SPORTS
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 1994
CROSS COUNTRY
SECTION B
District V meet to be challenge
'Hawks win 'glorified practice' 87-85
Kansas women to defend crown
By Kent Hohlfeld Kansan sportswriter
When a team has a successful season, repeating that success the next season can be challenging.
the challenge for the Kansas women's cross country team is to repeat as district champions at tomorrow's District V Championship in Springfield, Mo.
The top two teams from each of the eight district meets, along with six atlarge teams, qualify for the national meet on Nov. 21 in Fayetteville, Ark.
Last season, the Jayhawks rebounded from a fifth place Big Eight Conference finish and won the district meet two weeks later. The victory gave Kansas its first-ever bid to the national championships where the team finished 22nd.
"Last year gave the team a lot of confidence," said Steve Guymon, Kansas assistant coach. "Last year, I don't know if anyone thought we'd go out and win it."
Senior co-captain Kristi Kloster said she thought the team had responded well to the graduation of three of last season's top five runners. Kansas lost senior All-American Julia Saul as well as seniors Ashley Ace and Daniel Daggy.
"Most of the younger girls don't know what it's like to run with a lot of
Kansas freshman forward Reef LaFrentz dunks the ball in overtime, tying the game 85-85. Kansas won last night's game against the Victorian All-Stars 87-85.
See Cross Country, Page 3B.
Paul Kotz / KANSAN
Vaughn's overtime free throws clinch victory for Kansas
By Chesley Dohl
Kansan sportswriter
It may have been revenge, but it wasn't exactly sweet.
"I couldn't have written a better script myself to end the game," Williams said. "An overtime win with last second shots."
Two free throws by Kansas point guard Jacque Vaughn sealed an overtime victory for Kansas last night, 87-85, in a preseason exhibition game against the Victorian All-Stars.
It was a team of Australian All-Stars that came into Allen Field House last season to end Kansas' preseason winning streak with a 92-83 victory.
Last night, eleven of twelve Kansas players who saw playing time scored, with three Kansas players scoring in double figures.
Kansas sophomore Scot Pollard paced the Jayhawks with 25 points, and freshman forward Raef LaFrentz added 15. Sophomore guard Jerod Hase finished with 11.
However, in the first half Kansas played sloppy. Williams said. Easy shots wouldn't fall and Kansas committed turnovers.
Despite the lack of offense, Kansas left the court at the half down only by one point, 37-36.
"I said we were going to treat this game like a glorified practice," Williams said. "And that's exactly how it turned out. I told them I wasn't going to bother with the score going out there. When I looked up at the half, I was surprised we were only down by one."
At the half, Pollard said, Williams told his players to put some intensity back in their defensive game.
"Coach told us to step up our game on the defensive end of the court," Pollard said. "He
KANSAS (0-0)
Player fgw/tga fmw/fta tp
Pollard 19-25 7-9 12
LaFrontz 5-11 5-7 15
Haase 2-7 6-9 11
Gutley 3-4 1-2 8
Pearson 3-10 0-0 7
Oostagt 3-7 0-0 6
Thomas 2-4 0-0 5
Vaughn 1-5 3-7 5
Williams 1-5 1-4 3
McGrath 1-1 0-0 2
Pearson 0-0 0-0 0
Totals 30-68 23-38 87
Opp. Totals 33-69 16-24 85
told us we were creating major sins on that end of the court. The good plays defensively helped our confidence, and we started taking more shots."
Kansas 87, Vict. All-Stars 85
Kansas came out at the half somewhat revitalized, getting one of the biggest leads of the night, 53-45, at 14:45.
Ironically, Kansas' biggest lead of the game was shattered by a three-point shot from former Kansas player Eric Pauley. Williams said the three-point basket resulted from a Kansas defensive breakdown.
In the last minutes of regulation, Pollard tipped in a three-point attempt by Haase to force the game into overtime.
"We hadn't practiced on our zone," Williams said. "I was happy Eric made that shot. It taught us a lesson about our defense."
Back-to-back dunks by Pollard and LaFrentz helped in the last two minutes of overtime. Then, with 14.3 seconds left and the teams tied, Vaughn drove the lane and was fouled. Vaughn made both free throws, sealing a Kansas win.
"I didn't do what I wanted to do, but us having to come in and fight for this early season game put things into perspective for the rest of the year," he said.
Vaughn, who finished the night with three points, said the free throws ended what had been a frustrating night.
Darnell Britt
Troy Chandler
Don Davis
Costello Good
Harold Harris
Rodney Harris
Steve Harvey
Hessley Hempstead
John Jones
For 20 seniors, Saturday will mark last home game
Two victories needed for journey to bowl game
By Matt Irwin
Kansan sportswriter
The Kansas Jayhawks must play like a top-10 football team tomorrow.
The 5-4 Jayhawks will be taking on their second top-10 opponent within two weeks when they play No. 7 Colorado at 1:10 p.m. Saturday.
Kansas needs two victories in its final two games to have the required six Division I-A victories needed to qualify for a bowl game.
