In Gennifer Booth’s seventh year as a coach for the Lady Jay volleyball team, and her 2nd year as head coach, she is optimistic about her team this season.

Last year the team finished 5th in the Centennial League which Booth says is “awesome”.

“Going in to this year I am always optimistic…like I tell the girls, every day is a new day – we’ve got to think about whatever happened yesterday, whatever the failure is to just turn it around and make it successful,” said Booth.

The team is currently in tryouts, where Booth hopes to have a first cut on Wednesday and the final teams should be decided by the end of the week.

“My philosophy kind of gets really tight because we see action in about two weeks, so really what I try to focus on is just really building a team . The girls have the fundamentals, the girls that have been here for a long time have the fundamentals – they’re really good leaders on and off the court, and so what I really need to focus on is just getting the team ready that can play against a fast pace league [which is] what we have in Centennial [league]”, said Booth.

The head coach says they generally try to keeep 9 to 10 players on a team, but this year they may select a few more.  Ladies trying out can make Varsity, Junior Varsity (JV) or the Freshman team.

Booth added that she has 9 seniors in tryouts and a few returning Varsity players.

“You know watching all of those girls, they’ve really matured this summer, they took the leadership role, they came to the workouts and they really worked on getting the younger girls to buy in to their philosophies,” said Booth.

Good luck this season to the Lady Jay Volleyball team.

Below are images from Tuesday, August 16th at tryouts:

KSU Athletics

MANHATTAN, Kan. – 2012 silver medalist Erik Kynard recorded a strong effort in the high jump finals but fell just short of making the medal stand as he claimed sixth place in the event at the Olympic Stadium in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday.

Entering the competition after qualifying with a jump 2.29m/7-06, Kynard cleared his first four bars, including on his last attempt at 2.33m/7-07.75, before missing all three attempts at 2.36m/7-08.75 to finish in sixth place overall with his previous mark of 2.33m/7-07.75.

Prior to his two misses on his final mark, the Toledo, Ohio, native was near perfect through three bars, only missing one time, which came at 2.25m/7-04.50.

“After qualifying, I honestly felt that it was going to take 2.38m for Erik to medal,” USA men’s assistant coach and Kynard’s personal coach Cliff Rovelto said. “There was no doubt in my mind that the three guys that medaled were going to be clean through 2.36. Erik just did not have 2.38 in him today. He competed well, making 2.33 on a less-than-great night. I am proud of his toughness.”

On the track, Hungarian Balazs Baji and Haitian Jeffrey Julmis were in action in the 110 meter hurdles semifinals after both qualified for the round on Monday evening.

Baji went on to finish in 15th in the semifinals, running the exact same time of 13.52 that he ran on Monday to qualify Tuesday’s race. Julmis had a tough break in the semifinal round, falling over the first hurdle of the race. He was eventually disqualified from the competition.

“Jeff messed up his start and got too close to the hurdle and crashed,” Rovelto said. “Balazs was fine. I believe he hit the eighth hurdle pretty hard and had to recover. He finished strong but he ran out of real estate. It is unfortunate because he has had a great year and I honestly thought he had a good chance to make it to the final.”

K-State will have two athletes in competition on Thursday as former Wildcats Akela Jones and Alyx Treasure open competition in the women’s high jump. The event is set to begin at 8:00 a.m. CT and can be seen live by clicking here.

COSTA MASNAGA, Italy – The Kansas State men’s basketball team could not recover from a cold-shooting performance in the first quarter, as the Kosovo National Team posted an 85-74 win on Tuesday night at the Costa Masnaga Sport Complex.

 

K-State missed its first nine field goals, as Kosovo jumped out to an 11-0 lead en route to a 23-9 advantage at the end of the first quarter. The Wildcats were able to claw their way back to within 77-67 with 3:25 remaining in the fourth quarter, but could get no closer in falling to 2-2 on their 10-day exhibition tour.

 

“Obviously we were disappointed with the start of the game,” said head coach Bruce Weber. “You can’t spot a veteran and skilled team with a double-digit lead and then be in scramble mode the rest of the way. We did make several runs to cut into the lead, but either we made a poor decision or they made a big play to keep us at bay.

 

“We did get a good effort from D.J, who gave us a double-double,” said Weber. “Kam and Xavier made some shots that helped us stay in the game. Overall, we need to get better consistent play from all of our players so we can continue to make the progress as a team.”

 

After falling behind by 14 points in the opening quarter, K-State was able to win or tie the remaining three quarters by a composite score of 65-62. The Wildcats managed to tie the second (22-22) and fourth (21-21) quarters in between a 22-19 third quarter. The team combined to shoot 43.9 percent (25-of-57), including 46.7 percent (7-of-15) from 3-point range, in the last three quarters after starting the game 3-of-20 from the field.

