All Phillips 66 Big 12 Men’s Basketball Championship Games To Be Televised Nationally
Irving, Texas – For the first time in conference history, the entire Phillips 66 Big 12 Men’s Basketball Championship will be televised nationally on ESPN networks, the league office has announced.
This year’s championship will see every game broadcast on either ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU for the first time. Previously, selected contests during the event were shown in certain areas on the Big 12 Network, the Conference’s syndication agreement with ESPN. In addition, the final will move back to its traditional 5:00 p.m. local tipoff after a later start one year ago.
The lineup for the 2015 championship is as follows:
* – Game will begin 30 minutes after conclusion of first game of session
Overall, more than 100 Big 12 games in 2014-15 will be televised on the ESPN networks. The league will tip off the season with the annual Big 12 Men’s Basketball Media Day on Wednesday, October 15. The regular season itself begins in less than two months when nine teams take the court on Friday, November 14.
The Junction City Lady Jay volleyball team defeated Leavenworth 17-25, 25-12, 25-19 Wednesday evening at the Shenk Gym. In the second part of a triangular the Lady Jays fell to a powerful Shawnee Heights team 25-9, 25-20.
Lady Jay coach Megan Parks discussed the win over a Leavenworth team that featured good hitters and consistent setting. “We picked them apart a little bit. We’ve really been working on being clever and being smart, not always having to be powerful and hit as hard as we can.”
CLEVELAND (AP) – Yan Gomes hit a three-run homer, Michael Brantley got three more hits and the Cleveland Indians stayed in the AL wild-card chase for at least one more day with a 6-4 win over the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday night.
A loss would have eliminated the Indians, but after blowing a 3-0 lead, they rallied and moved within 3 1/2 games of Kansas City and Oakland in the wild-card standings. There are four days left in the regular season.
The Royals, who haven’t made the playoffs since 1985, fell two games behind first-place Detroit in the AL Central.
Zach McAllister pitched 2 1-3 scoreless innings and Cody Allen worked the ninth for his 23rd save.
The K-State Alumni Association invites Kansas State University students, alumni, friends and community members to kick off K-State’s 2014 Homecoming Week by participating in the annual Homecoming Philanthropy 5K Run/Walk on Oct. 19.
Registration for the 5K, which benefits Special Olympics Kansas, is open and can be completed online or via mail. For registration submitted online or postmarked by Oct. 9, the cost for K-State students or K-State Alumni Association members is $17 and $20 for nonmember or non-students. For all registrations submitted or postmarked after Oct. 9, the cost is $25.
Registration for the 5K Run/Walk is available online.
The USA Track and Field-certified 5K course begins and ends at the K-State Alumni Center, located at the corner of 17th Street and Anderson Avenue, and travels through the K-State campus.
Additional details on the 5K Run/Walk and the full schedule of homecoming events also are available online.
PORT LEYDEN, N.Y. (AP) – The family of an upstate New York sprint car racer who was hit and killed by NASCAR star Tony Stewart says they’ll “pursue all remedies” after a grand jury decision not to charge Stewart.
In a brief statement read by Kevin Ward Jr.’s sister, the family says “this matter is not at rest” and the focus should be on Stewart’s actions, not Ward’s, during the dirt-track race on Aug. 9 in Canandaigua (can-uhn-DAY’-gwah).
Kayla Herring spoke Wednesday after Ontario County District Attorney Michael Tantillo said an autopsy showed Ward had enough marijuana in his system to “impair judgment.”
Ward had climbed from his car after it had spun while racing alongside Stewart. The 20-year-old walked down the track, waving his arms in an apparent attempt to confront Stewart.
CLEVELAND (AP) – Rookie Yordano Ventura blanked Cleveland’s punchless offense for seven innings as the Kansas City Royals kept pressure on first-place Detroit in the AL Central with a 7-1 win over the Indians on Tuesday night.
The hard-throwing Ventura (14-10) allowed four singles and threw a 100 mph fastball on his 104th pitch.
Salvador Perez’s two-out, two-run double off Danny Salazar (6-8) put the Royals ahead 5-0 in the fifth and they turned their attention to the left-field scoreboard to monitor the Tigers’ score. Kansas City entered one game out of first and with a grasp on one of the league’s two wild-card spots.
The Royals are closing in on their first postseason appearance since 1985, when they won their only World Series title.
At 86-71, Kansas City matched its win total from last season. It’s the first time the Royals have had consecutive seasons with at least 86 victories since 1977-78.
