A couple of records fall, Kansas baseball sees another dominant effort on the mound by its No. 1 starter and a tip of the cap to one of KU’s all-time greats on the hardwood.
All of that, and more, will be celebrated in this week’s Monday Morning Wheaties.
You’ve seen the tomahawks on the back of the Florida State helmets, the buckeye tree leaves on the Ohio State helmets and the paw prints on the back of the Clemson helmets.
Each Monday, we take one last look back at the week that was and hand out different amounts of the iconic breakfast cereal to the Jayhawks’ top performers.
So, be sure to come get your Monday Morning Wheaties and feel free to hit up the comments section — subscribers only for now — with any players you feel we might’ve missed.
Picture on the box
• Track & Field record breakers – KU’s Chandler Gibbens and Gabrielle Gibson both delivered school record-breaking efforts at Stanford and LSU over the weekend. Gibbens, who also was a monster on the cross country stage, opened his outdoor season in the men’s 10k at the Stanford Invitational with a new personal best time of 28:12.14, which broke former Jayhawk Craig Watcke’s 10k record of 28:51.24 set back in 1989. Gibbens now owns three KU records to date — this one along with the 5k indoor and outdoor records. At LSU’s Battle on the Bayou, Gibson went sub-13 in the women’s 100m hurdles, breaking her own school record of 13.07 with a time of 12.99, which was good for 4th-best time in the NCAA event rankings so far. Her previous record came just two weeks ago, in her outdoor debut at the UCF Black and Gold Invite.
A full bowl
• KU ace Reese Dutton – Because of the opponent and the Easter weekend schedule, his latest start came on a Thursday, but that did nothing negative for KU’s dominant Friday night starter. Dutton was dominant in KU’s 11-1 win in the opener of the series sweep over BYU. He went 8 innings and allowed just 1 run while throwing 106 pitches, 75 of them for strikes. He struck out a career-high 12 batters, which was the most by a KU pitcher since the 2020 season. He also now has won six consecutive starts, marking the most by a Jayhawk since at least 2003. Dutton is now 6-1 on the season for the Jayhawks, who improved to 15-10 overall and 7-5 in Big 12 play with the sweep. Next up, KU will play at Wichita State on Wednesday before hosting West Virginia for three games over the weekend, with Dutton expected to be on the mound again on Friday night.
• Freshman softball player Abby Carsley – Talk about a memorable way to record a personal milestone. In Game 3 of the Jayhawks’ three-game series vs. No. 1-ranked Oklahoma over the weekend, the freshman from McMinnville, Oregon, hit her first career home run in the Jayhawks’ 7-3 loss. The solo shot came in the bottom of the sixth inning and put KU on the board for the first time. KU was swept by OU over the weekend, dropping their record to 22-11-1 overall and 7-5 in Big 12 play. But Carsley will likely always remember her big moment. After the game, KU coach Jennifer McFalls praised Carsley for continuing to show that “she’s gonna be a difference maker for us.” The Jayhawks are on the road for the next 17 days, with a mid-week game at Nebraska on Tuesday, followed by Big 12 dates at Iowa State and Texas Tech the next two weekends.
Nighttime snack
• Tennis standout Kyoka Kubo – The freshman from Yokohama, Japan, picked up wins in both doubles and singles matches during the Jayhawks’ split with Saint Louis and No. 7 Texas over the weekend. After improving to 13-2 in singles play with an easy win over Saint Louis, Kubo fell in extra time in both her doubles match and singles match against the Longhorns. Still, she emerged from the stretch at 13-3 overall in singles action and continues to enjoy one of the best seasons by a KU freshman in a while.
• Sophomore Gracie Mulville – Mulville, a sophomore from Thousand Oaks, California, enjoyed success against the Longhorns, picking up a singles win over the No. 21-ranked player in the country. Her win, in straight sets, tied the match with UT at 2-2 and gave the Jayhawks hope heading into the latter portion of singles action. Texas came out on top, but KU continued to show a willingness and ability to compete with anybody. The Jayhawks are now 6-11 overall and 3-5 in Big 12 play and, next up, will face No. 22 Oklahoma on Saturday at the Jayhawk Tennis Center.
Drink the milk
• Legendary KU big man Walt Wesley – One of KU’s all-time greats passed away at age 79 last week near his home in Tampa, Florida. The 6-foot-11 Wesley was a two-time Consensus All-American at Kansas in 1965 and 1966 and also a two-time all-Big Eight selection following his junior and senior seasons. Wesley’s career average of 19.3 points per game ranks in the top 10 on KU’s all-time scoring average list and his 1,315 career points put him in 33rd place on the current KU scoring list. He averaged more than 20 points per game during his junior and senior seasons and went on to become the sixth overall pick by the Cincinnati Royals in the 1966 NBA Draft. He had a successful 10-year career playing for numerous teams in the NBA from 1967 to 1976.
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