Vic Trilli, Newman AD

Here’s some excerpts from our interview:

SS: Coach, thanks for taking the time for Sunflower Slate. How’s things at Newman? Have you found a house yet?

VT: No house yet. I’m still working on getting rid of the one I have in Garden City! I’ll tell you what, though, there’s a lot of nice places here in town, west side, east side, I’m looking, that’s for sure.

SS: So you’re moving to the suburbs?

VT: Come on now (laughing) I just said there’s a lot of nice places here in town. I’m looking. That’s all I’m saying is that I’m looking.

SS: So what’s been the hardest part of the transition?

VT: Well two things jump out right now; schedules and budgets. Coming in, I have no control over the schedules and had to take them as is.

SS: So you’d change the schedules?

VT: Right now it’s just something I have to come in and accept and embrace, because we can’t do anything about it at this point. Yes, there’s things I’d adjust, but we’ll get through this year and then think about the future.

SS: And the budget? Is it a fundraising sort of thing?

VT: Budgets were another thing. They were finalized long before I took the job. What I’m going to do is go out and set up some booster club drives and find the right kind of people to go out and help us make this transition to Division II. That’s another thing that’s been kind of bothering me. We’ve gone to NCAA Division II, the only private school in the state to make that move, and we haven’t had any sort of celebration. We need to celebrate that fact. And let people know we can play for championships now.

SS: So a party is in the works?

VT: Definitely a celebration. We need to let people know. This is a big deal.

SS: True. What about the men’s basketball team? What do you think of Coach (Mark) Potter from what you’ve seen so far.

VT: I know he’s got a good chance to have a good men’s basketball team this year. Coach Potter has the coaching background, and the passion he brings to the game … I’m excited about what we can do. I’m also excited about our women’s team .. (Coach) Tracy Anderson has that thing headed in the right direction.

SS: Coach, thanks for your time. Last question. Have you found a favorite place to eat at yet? There’s a little more variety here than in Garden City.

VT: Oh, man! Lots of places, lots of places. How about you let me take you to one? Sooner than later.

SS: Of course coach.

Brian Alvarez, Newman

Newman SID Brian Petrotta wrote a great story on the game.

At Pittsburg, there’s a volleyball tournament going on, and the Gorillas pulled off a shocker in the final game of the opening night with an upset of No. 3 West Texas A&M. Aside from this volleyball tournament, will there even be anyone in Pittsburg tomorrow? I highly doubt it.

Here’s the write-up on the upset:

PITTSBURG, Kan. — The No. 16 Pittsburg State Volleyball team (16-3, 4-2 MIAA) upset No. 3 West Texas A&M (16-3), Friday night at John Lance Arena. The 3-0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-23) win marked the Gorillas second victory over a higher ranked team in a week.
The game was as close as the scores showed, with the two teams extremely close in every statistical category. Pitt State had only four more kills than West Texas A&M and only one more dig. The biggest differences that helped seal the win for the Gorillas were four service aces, while not allowing one from the Lady Buff, and outblocking WTAMU 7.5 to 2.0.
Three Gorilla players finished the night with double figure kills. Senior Linda Igbinigie (Richardson, Texas) led the team with 12. Junior Pamela Cartagena (Bayamon, P.R.) followed with 11 and senior Sammie Williams (Blue Springs, Mo.) added 10. Cartagena finished the night with a double-double as she led all players with 19 digs. Sophomore Cassie Wilson (Pittsburg, Kan.) added 16 digs. Five different players had multiple blocks in the match. Williams, Igbinigie, sophmore Valeen Finney (Clearwater, Kan.) and senior Klaudia Grelowska (Belchatow, Poland) had three blocks a piece, while senior Lindsay Quall
West Texas A&M’s Leah Flatness led all players with 19 kills. She was the only Lady Buffs’ player with double figures in that category. Katie Rickwartz and Alyssa Bromwell each had 14 digs, while Laura Prinsen and Sara Contreras each added 10. (Topeka, Kan.) added two.

Here’s the release from Newman SID Bryan Petrotta, who is doing a heckuva job in his new role in Wichita. And when I say he’s doing a heckuva job I don’t mean like this. That’s definitely somebody who wasn’t doing a good job.

So anyways, here you go:

Nick May, Newman

Austin, Texas – Newman University’s Nick May was the individual champion at the St. Mary’s University Bruce Williams Memorial Invitational, which ended Tuesday afternoon. May shot 6-under par with a three-round total of 210.

As a team the Jets placed second with Taylor Ashpole (t17th) and Noah Smithson (t22th) also securing Top 25 finishes. Ashpole shot a 222 (+6) and Smithson finished one stroke behind for a 223 (+7).

Ed Herzog (39th, 229) and Marcus Gilmore (t40th, 230) rounded out the Newman qualifiers.

The University of Texas took the team title with two of the Top 5 finishers, including May’s main competition, Alex Moon (-3, 213).

The Jets finished ahead of Heartland Conference opponents St. Mary’s (6th), Dallas Baptist (7th), Incarnate Word (14th), and Texas A&M International (14th).

I did this by conference last week, but this time I’m going to switch it up and try by sport. FYI, Bethel and Ottawa cleaned up in the KCAC awards, ESU volleyball player Ting Liu is a stud, and the Friends University Web Site definitely needs to throw some mug shots on there.

