Andrew Kennedy, Blue Valley Northwest, 16:51.40; 9. Jaxson Adams, Washburn Rural, 16:53.30; 10. Asher Yager, Mill Valley, 16:54.50.

Other Washburn Rural -- 13. Julius Wood-Nichols, 17:04.90; 16. Cohen Thiessen, 17:13.90; 24. Bennett Wells, 17:33.50 

Seaman -- 14. Trindon Jones, 17:09.00; 31. Conner Bloom, 17:41.50; 41. Emmanuel Armstead, 17:53.70; 57. Maddox Moore,  18:15.80; 62. Tate Oliva, 18:33.10; 74. Camden Dutton, 19:06.30; 78. Cody Miller, 19:10.80; 82. Nick Horton, 19:24.80; 97. Weston Kennedy, 21:14.00.

Shawnee Heights -- 29. Miles Hadley, 17:40.40; 67. Andrew Schulte, 18:41.50; 83. Deyton Coufal, 19:29.00; 95. Carter Vincent, 20:49.30; 99. Marcus Folger, 21:19.20.

Hayden -- 32. Nick Newkirk, 17:42.50. 

Topeka West -- 66. Ezra Phelps, 18:40.10; 85. Westin Soto, 19:31.80; 89. Cameron Parrett, 19:43.20; 91. Rhys Green, 19:49.00; 94. Elijah Hernandez, 20:30.40; 98. Mason Gore, 21:15.70. 

Gerber, Kraus pace Eagles at Hiawatha

Silver Lake senior girls standout Alessandra Gerber placed eighth individually among 64 runners in Thursday's Hiawatha Invitational, leading the Eagles to a sixth-place team finish.

Gerber clocked a five-kilometer time of 22:25.89 while Silver Lake also got a top-20 finish from freshman JessiLyn Mohler (23:59.35).

Silver Lake junior Cason Kraus placed 10th individually in the boys race (19:32.70), leading the Eagles to a runnerup team finish behind Nemaha Central (29-85).

The Eagles also got a 16th-place finish from senior Lane Ray (20:03.52) and a 19th-place showing from freshman Dayton Uhl (20:08.36).

Dawg trio posts top-20 finishes at Wabaunsee meet

Rossville seniors Payton Shaddux and Madelyn Wonnell and freshman Raiden Pollock posted top-20 individual finishes in Saturday's Jason McKinney Memorial meet, hosted by Wabaunsee.

Shaddux (25:08.79) placed 12th and Wonnell 14th (25:21.90) in the girls race while Pollock (21:40.92) finished 17th in the boys race as Rossville finished fifth as a team.

Trojans' Davis top 10 at Baldwin

Topeka High junior Easton Davis placed ninth among 66 runners in Saturday's Baldwin Invitational.

Davis clocked a time of 17:56.53 to lead the Trojans to a sixth-place team finish.

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

On a night when his team dealt with adversity from start to finish, including the loss of its top two quarterbacks to injury, Washburn Rural football coach Steve Buhler praised the Junior Blues for their fight in Friday's 34-23 loss to Bishop Carroll at Bowen Glaze Stadium.

Senior star Jadyn Baum rushed for 208 yards and 74 and 70-yard TDs in Washburn Rural's 34-23 loss to Bishop Carroll. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]

Rural suffered a blow on its third offensive play from scrimmage when senior quarterback Gavin Vantuyl suffered an ankle injury on a 10-yard first-down carry and did not return.

Later in the second half senior backup QB Gabriel Taylor left the game with an arm injury, forcing the Junior Blues to finish the game with sophomore Jaihonis Wallace.

The Junior Blues were also hampered by four turnovers on the night, but thanks in large part to a monster night from senior star running back Jadyn Baum, Rural was still within five points (28-23) well into the fourth quarter before the 3-0 Eagles opened up the final margin with 7:29 remaining.

"They battled all the way to the end, which is what we've been asking for them to do,'' Buhler said. "The put out a lot of effort and played extremely hard and we're still playing to the end and we're still trying to get a score at the end of the game.'' 

Despite Vantuyl's early injury, Washburn Rural jumped out to a 14-0 first-quarter lead.

The Junior Blues recovered a fumble at their 5-yard-line after a Carroll scoring threat and struck paydirt three plays after Vantuyl left the game when Baum burst loose for a 74-yard TD run with 6:06 left in the opening quarter (Ryan Austin kick).

Senior Jake Bervert caught a 24-yard touchdown pass in Washburn Rural's 34-23 loss to Bishop Carroll. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]

Rural made it a 14-0 game with 1:16 left in the first when Taylor connected with senior Max Bervert for a 24-yard TD (Austin kick).

The second quarter belonged to the Eagles, who got a 50-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Jonah Mull to senior Hank Hartman (Hartman kick) and a 5-yard TD run from Mull (Marshall Gregoire kick) as Bishop Carroll tied the game at halftime.

Rural took the second half kickoff but took over at its own 9-yard-line, was unable to move the ball and gave Carroll the ball at the Junior Blue 13 after a bad snap in punt formation forced Austin to throw a desperation incomplete pass.

Two plays later the Eagles got an 11-yard TD run from Harrison King (Hartman kick) to take a 21-14 lead and Carroll scored again 2:02 later on a 14-yard pass from Mull to junior Blake Murphy (Hartman kick) after a Washburn Rural fumble deep in its own territory.

But Baum got his team back in the game with an outstanding 70-yard run (Austin kick) on Rural's ensuing possession and the Junior Blues cut their deficit to 28-23 with 3:01 left in the third when they recorded a safety.

But Carroll recovered the ensuing free kick to protect the precarious advantage.

The Eagles made it a two-possession game when Mull scored from 8 yards out (pass failed) and Carroll made the 11-point margin stand up the rest of the way.

Baum finished the night 208 rushing yards and the two long TDs on 23 carries.

"Everybody played hard, but who makes everything go is Jadyn Baum,'' Buhler said. "Jadyn Baum makes that heck of a run, the offensive line was staying with their blocks, he breaks a couple of tackles, out-runs everybody for a touchdown and just gets everybody going again.

"That's what I love about him. He just competes all the time and he's coming at you all the time and we've got a lot of seniors that are the same way offensively and defensively and that's why I'm excited about the rest of the year.''

The 1-2 Junior Blues will open Centennial League play against Topeka High next Friday at Hummer Sports Park.

BISHOP CARROLL 34, WASHBURN RURAL 23

By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news

(Allkickoffs at 7 p.m.)

FRIDAY'S GAMES

Kolby Kutscher, Shawnee Heights

Cale Ketter, Seaman

SHAWNEE HEIGHTS (1-1, 1-1 UKC) at SEAMAN (0-2, 0-2 UKC)

Shawnee Heights is coming off a heartbreaking 37-29 overtime United Kansas Conference loss to Leavenworth while Seaman dropped a 55-20 UKC decision to Basehor-Linwood, the 2025 Class 5A runnerup. Shawnee Heights senior quarterback Kolby Kutscher has completed 27 of 43 passes for 533 yards and six touchdowns, while sophomore Fletcher Terrell has 11 catches for 284 yards and five TDs. Senior Trone Purvis has carried the ball 27 times for 177 yards and two TDs while freshman Zayis Barksdale has rushed for 151 yards and two TDs on 11 carries. Seaman senior quarterback Cale Ketter has completed 42 of 73 passes for 665 yards and seven touchdowns while senior Coy Barta has 15 catches for 306 yards and two TDs. Viking junior Quentin Moravec has carried the ball 33 times for 187 yards and a TD. 

