SE: Top 10 of 2018 for K-State Athletics

By Corbin McGuire

K-State Athletics and its fans had plenty to celebrate in 2018, so much so that putting together a list of 10 significant achievements was not easy simply because of the sheer number of qualified options.

There were conference championships won, a national title claimed, gutsy postseason performances, streaks and school records snapped, others built on or extended, new coaches welcomed as their predecessors' careers were celebrated, and lots of wins in between.

So, before 2019 begins, take a few minutes and relish in what was an exciting 2018 for K-State.

10. Dalton Risner Reels in Recognition for Community Service, Leadership and Play: One could probably put together an entirely separate list for the awards and recognitions Dalton Risner earned in his senior season at K-State. His work as a player, student and person did not go unnoticed. Risner's dedication to community service and to his education made him a finalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy, the Wuerffel Trophy, the Senior CLASS Award and the Jason Witten Award, as well as being named to the Allstate/American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Good Works Team. On the field, the right tackle earned First and Second Team All-America honors from at least eight different publications. He was also named the Big 12 Offensive Lineman of the Year. Expect to hear his name called in April at the 2019 NFL Draft.

9. K-State VB sweeps KU for first time since 2011, Three Wildcats Earn All-America Honors: K-State not only ended its nine-match losing streak to in-state rival Kansas this past season, the Wildcats started their own win streak in the series. K-State's first win in the Sunflower Showdown marked Kansas' first loss in conference play. Later in the year, the Wildcats came back from two sets down in Lawrence to win and complete their first season sweep of the Jayhawks since 2011. Junior Sarah Dixon, senior Kylee Zumach and freshman Gloria Mutiri also earned Honorable Mention All-America honors from the American Volleyball Coaches Association, the first time in program history three Wildcats had done so.

8. Neelly Breaks 37-Year-Old School Record to Open 2018-19 Season: Brett Neelly started his senior season out with a slip, a bang and then a yell. The last two followed a school record shot put throw of 20.15m/65-01.5 at the K-State Winter Invitational on December 8. The throw moved Neelly from fourth to first on the school's all-time list, above All-American Ray Bradley, who held the top spot since 1981. Neelly also put himself in a good position to make the NCAA Indoor Championships in March, a longtime goal he's yet to accomplish. He currently ranks first in the country.

7. Connie Jaffrey Reaches NCAA Golf Regional: Connie Jaffrey finished her storied K-State career with her best season yet last spring. This included two of her four career tournament wins, the best annual stroke average (72.85) in school history that cemented her program-best career average (74.13). Jaffrey was selected as the top individual qualifier for the NCAA Regional in Madison, Wisconsin, where she continued K-State's postseason appearance streak to four years with at least an individual in. It's the longest such run for the program since 2001-04.

6. Klieman Joins Hughes, Smith in Trio of New Head Coaches at K-State: Gene Taylor hired some new blood and elevated one current Wildcat coach in his second year as K-State's Athletics Director. All have big shoes to fill. Taylor brought in Chris Klieman, who's won three FCS titles as North Dakota State's head coach and will go for another on Saturday, to replace Hall of Fame head coach Bill Snyder, whom retired after 27 seasons coaching the Wildcats. Taylor hired Pete Hughes, a proven builder with 650-plus wins to his name, to take over for K-State baseball's all-time winningest head coach in Brad Hill. Taylor also promoted Jordan Smith to head coach of the women's tennis team after Smith played a pivotal role in the program's ascension since he arrived in 2015.

5. Tennis Makes NCAA Tournament, Tops Kentucky in First Round: It took a pair of heart-racing, three-set victories near the end, but K-State women's tennis rallied when it needed to in a 4-3 victory over Kentucky in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in May. The comeback capped a 15-win season, K-State's first to end in the NCAA Tournament since 2003. The Wildcats will look to build on it when this season begins on January 19.

4. Jeremy Gandon Wins Big 12 Golf Title: Jeremy Gandon finished his junior season about as well as he could have ever imagined. He recorded a top-10 finish at the Missouri Tiger Invitational, won the Hawkeye Invitational and then proceeded to tie for the Big 12 Championship. The last feat had not been done previously since 1951, when Graham Hunt claimed the Big Seven title. The two, Gandon and Hunt, actually met a few weeks later, after Gandon finished 30^that the 2018 NCAA Pacific Regional in Stockton, California.

3. K-State MBB Tops Kentucky, Reaches Elite Eight: As a nine seed without one of its best players healthy, Bruce Weber's team put together an impressive run, led by defense, in the NCAA Tournament last spring. The Wildcats held down a high-scoring Creighton team in the first round. They fended off a pesky Cinderella squad in UMBC in the second. In the Sweet 16, K-State took down a giant full of NBA prospects in Kentucky — the first win over those Wildcats in school history — to make the program's first Elite Eight appearance since 2010.

2. Shankar Caps Freshman Season with National Championship: A 6-foot-4 springboard from India, Tejaswin Shankar grew up watching former K-State high jumper and Olympic medalist Erik Kynard on YouTube. That, and Cliff Rovelto's renowned expertise in the high jump, brought Shankar to K-State, where he sought to join the Mount Rushmore of Wildcat jumpers. In June, at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon, he did. Shankar won the high jump national championship, clearing 2.24m/7-04.25 on his last attempt to become the first K-State male to win one as a freshman and the fifth to do so in school history.

1. Women's Track Repeats as Big 12 Outdoor Champions: When Cliff Rovelto builds a championship-level track and field team, it typically isn't a one-year blip. K-State's women proved that last May when they successfully defended their Big 12 Outdoor Championship. The Wildcats also repeated as conference champs in 2001-02. K-State and Texas are now the only two current Big 12 schools to win multiple conference titles in a row more than once. Rovelto, K-State's Director of Cross Country/Track and Field, described the 2018 title, a school-record 135-point performance with 22 different scorers, as the "most impressive" he's ever been part of.

Other Notable Achievements: Former Wildcat Golfer Ben Kern Reaches and Makes Cut at PGA Championship; K-State WBB Wins Three Games in WNIT; Robert Streb Retains PGA Tour Card with Web.com Win; D.J. Reed Extends K-State's NFL Draft Streak; K-State Athletics Inducts Nine to Hall of Fame; Terrell Smith Earns Spot on Team USA Track and Field; K-State Rowing Tops Kansas to Reclaim Sunflower Showdown Championship Trophy; K-State Baseball Claims First Series Win Over Texas Since 1998.

Kansas State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Brett Neelly

Tejaswin Shankar

Terrell Smith

Related Videos