2B THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPORTS
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2005
WOMEN'S GOLE
Jayhawks up to par
Senior Pryor wins Battle at the Lake
BY MARK DENT
mdent@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTWRITER
Senior golfer Chelsey Pryor won the individual title Tuesday at the Oral Roberts Battle at the Lake in Tulsa, Okla. The Jayhawks finished second as a team.
Pryor shot two rounds of 74 on Monday and shot 78 in the final round to finish with a three-round total of 226. She led throughout the entire tournament.
"We wanted to win this tournament," Kansas women's golf coach Erin O'Neil said. "However, I think we learned a lot from this that we can use throughout the season. I am very proud of Chelsey. It is tough to go into the last day and hold on to the lead, and she was able to do that."
Junior Amanda Costner backed up her strong third-place individual performance at the Ptarmigan Ram Fall Classic in Fort Collins, Colo., with a seventh place individual finish in Oklahoma. Costner shot an opening round 80, but recovered by shooting consecutive rounds of 75 to finish with a 230 three-round total.
Sophomore Annie Giangrosso was behind Costner in the standings. Giangrosso posted identical first- and second-round scores to Costner, but shot a 76 in the final round to finish ninth individually.
Junior Jill Womble finished 18th, and senior Meredith Winkelmann finished 52nd. Kansas finished with a team score of 919.
Rounding out the top five were University of Texas-El Paso, Arkansas-Little Rock, and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
In the second round, the Jayhawks shot a team score of a 298, which was the lowest one-
round score for any team in the tournament. It was not enough to hold off Oral Roberts, which took home the championship at its own tournament.
Kansas was down by only one stroke heading into the third round. Oral Roberts held on by outshooting the Jayhawks by the count of 304 to 309.
Christy Carter led Oral Roberts and finished second individually.
Vividly.
Other top individuals included University of Texas-El Paso's Gerina Mendoza, Texas Pan-American's Stefanie Maynard and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi's Mary Betancourt, who all tied for third.
Although the Jayhawks did not come home with the title, O'Neil said she was pleased overall with the performance and strategy on the golf course.
Kansas will try to repeat its successful strategy Oct. 10 and 11 at the Marilynn Smith Sunflower Invitational in Manhattan.
Edited by Becca Evanhoe
INTRAMURALS
BY HEATHER RIFFEL
griffel@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTWRITER
All-Stars advance in football playoffs
The All-Stars moved on to the next round of the men's intramural flag football playoffs after a 13-7 victory against Team Brian Gaul on Monday.
Both teams had slow offensive starts and could not convert their drives into points.
Team Brian Gaul answered with a quick touchdown when Brian Gaul, Troy senior, threw the ball to Josh Engemann, Troy junior. Gaul connected with Engemann again for the extra point.
The All-Stars were the first to score when Landon Lukens, Medicine Lodge sophomore, ran the ball in for a touchdown. This was followed by an extra point when Lukens' pass was caught by Brandon Wise, Hutchison junior.
The momentum stuck with Team Brian Gaul on its next defensive series. On the All-Stars' next possession, Dustin Brake,
Salina senior, intercepted an All-Stars' pass.
But the offensive struggles continued. Team Brian Gaul was not able to score before halftime. Lukens credited his team's defensive effort for holding Team Brian Gaul before the half.
The second half produced the same offensive struggles as the first half.
Halfway through the second half, Gaul had a pass intercepted by Lukens, but the All-Stars quickly turned the ball over on downs.
On Team Brian Gaul's next drive, Gaul's pass was knocked into the arms of the All-Stars' Jimmy Shelite, Medicine Lodge junior. Shelite returned the pass for a touchdown to seal the game.
"Fortune favors the bold," Shelite said during the All-Stars' victory celebration.
Time ran out before Team Brian Gaul could score on its next drive.
Edited by Alison Peterson
NHU
'The Great One' drops puck on coaching career
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Marcio Jose Sanchez/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Phoenix Coyotes coach Wayne Gretzky watches the game against the San Jose Sharks as Brett Hull, right, prepares to enter in the second period Friday in San Jose, Calif. For 21 days, he has been "Coach Gretzky." The greatest player to don skates was lured to the job by a love of the game.
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Wayne Gretzky was lured to coaching by the most basic reason: a love of the game.
Hockey's greatest player knows his Phoenix Coyotes are not blessed with his skills. But, on the eve of his regular-season debut as an NHL coach, he insists he has the patience and drive to build a winner.
"When you're playing, there's nothing like it," Gretzky said Tuesday in an interview with The Associated Press. "You know you can go out there and affect the outcome of the game each and every night. Now the effect I can have on the game is very different, but the passion I have to help this team win is still the same I had as a player."
All 30 NHL teams will play Wednesday night, marking a return of a sport that lay dormant during a year of labor strife. The Coyotes play at Vancouver, a fitting location for Gretzky's debut, because in Canada his fame is virtually without limits.
Phoenix captain Shane Doan grew up in Alberta during Gretzky's great years with Edmonton.
"In America, nobody has any idea what Wayne is," Doan said. "If you took Michael Jordan, Shaquille O'Neal, Derek Jeter, Brett Favre and kind of put them all into one, that type of following would almost be the same as what Wayne has in Canada."
Brett Hull, who at 41 is the NHL's No. 3 career scorer behind Gretzky and Gordie Howe, signed with Phoenix because he knew Gretzky was going to be the coach.
