2018 K-State Athletics Varsity K Club Magazine by K-State Athletics

SUMMER 2018

VARSITY K CLUB MEMBERS, It has been an honor directing the Varsity K Club for the past year and witnessing first-hand the excitement former student-athletes have for K-State. As a former K-State student-athlete myself, I understand and feel the same pride in seeing K-State Athletics excel on the national stage year in and year out. We are coming up on 4 years since the Varsity K Club re-launch in 2015. With more than 1,300 members representing 44 states, the response and participation from our former student-athletes has been phenomenal. Every year, our numbers grow, and it is because of your commitment and your love for the K-State Family. The Varsity K Club was created to be a platform for our alumni to reconnect with teammates, coaches and K-State Athletics. We have been successful in this endeavor but as former student-athletes we can take the Varsity K Club to the next level. This year I would like to challenge you all to participate as much possible and tell as many former teammates about the Varsity K Club. There are more opportunities than ever to participate now with our sport reunions, Varsity K Club reunions and the new TopGolf KC Social. Participation doesn’t stop there. As we were coached to give 110%, I am calling all of you to go the extra mile to participate in cheering on the ‘Cats as season ticket holders, support scholarships and student-athlete resources as Ahearn Fund members, and to find ways to mentor our current student-athletes so that we can continue to provide an even better experience to these current student-athletes than we had ourselves. Once again, I’d like to thank you for your commitment to K-State Athletics and for being a vital reason why K-State is in the position it is in to continue providing its student-athletes with the best education, facilities and resources possible. I am looking forward to seeing you back in Manhattan for our 4th Annual Varsity K Club Weekend starting on October 12! Go ‘Cats! Will Cooper

Mission

Membership Criteria

The Varsity K Club will utilize the support network of former studentathletes to enhance the experience of current student-athletes academically, athletically and socially while attending K-State. As an integral part of the K-State family, the Varsity K Club will work to uphold and enrich the great tradition of K-State Athletics.

To be a member of the Varsity K Club, you must meet one of the following criteria: • Lettered in your respective sport • Appeared on an active roster while attending K-State • Left your respective sports program in good standing

The mission of the Varsity K Club is to foster a continued lifelong relationship with K-State Athletics for all former student-athletes.

The Varsity K Club is a unique alumni organization and is available exclusively to former student-athletes who attended Kansas State University.

Member Benefits

There are NO ANNUAL DUES associated with the Varsity K Club. All active members of the Varsity K Club will receive: • Regular e-mail updates from K-State Athletics • Varsity K Club membership card • Invitations to exclusive Varsity K Club events and reunions • Varsity K Club lapel pin (first year only) • Varsity K Club car decal • K-State Athletics annual report

ANNUAL VARSITY K CLUB WEEKEND As a member of the Varsity K Club, you are invited back to Manhattan to join your teammates and other former K-State student-athletes for a special weekend surrounding a home football game. This is a great opportunity to reconnect with teammates, friends and the K-State family, while enjoying various activities throughout the weekend. The 2018 Varsity K Club Weekend will take place October 12 through 14, in conjunction with our Big 12 Conference football game against Oklahoma State. Full details will be announced at a later date. Please share this information with your teammates!

HOTEL ACCOMMODATIONS Please reference the Varsity K Club Room Block BLUEMONT HOTEL $259 • 785.473.7091 PARKWOOD INN $179.95 • 785.320.5440 FAIRFIELD INN $160 • 785.539.2400 All rooms have a minimum 2 night stay except the Bluemont Hotel. The room block will end August 28. For questions, please contact Will Cooper at 785.532.7933 or wcooper@kstatesports.com.

PERFORMANCE TABLE

AVAILABLE EXCLUSIVELY FOR VARSITY K CLUB MEMBERS FOR 5 HOME GAMES! K-State Athletics is proud to offer members of the Varsity K Club a premium seating location for five home football games this year. This exclusive indoor space, located within the West Stadium Center, overlooks the field in the northwest corner of Bill Snyder Family Stadium. You must be a K Club member to order. To order your tickets, please call the K-State Athletics Ticket Office at 1-800-221-2287.

