By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
A group of nine former Shawnee County standouts and one rising star who represent seven different sports kick off the TopSports.news' Shawnee County All-Time Top 100 project.
From gymnastics, which is no longer offered at county high schools, to shooting, which was never a KSHSAA sport, to more traditional sports like volleyball, golf, track and field and cross country and the state's fastest growing sport of girls wrestling, TSN's first group of 10 Top 100 honorees includes seven individual state champions as well as three state champions, including four-time Class 6A team volleyball champ Kelsey Lewis of Washburn Rural.
The first group out of the gate also features the youngest Top 100 honoree, Seaman track and cross country star Ryin Miller, who has already earned her spot as one of Kansas' all-time bests in just two years of high school.
TSN SHAWNEE COUNTY ALL-TIME TOP 100 WOMEN’S ATHLETES
Kelsey Lewis was a volleyball standout for Washburn Rural and Washburn University, helping lead Rural to four straight Class 6A state titles. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
91. KELSEY LEWIS, Washburn Rural
Lewis helped lead Washburn Rural to four straight Class 6A state volleyball championships before going on to play at Washburn University, where she earned All-MIAA recognition. Lewis was a three-time 6A all- state tournament team selection for the Junior Blues.
Former Shawnee Heights wrestling standout Maranda Bell (right) won a Class 6A-5A state title as a senior and posted 100 wins in her prep career. [Photo by Scott Paske/KSHSAA Covered]
92. MARANDA BELL, Shawnee Heights
Bell won the Class 6A-5A 191-pount state girls wrestling championship as a senior, becoming Shawnee Heights' first official girls state champ and first girls wrestler to reach 100 wins in her career. Bell was 27-1 in her senior season and won all four of her state matches by pin, in 13 seconds, 3:01, 56 seconds and 1:03 in the championship match over Derby's Meya Howell.
Shawnee Heights graduate Marissa Patterson wrestled before the advent of high school wrestling, but won state and national titles. [Twitter]
93. MARISSA PATTERSON, Shawnee Heights
Patterson didn't get the chance to wrestle in official KSHSAA state competition, but was a two-time junior national champion and a six-time junior All-American and was named the Topeka Shawnee County female winter senior athlete of the year. Patterson went on to earn All-Kansas Conference first-team honors for York College.
Topeka West graduate Caitlin Morrisey was a multi-time All-American for TCU in shooting. [Photo by pronematch.com]
94. CAITLIN MORRISEY, Topeka West
Morrisey was a multi-time All-American for the Texas Christian Universsity rifle team. As a senior, Morrisey earned second-team All-American honors in air rifle and honorable mention in smallbore. As a junior Morrisey earned first-team All-America accolades in smallbore and second-team honors in air rifle.
Washburn Rural product Rebekah Smith (right) won a state wrestling title as a senior and helped the Junior Blues win two state team crowns. [File photo/TSN]
95. REBEKAH SMITH, Washburn Rural
Smith won a state wrestling title at 155 pounds as a senior for the Junior Blues after placing third at 170 pounds as a junior. Smith was named the Topeka Shawnee County female winter senior athlete of the year earlier after helping Washburn Rural win two straight state team championships.
96. CASSIE WASSENBERG, Shawnee Heights
Younger TopSports.news readers may not even realize that Topeka schools once competed in high school gymnastics, but local athletes, including Shawnee Heights graduate Wassenberg, exelled in that event. Wassenberg won the girls All-Around state championship in 1992.
97. SHAUNA BURRELL, Seaman
Burrell won the Class 5A individual cross country championship for the Vikings in 1999 after posting a third-place state finish in '98. Burrell, who went on to run at Kansas State, was a two-time 5A 1,600-meter champ in track.
98. ABREANNA PARKER, Shawnee Heights
Parker was a multi-event track and field star for Shawnee Heights, winning three gold medals for the T-Birds in both 2009 and '10. Parker won 100 and 200-meter dashes as a senior while also running on Heights' winning 4x100 relay.
99. BROOKE LaRUE, Hayden
LaRue was a four-time Class 4A state individual golf medalist for Hayden (2008-'11), earning a pair of state championships while also posting second and fourth-place finishes. While at Hayden LaRue helped lead the Wildcats to a pair of 4A team titles. LaRue went on to attend William and Mary.
Seaman's Ryin Miller earned a berth on the TSN Shawnee County Top 100 list in just two years of high school athletics. [Photo by Jesse Bruner/Special to TSN]
100. RYIN MILLER, Seaman
The youngest athlete on the Top 100, Miller has already established herself as one of the top distance runners in Kansas history in just two high school seasons. The Gatorade Kansas Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year, Miller won Class 5A track titles in the 1,600 and 800 and was second in the 3,200 this spring as a sophomore. Miller also finished third in 5A cross country last fall and was a member of the Vikings' 5A state championship basketball team and Seaman's state quarterfinal soccer team.
UPCOMING TOP 100 TENTATIVE SCHEDULE
July 10 -- Men's No. 91 through 100.
July 11 -- Women's No. 81 through 90.
July 12 -- Men's No. 81 through 90.
July 13 -- Women's No. 71 through 80.
July 14 -- Men's No. 71 through 80.
July 15 -- Women's No. 61 through 70.
July 16 -- Men's No. 61 through 70.
July 17 -- Women's No. 51 through 60.
July 18 -- Men's No. 51 through 60.
July 19 -- Women's No. 41 through 50.
July 20 -- Men's No. 41 through 50.
July 21 -- Women's No. 31 through 40.
July 22 -- Men's No. 31 through 40.
July 23 -- Women's No. 21 through 30.
July 24 -- Men's No. 21 through 30.
July 25 -- Women's No. 11 through 20.
July 26 -- Men's No. 11 through 20.
July 27 -- Women's No.10 through 1.
July 28 -- Men's No. 10 through 1.
