On to the next one: How Topeka multi-sport athletes find success through short transitions

TOPEKA — Succeeding in high school athletics is difficult. Long hours of practice are needed to perfect the craft. Many athletes dedicate their young lives to a single sport, a reality becoming increasingly common.

In the Topeka area, some high schoolers are turning away from that notion and finding success across different sports for their schools.

Silver Lake is a great example of multi-sport athletes dominating the competition. Eight players from Silver Lake’s state championship-winning girls basketball team are now featured on the softball team.

Three players on the softball team were also on Silver Lake’s state championship golf team last fall. Taylor Zordel and Kailyn Hanni were a part of both golf and basketball. This success from the past is only bleeding into softball.

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“They work their butts, they practice and they sacrifice,” Silver Lake softball head coach Nick Hamilton said. “There are a lot of kids right now that don’t understand it. It takes that sacrifice and your time to be good at what you do.”

Silver Lake’s championship pedigree has showcased the team’s desire to win even more this spring. They are not satisfied with their past achievements and they want more. So, they jumped out to a 13-1 start with wins over much bigger schools, such as Olathe Northwest, Shawnee Mission North and Gardner Edgerton.

“A lot of them play two or three sports at a high level,” Hamilton said. “They are competitors and I appreciate it.”

Transitioning from one sport to another can be quite challenging.

Washburn Rural’s Kate Hinck is in the middle of her soccer season after she starred with the volleyball and basketball teams. She was a key component as both programs reached the final four in the state tournament. Hinck was on the court with the Junior Blues as they came so close to winning a state basketball title on March 9.

Then 10 days later, the soccer team was preparing for its first contest of the season. The physical condition is vastly different from basketball to soccer and complicates the transition.

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“It’s pretty difficult. I have to work hard just to get back into it,” Hinck said. “Since we went so far in basketball, I had just one practice before the first game. That was definitely difficult because I hadn’t touched a soccer ball for a while.”

Communication and understanding limits are vastly important when transitioning from sport to sport, according to Washburn Rural soccer coach Brian Hensyel.

“That open line of communication and talking to me and saying, ‘I am exhausted, I am tired,’” Hensyel said. “There will be times in the season where maybe we don’t have to have them play as many minutes in certain games because of the wear and tear.”

Just like in Silver Lake, winning the right way through hard work and unselfishness is key to Hinck and Washburn Rural soccer. Hinck’s been on the score sheet often for the Junior Blues, who have won seven of their first nine games.

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The long-time head coach of Washburn Rural has seen multi-sport athletes become fixtures in his lineup. He said the toughest part about this situation is not having a proper preseason. Set pieces and conditioning are focal points of this period.

“When you have a great athlete that excels in a lot of different things,” Hensyel said. “You figure out a way to help them mesh back in. The biggest thing is that they want to be around their friends and keep competing for Washburn Rural.”

Coaches and fans would allow these multi-sport athletes some grace in the first few weeks of the spring season. But these standout athletes know they must work to achieve their goals and dreams. It may look easy on the diamond or on the field, but players like Hinck, Zordel and Hanni often rely on each other when things get difficult.

“It’s a lot of mental,” Hinck said. “If you are down, you have got to figure out a way to get back up. A lot of my teammates help me do it. I have learned that I can’t let my team down.”

Liam Keating covers high school sports for The Topeka Capital-Journal. Send stats or information to him at Lkeating@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: How Topeka multi-sport athletes fare with a short spring preseason