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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
When Washburn University freshman tight end Ty Weber dropped to a knee in the Yager Stadium north end zone and then thrust his index finger towards the sky in last Saturday's MIAA game against Northeastern State, it probably just looked to the average football fan like a player celebrating his first collegiate touchdown.
Washburn tight end Ty Weber (34) points to the sky in honor of his late father, Billy, after catching a 4-yard touchdown pass in last Saturday's 45-14 MIAA win over Northeastern State. [Photo by Sarah Cavallaro/Washburn Student Media]
It was so much more than that.
On Sept. 30, Weber and his Ichabod teammates were in Kearney, Neb. getting ready to play Nebraska-Kearney later that day when the former Washburn Rural football and baseball star got the life-altering news that his father, 55-year-old Billy Weber, had passed away suddenly in the early morning hours while visiting family in Seneca, Kan.
"My mom and my uncle and aunt, they drove up to Kearney to tell me and then our whole family spread out because they didn't want any of the (five) kids to find out over the phone,'' Weber said. "It's a terrible thing to find out, so they moved all around and my grandma and grandpa, they went and told my brother in Kansas City, and my sister's mom went and told her at her house in Topeka.''
Washburn coach Craig Schurig immediately gave Weber the option of sitting out that day's game against the Lopers, but the 6-foot-3, 225-pounder made the decision to play, beginning what will be a lifelong quest to honor his father.
"I talked to my mom to make sure she was in a good enough place that if I did play she would be alright,'' Weber said. "Then I thought about it and I said, 'The way my dad was and how he raised me, I think he would raise from the dead and come get me if I didn't play in that game.'
"I think it was something that I needed to do in that moment, in his honor.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University women's basketball begins the 2023-24 season and the second year of the Lora Westling era this weekend in Shawnee, Okla. at the Central Region Crossover against Southwestern Oklahoma State and tournament host Oklahoma Baptist.
The Ichabods open their season at 1 p.m. Friday against Southwestern Oklahoma State before facing and Oklahoma Baptist at 6 p.m. on Saturday.
Senior Aubree Dewey (3) returns to lead Washburn women's basketball after earning All-MIAA honorable mention a year ago. [File photo/TSN]
Former Washburn standout Lora Westling opens her second season as the Ichabods' head coach on Friday in the Central Region Crossover. [File photo/TSN]
Washburn posted an 11-17 overall record and 7-15 MIAA mark a year ago and will be looking to take a big step forward this season.
"We had a lot of freshmen that played heavy minutes last year and now they're returning with some more experience and that will be great,'' WU senior Lakyn Schieferecke said. "We really just have to put together three or four really good quarters instead of one good quarter, two good quarters.
"Overall, just winning each quarter is kind of our mindset when we step on the floor.''
Washburn, which is opening its 55th season of women's basketball, returns six players from last season's roster, including three players -- seniors Aubree Dewey and Schieferecke and sophomore Gabi Giovannetti -- who started in at least 50 percent of games.
Dewey, who earned All-MIAA honorable mention last season, leads Washburn's returners after starting in all 28 contests and leading the Ichabods in scoring at 10.4 points per game and assists with 3.4 per game.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University's men's basketball team will be up early on Saturday morning to open WU's 119th season of hoops with an 11 a.m. game against Sioux Falls in the Central Region Challenge at Muncipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo.
The Ichabods will also be in action on Sunday, hosting Minnesota State Moorhead at 12 p.m in Municipal.
Junior Andrew Orr returns to lead Washburn's men's basketball team after earning third-team All-MIAA honors last season. [File photo/TSN]
Washburn men's basketball Brett Ballard and his Ichabods will be looking to return to MIAA and NCAA prominence this season after slipping to 14-15 a year ago. [File photo/TSN]
Coming off an up-and-down 14-15 season, the Ichabods were picked sixth in the MIAA preseason coaches poll and seventh in the media poll. After advancing to the NCAA Tournament four times in the previous five seasons under coach Brett Ballard, the Ichabods will be looking to return to MIAA and national contention this season, returning starters Andrew Orr, Michael Keegan and Levi Braun to build around.
"We're definitely ready to get going,'' Keegan said. "We had two scrimmages already so we're ready to go out and play other teams week-in and week-out. Practice has been going really well for the most part. We have a really competitive group and we just get after it. We're scrappy. I've got bruises, cuts, scratches from every practice every day.''
Ballard also gives the Ichabods high marks for their work over the offseason and in preseason preparations.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University's 2023 football season hasn't gone anywhere close to what the injury-ravaged Ichabods envisioned at the start of the year.
But the Ichabods will get the opportunity to send their 17 seniors out with a victory when 1-9 Washburn hosts 1-9 Northeastern State in Saturday's 1 p.m. Senior Day contest at Yager Stadium.
Offensive lineman Andrew Funk (72) is one of 17 Washburn seniors who will be honored Saturday on Senior Day at Yager Stadium. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
The fact that 10 of Washburn's 17 seniors are sidelined with injuries says a lot about what the Ichabods have endured this fall, but WU coach Craig Schurig said it would be important to the program for WU to end the challenging season with a positive outcome.
"This year has been tough and they've hung in there,'' Schurig said of the senior class. "I feel bad for the ones that can't play. Some of their years were cut pretty short, but they've done a lot for this program and they've had really good careers, so you'd like to play well on Senior Day and give them something that they could be like, 'Hey, that was a fun game.' ''
Ichabod senior offensive lineman Andrew Funk agreed.
"It's very important to us,'' said the 6-foot-3, 298-pounder out of St. Charles, Mo. "Obviously, it's not the season we wanted but to end on a high note, not only for the seniors but to roll into next season with all these younger guys would be great.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Centennial League soccer champion Washburn Rural, which won its 29th straight league title (outright or shared) and went on to a third-place finish in the Class 6A state tournament, put five players on the all-league first team, including senior player of the year Devon Rutschmann.
Washburn Rural senior Devon Rutschmann has been named the Centennial League soccer player of the year after helping lead the Junior Blues to a 19-2-0 record and the league title. [File photo/TSN]
Veteran Washburn Rural coach Brian Hensyel was named the Centennial League soccer coach of the year after Rural captured a 29th straight league title and finished third in Class 6A. [File photo/TSN]
Rural coach Brian Hensyel was named the Centennial League coach of the year aftr leading the Junior Blues to a 19-2-0 record and a perfect 5-0-0 record in league play.
Rutschmann was joined on the first team by Rural seniors Griffin Heinen, Cohen Nimz and Ethan Uhlrig and junior Ryder Nikkel.
Topeka High is represented on the all-league first team by senior Chris Gomez and junior Jaime Alvarado.
Rural put senior Hayden Shriver and sophomores Dylan Willingham, Brandon Hamilton and Draden Chooncharoen on the All-Centennial second team while Hayden senior Josh Wolf also earned second-team recognition.
Eight city players received all-league honorable mention.
ALL-CENTENNIAL LEAGUE SOCCER
