Month: May 2018

KCKCC golfers make final cut, place 14th in national

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC

One of 15 teams to make an unexpected cut in the 2018 NJCAA Division II national golf tournament, Kansas City Kansas Community College moved up to finish in 14th place.

The tournament played at GlenLakes Golf Club in Foley, Alabama, was marred by bad weather each of the final three days and came at the worst times for KCKCC. On both Tuesday and Wednesday, the tournament had lengthy delays as the Blue Devils were three holes from finishing.

After a fast start on Wednesday, the Blue Devils slipped to 15th place before surging past Grand Rapids into 14th Thursday.

“We were only two over after the front nine Wednesday only to have the last three holes get us again,,” said KCKCC coach Gary Shrader, whose Blue Devils lost 21 strokes to par on the back nine and finished with a 311 total. “We had the same problem two days in a row. We had to go back out and just didn’t have it.” The Blue Devils had a 310 finishing round Thursday.

The third round Wednesday was stopped twice because of rain and lightning and almost missed completion.

“They finished in the dark with car lights on the last hole,” Shrader said. “They had two groups to finish so volunteers pulled up their cars and they played the last hole with car lights.”

With more rain forecast for Thursday’s final round, the tournament field was cut in half with the top 15 teams finishing four rounds, the rest of the field heading home. It proved to be the right move. Thursday’s round had a two-hour early afternoon delay because of lightning and rain.

Two Blue Devils, sophomores Micah Morris and Bobby Armstrong, tied for 55th place with 18-over par 306 totals. Morris had rounds of 71, 77, 75 and 83; Armstrong 74, 77, 79 and 76. Freshman Evin Wheaton tied for 76th with a 75-84-78-79-316; frosh Zach Miller was 82nd (85-84-83-77-321) and sophomore Trevor Bauer 88th (85-77-85-82-329).

“We didn’t play as well as we’re capable,” Shrader said. “We got out of contention and I think we started to try to take chances and make birdies and it didn’t work.”

The one team Thursday’s two-hour delay didn’t bother was Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, which shot a spectacular 9-under par final round and claim the Bulldogs first ever team championship. The 279 enabled Mississippi Gulf Coast to finish at 2-under par and one shot ahead of conference rival Meridian Community College. Parkland finished third at 1-over and South Mountain fourth at 2-over.
South Mountain‘s Leon D’Souza shot a final round 3-under par 69 to finish 8-under for the tournament and a shot ahead of teammate Jeffrey Miller.

SUV-semi accident reported on wet highway

An injury-accident was reported on wet roadways at 4:47 a.m. Friday, May 25, on I-70 westbound in Kansas City, Kansas, according to a Kansas Highway Patrol trooper’s report.

The accident was near the 57th Street exit.

A Ford sport utility vehicle was passing a semi on the left when the SUV lost control on the wet roadway and struck the rear driver side corner of the semi, according to the trooper’s report. Then the SUV struck the barrier wall and came to a rest, the report stated.

The driver of the SUV, a 23-year-old woman from Holcomb, Kansas, had a possible injury and was taken to a hospital, according to the trooper’s report.

The driver of the semi, a 42-year-old man from Kansas City, Kansas, was not injured, the report stated.

Humid, hot weather continues today

Heavy rains fell overnight, with showers and thunderstorms possible across the region today, according to the National Weather Service.

A few storms may be briefly strong during the afternoon and evening hours with marginally severe hail and strong gusty winds under 50 mph, the weather service said. In addition, locally heavy rain will be possible with any storms that develop over the region.

Today’s high will be near 88 with a southwest wind of 7 mph, the weather service said. More rain is possible today.

Tonight, there is a 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before midnight, according to the weather service. The low will be near 69 with a south southwest wind of 3 to 6 mph.

Saturday, the high will be near 93 with sunny skies, the weather service said. The heat index could rise to 97, with a southwest wind of 3 to 6 mph.

Saturday night, there will be a low of 70 with a south southwest wind of 3 to 5 mph, according to the weather service.

Sunday, the high will be 94 with sunny skies and a south wind of 3 to 7 mph, the weather service said.

Sunday night, expect a low of 71 with mostly clear skies, according to the weather service.

Memorial Day, Monday, the high will be 91 with mostly sunny skies, the weather service said.

Monday night, the low will be around 71 with partly cloudy skies, according to the weather service.

Tuesday, skies will be mostly sunny with a high near 90, the weather service said.

Tuesday night, the low will be around 69 with partly cloudy skies, according to the weather service.

Wednesday, it will be mostly sunny with a high near 90, the weather service said.

Wednesday night, there is a 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, with a low of 70, according to the weather service.

Thursday, it will be mostly sunny with a high near 90, the weather service said.

For updated weather information, visit www.weather.gov.