Month: May 2014

Two Lansing state basketball champion stars sign with KCKCC

Zach Jackson, right, a 5-10 guard who averaged 14.1 points in leading unbeaten Lansing to a state championship, signs a letter of intent to attend Kansas City Kansas Community College where he’ll play for coach Kelley Newton. (KCKCC photo)
The second leading rebounding for Lansing’s Class 5A state championship team, Joe Lendway, left, was one of Kansas City Kansas Community College coach Kelly Newton’s first signees for the 2014-15 basketball season. (KCKCC photo)

by Alan Hoskins
Two standouts on this year’s Lansing undefeated state championship team have signed letters of intent to attend Kansas City Kansas Community College this fall.

Guard Zach Jackson and forward Joe Lendway who helped the Lions finish 25-0 and sweep to the Kansas Class 5A state championship are the first 2014-15 recruits announced by KCKCC head coach Kelley Newton.

“A great way to start – recruiting winners,” Newton said. “It’s always good to bring in players who are accustomed to winning. It’s important in building a program.”

Jackson and Lendway will be joining a former teammate, 6-4 forward Clay Young, who finished second in both scoring (10.0) and rebounding (5.6) for KCKCC this past season.

A 5-10 combo guard, Jackson was second in scoring with 14.1points per game along with 2.2 assists and 2.3 rebounds while the 6-5 Lendway was second in rebounding with 4.5 per game while averaging 9.4 points.

Lansing coach Rod Briggs says both Jackson and Lendway will make major contributions to the KCKCC program.

“Zach is really deceptive for 5-10 because he’s a strong and crafty player who can get inside and score while being a very good shooter from the perimeter,” Briggs said.

“Joe, I think, will just get better and better. He didn’t play much as a junior but worked very hard over the summer, taking Clay Young’s spot and really developing into becoming very important to our season. A hard worker and very coachable, he gave us a presence to our inside post game.”

Newton couldn’t agree more about the talents he’s bringing in.

“Zach brings a lot of toughness, grit and know how – a real smart player which is what attracted me to him,” Newton said. “What a lot of people didn’t know is that he led in scoring for about 80 percent of the season.

“Joe Lendway is very intriguing because he kind of flew under the radar and was one of the big reasons Lansing won the state championship. A big guy at nearly 6-6 and 220, he’s really a product of his hard work last summer. He brings a lot of intangibles that don’t show in the scorebook – the ability to score around the basket, defend and rebound.”

 

Student from KCK places in student apparel contest

Kaitlyn Knight, senior in apparel and textiles, from Kansas City, Kan., won second place in the university wool category at the Apparel, Textiles and Interior Design Student Symposium Showcase of Excellence at Kansas State University, Manhattan.

Knight, a K-State student, was one of several winners who were announced recently.

Winners of the juried exhibit and runway show were announced May 1. The apparel, textiles, and interior design department in the College of Human Ecology sponsored the event.

The exhibition included work from 25 Kansas State University students, nine Kansas high school students and eight garments by guests from Hankyong National University in South Korea. In the runway show, 46 entries by Kansas State University were students were accepted.

KCK recognized as Heart Safe Community

Kansas City, Kan., recently was recognized as a Heart Safe Community.

The Kansas City, Kan., Fire Department, the University of Kansas Hospital, and the community worked together to receive the national award and was recognized by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment on May 1 at the Unified Government Commission meeting.

About 3,000 people were trained to recognize the symptoms of a heart attack, its causes and how to prevent it, as well as how to perform hands-only CPR and early activation of the 911 system, plus hands-on use of defibrillators.

The UG placed 20 defibrillators in the court house, offices and on buses.

“Since this was instituted, this community has one of the highest rates of bystander CPR, and one of the highest rates of ventricular fibrillation survival from sudden death in the street,” said Dr. Dennis Allin of the University of Kansas Hospital, who worked with this program.

Fire Chief John Paul Jones thanked all those who helped with the program, and said since this program was launched, the use of bystander CPR here has increased from 19 percent to 32 percent.

The Fire Department and KU Hospital helped present programs throughout the community to different groups, including several schools, he said. The program is ongoing, as there is a new effort planned to train as many as 12,000 Boy Scouts and their family members at a regional Scout event to be held at the Kansas Speedway, he said.

“This will be just the beginning in an effort to expose as many people as possible to this life-saving technique,” he said.

Jones said this program is being used as a template for partnerships in other communities across the metro area.

Signs will be going up through the community designating it as a “Heart Safe Community.” The UG and KU Hospital have produced some videos on the program and how to perform hands-only CPR. One of the videos is online at YouTube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LP34tv5vVI.

“The idea we’re a leader in saving lives from heart disease and heart attacks is good news,” said UG Commissioner Hal Walker.