The bar was
set pretty high.
In leading Rossville’s football team to its first state title in
2014, Bulldawg Tucker Horak put up eye-popping numbers as a junior.
The dual-threat quarterback rushed for a school-record 2,089 yards
and 28 touchdowns, while also throwing for 1,651 yards and 22 touchdowns.
Five miles down the road and six months earlier, Silver Lake’s
Megan Deiter was no less impressive in leading the Eagle softball team to its
second straight 3A state title. After striking out 22 and getting the win in
each of the first two state-tourney games, Deiter came on to save the title
game by striking out the final Riverton batter in a 3-2 win.
It was going to take special senior moments to top those junior
achievements. And yet, each delivered in a major way, earning the No. 9 spot on
The Topeka Capital-Journal’s sports stories of 2015 with their performances as
both not only led their teams to state titles once again, but did so with a
dominance rarely seen in state history.
“You can’t measure the heart he has,” Rossville coach Derick
Hammes said of Horak. “I’ve run across very few that have the competitive will
he has.”
After losing many of the weapons that surrounded him during
Rossville’s 2014 title run, Horak figured to shoulder more of the offensive
load in 2015, if that was possible.
Turns out, it was and he carried it so well he turned in a season
never achieved in state history. As Rossville marched back toward a shot at
defending its 3A title, Horak piled up numbers that made his junior stats
almost look pedestrian.
Three times he topped 300 rushing yards in a game, including 394
and seven touchdowns in a 56-35 win over War on 24 rival Silver Lake.
Earlier in the season, he set a state record for yards per carry
in a game while torching Rock Creek for 353 yards and five touchdowns on just
13 carries (27.2 yards per carry) and for the season he averaged 14.4 yards
while racking up an eye-popping 2,859 yards and 47 touchdowns.
Completing 76.7 percent of his passes, he finished with 2,070
yards and 30 touchdowns through the air, becoming the first player in state
history to top 2,000 yards rushing and passing in the same season.
But the stats simply wouldn’t have meant as much to Horak if he
didn’t finish with another state title, and trailing Wichita Collegiate 19-7
entering the fourth-quarter of a title game played in a freezing rain and on an
ice-covered field, the prospects looked bleak.
But Horak scored two touchdowns in less than a minute with his
65-yard fumble return for a score providing the game-winner in a 20-19 victory
to cap a second straight 14-0 season.
“Nothing Tucker does surprises me anymore,” Hammes said. “I’ve
never coached anybody that had the ability like he could to make a play for his
team. He was something special.”
Deiter, meanwhile, enjoyed a solid regular season, but once the
Eagles got to Manhattan for the state tournament elevated her game to a
completely different level.
With the state tourney pushed back to a Sunday start by inclement
weather, Deiter left Silver Lake’s first two foes simply praying they could get
to her.
She opened with a no-hitter against Haven in a 4-0 win, striking
out 16, then followed with a one-hitter in a 2-0 semifinal win over Humboldt,
striking out 13.
In the two games, she allowed four base-runners and the
performance prompted Deiter to say: “I was on today. Competition definitely
pushes me to hit my spots better and make sure everything’s moving and I don’t
make a mistake.”
As mistake-free as the first two state games were, Deiter saved
her best for the finals. Facing an undefeated Hillsboro team, Deiter was
untouchable, striking out 19 of the 21 batters she faced in a 5-0 no-hitter
that delivered Silver Lake’s third straight 3A crown and 12th championship
overall.
The only two balls Hillsboro put in play were a groundout back to
Deiter and a groundout to second base. In the three state-tourney games, Deiter
struck out 48 and allowed just seven base-runners.
“Was that girl awesome or what?” Silver Lake coach Mark Workman
said. “Wow!”
The performance capped a huge school year for Silver Lake’s girls’
programs. The volleyball team won its second straight 3A state title behind
two-time 3A player of the year Alyssa Schultejans, who signed with Kansas
State.
The basketball team followed with a third-place finish at the
Class 3A state tournament in the winter.
And while the softball team was bringing home
its state title, the Eagle track team made it a spring sweep by taking the 3A
team title as Alex Ferguson won the 400 and 800, Taylor White won the triple
jump and the 400 relay also won.