JoJo Kingcannon, Highland Park

ATCHISON (1-1, 1-0 Meadowlark) vs. HIGHLAND PARK (0-2, 0-1 Meadowlark)

At Hummer Sports Park

Highland Park dropped a 56-0 Meadowlark Conference decision to KC-Washington last Friday while Atchison is coming off a 34-24 conference win over KC-Wyandotte. Highland Park, which won the Meadowlark championship in 2025, is looking for its first win this fall after dropping a 33-6 non-league decision to USD 501 rival Topeka High in its season opener. Scot senior quarterback JoJo Kingcannon has rushed for 157 yards on 35 carries and has completed 7 of 21 passes for 62 yards and a touchdown.

 Jadyn Baum, Washburn Rural

BISHOP CARROLL (2-0) at WASHBURN RURAL (1-1)

Washburn Rural picked up a 21-7 non-league home win over Olathe South last Friday while Wichita Bishop Carroll improved to 2-0 with a 49-16 win over Wichita Southeast. Senior Amir Jones set up Rural's first touchdown against Olathe South when he picked off a pass and returned it to the 2-yard-line and the Junior Blues also scored a defensive touchdown when senior Tyler Tangye recovered a fumble in the end zone. Senior running back Jadyn Baum finished with 124 rushing yards and 2 and 32-yard TDs on 22 attempts to pace Rural's offense. Carroll senior quarterback Jonah Mull has completed 18 of 22 passes for 186 yards and a TD and rushed for 142 yards and four TDs on 19 attempts while senior Cooper Herrman has 24 carries for 180 yards and a TD.

Kipton Kruger, Silver Lake

JEFFERSON COUNTY WEST (2-0, 1-0 Big East) at SILVER LAKE (2-0, 2-0 Big East)

Silver Lake improved to 2-0 with a 42-27 Big East League win over Rossville in the annual War on 24 while Jeff West stayed unbeaten with a 27-0 non-league shutout over Centralia. Silver Lake sophomore quarterback Kipton Kruger has completed 33 of 53 passes for 372 yards and four touchdowns while junior running back Dominic Monhollon has carried the ball 36 times for 281 yards and five TDs. Tiger sophomore quarterback Brixton Schwinn has completed 25 of 38 passes for 421 yards and six TDs while senior Brody Schwinn has nine receptions for 204 yards and three TDs.

Landen Lewis, Rossville 

RILEY COUNTY (1-1, 1-1 Big East) at ROSSVILLE (1-1, 1-1 Big East)

Rossville is coming off a 42-27 road Big East League loss to rival Silver Lake last Friday while Riley County picked up its first victory, a 21-0 league decision over St. Marys. Rossville junior quarterback Landen Lewis has completed 30 of 43 passes for 374 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for 301 yards and six TDs on 40 carries. Senior Cael Horgan has caught 12 passes for 162 yards and a TD. Riley County senior quarterback Kadrick Woodard has rushed for 273 yards and three TDs on 42 attempts.

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

After graduating one of the top senior classes in Washburn Rural soccer history from a Class 6A state championship team, it shouldn't come as a big surprise that the Junior Blues have suffered through some growing pains in the early going this fall.

Senior Brodye Kocher-Munoz (9) had two goals and an assist in Wednesday's 8-0 Washburn Rural Centennial League win over Junction City at McElroy Field. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

But after opening the 2026 season with a 2-2-1 record, including two losses and a tie over its previous three games, Rural turned in a dominating 8-0 Centennial League win over Junction City in Wednesday's Centennial League opener at McElroy Field, improving to 3-2-1 on the year.

After a slow start Wednesday, senior Brody Kocher-Munoz scored the only goal the Junior Blues would need at the 13:08 mark of the first half, made it a 2-0 game a little over three minutes later and the Rural was off and running.

As the Junior Blues' most experienced returner, Kocher-Munoz said he knows it's up to him to be a leader for this year's team.

"I saw Dylan (Willingham) last year and all those other guys lead us and following in their footsteps is hard, but since I have the most experience, I just have to show the younger guys how it's done and what to do and how to stay positive and keep motivating them,'' Kocher-Munoz said.

Junior Paxton Poe (18) scored a goal and had an assist in Washburn Rural's 8-0 Centennial League win over Junction City. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Washburn Rural added three goals over the final 6:49 of the opening half from juniors Everett Un, Maddox Valdivia and Paxton Poe to take a commanding 5-0 lead.

Senior Myles Didde (5) scored a goal and had an assist in Washburn Rural's 8-0 Centennial League win over Junction City. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN] 

Sophomore Bo Kemper (17) scored Washburn Rural's final goal in Wednesday's 8-0 Centennial League win over Junction City. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

The Junior Blues got second-half goals from senior Myles Didde and sophomore Bo Kemper and also benefitted from an own goal, ending the game with 29:41 remaining by way of the eight-goal spread rule.

Kocher-Munoz also contributed an assist while the Junior Blues also got assists from Un, Poe, sophomore Beckham Rutherford, sophomore Owen Austin and sophomore Nolan Vaughn.

Juniors Kaden Myers and Miles Doyal combined for the shutout in goal.

Kocher-Munoz is confident that the Junior Blues will continue to get better and better as the season moves on.

"I feel like if we just keep working hard every day we're going to get better, I already know it,'' Kocher-Munoz said. "There's simple mistakes we've just got to fix and if we do that we'll be ready as soon as state comes, so I'm excited for what's upcoming and moving forward.''

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Jadyn Baum

JADYN BAUM, Washburn Rural

A senior running back, Baum carried the ball 22 times for 124 yards, including touchdown runs of 2 and 32 yards in Washburn Rural's first football victory of the season Friday night, a 21-7 non-league home win over Olathe South. Baum also caught two passes for 22 yards.

Tre Calhoun

TRE CALHOUN, Washburn University

Calhoun, a sophomore wide receiver out of Marietta, Ga., caught nine passes for 125 yards and three touchdowns in Washburn's 31-24 MIAA road loss at No. 4-ranked Northwest Missouri on Saturday. Calhoun became the first Ichabod receiver to score three TDs in a game since 2018.

 Kipton Kruger

KIPTON KRUGER, Silver Lake

A sophomore quarterback, Kruger completed 18 of 23 passes for 173 yards and three touchdowns in Silver Lake's 42-27 home Big East League football win over rival Rossville. Kruger hit Braun Johnson for an 8-yard touchdown, Mason VanVactor for a 23-yard score and Rylan Young for a 35-yard TD as the Eagles improved to 2-0 on the year. 

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Topeka High's boys cross country team edged USD 501 rival Topeka West in a tiebreaker to win West's Joe Schrag Invitational Saturday at Kanza Park.

Both the Trojans and Chargers finished the meet with 65 team points, but Topeka High took the title by virtue of a higher finish by its sixth runner (28-36).

Junior Easton Davis paced High with a fifth-place individual finish in a five-kilometer time of 18 minutes, 42.17 seconds while the Trojans also got an eighth-place showing from junior Oliver Snethen (18:58.41), a 16th from junior Amir Eljammel (20:16.07), a 17th from Nicholas McDonald (20:18.76) and a 19th from senior William Toland (20:51.08).

