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Month: February 2018

Monday Sports Headlines

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National Headlines

PEYONGCHANG, South Korea (AP) – American Jamie Anderson won her country’s second gold medal at the Pyeongchang Games, taking the women’s slopestyle snowboarding amid blustery conditions. Anderson is the first woman to win multiple gold medals in women’s snowboarding at the Olympics. The win comes a day after teenager Red Gerard won the men’s slopestyle for the first U.S. gold medal.

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea (AP) – The United States has grabbed the bronze in the team skating competition, edging Italy. Mirai Nagasu has become the first American woman and third overall to land a triple axel in the Olympics, accomplishing the rare feat in the women’s free skate at the team competition. Canada clinched the gold before the final discipline, finishing just ahead of the Russians.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – Frank Reich (ryk) is the new head coach of the Indianapolis Colts after serving as offensive coordinator on the Philadelphia Eagles’ Super Bowl-winning team. The hiring came five days after Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels accepted the job, only to back out hours later. Reich first became an offensive coordinator with the 2014 San Diego Chargers and spent two seasons there before joining Doug Pederson’s staff in Philadelphia in 2016.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) – Alex Bowman and Denny Hamlin will start from the front row for Sunday’s Daytona 500. Bowman won the pole in his qualifying debut as the official driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet, talking over for the just-retired Dale Earnhardt Jr. The rest of the field will be decided by the Twin-125s later this week.

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. (AP) – Ted Potter Jr. has earned his first PGA victory since a broken ankle threatened to end his career. Potter outplayed world No. 1 Dustin Johnson while closing with a 3-under 69 to capture the Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Potter finished at 17-under 270 and earned $1,332,000, nearly half of his career earnings going into the week.

UNDATED (AP) – Who’s No. 1? Losses by top-ranked Villanova, No. 2 Virginia and No. 3 Purdue leave uncertainty at the top of AP Top 25. No. 4 Michigan State could be in position to take over No. 1 for the second time this season.

BOSTON (AP) – LeBron James delivered 24 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds as the Cleveland Cavaliers crushed the Boston Celtics, 121-99 on Paul Pierce Day in Boston. James overcame an early leg injury to score 13 points in the second quarter, eight coming in a 13-2 run that put Cleveland ahead by 10. Jordan Clarkson scored 17 and George Hill had 12 in their first appearances since being acquired by the Cavs at the trade deadline last week.

TORONTO (AP) – The Toronto Raptors took over the NBA’s Eastern Conference and Atlantic Division leads by winning their fifth in a row, a 123-103 rout of the Hornets. DeMar DeRozan had 25 points and eight assists for Toronto, while C.J. Miles chipped in 24 points on 6-for-9 shooting from 3-point range. The Raptors were 18-for-37 from beyond the arc in improving to 39-16, a half-game ahead of the Celtics.

DALLAS (AP) – Sixth-ranked Cincinnati ran its winning streak to 16 games and improved to 12-0 in the American Athletic Conference by drubbing SMU, 76-51. Kyle Washington had 17 points and eight rebounds for the Bearcats, who took the lead for good with a 9-0 run that put them ahead 11-5. Cincinnati opened the game by missing its first seven shots before shooting 50 percent the rest of the way.

TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Final (6) Cincinnati 76 SMU 51
Final (9) Duke 80 Georgia Tech 69
Final (20) Michigan 83 Wisconsin 72

No. 16 Barton women’s tennis opens spring season in Texas

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The No. 16 Barton County Community College women’s tennis team opened up the spring season Friday in Plano, Texas, with a couple of matches before returning home after Saturday’s action as the final day of the Collin Super Bash was cancelled due to rain.

In Friday’s opening day action, the Lady Cougars lost their Friday opener 7-2 to No. 11 Collin College before dropping a 6-3 decision to No. 18 ranked New Mexico Military Institute. Saturday’s weather forced the cancelling of the scheduled pair of matches versus No. 14 North Central Texas College and No. 25 Jacksonville College.

No. 9 ranked Neus Torregrosa picked up where she left off from last season, ending the day with two singles victory, the first in a 6-4, 6-1 win over Collin’s No. 48 Jayme Waites before a 7-5, 6-0 victory over NMMI’s Georjemah Roe.

