FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2. 2005
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN 9A
SWIMMING
Quick finishes last time mean high expectations
BY KELLY REYNOLDS
kreynolds@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTSWRIITE
The Kansas swimming and diving team departed Lawrence Thursday for a two-day meet against Harvard and Northeastern. The meet will begin tonight at 6, and will continue Saturday evening at 6 in Cambridge, Mass.
After a successful meet at the Minnesota Invitational two weeks ago, which resulted in three broken records and several top 100 times, the Jayhawks are prepared to face a tough Harvard team, as well as a strong Northeastern team.
Kansas swimming coach Clark Campbell said the challenge would be
swimming to the same potential as the team swam at the Minnesota Invite.
"We want to see how close we can get to our Minnesota times or surpass what we did at Minnesota." Campbell said.
The Jayhawks feel great about how they are swimming at this point in the season, Campbell said.
On Wednesday, the top 100 Division 1 times in the nation were released, and Kansas had eight swimmers with top 100 individual times.
Freshman Ashley Leidigh, who was named Big 12 Conference Swimmer of the Month on Wednesday, has five individual times in the top 100. Leidigh has the top time in the country in the 100-yard butterfly. She holds the eighth place time in the 200-yard
butterfly and also ranks in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle events as well as the 100-yard backstroke event. In the past two months, Leidigh has captured both the Robinson pool record and the KU record in the 100-yard butterfly.
Also representing Kansas in the top 100 times are freshman Danielle Herrmann, freshman Molly Brammer, sophomores Terri Schramka and Lauren Bonfe, junior Jenny Short, senior co-captain Gina Gnatzig and senior Lindsey Urbatchka.
Kansas has five relays that have top 100 times. They rank in the 200, 400 and 800-yard freestyle relays as well as the 400 and 400-yard medley relays.
"It's neat when the bar is as high as it is because we have everyone reaching for a higher bar," Campbell said. "It gives permission for everyone to tap into what they have."
"We want the best athletes possible, and our recruiting class consists of the best athletes possible." Campbell said.
On Monday, Campbell announced seven new swimmers who have signed for the 2006-2007 season. He said that they would make an immediate impact in the backstroke and freestyle events.
Megan Durbin, Erin Goetz, Carrah Haley, Melissa Heyman, Ashley Robinson, Deidre Rosel and Whitney Taylor make up the seven new Kansas recruits.
Leidigh said she thought the freestyle talent of the recruiting class would succeed in filling some of the freestyle talent of the graduating senior class at the conclusion of the 2005-2006 season.
Although she's excited for the new recruiting class, Leidigh hasn't lost sight of the work cut out for the team this weekend against Harvard and Northeastern.
"Harvard is unranked, but they should be ranked," Leidigh said. "I am nervous just because there's a lot of pressure."
The Jayhawks return to Lawrence Sunday for the last week of school. Kansas will depart to Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., for its winter training trip Jan. 2-10.
— Edited by Jayme Wiley
FOOTBALL
Bowl game could reap benefits for University
BY RYAN SCHNEIDER
rschneider@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITER
For one night later this month, the eyes of the college football world will be on Kansas and its bowl opponent.
A bowl victory would be monumental for the football program, but the publicity the University will receive is equally important. For the University, athletics is a way of promoting itself across the country because it places the University in the national spotlight.
Jim Marchiony, associate athletics director, said he thought the exposure from playing a bowl game in front of a national audience would not only benefit the Athletics Department, but the University as a whole.
The publicity a team receives for playing in a bowl game could potentially lead to additional interest in the school and increased enrollment.
Kansas State University has seen its enrollment increase over the past decade, which may be credited in part to the success of its football team under former coach Bill Snyder. Snyder's teams played in 11 consecutive bowl games from 1993 to 2003.
Kansas State's 1991 spring enrollment was 18,909, and its enrollment was 23,182 this semester. In 2001 Kansas State was named one of the top 10 "trendiest schools in the nation" by Newsweek's Guidance Counselor survey. Sports Illustrated listed the school as "Futility U" 12 years earlier.
David Johnston, director of University marketing, said athletic success gave the University a way to reach prospective students and alumni across the country. "Athletics plays a major role in terms of visibility." Johnston said. "It raises the profile of the institution and helps promote the things we do on a daily basis."
While the financial gains of any bowl game help a university, the potential recruiting benefits from national television exposure are important as well.
"Bowl appearances are a way to show fans that you've got a program that is headed in the right direction," Marchchiy said. "It makes it easier to recruit good players, and I think it also has a positive influence on high school students."
Each of the three bowls, which Kansas is being considered for, pay nearly $750,000. What's left of that money, after paying for the costs of team travel, lodging and other necessities, is forwarded to the conference and split among all 12 teams.
