All City 2025 Girls Swimming Team.

[Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Rick Strecker, Hayden Hall of Framer, passed away after cancer battle.

[File Photo/TSN]

All City 2025 Boys Golf Team.

[Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

2025 All City Boys Tennis Team.

[Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Topekan "Big Dawg" Deedrick honored by KSHSAA for 60 yrs. as an official in baseball, basketball, football and volleyball.

[File Photo/TSN]

Ryin Miller, Seaman, named Gatorade KS 2025 Track & Field Athlete of the Year.

[File Photo/TSN}

Nate Wallace (right) is the new coach of the Highland Park boys basketball team.

[File Photo/TSN]

Phil Frost captured his 1st TGA City Match Play Championship.

[File Photo/TSN]

A1 Lock Key Logo

Key Performers of the Week

Rising Stars Intro 002AA

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Nearly 29,000 reader votes have been received since TopSports.news kicked off its Best of the Best project in early July.

Now it's time to honor Shawnee County's all-time greats in a series of lists over the month of August.

More than 500 current and former county athletes received Best of the Best votes in 23 different sports/categories, including 44 men's bowlers, 36 baseball players, 34 women's bowlers and football players, 33 men's cross country runners, 31 women's soccer players and 30 men's tennis players.

Eight sports compiled more than 1,200 reader votes, while four sports topped the 2,000-vote mark, two topped 4,000 votes and women's bowling led the way with more than 9,300 votes.

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TopSports.news believed it was imperative to give readers the opportunity to vote for their favorite athletes while also trying to make sure that the Best of the Best project was more than a popularity contest. As a result TSN received input from local sports experts as well as current and past sports media professionals throughout the project.

Starting on Aug. 2, TSN will publish its Top 25 Best of the Best lists in each sport/category based on past performances, honors, championships, etc. at the high school, college and professional and amateur levels and will also recognize the top vote-getters with its Readers Choice Awards based strictly on reader votes.

TopSports.news realizes that lists like these are always going to be open to debate, but wanted to recognize as many Shawnee County athletes as possible in as many sports as possible.

It's been fun!

Next up: Baseball Top 25 Best of the Best and Readers Choice Awards.

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