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The 2025 All-City girls swimming and diving team -- Front, from left: Kaitlyn Aldridge, Shawnee Heights; Joslynn Grace, Seaman; Hara Del Castillo, Topeka High; Clara Sobba, Shawnee Heights. Back, from left: Ava Von Lintel, Washburn Rural; Ashtynn Landry, Shawnee Heights; Audrey Appuhn, Washburn Rural; Sophie Heinen, Washburn Rural; Caroline Toland, Topeka High. Not pictured: Kaylee Gregg, Hayden, and Genevieve Miranda, Washburn Rural. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Multi-time state placers Audrey Appuhn of Washburn Rural, Joslynn Grace of Seaman and Kaylee Gregg of Hayden headline the 2025 All-City girls swimming and diving team.
Appuhn, a junior, earned a pair of Class 6A individual medals for the third straight season while Seaman senior Grace was a multiple-event individual 5A-1A medalist for the second straight season and Hayden senior Gregg finished fifth in the 5A-1A state meet in one-meter diving for the second straight year.
Hayden senior Kaylee Gregg finished fifth in Class 5A-1A diving for the second straight season last Saturday. [File photo/TSN]
Washburn Rural senior Genevieve Miranda was a 2025 Class 6A state medalist in the 100-yard butterfly. [File photo/TSN]
Washburn Rural senior Genevieve Miranda was also a state medalist in 6A in last Saturday's state meet at the Capitol Federal Natatorium.
Rural, which won its 22nd straight city title, put a city-high four swimmers on the All-City first team, which is determined by performances in the city meet, while Shawnee Heights has three first-teamers.
Washburn Rural put Appuhn, Miranda and juniors Sophie Heinen and Ava Von Lintel on the first team while Heights is represented by senior Ashtynn Landry and sophomores Kaitlyn Aldridge and Clara Sobba.
Topeka High junior Hara Del Castillo is a three-time first-team honoree and is joined on the All-City team by senior teammate Caroline Toland.
Washburn Rural junior diver Rhiannon Good headlines the 12-member All-City second team and finishing third in Class 6A in one-meter diving.
All-City first-team capsules:
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. -- Three separate rain or lightning delays and nearly six hours after the match began No. 9-ranked Washburn University's men's tennis season came to an end with a 4-2 national championship loss to No. 1 Valdosta State on Saturday evening.
Washburn University men's tennis finished as the NCAA Division II national runnerup Saturday, falling 4-2 to No. 1 Valdosta State. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
The Ichabods ended their historic season with a 23-4 record.
The top-seeded Blazers (26-0) jumped ahead in doubles play at No. 3, defeating Pavlos Parson and Moritz Pieper 6-2 to take the advantage.
Playing on the top court Matthew Earle and Tim Hammes fought in a top-five battle with No. 5 Takeshi Taco and Saveam Van Wijk. After the dual was tied 4-4 the final two games went to Valdosta State to take the doubles point.
Tommy Cecchetti and Vasek Schneider led 5-4 on court two for Washburn over No. 8 Edgar Destouet and Arthur Bord and were leading 30-15 in the game when the point was decided.
In singles play the first court featured a top-five battle between No. 4 Hammes and No. 2 Takeshi Taco. Hammes fell in the first set 6-1 before bouncing back to reverse the score in the second and force a third set.
In the third he fell behind early and was unable to make up the ground, losing 6-1. Finishing just behind him was Zino Nahirniah on court five, who put the Ichabods on the board with a pair of 6-3 victories.
Court two also had a meeting of top-10 opponents with No. 8 Schneider taking on No. 3 Boruch Skierkier. Schneider fell behind 4-0 early in the first set but was able to battle back, winning six straight games for a 6-4 win.
The second set went back-and-forth with ties at 2-2, 3-3- and 4-4 before Schneider claimed two straight games to win 6-4 and tie the match at two.
Parson dropped a first set at No. 3, 6-2. In the second set he bounced back with an early lead to win 6-3 and force a third set.
In the third No. 20 Destouet went in front 4-1 over Parson before winning 6-2.