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SEPT. 1 South Dakota $50 EACH

SEPT. 8 Mississippi State $100 EACH

NOV. 10 Kansas $100 EACH

OCT. 13 Oklahoma State $100 EACH VARSITY K CLUB WEEKEND

NOV. 17 Texas Tech $75 EACH

TOPGOLF KC EVENT

TOPGOLF KC

This event will be an annual event on the Tuesday prior to the Big 12 Men’s Basketball Tournament at Top golf KC. This past year brought former student-athletes from all sports together to reconnect with old teammates, reminisce on their times at K-State and to get ready to cheer on the Cats in the Big 12 Men’s Basketball Tournament. We had about 65 former studentathletes and guests, and were joined by the Ahearn Fund staff and Athletics Director Gene Taylor. FB GOLDEN CAT REUNION

MBB REUNION

5-YEAR SPORT REUNIONS Starting in 2009, in an effort to re-engage with our student athlete alumni, the athletic department started a five-year revolving sport reunion. During these reunions, alumni from their respective sport are invited back to Manhattan for a special weekend with teammates, family, coaches and student-athletes.

2018

Tennis: September 14-15 Rowing: November 16-17

2019

Football Men’s & Women’s Golf

2020

Volleyball Women’s Basketball

2021

Men’s Basketball

WBB 50TH SEASON CELEBRATION 68 MBB 5-YEAR REUNION 50

TOTAL 493

FOOTBALL GOLDEN CAT REUNION 115

2017 REUNION ATTENDANCE

VARSITY K CLUB WEEKEND 200

TOP GOLF EVENT 60

WBB 50TH CELEBRATION

K CLUB MAGAZINE

EVAN MARSHALL CLEVELAND INDIANS

NICK MARTINI OAKLAND ATHLETICS

ATLANTA FALCONS

OAKLAND RAIDERS

JORDY NELSON OAKLAND RAIDERS

DREW SCOTT OAKLAND RAIDERS

PHONE: 888.232.9074

LOS ANGELES LAKERS

WESLEY IWUNDU ORLANDO MAGIC

IN THE PROS

DEANTE BURTON

EMMANUEL LAMUR

MICHAEL BEASLEY

ELIJAH LEE SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS

TYLER LOCKETT SEATTLE SEAHAWKS

TERENCE NEWMAN

DARREN SPROLES PHILADELPHIA EAGLES

B.J. FINNEY

CORNELIUS LUCAS LOS ANGELES RAMS

KANSAS CITY CHIEFS

CODY WHITEHAIR CHICAGO BEARS

MIAMI HEAT

PITTSBURGH STEELERS

BYRON PRINGLE

MINNESOTA VIKINGS

RODNEY MCGRUDER

JORDAN WILLIS CINCINNATI BENGALS

MATTHEW MCCRANE ARIZONA CARDINALS

D.J. REED

SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS

ROBERT STREB PGA TOUR

SPORTSEXTRA

TWO-TONE LAVENDER JERSEYS RICH IN HISTORY, SUCCESS BY CORBIN MCGUIRE

ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL PERIODS IN K-STATE MEN’S BASKETBALL HISTORY included one of the most uniquely ahead-of-itstime uniform combinations in the sport’s history: Lavender tops and dark purple shorts. From 1973-82, these were K-State’s permanent road uniforms. More than that, they were K-State’s signature look. The Wildcats wearing them embraced it, opposing fans and players jeered at it, and Sports Illustrated immortalized it with its March 23, 1981 cover photo of Rolando Blackman’s game-winning shot against No. 1 seed Oregon State in the NCAA Tournament. “They were magical,” Wildcat alum Chuckie Williams (197276) said of the two-tone uniforms, a look K-State brought back last season for two games, both of which K-State won. “They were different because back then (uniforms were) the standard school colors, basically, all across the country. They were different, that’s for sure, and they did grab attention. I thought they were great. We loved them.” “Some people made fun of us,” added Danny Beard (197174), “but it was different.” While 40-plus years can cloud memories, most of the Wildcats on the 197374 season could agree on where the idea for the two-tone uniforms came from: Jack Hartman. The legendary K-State head coach got together with his longtime friend Jim Knight, who ran Knight’s Sporting Goods, the team’s primary apparel vendor out of Salina, to come up with the uniforms. K CLUB MAGAZINE

