2B
Monday, January 30,1995
SPORTS
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Women's swimming cleans up against Iowa State, Arkansas
Senior swimmers win their last races
By Tom Erickson Kansan sportswriter
The Kansas women's swimming team said goodbye to its four seniors in a ceremony before its meet with Iowa State and Arkansas on Saturday.
Then, three of the honorees returned the favor with first-place finishes, lifting the No. 23 Jayhawks to a 166-120 win against the Cyclones and a 169.5-121.5 thrashing of the Razorbacks.
Kansas seniors Kristen Carlson, Ronda Lusty and Heather Switzer all won events. Carlson won the 200-yard backstroke. Lusty took the 50-yard freestyle and senior Heather Switzer was first in the 500-yard freestyle.
Senior diver Erika Rasmusson placed seventh in the one-meter event and eighth on the three-meter board in her final meet at Robinson Natatorium.
events. Her score of 286.400 on the one-meter board broke her previous school record set in Minnesota and bested the Robinson pool record of 273.67 set by Nebraska's Amy Aarsen in 1988.
Kansas coach Gary Kempf said the meet had been a fitting end for the seniors.
"The nicest part of the meet is that the three senior swimmers all won individual events at their last home dual meet," he said. "I think that's real special for me to see them get the chance to do that."
"Iwas very pleased today," she said. "It's been a pretty rough year, and it was really good to come up with a win in the 500 and do well in the 1000. I am not necessarily really super fast right now, but I still have to stay focused."
Switzer said the meet had been a good lift to what had been a frustrating season for her.
Swimming in her last home meet was not too hard for Carlson.
"I was really happy to come back and do well in the 200 back," she said. "It was hard to believe it was the last one, but it was fun to get up and swim fast."
Kansas' additional first-place finishers were junior Jennifer Davis in the 100- and 200-yard freestyles, freshman Kelly Williams in the 100- and 200-yard breaststrokes, junior Donna Christensen in the 200-yard butterfly, sophomore Rebecca Andrew in the 100-yard butterfly and sophomore Andee Greves in the 200-yard individual medley.
Davis said the team was much improved on Saturday.
"We were finishing our races a lot better than we did in Minnesota," she said. "I think a lot of us had in mind that it was the seniors' last home meet, and we kind of wanted to do it for them."
Williams said a steady pattern was the key to her victories.
"I thought they were pretty consistent with what we've been doing the rest of the year," she said. "Kristin Nilsen and I have been at about the same times in the same spots, so we've really been staying consistent."
Kempf said he felt the team would be ready to face Nebraska Saturday.
"We've done a real good job this year of preparing week by week," he said. "We'll be ready on Saturday, no doubt about it."
Jay Thornton / KANSAN
Kansas junior Jennifer Davis words of encouragement to Kansas freshman Sashul Sillain during the women's meet at Robinson Natatorium. Kansas swept Saturday's triangular meet against Iowa State and Arkansas.
Wildcats reign at track meet
Kansas runner sets new record in 1000 meters
By Robert Moczydlowsky Kansan sportswriter
The Kansas track team ended up on the lower end of an exciting twoteam, seesaw finish at Saturday's triangular meet in Columbia, Mo.
The Jayhawks finished second in the three-team event, just nine points short of victorious Kansas State and well ahead of last place Missouri.
Kansas coach Gary Schwartz said that he was pleased with his team's effort in what was such a closely contested meet.
"If I could design a team-scoreed meet, I couldn't make it any more exciting," he said. "It was a back-and-forth battle the entire way. There wasn't one thing that decided the outcome. We just came in a little short."
In a meet where team results were the driving force, one individual performance drew a lot of attention. After a disappointing start in the women's quarter-mile, Kansas All-American junior Kristi Kloster bounced back and broke her own school record in the women's 1000 meters. Kloster ran the 1000 in 2 minutes and 49.68 seconds, breaking her old mark by almost two full seconds.
"I really had a bad quarter-mile," Kloster said. "I was pretty angry with myself. I didn't want to mess around in the 1000. I got out hard and set the pace. I really wanted to get away from everybody else."
Kloster said that the record would have been sweeter if the Jayhawks had finished first.
"It makes me sick that we lost to K-State," she said. "We had a good meet, but they were just better than us. I think that will be different when we see them again at the Big Eight meet."
On the men's side, Kansas was paced by junior Chris Gaston, who won the 800 meters and the mile run.
Schwartz also said that the Jayhawks had been boosted by the indoor collegiate debut of Sarah Heeb, who finished first in the women's 3000-m.
"Chris had a good meet," Schwartz said. "He won two important races for us, and he was impressive doing it. He's really running well right now."
Other Jayhawks who earned individual victories include: Pierre Lisk, men's 55-m; John Bazzoni, pole vault; and Amelia Holmes, women's shot put.
"Sarah really stepped up on Saturday," he said. "That was her first indoor collegiate race. She picked a great way to start."
In order to prepare for upcoming meets, the Jayhawks will send athletes to several different events next weekend.
"We're sending some people to meet us where we think they will have a good chance to qualify," Schwartz said.
Kloster and Gaston will travel to the Notre Dame Invitational, where their goal is to qualify for the NCAA meet. Another group of athletes will compete Saturday at the Indiana Invitational. The rest of the Jayhawks will remain in Lawrence for Friday's Jayhawk Invitational.
Confidence pushes men's swimming to big wins
Kansas plays host to two teams and hands both a whopping loss
By Tom Erickson
Kansan sportswriter
The Kansas men's swimming team decided confidence was needed to be successful, and the Jayhawks had enough to do just that.
No. 21 Kansas powered its way past Iowa State and Arkansas at Robinson Natatorium on Friday, beating the Cyclones 137-107 and the Razorbacks 72-38. Iowa State defeated Arkansas 87-25 in the third dual of the triangular meet.
