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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural's girls soccer team has advanced to the Class 6A Final Four the past 10 seasons and Brian Hensyel's Junior Blues have extremely high hopes again this spring.
Washburn Rural senior Kate Hinck had a goal and two assists in Rural's 5-0 season-opening win over Olathe South. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Rural flashed their potential in Tuesday's season opener, rolling to a 5-0 shutout non-league victory over Olathe South at McElroy Field.
"We got to start the year with a really good opponent and any time you can play somebody from the Kansas City area and have a nice win, it's good,'' Hensyel said.
Multiple Junior Blues got a late start to practice due to Washburn Rural's appearance in the 6A state basketball tournament and Rural was out of school on spring break last week, but Hensyel was very pleased with his team's '25 debut.
"Any time in any spring sport it's just kind of crazy the first three weeks, whether it's the weather, whether it's spring break, whether it's kids still playing basketball you just have to deal with all of that and when you come back from spring break you just hope what we've practiced will work,'' Hensyel said. "We've got a lot to work on, but we had a pretty nice first game.''
Washburn Rural senior Zahra Friess had a goal and an assist in Rural's 5-0 season-opening win over Olathe South. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
The Junior Blues, who have placed third in 6A the past two seasons, got the only goal they would need at the 31:14 mark of the opening half on a goal from senior newcomer Zahra Friess and Rural also got first-half goals from seniors Delaney Hill and senior Kate Hinck to build a commanding 3-0 halftime advantage.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University men's basketball is back in the NCAA Division II Elite Eight for the first time since 2001 and will continue its national championship bid with a quarterfinal matchup against Lenoir-Rhyne at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday in Evansville, Ind.
Brett Ballard's Washburn Ichabods will take a 29-3 record into Tuesday's national quarterfinal game. [File photo/TSN]
The Ichabods are making their fourth trip to the NCAA Elite Eight, joining the 1993, 1994 and 2001 Washburn squads.
Washburn (29-3) advanced to the Elite Eight with a 93-65 win over Minnesota State-Moorhead last Tuesday in the Central Region final in Lee Arena, capping a dominant regional performance that also included wins over Harding (85-57) and Concordia-St. Paul (94-78).
The Ichabods have had a full week off since the win over Minnesota State-Moorhead and Washburn coach Brett Ballard said the team's major focus has been on maintaining its sharpness heading into the Elite Eight.
"Keeping our edge is the biggest thing,'' said Ballard, who has led the Ichabods to five NCAA postseason appearances in eight seasons. "I want us to keep our edge.
"I thought going into the regional coming off a loss we had some really competitive practices and I thought we got better. I really want our guys to keep that edge this week. We're not going to overdo it and we'll take care of their bodies, but when we do get (on the floor) I want it to be competitive and at high intensity.''
Lenoir-Rhyne, 29-5 and winner of its last nine games, defeated North Carolina-Pembroke 76-74 in overtime to advance to its first Elite Eight in program history.
The Ichabods enter the Elite Eight as the No. 4 seed while Lenoir-Rhyne of the South Athletic Conference is the No. 5 seed.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University 6-foot-8 senior standout Andrew Orr knows there's nothing he can do about the fact that his outstanding college basketball career will come to an end this week in the NCAA Division II Elite Eight championships in Evansville, Ind.
Washburn senior star Andrew Orr hoists the NCAA Central Regional trophy after scoring 17 points in his final home game. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
But the one thing that Orr has done is make sure he cherishes each and every moment he has left with his beloved Ichabods.
"I've been trying to think about it since we were told we were going to host the region,'' Orr said. "That's when I kind of came to terms with the fact that this is my last go around. (I knew) these were going to be my last couple of practices in Lee, these were going to be our last games in Lee, so it made me not only appreciate what I've done but appreciate what there was still to come.
''These last three (Central Regional) games were the most attended games that I've ever played in in Lee, so to do that and to really take it all in and soak it all in before the games I feel like I've had that opportunity and I feel super blessed to have seen that ahead of time and not look back in the future and be like, 'I should have taken it in.' ''
Orr plans to continue to take everything in as the No. 4-seeded Ichabods begin what they hope will begin a three-game run in the Elite Eight, beginning with Tuesday night's 8:30 p.m. quarterfinal against No. 5 Lenoir-Rhyne (29-5).
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
There's no doubt that Washburn University's historic 2024-2025 basketball season, which will end with an appearance in this week's NCAA Division II Elite Eight in Evansville, Ind., has meant a lot to each and every Ichabod.
Washburn sophomore Jack Bachelor cuts down the nets after last Tuesday's 93-65 regional win over MSU-Moorhead. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
But WU's amazing ride, which included last Tuesday's Central Region championship in front of a sellout crowd in Lee Arena, might mean just a little bit extra to a Topeka kid, 6-foot-2 sophomore point guard Jack Bachelor, who grew up dreaming about just such a moment.
"Both my parents (Angela and Aaron) played basketball here, so I went to all the basketball games and all the camps,'' Bachelor said. "I've grown up watching a ton of these players, so it's just great seeing Lee Arena bringing everybody here. It's been awesome.
"It was spring break so some of my friends were able to come back and come to the games and I had a ton of family and friends here, so I felt the love a lot over the weekend and it was just an awesome experience. It was really fun to play in front of everybody and just see the community kind of come together.''
The fact that Bachelor ended up at Washburn following a standout career at Washburn Rural probably wasn't a big surprise given his family's WU legacy.
But even Bachelor, who had 16 points (4 of 6 3-pointers) and also dished out 10 assists in last Tuesday's 93-65 win over Minnesota State-Minnesota in the regional final, admits to being surprised by the success he's had in his first two collegiate seasons.
Bachelor initially thought he might redshirt his first year at Washburn, but made an immediate impact for the 19-11 Ichabods as a freshman before earning All-MIAA and All-Central Region first-team honors this season.
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BY ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
Washburn University baseball avoided a series sweep against Missouri Western by earning a much-needed 19-18 MIAA win on Sunday afternoon at Falley Field.
Washburn baseball snapped a four-game losing streak with Sunday's 19-18 win over Missouri Western. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
The Ichabods are headed back in the right direction after snapping its four-game losing streak.
In Friday’s game against the Griffons, Washburn was taken down 17-5 in seven innings of play. On Saturday, the Ichabods took a 5-4 loss after giving up a run in the top of the 12th inning to Missouri Western.
Although the team hasn’t been pleased with its latest performances on the field, Washburn can finally breathe a bit easier after surviving a back-and-forth marathon on Sunday.
“We’re fighting ourselves right now,” Washburn coach Harley Douglas said. “It’s really disheartening … This is a team that went out and won 30-plus games last year. You know, we felt like we bolstered up and got our pitching staff where we wanted it to be and we’re just not performing.
“We start putting the pressure on other people and your defense starts to weaken and you’re thinking too much and they might be thinking about hitting because they have to go out there and score 15, 17 runs… We’re making the game too hard.”
Offensive production has not been lacking for Washburn. The Ichabods scored 19 runs just to stay alive on Sunday. Leading the way at the plate were Darian Duhon and Jett Buck, who drove in 10 of the team’s 19 runs.