Also picking up a single victory on the day was Jenna Groene in a 6-0, 6-0 win over NMMI’s Becsy Pacheco. Groene teamed up with fellow sophomore Shai Cartmill to give the Lady Cougars’ their lone doubles win in the six matches, an 8-2 victory over Collin’s Makeilah Turner and Nicole Maldonado.

The Lady Cougars will take a couple of weeks away from competition before heading to Salina, Kansas, on Thursday, March 1, for a 3:00 p.m. first serve against Kansas Wesleyan University.

Police ask for help to identify suspects in series of Kan. burglaries

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SEWARD COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a series of burglaries and asking the public for help to identify suspects.

photo courtesy Liberal Police

Just before 8:30p.m. February 8, police responded to a call at a home in the 500 Block of west 5th Street in Liberal in reference to an aggravated burglary, according to a media release.

The suspects had broken into numerous homes and sheds. They took tools, televisions, appliances and more.

The suspects are described as Hispanic men, 5-foot-10 with medium build.  Anyone with information is asked to contact Liberal Police.

Russell USD 407 cancels more classes, activities due to illness

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RUSSELL COUNTY —Under the advisement of Russell County Health Director, Paula Bitter and County Medical Consultant, Dr. Tyrel Somers, USD 407 will not be in attendance Monday.

All activities and practices are also cancelled and the regularly scheduled board meeting has been postponed.

USD 407 officials in conjunction with the County Health Director continue to urge everyone to take extreme care in monitoring the health of your student/s.  Currently, there have been multiple confirmed cases of Influenza A, Influenza B, Mononucleosis and Strep Throat in our community with more confirmed cases today.

If your child/children are experiencing any of the following symptoms, please seek medical attention as soon as possible!

  • A fever of 100.4 or higher
  • Persistent Vomiting
  • Diarrhea
  • Difficulty Breathing
  • Chest Congestion
  • Sore Throat

Again, we are extremely concerned for the health and wellness of all of our students, our staff and our community.   USD 407 officials understand the seriousness of this issue in our community and throughout the region and continue to work diligently to do everything we possibly can in our buildings and our buses to maintain a safe, sanitary environment for our students and staff.

We urge all of you to please do your part in helping us by taking the following measures at home:

  1. Seeking medical attention for your children when necessary
  2. Keeping students home who are not feeling well
  3. Avoiding crowds and events if at all possible
  4. If you do have to be in large gatherings, the health office and Physicians Clinic have masks available
  5. Washing coats, bedding, clothing etc…
  6. Wiping down books, book bags, door knobs etc…with disinfectant wipes
  7. Washing of hands often

USD 407 will continue to work closely with County Health Officials to monitor and work through this situation and do everything possible to cooperate with medical professionals to help mitigate the sickness.

We greatly appreciate your support and patience.  Please continue to keep updated on the rescheduling or cancellation of events via our website www.usd.org, RussellUSD 407 Facebook and Twitter.

Surviving Winter Conclusion

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Barton Community College Ag Instructor Vic Martin

“Surviving Winter Conclusion,” by Vic Martin, Barton Community College Ag Instructor

Nothing to report on the drought front except that some areas west of Barton County did receive a few inches of snow.  Unless conditions change markedly and the area receives precipitation well-above normal, conditions at best will remain the same or likely intensify.    Last week’s focus was on how cool season grasses like winter wheat work around winter to complete their lifecycle, i.e. produce viable seed.  Briefly, the growing point is below the ground until spring, it won’t flower until being exposed to a certain amount of cold (vernalization), it changes physically and physiologically for winter with decreasing daylength as the key, and won’t flower until daylight increases to a certain level.  This week’s discussion focuses on winter broadleaves like winter canola.

Unlike grasses, when dicots like winter canola germinate and emerge from the soil, the growing point emerges and is at the soil surface.  As compared to grasses where the growing point stays at planting depth until late winter/early spring, this leaves the growing point vulnerable.  At this stage and until after growth is well underway in the spring, if the growing point is lost the plant dies.  It is vulnerable to damage/destruction by weather factors, primarily cold, and also to physical damage, livestock feeding or trampling for example.  So how has the plant evolved to have the best chance of surviving winter and produce seed and how do producers manage a crop like winter canola?