Topeka West was led by senior Ezra Phelps' ninth-place finish (19:02.67), while sophomore Cameron Parrett finished 11th (19:24.98), sophomore Maks Rodriguez 13th (19:48.40), junior Rhys Green 14th (20:01.18) and sophomore Elijah Hernandez 18th (20:43.80).

Shawnee Heights sophomore Miles Hadley finished second individually in 18:12.62 to lead the T-Birds to a fourth-place team finish.

Heights also got a seventh-place finish from Andrew Schulte (18:51.28), and a 12th from junior Deyton Coufal (19:46.78).

Shawnee Heights' girls finished second as a team behind Lansing (25-55) as sophomore Hazel Rondash paced the T-Birds with a 10th-place finish (25:31.35).

Heights freshman Claudia Memmet finished 11th (26:00.89), sophomore Kendall Lewis 12th (26:17.09) and freshman Charlotte Richards 15th (26:34.07).

Topeka High junior Emma Womack was the top city girls finisher in eighth place (24:53.37) while High senior Victoria Reynaga was 13th (26:19.32).

Rural, Seaman compete in loaded Olathe Twilight 

Washburn Rural competed in the meet's premier Blue division in Saturday's Olathe Twilight at the Olathe District Activities Center, with junior Clayton Fink and sophomore Alyson Hinck pacing the Junior Blues.

Alyson Hinck, Washburn Rural [File photo/TSN]

Fink finished 17th among 167 runners in 16:02.21 in the boys race while Hinck placed 28th among 173 competitors in the girls race (19:15.80).

Rural junior Duke Graf added a 22nd-place finish (16:13.70) and junior Jaxson Adams a 36th-place showing (16:26.70) in the boys race.

Junior Reese Beardslee finished 34th for the Rural girls (19:28.40) while sophomore Morgan Munson placed 43rd (19:53.00).

Seaman senior Brynn Spencer finished 37th in 19:31.40).

Seaman's boys competed in the Red division, with sophomore Trindon Jones placing eighth individually out of 124 runners (16:45.20), sophomore Weston Kennedy 14th (17:11.20), senior Conner Bloom 27th (17:32.60), junior Maddox Moore 45th (17:55.90) and sophomore Tate Oliva 48th (17:57.90).

Ali Gerber, Silver Lake [Submitted photo/Silver Lake cross country]

Gerber paces Eagles at Wamego

Silver Lake senior Ali Gerber finished 18th among 142 runners in the Class 3A-1A division of the Wamego Invitational in a time of 22:18.37 as the Eagles finished ninth among 18 teams.

Eagle freshman JessiLyn Mohler placed 36th (23:55.57) while Rossville senior Madilyn Wonnell finished 40th (24:18.26).

Junior Cason Kraus placed 25th among 185 runners in the 3A-1A boys race (19:33.11) while senior Lane Ray was 30th (19:41.71) as the Eagles finished seventh as a team among 17 schools.

Hayden junior Nick Newkirk competed in the 4A boys division, turning in a 22nd-place finish among 233 runners in 18:02.14.

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

After giving up 58 points in a season-opening loss, Washburn Rural's defense redeemed itself in a big way Friday night, leading the Junior Blues to a 21-7 non-league win over Olathe South at Bowen-Glaze Stadium.

Washburn Rural gangs up on Olathe South in the end zone, resulting in a defensive touchdown in Friday's 21-7 Rural win. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]

Senior Amir Jones set up Rural's first touchdown when he picked off a pass and returned it to the 2-yard-line, setting up senior Jadyn Baum's short TD plunge, and the Junior Blues also scored a defensive touchdown when senior Tyler Tangye recovered a fumble in the end zone.

"I was super proud of the defense,'' Rural coach Steve Buhler said. "After coming off last week's performance our kids knuckled down and went to work this week and it showed.'' 

Olathe South drew first blood at the 7:18 mark of the second quarter when Falcon junior quarterback Colton Lake hit junior Jaxson Tuley for a 64-yard touchdown (Brodee Rollins kick).

After missing a 47-yard field goal attempt with a minute left in the half, Jones picked off a Lake pass and returned it to the South 2-yard-line, setting up Baum's touchdown on the next play (Ryan Austin kick) to knot the game at halftime, 7-7.

"I've been watching a lot of film, so I knew that play was coming,'' Jones said. "I jumped my gap and I got the pick I wanted.''

The 1-1 Junior Blues took the lead to stay in the third quarter when a great play from sophomore Ian Gonzales on a punt pinned Olathe South at the 2-yard-line, leading to a bad snap and a Falcon fumble that Tangye pounced on for the TD. Austin tacked on the extra point to give Rural a 14-7 advantage.

"We had a blitz call and all of us were going,'' Tangye said. "My D-linemen did a great job. They pushed the linemen back and made the center have a really bad snap and then the ball came out of the quarterback's hand and was on the ground and I picked it up and it's touchdown. First ever touchdown, it felt good.''

Washburn Rural tacked on an insurance score when Baum rambled 32 yards for a touchdown to put the Junior Blues up by the final 21-7 margin with 7:18 remaining (Austin kick).  

Olathe South, which fell to 0-2, threatened to score late in the game after a couple of Rural penalties, but the game ended with the Falcons at the Junior Blues' 1-yard-line.

Washburn Rural senior Jadyn Baum rushed for 124 yards and scored two TDs in Friday's 21-7 win over Olathe South. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]

Baum finished with 124 yards and two TDs on 22 attempts to pace Rural's offense.

Olathe South's Lake passed for 226 yards and Tuley had nine catches for 180 yards but the Falcons managed just 29 rushing yards.

Washburn Rural overcame a rash of penalties, finishing with 135 yards in penalty yards on the night.

"On the offensive side we just lose focus and that's kind of what we did last week, so on the offensive side we're going to have to keep being more disciplined, get lined up right and do the things we need to do and we need to practice a little bit more at it and taking care of that in practice,'' Buhler said. "Defensively we were just being super aggressive at the end. But at the same time, after last week's game I was just glad to see our defense being physical and playing football.''

Jones agreed.

"I feel like we've definitely got work to do, but that was a beautiful bounce back from last week,'' he said. "I feel like we showed up enough to prove ourselves.''

The Junior Blues will be back at home next Friday night, hosting Wichita Bishop Carroll in a non-league contest.  

WASHBURN RURAL 21, OLATHE SOUTH 7

By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news

(Allkickoffs at 7 p.m.)

THURSDAY'S GAME

Courtney Sanders, Topeka High [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

DODGE CITY (1-0) vs. TOPEKA HIGH (1-0)

At Hummer Sports Park

Senior Courtney Sanders scored three touchdowns to lead Topeka High to a 33-6 season-opening victory over USD 501 rival Highland Park last Thursday. Sanders scored his first touchdown on an 18-yard past from senior quarterback Asher Filbeck, scored on a 40-yard run and returned a punt 94 yards for a touchdown to give the Trojans their 26-0 halftime advantage. Filbeck, making his first career start at quarterback, finished the night with a game-high 128 rushing yards on just seven attempts while his lone pass completion went for the TD to Sanders. Dodge City opened its season with a 42-20 win over Wichita West. The Red Demons are coached by former Seaman coach Glenn O'Neil.

