SLATE: Kansas State’s Shadae Lawrence wins Jamaican discus title

It’s almost becoming so commonplace that we could do this on the reg, but the great thing is that even if it were we’d still report it every single time as though it wasn’t:

A K-State track athlete has claimed a national championship.

This time, it’s junior Shadae Lawrence, who is now the reigning queen of the discus in her native Jamaica following a 61.44m sling on Friday at the Jamaica National Senior Championships in Kingston.

In other weekend action in Kingston, sophomore Jullane Walker took 11th place in both the men’s 100m semifinal Friday and the long jump on Saturday. Former Wildcat and NCAA Champion Kim Williamson was scheduled to compete in the high jump final on Saturday as well, but there’s only one competitor listed in the final results (two-time Jamaican champion and former Georgia Bulldog Saniel Atkinson-Grier). Today, Shadae’s sister Shardia will compete in the triple jump final.

The remainder of this weekend’s news is of the quick hit variety:

• Austin Wates, who played for Pete Hughes at Virginia Tech, is now a Wildcat assistant. Wates has spent the last two years as an area scout in Texas for the Seattle Mariners after the end of his six-year minor league career. He spent the last three of those years in AAA in both the Houston Astros and Miami Marlins organizations, having been drafted in the third round by Houston back in 2010. Wates will work as a hitting and baserunning coach, as well as coaching the outfielders defensively.
• After going 0-9 in his first call-up, former Wildcat Nick Martini made a big bang last night as he returned for a second stint with the Oakland Athletics. Pinch-hitting in the eighth inning, Martini got his first major-league hit, an RBI single which proved to be the game-winner as the A’s knocked off the Chicago White Sox. (Joe Stephenson, Northwest Herald)
• Former Wildcat Sheahon Zenger is now the linebackers coach at Lawrence Free State High School, which is just a tiny step down from being the athletic director at Kansas Jayhawks. Zenger characterizes this as a one-year sabbatical from administration, but we’ll see where this takes him. (Matt Galloway, Topeka Capital-Journal)
• Former K-State setter Alex Haffner, who took a redshirt freshman season last year in Manhattan, is transferring to Kent State. For some reason, she’s immediately eligible. (Derek Johnson, VolleyMob)
• Lefty freshman pitcher Jordan Wicks of Conway, Ark., who’s already on the K-State campus taking summer classes, is profiled by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s Donna Lampkin-Stephens.

Enjoy your Sunday, and don’t forget to check out the two latest entries in BracketCat’s countdown, which will be VERY NICE today. Friday was Rare Card day for those of us opening Countdown packs as we got card 71, offensive lineman Dalton Risner. On Saturday, #70 got his due as Bracket introduced us to true freshman offensive lineman Christian Duffie.

Also, don’t miss your benevolent despot’s visit to Rock Chalk Talk to discuss with Mike Plank the challenges facing KU football and how their situation compares (and doesn’t compare) to K-State’s in the late 1980s. We had a really good talk, and it required two posts. Part One — Part Two