"There's no one more competitive," Hull said. "He's the ultimate champion and competitor. He's going to have to really fight that when things don't go as great as he wants them to. I think it's going to help us players to have that. He's not going to settle for people going through the motions or not executing."
Coyotes general manager Mike Barnett is Gretzky's former agent and has known him for 25 years. When Gretzky was still playing, Barnett said, the two were in Indianapolis for a
charity appearance and attended a Pacers game where Larry Bird was coaching.
On the plane ride out of town, Gretzky spoke of how he admired Bird's style.
"He said. `You know I really like the way Larry Bird's team plays and I like the way he's coaching that team. It's playing the game the way he played it.'" Barnett recalled. "He said, 'That might be something when I retire I would consider doing.'"
Gretzky became a part-owner of the Coyotes, and Barnett reminded him of that conversation when talk turned to finding a new coach following the 2003-04 season. The NHL lockout ensued and months went by before Gretzky told Barnett he would take the job.
"From that day on, I haven't seen him as recharged and excited since he retired," Barnett said.
Gretzky said he simply missed the game.
"I think that everybody has to have a purpose in life," he said. "My enjoyment of so-called working was to be around hockey. The closest thing to being a player is to be able to coach. It has been as enjoyable as I thought it would be. It's an experience that I've relished."
"We've got a lot of work to do and there's a lot of tough days ahead, but everybody's on the same page."
"I think every individual athlete is unique, whether it be Larry Bird, John McEnroe or Wayne Gretzky," he said. "There's something unique about each part of their athleticism. I understood the basics of the team concept, how much you have to respect your opposition and how much you have to respect and rely on your teammates. That's what I'm trying to teach my players."
He knows that he can't expect players to perform at the level he set for himself.
He wants an up-tempo, aggressive style on offense with discipline on defense.
"No matter how exciting your team is, no matter how much fun it is to watch or how many goals you score, if you can't keep the puck out of your goal and your team is not disciplined defensively, then you're not successful." Gretzky said.
"I came from one of the most powerful offensive hockey teams maybe ever, and yet when it came playoff time, we knew we were going to have to win a 2-1 game and we were responsible for it."
Gretzky said he played for all kinds of coaches, ones who shouted and others who were "more mellow and quieter."
"As a player, the one thing you wanted was to be treated like a man," he said. "If you're treated like a man, you react like a man. That's what I told my players. I'm not a guy who has a lot of rules. My rules are pretty simple and basic, something we can all live with."
"But I expect everyone to be on time and show up and prepare and work hard every day."
Barnett said the only time he saw Gretzky get upset with teammates was when he thought they weren't trying.
"Our players, if the effort isn't there, will see a much different side to Wayne Gretzky than the gentleman the public knows," Barnett said. "He'll have no problem doing that."
As a kid, Gretzky skated around bleach bottles filled with ice on the rink his dad built in the backyard. There he nurtured the passion for the sport he later dominated with style and grace, and he wants young players to realize that.
"All in all, it should be the best time of their lives to show up at this rink," he said. "I want them to enjoy it, but I want them to understand that the harder they work and the more they win, the more they're going to enjoy it."
ATHLETICS CALENDAR
Volleyball vs. Kansas State, 7 p.m.
Honorai Family Athletics Center
TODAY
FRIDAY
FRIEDAY
+ Soccer vs. Oklahoma State, 4 p.m.
Jayhawk Soccer Complex
SATURDAY
Football at Kansas State, 11 a.m., Manhattan
Swimming vs. Minnesota, 2 p.m.
Robinson Natatorium
Volleyball vs. Nebraska, 7 p.m.
Honolulu Family Athletics Center
SUNDAY
MONDAY
♦ Softball vs. Johnson County Community College, 2 p.m., Arrocha Ballpark
♦ Softball vs. Missouri Western, 2
p.m., Arrocha Ballpark
Soccer vs. Oklahoma, 1 p.m., Jayhawk Soccer Complex
- Women's golf, Marilynn Smith Sunflower Invitational, all day, Manhattan
MLB
Detroit gets new manager
BY LARRY LAGE
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
DETROIT — Jim Leyland's baseball career has come full circle.
The Detroit Tigers hired Leyland on Tuesday as their manager to replace Alan Trammell, fired a day earlier after three seasons.
The 60-year-old Leyland started his baseball career as a catcher in the low minors for the Tigers. He guided the Florida Marlins to the 1997 World Series championship, but has not managed since 1999 with Colorado.
"That passion that Jim Leyland has had throughout his career is back within him to manage." Tigers president and general manager Dave Dombrowski said. "The decision to name one of the top managers in the game of baseball in recent time, to bring him back to this organization, is a very big day for our franchise."
In an interview with The Associated Press earlier Tuesday, Trammell said he thought Leyland was a good choice to replace him.
"He has ties with the Tigers. He was there when I signed," Trammell said. "Whether I'm there or not, I'll always be a Tiger, and I'll always root for the Tigers, because I'm a part of their history, and I'm proud of that."
As a three-sport prep star in Perrysburg, Ohio, Leyland grew up in the middle of Detroit-Cleveland territory. His first 18 years in professional baseball were in the Tigers' farm system — six as a player, one as a coach and 11 as a manager.
"I was a Tigers fan growing up because I was a little closer, 90 miles west of Cleveland and 50 or 60 south of Detroit." Leyland said in 1997.
He was beaten out for Philadelphia's managerial job by Charlie Manuel last winter. He has said he wanted to manage again close to his Pittsburgh home.
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