RCW: Faces in the Crowd 3.18

Each week in Rock Chalk Weekly, the top Kansas Jayhawk performances are recognized as Faces in the Crowd. Get to know last week’s stars, including information on their latest accomplishments and a link to their full bio.
 

ANASTASIA RYCHAGOVA
Tennis | Sophomore | Moscow, Russia
Bio Full Bio

Collectively, the Jayhawks had a lot of success at the Hawaii Spring Invitational as they compiled a 21-6 combined record against Hawaii and Washington State. Rychagova, the 2016 Big 12 Freshman of the Year, led the way for the Jayhawks. She finished the event as the only Kansas player to post an undefeated singles mark, which included a win over the No. 119 ranked player, Petra Melounova of Hawaii.  Rychagova only needed six sets to claim the three wins and improved her season mark to 4-1 against ranked singles players. The Kansas sophomore also teamed with Janet Koch to post a 2-1 doubles record over the three-day event.
 

PIA PAVLIC
Swimming | Senior | Medvode, Slovenia
Bio Full Bio

Pavlic had an impressive weekend for the Jayhawks in California. The Medvode, Slovenia native helped KU win the University of San Diego Shootout (1/7) by winning the 50-yard butterfly and swimming the fastest third leg of the meet in the 400-yard medley relay to propel the Jayhawks to a second-place finish in the event. In the 50 fly, Pavlic finished second overall in the preliminary round with a time of 26.40 to advance to the semifinals. In the semis, she posted a slightly faster time at 26.36 to finish second again and advance to the final round. Pavlic didn’t hold anything back in the finals, posting a time of 25.91 for a first-place finish, edging out USD’s Dani Taylor by one-hundredth of a second for the thrilling victory and a big five points for the Jayhawks. 

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FRANK MASON III
Basketball | Senior | Petersburg, Virginia
Bio Full Bio

The Big 12 Conference scoring average leader (19.9 ppg.) led the No. 3-ranked Jayhawks to a pair of league victories with a 90-88 win over Kansas State and an 85-68 defeat of Texas Tech. Over the two games, Mason paced the Jayhawks with 20.5 points per game. Mason’s scoring efforts were powered by his 3-point accuracy, as he shot a combined 77.8 percent from beyond the arc on an impressive 10-for-13 mark. The 5-foot-11 senior also added 4.0 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game for the week. He led all scorers against Texas Tech by dropping 26 points on the Red Raiders. During the game, Mason shot 6-for-11 from the field, including 3-for-4 on treys, and 11-of-12 from the free throw line. The 20-point effort marked his eighth of the season and his second in the last three games.

 

NICK MAESTRETTI
Men’s Track & Field | Senior | Minden, Nevada

Bio Full Bio

Maestretti continued the Kansas vaulters’ recent dominance in meets held inside Anschutz Pavilion as he claimed the top collegiate finish at the 2017 Bill Easton Classic. Although he was the only Jayhawk to not turn in an indoor personal best, he was perfect through his first three bars of the competition before needing all three tries to get over 5.24 meters (17-2¼). He then topped the bar set at 5.34 meters (17-6¼) on his first attempt, a feat that would eventually earn him the runner-up finish overall. His teammates, Nick Meyer and Paulo Benavides, also cleared 5.34 meters at the event, and as a result, all three rank No. 1 on the national pole vault chart.
  

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