 

“The most important thing is what we will learn from this game,” said Weber. “Ball movement and decision-making were the difference in the game. Hopefully, we now understand that is what we need to execute when we return home for practice in October.”

 

Sophomore Kamau Stokes led a trio of Wildcats in double figures with a game-tying 20 points on 7-of-17 shooting, including 4-of-8 from 3-point range, while senior D.J. Johnson notched a double-double with a game-high 13 rebounds to go with 10 points on 4-of-5 field goals. Freshman Xavier Sneed registered double figures for the fourth straight game on the tour with 12 points on 5-of-12 shooting. Sophomore Dean Wade grabbed 8 rebounds to go with his 5 points.

 

The Kosovo National Team, which consists of a number of European professional players, was led by Justin Doellman’s 20 points on 9-of-13 field goals. Drilon Hajrizi (18), Darden Berisha(14) and Yll Kacaniku (10) also scored in double figures, while Scott Bamforth dished out 11 assists. Doellman, who played at Xavier (2003-07), is a 9-year European professional currently playing for FC Barcelona Lassa (Spain), while Bamforth, who was a two-time First Team All-Big Sky performer at Weber State (2010-13), plays professional for Bilbao Basket (Spain).

 

For the contest, K-State connected on 36.4 percent (28-of-77) of its field goals, including 44.4 percent (8-of-18) from 3-point range, to go with 51 rebounds, 10 assists and 7 steals. Kosovo knocked down 46.3 percent (31-of-67) from the field, including 37.1 percent (13-of-35) from long range, with 41 rebounds, 24 assists and 8 steals.

 

Sneed (5) and Stokes (3) combined for nearly all of the Wildcats’ 9 points in the first quarter, as Sneed notched two of the team’s three field goals to go along with taking a charge. Johnson and redshirt freshman Isaiah Maurice grabbed 3 rebounds each in the opening quarter.

 

K-State slowly started to chip away at the deficit, opening the second quarter with a 5-0 run before closing to within 33-25 with 3:30 remaining before halftime. However, the experienced Kosovo team ended the rally with seven straight points to force Weber to use a timeout, down 40-25. The Wildcats scored 6 of the last 11 points to tie the quarter at 22-each, as seniorWesley Iwundu led seven different scorers with 5 points.

 

Down 45-31 at the half, K-State saw its deficit grow to 22 less than two minutes into the third quarter, as Kosovo opened the quarter with an 8-0 run. After the squads traded runs, the Wildcats were able to close to within 64-53 at the end of three quarters on the strength of a 10-0 run. Stokes (8) and Sneed (5) combined for 13 of the team’s 22 points.

 

Kosovo again started a quarter with a run, opening up a 69-53 edge on a 5-0 spurt just moments into the fourth quarter. K-State again responded to the challenge by closing to within 10 points twice, including 73-63 with 5:30 to play on back-to-back 3-pointers by Stokes and 77-67 with 3:25remaining. However, Kosovo quickly ended any remaining hopes of a comeback with an 8-0 run en route to an 85-74 victory. Stokes had 6 points in the fourth quarter.

 

The contest was the Wildcats’ fourth of five scheduled exhibitions on its 10-day tour of Italy and Switzerland. All the exhibition have utilized FIBA (International Basketball Federation) rules, which include four 10-minute quarters and a 24-second shot clock among several variations from the college game.

 

The travel party has enjoyed three action-packed days of sightseeing, beginning in Venice on Sunday before moving north to Verona and Lake Como on Monday and Tuesday. The team was able to experience a water taxi to Venice before touring St. Mark’s Square and Basilica and enjoying a gondola ride. The sights on Monday and Tuesday included a cable-car ride to top of the Alps overlooking Lake Como and a boat excursion to Bellagio and Como.

 

“We have been very fortunate to have an unbelievable experience touring Italy and now moving onto Switzerland for our last two days,” said Weber. “I believe it’s important for us to play good basketball on Thursday night (against BBC Lausanne) and leave Europe on a high note.”

 

K-State has concluded the Italian portion of its tour and will now move north into Switzerland, where the travel party will spend Wednesday and Thursday touring Montreux, which is close to Lake Geneva. The party will tour the famous Chateau de Chillon on Thursday, which is a Medieval fort set on the shores of Lake Geneva. The Wildcats will play the final game of its touron Thursday night with a contest against BBC Lausanne at 8 p.m. local/1 p.m. CT in Lausanne.

–www.k-statesports.com–

 

Kansas State University, the nation’s first operational land-grant institution and a Carnegie Foundation Tier One university, is recognized as one of America’s best colleges with world-class research and academic excellence.

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TOM GILBERT
Associate Director for Athletics Communications | K-State Athletics

DETROIT (AP) – Danny Duffy allowed one run in 7 2/3 innings and the Kansas City Royals hit four homers in a 6-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday night.