FRIDAY'S GAMES

ROSSVILLE (1-0, 1-0 BIG EAST) at SILVER LAKE (1-0, 1-0 Big East)

Rossville opened its season with a 35-14 home Big East League win over Perry-Lecompton while Silver Lake shut out St. Marys 27-0 in a league game at St. Marys. Junior Landen Lewis, who was making his first start at quarterback for the Bulldawgs, carried the ball 21 times for 167 yards and all five Rossville touchdowns while also completing 13 of 17 passes for 159 yards. Junior Cale Horak led the Bulldawgs with seven tackles. Silver Lake sophomore quarterback Kipton Kruger completed 14 of 29 passes for 165 yards and a TD while junior Dom Monhollon carried the ball 10 times for 118 yards and two touchdowns and caught two passes for 67 yards and a TD. Senior Myles Fisher led the Eagles with 17 tackles.

JoJo Kingcannon, Highland Park [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

KC-WASHINGTON (1-0, 1-0 Meadowlark) vs. HIGHLAND PARK (0-1, 0-0 Meadowlark)

At Hummer Sports Park

Highland Park is coming off a 33-6 non-league loss to USD 501 rival Topeka High last Thursday while Knsas City-Washington rolled to a 48-0 Meadowlark Conference victory over KC-Schlagle. Highland Park scored its lone touchdown on a 27-yard touchdown pass from senior JoJo Kingcannon to senior G'Honi Montgomery. Kingcannon rushed for 64 yards on 12 carries and he passed for 62 yards and the TD. Washington opened up a 38-0 halftime advantage over the Stallions and cruised the rest of the way. Wildcat junior quarterback Benito Morrell completed 12 of 24 passes for 232 yards and four touchdowns while senior Alvin Riley rushed for 103 yards and a TD on eight carries. Highland Park will be beginning defense of its Meadowlark Conference championship.

OLATHE SOUTH (0-1) at WASHBURN RURAL (0-1)

Washburn Rural will be playing its home opener at Bowen-Glaze Stadium Friday night after dropping a 58-13 road decision to 2025 Class 4A state champion Wichita Kapaun Mt. Carmel, which is moving back up to 5A this fall. Olathe South will also be looking for its first victory after the Falcons dropped a 27-0 Sunflower League decision to Olathe Northwest in its opener. 

Cale Ketter, Seaman [File photo/TSN]

BASEHOR-LINWOOD (1-0, 1-0 UKC) at SEAMAN (0-1, 0-1 UKC) 

Seaman dropped a 48-34 United Kansas Conference road decision at De Soto last Friday while Basehor-Linwood took a 59-35 UKC win over Leavenworth. Seaman senior quarterback Cale Ketter completed 27 of 43 passes for 456 yards and five touchdowns while Coy Barta caught 11 passes for 267 yards and two TDs, Josh Brown had five catches for 57 yards and two TDs and Jack Becker had five grabs for 56 yards and a TD. Seniors Bryson Fehr and Bishup Liggett were in on 13 tackles for the Vikings. Basehor-Linwood junior quarterback Dane Forshey completed 7 of 7 passes for 141 yards and four touchdwns against Leavenworth while junior Gavin Mitchell carried the ball seven times for 143 yards and a touchdown. 

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Duke Graf

DUKE GRAF, Washburn Rural

Graf, a junior cross country standout, posted a second-place individual finish in Saturday's 11-school Manhattan Invitational at Warner Park as the Junior Blues edged host Manhattan by a 56-67 margin for the team title, while Lawrence finished third with 91 points. Graf, who helped Rural win the Class 6A state title last fall, clocked a five-kilometer time of 17 minutes, 01.2 seconds. 

 Leah Henke

LEAH HENKE, Washburn University

A sophomore forward, Henke scored two second-half goals to lead then-No. 23-ranked Washburn University soccer to a 3-0 non-conference shutout win over Drury Wednesday night in Yager Stadium. Henke, a Wichita native, now has four goals in three-games for the 2-0-1 Ichabods after she was named the MIAA Freshman of the Year and a first-team all-conference pick in 2025.

Kolby Kutscher

KOLBY KUTSCHER, Shawnee Heights

Kutcher, a senior football standout, completed 12 of 13 passes for 221 yards and four touchdowns in his first start as Shawnee Heights' quarterback Friday night, powering the T-Birds to a 56-0 season-opening home United Kansas Conference victory over Turner at Wetter Field. 

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Defending Class 6A boys state champion Washburn Rural opened its 2026 cross country season with the team title in Saturday's Manhattan Invitational at Warner Park.

The Junior Blues edged host Manhattan by a 56-67 margin for the team title, while Lawrence finished third in the 11-school meet with 91 points.

Junior Duke Graf paced Washburn Rural with a second-place individual finish behind senior champion Anthony Testa of Junction City, clocking a five-kilometer time of 17 minutes, 01.2 seconds. Testa won in 16:51.9.

Sophomore Julius Wood-Nichols posted an eighth-place finish in the field of 81 runners for the Junior Blues in 17:21.1 while Rural got a 12th-place showing from junior Jaxson Adams (17:34.1), a 13th from junior Clayton Fink (17:36.3) and a 22nd from senior Cohen Thiessen (18:07.2) to round out the Junior Blues' top five.

Hayden junior Nick Newkirk placed 20th in 18:00.3 while junior Oliver Snethen paced Topeka High with a 27th-place finish (18:24.5) and senior Ezra Phelps led Topeka West with a 38th-place showing (18:50.8).

Washburn Rural's girls finished second as a team to Manhattan by a 28-54 margin, with Free State third with 63 points.

Manhattan senior Gabrielle Converse (19:03.3) and sophomore Zara Koehn (19:48.3) posted a one-two finish for the Indians in the field of 49 runners while Washburn Rural sophomore Alyson Hinck finished fourth in 20:18.6.

Rural junior Reese Beardslee finished sixth (20:26.5) while sophomore Morgan Munson placed ninth (20:48.4) to earn individual medals. 

Seaman senior Brynn Spencer finished fourth in the season-opening Bobcat Invitational at Wyandotte County Park. [File photo/TSN]     

Nine Vikings earn medals in season-opener

Seaman's boys posted a second-place team finish in Thursday's season-opening Bobcat Invitational at Wyandotte County Park, edging meet host and United Kansas Conference rival Basehor-Linwood by a single point (70-71) while Blue Valley Southwest won the team title with 32 points.

Sophomore Trindon Jones paced six Seaman individual medalists with an eighth-place finish, posting a five-kilometer time of 17 minutes, 36.78 seconds.

The Vikings also got a 10th-place finish from sophomore Weston Kennedy (17:54.78), a 12th from senior Conner Bloom (18:00.36), a 19th from junior Emmanuel Armstead (18:20.22), a 21st from sophomore Tate Oliva (18:26.12) and a 25th-place showing from junior Maddox Moore (18:43.10).

Shawnee Heights' boys finished ninth in the team standings as sophomore Miles Hadley earned an individual medal with an 11th-place finish (17:59.40).

Seaman girls finished tied for third with Eudora with 79 points, finishing fourth on a tiebreaker.

Blue Valley Southwest won the team title with 18 points while Piper was second, just three points ahead of Eudora and Seaman.                         