Here it goes:

FOOTBALL

MIAA

Our state schools got shut out in the player of the week awards. Nebraska-Omaha QB Zach Miller is the man this week on the offensive side after rushing for 195 yards and three touchdowns and passing for 143 yards and two touchdowns in a 40-21 win over Missouri Southern. Hard to turn your back on Pittsburg State’s Caleb Farabi, but Miller is deserving. Defensively, Northwest Missouri LB Adam Vondrak picked up honors, and Missouri Western kicker Dustin Strickler was the Special Teams honoree.

KCAC

Ottawa quarterback Ethan Haller was the KCAC offensive player of the week after the Southern California native almost led the Braves to what would have been the upset of the season at No. 9 Friends, but came up shot. Didn’t mean he couldn’t go ahead and throw for 405 yards and three TDs. Friends defensive end Jordan Highley was the defensive player of the week with 13 tackles, four TFL and three pass-break ups in the same game.

Another Cali guy, Bethel’s Mervin Brookins, was the special teams selection this week, and deservedly so. For you Facebook-philes, here’s his page, wear he’s rocking his Threshers jersey. Nice. Athletes on Facebook and MySpace … not always a good combination, but when they’re doing the right thing I’ve found that the pages can actually be pretty interesting and give you a look inside the lives of these athletes. So it’s good and bad.

Mervin Brookins, Bethel

JAYHAWK

The Fort Scott defense is really, really scary. Linebacker Jaquain Williams has had his exploits routinely discussed in The Eagle, but look out because two of his teammates took honors from him after the Greyhounds’ win over Garden City Saturday. LB LeVonte David (12 tackles, 2 TFL, INT, 2 FF) and DL Horace Hubbard (12 tackles, 2.5 sacks) share honors this week. Who ‘dem Greyhounds?

VOLLEYBALL

MIAA

Ting Liu, Ting Liu, Ting Liu. I’ll write it three times because that’s how many times in a row the 6-foot-1 Emporia State setter has won MIAA specialist of the week honors. The No. 12-ranked Hornets (they were No. 14 last week) started MIAA play 3-0 last week in no small part because of her efforts. And she saved her best for the biggest game with 52 assists, five kills, two aces and 12 digs in a 3-1 win over No. 11 Truman State. She averaged 11.64 assists per set. Having a 6-foot-1 setter in volleyball … well that’s like having a 6-foot-9 point guard Central Missouri’s Paula Harris was the hitter of the week.

KCAC

Bethel College played a lot of volleyball this week, going 4-2 with wins over Tabor, Bethany and MidAmerica Nazarene. In the process, they picked up a lot of awards. Senior Kari Thimm was named hitter of the week, sophomore Morgan Peters was named setter of the week and Moundridge product Kristen Schrag, a senior, was named setter of the week.

Kristen Schrag, Bethel

JAYHAWK

Johnson County’s Katie O’Connor, a 5-foot-10 setter, was player of the week — no strings attached, there was just one.

SOCCER

HEARTLAND CONFERENCE

Newman’s Lashella Alexander was the Heartland Conference’s offensive player of the week after scoring

LaShella Alexander, Newman

twice in a 6-0 win at Sterling and once in a 3-1 win over conference foe Texas A&M International. Alexander, a sophomore from Amarillo, Texas, leads the Jets this season with four goals.

MIAA

Emporia State’s Tina Commons, a senior from Emporia, was named the MIAA’s defensive player of the week after her first start ever as a goalie, a 1-0 win over Missouri Western. It was the first shutout for the Hornets in MIAA play in nearly three years. Commons played as a back in a game earlier in the week. I guess she can do it all.

Central Missouri’s Sharaya Sidebottom was the MIAA offensive player of the week.

Tina Commons, ESU

KCAC

Ottawa, again. What’re they putting in the water up there? The Braves SWEEP the women’s soccer awards in the KCAC this week, with freshman Kelsey Hanna getting the nod on the offensive side, and freshman goalkeeper Lauren Peil, an Augusta product, picking up defensive honors. Peil gave up just one goal as Ottawa picked up wins over Avila (Mo.), SW Assemblies of God (Texas) and Northwood (Texas). For the record, Northwood got the goal in the third game, where I’m sure Peil was tired. Right?

Lauren Peil, Ottawa

A pair of Braves picked up the men’s awards, too: Marvin Graham on offense and Michael Mesle on defense.

CROSS COUNTRY

Heartland Conference

Newman’s Melissa Ortiz, a Wichita West product, was named the Heartland Conference’s co-runner of the week after breaking her own school record in the 5K on Saturday at the Missouri Southern Stampede, placing 28th out of 287 runners to lead the Lady Jets.

KCAC

Ottawa’s Justin Garrard and Kansas Wesleyan’s Sarah Williams were the KCAC men’s and women’s runners of the week.

-TA

To break it down, here’s what this pertains to — anything and everything to do with the KCAC, MIAA, Heart of America, and Jayhawk Conference.

Please consider this a fluid concept, too. And it’s not just for football and basketball, either, although that will definitely play a big part in it.

I’ve got a pretty good grasp of what’s going on in the state right now in this arena — but there’s always somebody or some team somewhere that’s doing something great and flying under the radar, and that’s what I’m looking for.

Here’s my e-mail: tadame@wichitaeagle.com, and here’s my office phone:316-268-6284. Feel free to call anytime.

Let’s do this!

-Tony Adame