They had never faced this type of test before. They were sisters, two years apart in age, grew up in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, were best friends, and touched a tennis racquet for the first time at a young age, but Kansas State junior Maralgoo and freshman Martaa Chogsomjav opened this tennis season in doubles competition against the highly-regarded duo of Jade Groen and Rinon Okuwaki of No. 21 Clemson at Homestead Country Club in Kansas City, Kansas, on January 30.
Once an assistant coach at Division III Susquehanna University, then a head coach at Division II Chestnut Hill, then an assistant coach at Delaware and at Belmont, JJ Butler is proud of the hard work that helped pave the path along his journey.
He sits inside the Shamrock Zone at Bramlage Coliseum for the first time and marvels at the spacious limestone-filled room, the wall-sized flat-screen TVs and large windows that reveal Bill Snyder Family Stadium on the other side. Kerron Johnson, a 35-year-old former point guard who played professionally in New Zealand, Germany, France, Poland, Italy and Isreal, has seen some places.
It's been proven in Kansas State football through the years that one of the biggest jumps a player typically makes in his career comes between his freshman and sophomore seasons. Linkon Cure, the highest-rated signee in K-State history and the nation's No. 1-rated tight end out of high school, figures to be a prime candidate to experience a jump in his sophomore campaign with the Wildcats.
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