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Created: 17 May 2025

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Eric Buchenau and Drew Fay used a gritty second-set comeback to give themselves a chance to win Cair Paravel Latin's first-ever state tennis championship Saturday at Kossover Tennis Center.

Cair Paravel juniors Eric Buchenau (left)and Drew Fay posted a runnerup state doubles finish Saturday at Kossover Tennis Center. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

But like they had all season, Wichita Collegiate senior Carter Drumright and his sophomore brother, Maddox, found a way to get the job done, dominating the third set to take a 6-2, 6-7 (5-7 tiebreaker), 6-0 victory in the state final.

The three-set victory capped off a perfect 25-0 season for the Drumrights while Buchenau and Fay, both juniors, went 29-2, with both losses coming against Collegiate's top team.

Cair Paravel junior Drew Fay returns a shot in Saturday's Class 3A-1A state doubles final at Kossover Tennis Center. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

"The end didn't finish how we wanted, but I'm proud of how we played,'' Fay said. "We played hard and gave it our all and I don't have any regrets personally.

"We definitely did better this time around. It was 8-2 the first time so I'm proud of how we played today.''

Cair Paravel junior Eric Buchenau (above) teamed with Drew Fay to post a runnerup doubles finish in Class 3A-1A state doubles Saturday at Kossover Tennis Center. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

"It didn't end how we wanted it to,'' Buchenau said. "We believed we had a shot and we never stopped believing it.''

A foreign exchange student from Germany, Buchenau was disappointed that he couldn't end his stint in the United States with a storybook finish.

"I had one shot at a state championship and I didn't make it, but of course I'm proud of how we did,'' he said. 

Buchenau and Fay, the No. 3 seed, opened their day with a 6-4, 6-3 win over No. 2 seeds William Farha and Vihaan Ganganola of Wichita Collegiate in the semis.

Cair Paravel freshman Cole Fay posted a 10th-place state singles finish Saturday at Kossover Tennis Center. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Cair Paravel freshman singles player Cole Fay also earned a state medal in his first state tournament, finishing 10th in singles.

Wichita Trinity senior Alex Hobson took an 8-1 win over Fay in the ninth-place match.

Wichita Collegiate rolled to the team championship by a 58-24 margin over Conway Springs, with Collegiate junior Charlie Gentile and freshman Amir Khisha finishing one-two in singles as Gentile took a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 win over his teammate.  

Cair Paravel tied for fourth place with 19 points. 

Hayden's Blaser and George fourth in 4A semis

Hayden seniors Chase Blaser and Evan George posted a fourth-place Class 4A doubles finish Saturday in Winfield to close out their high school tennis careers.

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Created: 16 May 2025

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Cair Paravel Latin juniors Eric Buchenau and Drew Fay had to sweat out a few anxious moments in their Class 3A-1A quarterfinal doubles match Friday at Kossover Tennis Center, but the Lion standouts got the job done, advancing to Saturday's 9 a.m. state semifinal. 

Cair Paravel Latin's Drew Fay (left) and Eric Buchenau advanced to the Class 3A-1A doubles semifinals Friday at Kossover Tennis Center. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Buchenau and Fay, the No. 3 seed, went 2-0 on the day, including a 6-2, 6-4 quarterfinal win over Central Plains' Paxton Dody and Peyton Dody to improve to 28-1 on the season and will face No. 2 seeds William Farha and Vihaan Ganganola of Wichita Collegiate in the semis.

After a 6-0, 6-0 romp in their first match of the day, Fay and Buchenau jumped in front 5-2 in the second set of the quarterfinals before Dody and Dody cut their deficit to 5-4.

Central Plains seemed to have some momentum at that point, but the Lions were able to hold serve and close out the win.

"It was definitely frustrating,'' said Buchenau about the close second set, "but even if you play bad you have to find a way to win and we did that.''

Fay agreed.

"It definitely wasn't how we wanted it to go and we struggled for sure, but we were just scrapping out every point and got the win,'' Fay said. 

"We hopefully got the bad bullets out today so we can just play our game tomorrow.''

Cair Paravel freshman singles player Cole Fay advanced to Saturday's Class 3A-1A medal matches with a 3-1 day. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Cair Paravel freshman singles player Cole Fay also advanced to Saturday's medal matches, going 3-1 on the day.

Cole Fay moved on to Saturday with an 8-5 win over Phillipsburg senior Nathan Fischer and can still finish as high as fifth place.

Hayden seniors Chase Blaser (left) and Evan George will compete in a Class 4A doubles semifinal Saturday in Winfield. [File photo/TSN]

Hayden's Blaser and George in 4A semis

Hayden regional doubles champions Chase Blaser and Evan George won both of their Class 4A doubles matches Friday in Winfield to advance to Saturday's 9 a.m. semifinals.

The fourth-seeded Wildcat seniors, now 25-6, advanced to the semifinals with a hard-earned 3-6, 7-6 (7-5 tiebreaker), 6-3 win over McPherson.

Blaser and George will face No. 1 seed Asher Deutschendorf and Braiden Liechty of Hesston in the semifinals.

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Created: 16 May 2025

By CHARLES SPURLOCK

Special to TopSports.news

LEAVENWORTH -- On the warmest day of the 2025 track season, Leavenworth High School hosted the United Kansas Conference track meet on Thursday. 

