K-State Hits Fundraising Goal for Baseball and Soccer Campaign; Groundbreaking to Ensue

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Thanks to the loyal support of the K-State Nation, highlighted by lead gifts from the Tointon, Edgerley, Sunderland and John Vanier families, Athletics Director Gene Taylor announced today that the department has reached its fundraising goal for the new baseball and soccer facility campaign with groundbreaking ceremonies for each to follow in the coming months.

A total of $13 million, which surpassed the original fundraising goal of $10 million set back in October, has been raised for the campaign with the remaining $2 million of the total $15 million project being paid through department revenues and resources.

The renovation of Tointon Family Stadium will begin with a groundbreaking ceremony on May 11 when the Wildcats host KU, while the soccer project will break ground October 12, when the Wildcats host Texas Tech in a Big 12 soccer match. The exterior portion of the soccer stadium and baseball clubhouse is expected to be completed in July 2019, with the interior of both projects wrapping up by December 31, 2019.

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"Thanks to the generosity of some of our dedicated donors and the entire K-State Nation, we are excited to move forward and break ground on these two very important facility projects," said Taylor. "Our goal is to provide our coaches and student-athletes with the resources and facilities they need to win championships, in addition to improving upon the experience our fans have at games, and this project certainly will accomplish that."

The Tointon Family Stadium portion of the project will consist of exterior upgrades to the facility, including a new facade and roof, as well as construction of an expansive new clubhouse along the third-base grandstand. The clubhouse will house on the ground level a spacious lounge, locker room and team meeting room for the student-athletes, a sports medicine and rehabilitation area, a fueling station for student-athletes and renovated space for equipment and laundry. On the level above, new coaches offices and meeting space will overlook the field.

The soccer stadium, which will be built on the site of the existing temporary facility, will provide not only a larger and more comfortable seating area for fans along with concessions and restrooms, but also locker room, lounge, sports medicine and strength and conditioning spaces for the Wildcat team in addition to office space for coaches, equipment storage and laundry areas.

The project, led by BG Consultants, will be funded without incurring any long-term debt and without any state tax or university funds. Any outstanding construction costs above the fundraising goal will be funded through department revenues and resources.

For more information on the project, including the latest photo renderings, visit the department's website at www.k-statesports.com/buildkstate. Below are brief bio sketches of four special K-State families who provided lead gifts for the project.

Bob and Betty Tointon
Greeley, Colorado
Bob and Betty are both 1955 graduates of Kansas State University and have a long standing history with K-State, dating back to when they first met as students in Manhattan and laid the foundation for their marriage. The experiences they had as students at K-State have had a tremendous influence on their life and family. Today, they continue to share with the University their time, talents and resources to create a lasting impact on faculty, students and K-State Athletics. They have served the University in a variety of roles and have been the recipients of multiple honors, including the President's Medal of Excellence and the Kansas State University Advancement Award. Bob and Betty's philanthropic support to K-State Athletics has been instrumental in making dreams become a reality and have made a significant impact on the baseball program both in the past and for this current project.

When asked about the opportunity to support the transformative project for Tointon Family Stadium, Bob and Betty explained, "We are truly humbled and honored to be able to make a gift in support of the Baseball-Soccer facility project. We are both thankful and grateful for our connection to Kansas State and how it has provided countless memories and enjoyable times in our lives. The construction of both of these facilities will continue to elevate K-State Athletics and take the baseball and soccer programs to the next level."

Paul and Sandra Edgerley
Brookline, Massachusetts
Paul Edgerley is a Managing Director and Founder of VantEdge Partners, a private investment group focused on building partnership that grow excellent companies, where he partnered with fellow K-Stater Terry Matlack. VantEdge has $750 million of personal capital to invest in private transaction and makes initial equity investments of $15-75 million. Prior to co-founding VantEdge, Paul was a Managing Director at Bain Capital from 1990 until his retirement in January 2016. Since his retirement, Paul serves as a Senior Advisor to Bain Capital, a private investment firm with over $75 billion in assets under management and advises a number of Bain Capital's portfolio companies.

Paul currently serves as a Director and Chairman on the Board of Sensata Technologies, Inc., a New York Stock Exchange listed sensor and controls manufacturing company. He also serves on the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee of the Boston Celtics and the Board of AS Roma, the Italian professional football team.

Paul also served on a number of charitable boards including the Dean's Advisory Board at Harvard Business School, the Board of YearUp and is Co-Chair of the Harvard University Capital Campaign and Co-Chair of the Harvard Campaign for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. At K-State, Paul and his wife Sandra have funded four faculty chairs, the Dean chair in the College of Business, a number of student scholarships and was the co-chair for the College of Business building campaign and lead donor. Paul and Sandra have made a number of leadership gift to athletics, in addition to the current gift for soccer and baseball, the Edgerley's have made leadership gifts to the Ice Family Basketball Center, the West Stadium Center project and the Vanier Family Football Complex. Paul was awarded an MBA with distinction from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration from Kansas State University. He and his wife, Sandra, reside in Brookline with their four children.

John and Kim Vanier
Salina, Kansas
John and Kim Vanier have continued the family history of generosity with their latest impactful gift to the Baseball/Soccer campaign. John's connection to K-State women's soccer and to Head Coach Mike Dibbini goes back to Coach Dibbini's days in Salina where he served different stints as the Head Coach at Salina Central High School, Head Coach of Kansas Wesleyan University, and developed the Salina Soccer Youth Program. John's daughters, Lauren and Sarah Vanier, were active in the Salina Soccer Program under Coach Dibbini's leadership. Both Lauren and Sarah played for Coach at Salina Central High School during the 2004 thru 2008 seasons for Lauren and the 2006 thru 2010 seasons for Sarah. John and Kim reside in Salina where John manages the family investments through Vanier Land Company LP.

When asked why they felt passionate about supporting this project, John and Kim responded, "We are thrilled to have someone of Mike's integrity and abilities leading the soccer program and the impact these facilities will have to create both a world class student-athlete experience and a tremendous fan experience for the programs is very important to us. We are excited to see them compete for championships on and off the field

The Sunderland Family Foundation
Shawnee Mission, Kansas
The Sunderland Family Foundation was established in 1945 by Lester T. Sunderland, who served as President of the Ash Grove Cement Company for 33 years and was a highly respected leader in the cement industry. The Sunderland family has been associated with successful management of the Ash Grove Cement Company since 1909, when Lester (LT) Sunderland became Vice President of the company. For more than six decades, the Foundation – which is still managed by Lester T. Sunderland's descendants – has focused on supporting brick and mortar projects, awarding grants to nonprofits in the Kansas City region and other areas where the Ash Grove Cement Company does business. The Foundation has supported numerous capital projects at Kansas State University including the School of Leadership Studies, College of Engineering, Bramlage Coliseum, Tointon Family Stadium and the Academic Learning Center in the Vanier Football Complex.

When asked why they felt passionate about supporting this project, they responded, "We the Sunderland Family Foundation felt passionate about this contribution because of the direct positive impact it had on the experience of both student-athletes and fans for multiple programs."

Kansas State University Athletics

K-State Hits Fundraising Goal for Baseball and Soccer Campaign; Groundbreaking to Ensue

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