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“Coach Hartman and Jim Knight had conversations, threw it out there, and they were really pretty farreaching during those times, in terms of being different,” said Lon Kruger, Oklahoma’s head coach who played at K-State from 1971-74. “Everyone thought of Coach Hartman as being very straight-arrowed, straight forward and not going to deviate very much, but Coach Hartman was proud of them. They were greatly received by K-State fans, greatly booed on the road, which made him proud. Players, we were proud to wear them. It was different and a little bit unusual. Today, people will wear uniforms of any color, but back then it was a little bit different.” Larry Williams, who played at K-State from 1971-74, had his own theory as to why Hartman came up with such an unusual look. “Coach Hartman was a football guy, so he kind of coached like a football guy. He was tough. I always thought he wanted, since that was our traveling uniform, to make us tough and he wanted to see how we’d play wearing lavender,” Williams said, laughing. “And back then, lavender and pink weren’t as vogue as they are now. That’s what I always guessed because I couldn’t figure out why else he would do that.” The lavender-purple combination was worn by some of the most successful K-State teams in program history, which helped quiet opposing crowds and players along the way. From 1973-82, K-State went 186-81 (.697) and reached the postseason six times that included five NCAA Tournament berths. K-State also won the 1977 Big Eight regular season title, as well as the 1977 and 1980 Big Eight Tournament championships during this stretch. For more exclusive stories, sign up for K-State Sports Extra: kstatesports.com/subscribe

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“If you’re going to wear that uniform, you have to back up wearing that uniform. You have to let people know that the uniforms represent who we are,” said Mike Evans, who played at K-State from 1974-78. “We were

proud to wear those uniforms. We preferred to use those uniforms. We would’ve liked to wear those uniforms at home. We loved it.” On the road, K-State heard just about everything from fans.

kind of uniforms are those? Where are these people from?’ They really didn’t give us a lot of concern back then. We quieted them up really, really fast,” added Evans, who combined with Williams to score 33 points in K-State’s 69-62 win over Pennsylvania. “The lavender and purple left a lasting impression on them.”

“(Opposing fans) were always talking about the soft colors, just taunting that more than anything else, the fact they weren’t very manly perhaps,” Kruger said. “We knew we were going to get jeered at a bit but that’s part of being on the road. Players were very excited about it.”

A year after losing seniors in Larry Williams, Gene McVey, Kruger and Beard, K-State went on to beat Boston College in the Sweet 16 in Providence, Rhode Island, before falling in overtime to Syracuse in the Elite Eight.

Added Larry Williams: “When we wore those uniforms into Allen Fieldhouse, you can only imagine what they came up with. It was a lot. We’ve always been rivals, but back then we got the best of Kansas. I only lost to them once, so they hated us even more.”

“Those uniforms were a magical part of that year because they expected very little from this new group. We were young, real young,” Chuckie Williams said. “It was magical. We were an overtime away from going to the Final Four.”

“THOSE COLORS HELPED PUT KANSAS STATE ON THE MAP.” The second season with the uniforms, when Chuckie Williams and Evans first earned the “Purple Pop Guns” nickname, K-State took the unique look to the East Coast to play in the NCAA East Regional. The opponent was Pennsylvania, led by Hall of Fame head coach Chuck Daly. The venue was the Palestra, often referred to as the Cathedral of College Basketball. “No one expected us to win,” Williams said. “There wasn’t one person on the planet that expected us to beat Penn.” “They were just shocked. You could hear them whispering, ‘Look at the colors on those uniforms. What

“That was quite a feat for us back then,” Evans added. “That is the memory that sticks the most with me because no one knew who we were back east, and they were shocked. We left a resounding understanding of what Big Eight basketball was back then on the East Coast. People that I know that have lived on the East Coast all their lives, they still remember that.” When K-State brought back the two-tone jerseys last season, a tribute to Hartman and the success his teams had, the players who first wore them could not help but feel nostalgic about it all. “That is Kansas State. That’s the signature uniform for the university, I think, for university basketball. Those colors helped put Kansas State on the map,” Evans said. “And we were not afraid to wear them. When you played us, win or lose, we left a lasting impression on the basketball court because you were in for a battle because that’s what Jack Hartman demanded, that you give your best at all times and that you do it the right way. You were going to be in for a battle no matter where we went or who we played.” 8