Playing at No. 6, Earle built an early lead and was able to work a 6-4 victory in his first set of play. In the second set the score went in the other direction 6-3.
Earle fell behind early in the third set, and trailed 5-2 when the final delay of the match for lightning was called, lasting over two hours. After play resumed the final game went to Valdosta State as they clinched the set 6-2 and the match, 4-2.
After falling in his first set at No. 4, 6-4, Cecchetti battled back for a 6-3 win in the second set and was tied 1-1 in the third when the point and match were decided.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Saturday was a painful, but very rewarding day for Washburn Rural junior diver Rhiannon Good.
Despite fighting through a knee injury, which required her to compete with a brace on her right knee, Good posted a career-best third-place finish in Saturday's Class 6A one-meter diving event, her second straight state medal.
Washburn Rural junior Rhiannon Good fought through a knee injury to finish third in Class 6A in one-meter diving Saturday at the Capitol Federal Natatorium. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
After missing a chunk of the regular season with her injury, Good bounced back late in the season before suffering another setback between qualifying third in Thursday's semifinals and Saturday's championship finals.
"I hyper-extended it and strained some muscles during cheer and it put me out for like half the season and I just started coming back to compete for city and league and state,'' Good said. "I had qualified early in the season for state so I didn't have to worry about that, but city and league were rough because I was still getting over the injury.
"It had been fine and then I re-injured it on Thursday at cheer tryouts after state (prelims and semis) so it's pretty injured right now, but I was just like, 'I have three dives, I just have to do it.' ''
Washburn Rural junior diver Rhiannon Good won her second straight Class 6A medal Saturday at the Capitol Federal Natatorium. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Good was able to hold on for her third-place finish with a score of 378.75 while Olathe East sophomore Irene Getya dominated the event at 519.20 and Olathe North junior Avery Metcalf finished second at 388.20, less than 10 points in front of Good.
"(The knee) wasn't great, but I just told myself that I just needed to push through these last three dives and then I have all the offseason to rest but these three dives, I needed them to be good to maintain my spot in third,'' Good said. "So I just pushed through. I was like, 'It's going to hurt, I know it's going to hurt, but it will just be fine and it will be worth it in the end.' And it was.''
Good's top-three showing came after she had finished seventh at state as a sophomore.
"After state last year I told myself that this year I just wanted to make top five and that's something I did do, but top-three's better than top five, so I'm excited,'' Good said. "It was a rough season, so I'm just happy I was able to compete here.''
Washburn Rural junior Audrey Appuhn reacts after a third-place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke in Saturday's Class 6A state meet. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Washburn Rural junior star Audrey Appuhn added two more individual medals to her growing career medal haul and has now been a multi-event state medalist the past three seasons.
Appuhn posted a sixth-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle in a time of 1 minute, 57.55 seconds and came back later in the day to finish third in the 100 breaststroke in 1:06.80, posting an improvement by more than a second after qualifying fourth.
Appuhn's sixth-place showing in the 200 free came after she qualifed third, but she said she was still pleased with that performance.
"I was happy with it, I thought it was a good race,'' she said. "I think it's OK to not go a best time every time you race. I'm glad that I got to hit right around what I've been hitting this season, so it's a win in my book.''
And Appuhn's confidence showed through in the 100 breast.
"That time in that breaststroke felt amazing,'' said Appuhn, who earned second-team All-State honors. "I didn't start racing the 100 breaststroke until this year and then just learning how to use the tempo and seeing everything that I want finally all put together it felt amazing.''
Washburn Rural senior Genevieve Miranda earned a Class 6A state medal with an eighth-place finish in the 100-yard butterfly Saturday. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Washburn Rural senior Genevieve Miranda finished eighth in the 100 butterfly in 1:01.53 and won the 'B' final in the 100 backstroke in 1:03.17.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural juniors Audrey Appuhn and Rhiannon Good and Seaman senior Joslynn Grace will all take lofty top-four qualifying marks into Saturday's final day of the Class 6A and 5A swimming and diving championships at the Capitol Federal Natatorium.
The 6A finals will get under way at 9 a.m., followed by the 5A-1A finals at 4 p.m.
