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By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

There's a long list of Washburn Rural soccer players who have put together outstanding careers for the Junior Blues.

Washburn Rural senior Kate Hinck, battling Hayden junior goalkeeper Lauren Borjon outside the goal, scored four goals in Monday's 7-0 win to become Rural's career leading scorer. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

As of Monday, Rural senior forward Kate Hinck is arguably at the top of that list.

Hinck scored four goals in Monday's 7-0 Centennial League road win at Hayden, moving past former Junior Blue great Kaira Houser to set Rural's career scoring record.

"It means a lot,'' Hinck said. "I feel like I've pushed myself and just tried to be the best and be the best for the team.'' 

With her four goals Hinck now has 77 goals, including 23 this season with a maximum of six games still remaining.

"We've had a lot of good players who have come through here, but Kate's a special athlete, not just a soccer player but a three-sport athlete who's been a cornerstone for all those programs (volleyball, basketball, soccer) for the last four years,'' Washburn Rural coach Brian Hensyel said.

"She came here her freshman year and was a really good athlete. She's turning into a phenomenal soccer player, teammate, etc., so it was great to see her get the record. That's an amazing record to break, so we're pretty excited.''

Hinck, who will play collegiately at Washburn, scored the only goal Rural would need at the 28:04 mark of the first half and added the game's final three goals in a nine-minute span in the second half as the 13-2-0 Junior Blues wrapped up the Centennal League title with a perfect 5-0 mark.

Washburn Rural senior Zahra Friess scored a goal and had two assists in Monday's 7-0 soccer win over Hayden. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Sophomore Emery Hall scored a pair of first-half goals as Washburn Rural built a 3-0 halftime advantage and the Junior Blues got a second-half goal from senior Zahra Friess in addition to Hinck's three second-half goals.

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By TODD FERTIG

TopSports.news

The Seaman boys finished fourth at the United Kansas Conference golf tournament at Shawnee Country Club Monday, the top finisher among the league’s three Topeka schools.

 

Pacing the Vikings was junior Jordan Burghart, who shot 77, just one stroke out of first place. Burghart finished in a three-way tie for third, his best finish of the season.

“It was fun today. Tough competition. A lot of good golfers,” Burghart said. “I think I did pretty well aside from one blow-up hole. Other than that, it was pretty good.”

The junior’s 77 was his best round of the season and the third-place finish was his highest finish. He now looks forward to the Class 5A regional meet to be held at Lake Shawnee next Monday.

“I’ve just got to shot what I did today, or in the low 80s, to go to state,” Burghart said. “I’ve got to have my driver. If that’s not going, it’s not going well.”

De Soto claimed the league crown by shooting 318 as a team. Basehor-Linwood finished two strokes back. Seaman finished a shot behind Lansing, which posted a 329.

“This was our best team score of the year, so it’s always nice to shoot your best score going into the end of the year,” said Seaman coach Rick Rineberg. “I’m really proud of the development of the team. I told them before the meet, they’re a really fun group to be around and hopefully we get to play for two more weeks, not just one more week.

“To qualify for state as a team, we just have to play our game and just kind of understand who we are as golfers. We don’t have anybody on the team that is going to out and light it up and shoot six, seven under par. But we have a lot of guys that can grind it out and shoot in the high 70s and low 80s.”

Basehor-Linwood senior Logan Anderson and Lansing senior A.J. Allen finished tied for first with an 18-hole score of 76. They dueled in a playoff hole that saw Anderson par for the win.

Joining Seaman’s Burghart in the top 10 was Topeka West’s Blaze Schultz. The Charger sophomore finished in a four-way tie for seventh was a round of 80.

“I felt pretty good,” said Schultz, whose best round of the season was a 79 at Western Hills, good for second in that meet. “I played good in the back, one over. Front nine was a little rough, but I finished strong.

Schultz reflected on his prospects to qualify for state in light of his finish in the UKC meet.

“I’ve got to shoot low 80s, 85. That’s the goal,” Schultz said about next week’s regional meet. “I’m feeling pretty good (about my development). I can’t wait to keep improving.”

Leading way for Shawnee Heights was junior Ayden Valdivia, who carded an 81, earning a spot on the All-United Kansas Conference Second Team.

UNITED KANSAS CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT

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By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Junior doubles champions Cale Deutscher and Dylan Willingham led the way Saturday as Washburn Rural captured the team championship in a Class 6A tennis regional at Wichita. 

Washburn Rural tennis won a Class 6A regional title Saturday in Wichita after previously winning city and Centennial League championships. [Washburn Rural tennis]

Deutscher and Willingham downed Derby's Collin Bale and Garrett Haupt 6-4, 6-3 in the championship match, improving to 21-1 on the season.

The Junior Blues also got third-place regional finishes from junior Keegan Knudtson and from juniors Ben Tryhus and Kieffer O'Connor in doubles as Rural won the team title by an 18-14 margin over Manhattan.

Topeka High junior Tres Lassiter finished second in singles in Saturday's Class 6A regional in Wichita. [File photo/TSN]

Topeka High junior Tres Lassiter advanced to the singles final, dropping a 6-1, 6-3 decision to Manhattan freshman Jay Hoke in the championship match as Hoke improved to 29-4 while Lassiter is now 26-5.

Rural's Knudtson (19-9) took a 6-4, 6-1 decision over Derby's Tyler Bradt in the third-place singles match while Tryhus and O'Connor (13-10) took a 6-2, 6-2 win over Topeka High senior Alex Raymond and junior Christian Sink (18-10) to finish third in doubles.

Washburn Rural has now swept city, Centennial League and regional team titles entering Friday and Saturday's 6A state tournament at Junction City while High's Lassiter will finish off his first season of high school tennis with a state appearance and Raymond and Sink qualified for state in their first year as a doubles team.

Seaman tennis followed up its UKC team title with a runnerup finish in Saturday's Class 5A regional tournament, qualifying its entire team for state. [File photo/TSN]

Vikings qualify entire team for 5A state

Seaman followed up its United Kansas Conference championship with a strong performance in Saturday's Class 5A regional at Bonner Springs, with the Vikings finishing second as a team while qualifying their entire team for state.

The Vikings got third and fifth-place finishes in singles from freshman Camden Dutton and senior Ethan Winters while Seaman juniors Dayton Schneider and Owen Stewart finished third and junior Wesley Budge and freshman David Budge placed fifth in doubles.

Dutton (23-9) took a 6-0, 6-0 win over Piper's Chri Htoo in the third-place singles match while Winters (24-7) finished fifth with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Topeka West senior state qualifier Mark Cianciarulo (23-8 ) in the fifth-place match.

Schneider and Stewart (26-11) took a win over Topeka West senior Julian Ramcharan and freshman Collin McGee (25-12) in the third-place doubles match (score unavailable) while Budge and Budge (20-9) finished fifth with a 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 6-3 win over Basehor-Linwood's Luke Broxterman and David Barnett.

The 5A state meet will be contested Friday and Saturday in Salina.

Shawnee Heights' Brock Corley qualified for the Class 5A state tournament in singles with a fifth-place regional finish Saturday in De Soto. [File photo/TSN]

 T-Birds' Corley earns 5A state berth

Shawnee Heights senior Brock Corley posted a fifth-place singles finish in Saturday's Class 5A regional at De Soto, earning a berth for Friday and Saturday's state tournament at Salina.

Corley, the United Kansas Conference singles champion, took a 6-2, 6-1 win over Spring Hill's B. Browning in the fifth-place regionals match. 

Corley will take a 22-9 record into the state tournament.