Iowa State established an early lead of 13-4, but Kansas fought back and took the lead for good after the fourth event, the 50-yard freestyle.
Kansas coach Gary Kempf was pleased with the team's comeback.
"I think a good team rises to the occasion," he said.
"We knew coming in that we had to win the strategic races. Basically every single race that we had tonight, somebody stepped up and swam well."
Kansas improved its record for the season to 5-2 overall and 2-0 in the Big Eight Conference.
Bontrager said a team meeting the night before had helped the team find its focus.
"We decided that confidence was our main thing," he said. "We needed to get a little more sure of ourselves and just lay it on the line, go for it and get it. It worked."
A visit with his brother helped sophomore Seth Dunscomb prepare for Iowa State and Arkansas.
Kansas senior Marc Bontrager won the 50- and 100-yard freestyles and the 400-yard freestyle relay, teaming up with sophomore Erik Jorgensen, freshman Alan Kroll and junior Dan Philips.
"I did a lot of visualizing for this meet," Dunscomb said. "I was talking to my brother last night, and he's a Division III swimmer, and he was talking about how he gets pumped up. I realized he was probably getting more pumped up than I was, and I wanted to get excited. And I did, so it was good."
Other first-place finishers for Kansas were Jorgensen in the 1000-yard freestyle, freshman Marshall Dortch in the 200-yard individual medley and sophomore Eric Burton in the 200-yard backstroke.
Kempf was especially impressed with Bontrager's performance.
"the guy's a stud," he said. "the great ones are supposed to swim great, and he continues to do that."
Freshman Kostaldi Chiligiris, who finished second in the 200 backstroke, said he had felt more confident in his races than he was two weeks earlier at Minnesota. The meet against the Golden Gophers was Chiligiris' first as a Jayhawk.
"I felt really good," he said. "This week was a lot better than last week. I feel more on the team now."
"We were real strong in a lot of areas and really came together as a team," he said. "We've still got improvements to make, and the season is not over."
Kansas senior captain Jeff Wilson knows that the Jayhawks cannot let down after such a big win. Kansas will face Nebraska in its next meet on Saturday.
Iowa State freshman Andrew Clayton, who joined the Cyclones this month, continued his success at the college level with wins in the 200-yard freestyle, the 200-yard butterfly and the 500-yard freestyle. Clayton has yet to finish any lower than first in all of his races so far as a Cyclone.
Yumi Chikamori / KANSAN
Kansas junior swimmer Dan Philipps gets ready for his 200 freestyle race Friday in Kansas' triangular meet with Iowa State and Arkansas. Philipps placed second in the race.
Valerie Crow/
KANSAN
Bianca Kirchof,
Hittfeld,
Germany,
sophomore,
serves in the game against Boise State freshman Kim Vocker.
Kirchof won the match 6-1, 6-1.
Valerie Crow/
KANSAN
Team concentration is key in women's tennis victory
Men's team rallies to beat New Mexico in Albuquerque By Robert Moczydlowsky Kansan sportswriter
Kansas tennis had a successful weekend, both at home and on the road.
The women's team set the pace on Friday, when it beat Boise State in Kansas' home opener at Alvamar Racquet Club. The No. 10 Jayhawks, who won the match 8-1, moved their overall season record to 2-1.
"We played with great intensity," Kansas women's coach Chuck Merzbacher said. "We're starting to get a little momentum for the rest of the season."
The Jayhawks, who lost to No. 30 Vanderbilt last weekend, were hardly challenged by the over-matched Broncos.
Kansas sophomore Amy Trytek said Kansas' team concentration was an indicator of better things to come.
"Sometimes it's hard to get pumped up for a team that isn't ranked," she said. "We did a great job of staying focused, and that let us dominate. We need to do that all season."
Merzbacher agreed, but said there was room for improvement.
"We played well," he said. "We still have work to do on our doubles, though. That's going to be important for us down the line. A lot of close matches are decided by doubles play. We're going to get into our grind mode for the rest of the season."
Kansas freshman Christie Sim said the Jay hawks were no longer bothered by the Vanderbilt upset.
"We didn't let last weekend's loss to Vanderbilt bother us," she said. "We played with much better intensity, and our doubles play was a lot better. We just need to keep working hard."
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Kansas' next match is Feb. 10, when the Jayhawks will travel to Williamsburg, Va., to take on No. 15 Notre Dame and unranked William and Marv.
In the meantime, Merzbacher and senior Nora Koves will travel to Dallas for the Rolex National Indoor Championships.
Koves, ranked No. 2 nationally, is expected to be a top four seed in the elite national tournament. The tournament begins on Wednesday, and the finals are on Sunday.
"Hopefully we'll be there all weekend," Merzbacher said. "Nora will be a top seed, and she'll have the opportunity to do really well."
Koves stressed the importance of playing well focused tennis.
"Every time you go somewhere, you want to win the tournament." Koves said. "I can't think that way. I have to take it step by step, match by match. Every player there is going to be tough."
To make the women's team's victory sweeter, the Kansas men's team also won a tight match against nationally ranked competition Saturday in Albuquerque, N.M.
The Jayhawks, playing their first ranked opponent of the season, defeated No. 29 New Mexico 4-3.
After falling behind 2-1 after doubles play, the No. 23 Jayhawks rallied in singles competition, winning 4 of 5 matches.
"We had an emotional win against New Mexico." Kansas coach Michael Center said. "They're the four-time Western Athletic Conference champions. They really have a good team."
The Jayhawks stayed in Albuquerque yesterday for a 4-2 victory against Texas Tech.
"Against Texas Tech we came out a little flat, but we were able to get the job done," Centersaid.
Individual match results were unavailable yesterday.