SPORTSEXTRA

50 YEARS LATER, FIRST K-STATE WBB TEAM REFLECTS ON PROGRAM’S START AND PROGRESS SINCE BY CORBIN MCGUIRE

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AS FLAMES ENGULFED NICHOLS HALL ON DECEMBER 13, 1968, AN INFAMOUS DAY IN K-STATE HISTORY, very little of the building’s contents inside survived. Women’s basketball, housed in Nichols Hall (Nichols Gym, at the time), persevered, however. Through nothing more a love for the game and each other, the 196869 K-State women’s team — the university’s first intercollegiate squad, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in last season’s win against Kansas at Bramlage Coliseum — helped pave a path toward greater gender equity in athletics. “We started a path and it’s gotten wider and better the whole way through,” said Janet (Whitehill) McCauley, who remembers climbing a ladder into a window of Nichols Hall during the fire to save whatever she could. “We were just beginning the fight. The teams that came after us really helped mold what K-State’s women’s program became. They had to do a lot of fighting.”

After the fire, the first K-State team had close to nothing. Along with the gym they played on, the Wildcats — called the Wildkittens, at the time — also lost what little equipment they had. “We loved the game. We loved each other. We had fun. We didn’t know how far behind the eight ball we were when we started, did we?” McCauley said, as her former teammate, Ginny (Roglin) Honomichl, walked up. “There was no eight ball,” Honomichl replied. “We survived,” Mary (McManis) Stamey added in. “When you’re uprooted, you didn’t have any playing space and you’re dependent on others to get your chance to pick up that ball again to shoot hoops… it was a sport you love and still love.” Thanks to some generosity from the K-State men’s basketball coach, Cotton Fitzsimmons, Mary (McManis) Stamey said the first women’s team was able to practice at Ahearn Field

House and received some equipment to use. Still, things were far from equal between the two squads. The women had no locker room, so they showed up to practice, usually at 6 a.m., ready to play. They carpooled to games, including a road trip to Amarillo, Texas, for the program’s first postseason appearance, the NWIT. Scholarships were non-existent, and would be until LeAnn Wilcox earned one in 1976, four years after Title IX became law. Most of the women on the team originally found out about it through intramural advertisements in The Collegian. “We had to dig for everything that we had, and we had three dollars a day to eat on,” Jane Schroeder said. “It was brutal, so you were playing with kids who really liked to play basketball. Everybody would have done anything to play. I think that’s what makes it such a special bond.” “That’s how much we wanted to do

what we were doing,” Honomichl added. “We didn’t have to have the best. We just had to have each other.” At the time, Stamey said they had no idea what they were doing was groundbreaking. She and her other teammates credit their naivety to their coach, Judy Akers, a central figure in the fight for gender equity in athletics. “She shielded us from all of that,” Honomichl said of Akers, who coached from 1968-79 and finished with a 206-94 record, including two Big Eight titles. “It didn’t bother us,” McCauley stated. “We didn’t know any different.” Added Stamey: “Judy Akers needs to be recognized for all the groundwork she did to get it established. It was hard, really hard, and she was out there stomping by herself while she was coaching. She just had a passion to get this team going.” Among her many fights, Akers advocated for women to play five-onfive like the men, a change from the six-on-six version that was essentially a pair of three-on-three games on each end of the court. “I think she probably stuck her neck out more than anybody did because

she believed in women’s athletics,” Schroeder said. “She truly believed in what sports could do for a person, and that could be men or women. She really believed that, fought for it and instilled that in all her players.” The majority of those players went on to either start or coach women’s sports programs, carrying on their coach’s impact. Honomichl started the girls track and field and basketball programs at Russell High School, along with creating the softball team at Baldwin High School. Schroeder became an assistant at K-State and served as the head coach at Illinois for five seasons. “Everything we got, which wasn’t much, we really appreciated, and I think everybody felt the same way,” Schroeder said. “There was a lot of people in that group that coached, and I think they really tried to pass that on to their players, that we’ve come a long ways but don’t ever take anything for granted.” For what it’s worth, the first team finished its season 11-3 that included a rivalry-opening, two-game sweep over Kansas. Five decades later, most of the players from the first team watched K-State’s current team complete another season sweep of the Jayhawks for the program’s

