Intramural basketball at Kansas State is a big-time event that brings excitement and competition for the students who participate and those who spectate.
Although the spotlight can be big for regular students participating, that is never the case for star athlete Dalton Risner, junior in communication studies and the starting offensive tackle for K-State’s football team.
“I love intramurals,” Risner said. “As a football player, they are a nice outlet to go work out and get away from my daily routine. I am a very competitive person, so playing intramural basketball lets me compete at a game I love. It was a blast playing basketball with my teammates and friends outside of football. I enjoyed the wins and the losses. It was a great experience, like all the other years I have been a part of.”
Some of Risner’s teammates, Zach Reuter, junior in biochemistry, and Kaeson Risner, freshman in business administration and Dalton’s brother, also spoke about how they enjoyed intramural basketball.
“I felt like it was a great event to be a part of, and it was fun to be on the court with my teammates,” Reuter said. “I had a great experience with intramural basketball. It was my first one and it exceeded my expectations.”
In this year’s intramural basketball season, Dalton Risner led his team all the way to the championship game, making this his first appearance in the season finale for intramurals.
“It was awesome,” Dalton Risner said. “Ever since I started playing intramural basketball I have wanted to make it to the championship. It sounds silly but I never thought I would make it to that game, it is competitive … We had a heck of a ride to get to the championship, and worked real hard on top of our football workouts.”
While Risner was upset his team did not win the championship, he was proud of what his team accomplished.
“In the end, it was all fun and games,” Risner said.