The Topeka High Trojans picked up a 2-0 win over the Junction City Blue Jays in boys soccer at Al Simpler Stadium Tuesday evening.
Blue Jay coach Drew Proctor said his team came out a little flat in the first half. “We looked like we weren’t ready to play, and we let in a goal within 55 seconds. Anytime that happens you just know a team is kind of destined to fall a little bit.”
Topeka High also scored their other goal in the first half.
Proctor said in the second half the Blue Jays were a completely different team. “We’ve been battling that first half team all year. With us it’s a battle of two personalities almost. ” Proctor added in the second half the team created more opportunities, was more intense, and won the ball more.
MANHATTAN, Kan. – A multiple conference coach of the year at North Dakota State, Ryun Godfrey has been named Kansas State’s head cross country and track and field assistant coach. Godfrey, who has led his teams to a combined 30 conference titles as a head
Photos of Godfrey during his time at NDSU – courtesy of NDSU Athletics
coach, will join the Wildcats after spending the past 14 seasons as the head women’s track and field and cross country coach at NDSU.
“Coach Godfrey is an outstanding coach. We feel very fortunate to have attracted a coach of his ability,” K-State Head Track and Field Coach Cliff Rovelto said. “He has been awarded National Coach of the Year awards at the Division II level and numerous regional coaching awards at the Division I level. He has done a tremendous job at developing middle distance runners in particular, but has developed cross country teams and long sprinters to the national level as well. Philosophically, we see him as an ideal fit in our program at K-State.”
Godfrey replaces former cross country head coach Mike Smith, who was named head track and field and cross country coach at the U.S. Military Academy this past week. He is excited to join the K-State Athletics family, where he, along with his duties as head of the cross country program, will coach the mid-distance runners.
“Coach Rovelto, his staff and K-State Athletics have an outstanding reputation and I’m really excited to be a part of it, it’s an honor for me, and I am really looking forward to getting started,” Godfrey said. “I’m just driven to trying to keep pushing the limits. I think one of things we’ve done here [at North Dakota State] is that you see a certain amount of success then you re-evaluate and find out how you complete the next step forward so that has been kind of engrained in me. And, professionally, this is a great opportunity for me to take another step forward and continue to challenge myself.”
During his time at North Dakota State, Godfrey, who specialized in the sprints/mid-distance/distance events, has amassed an impressive resume that most recently included a sweep of the 2014 indoor and outdoor U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Midwest Region Women’s Coach of the Year honors – one of only four women’s coaches to accomplish such a feat this past season. He was also named the Summit League Women’s Coach of the Year in cross country and indoor track and field, a honor he has won a combined 17 times including sweeping the award each of the last three years.
The women’s team dominated competition in 2014, claiming the Summit League “Triple Crown” by sweeping the league’s cross country, indoor and outdoor team championships for a third consecutive year (11-12, 12-13, 13-14). His cross country team, in particular, excelled, capturing its third-consecutive Summit League title this past season, buoyed by Summit League Athlete of the Year, Brecca Wahlund, and four total first team all-league selections helping the Bison win the title by 22 points.
On the national level, Godfrey brought the women’s track and field program to prominence this past season with his athletes accumulating five total entries in the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships – including the 4×400 relay team that earned second team honors both indoors and outdoors.
Said Athletics Director John Currie, “We are excited to welcome coach Godfrey to the Wildcat family, and I salute coach Rovelto for identifying him as the right fit for K-State. Coach Godfrey is highly regarded by administrators and fellow coaches alike for his solid Midwest values and technical skills. His resume at North Dakota State includes four cross country conference championships and 14 straight women’s indoor and outdoor league titles and provides him great experience and credibility as he assumes leadership of our distance programs.”
Head coach of the Bison’s men’s team, Don Larson, has played a major role in Godfrey’s rise in the Division I coaching ranks. In his now 35th year with the program, Larson coached Godfrey as an undergraduate at North Dakota State and had him as a part of his staff as a graduate assistant in 1998-99 before the latter took over the women’s team in 1999.
“Ryun’s career has clearly blossomed [since taking over as head women’s coach] and I give him a tremendous amount of credit,” Larson said. “For his work ethic, his knowledge and he’s an amazing person to work with in all facets of the sport of track and field and cross country. We’re extremely excited for him, knowing that he has had aspirations of moving on and accepting new challenges.
“[K-State] got a great one.”
Since joining the Division I Summit League in 2007, the Bison’s women’s team has consistently found success in conference competition. The women’s cross country, indoor and outdoor squads have combined to claim 17 Summit League Championships, including all 14 indoor and outdoor league titles during that span.
