Kansas Wesleyan college files police report after discovery, Lindsborg chief confirms
Lindsborg police are investigating after Kansas Wesleyan University filed a police report that a foreign substance had been found in its baseball team’s water cooler during a rivalry game against Bethany College, chief Michael Davis said Tuesday morning.
“We are looking into it and both schools are cooperating with us,” Davis said, adding his police department had a lot of people to interview and it would be a “lengthy process to look into everything.”
The Kansas Wesleyan baseball team accused Bethany of putting paint thinner in its water coolers for a Sunday doubleheader played in Lindsborg. A picture posted by the KWU Barstool account with the allegations of the water cooler tampering was widely circulated on Monday.
Davis said Kansas Wesleyan filed a police report Monday. He said it’s typical that home teams — which would have been Bethany — provide water for the away teams, though he wouldn’t confirm if that’s what happened here.
Both schools are investigating the incident.
Bethany athletic director Laura Moreno confirmed the investigation to The Associated Press and declined to comment further, while Kansas Wesleyan athletic director Steve Wilson also confirmed his own school’s investigation to The Eagle on Monday.
“We are currently conducting a thorough, in-depth review of this situation, with the priority of putting the health and safety of our student-athletes first,” Wilson texted The Eagle.
The schools are both part of the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference. KCAC commissioner Scott Crawford also told The Eagle that their concern is the health of student-athletes.
“I’ve talked to both schools and we’re just trying to figure out what actually happened,” Crawford said. “We are most concerned about the health and welfare of the student-athletes, the coaches and anyone who might have potentially drank some of that water.”
Bethany College won the first game of the doubleheader, 8-7, before Kansas Wesleyan set a school record for runs scored in a game in a 33-2 victory.
This story was originally published April 26, 2022 at 10:25 AM.