- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Wasshburn Rural and Seaman, Final Four teams a year ago, lead Shawnee County's 10-school contingent into Saturday's sub-state tournaments across the state.
Washburn Rural finished fourth in Class 6A and Seaman fifth in 5A a year ago and both the Junior Blues and Vikings are coming off league championships and sport top-three state rankings entering post-season.
All 10 county high schools will be vying for berths in state tournaments, which will be contested on Oct. 28 and 29.
Rural won the Centennial League tournament and is ranked No. 1 in 6A in the final Kansas Volleyball Association rankings with a 38-1 record while Seaman won the United Kansas Conference championship and is No. 3 in 5A with a 28-8 record.
Rossville and Silver Lake are two of the top teams in 3A, with Rossville (30-5) ranked No. 6 and Silver Lake (24-9) No. 9 by the KVA.
Here's a class-by-class look at sub-state tournaments involving Shawnee County schools:
Washburn Rural volleyball, 38-1 on the season, celebrates a point in the Junior Blues' recent match against state-ranked Seaman. [File photo/TSN]
CLASS 6A
Washburn Rural, which has advanced to 23 state tournaments under coach Kevin Bordewick, with seven state titles and 20 Final Four appearances, will be a heavy favorite in Saturday's 6A sub-state at Rural.
The top-ranked Junior Blues will play a semifinal match at approximately 2 p.m. against the winner of the play-in match between Dodge City (5-27) and Wichita South (2-33).
Manhattan (15-19) will face Derby (15-20) in the other semifinal match, with the semifinal winners playing for the sub-state title at approximately 4 o'clock.
The sub-state champion will advance to the state tournament at the Tony's Pizza Events Center in Salina on Oct. 28.
• Topeka High (8-24) will make the long trek to Liberal to face the host team in a 2 p.m. semifinal. Liberal is 25-8 on the season and the No. 3 in the 6A West.
The Topeka High-Liberal winner will play the winner of the semifinal between Wichita North (16-13) and Campus (11-21) for the sub-state championship at approximately 4 p.m.
Senior Laynee Brown is a standout for Seaman's volleyball team, which will host a Class 5A sub-state on Saturday. [File photo/TSN]
CLASS 5A
Seaman, the No. 3 seed in the 5A East, will be at home on Saturday as it shoots for a third straight state tournament berth.
The Vikings will open their sub-state bid at 2 p.m. Saturday in a semifinal matchup against De Soto (9-21).
The winner of the Seaman-De Soto match will play for the sub-state title at approximately 4 p.m. against the winner of the semifinal between Kansas City-Schlagle (11-6) and KC-Turner (11-20).
The sub-state champion will move on to the 5A state tournament at the Tony's Pizza Events Center in Salina on Oct. 28.
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Silver Lake's boys will be looking to build off last week's Mid-East League championship when all 10 Shawnee County high schools compete for state berths in Saturday's regional cross country meets.
Silver Lake and Rossville will both compete in a Class 3A regional at the Leonardville Golf Course (10 a.m. girls, 10:45 boys), while Topeka High and Washburn Rural will compete in a 6A regional at Manhattan (10 girls, 10:40 boys), Highland Park, Seaman, Shawnee Heights and Topeka West will take part in a 5A regional at Kanza Park (9 girls, 9:45 boys), Hayden will host a 4A regional, also at Kanza Park (10:30 girls, 11:15 boys), and Cair Paravel will be part of a 2A regional at Central Heights (10 girls, 10:40 boys).
Silver Lake tuned up for postseason last Thursday, winning the league title by 38 points while dropping its average team time by two seconds.
"The wind made things tough, but our runners made the best of it,'' Eagle coach Kevin Brokaw said.
Sophomore Jared Johnson paced the Eagles with a second-place individual finish while junior Eli Ferguson finished third, senior Mason Brokaw fourth and sophomore Aemon Coffman seventh to earn league medals.
"(I'm) especially proud of sophomore Jared Johnson who continues to improve and broke under 18 minutes for the first time,'' Kevin Brokaw said.
Silver Lake's girls dropped their team time average by 29 seconds to 22:22 and placed second behind Riley County by just four points after losing to the Falcons by 11 points two weeks earlier.
"(We) will try our best to get them at regionals,'' Kevin Brokaw said.
Senior Mariah Farmer finished third in the league meets, with sophomore Tessa Gerber seventh and freshman Kylie Podlena ninth.
"We had 17 season-bests out of 27 runners,'' Kevin Brokaw said.
