MANHATTAN, Kan. – After two weeks of Olympic Qualifiers around the world, the Kansas State track and field team will send seven current and former athletes to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to compete in the 2016 Olympic Games. In all, seven different countries will be represented by K-State athletes.

 

The Wildcats will be sending the second-most representatives of any Big 12 school to Rio to compete in the Olympics. Qualifying for The Games are: Alyx Treasure (Canada), Akela Jones (Barbados), Erik Kynard (USA), Shadae Lawrence (Jamaica), Beverly Ramos (Puerto Rico), Balazs Baji (Hungary) and Jeffrey Julmis (Haiti). Also representing the Wildcats in Rio is head coach Cliff Rovelto, who will serve as a men’s assistant coach for Team USA.

 

“We have had a slot of very good performances this summer,” Rovelto said. “It looks like we will have seven athletes that will compete in Rio. That is very good representation for the Kansas State track and field program.”

 

Kynard headlines a strong K-State contingent as he heads into his second Olympic Games after winning the high jump at the USA Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon with a final mark of 2.29m/7-06. He did not miss a single bar at the competition until he recorded three misses at 2.35m/7-08.50.

 

The 2011 and 2012 outdoor national champion in high jump, Kynard won the Silver Medal at the Olympic Stadium in London, England with a mark of 2.33m/7-07.75, making him the first Wildcat to medal since Austra Skujytetook the Silver Medal in heptathlon at the 2004 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia.

 

Two other former Wildcat men will make their second-straight appearance at the Olympics as Julmis and Baji both qualified in the 110 hurdles for their respective countries. Julmis, who finished 38^th in the event in London, is one a small handful of Haitians to qualify for this year’s Games.

 

Baji, who took 35^th in the 110 meter hurdles in London four years ago while representing Hungary, finished in second place in the same event at the European Championships with a time of 13.28. The time set a new Hungarian national record in the 110 meter hurdles.

 

Ramos is the only female in the K-State Olympic group to be make her second appearance at The Games after she qualified for the marathon in Düsseldorf with a time of 2:36.31. During the London Games, Ramos competed for Puerto Rico in the 3000 meter steeplechase, where she finished in 35^th place.

 

Jones qualified for Rio after competing in the 100 meter hurdles and 200 meter dash at the Barbados National Championships. She went on to place second the 100 meter hurdles with a time of 13.09 and third in the 200 meter dash with a time of 23.57.

 

The St. Michael, Barbados native will compete in the high jump and heptathlon at the Olympics, events that she has won national championships in during her at K-State. Most recently, she won the high jump crown at the NCAA Indoor Championships with a jump of 1.87/6-01.50. She also won the heptathlon national title in 2015 with a school-record score of 6,371 points.

 

Lawrence booked her trip to the Olympics in discus, finishing in second place at the Jamaican National Championships with a throw of 58.95m/193-05. She surpassed the Olympic standard of 61.00m/200-01 on the final day of the NCAA Championships, where she set a new school record and finished in fourth place in the event with a throw of 61.18m/200-09.

 

The final first-time Olympian to qualify was Treasure, who won the high jump competition at the Canadian Championships with a jump of 1.88m/6-02. She hit the standard of 1.93m/6-04 in early May at the Ward Haylett Invitational, which was held at R.V. Christian track in Manhattan.

 

The 2016 Olympic Games kick off on August 5 with the opening ceremonies, which can be seen live on NBC. For more information on the Olympic Games, including live streams and schedules, visit the NBC Olympic homepage here.

 

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

 

Rio Bound

Akela Jones (Barbados) – Heptathlon, High Jump

Alyx Treasure (Canada) – High Jump

Shadae Lawrence (Jamaica) – Discus

Erik Kynard (USA) – High Jump

Jeffrey Julmis (Haiti) – 110 Meter Hurdles

Beverly Ramos (Puerto Rico) – Marathon

Balazs Baji (Hungary) – 110 Meter Hurdles

 

–www.kstatesports.com–

 

————
Josh Brunner
Graduate Assistant | Athletics Communications

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Led by four upperclassmen on the defensive side of the ball, Kansas State had five football players named to the Preseason All-Big 12 team as chosen by media representatives who cover the league, the conference office announced Wednesday.

 

Seniors Dante Barnett (defensive back) and Jordan Willis (defensive end), along with juniors Will Geary (defensive tackle) and Elijah Lee(linebacker) were joined by sophomore fullback Winston Dimel to give K-State the second-most players on the preseason team behind defending conference champion Oklahoma (9). Additionally, the five Wildcats on the team are the most since they placed a league-high five on the preseason squad in 2013.

 

Four of the five players have earned postseason All-Big 12 status in their career, including first-team honorees Dimel (Coaches) and Geary (Associated Press) during the 2015 season.

 

Barnett returns for a second senior year after sustaining a season-ending injury in the 2015 opener. A 2014 All-Big 12 performer who is on the watch lists for the 2016 Bednarik Award and Bronko Nagurski Trophy, the Tulsa, Oklahoma, native leads the Wildcats with 181 career tackles and seven interceptions.

 

A product of Kansas City, Missouri, Willis played at an All-Big 12 level last season, ranking second in the league in sacks (9.5) and fourth in tackles for loss (15.5) as part of his 36 tackles on the year. He ranked 24^thnationally in sacks, while his four forced fumbles were 13^th in the nation a year ago.

