Fall Break Sports Spotlight

Lob it up: Senior libero Faith Rottinghaus(23) prepares to throw the ball up on a serve on Oct. 1, 2021. Rottinghaus finished with 14 digs in the match.

With six sports in full swing and tennis getting ready to kick-off its official season this is a look at some of the standout performances from Washburn student-athletes in each sport before the fall break.

Volleyball

For the number one ranked Washburn Volleyball team senior libero Faith Rottinghaus has been named MIAA defensive athlete of the week four out of six weeks in the season. She has played in all 58 sets for the 16-1 Ichabods and leads the team with 349 digs, good for over six per set. The fifth-year senior has also notched 43 assists while recording only 12 service errors on 240 attempts compared to 19 service aces.

Soccer

Scoring is the goal and senior midfielder Tera Lynch puts the ball in the goal with a team-leading seven scores over the first 11 matches. She also leads the team with three assists on the season on her way to a team-high 17 points. The fifth-year senior has also recorded two game-winning goals helping the Ichabods to a 6-3-2 record.

Football

A high-powered offense has helped propel Washburn to a 4-2 record to begin the football season and a big part of that has been senior wide receiver James Letcher Jr. The fifth-year senior leads the team in receiving yards with 559 and yards from scrimmage with 619. His six touchdowns are also tops on the team, with one of them being a game-winner against Fort Hays State.

Men’s Cross Country

Leading into the MIAA Championships the men’s cross country team has finished in the top half of every meet. Leading the way is sophomore David Kibet who has recorded two top-15 finishes in the three meets he has competed in. Kibet also set the program record with a four-mile time of 20:45.5 and has the eighth fastest 8k time in program history at 25:08.60.

Women’s Cross Country

In the program’s six years of existence, Sierra Mortensen has been a part of it for five of them. This season she has competed in two meets and recorded the fastest time on the team in both, resulting in one top-5 and another top-25 finish. In those two meets Mortensen has recorded the two fastest 5k times in program history at 17:55.70 and 17:53.10.

Golf

In the four tournaments that he has competed in this season Sophomore Dawson Wills has a 75% winning percentage. The junior has placed first overall in three meets and top-30 in the other with an average score of 70.5 per round. Wills has been recognized three times as the MIAA golf athlete of the week, winning it outright or sharing it.

Edited by: Katrina Johnson and Alyssa Storm