Washburn Rural junior Audrey Appuhn has been a multi-event Class 6A state medalist the past two seasons and posted two top-four qualifying performances for Saturday's state finals. [File photo/TSN]
Appuhn, a multi-event state medalist the past two seasons, qualifed third for the finals in the 200-yard freestyle in a preliminary time of 1 minute, 56.79 seconds and came back later to earn the No. 4 qualifying spot in the 100 breaststroke in 1:07.99.
Good is sitting in the third spot in the one-meter diving standings after the preliminary and semifinal rounds, posting a score of 277.45. The diving finals will kick off the 6A championship finals at 9 o'clock.
Washburn Rural senior Genevieve Miranda garnered the eighth and final spot in the championship finals for the 100 butterfly in 1:02.03 and will be the top seed for the 'B' finals in the 100 backstroke after a preliminary time of 1:03.76.
Seaman senior Joslynn Grace qualified in the top four Friday for a pair of Class 5A-1A state swimming finals. [File photo/TSN]
Seaman's Grace, a returning multi-event state medalist, qualified No. 3 in the 5A 200 individual medley in 2:10.17 and No. 4 in the 100 breaststroke in 1:08.56.
Hayden senior Kaylee Gregg and sophomore Maddie Gregg qualified sixth and ninth for the 5A-1A one-meter diving finals, which will begin at 4 p.m.
Kaylee Gregg has a score of 267.25 after the semifinals while Maddie Gregg has a score of 209.40.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After a 5-10-1 regular season, Topeka High girls soccer has come to life in postseason, posting a pair of road upsets to advance to Monday's Class 6A quarterfinals.
Topeka High girls soccer is headed to the Class 6A state quarterfinals after Thursday's 3-1 win at Wichita Northwest. [Submitted photo]
Topeka High, the No. 14 West regional seed, opened regional competition with a 2-1 win in penalty kicks (5-3) at No. 3 Garden City on Tuesday and followed that up with a 3-1 win at No. 11 Wichita Northwest Thursday to claim a regional championship.
Natalie Barnes scored her first of two goals on the night off a Cierra Belaire assist 5:52 into the opening half to put the Trojans in front 1-0.
Wichita Northwest (7-10-1) tied the game at 1-1 with 7:06 left in the half on a penalty kick, but Topeka High answered with a Raelee Shipley goal with 5:55 remaining to give the Trojans a 2-1 halftime advantage.
Barnes scored her second goal with 11:52 remaining in the match to give High its final margin.
Next up for the 7-10-1 Trojans is No. 1 West seed Washburn Rural (16-2-0), which will host Topeka High in Monday's 6 p.m. state quarterfinal.
The Junior Blues advanced with a 4-1 win over Manhattan Thursday night.
Rural defeated Topeka High 3-1 in a Centennial League game on April 16.
Vikes roll to 5A quarterfinals
Seaman rolled to an 8-0 win over United Kansas Conference rival Basehor-Linwood in Thursday's Class 5A regional final at Seaman.
The Vikings, now 13-5-0, outscored its two regional opponents by an 19-0 margin en route to earning a second straight trip to the quarterfinals.
Seaman will go on the road Monday to face UKC rival De Soto (16-2-0) in a 6 p.m. contest.
The Vikings dropped a 4-3 conference game to the Wildcats on April 17.
Hayden knocks off Bullpups, 2-1
Hayden soccer moved onto the Class 4A-1A state quarterfinals with a 2-1 Thursday road win at McPherson.
Now 11-7-0 on the season, the Wildcats are the No. 4 seed for the 4A-1A quarterfinals and will travel to top seed Wichita Trinity (14-1-2) for a 6:30 p.m. Monday contest.
T-Birds' season ends at St. James
Shawnee Heights' 2025 soccer season ended in a 5-0 loss at St. James Academy in a Class 5A regional final.
The T-Birds finished with an 11-6-1 record on the season while St. James Academy improved to 17-1-0.
The Thunder's lone loss was a 3-1 regular-season loss at 6A power Washburn Rural.
St. James will host St. Thomas Aquinas at 6 p.m. Monday in a state quarterfinal.
