October 8, 2012
Letter from A.D. John Currie
Good mornning, Wildcat Nation.
Friday was a historic day for K-State Athletics. It was already a huge Wildcat weekend with our No. 7 equestrian team getting the festivities started with a Big 12 battle with Baylor Friday morning at Timbercreek Stables. Saturday we had the nationally-televised football edition of the Dillons Sunflower Showdown against the Jayhawks and the huge Big 12 volleyball battle with Texas in Ahearn between two Top 15 teams.
And Friday afternoon we had a very special and significant event as we dedicated our new state-of-the-art $18 million Basketball Training Facility for our men's and women's teams. We are incredibly grateful to all the Ahearn Fund members who have made this completely privately funded project possible. Coupled with our tremendous home court advantage and awesome student section in Bramlage, we believe that our basketball facility environment is now as good as anyone in the country.
Our basketball student athletes got the first tour of their new facility early Friday before an invitation-only event and program wrapped up the dedication. During the next six weeks we will also hold a public open house so that all of our great fans can see firsthand this gorgeous facility. We appreciate the hard work of our project architects at Populous, construction manager MW Builders and members of our athletics staff in making sure this facility — to the very finest detail — is top-notch and one of the best in the country.
Coach Snyder's goal No. 12 is "No Self Limitations.” Truly the Basketball Training Facility represents what can happen when all the elements of the K-State Nation come together and determine that we will indeed be a model intercollegiate athletics program. We continue to support President Schulz's leadership and the visionary K-State 2025 program of becoming a Top 50 public research institution. With our terrific university leadership team, faculty and staff and the support of K-Staters around the globe, K-State students will continue to have one of the best college experiences in the country.
Hoops season is upon us
Both of our basketball programs will be breaking in the new training facility as they start practices for the 2012-13 season. For our fans we will hold a special season preview for both our men’s and women’s teams featuring public scrimmages Saturday, Oct. 27, prior to the football game with Texas Tech. Full details will be announced at a later date once a football game time is set.
Radio coverage expanded in southern Kansas
Last week we announced expanded and enhanced radio coverage of K-State Athletics in southern Kansas and northern Oklahoma with the additions of KQAM, 1480 AM, in Wichita and KQZQ, 98.3 FM, in Medicine Lodge. KQAM in Wichita has replaced KLIO on the network beginning with Thursday night’s Bill Snyder Radio Show and provides a stronger evening signal for listeners. Fans in the Wichita are can now listen to the Cats on either 1480 AM in Wichita, 98.3 FM in Medicine Lodge, 107.9 FM in Winfield or 93.1 FM in Hutchinson. The addition of 98.3 FM in Medicine Lodge will provide coverage to approximately nine counties between Wichita and Dodge City while also reaching into north central Oklahoma. We appreciate the work of Ben Boyle and his K-State Sports Properties staff in improving our reach across the state and region.
Volleyball continues hot start/maintains national attendance standard
Coach Fritz and our 14th-ranked women’s volleyball team had a terrific start to the season at 16-1 overall and 3-1 in Big 12 play including Wednesday night’s 3-0 win over No. 22 Iowa State. The crowds, including the 2,000-plus that cheered on the Cats Wednesday, have certainly made our environment one of the best in the Big 12, and our average attendance figure of more than 1,600 fans per match this season currently ranks 18th in the nation. Thank you for your passion and support!
Men’s golfers take title at Colbert Hills
Congrats to Coach Norris and the men’s golf team on capturing the team title at this week’s Jim Colbert Intercollegiate at Colbert Hills. The squad of Daniel Wood, Curtis Yonke, Ben Juffer, Alex Carney and Matt Green carded a tournament-best score 4-over par 292 in Tuesday’s final round as all five players finished in the top 15 individually. Tuesday was an absolute gorgeous day out at Colbert Hills, and we are really proud of how our student athletes performed.
And I would also like to congratulate Whitney Pyle and our women’s golf team for their performance at this week’s Johnie Imes Invitational in Columbia, Mo. Whitney secured a career-best second place individual finish, while Coach Knight’s charges took third as a team.
Wildcat netters also in action
K-State’s Petra Niedermayerova and Karla Bonacic are competing this week at the Riviera/ITA Women’s All-American Championships in nationally-ranked singles play as well as the No. 28 doubles team. The duo opened play Tuesday with a win and followed that up with two victories on Wednesday and one on Thursday before falling to the nation’s No. 4-ranked squad in the second round of the main draw. While Karla dropped her qualifying singles match on Tuesday, Petra opened up singles play yesterday with a win to advance to today’s round of 16.
Special guests in town
Among the many special guests in town this weekend were record-setting quarterback Michael Bishop and NBA All-Pro Rolando Blackman. Michael was inducted into the state of Kansas Hall of Fame Sunday along with former Wildcat hoops star Willie Murrell, and we were delighted to have Rolando back for the Basketball Training Facility dedication and men's basketball alumni reunion.
That will do it for today. Work also continues on the new West Stadium Center project, and by the time fans visit the stadium for the Texas Tech game, steel should be erected on either side of the Dev Nelson Press Box. Remember to see our live webcams of the ongoing construction.
As always, we sincerely thank you for your continued support of K-State Athletics.
Go Cats!
John Currie
