Each week during the University of Kansas’ winter and spring sports seasons, the Journal-World staff will select one athlete from a KU men’s sports team and one from a women’s sports team as athletes of the week.
For the week of Feb. 24-March 2, the selections are Clayton Simms and Ava Wallace.
Clayton Simms, track and field
For the second year in a row, Simms is the Big 12’s indoor pole vault champion. The senior from Watson, Louisiana, is headed to NCAA nationals once again, having cleared a season-best mark of 5.61 meters on Saturday. He was closely followed by runner-up Bryce Barkdull, a freshman from Andover who made it to 5.51.
Ava Wallace, softball
The freshman from Rockwall, Texas, who has been starting in left field for the Jayhawks, hit the first two home runs of her career in consecutive at-bats of KU’s 23-0 run-rule victory over East Texas A&M on Saturday afternoon. She continued a hot start at the plate by going 4-for-9 with nine RBIs overall in four games played between Friday and Saturday at the Oklahoma Tournament at Love’s Field.