ninth-straight win in the Sunflower Showdown in front of more than 6,000 fans. The first team members back were even honored before the game, when they participated in a warm-up exchange with the current Wildcats. They were among more than 65 alumni who returned for the weekend. “It’s awesome to see people you lived with and played games with. We had a good time and just wanted to play,” Stamey said. “It was, just like any other team, that fraternity of a common goal and trying to do something with the university and for the university. Nothing beats the true friendship that we have.” Between seeing the obvious increase in support, internally and externally, the vast improvement in equity for women’s athletics and, of course, each other, the weekend was another unforgettable one for the Wildcat team that got the ball rolling. “Who knew what we were doing 50-plus years ago would culminate in this?” Honomichl said. “It’s just unbelievable. I don’t know what to say. I’m proud. I’m very proud to be part of this. I’m proud that our pioneering efforts made a difference.”

1968-69 ROSTER VIRGINIA ‘GINNY’ ROGLIN JANE AKERS JANE SCHROEDER

BETTY RYAN PATRICIA DRAKE MARY MCMANIS

SUSAN STROM WANDA TILFORD JANET WHITEHILL

KAREN SIGEL GUNILE MYERS SHEILA BROWN

HEAD COACH: JUDY AKERS

SPORTSEXTRA

FORMER K-STATE LB, SEVENYEAR NFL VETERAN REGGIE WALKER USES SECOND WIND PROGRAM TO FINISH DEGREE BY CORBIN MCGUIRE

Every time Reggie Walker — the linebacker who played football at K-State from 2005-08, not the defensive end currently on the team — visited Manhattan during his downtime in the NFL, head coach Bill Snyder started their conversation with three words. “Just finish it.” Snyder was referring to Walker’s bachelor’s degree. The message, reinforced by Walker’s parents who both served in the military, sunk in. Last May, Walker returned to Manhattan in cap and gown to walk across the stage in Bramlage Coliseum as the first college graduate in his family. “It was amazing,” Walker said of the graduation day experience. “I had really considered not going back and walking. I didn’t really think it was that big of a deal, but actually going through the whole process and then going through that ceremony, it really made it hit and made me realize, ‘I put a lot of work into this. This is a big thing.’ I was so glad that I went back and walked.” Walker is even happier he listened to Snyder and his parents’ advice. While he played only one season under K-State’s Hall of Fame head coach, Walker appreciates the passion Snyder maintained for his education. “Even though I was only under Coach for one year, he’s still been there. It really does mean a lot, just knowing that you have somebody that’s in your corner, that really is here to help you succeed in life and wants to see you succeed,” Walker said. “The older you get, you realize the people who really, actually, genuinely want to see you succeed are few and far between. So having somebody like that shows how exceptional of a person he is.”

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“IT’S ONE OF MY FAVORITE PLACES ON EARTH.” At one point, Walker, a graduate in social science, never intended on completing his degree. School, then, was a necessity to do what he wanted with his life, which was to play football. When Walker started going back after his degree in 2015, shortly after being cut by the Denver Broncos in training camp, he said he realized something. “I do need this,” he said of his degree, which he needed 28 credit hours to finish when he started again. “I was just a different guy back then.” Back then Walker was a standout linebacker for the Wildcats. He tallied 163 tackles, 15.5 for loss while defending six passes and forcing three fumbles, helping open the door to a seven-year NFL career spent between two years with the Arizona Cardinals and five with the San Diego Chargers. Now, Walker wishes he had entered the NFL with a degree in hand. His advice to current Wildcats who may be in the same mindset he was while at K-State would be twofold. “My biggest thing would be to really know why you’re playing football in the first place because football really is just a tool to help get you to where you really want to be. School, it’s a great tool as well. If you play your cards right in that area, you could sit there and put yourself in the same position you want to be without breaking your back to do it,” he said. “Just make sure that you finish while you’re there because going back and finishing is twice as hard. But know what you want to do because that will help you deal with the daily grind of going to school because at least you know why you’re doing it.”

