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Head, Lewis, Stolle, Zlatnik, Davis welcomed into Topeka Shawnee County Sports Hall of Fame
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Local sports greats Jerad Head, Trey Lewis, Brenda Stolle, Duane Zlatnik and the late Bob Davis were inducted into the Topeka Shawnee County Sports Hall of Fame on Monday at Washburn University.
Steven Davis (son of the late Bob Davis), Brenda Stolle, Duane Zlatnik, Jerad Head and Trey Lewis pose for a picture after being inducted into the Topeka Shawnee County Sports Hall of Fame. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
A Silver Lake native, Stolle was a standout pitcher for the Emporia State softball team from 1979-81. Stolle led the Hornets to a national championship in 1980 and a second-place finish in 1981. Her career pitching record was 66-15, and she picked up six saves during her career.
Former Emporia softball national champion and player of the year Brenda Stolle speaks during Monday's Topeka Shawnee County Hall of Fame induction ceremony. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
During the 1980 championship season, Stolle compiled an 0.33 earned run average. She received numerous honors, including all-American honors twice, NAIA most valuable player in 1981, and Kansas Female Athlete of the Year from the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
Brenda Stolle receives her Topeka Shawnee County Hall of Fame award from Topeka Area Sports Commission executive director Mike Bell. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Stolle was the first female ever inducted into the Emporia State Athletic Hall of Honor in 1988 and was inducted into the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame in 2012.
"My experience at Emporia State was pretty unique,'' Stolle said. "Some of the things that might surprise you is that every year all of us tried out for the team. There were two weeks and every year all of us tried out and you didn't know for sure if you were on the team or who else was on the team. We all walked on and we were all Kansas girls.
"Before every game we prayed together and we played hard. We worked together as a team and it was about the team and there's something wonderful about working with a group of people where you're working on behalf of the team.''
Head earned All-Class 4A honors in football, basketball and baseball at Hayden and played basketball and baseball at Washburn University before being signed as a non-drafted free agent by the Cleveland Indians in 2006.
Former Major Leaguer Jerad Head was inducted into the Topeka Shawnee Sports Hall of Fame Monday at Washburn, where he was a standout in baseball and basketball. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Head was promoted to the majors on August 28, 2011 and played in 10 games as a left fielder and pinch hitter.
Jerad Head receives his Topeka Shawnee County Sports Hall of Fame award from Topeka Area Sports Commission executive director Mike Bell. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Head also played Minor League Baseball for the Detroit Tigers and Washington Nationals organizations before ending his playing career in 2013. He was named as manager of the Auburn Doubledays of the Class A Short Season New York-Penn League in 2016 and managed through 2018.
"Thanks to the Topeka Shawnee County Sports Hall of Fame,'' Head said. "I'm very honored and very humbled. I don't think people realize the amount of people that come out of here. Just right now we have a player in the big leagues (Ryan Zeferjahn), we have the SEC volleyball player of the year (Brooklyn DeLeye) and probably the greatest softball player in Topeka history (NiJaree Canady).''
Seaman's Brody Anderson wins second straight boys title in Olathe Twilight XC event
By CHARLES SPURLOCK
Special to TopSports.news
On a warm Saturday afternoon and evening, Washburn Rural and Seaman competed in the Olathe Twilight Cross Country meet at the Olathe District Activity Center.
Washburn Rural and Seaman competed against 48 other schools from five states with a total of 10 high school races and two middle school races.
Seaman cross country senior star Brody Anderson captured his second straight individual win of the season Saturday in Olathe. [File photo/TSN]
The junior varsity and varsity were divided into two heats and ran the traditional five kilometer distance. The C team races were run at a 3K distance due to the heat throughout the day.
Washburn Rural's Kenzie Maddox earned an individual medal in Saturday's Twilight event in Olathe. [File photo/TSN]
In the varsity girls race, Washburn Rural finished in ninth place and had one medalist, senior Kenzie Maddox, who finished 16th in a time of 18 minutes, 47.90. Seaman’s lone runner in the race, junior Brynn Spencer, ran a time of 19:50.30 for a 48th-place finish.
In the varsity boys race, Seaman senior Brody Anderson won his second straight race to start the season, finishing in a time of 15:11.40. The Viking team finished in 18th place overall.
This was a race Brody attended last season as a spectator and hoped to compete in his senior year.
“The field was great with some of the best in the state and out of state and I wanted to come out and prove that I could hang with and compete with the best,” Anderson said.
Anderson made the decision following a false start (one of the runners tripped) to go out and lead from the beginning. “I pushed the pace and it was rough because I ran out of fuel over the last 200 meters. I gutted it out and was fired up and excited to get the win.”
Anderson also recognized that the work in the off season is paying off.
“I had some great people to run with this summer -- Huey Counts from Salina and Coach (Luke) Wiens (Seaman coach) are both great coaches, I owe a lot to them and they’ve helped me.”
Washburn Rural, which finished sixth as a team, was led by sophomore medalist Henry Laubach, who ran 15:32.10 and finished sixth overall.
This week, both schools will be running at the Scott Shufelberger Invitational hosted by Washburn Rural on Saturday morning.
Team Scores & Individual Results
Hall of Famer, nine-time state champ Steve Bushnell returning to Viking dugout
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The Hall of Famer is back.
Steve Bushnell, who led one of Kansas' most dominant baseball programs for more than two decades at Seaman, will be back on the field in the spring for his second stint after his hiring was approved by the USD 345 school board last week.
Hall of Fame coach Steve Bushnell has been named Seaman's head baseball coach and will begin his second stint next spring. [File photo/TSN]
Bushnell last coached Seaman in 2019, leading the Vikings to their second straight Class 5A state championship and their ninth state title in his tenure before the 2020 season was cancelled due to COVID-19.
Bushnell moved into the Seaman athletic director's position for four years through 2023-2024 before retiring in the spring of 2024.
"When I left teaching and coaching and decided to go into administration, that was the most difficult decision that I had made to that time as far as my career and that side of it,'' Bushnell told TopSports.news. "It was definitely hard to step away and to go into the A.D.'s position.
"I learned a lot and had a great time as our athletic director for four years, but I always felt like baseball was part of me and it was always there.''
Trent Oliva stepped down as Seaman's head coach after the 2025 season and Bushnell, a member of six hall of fames, eventually made the decision to pursue the opening.
"I think you're always trying to analyze and see how things fit and I was pretty thorough in that regard,'' Bushnell said. "When it all went down late mid-summer and July, the opportunity to come back was not anything that I ever thought that I would be presented and it was somewhat of a surprise.
"But it definitely was intriguing and I threw my name in and went through the process.''
In his first Seaman stint Bushnell led the Vikings to 18 state tournament appearances, the nine state championships and four runner-up finishes in his 21 seasons.
Bushnell culminated a 401-103 record (.796) which included a record of 42-9 in the state tournament. Seaman won at least 20 games for 10 consecutive years during the Bushnell era.
In 2018 he was named the American Baseball Coaches Association High School Division III National Coach of the Year.
Steve Bushnell was inducted into the Kansas State High School Activities Association Hall of Fame this past spring, one of the six hall of fames he's a member of. [Photo courtesy of KSHSAA Covered]
Bushnell was inducted into the Kansas State High School Activities Association Hall of Fame this past spring and is also a member of the Ban Johnson Baseball, Kansas City Kansas Community College, Emporia State, Kansas Association of Baseball Coaches and the Seaman baseball shrines.
Bushnell said the Vikings will continue to strive to be a state contender moving forward.
