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"I'm thrilled for Dakota Smith to be able to sign a professional contract with the Boston Red Sox organization," Kansas head coach Ritch Price said. "Smith had an outstanding career at KU as an outfielder, and I want to personally say 'thank you' to Phil Warren and the Gateway Grizzlies for giving him an opportunity to make the transition to the mound. He has a big league arm, and I wish him the very best in chasing his dream of becoming a big league pitcher."
 
Smith leaves the Grizzlies after compiling a 2-1 record and 2.25 ERA in 40 innings pitched in 2016. He struck out 42 batters, walked eight and allowed 23 hits. He signed with Gateway on June 21, 2015, after completing his senior season with the Jayhawks.
 
The Leavenworth, Kansas, native was a four-year starter for KU in the outfield and a career .280 hitter with 12 home runs and 126 RBIs in 194 games played. He appeared in 19 games for Kansas out of the bullpen during his career posting a 1-2 record with a 3.67 ERA.
 

                                                                                                                                            

LV native first female combat arms officer commissioned at KU

• By Leavenworth Times staff report

  Posted Jun. 3, 2014 at 4:21 PM 

  Lansing, Leavenworth, Leavenworth County

  
  
  
  The University of Kansas ROTC has commissioned its first female field artillery officer, and it's a name some local residents may recognize.

   

  Madeline Wilcox, of Leavenworth, was commissioned in late May, following Pentagon orders last year to open combat-arms branches to women across all military services.

   

  "Cadet Wilcox's selection to field artillery was a surprise to her and us, but as the Army moves to put females into combat arms, Cadet Wilcox has great potential to do well," said Lt. Col. Storm Reynolds, military science professor, in a news release.

   

  Wilcox joined Army ROTC in 2010, during the spring semester of her freshman year at KU. She has graduated from KU with a political science degree."I am very excited for the start of my Army career," she said in the release. "Being branched in a combat arms branch, especially with being the first female to do so from KU, is something I'm proud of. "But even more so, I think this shows a very good trend towards where the Army is heading in the further integration of women.

   

  "Wilcox graduated as a distinguished military graduate, a distinction for being in the top 20 percent of graduating ROTC cadets across 273 programs in the U.S.She was also part of roughly 1,000 cadets to earn an overall excellent grade during 2013's Leadership Development and Assessment Course in Fort Lewis, Wash.U.S. Army combat arms branches include infantry, armor, field artillery and air defense artillery. Field artillery and air defense artillery are the two combat branches open to female officers.

   

  Following graduation and commissioning, Wilcox is slated to attend the Field Artillery Basic Officer's Leadership Course, a five-month follow-up on training for new lieutenants in Fort Sill, Okla.

Recognized in Oklahoma and nationally as a geographic education advocate, Glenda B. Sullivan was named Lawton Teacher of the Year in 1996, and was the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence Medal Winner for Secondary Education in 1995. A classroom teacher of more than 27 years, Mrs. Sullivan is known for employing applied research in her “teach-the-teacher” workshops and programs she coordinates for the Oklahoma Alliance for Geographic Education (OKAGE). Because her husband was in the military, 16 years were spent in Oklahoma, primarily in Lawton Public Schools until she retired in 2001, but she has also taught in schools in Germany (Department of Defense), Kansas, Missouri and Texas. In 2010, Mrs. Sullivan was presented the Outstanding Support for Geography Education Award by the National Council for Geographic Education.