Welcome to Top Sports News
Junior Day Combine on tap May 7 at Shawnee Heights for area gridders
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The Topeka Area Football Coaches Association along with Rebound Sports Performance will host the annual Junior Day Combine on May 7 at Shawnee Heights for next year's seniors interested in playing football at the collegiate level.
The combine, scheduled for 4 to 5:30 p.m., will be an opportunity for area high school athletes to get exposure in front of college coaches.
There will be representatives from NCAA Division II, NAIA and junior college programs in Kansas and the Midwest area at the combine and prospect information and combine results will be available to every college that recruits the Topeka area.
Players need to bring running shoes, cleats and water.
The cost for attending the combine is $10 and can be paid the day of the combine (cash, Venmo or check to TAFCA) .
If you are planning to attend the combine, please scan the completed registration form and email the information to Shawnee Heights football coach Jason Swift at
Prep golf roundup: Hayden posts 24-stroke win in Santa Fe Trail Invitational
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Hayden's boys golf team put five players in the top eight spots individually on the way to a dominating 24-stroke team victory in Wednesday's Santa Fe Trail Invitational at Lamont Hills.
Junior Nick Gorman finished third individually with a 73 while senior Jacob Padilla placed fourth with a 76, juniors James Kuta and Colin Scott tied for fifth with 77s and junior Tagen Rodriguez tied for eighth place with an 82.
Sophomore Austin Bean rounded out the Wildcats' lineup with a 94.
Hayden finished with a four-person team score of 303, while Council Grove was second with a 327 total and tournament host Santa Fe Trail third at 330.
Silver Lake finished sixth as a team at 363, led by sophomore Grady Bergmann, who tied for 11th place with an 85.
Council Grove's Drew Buchman and Santa Fe Trail's Lane Workman tied for first place individually with 71s.
SANTA FE TRAIL INVITATIONAL
Kevin Haskin's mid-month musings for April, 2024
- Details
By KEVIN HASKIN
TopSports.news
Musings around the mid-month:
• Sending this column later than usual, but it’s only once Rick Peterson turns 70.
• Celebrating that milestone in Las Vegas last week left me woozy.
• Maybe it was Rick Jr.’s foray on the Strip with pretend law ladies. I won’t divulge pictures, though they exist.
• Good to catch up with what is becoming America’s sports mecca, especially with the widespread legalization of sports wagering.
• Only fitting, I suppose, that the NHRA drag races were in Vegas the same time we were, considering how often all three of us covered the event at now-shuttered Heartland Park.
• Attended a AAA game hosted by the Las Vegas Aviators …courtesy of Topeka’s own Allen Leiker, sports editor of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
• As you might expect, the Aviators are a flawed ballclub considering they're an affiliate of the Oakland A’s.
• After they suffered another defeat, a team usher said, “Come on back, folks. We’ll win one sometime.”
• For anyone who frequents Vegas, we all live by the same principle.
• Not sure why there’s any angst over Caitlin Clark, her achievements and her transition into the WNBA.
• She’s a transcendent figure in a sport that longs for growth and acceptance.
• Clark paved that path, yet many (including some past greats) seem eager to disrespect her.
• Sure, she’ll have to adjust to pro ball, same as anyone. But I think she’s got the tools, the skills and the charisma to boost her stardom.
• I am sure she can scorch WNBA opponents, too, by connecting from center-court logos.
• And for once, the WNBA is getting a rookie everyone knows and many follow. Clark elevated the college game. To do so at the pro level would be even more remarkable.