Senior Brynn Spencer, a returning Class 5A state medalist, paced Seaman with a fourth-place individual finish (20:47.09) while freshmen Brinley Cochran and Morgan Ransom also earned individual medals.

Cochran finished 12th (22:07.17) and Ransom placed 18th (22:34.81).

Silver Lake senior Ali Gerber opened her 2026 season with a third-place finish in Saturday's Silver Lake Invitational at Kanza Park. [Submitted photo]

Gerber third in Silver Lake Invitational

Silver Lake senior Ali Gerber posted a third-place individual finish in Saturday's Silver Lake Invitational at Kanza Park, leading the Eagle girls to a second-place team finish.

Gerber clocked a five-kilometer time of 22 minutes, 55.01 seconds to finish third behind Osage City freshmen Elizabeth Vehige (20:52.47) and Eliana Lowery (22:38.87). 

Osage City won the team title by a 51-84 margin over Silver Lake.

The Eagles also got a 14th-place finish from freshman Jessilyn Mohler (24:24.29), a 23rd from sophomore Pearl Eisenbarth (26:09.59), a 26th from sophomore Adrianna Gerber (27:53.54) and a 31st from sophomore Lena Jahr (28:29.15). 

Rossville seniors post top-seven finishes

Rossville seniors Payton Shaddox and Madilyn Wonnell finished sixth and seventh, respectively, in Thursday's Mission Valley Invitational girls cross country meet at Mission Valley.

Shaddox was sixth in a five-kilometer time of 25 minutes, 52.76 seconds while Wonnell was right behind in seventh place in 25:53.17.

Sophomore Keegan Pollock paced the Rossville boys with a 34th-place finish in 25:42.31.

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Junior Landen Lewis, who made his first career start at quarterback, scored all five Rossville touchdowns Friday night as the Bulldawgs rallied from two early deficits to take a 35-14 home Big East League victory over Perry-Lecompton.

Junior Landen Lewis scored all five of his team's touchdowns in his first start as Rossville's quarterback Friday night, leading the Bulldawgs to a 35-14 win over Perry-Lecompton. [File photo/TSN]

The Kaws took first-half leads of 7-0 and 14-7, but the Bulldawgs, the Class 1A state runnerup a year ago, finished with 28 straight points to take control.

Rossville used 11, 3 and 6-yard Lewis touchdown runs to take a 21-14 halftime advantage before the Bulldawg QB scored from 22 and 8 yards in the third quarter to give the hosts their final 21-point margin.

Julian Goj went 5 of 5 on extra points for the Bulldawgs.

Next up for Rossville is the storied War on 24 rivaly with Silver Lake, with the Eagles hosting this year's game next Friday.

Hayden drops 22-19 nailbiter to Cardinals

Hayden traveled to Eudora Friday for a rematch of last year’s season-opener and the Cardinals were able to turn the tables from last season’s 28-6 Wildcat victory and earn a come-from-behind 22-19 win.

Eudora, ranked No. 4 in the Class 4A KFBCA preseason poll, took the opening kickoff right down the field and scored a touchdown on a 2-yard run by senior running back Grayson Moody. Following the extra point by senior kicker Caden Dunback, the Cardinals led 7-0.

Hayden, No. 2 in the 3A KFBCA poll, responded with 4-yard run by senior running back Mason Becker, who added the extra point to even the score at 7-7 with just over two minutes left in the first quarter.

The Wildcats dominated the second quarter both offensively and defensively.

Hayden took its first lead of the game on a 14-yard pass from junior quarterback Ryker Tetuan to senior wide receiver Logan Power with 5:07 left in the half (kick failed).

The Wildcat defense stepped up on the next drive as sophomore linebacker Jairus Todwong stripped the ball from Eudora senior wide receiver Preston White and returned the fumble 70 yards for a touchdown (kick failed) and Hayden took a 19-7 lead into the locker room at halftime.

While the first half saw Hayden score 19 straight points, the second half was just the opposite as Eudora’s offense and defense made the necessary adjustments.

After the Cardinals forced a punt on Hayden’s first possession, they drove down the field and scored a TD on a 7-yard run by junior running back Keelyn Duncan. Dunback’s extra point cut the Wildcat lead to 19-14 with eight minutes remaining in the third quarter.

Over the next 10 minutes of game time, both teams were able to move the ball offensively, but neither could score.

With about nine minutes remaining in the game, Eudora began a drive that led to their second touchdown of the second half when Moody scored his second touchdown of the evening on a 2-yard run. Duncan ran in the 2-point conversion, giving Eudora its 22-19 lead with 4:37 left.

By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news

When Highland Park football coach Jermaine Monroe was approached with the possibility of renewing the Scots' rivalry with fellow USD 501 school Topeka High this season it was one of the easiest decisions he'll ever make.

"There were four different schools that were possibilities and when it was presented to me at the time and I saw the first name was Topeka High, I said, 'It's got to be that,' '' Monroe said. "I don't even remember who the other three schools were, but it's something that we always have to play each other.

"I do believe the leagues that we're in are fit for us, but we have to always play each other.''

Topeka High coach Jason Filbeck is also excited for the renewal of the rivalry, which will open the 2026 season at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Hummer Sports Park.

"I'm not from here, but I know what it means,'' Filbeck said. "Everywhere I've been there's been a crosstown rival and I think the kids are very excited to play them. Some of them are their friends from middle school because of the way Topeka is built, so the kids are pumped up.''

Highland Park returns a strong nucleus of players from last year's team that went 5-1 on the field, with G'Honi Montgomery and JoJo Kingcannon headlining a 19-member senior class

The Scots return 10 three-year starters and two four-year starters.

G'Honi Montgomery returns for his senior season at Highland Park after earning All-Shawnee County Top 22 honors last season. [File photo/TSN]

A 5-foot-10, 180-pound running back, Montgomery earned All-Shawnee County and All-Meadowlark Conference first-team honors last fall.

Montgomery carried the ball 69 times for 704 yards (10.2 yards per carry) as a junior, caught 10 passes for 128 yards and scored 12 total touchdowns while compiling 1,268 all-purpose yards.

Senior JoJo Kingcannon will take over as Highland Park's starting quarterback this fall after starring in a variety of roles as a junior. [File photo/TSN]

Kingcannon, a 6-foot, 190-pound quarterback/defensive back, played receiver, running back and quarterback as a junior, scoring from all three positions, and will be the Scots' starting quarterback this fall.

Kingcannon received All-Shawnee County honorable mention for the Scots in 2025, catching 10 passes for 338 yards and rushing for 408 yards on 32 attempts.

Seniors Tayseaun Rouser, Tavion Johnson and Shawnee Heights transfer Zyhir Foster will be counted on to anchor Highland Park's offensive line while Jaiden Smith, Ka'Sioun Drew and Lorenzo Sullivan-Sowell are top receivers.

Defensively, senior Rayshon Pollard is a four-year starter in the defensive backfield and is joined by veterans Drew, Montgomery and Kingcannon.

A three-time all-league honoree, Pollard was in on 22 tackles last season with three sacks and two interceptions.

Topeka High's Courtney Sanders, a senior wide receiver, was a second-team All-Centennial League selection for the second straight season and received All-Shawnee County honorable mention last fall for the Trojans. 