In total, student-athletes under Godfrey’s watch have combined for 191 All-Summit League selections and 116 All-Summer League individual titles spanning across three different sports – cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field.
At the NCAA Championship-level since 2009, 11 Bison women have combined to claim 15 total Division I All-America citations with three of those All-Americans being coached directly by Godfrey in the 800 meters. In fact, Godfrey’s squads has had at least one NCAA qualifier in the five of the last six seasons both indoors and outdoors. Overall, Godfrey’s 14 seasons at NDSU have seen the Bison earn All-American recognition a total of 19 times.
Speaking on behalf of the Bison’s Athletics Department, Director of Women’s Athletics Lynn Dorn said Godfrey’s contributions to the program have been immeasurable.
“We congratulate Ryun on his opportunity at K-State, as it is well-deserved on many levels,” Dorn said. “He’s been exceptional as a leader of the student-athletes at North Dakota State University in the classroom and in the field. The individual accolades of the program and the accolades of the program that have been garnered under his leadership are immeasurable, including team and individual accomplishments. Ryun Godfrey is an incredible professional, who we, for his services and for his leadership, have been indebted.
“On behalf of the athletics department, we wish him the very best at K-State.”
During Godfrey’s tenure, student-athletes have also found success in the classroom, with the women’s team totaling 37 Academic All-American accolades since 1999. Most notably, Whitney Carlson, a 16-time Summit League Champion and three-time Summit League Women’s Track and Field Athlete of the Year, was awarded the NCAA Elite 88 Award in 2011 – given to student-athletes with the highest cumulative grade-point average in his or her respective sport’s championship.
Outside of collegiate competition, Godfrey’s athletes have experienced considerable success with 10 Bison athletes having competed at the USA Championships, including four that have competed at the Olympic Trials. Former BisonAmanda (Thieschafer) Smock, in particular, represented the United States at the London Olympic Games in the triple jump, while, most recently, current Bison Leslie Brost was the highest finishing collegiate athlete at the 2012 Olympic Trials in the pole vault.
Before joining the Bison staff as a graduate assistant during the 1998-99 school year, Godfrey, who graduated with a degree in physical education, was an All-North Central Conference performer and a member of seven NDSU league champion track and field squads.
He is the son of Vic and Ruth Godfrey of Watertown, South Dakota. Born in Racine, Wisconsin, Godfrey grew up in Bahrain, where his father, a South Dakota track and field coaching legend with over 50 years of experience, was the country’s Olympic coach for 12 years.
Godfrey is expected to join the Wildcat program early next week, before traveling with the cross country team to Fayetteville, Arkansas for the Chili Pepper Festival on Oct. 4.
K-State Weekly Football Press Conference September 23, 2014
Head Coach Bill Snyder On the play of the defense against Auburn… “I thought it was awfully good. We probably would not have gotten all of that if we did not turn the ball over down there. I thought that all of our youngsters played really well and played within the system. Our coaches did a marvelous job preparing them. We had some good fortune, some dropped passes that were substantial gains if they would have been caught. We had some miscues in that regard. Collectively, if you tried to look at the play-by-play, and snap-by-snap, it would be pretty good.”
On the key for the defense against Auburn… “I think we had some good fortune with having some extra preparation time. Auburn had the same amount of time, but nevertheless, it is responsibility football, it is option football, for the most part. You have to be truly disciplined to focus on your assignments, to not jump at things that you should not jump at. It takes some patience with some of the young guys that like to fly around and make tackles. The added time I think helped. Coach (Blake) Seiler did a really nice job with our defensive ends because there was a lot of pressure on them to play well in that ballgame with so many responsibilities that they had. Part of it is being able to slow up the read plays or the options and being able to react either way, being able to contain the spread out passes and the boot leg passes. Just an awful lot of assignment responsibility football that they had on their plate, and I thought they did quite well.”
On starting Dakorey Johnson… “He has gotten substantially more repetition in practice because he has worked his way in to that role. He runs well and that is a benefit for our defense. I thought it was a matter of him being able to adapt to the system and understand the responsibilities and having the discipline to carry out the responsibilities like we like, and he has gotten better at it and it has paid off for him.”