  • With winter canola a producer is seeking the “Goldilocks spot” heading into winter. The not too hot, not too cold, just right level of development giving the plant the best shot at surviving the winter.  The idea, based on average weather conditions, is to plant the canola in the fall and allow it enough time to develop around six leaves and a good strong taproot system.  Too little growth leaves the growing point more vulnerable to freezing and too much means the growing point may start to elevate above the soil surface into the air and again leave the growing point vulnerable to freeze damage.  And excessive fall growth can deplete so moisture.
  • Like wheat, winter canola “senses” the approach of winter through decreasing daylength and temperatures. This results in prostrate growth and the plant forms a rosette (think of what a dandelion looks like) with the growing point in the center.  Cell contents also change and increases substances in cells to lower the freezing point of cell contents to protect the growing point.
  • Even though the growing point isn’t in the soil, it benefits from the heat reserve in the soil compared to the atmosphere to help moderate growing point temperature. Interestingly, no-till can lead to stand loss during cold snaps as it appears the insulating effects of crop residue traps heat in the soil and that heat isn’t available to protect the growing point.  And as in winter wheat, snow cover helps.  If conditions result in growing point elevation above the soil surface, it is vulnerable to cold.  And dry soil stores less heat to help protect the plant.  One last item, just like winter wheat, the canola plant can lose all its fall above ground vegetative growth and be fine as long as the growing point is undamaged.
  • Referring to the previous point, one of the challenges in growing winter canola is the temperature fluctuations Kansas experiences most winters. Oklahoma has less problem since it is warmer and places where winters are more consistently cold are also better off.  However, the up and down nature of our winters often leads to more stand loss, especially under dry conditions.
  • As days lengthen and temperatures moderate, the plant resumes growth and switches to upright growth with the growing point elevated on a central stalk. Cold here can cause severe damage but if the plant is developed enough, secondary nodes can take over and the plant can produce a viable crop.

Virginia No. 1 in preliminary NCAA rankings

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By JOHN MARSHALL
AP Basketball Writer

Virginia suffered a surprising home loss to unranked Virginia Tech, ending its winning streak at 16 games.

One recent defeat was not enough to sway the NCAA Division I Basketball Committee. The Cavaliers are still viewed as the best team in the country a month before Selection Sunday.

Virginia was the top overall seed in preliminary NCAA Tournament rankings released on Sunday, a day after losing to the Hokies. Villanova, Xavier and Purdue earned the other No. 1 seeds.

“Virginia’s a dominant defensive team, but they’re much better offensively than they’ve been,” committee chair and Creighton athletic director Bruce Rasmussen said during the selection show. “They have a great strength of schedule and they’re 10-1 from home.”

The NCAA followed the precedent set by College Football Playoff a year ago by releasing its rankings early to drum up support for Selection Sunday. The preliminary rankings held up: The committee stuck with 15 of the top 16 seeds.

This year, the committee is using a new quadrant system that gives more weight to wins on the road and neutral courts.

Virginia, No. 2 in The Associated Press poll , has five Quadrant 1 wins four wins against top-10 RPI teams. The top four teams are a combined 40-8 away from home this season.

The Cavaliers (23-2, 12-1 ACC) would play in Atlanta as the No. 1 seed in the South, a region that includes Cincinnati, Michigan State and Tennessee.

Villanova , the No. 2 overall seed, tops the East Region in Boston with Duke, Texas Tech and Ohio State.

Xavier was the top seed in the Midwest Region, joined by Auburn, Clemson and Oklahoma in Omaha.

Purdue , despite losing both of its games last week, is No. 1 in the West Region with Kansas, North Carolina and Arizona in Los Angeles.

The committee originally had Kansas in the South, but swapped with Cincinnati in the West to even out the regions. It also placed Clemson, the top No. 3 seed, in Omaha because there were already ACC teams in Boston and Atlanta.

“One of the responsibilities of the committee is to make sure the four regions are balanced as much as possible in terms of strength of teams,” Rasmussen said. “If we did not switch Kansas and Cincinnati, those regions would be unbalanced.”

Many of the top seeds have suffered recent losses, but those were balanced out by key wins early in the season.