Senior Courtney Sanders is a top returner for Topeka High, earning second-team All-Centennial League recognition the past two seasons. [File photo/TSN]

A junior running back, Ricardo Dowd was a second-team All-Centennial League selection last season as a sophomore while also receiving All-Shawnee County honorable mention. 

Trey Lutz, a senior defensive lineman, received All-Shawnee County honorable mention for the second straight season and also received All-Centennial League honorable mention last season.

Other top returners for Topeka High include seniors Isaac Roman-Chavez, Art Jones and Devin Ponte and juniors Jones Erby and Marion Collins.

Senior Asher Filbeck, the coach's son, and sophomore Kadyn Lucas have been battling it out in preseason for the starting quarterback spot after the graduation of Zane Smith.

FRIDAY'S GAMES

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

After posting a 6-4 record a year ago while wading through a brutal schedule, nothing gets any easier for Washburn Rural this fall.

Veteran Washburn Rural football coach Steve Buhler is starting his 14th season at Rural, with the Junior Blues coming off a 6-4 record last fall. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

The Junior Blues open the season Friday on the road against defending Class 4A state  champion Kapaun Mt. Carmel, will face defending 6A champ Manhattan in the Centennial League as well as facing other traditional state powers and taking a road trip to Omaha, Neb.

But veteran Washburn Rural coach Steve Buhler is confident that his Junior Blues are up to the task ahead.

"We like that,'' Buhler said of Rural's slate. "We feel like we're in a spot with the program where it may not make our overall season record look glossy, but I think it benefits us at the end and we like the idea that our kids don't shy away from anybody and feel like that's just beneficial to us when we get to the playoffs.

"We've think we've got some really talented kids coming back and we've got some talented young guys but they're just going to have to learn how to play at the varsity level a little bit. And it's not that they can't physically do it, they just have to learn to play with the intensity it takes on a Friday night.''

Washburn Rural senior running back Jadyn Baum earned All-Shawnee County and All-Centennial League first-team honors last season. [File photo]

Washburn Rural's returning cast is led by senior running back Jadyn Baum, who earned TopSports.news All-Shawnee County and All-Centennial first-team recognition last fall before going on to win a Class 6A state wrestling title at 215 points.

Baum carried the ball 139 times for 1,262 yards and 10 touchdowns last fall while averaging 9.1 yards per attempt.

"If not the best, he is one of the top five running backs in the state of Kansas,'' Buhler said. "Everybody can say whatever, but 1,200 yards last year, 9 yards a carry against a really good schedule that we played and he's kind of the heart and soul right now of the offense.''

Senior Gavin Vantuyl takes over as the Junior Blues' starting quarterback this fall after seeing time backing up John Hoytal and playing wide receiver last season.

Vantuyl was also the All-Centennial League first-team punter last fall and received All-Shawnee County honorable mention. 

A senior defensive end, Steven Cantrell earned first-team All-Centennial League recognition as a junior and also received All-Shawnee County honorable mention.

Amir Jones, a senior linebacker, received All-Shawnee County honorable mention last season while the Junior Blues also return senior Cade Danielson and junior Isaiah Whiteside at outside linebacker.

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Four Shawnee County teams earned spots in the 2026 Kansas Volleyball Association Preseason State Rankings, released Wednesday.

Silver Lake volleyball is ranked No. 1 in the KVA Class 3A preseason state rankings after posting a 46-1 record last season, including 37 straight wins to end the season. [File photo/TSN] 

Defending state champion Silver Lake is No. 1-ranked in Class 3A after posting a 46-1 record last season and ending the year with 37 straight victories.

Hayden is second-ranked in 4A after posting a runnerup state finish last fall while Rossville is No. 3 in 2A and Washburn Rural No. 7 in 6A. Both the Bulldawgs and Junior Blues were state qualifiers last season. 

KVA PRESEASON STATE RANKINGS

Class 6A

1. Blue Valley West

2. Mill Valley

3. Olathe Northwest

4. Blue Valley

5. Manhattan

6. Blue Valley North

7. Washburn Rural

8. Garden City

9. Olathe West

10. Lawrence Free State

Class 5A

1. St. Thomas Aquinas

2. Maize South

3. St. James Academy

4. Andover Central

5. Blue Valley Southwest

6. Great Bend

7. Kapaun Mt. Carmel

8. Bishop Carroll

9. Lansing

10. De Soto

Class 4A

1. Andale

2. Hayden

3. Clay Center

4. Bishop Miege

5. Eudora

6. McPherson

7. Circle

8. Wellington

9. Rock Creek

10. Paola

Class 3A

1. Silver Lake

2. Hoisington

3. Holton

4. Hesston

5. Halstead

6. Beloit

7. Cheney

8. Ellsworth

9. Wichita-Trinity Academy

10. Riley County

Class 2A

1. Ellinwood

2. Valley Heights

3. Rossville

4. Jefferson County North

5. Oakley

6. Hillsboro

7. Moundridge

8. Inman

9. Conway Springs

10. Thomas More Prep-Marian

Class 1A Division I

1. Little River

2. Centralia

3. Goessel

4. Wabaunsee

5. Quinter

6. South Gray

7. St. John-Hudson

8. Sylvan-Lucas

9. Greeley County

10. Rural Vista

Class 1A Division II

1. Linn

2. Hanover

3. Axtell

4. Cheylin

5. Marais des Cygnes Valley

6. Wheatland-Grinnell

7. Victoria

8. Argonia

9. Hutchinson Central Christian

10. Western Plains

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

The Jones Project’s executive director, Damon Parker, a two-time state wrestling champion as an athlete and a five-time state champ as a coach, is always looking for new mountains to climb.

So after Parker and the Advisors Excel/The Jones Project team completed the equivalent of a climb to the top of Mount Everest over 36 hours last weekend in Steamboat Springs, Colo., they have already turned the page to the next big project: the launching of The Jones Project’s Leadership Academy, a free eight-week program open to students selected from each of the 10 Shawnee County high schools.

The Jones Project, named in honor of the late Josh Jones, a native Topekan who served as a vice-president at Advisors Excel before passing away in March of 2021, provides free mental health programming to secondary students, providing assistance to students who are struggling while emphasizing the importance of specific mental health interventions already in place at schools.

In its first four years The Jones Project has reached more than 115,000 students from 267 different stages. In 2023 TJP created an endowment for The Jones Family Scholarship, which has since provided scholarships to six  Kansas high school graduates who are studying to become mental health professionals.  

The 29029 climb in Steamboat, Colorado kicked off Year 5.

"It's an event where you start at the base of a mountain and you climb it to the summit and then you ride a gondola back down to the bottom and then you do that over and over and over again,'' Parker said. "This year at Steamboat we had to climb 14 times in 36 hours. If you do that then you've reached the vertical gain of Mount Everest.

"The Jones Project and Advisors Excel has had a team that's worked together on this and done it as a fundraiser every year. This is one of the two big fundraisers that keeps The Jones Project afloat. This year we've really made a push on it so that we can use this campaign to fund The Leadership Academy.''

Parker, who has coached the Rural girls to four state titles and coached the Junior Blues to the 2021 boys championship, has served as the executive director of The Jones Project since its inception after being approached by Advisors Excel co-owner Cody Foster.

"He and I had met several times and when he presented the vision he had for The Jones Project to me, I saw it as an opportunity to still work with young people but to do it on a much larger scale and to be able to help kids that were falling through the cracks.  Many of them were in a truly under-served population,'' Parker said. "And it was like, 'How do you say no to the opportunity to do something like that?' 

