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 May 19-25, the selections are Brady Ballinger and Laura Teska.
Brady Ballinger, baseball
The sophomore first baseman from Las Vegas was named a first-team All-Big 12 selection early in the week and later to the Big 12 Championship All-Tournament Team, in the latter case largely on the strength of his performance on Thursday night against Oklahoma State. Ballinger sprayed an RBI double that put the Jayhawks ahead in the first inning, then in the seventh, with KU trailing 6-3, he hit a two-out three-run home run as KU eventually went on to win 7-6 on a walk-off bloop single by Mike Koszewski.
Laura Teska, rowing
A Lawrence native and four-year member of the rowing team, Teska recently earned the title of Big 12 co-scholar athlete of the year for her sport for the second year in a row. Prior to Teska, a Jayhawk had not received the award for 11 years. Teska graduated with a 3.99 GPA and a degree in molecular, cellular and developmental biology and plans to spend the summer serving as a naval optometrist.