Seaman junior Ryin Miller was a double UKC individual champion in Thursday's conference meet at Leavenworth. [File photo/TSN]

Seaman junior Ryin Miller continued her winning ways this season with a sweep of the 1,600-meter (4:47.54) and 800- meter (2:22.53) races.

“I was happy with the 1,600 and the main goal was to secure the points for our team,'' Miller said. "In the 800, once I noticed that Kelsie (Kudzia of Leavenworth) wasn’t running, I decided to run a smarter race and get the 10 points for the team.”

Seaman junior Brody Anderson (1) won the 800 meters in Thursday's UKC meet at Leavenworth. [File photo/TSN]

Seaman junior Brody Anderson came back after a fourth-place finish in the 1600 meters to win the 800-meter championship in a time of 1:57.70.

He commented on his comeback after the 1,600 meter race:

“I wasn’t mad, I just gotta come back strong, can’t give up and have to have a positive mindset,'' Anderson said. "It was a great competition and I'm thankful to race these other guys. I’m looking forward to getting a little more out of myself over the next couple of weeks.”

Seaman senior Bryce Cochran won the 400-meter title with a time of 48.43 seconds.

Cochran commented on his preparation not only during the season but last offseason:

“The race went well,'' Cochran said. "I like running against tough competition like Austin Lindsay (De Soto). I’ve worked really hard this past offseason and the hard work is paying off.”

He came back later in the evening to finish second in the 200 dash with a time of 22.10 seconds.

Topeka West senior Adrian Lehman won the 1,600 UKC title in Thursday's conference meet at Leavenworth. [File photo/TSN]

Topeka West senior Adrian Lehman followed up on his exciting victories in the 1,600 meters and 3,200 meters at last week’s city meet by winning the 1,600-meter race in a time of 4:20.77. He also placed fourth in the 800 meters with a time of 1:59.08.

Other local highlights

• Seaman senior Ally Steiner finished third in both the 100-meter (13.00) and 200-meter (26.29) races.
• Seaman sophomore Brynn Spencer finished second in the 3,200 meters with a time of 11:50.86.
• Seaman senior Stella Applehanz finished third in the 3,200 meters in a time of 11:52.89.
• Seaman senior Jaida Stallbaumer placed second in the 100-meter hurdles (16.28) and third in the 300-meter hurdles (48.89).  
• The Seaman girls 4x100 meter relay team finished third in 50.93 seconds.
• The Seaman girls 4x400 meter relay team finished second in 4:01.58.
• Seaman senior Grace Jowers placed third in the pole vault with a height of 9-6.
• Seaman junior Peyton Henry finished third the javelin with a throw of 109-6.
• Senior Peyton Holmes of Seaman finished second in the 100 meters in 10.92 seconds. He also finished third in the long jump with a jump of 21-1.
• Senior Liam Benz of Shawnee Heights finished third in the 400 meters with a time of 49.63.
• Senior Mark Wilkie of Topeka West finished second in the 800 meters with a time of 1:58.39 and second in the 1,600 meters in 4:21.37.
• Junior Kellan Parcaro of Seaman finished third in the 300-meter hurdles in 41.86 seconds.
• Senior Kaden Whitehurst of Seaman finished second in the triple jump with a jump of 41-6.
• Freshman De’drian Keeling of Topeka West finished third in the triple jump with a jump of 39-8.
• Junior Brogen Brown of Seaman finished third in the shot put with a put of 47-9.

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Created: 16 May 2025

By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news

Audrey Appuhn was extremely busy Thursday at the Capitol Federal Natatorium ... and that's just the way the Washburn Rural junior swimming star likes it.

Washburn Rural junior Audrey Appuhn reacts after setting a personal record in the 200-yard freestyle in Thursday's Centennial League meet. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN] 

Appuhn kicked off the Centennial League meet with a flawless rendition of the National Anthem before jumping in the pool and winning four gold medals for the runnerup Junior Blues.

It was just another day for Appuhn, who routinely combines her love for swimming with her love for music.

"I love singing the National Anthem,'' Appuhn said. "I think it's so fun and I just love to sing.''

Appuhn also loves to swim, something she's done as long as she can remember.

"My mom put me in lessons as soon as I could walk and talk,'' said Appuhn, a multi-event Class 6A state medalist the past two seasons. "And I joined the team when I was probably seven or eight and I've just been doing it for the rest of my life.

"It's definitely something I've grown up with. It's taught me a lot about excelling and not only physically but mentally and learning how to overcome challenges and I can apply that to school and relationships with my friends. I think it's definitely helped me grow as an entire person and not just an athlete.''

Appuhn also fell in love with music at a relatively young age.

"I've always been kind of a Chatty Cathy so music came pretty naturally to me because it's a pretty way that people can hear my voice,'' Appuhn said. "I started in musical theater when I was in elementary school and I joined choir in middle school.

"I'm actually the choir president at Washburn for next year, so I'm super excited about that, and I just love singing and getting to be a part of something. It's kind of like a team when you're in a choir as well so it's a really great environment. I decided for my senior year I'm also going to join marching band because why not? I'm going to play piano (keyboard) in marching band.''  

And Appuhn's list of activities doesn't end there.

"I'm in National Honor Society and every weekend I go to a nursing home and I sing for like retired folk in our community,'' she said. "I just love to get involved in everything I can to really spread the love because I think everyone needs some love.''