"I loved teaching, it was wonderful, and I'm still in education, I just have a bigger classroom now. Every year TJP has evolved and we've become more effective with what we've done. It took awhile to find out where those needs were and exactly what kids needed. It started off with just a mental health and suicide prevention talk, but now we do talks on bullying prevention, student leadership, culture building, you name it.  We’ve talked to athletic teams in the locker room before competitions, strength and conditioning programs, and summer STUCO camps.  Wherever there is a school or student organization that needs a speaker, we can help fill that gap.”  

Parker said the Leadership Academy represents another major step forward.

"If we can take a couple of students from each high school in the Shawnee County area and we can give them real, actionable leadership skills, that is going to instantly impact the organization of which they are a part.  Whether it's the basketball team, the debate team, or the marching band is inconsequential.  We’re helping them improve their building culture because now we're taking those kids and we're teaching them how to bring up those younger kids,'' Parker said.

"And when the younger kids are learning from those older kids they realize, 'This is how you do it, this is how you treat people,’ and then they carry that forward with them throughout their remaining time in high school.”

The Leadership Academy is now taking applications and will begin meeting in mid-September.  

"I'll be reaching out to basically every coaching and A.D. contact in my rolodex saying, 'Hey, we're doing this thing and it's definitely something that you want your kids to be involved in,' '' Parker said.     

"We're going to start taking applications now and then the first week in September is when we're going to announce who is accepted into the program. And then we're going to get it kicked off. We will absolutely be up and rolling with students by mid-September, so they’ll want to get in their applications as soon as possible.  This is the start of something HUGE here in Shawnee County.''

Students can use the website www.TopekaLeadershipAcademy.org to apply.

For more information email Coach Parker at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Former Clay Center star Brody Hayes has played in 10 games in his two-year Washburn University football career, mainly on special teams, and has yet to make a start.

Washburn's 2026 football team captains -- Ty Weber (0), Tre Calhoun (1), Justin Lewis (2), Braiden Lagafuaina (3), Nate Lewis Jr. (4), Logan Madden (5), Brody Hayes (7), Cortlin Dalton (8) and JC Heim (9). Not pictured: Cam Robinson (6). [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

But it's clear that the 6-foot, 205-pound sophomore safety has earned the respect of his Ichabod teammates, who selected him as one of 10 team captains for the upcoming 2026 season.

In both of Zach Watkins' two seasons as Washburn's head coach, the entire Ichabod team has voted for the 10 players they believe best fit WU's "Be The Standard'' motto and those 10 players will wear the single-digit jerseys -- 0 through 9 -- throughout the season.

And when the 10 captains were announced earlier this week, Hayes, who will wear No. 7 this fall, was both honored and more than a little bit humbled to be on the list.

"I was so happy, it was so awesome,'' Hayes said. "It's good to know that I have the respect from my teammates and they're willing to trust me to go out there and do whatever it takes to win. It's just such a good feeling when you know you're representing your guys and that they trust you and they selected you to be in that position.

"I was truly blessed and couldn't thank them enough for allowing me this opportunity. I think that I'm ready for the jump into this role. I take everything that I do very seriously, whether that's film, training, all that. I try to be very mature in how I prepare for everything. I'm ready to go and I think that's just a testament to how seriously I try to take everything that I do.''

Watkins said that Hayes, whose father, Patrick, played football at Washburn while his mother, Arica, played volleyball for the Ichabods, is a great representative for the Washburn program.

"Our program model is "Be The Standard'' and he's the standard on and off the field of how you want a football player to play,'' Watkins said. "He's physical as hell. He's shown up from Day 1 of training camp even without pads on being physical and that's going to lead him to have a really good season.''

Joining Hayes as single-digit captains are Washburn Rural products Ty Weber (senior tight end) and JC Heim (junior linebacker), along with sophomore wide receiver Tre Calhoun, graduate student quarterback Justin Lewis, sophomore safety Braiden Lagafuaina, senior wide receiver Nate Lewis Jr., sophomore quarterback Logan Madden, junior running back Cam Robinson and junior safety Cortlin Dalton.

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Washburn University volleyball graduated six seniors, including three All-Americans, off its 2025 team that posted a 27-5 record, earned a share of the MIAA regular-season championship and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

 Washburn University's 2026 volleyball team poses for a team picture during Monday's media day activities. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

But Chris Herron's Ichabods still have the same sky-high expectations they've always had as they open preseason preparations for the 2026 season.

Washburn graduated MIAA Player of the Year and first-team AVCA All-America middle hitter Austin Broadie, first-team All-MIAA and AVCA All-America honorable mention outside hitter Bella Limback and middle hitter Alex Dvorak, who earned second-team All-MIAA honors last fall despite missing a big chunk of the season with an injury after earning AVCA All-America honorable mention in 2024.

But the Ichabods return three-time second-time all-conference defensive specialist/libero  Taylor Rottinghaus, a former Shawnee Heights star, as well as second-team All-MIAA outside hitter Brynne Topolski and honorable mention all-conference outside hitter Keilah Rivers.   

"We like the kids we have and why I feel good about it is that we have so much experience returning,'' Herron said. "Am I going to miss some of those other kids? Yeah sure, but you know what, I think the biggest thing for is we're ready to move on.

"You have this five for five (eligibility) thing and all these injunctions, but we're just going on. We're not worried about that stuff. We like our group and they tested really well (Monday) morning, everybody passed everything, so it's great.''

Now Herron is eager to see what heights this year's edition of the Ichabods can reach.

"We talked about that (Sunday) at our first meeting,'' Herron said. "When you change three or four pieces, they leave, and then three or four new pieces come in, the whole chemistry of that team has changed dramatically, so you have to find your own chemistry.

"We said, 'Whatever happened last year was fine and good, but that was last year, now you've got to find your own.' ''  

In addition to Rottinghaus, Topolski and Rivers, Herron is expecting big things from sophomore middle blocker Brooklyn Morrisey, who came on strong late last season.

"Those middles (Broadie and Dvorak) were dynamite, they were just ridiculous, but we have Brooklyn Morrisey, who filled in the last 13 matches for Alex when she got hurt and played terrific,'' Herron said. "She played against 11 nationally-ranked teams and still hit .280-something, so that bodes well for us.''

The Ichabods have also added transfer setter Lauren Tyler from Drury and transfer first-team All-MIAA first-team outside hitter Emma Siron from Central Missouri State.

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

EDITOR'S NOTE: TopSports.news' list of the top Shawnee County football players to watch in 2026, based on performances in the 2025 season, will be updated as needed after practice begins on Aug. 17 and more information is received from county coaches.

RYAN AUSTIN, Washburn Rural

A 6-foot-2, 170-pound senior, Austin was named the All-Centennial League first-team place-kicker last season for the 6-4 Junior Blues. Austin also received All-Shawnee County honorable mention as a junior.

Coy Barta, Seaman [File photo/TSN]

COY BARTA, Seaman

A senior wide receiver, Barta earned second-team TopSports.News All-Shawnee County and second-team All-United Kansas Conference recognition last season for the 3-6 Vikings. Barta caught 38 passes for 642 yards and 10 touchdowns as a junior.

