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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Longtime former Washburn Rural teacher and tennis coach Kevin Hedberg, Brenda Holaday's 2008 Class 6A state championship softball team and the late Michael Brennan, a Rural graduate and world-renowned musician and composer, will be inducted into the Washburn Rural Hall of Fame Friday night at Rural.
A social hour will be held from 4:30-5 p.m. in the WRHS cafeteria, followed by the induction ceremony from 5-7 p.m. The inductees will also be recognized at halfcourt between the girls and boys varsity basketball games against Emporia.
2025 WRHS Hall of Fame inductees:
2008 GIRLS SOFTBALL TEAM -- Coach Brenda Holaday's Junior Blues won the 2008 Class 6A championship at Hummer Sports Park. The team defeated Olathe Northwest in the championship game by a score of 2-1 and finished with an overall record of 23-2. During the State Tournament, the team did not allow a single earned run and gave up only one run in three games. The Junior Blues also won Centennial League and regional championships. The title was the second state championship for the softball program, which also won titles in 1995 and 2014. Holaday was named the Kansas softball coach of the Year in 2008 and Paige Ladenburger was named the Gatorade Player of the Year. Many of Rural's softball players played more than one sport at Rural and their ability to multitask, be team players, develop tremendous leadership skills and build great work ethic has contributed to their adult life and the impact they continue to have on others and in this community. Four of the 2008 players went on to earn their medical doctorate degrees in their chosen field, three became nurses or work in the medical field, two became teachers in USD 437, and four became business leaders. Seven of the 13 went on to play college ball. Coach Holaday left Washburn Rural in 2016 after being a part of all three state championships and posting a 351-93 record, 14 Centennial League championships and 16 6A state tournaments. In her 19 years of coaching at Rural Holday was named Centennial League and City Coach of the Year nine times. Holaday took over the reins at Washburn University’s softball program before the 2017 season. Her teams have won two MIAA Conference titles, appeared in three NCAA tournaments and she has been named MIAA Coach of the Year twice.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The newly-minted No. 1-ranked Washburn University Ichabods will host Emporia State on Wednesday night in Lee Arena at 7:30 pm in the second meeting between the Turnpike Tussle rivals in the last 11 days.
Brett Ballard's Washburn Ichabods, off to a perfect 15-0 start, earned No. 1 spot in the national ranking on Tuesday, WU's first No. 1 since 1992. [File photo/TSN]
Senior Michael Keegan (left) has climbed to No. 7 all-time on Washburn's career steals chart. [File photo/TSN]
The Ichabods improved to 15-0 overall and 6-0 in the MIAA after blasting Northwest Missouri 96-66 in a 30-point win last Saturday while the Hornets are 4-11 overall and 1-5 in the MIAA after falling 69-67 at home to Nebraska-Kearney on Saturday. Washburn defeated Emporia State 105-77 on Jan. 4 in Emporia in the second-largest victory margin in series history.
The Ichabods were last ranked No. 1 in the nation on Jan. 27, 1992. Playing as the No. 1-ranked team in the nation in the NCAA ranks, the Ichabods are 3-2, topping Central Missouri Jan. 15 in their first game as the No. 1 team before falling to Pittsburg State on Jan. 18 by one. After going 2-0 the following week with wins over Emporia State and Missouri Western, the Ichabods moved back into the top spot on Jan. 27, 1992 and topped Fort Hays State on Jan. 27 and Northwest Missouri on Jan. 29 before falling at Truman on Feb. 1.
At 15-0 the Ichabods are off to their best start to begin a season since starting the 2003-04 season 16-0 en route to the MIAA regular-season championship. The Ichabod record for the most wins to start the season is 19 coming in the 1992-93 season.
The Ichabods are now one of two undefeated teams remaining in the NCAA Division II ranks, joining No. 2 Daemen (14-0).
Senior Andrew Orr became the 28th member of the Ichabod 1,000 point club earlier this season and he now has 1,095 career points moving into 19th on the career scoring chart. The next Ichabods ahead of Orr are Todd Alexander and Tom Carlson with 1,099 points.
Senior Jacob Hanna is closing in on 1,000 points in his collegiate career between Washburn and Illinois-Springfield and has scored 962 career points.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University women's basketball and rival Emporia State will square off for the second time in as many weeks when the Ichabods hosts the Hornets at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday inside Lee Arena.