Life likely won’t slow down any time soon for Walker, either. Walked said he plans to release a book he wrote during the last few years that he hopes can serve “as a manual for people who are going into college athletics.” He also developed a mentorship program for a similar purpose and hopes to launch it soon. Ultimately, he wants to return to school again for his master’s degree in counseling, another step toward his dream of guiding those who are in a place in life he knows well. “I figure if I go back, get my counseling credentials, then I could really go out there and provide my services to a lot of people who need it,” he said. “Going through the process, you just really see so many people fail for so many different reasons and I kind of want to provide myself and my knowledge to help people get through the process successful during it and afterwards.” To top it off, he and his family moved to Kansas City to be closer to friends and family. Being closer to Manhattan is an added bonus. “I love that place,” the K-State alum said. “It’s one of my favorite places on Earth.”

The process was frustrating at times, Walker said, especially while trying to raise two daughters with his wife, Chelsea, in Denver. However, he said he is extremely thankful for K-State’s Second Wind program, which let him to finish his degree at his own pace through all online courses. He is the latest of a large group of former K-State student-athletes to take advantage of the program since its inception in the early 1990s. “That was humongous,” he said. “I would like to thank all of those people who still support that program.”

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K CLUB MAGAZINE

#CatsWhoCare 2017-18 COMMUNITY SERVICE HURRICANE HARVEY

With the help of 90 student-athletes and 20 staff, 46,000 pounds of items were collected for relief efforts in rural areas surrounding Houston.

CATS FOR CANS

3,126 pounds of food and $11,802 raised by over 110 student-athletes. These donations to the Flint Hills Breadbasket served 2,300 individuals.

CATS IN THE CLASSROOM

129 student-athletes visited 8 local schools to read, interact, and play with elementary children. This partnership fosters the importance of education and community.

CATS ACROSS CONTINENTS

15 student-athletes and 5 staff partnered with Courts for Kids on a 10 day service trip to the Dominican Republic to build a multi-purpose sports court for the community.

WEEK OF GRATITUDE

1,581 thank you cards written to donors, local Ft. Riley soldiers, and staff on campus.

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ADOPT A FAMILY

Student-athletes and coaches from each team donated over $1,700 of their own money to buy Christmas presents for two local families.

NATIONAL GIRLS & WOMEN IN SPORTS DAY

72 female student-athletes and staff hosted a sports clinic for over 300 local children to celebrate girls and women in sports.

TIP OFF FOR T.P.

$1,565.70 raised in addition to cleaning supply donations for the Manhattan Emergency Shelter.

SOLES FOR SOULS

Student-athletes donated 428 pairs of their own shoes to Soles for Souls who distributes used shoes to 127 countries and all 50 states.

SPECIAL OLYMPICS

Over 100 student-athletes volunteered to help 100 Special Olympians rotate from station to station trying out each sport.

HYGIENE HIJACK

An ongoing collection of toiletries to donate to local shelters.

@KSTATESAAC

K CLUB MAGAZINE

BASEBALL

• Drew Mount was selected by the Cincinnati Reds in the 16th round (469th overall). • Will Brennan was named to the All-Big 12 First Team while Drew Mount earned All-Big 12 Honorable Mention. • Head coach Brad Hill, the program’s all-time winningest coach and two-time Big 12 Coach of the Year, stepped down after 15 seasons. • Nine placed on the 2018 Academic All-Big 12 teams. • Jake Biller was selected to the 2018 Google Cloud Academic All-District Baseball First Team and earned the Dr. Gerald Lage Academic Achievement Award from the Big 12, the conference’s highest academic award. • Pete Hughes was named the 21st head baseball coach in program history.