 

Geary, a native of Topeka, totaled 45 tackles last season, the most by a K-State interior defensive lineman since 2005. His best game of the year came against Oklahoma when he recorded eight tackles, 3.0 tackles for loss and 2.0 sacks.

 

Lee, who is on the watch list for this year’s Bednarik and Butkus Awards in addition to the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, had a team-leading 80 tackles and three interceptions in 2015. He became K-State’s first underclassman linebacker to earn First or Second Team All-Big 12 honors since 1998 (Mark Simoneau) and was the first Wildcat underclassman to pace the squad in tackles since 2008.

 

A 13-game starter at fullback, Dimel became the first Wildcat freshman to ever earn First Team All-Big 12 honors, while he was the lone freshman on the 2015 All-Big 12 First Team. The Manhattan product recorded six rushing touchdown to rank third in school history. He also ranked fifth among freshmen at K-State in receiving yards (261) and total points (48).

– k-statesports.com –

 

 

————
RYAN LACKEY
Assistant Director | Athletics Communications

 

A three-run sixth inning propelled the Junction City Brigade to a 7-2 win over the Topeka Golden Giants in the first game of their Mid Plains League opening round best two-out-of three playoff series.

The teams met Tuesday night at Rathert Field. Game two is Wednesday night in Topeka.

Junction City got a solid pitching performance from Blake Grellhesl, who went five-and-two-thirds innings on the mound to get the win. Lane Fleming, Ben Ramberg, and Justin O’Laughlin came on in relief for Junction City.

The Brigade were aided by two home runs in the game. John Gardner hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning, and Bret Nickle tacked on a solo home run in the seventh for the Brigade.

Ethan Frazier pitched well for the Golden Giants, but took the loss.

DALLAS (AP) – The wait is over for Tim Jankovich to be SMU’s head coach.

SMU formally named Jankovich as its new coach Monday, three days after Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown abruptly resigned.

Jankovich had been considered head-coach-in-waiting since he came to the Mustangs with Brown in 2012 after five seasons as head coach at Illinois State.

The 57-year-old Jankovich was 104-64 at Illinois State from 2007-12. He had previously served as an assistant coach for Bill Self, at Illinois (2002-03) and Kansas (2003-07). Jankovich played at Kansas State University under Jack Hartman.

When Brown was suspended for the first nine games last season because of NCAA sanctions, Jankovich filled in as head coach and the Mustangs won all of those games. SMU went 25-5 last season, but couldn’t play in the NCAA Tournament because of a one-season postseason ban.

The Junction City Brigade will host the Topeka Golden Giants in the first round of the Mid Plains League playoffs Tuesday evening at Rathert Field. The ballgame begins at 7 p.m.

Junction City, 21-11, won the conference West Division title during the regular season and will be a number one seed. The Golden Giants finished the regular season in 13-20, fourth in the West Division. This will be a best two-out-of three series.

The other first round matchups ( all two-out-of-three series ) will feature Rossville at Sabetha, Liberty visiting Baldwin City, and Midwest at Independence.

There will be three rounds of playoffs. The Cowdin Cup Final Series is scheduled the week of July 21st through the 24th.

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — The Latest on the run-up to the Summer Olympics:

Former K-State star Erik Kynard, who won the silver medal in the high jump at the London Games, won the event at the U.S. Track and Field Trials to earn a spot in the Rio Games next month.

Third-place finisher Bradley Adkins also earned a spot on the Olympic team. Runner-up Kyle Landon had not jumped the minimum height, or standard, to compete in the Olympics.

.@Erik_Kynard is heading to The Games! @KStateTFXC #CatsInRio pic.twitter.com/rudPBr85It

— K-State Athletics (@kstatesports) July 10, 2016

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Robinson Cano and Adam Lind homered in a five-run seventh inning and the Seattle Mariners held off the Kansas City Royals 8-5 on Sunday.

Cano’s two-run shot to deep right field for his 21st home run of the season extended the Mariners’ lead to 5-0. Lind hit a three-run shot, his 13th, a few batters later.

The Mariners scored five runs over the final three innings, pulling within three on Alex Gordon’s homer leading off the ninth.

Mike Montgomery (3-3) pitched 6 1/3 strong innings, giving up one run and five hits, in his first start of the season.

Dillion Gee (3-3) struggled early and picked up the loss for the Royals, giving up three runs and five hits in 3 2/3 innings.

The Junction City Brigade fell to the Sabetha Lobos 5-2 in Mid Plains League baseball Friday night in Sabetha.

The Brigade and Sabetha play again Saturday night at 7 p.m. in Sabetha.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Hisashi Iwakuma pitched into the seventh inning, Seattle scored the go-ahead runs on Yordano Ventura’s wild pitch and the Mariners held on to beat the Kansas City Royals 3-2 Friday night. Iwakuma kept the Royals off balance with his usual herky-jerky delivery, allowing an RBI on one base hit in the fourth.

The Junction City Brigade have captured the Western Division title in the Mid Plains League.  They clinched the title with an 11-5 win over Sabetha on Thursday evening. They will now prepare for playoff action next week.

Officials have reported that on Tuesday, July 12, Junction City will host a first round game at Rathert Field at 7 p.m. The opponent and the pairings for the first round of the playoffs have not yet been released.

Playoff series are a best two-out-of-three format.