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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural's soccer team had plenty to celebrate Thursday night at McElroy Field.
First and foremost, the Junior Blues continued their season with a 5-1 regional rout over Wichita Northwest, advancing to next Tuesday's Class 6A state quarterfinals to host Derby (14-4-0), a 2-0 winner over Garden City Thursday night.
Washburn Rural senior Easton Bradstreet scored two goals in Thursday's 5-1 regional win over Wichita Northwest, earning a share of Rural's career scoring record with his 57th goal. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Washburn Rural senior Benett Hallauer advances the ball during Rural's 5-1 regional win over Wichita Northwest as Northwest sophomore Elijah Benning defends. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Washburn Rural, now 15-3-0, dominated Thursday's regional final against Northwest, which had come within an eyelash of tying the Junior Blues in Rural's third game of the season.
"It just shows growth,'' Washburn Rural coach Brian Hensyel said. "We just told the guys, on Sept. 1st it was an even game that we won at the very end, but probably should have been a tie and over seven or eight weeks we're here with a 5-1 victory.
"We're really young. We've got a lot of young guys playing and now that they've got a whole season under their belt obviously they've kind of turned the corner so I'm proud of them.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Veteran Washburn University volleyball coach Chris Herron is extemely proud of what his Ichabods, inexperienced and unproven at the start of the 2022 season, have accomplished this fall.
But like most coaches, Herron is always looking for more, especially with the crucial month of November looming in just a few days.
Washburn celebrates a point during Wednesday night's 3-0 MIAA sweep over Pittsburg State. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
After advancing to the NCAA Division II national championship match last season, Washburn had to replace a big, talented senior class from last year's team, but this year's Ichabods, ranked 14th in the nation, are well on their way to carving out their own niche, improving to 20-5 overall (12-5 MIAA) with a 25-18, 25-18, 25-15 MIAA sweep over Pittsburg State Wednesday night at Lee Arena.
"If you would have told me we'd be 20-5 with all this newness and youth, I would have said, 'No, there's no way,' '' Herron said. "But here's the problem with that -- every coach gets greedy so they're always saying, 'Wait a minute, why can't I win them all?'
"Every coach gets greedy, 'It's good but it's not good enough,' and I'm greedy. I want more.''
A well-balanced attack paired with a strong defensive effort led to Washburn's latest victory.
The Ichabods broke a 4-4 tie in the first sset with three-straight points and then built a 19-7 lead with a 11-1 scoring tear.
Washburn was at set point, 24-13, when Pittsburg State (14-12, 8-9 MIAA) spoiled it five times before Austin Broadie put the game away with a kill to give the Ichabods the 25-18 win.
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[Photos courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- First-team selection Khloe Schuckman was one of six Washburn women's soccer players to be named to the 2022 All-MIAA teams that were released by the conference office on Wednesday.
Schuckman, a sophomore forward, earned All-MIAA honors for a second consecutive season after starting all 18 games and logging 1,346 minutes. She led the Ichabods with eight regular-season goals and added three assists.
A third-team selection as a freshman, Schuckman recorded a hat trick against Missouri Southern on Oct. 7, the first for Washburn since 2009. Schuckman finished fourth in the MIAA in shots per game, second in shots on goal per game and tied for fifth in goals and seventh in points.
Senior defender Emily Michaelis earned All-MIAA second-team honors for the second straight season.
Michaelis led all non-goalkeepers with 1,566 played this season. Michaelis led a defense that recorded seven shutouts on the season and did so while only committing seven fouls all season. Michaelis finishes her senior season by earning all-conference honors every year of her playing career as an Ichabod.
Former Washburn Rural star Belle Kennedy was awarded third-team honors as a midfielder following her freshman season as an Ichabod.
Kennedy was second on the team with six goals on the season. She has played 16 games this season, starting all 16 for a total of 1,014 minutes.
Kennedy has scored multiple goals in three games this season and was the first Washburn player to do so since Jessica Mainz in 2007. Among the MIAA she ranked ninth in goals per game over the regular sseason and was tied for fifth with three game-winning goals.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Shawnee Heights junior cross country standout Jackson Esquibel and Silver Lake sophomore girls golfer Taylor Zordel have been named the Dan Key Farmers Insurance Agency Rising Stars of the Week for last week.
The Dan Key Agency will recognize top Shawnee County underclassmen throughout the 2022-2023 school year.
Here’s a brief look at the accomplishments of Esquibel and Zordel last week:
![Shawnee Heights junior Jackson Esquibel finished second individually in last Saturday's Class 5A regional cross country meet at Kanza Park, helping the T-Birds win the regional team title. [File photo/TSN]](/images/2024/08/JacksonEsquibel.jpg)
Shawnee Heights junior Jackson Esquibel finished second individually in last Saturday's Class 5A regional cross country meet at Kanza Park, helping the T-Birds win the regional team title. [File photo/TSN]
JACKSON ESQUIBEL, Shawnee Heights
The Shawnee Heights junior cross country standout posted a second-place individual finish in last Saturday's Class 5A regional championships at Kanza Park, helping lead the T-Birds to the team title by a 53-61 margin over Lansing.
Esquibel, who also posted runner-up finishes in the city and United Kansas Conference meets, clocked a five-kilometer time of 15 minutes, 47.09 seconds at regionals and will compete in Saturday's 5A state meet at Rim Rock Farm, north of Lawrence.
As a sophomore Esquibel earned a state medal with a 13th-place finish.
Silver Lake sophomore Taylor Zordel tied for 7th in the Class 3A-1A state golf tournament with a 36-hole score of 176, shooting 88s both days. [Photo by Rick Peterson Jr./KSHSAA Covered]
TAYLOR ZORDEL, Silver Lake
Zordel, a Silver Lake sophomore, earned a state medal for the second straight season in the Class 3A-1A state golf tournament last Monday and Tuesday at Carey Park in Hutchinson.
Zordel shot 88s both days to earn a tie for seventh place with a 36-hole total of 176.
Zordel, who was named the TopSports.news Shawnee County softball newcomer of the year last spring, tied for 16th as a freshman in the 3A-1A state golf meet.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Seaman's volleyball team has never really been at full strength this fall, with Tatiana Dowling's Vikings fighting through a series of injuries.
But Seaman persevered to earn a third straight berth in this weekend's Class 5A state tournament berth at the Tony's Pizza Events Center in Salina, which makes Dowling extremely proud of what the Vikings have been able to accomplish.
Seaman's volleyball team displays its Class 5A sub-state trophy for fans after winning last Saturday's title at Seaman. [Photo by Sarah Carson/Special to TSN]
Seaman will take a 30-8 record into this weekend's Class 5A state volleyball tournament at Salina, the Vikings' third straight state tournament berth. [Photo by Sarah Carson/TSN]
"I think any time you have to deal with as much adversity as we've had as far as the injury bug goes that you have a lot to be proud of when we're at the point that we're at this season,'' Dowling said.
The Vikings have been without junior Hope Dapkiewicz all season and lost sophomore Ava Esser to an ACL injury early in the year while junior standout Taylin Stallbaumer missed significant time early in the season and other players were sidelined at various times throughout the regular season.
"We've had people out with various injuries throughout the year, whether it's a concussion or a back injury that sat out some games randomly at tournaments,'' Dowling said.
But the silver lining to Seaman's injury woes is that several underclassmen were able to step up and help keep the United Kansas Conference champions on track..
"We played a lot of younger kids because we had so many injuries, especially with some of our upperclassmen and people that we relied on, so I felt it made us a deeper lineup,'' Dowling said. "Looking forward, if we need them in the postseason and definitely in the years to come, it will make them more experienced.''
