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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural's soccer team rode a hot start and an even hotter finish to a 6-1 Centennial League victory over Topeka High Monday night at McElroy Field, with the Junior Blues clinching at least a share of the league championship.
Rural, 12-2-1 overall and 7-0 in the league, currently holds a one-game lead over Seaman in the league race and can wrap up its fifth straight title outright with a home win over Hayden on Thursday.
Washburn Rural senior captain Reagan Allen (left) defends Topeka Hig sophomore Ronnie Blancas Monday night at McElroy Field. Allen was credited with a pair of assists in Rural's 6-1 Centennial League win. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Washburn Rural junior Brooklyn DeLeye (right) pressures Topeka High senior Maribelle Belaire-Serna Monday night in Rural's 6-1 win over the Trojans. DeLeye made her season debut after recovering from a knee injury. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Topeka High senior Tae Thomas (8) tries to advance the ball against Washburn Rural freshman Destiny Higgs Monday night in Rural's 6-1 Centennial League win. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Washburn Rural jumped out to a 2-0 lead over the Trojans in the opening minutes of Monday's game on goals from senior Belle Kennedy and freshman Kate Hinck and still held that two-goal advantage at the halff, but Topeka High (10-5-0, 4-3) cut its deficit to 2-1 on a goal from junior Haley Carpenter at the 33:38 mark of the second half.
The Trojans were still within a goal nearing the midway mark of the second half, but the Junior Blues took command with four goals over the final 21:51.
Sophomore Hayley Legg put Rural in front 3-1 at the 21:51 mark, followed by a goal from senior Kamea Rice with 15:26 left and two goals from senior Alandra Bailey over the final 11:01.
Senior Reagan Allen was credited with a pair of assists for Rural while junior Karsyn McMaster and Hunter McWilliams were also credited with assists.
"Over the last few weeks we haven't played or practiced with the intensity we want to,'' Washburn Rural coach Brian Hensyel said. "I thought Topeka High was the harder playing team in the first half and it carried over into the second when they made it 2-1.
"That maybe woke us up a little bit and the energy was pretty good the last 20, 25 minutes.''
Washburn Rural, third in Class 6A last season, is not only in position for the league title, but is in a position to earn the top West seed for the 6A playoffs.
"If we can finish off the regular season on a good note we win league, get the No. 1 seed and have the exact same record as a really good team last year, so on paper it looks like an awesome season and it has been,'' Hensyel said. "But I think most of us will tell you we've got to find our best soccer because we're not quite there yet. If we're going to have a chance at the end we've got to find our best soccer.''
Topeka High coach Derek Snook, whose Trojans fell to 10-5 overall and 4-3 in the league, said he was pleased with his team's effort, but said High ran out of gas at the end of the game.
"I thought we had some scoring chances in the first half,'' Topeka High coach Derek Snook said. "If we put a couple of those in, obviously it's a diffferent ballgame, but the latter part of the ballgame we were just gassed. They're really good at the second-chance goals and that's what happened.
"I can't fault these girls because they played hard.''
Topeka High will host Emporia on Thursday at Hummer Sports Park.
WASHBURN RURAL 6, TOPEKA HIGH 1
Topeka High (10-5, 4-3) 0 1 -- 1
Washburn Rural (12-2-1, 7-0) 2 4 -- 6
Topeka High -- Goal: Carpenter.
Washburn Rural -- Goals: Bailey 2, Kennedy, Hinck, Legg, Rice. Assists: Allen 2, McMaster, McWilliams.
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Bob Bodenheimer, who coached Shawnee Heights' boys basketball team to back-to-back Class 5A state championships in the late 1980s, passed away Saturday at the age of 86.
Bob Bodenheimer [Photo courtesy of Brennan-Mathena Funeral Home]
Bodenheimer, who coached the T-Birds to state championships in 1988 and 1989, passed away at Midland Hospice House in Topeka.
