Good morning! If you’re wondering what leaving a legacy looks like in college sports, look no further than Wichita State’s own Sydney McKinney. Setting school record after school record, she will forever be remembered as a member of our Shocker family. Thanks for all the memories, legend!

What else are we tossing into today’s Brew?

⚾️ Early Risers
📝 Letter From The AD
​🌾 And much, much more!

📈 STOCK UP

🔼 Seeking More. After an eventful couple of days at the NCAA West Preliminaries, the Shockers have some athletes that will have a chance at making it to the NCAA Championships. Yuben Goncalves qualified for today’s 400 meter quarterfinal after finishing fourth in his heat and 19th overall. He finished the race with a time of 51.13 seconds, just .02 seconds off of his personal best.

Day Three continues later on today where we will see Shocker student-athletes take place in the discus, high jump. 3,000 meter steeplechase, triple jump and the quarterfinals of the 400-meter hurdles.

🔼 Early Risers. The AAC Tournament has come to a close for the Shockers after a narrow one-run defeat to Houston early yesterday morning. WSU closed the season at a 30-25 record.

After being held to just one hit through eight innings, the Shockers came alive in the top of the ninth when they needed it most. Down four, they opened up with consecutive singles from Chuck Ingram and Brock Rodden to breathe some life in the lineup. The next at-bat, Garrett Pennington blasted one to deep left to score all three runs to make it a one score game. The Shockers could not come up with another run however.

Starter Payton Tolle put together a solid performance from the mound with a pair of strikeouts and allowed just four hits. Robert Cranz and Nate Snead helped close out the game and surrendered a combined two earned runs in what was a solid outing for the group. The season more than likely comes to an end, but what a ride it was. No need to hang any heads because this group was a special one.

🔼 Letter From The AD. Wichita State’s AD, Kevin Saal, addressed Shocker Nation, and talked through a semester that saw a lot of victories for the program, and his anticipation for the future.

In his letter, Saal talks through the record-breaking GPA set by the student-athletes (more on that in a sec), WSU’s newest basketball head coaches, Shocker softball success, and of course, the AAC title that our men’s track and field team earned. Read all about what he had to say about the state of athletics at Wichita State here.

🔼 Turning Pro. The Shockers very own Zoe Jones is headed to the majors. Jones was signed to the Florida Vibe out of the American Collegiate League to join the forces of other premier softball talent all across the country. She will be reuniting with Shocker alum Naleigh Herring who was picked up by the Vibe after last season. Show them what you got #4!

🤔 SHOCKER TRIVIA

Race Week. As you know, the Shockers have spent a majority of the week trying to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships, and later today, we will soon find out who will get an opportunity to bring some hardware back to Wichita.

The question today—do you know which event the Shockers had the most athletes attempting to qualify for a trip to the championship?

Think you got it? Scroll on down to the bottom of this email for the answer!

🌾 ONE BIG THING

Records are meant to be broken, and this year, our student-athletes busted one out of the water. This semester, our Shockers achieved a school record 3.406 GPA, the highest in school history.

Back in August, the school set together a list of objectives for the next five years: achieve a department wide 3.0 GPA all 10 semesters, achieve a department wide 3.30 GPA five out of ten semesters, and break 3.40 once in the next five years. WSU accomplished all of those this past Spring. Of the 198 student-athletes, 45 accomplished a 4.0 GPA and more than half made the Dean’s List. What a way to cap off a great athletic calendar year!

📬 STICK WITH US

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📅 THE WEEKEND AHEAD

Friday 5/26

👟 Track and Field at NCAA West Preliminaries in Sacramento, CA | Watch

Saturday 5/27

👟 Track and Field at NCAA West Preliminaries in Sacramento, CA | Watch

Sunday 5/28

No scheduled events

🎉 TRIVIA ANSWER

Answer: 400 meter hurdles!

Three WSU student-athletes participated in the 400 meter hurdles including Yuben Goncalves, Toby Penner, and Bryan Haney. Goncalves will race later today for a shot at a championship, Penner wrapped up his career with a 31st place finish, and freshman Bryan Haney will come back next year after finishing his season with a race time of 53.13 seconds.

Have a great weekend, y’all.