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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
WICHITA -- Seaman junior Ryin Miller entered the weekend with a dream and went out and made it a reality Friday and Saturday at Cessna Stadium.
Seaman junior Ryin Miller finishes off Saturday's Class 5A championship in the 1,600 meters at Cessna Stadium. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
After coming from behind to top Salina Central senior star Katelyn Rupe in Friday night's Class 5A girls 3,200 meters Miller returned on Saturday to add championships in the 1,600 and 800, raising her career state victory total to five.
"I'm so excited,'' Miller said. "That probably was like unfathonable freshman year. Like even one would just be crazy to me but that definitely one of my season goals (this spring).
"I have a whiteboard and I write down all my goals and that was like the biggest one in all caps was 'Go three for three at state,' so I'm really happy with it.''
After winning her first 3,200 title in 10 minutes, 19.53 seconds Friday night to thwart Rupe's bid for a fourth title in the event, Miller and Rupe went one-two again in the 1,600, with Miller winning in 4:57.33, and the Viking star picked up her third straight win on Saturday, taking the 800 crown in 2:11.14 to finish her season undefeated individually.
Like she had in the 3,200, Miller ran second to Rupe for most of the 1,600 before taking the lead on the final lap.
Seaman junior Ryin Miller leads the field in Saturday's Class 5A 800 meters race. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Conversely, Miller took control of the 800 from the outset, with Leavenworth sophomore Kelsie Kudzia second in 2:12.99.
"I've had the opportunity to learn from one of my past teammates (Bethany Druse),'' Miller said. "She's a great runner and just one time didn't get out hard enough and got boxed in the 800, which is really easy to do. I think the 800 is probably one of the most tactical races in track and field so I was like, 'Just get out, don't get boxed and just push it and see what happens.' ''
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By CHARLES SPURLOCK
Special to TopSports.news
WICHITA -- Washburn Rural's boys claimed three state championships to highlight championship Saturday for the Shawnee County contingent in the state track and field championships at Wichita State.
Washburn Rural celebrates after setting the Class 6A state meet record in the 4x400 relay Saturday night in Wichita. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Washburn Rural's Matthew Houser, Liam Morrison, Draden Chooncharoen and Isaiah Terry set the Class 6A state meet record in the 4x400 relay Saturday night in Wichita. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Senior Isaiah Terry won the 400-meter dash, followed by junior Liam Morrison's win in the 300 hurdles and wrapping things up with a record-setting performance by senior Matthew Houser, Morrison, junior Draden Choonchareon and Terry in the 4x400-meter relay.
Terry started Rural's late-meet gold medal haul with his win in the 400 in 47.92 seconds.
Washburn Rural senior Isaiah Terry won the Class 6A state title in the 400-meter dash in 47.92. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
"It felt great,'' Terry said. "I switched up my stride a little bit and decided to go back to my roots ... and felt way better. I actually got off fast this time and the rest was history.
''I'm so ectstatic after last year when I absolutely did horrible and got fifth place, the worst day of my life. Ever since sophomore year when I said I would quit cross country and start running track all year around I've been dreaming of moments like this and it feels good for it to come true.''
Washburn Rural junior Liam Morrison (3779) ran on Rural's record-setting Class 6A 4x400 relay after winning the title in the 300 hurdles Saturday in Wichita. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Morrison followed with the state championship in the 300 hurdles with a time of 37.68. He also finished sixth earlier in the day in the 110 hurdles with a time of 14.52.
“I feel great with the (personal record) in the state championship race,'' Morrison said. "The 110 didn’t go as I wanted, but I definitely knew it would be a great opportunity to show that I deserve to be here. I know what I can do and I’m happy that I was able to go out and do it.”
Houser, Morrison, Chooncharoen and Terry then went out and captured Rural's second straight state championship in the 4x400 in a meet record time of 3:16.23.
"After our league meet at Junction (City) we saw the time we got and we were like, 'We can definitely do this, we can get this record,' '' Chooncharoen said. "My teammates, we push each other every day. Everyone did their part and it was amazing.''
Houser came on board this season as Rural's leadoff runner, joining returners Morrison, Chooncharoen and Terry from the 2024 state winners.
"We've been training all season since the start so we could try to get this record because that was our mindset all year,'' Houser said. "I've been training all summer and winter with Isaiah so I could get better for this exact reason and I guess it helped out at the end.''
Saturday's other county medalists:
• Senior Peyton Holmes of Seaman finished second in the Class 5A 100 meters in a time of 10.82 seconds after placing sixth in Friday's long jump.
Seaman senior Peyton Holmes (3767) finished second in the Class 5A 100 dash Saturday in Wichita. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
“I was really hoping to get first,'' Holmes said. "Second is good and my goal was to get in the top three. I thought I had it for a little bit, but he (Jack Guthridge) is really tough.”
• Seaman junior Brody Anderson finished third in a tough 5A 800 meters field in a time of 1:55.52.