@KSTATEBSB

MEN’S BASKETBALL

• Defeated Kentucky, 61-58 to advance to the Elite Eight for the 12th time and first time since 2010. • The Wildcats finished the season 25-12 for the program’s sixth 25-win season in school history and 29th time with at least 20 wins. • Dean Wade became just the fourth Wildcat to be named to the All-Big 12 First Team, while Barry Brown, Jr., was selected to the Second Team and All-Defensive Team. • Barry Brown and sophomore Xavier Sneed were named to NCAA South Regional All-Tournament Team. • Four Wildcats were named to the Academic All-Big 12 Team. • K-State has defeated at least one Top 25 opponent in a school-record 12 consecutive seasons, including a schoolbest eight straight seasons with a victory over a Top 10 opponent.

@KSTATEMBB

KSTATESPORTS.COM/VARSITYKCLUB

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

• Round of 16 appearance in the Postseason WNIT. • Shaelyn Martin was named the 2018 Big 12 Women’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year in addition to being named a CoSIDA Academic All-American. Rounding out her academic accolades was a selection to the CoSIDA All-District VII First Team and a 2018 Big 12 Dr. Gerald Lage Academic Achievement Award, the Big 12’s highest academic honor. • Kayla Goth was named to the All-Big 12 Second Team, Peyton Williams an All-Big 12 Honorable Mention selection and Rachel Ranke was chosen for the Big 12 All-Freshman Team.

@KSTATEWBB

CROSS COUNTRY

• Men’s team finished 10th overall while the women placed 19th at the NCAA Midwest Regional. • History was made at the Big 12 Championships, as the men’s team earned a program-best fourth place finish. • Every Wildcat on the women’s team earned personal bests, finishing ninth as a team at the Big 12 Championships. • Placed 14 Individuals on Big 12 All-Academic Teams. • The men’s cross country team earned a 12th place ranking in the USTFCCCA Midwest Regional Rankings during the season, the highest the team has been ranked in the region in program history.

@KSTATETFXC

K CLUB MAGAZINE

FOOTBALL

• Advanced to eighth-straight bowl game, winning the 2017 Cactus Bowl. The victory over UCLA marked the program’s second consecutive bowl win. • D.J. Reed was selected in the fifth round of the 2018 NFL Draft by the San Francisco 49ers, extending K-State’s Big 12-leading draft streak to 25 years. • Ended the season with an 8-5 record, marking the sixth time in the last seven years that the Wildcats have tallied at least eight wins. • Dalton Risner was chosen as the 2017-18 Big 12 Male Sportsperson of the Year. • Led by Academic All-American Adam Holtorf, K-State had 28 Academic All-Big 12 selections leading the Big 12 for the fourth-consecutive year.

@KSTATEFB

MEN’S GOLF

• Jeremy Gandon claimed the Big 12 Individual CoChampionship and was the Wildcats’ first individual medalist honor in 67 years. • An All-Big 12 selection, Gandon, earned an individual bid to the 2018 NCAA Men’s Golf Regionals where he finished even-par for the tournament and tied for 30th. • For a second-consecutive year, the Kansas State men’s golf team had a program-record six Wildcats named to the 2018 Academic All-Big 12 team.

@KSTATEMGOLF

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WOMEN’S GOLF

• All-Big 12 selection Connie Jaffrey was one of 24 players nationally to earn an individual bid into the 2018 NCAA Women’s Golf Regionals. • Connie Jaffrey picked up 2017-18 Academic All-Big 12 honors. • Darby Deans was honored for her work in the classroom as she was named an All-American Scholar, by the Women’s Golf Coaches Association. • Reid Isaac qualified for the 2018 US Women’s Amateur Championship.

@KSTATEWGOLF

ROWING

• Earned victories in four events to defeat Kansas 13-9 at the Dillons Sunflower Showdown. • 28 Wildcats were selected to the Big 12 All-Academic Team. • Kennedy Felice and Mattie Warner were named to the Big 12 First Team and earned Division I All-Conference honors from the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association. • K-State crews proved what a homegrown team can do, bringing home a bronze medal and several top performances at the Big 12 Championship.

@KSTATEROW

K CLUB MAGAZINE

SOCCER

• Placed a program-high 10 student-athletes on the Academic All-Big 12 Teams. • Hannah Davis became the first player in program history to earn a postseason accolade from the Big 12 Conference, as she was named to the league’s All-Freshman Team. • For the first time in the history of the state of Kansas, the state’s Big 12 members of Kansas State and Kansas met in the Sunflower Showdown in women’s soccer. The first result went in favor of K-State, 1-0, as Hannah Davis provided the tally and senior goalkeeper Miranda Larkin pocketed the shutout.