Visitation will be held on Friday, May 13, 2022, from 5 to 8 p.m. at Brennan-Mathena Funeral Home.
Bodenheimer's funeral service will be on Saturday, May 14, at 10 a.m. at the funeral home. Burial will follow at Mt. Hope Cemetery in Topeka.
Bodenheimer's 1987-1988 Shawnee Heights team posted an 18-6 record and his '88-'89 title team went 18-5.
Shawnee Heights beat Campus in the '88 state championship game and McPherson in the '89 title game.
Bodenheiemer's T-Birds captured the Centennial League championship in 1988, were the co-league champs in '89, '91 and '92 and won the league title outright again in '93.
To share a memory or to leave condolences, please visit, www.brennanmathenafh.com.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
MIAA regular-season champion Washburn University has earned an at-large selection to the NCAA National Softball Tournament for the second time since the 2018 season and the fifth time in program history.
Tournament starting times will be posted on wusports.com as they become available.
Washburn softball is headed to the NCAA National Tournament, earning the No. 5 seed for a sub-regional in Claremore, Okla. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
The Ichabods will travel to Claremore, Okla. for the sub-region hosted by Rogers State starting on Thursday.
Washburn (45-13) will be the No. 5 seed in the regional and will face No. 4 seeded Minnesota State (46-12), which also earned an at-large invitation to the Central Region.
The winners of the two sub-regions will then meet for a best two of three series starting May 19.
The NCAA 2022 championship will be played May 26-31 at Regency Athletic Complex in Denver, Colorado.
Washburn finished the regular season 24-2 in the MIAA, winning its third MIAA regular season title.
The Ichabods fell in the MIAA Tournament championship game on Sunday to Rogers State, dropping the Ichabods' record to 45-13 this season.
Claremore, Oklahoma Sub Regional -- Hosted by Rogers State
1. Rogers State (47-9)
4. Minnesota State (46-12)
5. Washburn (45-13)
8. Winona State (40-15)
Edmond, Oklahoma Sub Regional – Hosted by Central Oklahoma
2. Central Oklahoma (45-10)
3. Arkansas Tech (39-17)
6. Southern Arkansas (37-16)
7. Augustana (47-8)
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn baseball is moving on in the MIAA Tournament after defeating Central Oklahoma, 6-2, in Game 2 of the MIAA best-of-three quarterfinal series.
The rest of the conference tournament will be a double elimination bracket hosted by Central Oklahoma Thursday through Sunday.
Washburn will play Central Missouri at 12 p.m. Thursday.
Former Washburn Rural standout Dalton Huggins set Washburn's career save record as the Ichabods advanced in the MIAA Tournament. [File photo by Kyle Manthe/TSN]
Washburn Rural product Dalton Huggins made Washburn program history in Saturday's win, becoming the all-time career saves leader for the Ichabods as he recorded his 11th save since joining the Ichabods in 2020.
After the Bronchos (29-21) went down in order in the first inning, they benefited from some free passes in the second inning and loaded up the bases with a walk and back-to-back hit by pitches. A third hit batter of the inning brought in the first run of the game. Braden Babcock took over on the mound and got out of the inning with a strikeout and fielder's choice to mitigate any more damage.
The script flipped in the third inning as it was 31-18 Washburn's turn to capitalize on free bases.
After Connor Scott hit a one-out triple, Cal Watkins was hit by the pitch and Brett Ingram was walked on four pitches to load the bases. Quinn Waterbury followed with a walk and picked up an RBI that evened the score. With two outs, Parker Dunn sent the first pitch of his at bat through the right side to drive in two runs and give the Ichabods a 3-1 advantage.
Washburn went up 4-1 in the fourth frame as Easton Bruce hit a leadoff single and moved to third on a groundout and fly out before scoring on Watkins' single that dropped into left field.
The Bronchos cut the deficit in half after they scored an unearned run in the bottom of the fifth.
