Weekend football thoughts...

There’s only a bit of real news to share with you as we head into another summer weekend...

Football

BracketCat has just about hit the halfway mark in the 2019 Football Roster Countdown. Here’s #51 defensive end Reggie Walker, a name you’re likely to hear a lot more in the fall, considering he made the preseason All Big 12 team.

We’ve already seen the Big 12 preseason poll, featuring Kansas State way down in the conference cellar at #9, with only Kansas behind them. (Cue the DISRESPECT meme). Now we know what Kellis Robinett thinks of the poll. Spoiler: he doesn’t think that’s too far off the mark for the Wildcats, given the uncertainty of a new coaching regime and some gaping holes on the roster.

It’s hard to argue too much with Robinett’s take, though I take issue with the idea that going to back-to-back bowl games is sufficient to cement Iowa State’s place as the third best team in the Big 12. See what one whole win over Kansas State can do for a program? (This year’s #Farmageddon is going to be salty, at least for the fans).

Oh, and the Bill has some new decor:

In other football news, it looks like the Bill Snyder museum might not be good to go after all. The state has nixed Manhattan’s use of leftover STAR bonds money for the construction of the museum. The project isn’t quite dead, but it has been shelved for the time being.

Track

Aaron Booth, competing at the World University Games for New Zealand, has won gold in the decathlon. He tallied a new personal best score of 7,827 points. Earlier this summer, he finished sixth at the NCAA Outdoor Championships to earn his first-career first team All-America honors.

This was Booth’s second medal at the Universiade after taking bronze in 2017. He’s the first Kiwi to win a track gold since 2015.

Volleyball

Freshman Anna Dixon has been selected as a member of the 2019 Women’s Junior National Team that will compete at the 2019 FIVB U20 World Championships. The event begins today at 12:30 PM CT in Aguascalientes, Mexico. Team USA is in Pool A along with Mexico, Italy, and Cuba, and the American squat will face off against Italy to begin competition.

Dixon, a two-time Class 4A Kansas Player of the Year, is one of three outside hitters selected to the 12-player squad.

The volleyball team—specifically Brynn Carlson, Gloria Muturi, and Teana Adams-Kaonohi—were part of US Women’s Collegiate National Team—had a fruitful time training for competition in Anaheim. They got to see the women’s national team in practice, and then duplicated that practice schedule and training with the other collegiate players in Anaheim.

The training and the experience should hold the team in good stead when the 2019 season begins.