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Senior signs on to be a Wildcat

By Shawn Linenberger - | May 30, 2007

Every Pistora a Wildcat.

Tonganoxie High standout Ali Pistora will be following her brother, Zack, to Kansas State this fall. Zack, a journalism student who covers K-State athletics, will be a sophomore next year.

Ali’s older brother just might be covering her next season.

The younger sibling signed a national letter of intent last week to throw javelin at K-State.

She also considered throwing javelin at Oklahoma in Norman, Okla. She made recruiting visits to both campuses, but in the end, the trip west on Interstate-70 to Manhattan sealed the deal.

“K-State kind of topped Oklahoma after that,” Pistora said.

The recent THS graduate said she was impressed with KSU track coach Steve Fritz and liked the idea of reuniting with her brother for her college years.

“I liked the coach there and my brother went there, so it was just home now,” Pistora explained.

Pistora, a high school standout in volleyball, basketball and track, will follow in the footsteps of other former Kansas Class 4A athletes who competed at K-State — Marysville’s Kendra Wecker and Clay Center’s Nicole Ohlde. Both now play basketball in the WNBA. Wecker, like Pistora, was a record-setting javelin thrower in high school. Wecker also threw javelin at K-State, but later dropped the sport so she could concentrate on basketball for the Wildcats.

Although Pistora also was a standout in volleyball and basketball, she opted not to pursue those sports. She will focus completely on track at KSU.

“I can do my sport, but still be a kid,” Pistora said.

Pistora actually grew up rooting for the Jayhawks since the Kansas University campus is close in proximity to Tonganoxie.

Now, though, she’ll be pledging her allegiance to the purple and white of Kansas State.

While at THS, Pistora assembled an impressive career for the Chieftains. She was a major contributor to two state tournament basketball teams her sophomore and senior seasons. She also competed on volleyball teams that finished runner-up in sub-state each of her four years at Tonganoxie. Most recently, she concluded her track career with a second-place finish in the javelin at the state track meet in Wichita. She placed in the javelin every year at state, taking fourth as a freshman, third as a sophomore and second as a junior before snagging a silver again this season.

At K-State, Pistora plans to major in kinesiology with hopes of having a career in physical therapy.