Section B·Page 4
The University Daily Kansan
Tuesday, February 29, 2000
Greg Steele, junior, competes in the Pole Vault at the Big 12 Conference Championships. The events took place last weekend in Ames, Iowa. Photo by Brad Dreier/KANSAN
Kansas track and field needs full-color viewing
By Sarah Warren sports@kansan.com Kansan sportwriter
Two-hundredths of a second.
That's all it took for junior Charlie Gruber to win his third Big 12 Conference title. And Gruber's win was by a margin so narrow that it was only truly done justice in person.
Most University of Kansas students have never seen Gruber win a race. They have never witnessed sophomore Ryan Speers shove a shot put 60 feet or junior Andrea Branson hurl herself over a bar 13 feet in the air.
Most Kansas students have never seen their track and field team perform.
Not to mention seeing them in their little pink shorts, either.
Every little vein and artery of Kansas' heart was exposed in Ames, Iowa, Friday and Saturday at the Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Championships.
On paper it was easy, knowing that the men's and women's teams finished tenth and twelfth, respectively, blowing off all 28 athletes who fought for each second and inch.
But the paper and stats boxes can't show how Gruber battled the home-crowd favorite, Daniel Kinyua, down the stretch in the mile.
It can't describe how hard it was for Speers to send a 16-pound shot put 58 feet through the air to a third place finish.
Track and field must be seen in full color.
It must be seen for more than just times and marks; it must be seen for it's emotion, too. And emotion rarely flows as easy as when conference pride is at stake.
"It's electric," said coach Gary Schwartz. "It's 12 teams competing for everything — for pride, for points, for places," said coach Gary Schwartz. "It's really exciting to watch people perform over their heads or to watch people perform at the level they can under pressure; it's performance on demand." "I was the case several times this weekend."
Eighteen Big 12 meet records were broken, one NCAA record was tied and Baylor's Brandon Couts recorded the fastest indoor 400-meter dash in the world this year at 45.63.
But performance on demand took its toll.
the perimeter in denial cook its on.
Freshman heptathlete Shane Weiszbrod went down with a hurdle, gashing his knee badly enough to take him out of competition. Junior Ashley Feinberg fought through the pain of severe tendinitis in her knee, placing seventh. And a day later, Feinberg's sophomore teammate, Justin Stancil, possibly pulled his hamstring while vaulting.
Andy Morris, Carmel, Ind., junior, attempts to catch up to the Iowa runner in front of him. Photo by Brad Dreier/KANSAN
But Kansas wasn't the only victim to injuries.
During the women's 400 meters, a Texas sprinter went down 200 meters into a race, writhing in the pain of a hamstring pull. Two trainers rushed over to help her, lugging her off the track before the herd could trample her.
Forty-five minutes later, junior heptathlete Andy Morris lax in the same spot with his hands covering his face after a disappointing lead-off leg in the 1600-meter relay.
His parents, Robert and Anita, sat in the sidelines watching their son, as they had for the past two days.
"Oh, get up. Andy," his mother urged under her breath. "He's got to be exhausted; this is his eighth event."
Morris eventually got up, just soon enough to hear that the winning Baylor team had broken the meet record with a time of 3:04.46.
Over the P.A. system, the announcer could hardly catch his breath.
"Track and field fans, how about that for a fourby-four," he choked out. The meet was finished.
And as they left, the 'Hawks claimed one Big 12 champion in this 38-event endurance circus, all by two-hundredths of a second.
The University Of Kansas
Room Guide:
KANSAS HIGH SCHOOLS
Come And Meet Your High School or Community College Counselors! Representatives from Kansas High Schools and Community Colleges will be in the Kansas Union on Tuesday, February 29th
Abilene - B
Andover - B
Atchison - B
Atchison County - B
Room in the Kansas Union:
B = Ballroom - Level 5
English Room - Level 6
Kansas Room - Level 6
Pine Room - Level 6
COMMUNITY COLLEGES
Allen County - B
Coffeyville - B
Ft. Scott - B
Garden City - B
Highland - B
Hutchinson - B
Independence - B
Johnson County - B
Kansas City Kansas - B
Basehor-Linwood - B
Belleville - B
Bishop Ward - B
Blue Valley (Stilwell) - B
Blue Valley Northwest - B
A
B
C
Chaparral - B
Flint Hills Christian - B Fort Scott - B
Chapman - B
Council Grove - B
D
Decatur Community - B
Derby - B
De Soto - B
Downs - B
E
Ellsworth - B
Eudora - B
G
F
Great Bend - B
Haven - B
Hiawatha - B
Highland Park - B
Holton - B
Hoxie - B
Hutchinson - B
Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy - B
H
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lola - B
Jackson Heights - B
Jefferson County North - B
Jefferson West - B
J
Room Schedule for Student Conferences 1:30-2:30 p.m.
Junction City - B
M
L
N
N Neodesha - B Newton - B
Lansing-B
Lawrence High-Pine Room
Lyons-B
Maize - B
Maranatha Academy - B
McLouth - B
Miltonvale - B
Mission Valley - B
O
Olathe North - Kansas
Osawatomie - B
Osborne - B
Oskaloosa - B
P
Peabody-Burns - B
Phillipsburg - B
Pretty Prairie - B
R
S
Riverton - B
Rossville - B
Salina South - B
Seaman - B
V
Valley Falls - B
Shawnee Mission East - Kansas
Shawnee Mission North - Kansas
Shawnee Mission Northwest - Kansas
Shawnee Mission South - Kansas
Silver Lake - B
St. John - B
St. Marys - B
St. Thomas Aquinas - Kansas
Sterling H.S.-B
Summer Academy-B
Thomas More Prep Marian - B
Tonganoxie - B
Turner - B
T
Washington - B
Wichita East - English
Wichita North - English
Wichita South - English
Wichita West - English
Wyandotte - B
W
MISSOURI HIGH SCHOOLS
Pembroke Hill - B
Raytown High - B
Rockhurst - B
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V