Central Oklahoma threatened again in the seventh and had the bases loaded with two outs, but John Cross left all three runners stranded as the inning ended on a groundout.
Washburn went down quietly in the top of the eighth still in front, 4-2. Huggins worked a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the eighth and struck out two in the process.
The Ichabods tacked on two more runs in the top of the ninth to go up, 6-2. Scott legged out an infield single and advanced to second on Watkins' sacrifice bunt. Ingram drove in a run with a single to left field and moved up to second on a groundout. Zion Bowlin reached on a throwing error that allowed Ingram to score Washburn's sixth run of the afternoon.
Huggins returned to the bump to close out the game and ended the game on seven pitches to clinch the series win for Washburn.
Washburn landed nine hits in the game and limited Central Oklahoma to four. Scott went 2-4 with two runs scored. Watkins was 2-3 at the dish and scored once and drove in one run. Ingram had a hit, two runs, an RBI, and two walks in the game.
Babcock earned the win and threw four and 2/3 innings in relief and allowed one unearned run on three hits, one walk, and four strikeouts. Huggins tossed two clean innings to close out the game and received his fourth save of the season.
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Even after former Silver Lake football star Logan Pegram entered the coaching profession following his college career at Northern Illinois, he never really thought about the possibility of coaching at his high school alma mater.
Logan Pegram
But all that changed when C.J. Hamilton, the winningest coach in Kansas history, announced his retirement at Silver Lake in mid-April after 47 seasons.
"It definitely came out of nowhere,'' said the 32-year-old Pegram, who was announced as Silver Lake's new head coach last week. " I think there was initial surprise for all of us that have played in the program and been a part of that community. First you kind of analyze it as the former player and community member.
"You kind of process it as that and then you look at it as a coach and you're like, 'Well, who wouldn't want to be in a situation like Silver Lake?' You have great community buy-in, you've got great administration, great schools, success. It's everything that as an aspiring head coach you look at as a great possibility.''
A 2008 Silver Lake graduate, Pegram was a part of four Eagle teams that advanced to the Class 3A state championship game, including a 14-0 record and a state title his junior season in 2006.
A first-team All-Stater as a senior, Pegram knows that taking over for Hamilton, who led the Eagles to a 447-98 record, 18 title games and eight state championships, is a daunting task.
But its one that Pegram, who served as an assistant and head coach at Anderson County and as an assistant at Class 6A Free State, embraces.
"There's no doubt it's going to be a challenge,'' Pegram said. "Talking to other people and talking about first-year expectations or this or that I think you just need to go into it with the idea that, 'Hey, we need to get better every single day.'
"And I know that can kind of be coach-talk or cliche, but there's no hiding from the fact of what the level of expectation is at Silver Lake and that's something that I think as a coach you embrace and you say that if you're willing to work and get better every day then we'll put ourselves in a position to be where we want to be at the end of the year.''
In returning to the community where he grew up, Pegram is following in the footsteps of Hamilton, who is also a Silver Lake native.
"I've heard people say that you never want to go back home but I look at it kind of I guess the way (C.J.) did, as an opportunity to give back to the community that gave so much to me,'' Pegram said. "It's a great community, great people and it's a way for me to finally give back and say, 'What can I do to help these kids that I was in the same shoes as them?' ''
Obviously Pegram will want to put his own stamp on the Silver Lake program, but he said he also wants to make sure to emphasize the qualities that have made the Eagles a premier program.
"I think any coach who would go into a situation like this would be naive to go in there and try to build a new house or rip it down to the studs,'' Pegram said. "I think the No. 1 thing is you embrace the things that have made us so successful over the years.
"Then maybe you tweak a couple of things in a couple of different ways, from summer workouts and maybe just a little bit of scheme, but at the end of the day I think Silver Lake's always going to be Silver Lake if we can keep the main things the main things and focus on what's made us so successful.''