Senior Amelia Foster finished fifth to lead Rossville in the girls race while the Bulldawg boys got an eighth-place finish from junior Mason Broce and a 10th-place finish from senior Hayden Sanders.
• Washburn Rural swept the Centennial League titles last week, with the the Junior Blues riding a one-two-three individual finish to a 27-62 win over Junction City and Rural winning the boys title by a 44-47 margin over Manhattan.
Washburn Rural sophomore Payton Fink followed up her city championship with a win in last Saturday's Centennial League meet. [File photo/TSN]
Sophomore Payton Fink won the girls title in a five-kilometer time of 18 minutes, 53.9 while senior Madeline Carter (19:11.0) and sophomore Rylee Ismert (19:25.1) finished second and third.
The Rural girls also got an eighth-place finish from Brooklyn Nolte (20:36.4) and a 13th-place finish from Vilde Tronstad (21:03.7) to round out the Junior Blues' top five.
Rural's boys got third and fourth-place finishes from seniors Davin Johnson and Easton Dial to lead the Junnior Blues to the team title.
Senior Grayson Fink (17:21.4) finished eighth for Rural's boys, followed by junior Hayden Keller (17:30.3) in 12th place and senior Trevor Cain (17:42.2) in 17th.
Hayden's girls finished fifth as a team, led by Elliot Wrench's 17th-place finish in 21:23.8, while Topeka High placed sixth, led by Marilina Zuniga, who placed 33rd in 24:46.3.
Hayden and Topeka High finished fifth and sixth in the boys team standings.
Topeka High's Michael Christoper and Hayden's Aiden Amis both posted top-10 finishes in the boys race, with Christopher (17:23.1) taking ninth and Amis (17:26.0) 10th.
• Seaman's girls and Topeka West senior Lenny Njoroge claimed titles in last Thursday's United Kansas Conference meet at Shawnee Heights
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
(All kickoffs at 7 p.m.)
LEAVENWORTH (2-5, 2-5 UKC) at SHAWNEE HEIGHTS (4-3, 4-2 UKC)
Shawnee Heights junior Allen Baughman (5) has rushed for 1,140 yards and 15 touchdowns on this fall. [Photo by Sarah Carson/Special to TSN]
Shawnee Heights snapped a two-game losing streak with a 49-6 United Kansas Conference win over Topeka West last Friday. T-Bird junior Allen Baughman carried the ball 12 times for 153 yards and five touchdowns against Topeka West and enters Friday night's game against Leavenworth with 1,140 yards and 15 touchdowns on 152 attempts. Alex Dittman leads the T-Birds with 54 tackles while Jon Scott and Sean Wunter have 46 and 45 stops, respectively.
TOPEKA WEST (1-6) at WASHBURN RURAL (5-2)
Washburn Rural junior Titan Osburn caught three touchdown passes in last Friday's 49-14 Centennial League win over Emporia. [File photo/TSN]
Washburn Rural took a 49-14 Centennial League win over Emporia last week while Topeka West js coming off a 49-6 United Kansas Conference defeat against Shawnee Heights. Rural junior Branton DeWeese completed seven of seven passes for 91 yards and two TDs last week while junior Titan Osburn caught three passes for 67 yards and three TDs. Senor Ma'Kenttis Adams had three carries for 76 yards and a TD while DeWeese carried the ball six times for 57 yards and a pair of TDs. Senior Ty Weber registered eight tackles (seven solo), with three tackles for loss and a fumble recovery. Topeka West senior quarterback Malachi Berg scored West's lone TD against West on a 16-yard run and rushed for 96 yards and passed for 112 yards.
Topeka High senior quarterback Peyton Wheat has passed for 1,240 yards and six touchdowns this season. [File photo/TSN]
HAYS (6-1) at TOPEKA HIGH (1-6)
Topeka High dropped a 54-12 Centennial League decision at Junction City while Hays is coming off a 56-12 win over Liberal, which handed High a 27-0 defeat earlier in the year. Hays' lone loss was a 31-21 decision to undefeated Manhattan. Topeka High dropped a 59-7 league game to Manhattan in Week 2. High sophomore Jayden Norman has caught 43 passes for 620 yards and four touchdowns while senior quarterback Peyton Wheat has completed 82 of 174 passes for 1,240 yards and six touchdowns.
