Big 12

‘Squid Mom’ Represents K-State on Netflix

Revered as the first fully-scholarshipped women's basketball player in Kansas State history and admired for her silky-smooth shot, LeAnn Wilcox Plutnicki was known as Contestant 302 in late January 2022. Yes, nearly one year has passed since the 65-year-old retired New York Times editor joined her only son, Trey, 26, in London to partake in the most taxing challenge of their lives. It was a game, yes, but it was more than a game. It was a quest, it was a battle against self, a race against time, a mental, physical, emotional and spiritual undertaking so great that tears couldn't help but spill as the hourglass emptied amid hands-on-knees exhaustion.