Purdue earned a No. 1 seed despite losing both games this week, though both were to ranked teams – No. 14 Ohio State and No. 4 Michigan State. The Boilermakers (23-3, 12-1 Big Ten) had won 19 straight heading into this week.

Villanova (23-2, 10-2 Big East), the No. 1 team in the AP poll the past five weeks, lost to St. John’s this week. Duke (19-5, 7-4 ACC) lost to the Red Storm last week and to rival North Carolina this week. Kansas (19-6, 8-4 Big 12) lost to Baylor this week and has dropped two of three to fall a game behind Texas Tech in its bid to win a 14th straight Big 12 championship.

Oklahoma (16-8, 6-6 Big 12), which climbed to No. 4 in the AP Top 25 early in the season behind freshman phenom Trae Young, has lost three straight and six of eight. Arizona (20-6, 10-3) has losses to Washington and UCLA the past two weeks.

“The committee was pretty strong in its consensus of the No. 1 teams, but there was a lot of dialogue all the way through the first quadrant because the teams are so close,” Rasmussen said. “It’s paper thin.”

The rankings could certainly change before the field of 68 is selected on March 11 with more than 1,000 games yet to be played.

Kan. man sentenced for soliciting nude photos from 15-year-old

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LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A 33-year-old Kansas man was sentenced to about 2.5 years in prison for soliciting nude photos from a 15-year-old girl.

Wenger-photo Douglas Co.

Sean Wenger, of Osage City, was sentenced Thursday for sexual exploitation of a child. He also must register as a sex offender for 25 years and will be on post-release supervision for the rest of his life.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports prosecutors said they found 20 nude images of the girl on Wenger’s phone. Texts between the two showed he had demanded the photos while she was in Douglas County.

No physical contact between Wenger and the girl was alleged.

Kansas voting rights challenge headed to trial

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WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Legal challenges to a Kansas law requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote are headed to trial next month.

U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson on Friday added additional days to a previously scheduled trial that begins March 6 in Kansas City, Kansas. The new schedule sets aside eight days for the bench trial.

American Civil Liberties Union sued Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach on behalf of the League of Women Voters and voters over the requirement that people produce a document such as a birth certificate or U.S. passport to register at motor vehicle offices.

The ACLU’s lawsuit’s key argument is that the Kansas law violates a federal law requiring minimal information to register. A separate but similar case also simultaneously goes to trial arguing a right-to-vote claim.

Kansas man sentenced for second knife attack

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Corall

RENO COUNTY — A Kansas man convicted of aggravated battery for an incident on December. 4 was ordered to prison for 13 months by a Reno County District Judge.

Bryan Corral,19, was involved in an altercation with another man in the 1500 block of North Jackson in Hutchinson.

Corral threatened the victim with a knife. The victim reportedly grabbed the knife in self-defense and suffered a number of cuts, including a laceration to his finger.

Corral had been on community corrections for an aggravated assault conviction from July 4, 2017. In that case, he threatened the victim with a butterfly knife

Wichita State defends new Koch-funded school amid criticism

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WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Officials at Wichita State University say a new private school being financed by members of the Koch family is a good fit for the university’s campus.

Chase and Annie Koch announced they’re financing a new private pre-K-through-12th-grade school called Wonder on Wichita State’s campus.

“The fact that there are now hundreds of people talking about how educational content is delivered is pretty exciting,” said Lou Heldman, the university’s vice president for strategic communications.

Critics of the proposed school said the public university that receives state funding shouldn’t be the site of an exclusive private school. The school can’t accurately test education strategies unless it includes children of all abilities and financial means, said Steve Wentz, president of United Teachers of Wichita.

“If you want to live in your gated community, fine, but don’t think that gives you a picture of the real world,” Wentz said.

The school is “all for working together to expand access to benefit more students,” said Zach Lahn, co-founder of Wonder. He said that Wonder plans to eventually have at least 25 percent of its students on scholarships or financial aid.

“To those who have new and innovative ideas on how we can bring this to more students, especially students in public schools, please, reach out,” he said. “We want to work with you to find solutions.”

The Kochs are investing about $1.1 million in a former print shop on the east side of the university’s campus, according to a lease agreement.

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