Baseball takes the title at 14th annual JayRock

LAWRENCE, Kan. – The Kansas baseball team took home bragging rights at the 14th annual JayRock Variety Show, avenging a disappointing loss from a year ago. This year’s theme for the variety show was “Lip Sync Battle” and teams brought the heat with great performances across the board.

Put on by KU LEADS and the Kansas Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, a penny wars competition preceded the show, with all proceeds going to the Boys & Girls Club of Lawrence. In total, the Kansas student-athletes raised $750 to give to the organization.

The KU baseball players wowed the audience with an eclectic lip sync medley that started with Katy Perry’s 2010 hit single “California Gurls” and weaved its way through multiple genres with clips of the ever-popular kids’ song “Baby Shark,” Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s “Shallow” from the 2018 box office hit “A Star Is Born,” and ended with Alicia Keys’ “Empire State of Mind” and *NSYNC’s “Bye, Bye, Bye.”

Football Fans Waving the Wheat

Splitting the votes for second place were the KU softball and swimming & diving teams. Softball opened with Shania Twain’s “I Feel Like A Woman” and transitioned into Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” and the famous Spice Girls song “Wannabe” before transitioning into Carrie Underwood’s “Before He Cheats” and Ariana Grande’s “thank u, next” to close their performance. Swimming & diving put on a medley of Queen hits, with all members of the team donning Freddie Mercury’s classic wardrobe look – a white tee and black bottoms. Many also wore fake mustaches to impersonate the late singer’s unforgettable look.

Rounding out the awards for the night was the 2018 JayRock champions, the track & field team. Opening with “(I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life” by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes and a dance scene straight out of the 1987 movie “Dirty Dancing,” the student-athletes moved on to songs by Beyoncé, Kelis, Rihanna and Lil Mama to get the crowd cheering.

The night’s emcee – Voice of the Jayhawks Brian Hanni – started the evening by introducing a special act; a group of kids from the Boys & Girls Club who put on an amazing performance of songs by rapper Emenim. The act earned a standing ovation and would have undoubtedly taken home the JayRock title, but the award is reserved for a KU Athletics team only.

Since its inception in 2006, JayRock has gained momentum as one of the best things about being a Jayhawk.