@KSTATESOC

TENNIS

• Maria Linares was named Big 12 Freshman of the Year and ITA Central Region Rookie of the Year, while Margot Decker and Carolina Costamagna, were selected to the All-Big 12 teams. • Coach Danielle Steinberg was named ITA Central Region Coach of the Year. • For the first time since 2003, and just fourth time in program history, the Wildcats earned a bid to the NCAA Women’s Tennis Championship. • K-State came back from 3-1 to beat Kentucky, 4-3, to advance to the Second Round of the NCAA Women’s Tennis Championship. • Jordan Smith was named the seventh head tennis coach in program history. He replaces Danielle Steinberg, who was introduced as the head coach of Colorado.

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KSTATETENNIS

TRACK & FIELD

• Women’s track and field team won their second consecutive Big 12 Championship, scoring a programbest 135 points, while the men’s team finished tied for third earning their best team finish at the Big 12 Championship since 1997 and most points scored at the Big 12 Championship in program history. • Freshman Tejaswin Shankar won the NCAA Outdoor High Jump title. Shankar’s high jump championship marks the fifth time in the past 10 years a Wildcat has won the title in the event. • Brett Neelly was named Co-Big 12 Men’s Track and Field Scholar Athlete of the Year. • Cliff Rovelto was named the Big 12 Women’s Coach of the Year. • Big 12 Individual titles: Janee’ Kassanavoid (outdoor hammer throw), Ranae McKenzie (outdoor 400-meter hurdles), Mitch Dixon (indoor weight throw) and Nina Schultz (indoor high jump) • The Wildcats placed 35 Individuals on Academic All-Big 12 Teams.

@KSTATETFXC

VOLLEYBALL

• Bryna Vogel and redshirt freshman middle blocker Peyton Williams were each named All-Big 12 selections. • Nine members of the K-State volleyball team, including seven first-team selections, were named to the Academic All-Big 12 Teams. • Kylee Zumach recorded her 1,000th-career kill. Just the fifth player in K-State history to play her entire career in the rally-scoring era (since 2001) and reach 1,000 kills. • For the eighth straight year, Kansas State volleyball was recognized with the Team Academic Award from the American Volleyball Coaches Association.

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I know a spot that I love full well, 'Tis not in forest nor yet in dell Ever it holds me with magic spell, I think of thee, Alma Mater. K-S-U we'll carry the banner high. K-S-U, long, long may thy colors fly. Loyal to thee, thy children will swell the cry. Hail, hail, hail. Alma Mater I know a spot that I love full well, 'Tis not in forest nor yet in dell Ever it holds me with magic spell, I think of thee, Alma Mater. K-S-U we'll carry the banner high. K-S-U, long, long may thy colors fly. Loyal to thee, thy children will swell the cry. Hail, hail, hail. Alma Mater I know a spot that I love full well, 'Tis not in forest nor yet in dell Ever it holds me with magic spell, I think of thee, Alma Mater. K-S-U we'll carry the banner high. K-S-U, long, long may thy colors fly. Loyal to thee, thy children will swell the cry. Hail, hail, hail. Alma Mater I know a spot that I love full well, 'Tis not in forest nor yet in dell Ever it holds me with magic spell, I think of thee, Alma Mater. K-S-U we'll carry the banner high. K-S-U, long, long may thy colors fly. Loyal to thee, thy children will swell the cry. Hail, hail, hail. Alma Mater I know a spot that I love full well, 'Tis not in forest nor yet in dell Ever it holds me with magic spell, I think of thee, Alma Mater. K-S-U we'll carry the banner high. K-S-U, long, long may thy colors fly. Loyal to thee, thy children will swell the cry. Hail, hail, hail. Alma Mater I know a spot that I love full well, 'Tis not in forest nor yet in dell Ever it holds me with magic spell, I think of thee, Alma Mater. K-S-U we'll carry the banner high. K-S-U, long, long may thy colors fly. Loyal to thee, thy children will swell the cry. Hail, hail, hail. Alma Mater