On offensive struggles in the red zone vs. Auburn… “It is a combination of a few things. I think part of it is that we need to get the right things. I think we need to have a stronger mindset in regards to the area of the field. We need more work down there. My belief is that if you are able to move it down the field, you should be able to move it when you get down there. The field condenses a little bit in terms of the passing game; it is not as expanded as it would be on the rest of the field. Normally we are pretty decent at that. We have been ranked high in the nation in terms of scoring in the red zone offense. I go back to the Iowa State game and having to settle for those two field goals in the second and third drives of the ballgame. We had four opportunities (vs. Auburn) inside the 30-yard line and came away with zero points. I cannot give you a solid answer as to why, but all I know is that we are going to need more work down there – to select things and put them on the field like we need to.”
On play of Jake Waters this season… “I think he has a ways to go. If he keeps improving, then I will be pleased. He has done some really fine things, but yet he still has those moments, which is true of almost any player. I think he is dedicated to that improvement. If he continues to do that and engages in that honest self-assessment trying to enhance his performance level, then I think he will do fine.”
On eliminating penalties against Auburn… “Well, it was a step forward. Along with no penalties comes no turnovers, and we turned the ball over, so I was not too pleased about that. I do like the discipline. It’s easier, in all reality, playing at home than it is on the road. That could be an excuse as well. We need – all the time, whether it be home or away – we need to do exactly that. It gives you a better chance.”
On UTEP running back Aaron Jones… “As it relates to him as a player, I like the fact that he has some speed and can move around pretty well. He runs well, and aggressively, straight ahead. He’s a good downhill runner and he carries piles. You cannot arm tackle him – he won’t allow that to happen. He does not have great size, but he runs like a 215- to 220-pound running back. I admire that. Obviously, he’s been effective.”
On Ben Leber, a former K-State linebacker and color commentator for this weekend’s game on FSN… “Ben knew how to get himself into the right spot. He was very reliable, dependable and disciplined. He was not necessarily flashy, he was just a guy that got to where he needed to be. He was reasonably decent-sized – he had good height to him. I just think he was reliable as much as anything, plus he is an excellent young man. I admired how he handled himself both on and off the field.”
Senior Quarterback Jake Waters On frustration with red zone plays… “It is frustrating since we are usually pretty good at that and to not be able to finish in big games just like Thursday is always very frustrating. We make those plays all the time. Maybe sometimes it is my fault making passes down there when coach called a run, but I am still learning, and we all are still learning and getting better every single day.”
On bouncing back after the loss last Thursday… “It is always nice for a team to come back after a game like that. Yesterday’s practice went well. It is a new week, and we have a new challenge with UTEP. We are all excited for it.”
Sophomore Running Back Charles Jones On putting Auburn in the past and moving on… “We just have to move on. Now we are just focused on UTEP. We corrected the mistakes that we made last Thursday. We are on to the next game.”
On being anxious to get back on the field… “We really are anxious. Even though we fell short, we feel like we gave great effort last Thursday, so I am foaming at the mouth to play again.”
On the offense wanting to show that they can score more than 14 points… “That is all we have been emphasizing is scoring. Every time someone gets the ball, we run it into the end zone just to get used to getting it in the end zone and get back to the team that we were.”
Junior Offensive Lineman Boston Stiverson On the frustrations of not finishing drives… “We just did not go out and execute the drives like would have liked to. Right now we just have to move on. We have a big game this weekend. We will focus on UTEP now.”
On the team’s mindset after Auburn… “Obviously we are upset. I think we are all past that. I am feeling now a big opportunity for us this weekend against UTEP. I think we are past the frustration.”
Senior Linebacker Jonathan Truman On going up against Auburn’s offense… “It was a good challenge for us. We took our preparation very seriously. We knew that they were going to have a great offense, so we took that challenge to heart, and I thought we played well.”
On learning about his defense… “I think having trust in our teammates is huge. As a defense, we are a tight-knit group, and we came together. I think we can play well when we need to, and we need to always.”
On approaching UTEP’s offense… “They are a tough football team, hard-nosed and tough up front. They run the ball well. They have proved that with all of their statistics. They are up at the top in the country in rushing right now so it is going to be a big challenge for us, but we are up for it.”
Freshman Linebacker Elijah Lee On re-watching the Auburn game tape… “I was surprised how everything fell into place. A week of preparation, granted not everything fell into place, but I think overall we played good as a team. We figured out where we could play better.”
On the defensive success against Auburn’s ground game… “They talk about how first you are supposed to stop the run. Make them pick up the ball and throw it through the air. That gives us more chances for pass rush, interceptions and turnovers.”
———— RYAN LACKEY
Assistant Director | Athletics Communications
Nationally