Jadyn Baum, Washburn Rural [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]

JADYN BAUM, Washburn Rural

A senior running back, Baum helped lead Washburn Rural to a 6-4 record and the second round of the Class 6A state playoffs last fall, earning TSN All-Shawnee County and All-Centennial League first-team recognition after carrying the ball 139 times for 1,262 yards and 10 touchdowns while averaging 9.1 yards per attempt. Baum also won a 6A state wrestling championship at 215 pounds.

Mason Becker, Hayden [File photo/TSN]

MASON BECKER, Hayden

A first-team TSN All-Shawnee County pick, Becker, a 6-foot, 160-pound senior, was a perfect 100 percent on extra-point kicks last season, was two of two on field goals, carried the ball 32 times for 438 yards, caught 13 passes for 224 yards, had nine kickoff returns for 121 yards, scored nine touchdowns and was in on 30 tackles with five pass interceptions for the 12-1 Wildcats, the Class 3A runnerup. Becker is also a basketball and baseball standout for the Wildcats.

Josh Brown, Seaman [File photo/TSN]

JOSH BROWN, Seaman

Brown, a junior wide receiver, was a second-team All-Shawnee County selection for the 3-6 Vikings last season. Brown caught 40 passes for 627 yards and eight touchdowns over the 2025 season. 

STEVEN CANTRELL, Washburn Rural

A senior defensive end, Cantrell is a top returner for Washburn Rural after earning first-team All-Centennial League recognition as a junior for the 6-4 Junior Blues. Cantrell also received All-Shawnee County honorable mention.

CHARLIE CHANCE, Rossville

A senior offensive/defensive lineman, Chance was named the Shawnee County defensive newcomer of the year last season for the Bulldawgs, who posted an 11-2 record and finished second in Class 1A. Chance was in on 54 tackles with 14 tackles for loss and three sacks, earning second-team all-county and All-Big East honors. 

CADE DANIELSON, Washburn Rural

Danielson, a senior outside linebacker, will be counted on to be a team leader for the Junior Blues this fall after helping Washburn Rural post a 6-4 record and reach the second round of the Class 6A playoffs in 2025.

Ricardo Dowd, Topeka High [File photo/TSN]

RICARDO DOWD, Topeka High

Dowd, a junior running back, was a second-team All-Centennial League selection last season for the 3-6 Trojans as a sophomore while also receiving All-Shawnee County honorable mention. 

MYLES FISHER, Silver Lake

A senior offensive/defensive lineman, Fisher received second-team All-Shawnee County honors and All-Big East League honorable mention last season after helping Silver Lake post a 7-3 record. Fisher was in on 73 tackles for the Eagles.

Chase Hastert, Cair Paravel [Photo by Barry Benteman/Special to TSN]

CHASE HASTERT, Cair Paravel Latin

Hastert, a junior quarterback/linebacker/defensive back, is a top returner for Cair Paravel after taking over as the Lions' starting quarterback last fall. The Lions, coming off a 2-6 season, return to the Eight-Man ranks this fall after playing 11-man the past two seasons. Hastert is also a basketball and golf standout for the Lions, earning first-team All-County honors in golf.

COLE HAUBAULD, Cair Paravel Latin

Haubauld, a senior running back/linebacker, earned All-Shawnee County honorable mention as well as All-Flint Hills League recognition as an offensive guard and linebacker last season for the 2-6 Lions and is expected to play running back on offense for CPLS this fall. Cair Paravel returns to Eight-Man Division I competition this season.

CALE HORAK, Rossville

Horak, a junior, received All-Shawnee County honorable mention last season as Rossville posted an 11-2 record and finished second in Class 1A. Horak caught 15 passes for 197 yards and two touchdowns as a sophomore while also registering 21 tackles (16 solo).  

CAEL HORGAN, Rossville

A senior, Horgan earned All-Shawnee County honorable mention last season as Rossville posted an 11-2 record and finished second in Class 1A. Horgan caught seven passes for 141 yards and two touchdowns as a sophomore while also registering 37 tackles (21 solo) with three interceptions.   

EVAN HUNTLEY, Hayden

A 6-foot-1, 195-pound junior fullback/inside linebacker, is a top returner on both sides of the ball for a Hayden team that posted a 12-1 record and finished second in Class 3A for the third straight season last fall.

ALEX HUSTON, Seaman

A senior linebacker, Huston received All-Shawnee County honorable mention last season for the 3-6 Vikings. Huston was in on 106 tackles as a junior, including 61 solo stops.

AMIR JONES, Washburn Rural

Jones, a senior linebacker, received All-Shawnee County honorable mention last season after helping Washburn Rural post a 6-4 record and advance to the second round of the Class 6A playoffs.

Cale Ketter, Seaman [File photo/TSN[ 

CALE KETTER, Seaman

Ketter, a senior quarterback, was a second-team All-Shawnee County selection last season for the 3-6 Vikings. Ketter completed 136 of 231 pass attempts for 2,013 yards and 23 touchdowns in eight games.

JoJo Kingcannon, Highland Park [File photo/TSN]

JOJO KINGCANNON, Highland Park

A 6-foot, 190-pound senior quarterback/defensive back, Kingcannon played receiver, running back and quarterback as a junior, scoring from all three positions. Kingcannon received All-Shawnee County honorable mention for the Scots, who went 5-1 on the field, catching 10 passes for 338 yards and rushing for 408 yards on 32 attempts. Kingcannon earned second-team all-county recognition in basketball.

Kipton Kruger, Silver Lake [File photo/TSN] 

KIPTON KRUGER, Silver Lake

A 5-foot-11, 165-pound sophomore quarterback, Kruger was named the Shawnee County offensive newcomer of the year last fall after completing 178 of 252 passes for 2,158 yards and 16 touchdowns for the Eagles. Kruger was a second-team All-Shawnee County pick and received All-Big East honorable mention. Kruger is also a basketball and baseball standout for the Eagles.

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Washburn University women's soccer has been picked No. 4 in the United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division II Women's Coaches National Pre-Season Rankings released Tuesday.

Davy Phillips' Ichabods are coming off a 14-4-6 season in 2025, including 8-0-4 in MIAA play, and advanced to the NCAA Division II semifinals.

Senior defender Lindsey Maul returns for No. 4-ranked Washburn soccer after earning first-team All-MIAA and all-region honors in 2025. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]

Sophomore Leah Henke is a top returner for No. 4-ranked Washburn University soccer after being named the MIAA freshman of the year last season. [File photo/TSN] 

The Ichabods return a key nucleus of players from last year's team, including first-team All-MIAA picks Lindsey Maul, a senior defender, and Leah Henke, a sophomore forward. Henke was named the MIAA freshman of the year last fall.

Also returning are All-MIAA second-team pick Rilyn Snyder, a senior defender, third-team conference selections Grace Peterson (senior midfielder), Mackinly Rohn (senior midfielder) and Sam Searcey (junior forward) and honorable mention honorees Kate Hinck (sophomore forward) and Lili Everley (sophomore goalkeeper).

Washburn Rural products Rohn and Hinck are two of the five Topekans on the Washburn 2026 roster along with Rural grads Destiny Higgs, a redshirt freshman, and freshman Dayne Shriver, and Hayden freshman Reese Huscher.  

Washburn will open its regular season at 6 p.m. Aug. 27 in Yager Stadium against pre-season No. 21 Maryville.