The Buffaloes enter the game 8-1, their only blemish being a 24-7 defeat against No. 1 Nebraska in Lincoln, Neb. A week later the Cornhuskers defeated Kansas 45-17.
Nebraska wingback Clester Johnson said that Kansas could beat Colorado.
"I think they have a good chance if they come in and don't feel intimidated," Johnson said.
Yet even Kansas coach Glen Mason admits that Colorado has better talent. He said that Buffaloes quarterback Kordell Stewart, tailback Rashaan Salaam and wide receiver Michael Westbrook were three of the best offensive players in the nation. All three have been mentioned as Heisman candidates. But they aren't the only offensive weapons Colorado possesses.
"Christian Fauria is the best tight end I've seen." Mason said.
"I mentioned last week that I think Nebraska's the No. 1 team. But at the start of the season, I thought Colorado was the team for every-
bodv to trv to beat." Mason said.
The Jayhawks will be facing a team that rushes the ball well and defends well against the rush. Colorado ranks fifth in the nation in rushing and No. 20 nationally in rushing defense.
But the Buffaloes also can pass. Colorado ranks third in the Big Eight and averages 200 yards a game.
"We can't say, 'We're going to make sure they don't pass on us,' because they'll run all day on us," Kansas defensive end Steve Harvey said. "You've got to start somewhere."
Many Kansas players
Many Kansas players think that they have a potent rushing offense themselves.
Despite their talent and record, Colorado players and coaches are expecting a tough game.
"We think we can run the ball on anybody," Kansas senior tight end Brent Willeford said. "It's the 10th week of the season. We haven't been very consistent. I'm sure they'll stack up against the run."
"It's going to take our best effort to come out of there with a victory." Colorado
Kansas senior defensive tackle Sylvester Wright agreed with West. "Saturday's our last game playing at home," he said. " I'd like to go out being able to say I beat Colorado once."
offensive tackle Derek West said. "It's the seniors last home game. They're going to be fired up."
Four years of sweat, camaraderie will end
By Matt Irwin
Kansan sportswriter
"Just being a part of the guys is so great. You make friends forlife."
There are 20 of them.
There are so many
Most of them have spent the past four or five years eating, sleeping and living together all in the name of accomplishing
Van Davis Kansas senior quarterback
one goal — to win on Saturdays.
They have endured two-a-day practices during the summer.
They have sat on the bench, and they have played together.
They have celebrated an Aloha Bowl victory, and they have watched an opposing team's fans tear down a goal post at Memorial Stadium.
They have been yelled at together, and they have been praised together.
The 20 seniors on the Kansas football team have became much like a family. And tomorrow those 20 Jayhawks will be playing in their home stadium for the last time.
When the 5-4 Jayhawks take on the 8-1 Colorado Buffalo at a 1:10 p.m., they will
"Every day it hits me even more. It's like I've got to play my ultimate best," Harris said. "It's a feeling that is just hard to describe. It's the last opportunity for everybody in Lawrence, the people I grew up with, my family, my friends and all the people that followed me all the way up, to see me play as a Jayhawk."
Kansas must win its final two games to have the required six victories against Division I-A opponents to go to a bowl game.
For senior defensive end Harold Harris, a Lawrence native, this game may be even more emotional.
"Coach Mason used to tell us, 'it's going to fly by,' senior fullback Chris Powell said about the seniors' careers as Jayhawks. "It fies by. It's going to be emotional. Kansas is a place I'll remember the rest of my life."
Harris said the other seniors probably feel lust as he does emotionally.
be playing in a game that could decide the fate of their season.
"I want us as a senior group to say, 'We're not goint to go down easy.' Harris said.
For senior co-captain Gerald McBurrows, the game is his only focus and has became the focal point of his career.
"Hopefully, the high point will be we beating Colorado," McBurrows said about his career as a Jayhawk. "The low point will be if we lose."
Whether the Jayhawks win or lose, it will just be another event in the life of the football family.
"It's been a bumpy road," senior linebacker Don Davis said. "We've had a lot of ups and downs."
"You always dream as a kid of going to a bowl game and getting a bowl ring," Powell said. "It's a dream come true."
Senior offensive guard Hessley Hempstead said the team atmosphere had brought everyone closer together.
But the seniors haven't always been in such a tough spot. In 1992, the Jayhawks finished the season with a 7-4 record and went to the Aloha Bowl in Hawaii.
One of the lowest points in the seniors' careers was watching their own goal post get torn down this season after losing to Kansas State at home for the first time in 24 seasons.
Powell said most people don't see the family part of college athletics.
"You work out together," Hempstead said. "You go to practice together. You eat, you sleep, you live with them."
"You have all these guys working towards a common goal," he said. "People from all over the country, all races, all coming together. It's like a family. Lots of people don't see that aspect."
Most of the seniors say the team is like a family because of how much time they spend together.
Chris Powell
Kwamie Lassiter
Gerald McBurrows
"The thing I'll remember most is the camaraderie," Powell said. "I'll never forget my running backs ... sitting around in meetings joking around. You don't realize that you're not going to see each other much anymore."
Ashelki Preston
Robert Reed
Terence Suitivan
Tyler Quast
George White
Brent Willeford
Sylvester Wright