Seaman junior Brody Anderson (3760) posted a third-place finish in the Class 5A 800 meters Saturday in Wichita. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Anderson battled on the second lap and held on for the third-place finish.
“I don’t think I could have done it if I hadn’t prepared all week with the help of coach (Luke) Wiens,'' Anderson said. "Every rep this week, I simulated the race situation and it set me up to be where I wanted to be today.”
• Senior Bryce Cochran of Seaman finished third in the 5A 400 meters with a time of 48.85.
Seaman senior Bryce Cochran (3763) finished third in the Class 5A 400 while Shawnee Heights senior Liam Benz (3733) was seventh Saturday in Wichita. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
“I feel awesome and I got a little emotional after the race seeing that all the hard work pay off,'' Cochran said. "To do what I dreamed of after not even making it to state last year, I’m just appreciative of everyone that’s worked with me in the offseason to get me here. I’m just proud of myself.”
• Senior Adrian Lehman of Topeka West finished fourth in the 1,600 meters with a time of 4:16.70.
Topeka West senior Adrian Lehman (3785) posted a fourth-place finish and set a West school record in Saturday's Class 5A state meet in Wichita. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Lehman broke the 50-year-old West school record of 4:17.7 set by Bill Myers in 1975.
"(That's) two school records this season, not bad for only his second season of high school track,'' West coach Donnie Palmer said of Lehman.
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By RICK PETERSON JR.
KSHSAA Covered
The Washburn Rural girls soccer team left no stone unturned in prepping for every scenario during its pursuit of the program’s first state title.
Washburn Rural soccer rushes the field at the end of Saturday's win over Mill Valley in the Class 6A championship game. [Photo by Mac Moore/KSHSAA Covered]
Washburn Rural soccer celebrates Saturday's win over Mill Valley in the Class 6A championship game. [Photo by Mac Moore/KSHSAA Covered]
That included meticulous work on penalty kicks throughout this playoff run.
“I learned my lesson about a decade ago,” Washburn Rural coach Brian Hensyel said. “Our boys got into a shootout in 2015. We hadn’t practiced penalty kicks at all, and we lost. Every playoff run, boys or girls, for the last 10 years, we do (penalty kicks) every practice.”
So after 100 minutes of scoreless soccer in Saturday’s Class 6A state championship game against Mill Valley at Stryker Sports Complex, Hensyel felt reasonably confident about his team’s chances.
“It’s random,” Hensyel said of PKs. “But if you have a great goalkeeper, which we do, and you have confident kids who practice it and put in the time, you feel as good as you can in that situation.
“I told them: ‘Madison Lemke is going to save two. All we have to do is make our shots and this is over.”
Indeed, Rural was nearly flawless in the shootout, beating Mill Valley 4-1 on penalty kicks to break through for its long-awaited championship with a 1-0 win.
As Hensyel predicted, Lemke made two saves, and the Junior Blues converted on all four kicks with goals from Dayne Shriver, Kate Hinck, Delaney Hill and Bristol Karr.
“I come at it with confidence, because there’s no way you’re going to do well without confidence,” Lemke said. “There’s so much adrenaline and I’m trusting my team to do their part. All I can do is just do mine and make some saves.”
“That’s as good as you can do in a shootout,” Hensyel said. “We did a lot of drills to see who’s the most accurate and who hits the most shots, and who wanted to take it – that’s part of the mental aspect. The practice paid off. We picked the right group.”
Washburn Rural senior Madison Lemke comes up with a save in Saturday's win over Mill Valley in the Class 6A championship game. [Photo by Rick Peterson Jr./KSHSAA Covered]
Washburn Rural senior Bristol Karr scored the game-clinching penalty kick in Saturday's win over Mill Valley in the Class 6A championship game. [Photo by Rick Peterson Jr./KSHSAA Covered]
Ava Edwards scored on Mill Valley’s first attempt to knot it at 1-1 but Lemke blocked the Jaguars’ next two attempts. Karr’s goal was the clincher.
“I can just kind of feel where it’s going,” Lemke said. “Once I saved the (second attempt) I was like, ‘Ok, I got this.’ I heard the whole crowd cheering behind me. It’s just amazing to have that much support.”
“Madison is amazing," Rural senior forward Kate Hinck said. “She's out of this world.”
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
WICHITA – Hayden made a valiant attempt at ending Bishop Miege’s dynasty in Class 4-1A soccer, but the Stags outlasted the Wildcats 2-1 in double overtime to extend their title strike to nine.
Hayden soccer receives its Class 4A-1A runnerup trophy and medals after Saturday's 2-1 double-overtime loss to Bishop Miege. [Photo by Mac Moore/KSHSAA Covered]
The Wildcats struck first 10 minutes into the game when freshman Hailey Schmidtlein scored off an assist from junior Carsyn Broxterman.