Raul Mondesi, Alex Gordon and Eric Hosmer all homered off Justin Verlander (12-7), while Kendrys Morales went deep off Mark Lowe.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia homered for Detroit’s only run. The Tigers have lost seven of nine.

Duffy (10-1) allowed three hits and two walks, striking out five.

Verlander gave up five runs – three earned – four hits and a walk in seven-plus innings. He struck out six.

Kansas State University will be well represented on Tuesday at the Olympic Track and Field stadium.

Silver medalist at the 2012 London Games, American Erik Kynard is looking to improve upon his silver medal in tonight’s Olympic High Jump final. 

The former Wildcat, still coached by KSU Head Coach Cliff Rovelto will compete at 6:30 pm CST Tuesday.

Haiti’s Jeffrey Julmis, a former Wildcat, will look to better his showing at the 2012 London Games as he advanced to the semi-final round of the men’s 110 meter hurdles.

The semi-final will be contested at 6:40 pm CST.

Balazs Baji of Hungary will also represent as a former wildcat in Tuesday evening’s 110 meter hurdle semi-final race.

Baji and Julmis will both be looking to secure a spot in the finals that will also be contested Tuesday evening at 8:45 pm CST.

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) – Kansas City Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles has made his training camp debut.

Charles had been on the physically-unable-to-perform list the first three weeks of camp. He underwent surgery last season after tearing the ACL in his right knee in Week 5 against Chicago. He was at practice Tuesday.

Charles missed the Chiefs’ preseason opener Saturday against the Seattle Seahawks, and it’s not clear whether he will play against the Los Angeles Rams on Saturday.

The four-time Pro Bowl running back worked out a bit during the offseason program, and Charles said all along that he expected to be ready for the season opener against San Diego on Sept. 11.

DETROIT (AP) – Ian Kennedy pitched effectively into the seventh inning to win for the first since June 26 as the Kansas City Royals beat the Detroit Tigers 3-1 on Monday night.

The Tigers lost slugger Miguel Cabrera after four innings to a strained left biceps. Cabrera appeared to injure himself in a first-inning collision with Cheslor Cuthbert at first base, but batted twice before leaving the game.

Detroit said Cabrera is day to day.

Kennedy (7-9) ended an eight-start winless streak, allowing one run on five hits and a walk in 6 2/3 innings. Three relievers finished, with Kelvin Herrera pitching the ninth for his fifth save.

Daniel Norris (1-1) took the loss, allowing two runs – one earned – in 5 1/3 innings.

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Distance runner Beverly Ramos recorded a 71^st-place finish in the women’s marathon while high jumper Erik Kynard qualified forTuesday’s finals in his event as day two of the 2016 Olympic track and field competition came to a close at the Olympic Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,on Sunday.

 

In the women’s marathon finals, Ramos, competing in her first Olympics in the event, recorded a 71^st place finish with a final time of 2:43:52. Jemima Jelagat Sumgong of Kenya would go on to win the race with a final time of 2:24:04.

 

Ramos, who was making her second Olympic appearance after representing Puerto Rico at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England, in the 3000 meter steeplechase, had a very consistent race, holding strong in the low-to-mid 70s for much of the race.

 

She reached the 5K split in 83^rd place before battling down 11 spots to 72^ndat the half marathon mark with a time of 1:17:30. Ramos then closed out the race dropping no worse than 75^th place before closing out the competition in 71^st position.

 

“Beverly did an admirable job in the marathon,” Cliff Rovelto said. “She is obviously new to this event and was competitive in her first Olympic Games.”

 

Also competing on Sunday was the defending silver medalist in the high jump, Kynard, who qualified for the high jump finals. The finals of the men’s high jump will be contested on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. CT.

 

Kynard was nearly perfect in the four bars that he attempted, missing just one time on his first attempt at 2.26m/7-05. He automatically qualified for the finals after clearing 2.29m/7-06 on his first attempt. He closed out the qualification round tied for fifth place in the event.

 

“Erik was fine and got done what he needed to get done,” Rovelto, an assistant coach for the USA men’s team and Erik’s personal coach, said. “He is ready and the finals are going to be great competition.”

 

K-State will have three athletes in competition on Monday at the Olympic Games. Sophomore-to-be Shadae Lawrence opens competition in Group A of the discus throw for Jamaica at 6:30 p.m. CT, followed by Haiti’s Jeffrey Julmis and Hungary’s Balazs Baji, who will run in the first two heats of the 110 meter hurdles, which is set to begin at 6:40 p.m. CT.

 

For the latest on K-State track and field, follow @kstatesports and @KStateTFXC on Twitter using the hashtag #KStateTF or on the team’s Facebook page.

 

Women’s Marathon Finals

71. Beverly Ramos – 2:43:52

 

Men’s High Jump Qualifiers

T5. Erik Kynard – 2.29m/7-06q

 

 

–www.kstatesports.com–

 

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Josh Brunner
Graduate Assistant | Athletics Communications