MARANATHA ACADEMY (0-6, 0-3 district) at CAIR PARAVEL LATIN (2-5, 0-4 district)
Cair Paravel wraps up Eight-Man Division I play Friday night after dropping an 54-8 district decision to Chase County last Friday. Cair Paravel junior Evan Will went 9 of 13 passing for 74 yards and a touchdowns against Chase County while Jachin Bonura caught six passes for 64 yards and a TD. Maranatha Academy is coming off a 63-14 district loss to Burlingame
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural junior football standout Titan Osburn and Hayden's Class 4A state-champion doubles team of junior Lauren Sandstrom and Emily Sheetz 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 Osburn, Sandstrom and Sheetz last week:
Washburn Rural junior Titan Osburn continued his breakout junior season with three receptions for 67 yards and three touchdowns in last Friday's 49-14 Centennial League win over Emporia. [File photo/TSN]
TITAN OSBURN, Washburn Rural
A junior wide receiver, Osburn had three catches for 67 yards and three touchdowns in Washburn Rural's 49-14 Centennial League win over Emporia last Friday night at Bowen-Glaze Stadium.
Osburn scored touchdowns on 18, 18 and 32-yard receptions from Branton DeWeese as Washburn Rural improved to 5-2 overall and 2-2 in the Centennial League.
Hayden sophomore Emily Sheetz (left) and junior Lauren Sandstrom won the Class 4A doubles championship last Saturday, helping lead the Wildcats to their first state girls tennis team championship. [File photo]
LAUREN SANDSTROM and EMILY SHEETZ, Hayden
Sandstrom, a junior, and Emily Sheetz, a sophomore capped their 2022 season with a state championship in Class 4A doubles, helping lead the Wildcats to their first-ever girls tennis state team championship.
Sandstrom and Sheetz won city and regional titles and finished second in the Centennial League meet.
Sandstrom and Sheetz finished seventh at state in 2021 and posted a 34-4 record this fall.
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
In a high school career that has been filled with noteworthy personal and team accomplishments, Washburn Rural three-sport star Brooklyn DeLeye took things to a different stratosphere last weekend.
Washburn Rural multi-sport star Brooklyn DeLeye went over the 2,000 career mark for career kills in last Saturday's Emporia Invitational volleyball tournament. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
DeLeye, a 6-foot-2 Kentucky volleyball commit, surpassed the 2,000 mark for career kills in last weekend's Emporia Invitational volleyball tournament as the 38-1 Junior Blues went 6-0 to claim the tournament championship.
"I knew I was getting close, but I had no idea that it was going to be this early,'' Deleye said.
A Rural standout since her freshman season and a player of the year at the city, Shawnee County, Centennial League and state level, DeLeye said she set a few career goals earlier in her career, but that reaching 2,000 kills wasn't one of them.
"I somewhat did (set goals), but I didn't expect to get this far,'' DeLeye said. "I wanted to break the (school) kill record but this is just a bonus. I didn't even know until (Tuesday). Coach told me right before practice.''
Washburn Rural coach Kevin Bordewick, who has over 1,000 wins in his career while leading Rural to seven state volleyball championships as well as two basketball titles, said that reaching the 2,000 mark is a rare accomplishment.
"I knew she was close and I knew she had a chance to get it but some of the teams we don't have her hit against so I knew that she was losing some kills because of that,'' Bordewick said. "But I still thought she had a chance to get it and sure enough she ended up (Saturday) 13 over 2,000.
"I almost bet that she might be the only one in 6A or 5A that's got 2,000, and to me that's tremendous.''
The softspoken Rural star admitted that reaching the 2,000 mark will be a special memory.
"It means a lot, obviously, just kind of being that representation for the younger girls to try to beat and just trying to be that top person,'' she said.
Bordewick, who also coaches DeLeye in basketball, said that she is very deserving on any honors she receives.
"I still think she has a ceiling that she doesn't realize and this is a kid who has great work ethic,'' Bordewick said. "She's got a mind for the game and studies it. She's the only kid I've ever had that gave me a detailed scouting report on an opponent last year, and it was good stuff.
"She's a real student of the game and I think when she gets into a weightlifting regimen (at Kentucky) it's really going to help her jumping and her quickness and her shoulder strength and she'll be phenomenal. And it's not like she doesn't work out in the weight room now because she does put time in there, but it's a different animal when you get to college and I'm excited to see what she does. What she accomplishes doesn't really surprise me and when she was a freshman I told Amanda (Vanderbogart, Rural assistant coach), 'Let's just enjoy these four years because we may not have another one like this.' ''