Hayden celebrates freshman Hailey Schmidtlein's early goal in Saturday's 2-1 double-overtime loss to Bishop Miege. [Photo by Rick Peterson Jr./KSHSAA Covered]
Junior goalkeeper Lauren Borjon and Hayden’s defenders made that lead stand up until 13:50 left in the second half when Miege’s Kristina Eskrine converted on a penalty kick after Hayden was called for a handball in the box off a corner kick.
Miege capitalized on a corner again to score the winning goal two minutes into the second overtime. Rowan Epps headed in a perfectly-placed kick from Gaby Calderon to end it.
Hayden junior Carsyn Broxterman (4) battles for the ball in Saturday's 2-1 double-overtime loss to Bishop Miege in the Class 4A-1A state title game. [Photo by Rick Peterson Jr./TSN]
“Our effort was good, our performance was good,” Hayden coach Klaus Kreutzer told KSHSAA Covered. “We were unlucky on the handball to give them the PK, but give (the Stags) credit. You have to play your best in order to compete with them.
“It wasn’t for a lack of effort on our team. We were prepared and we’re looking forward to being back here next year.”
After Schmidtlein’s early goal, opportunities were limited for Hayden, but the Wildcats hung tough on defense against a Miege squad that handed them a 4-0 loss early in the season.
“(Scoring early) gave us a pretty good boost of confidence and helped us finish the first half,” Kreutzer said. “As much as they attacked, I think we defended very well back there.
“Miege is tough to defend. They put the ball where their runners are and that’s how they make the connection.”
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By KYLE MANTHE
TopSports.news
For a second season in a row Silver Lake breezed to a Class 3A state softball championship game appearance.
Senior Silver Lake standout Kendra Cook holds the Class 3A runnerup trophy after Friday's 2-1 championship game loss to Frontenac. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
But for a second year in a row they ran into winners of three of the last four state titles, Frontenac, on Friday evening as they fell 2-1 in nine innings.
The Eagles won an 8-0 semifinal game over No. 3 Burlington to begin the day and were tied 1-1 with the top-seeded Raiders after seven innings in the finale.
The game-winning run came in the ninth for Frontenac to knock off the No. 7 seed Silver Lake 2-1 and thwart the upset bid.
“They played hard. Like I said before everyone wants to win the title but if they leave it all on the field that’s all I can ask for and these seniors left it on the field,” said Silver Lake coach Nick Hamilton. “They’re (Frontenac) just disciplined, she (head coach Cassie Rhuems) obviously has a good process in place and they stick to it.”
Game 1 of the day for the Eagles was highlighted by a no-hitter from standout senior Kendra Cook in the 8-0 affair.
Silver Lake took advantage of a pair of errors by Burlington, taking a 1-0 lead on an RBI groundout by senior Kira Lowrey in the third inning.
Lowrey came through again in the fifth inning, blasting a two-out double, scoring Hanni to double to lead.
Back-to-back doubles from sophomore Savanah Wende and junior Taylor Swygert plated a pair in the sixth to make it 4-0. The lead doubled once again in the seventh, with Silver Lake scoring two runs on errors before junior Paige Heiman hit a no-doubter to left field to go up by eight.
While the bats came alive in the final innings, Cook continued to cook on the mound.
Silver Lake senior standout Kendra Cook pitched a no-hitter in an 8-0 semifinal victory over Burlington. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The Washburn signee extended her scoreless streak at the state tournament to 16.0 innings. She finished striking out 13 with just three walks in the no-hit effort.
“She’s confident. There are times there where she gets that full count and she’s confident in her teammates making plays behind her ... when you trust your fielders behind you then you can throw a lot easier,” Hamilton said.
It was more of the same for Cook in the title game with two scoreless innings. Her first run allowed of the tournament came in the third on a solo home run from the Raiders' standout senior pitcher Avery Johnson.
That was the games only run until Silver Lake loaded the bases with no outs in the sixth. Singles from Kailyn Hanni and Lowrey put two on and Zordel was hit to juice the bases. Cook grounded back on the infield but the throw home was bobbled, allowing Hanni to score and tie the game.
With no outs the Eagles were unable to scratch across a second run and take the lead.
Cook sent the game to extras with a 1-2-3 seventh. In the eighth Silver Lake had runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out but hit into an inning-ending double play.
A one-out walk from Frontenac in the ninth moved to 2nd on a passed ball before coming around to score on a walk-off single by Raider senior Ella Sullivan to left field.
“It’s incredible what this group has done because everybody in our lineup 1-9 has produced something big for us all season and that’s what’s so special about this group,” said Frontenac coach Cassie Rhuems after winning her fifth title with the Raiders, all coming since 2016. “It’s great to go win one but when you go back-to-back you’re really making a statement about your team and your program.”
Silver Lake ended the game out-hitting Frontenac 8-1 while the Raiders led in errors 2-1. Cook finished with five strikeouts while at the plate Lowrey had three hits in the game and Wende had two.