An official announcement on Kansas' bowl future is expected after the Big 12 cConference Championship game Saturday afternoon.
Marchiony said he was unsure of where Kansas' bowl game would be played. It appears likely the team will head to the Fort Worth Bowl, with the Houston Bowl and Independence Bowl also possibilities.
This season's possible bowl appearance would be the 10th in program history. A berth in the Fort Worth Bowl would be Kansas' third bowl game played in Texas. Kansas previously competed in the Bluebonnet Bowl in 1961 and the Sun Bowl in 1975.
Kansas players selected for All-Big 12 honors
— Edited by Anne Burgard
BIG 12 FOOTBALL
Senior linebacker Nick Reid and senior defensive end Charlton Keith both received first-team All-Big 12 honors,
Players on the Kansas football team continued to receive All-Big 12 Conference honors Thursday when the Associated Press announced its yearly selections.
while junior cornerback/wide receiver Charles Gordon was named to the second team. In all, 10 Jayhawks were honored, with eight others earning honorable-mention selections.
The honorable mentions were senior linebackers Banks Floodman, Kevin Kane and Brandon Perkins, junior offensive lineman David Ochoa, freshman cornerback Aqib Talib, sophomore kicker Scott Webb and junior offensive lineman Bob Whitaker.
Kansan staff report
Upset
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10A
793 yards and eight touchdowns. Young said earlier this week during the Big 12 teleconference that there were two things he wanted to accomplish when he came to Texas.
"One of my goals when I got out of high school was to play on a national championship team and win the Heisman trophy," Young said. "Each game I have to get myself prepared mentally to play the game, and it's up to me."
This will be the second time this season the two teams will play each other. Texas won the first game at home 42-17. Brown said he expected this game to be tougher.
"We're not going to duplicate our earlier performance against Colorado because it was really hot, and we had a 17-play drive to start the game," Brown said. "I expect there to be a tremendous amount of emotion and a lot of knee-knocking in this week's game, and it will be just as emotional as the Texas
A&M game was for us last week."
Colorado enters the game with a 7-4 record and having lost its final two games of the season to Iowa State and Nebraska. After its loss last Friday to Nebraska, it appeared Colorado was out of the championship game, but Kansas defeated Iowa State one day later, putting Colorado back into the championship game.
Colorado football coach Gary Barnett missed the majority of the Kansas-Iowa State game, but he caught the most important part of it. "I was feeling a little sorry for myself from Friday," Barnett said. "When the Kansas-Iowa State game went into overtime and ISU missed that kick, I started to get a little excited. I'm sure the kids were watching and getting excited as Kansas lined up to make the winning field goal."
The game is scheduled for an 11 a.m kickoff Saturday in Reliant Stadium and will be televised on ABC.
— Edited by Nate Karlin
UCLA
The UCLA offense is run by freshman setter Nellie Spicer. She averaged 12.58 assists per game during the regular season. On the attack, the Bruins are paced by a pair of young outside hitters in freshman Kaitlin Sather and sophomore
Rachlec Johnson. Sather averages 3.88 kills per game and Johnson adds 3.15.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10A
"They're very strong on the outside, so their right side and left side players are where the majority of the sets go." Bechard said. "We'll try to identify some tendencies that they have, but at the same time we'll try to get some matchups that work for us and what we're trying to do."
— Edited by Nate Karlin
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Ticket pick-up period to begin this Monday
The third pick-up period for Kansas men's basketball tickets begins at 9 a.m. Monday, Dec. 5. Students can redeem their tickets online at the Kansas Athletics Web site, www. kuathletics.com, or at the ticket office, at the southeast corner of Allen Fieldhouse.
Games in the third pick-up period include Northern Colorado, New Orleans, Yale, Kentucky, Kansas State and Nebraska.
The pick-up period ends Wednesday, Dec. 7.
Ryan Schneider
CALENDAR
♦ Women's basketball vs. Birmingham-Southern, 6 p.m., Allen Fieldhouse
$ \downarrow $ Swimming vs. Harvard and Northeastern, 6 p.m., Cambridge, Mass.
Volleyball, NCAA Tournament vs. UCLA, 10 p.m., Los Angeles
SATURDAY
- Swimming vs. Harvard and Northeastern, 6 p.m., Cambridge, Mass.
- Women's basketball vs. New Orleans, 1 p.m., Allen Fieldhouse
- Men's basketball vs. Western Illinois; 7 p.m., Allen Fieldhouse
TUESDAY
- Men's basketball vs. Saint Joe's, Jimmy V Classic, 6 p.m., New York
WEDNESDAY
- Women's basketball vs. UMKC,
7 p.m., Allen Fieldhouse
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