Kansas State women rolling at Big 12 Track Championships on Graduation Day

We’re horribly late today due to unforeseen difficulties. But that’s okay, as it allows us to cover some of today’s events today rather than tomorrow.

But first, congratulations to all of the K-State seniors who are now no longer seniors but graduates! Among that number are 64 Wildcat athletes, including folks who aren’t leaving just yet like Jesse Ertz, Tanner Wood, Brogan Barry, Reid Najvar, Sean Newlan, and Nick Walsh. Among other notable graduates we feel like shouting out: Kindred Wesemann, Breanna Lewis, Kelly Thomson (WBB), Carlbe Ervin, Wesley Iwundu (MBB), Brooke Sassin, Kylee Zumach (VB), Tia’ Gamble, Sonia Gaskin, Marija Stambolic, Akela Jones (T&F), friend of BotC Iva Bago, Livia Curnu (TEN), and Abbey Fiser (SOC).

Yes, that’s right. Aleka Jones IS still around, despite having given up her senior year to technically turn pro. You may note that she was last seen by most people carrying the flag for Barbados in the closing ceremonies at Rio, but she spent this year finishing her degree.

Track & Field

K-State’s women won day one of the Big 12 track championships, led by Janee Kassanavoid’s Big 12 title in the women’s hammer throw. The Wildcats ended day one with 28 points, eight ahead of second-place Oklahoma and nearly double the total of third-place Kansas.

The men checked in at fifth with 13 points, trailing first-place Texas Tech by nine.

Today, the combined events concluded with Ariel Okorie taking third place in the heptathlon, and Lauren Taubert finished sixth. K-State also had two point-scorers in the long jump, with Wurrue Njadoe finishing second and Nina Schultz fourth. Oklahoma failed to score in the long jump, so K-State took a 53-29 lead over second-place Iowa State as a result. But then Jess St. John finished fourth in the shot put, in which Oklahoma grabbed first and third to make up a ton of ground.

The end result: the K-State women are now at 53 points. They’re still 13 points ahead of Oklahoma even after OU’s big surge, and a whopping 24 ahead of third-place Texas Tech and Iowa State.

For the men, Christoff Bryan finished tied for fourth in the high jump, with Miles Bearden in seventh. That means K-State is not tied for last place; they are instead in sixth, 16.5 points adrift of Tech.

This evening will see the finals of the men’s shot put, and 3000m steeplechase; the latter event will also conclude for the women.

Baseball

K-State dropped game one against Kansas on Friday, giving up a single run in the bottom of the eighth which broke a 4-4 tie and ended up being the game-winner. Matt Galloway of the Capital-Journal and Tom Keegan of the Lawrence Journal-World also report.

Today’s game is still underway, but K-State just blew a 4-1 lead in the bottom of the seventh by giving up four runs to the Jayhawks.

Rowing

All five Wildcat boats will advance to their respective grand finals tomorrow in the Big 12 rowing championships at Melton Hill Lake in Oak Ridge, Tenn. None won their heats today, but all placed in the top 6 times. Alabama, Kansas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas also all qualified for all five finals, and those of you good at counting will realize that means all five races will involve these six schools. The only interloper: West Virginia’s 2V4 crew, who will get to compete in the 2V4 final because only seven boats were entered to begin with so they’re just expanding the final by one.

Football

You’ll recognize a couple of people asking Kellis Robinett questions during his K-State Q&A in the Star, where Sean Snyder and Wesley Iwundu’s draft position are discussed, among other things.

ESPN’s Mitch Sherman drops the Big 12 post-spring OL rankings, with K-State remaining in firm possession of second place behind the Sooners.