The Kansas State men’s golf team remains on track to qualify for its first NCAA Championship, but with zero margin for error.

With a score of 4-over-par 292 Tuesday the Wildcats held onto fifth place in the NCAA Bremerton Regional at Gold Mountain Golf Course in Bremerton, Washington. The tournament concludes Wednesday with the top five teams advancing to nationals May 23-28 in Carlsbad, California.

The 10th-seeded Wildcats, who were tied for fourth after one round, have just a one-shot cushion over sixth-place Charlotte with South Florida and Utah lurking two back at 8-under. Kansas is in 10th place at 16-over, 10 shots below the qualifying line.

K-State senior Cooper Schultz, the co-leader with Florida’s Luke Poulter at 4-under Monday, dropped into a three-way tie for sixth with an even-par 72 in the second round. Florida’s Matthew Kress tops the leaderboard heading into Wednesday’s final round at 10-under, one shot ahead of Poulter.

Kansas State men’s golf receives 10th NCAA Regional bid and third in the last four seasons

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No. 2 seed Florida is comfortably in the team lead at 25-under, followed by top seed Arizona State in second at minus-16, South Carolina at 2-under and Colorado at 1-under.

Senior Kobe Valociek turned in K-State’s best round of the day at 1-under 71, moving up 11 spots into 21st place. Ian McCrary, who shot even par on Monday, dropped to 35th overall with a second-round 76, while Nicklaus Mason is tied for 48th at 7-under after a 3-over 75 on Tuesday.

K-State will go head-to-head in a group with Colorado and Charlotte in the final round on Wednesday behind leaders Florida, Arizona State and South Carolina, which tees off first at 8 a.m. Pacific (10 a.m. central).

Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at agreen@gannett.com or on X (formerly Twitter) at @arnegreen.                          

The Kansas City Chiefs have been the kings of the mountain in the NFL for the last several years. However, they were dethroned in an embarrassing fashion by the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LIX, leading to questions about how much longer they will remain as annual big-game contenders with the rest of the league getting better around them.

Kansas City did what it usually does when it starts seeing critiques: it answered the call and made some impressive improvements to its roster during the offseason, especially through the draft, where it handled three of its biggest needs.

With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at the three ways the Chiefs improved their roster this offseason.

One of the biggest priorities for the Chiefs this offseason was finding their franchise’s left tackle. It had been a couple of years since Orlando Brown left the team and it has been a makeshift role since. With the lack of high-end talents available in free agency, general manager Brett Veach needed to hone in on the offensive tackle class with one player in mind, Ohio State’s Josh Simmons.

When healthy, Simmons was arguably the best tackle in the draft and could’ve been the No. 4 overall selection had it not been for the torn patellar tendon. Instead, he fell to the last pick of the first round, to the excitement of the Chiefs. Simmons has a chance to come in a be the missing piece on the blindside they have been needing for two years and establish himself as the long-term cornerstone at left tackle.

Simmons was the big piece of this. While it is somewhat concerning they did not drafting a guard to compete for the starting left guard spot, it seems as though the Chiefs have the utmost confidence in second-year player Kingsley Suamataia. Furthermore, Trey Smith is back on the franchise tag as the two parties look to secure an extension for one of the leagues best guards.

Long story short, the Chiefs’ offensive line is better than last year and it should certainly hold its own against some of the league’s best defensive fronts. Protecting quarterback Patrick Mahomes and giving him chances to make plays is a priority that, so far, should be deemed a success.

With the addition of Simmons, the Chiefs had an overall strong draft class. They were able to address their needs in the trenches at left tackle, interior defensive line, and edge rusher. Omarr Norman-Lott and Ashton Gillotte should find roles on the team fairly quickly this season and are slated as long-term pieces.

Depth-wise, talent was added at linebacker, cornerback, running back, and wide receiver. Wide receiver Jalen Royals and running back Brashard Smith could find themselves in bigger roles by the end of the season. Linebacker Jeffrey Bassa should see the field on passing downs, while cornerback Nohl Williams is a future starter at cornerback opposite of Trent McDuffie if he can improve his consistency.

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