Another complete game shutout on the softball diamond, all-Big 12 honors in the pool and other notable wins and accomplishments from the Jayhawks were the norm last week.
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
• Senior pitcher Kasey Hamilton – The KU softball ace picked up her sixth complete game shutout of the season with an 11-0 win in Game 2 of the Jayhawks’ three-game sweep of Iowa State over the weekend. Hamilton improved to 10-8 on the season with the five-inning win, giving up just 3 hits and 2 walks while striking out 2. Kansas has now swept three Big 12 opponents this season, marking the first time since 2005 that the Jayhawks have recorded that feat. The sweep pushed KU to 25-12-1 on the season and 10-5 in Big 12 play. The 10 wins in conference play mark the most by a Kansas team since 2001. The 25 wins overall tie last season’s total, with 14 games still to play in the regular season before the start of the Big 12 tournament on May 8. Next up, Kansas will travel to Lubbock, Texas, this weekend for a 3-game series against the Red Raiders.
A full bowl
• Breaking her own record – KU hurdler Gabrielle Gibson was the women’s standout performer for a second consecutive week after breaking her own school record for a third time this season by running a 12.95 in the 100 hurdles. The perfor-mance surpassed her previous best time of 12.99 and contin-ued to put Gibson in the conversation as one of the top hur-dlers in the nation this season.
• KU decathlete Tayton Klein – Klein was the men’s decathlon winner in his first showing of the season, ending the weekend with 7629 total points. The sophomore out of Andover, Kansas collected victories in the 100m (10.46), long jump (7.46m) and the 400m (48.32) while also finishing top-five in the javelin (fifth, 53.49m) and the 1500m (third, 4:35.83).
• Freshman infielder Ty Wisdom – The KU baseball player picked up a career-high four hits and the first home run of his Jayhawk ca-reer during KU’s 16-9 loss to West Virginia in the series finale at Hoglund Ballpark on Sunday. A late addition to the lineup on Sunday, the Lee’s Summit North graduate went 4-for-4 with a double, home run, three RBIs, two runs scored and a walk. KU lost all three games of the series to fall to 15-14 overall and 7-8 in Big 12 play. “He’s really good,” KU coach Dan Fitzgerald said of Wisdom. “We talk daily in this program about reaping what you sow and Ty is the perfect example of that. He’s put the hard work in and grinds through it and you love to see guys like that get rewarded.” Wisdom’s four hits were part of a season-hit 17 by the Jayhawks in the loss.
Nighttime snack
• KU tennis wins 2 away from home – After surviving a brutal stretch in their schedule against some of the top teams in the country, the Kansas women’s tennis team racked up a pair of road wins at West Virginia and Cincinnati last week, with contributions from up and down the roster. In doubles action, Gracie Mulville and Maria Titova along with Kyoka Kubo and Heike Jans Van Vuuren both won at WVU, with Mulville also winning in the No. 1 singles slot for the first time. Against Cincinnati, Kubo and Titova dominated the Bearcats in singles action, with Kubo winning 6-1 and 6-0, to pick up her sixth Big 12 win and 15th victory overall. Titova won 6-1 and 6-1 in the No. 2 slot for her second consecutive singles win. The Jayhawks will play host to Wichita State, Houston and UCF this weekend at the Jayhawk Tennis Center in the final regular season matches of the 2024 season.
• Other KU track winners – During the KU men’s team’s sec-ond-place finish at the Jim Click Open Multi’s and Shootout in Arizona, Dimitrios Pavlidis won the men’s discus throw with a new season-best of 58.85 meters. Ashton Barkdull was also victorious, taking the top slot in the men’s pole vault with a best bar of 5.32 meters. Devin Loudermilk won the men’s high jump title with a season-best 2.16 meters, while Grant Lock-wood also brought home a victory in the men’s 400, with a new PR of 46.61. On the women’s side, Lona Latema collect-ed her first victory of the outdoor season, running a 4:24.97 to win the women’s 1,500 and Mason Meinershagen won the women’s pole vault, with a new outdoor PR of 4.16 meters.
• KU junior Olivia Bruno – Known as much for her hitting prowess at the plate than anything else, the KU veteran picked her up second win of the season as a pitcher, helping KU de-feat Iowa State, 6-2, to complete the sweep. Bruno, who played high school ball with Hamilton at Washburn Rural High School, pitched 6 innings while giving up 3 hits and 2 runs in the win. Sophomore Lizzy Ludwig came in to slam the door to complete the victory.
Drink the milk
• All-Big 12 swimmers – Three Jayhawks were named to the all-Big 12 swimming and diving team last week, with freshman diver Shiyun Lai leading the way as a first-team pick. Lai, who placed in the Top 10 at nationals in both the 1- and 3-meter events, was joined on the list by second-team honorees Lezli Sisung and Lydia Lafferty. Sisung, a junior from Friendswood, Texas, took sixth place in the 100 backstroke at the Big 12 championships. Lafferty, a sophomore from Watonga, Okla-homa, participated in every event for Kansas in 2023-24. Laf-ferty turned on another gear in the postseason, qualifying for the championship final in the 100-yard butterfly at the Big 12 Championship. Lafferty finished seventh in the event, racing a time of 54.34.
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