Junior Yibari Nwidadah leads Washburn in scoring, rebounds, field goal percentage and blocked shots entering Wednesday's 5:30 p.m. against Emporia State. [File photo/TSN]
Washburn is 8-8 on the year and 2-4 in the MIAA after losing for the first time at home this season in a 66-61 overtime loss to Northwest Missouri on Saturday while Emporia State is 7-8 overall and 2-4 in the MIAA after dropping a 79-68 decision to Nebraska-Kearney in Emporia on Saturday.
Wednesday's contest against Emporia State will be the 116th all-time meeting between the two teams.
Washburn rallied from a double-digit second-half deficit to defeat Emporia State 64-61 inside of White Auditorium in the opening game of 2025.
Junior Yibari Nwidadah leads Washburn with a 16.6 scoring average while also shooting a team-high 66.0 percent from the field and grabbing a team-best 7.5 rebounds per game. Nwidadah has started all 14 games she has played in while logging 26.9 mpg. She has shot at or above 50.0 perceent in all but one game and has three double-doubles.
The Olathe North product has the best field goal percentage in the nation while ranking fifth in the MIAA in points per game and sixth in rebounding average. She has 15-plus points in nine games this year.
With 187 career offensive rebounds Nwidadah is eighth in program history and is five boards away from moving up to No. 7. In overall rebounds she is 19th in Washburn history with 496. Last time out she passed head coach Lora Westling on the all-time chart
Nwidadah's career field goal percentage of .576 is the third best in program history. In scoring she ranks 39th with 737 career points.
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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
For the second straight game Hayden girls basketball faced a tough test against a Class 6A opponent.
And for the second straight game the third-ranked (Class 4A) Wildcats passed that test, taking control down the stretch in a 56-41 Centennial League road win at Topeka High.
Freshman Hailey Schmidtlein (2) scored a game-high 19 points in Hayden's 56-41 Centennial League win at Topeka High Tuesday night. [Photo by Kylee Manthe/Special to TSN]
Hayden, which pulled out a 46-44 win over Washburn Rural last Friday, improved to a perfect 8-0 overall and 2-0 in the league while Topeka High fell to 3-3, 0-1.
"When (the Trojans) had a little run in the fourth quarter, it was another opportunity like we had Friday to test our toughness and I thought our girls answered and being able to close it out was big,'' Hayden coach Carvel Reynoldson said.
The Wildcats trailed by a point (11-10) at the end of the opening quarter but used a 20-9 second quarter to take a 30-20 lead at the halftime break.
Hayden never trailed the rest of the way, leading by as many as 15 points midway through the third quarter and by a game-high 17 (56-49) with a minute left, but the Wildcats had to fight their way through numerous mini-runs by the Trojans, who got as close as seven points (46-39) with four and a half minutes remaining before the visitors took control behind freshman Hailey Schmidtlein, who scored eight straight points down the stretch.
Hayden freshman Hailey Schmidtlein (2) scored 8 straight points down the stretch as the Wildcats pulled away for a 56-41 win at Topeka High Tuesday night. [Photo by Kyle Manthe/Special to TSN]
Schmidtlein led all scorers with 19 points while seniors Millie Ramsey and Brylee Meier added 13 apiece for the Wildcats.
"Hailey really played great the whole game because we put a lot on her plate defensively and then we fed her the ball twice down the stretch for big layups and then she got steals and breakaways and she was big for us,'' Reynoldson said.
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By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Coming off back-to-back losses to Class 5A Shawnee Heights and 6A Washburn Rural, Hayden's boys basketball team was looking for a win to regain its momentum.
Sophomore Mason Becker scored a game-high 18 points with four 3-pointers in Hayden's 65-50 Centennial League win at Topeka High Tuesday night. [Photo by Kyle Manthe/Special to TSN]
Dwayne Anthony's Wildcats got just that in Tuesday's 65-50 Centennial League road win at Topeka High.
"I just love how my guys respond to the simple things I'm trying to get them to do night in and night out,'' Anthony said. "Today they tried to do everything that I asked them to.
"As we get to know each other I get to know kind of what our capabilities are and just the fact that they came out and excuted a lot better tonight than what we've been accustomed to, I'm pleased with it.''
Hayden, which improved to 4-4 overall and 1-1 in the league, led most of the night, but the winless Trojans (0-7, 0-1) were in the hunt until the Wildcats pulled away over the final 11 minutes of the contest.
After trailing 3-2 early Hayden built a 14-11 advantage at the end of the opening quarter, before High forged a 16-all tie early in the second period.
Hayden answered with a run to go into the locker room with a 28-22 halftime advantage.
Then, after the Trojans got within five (37-32) with five minutes left in the third, Hayden went on a 13-4 run to take a 50-36 lead into the fourth.
