Monday, February 21. 2000
The University Daily Kansan
Section B · Page 3
Above: Junior Sherre-Kahn Blackmon dashes her way to first place at the Pre-Conference Invitational on Friday. Blackmon ran the 400-meter in 57.14 seconds.
Below: Freshman Benaud Shirley jumps during the triple jump. Shirley took second place with 47 6 at the Pre-Conference Invitational. Shirley also took second in the long jump. Photos by Aaron Lindberg/KANSAN
Jayhawk pole vaulter rises above competition
By Sarah Warren sports@kansan.com
Kansas sportwriter
Andrea Branson never had it so easy.
Not only did she clear 12 feet, nine inches to win first place in the pole vault at Friday's Pre-Conference Invitational, but she also won the competition by nearly three feet.
"I know it sounds bad, but I started and everyone else was done," said Branson, a junior All-American. "I'm kind of happy, though, I wouldn't say I had no motivational factor, but with no competition here, I'd say I did pretty well."
"My second attempt at 13-3 was incredible." Branson said. "I was so pumped up—to know that so many people are watching and supporting you is just great."
So well, in fact, that Branson attempted to break her own school record of 13-1. As the bar raised two inches above that mark, calls of encouragement and rhythmic clapping spouted from the crowd, coaches and athletes.
But Branson's performance wasn't the only great pole vault performance. Freshman Megan Wray and sophomore Ashley Pyle finished second and third, respectively. In the men's competition, junior Greg Steele, freshman Vadim Givozdetskiy, junior Andy Morris and sophomore Justin Stancil grabbed the top four places, respectively.
"I'm just impressed that everybody is stepping up in such a small meet." Branson said. "It's seems like some people are just giving it their all."
In fact, all in all, Kansas turned in 11 first place finishes.
"I thought we had some very nice performances," coach Gary Schwartz said. "One of the best was Ryan Speers, who got a personal best and bettered his provisional mark in the shot out."
Besides Speers' heave of 60-10, a strong
showing in the middle distance races came as a pleasant surprise, as well as sophomores Brian Blachly, Pete Prince and Derec Lacio placing one, two and three in the 3,000-meter run.
"Both Brian Blachly and Pete Prince had personal bests in the 3,000, and I think that was a personal best for Derek Lacio too," Schwartz said. "And in the 800-meter run, that was R.J. VonMerveld's best race this season."
And, maybe, for the Jayhawks the personal record setting doesn't end here, especially with the Big 12 Indoor Championship meet this week in Ames, Iowa.
"You're hoping as a coach that at a meet like this that kids will perform as well as they are able to, going into a big meet," Schwartz said.
Swimmers fourth at Big 12 meet
By Brandon Krisztal sports@kansan.com
Kansas sportswitter
However, the Jayhawks were unable to put everything together to push past three nationally ranked programs, finishing fourth with 472.5 points. The Jayhawks lost to No. 22 Texas A&M and beat No. 16 Nebraska earlier in the season, but they did not know what to expect from No. 33 Texas.
The Kansas women's swimming and diving team hoped for an upset at the Big 12 Championships this weekend in College Station, Texas.
They should have expected a stampede.
The Longhorns received first-place finish in 16 of 21 events and led from the start, setting a record for the three-day event
Although the dayhawks likely won't qualify for the NCAA Championships as a team, coach Gary Kempf said he was proud.
with 914.5 points. The Aggies finished second with 735.5, and the Cornhuskers were third with 634 points.
"I'm real pleased with how we performed tonight," Kempf said. "Sometimes, you take too long to get started, and that's what happened to us this week. But it was a solid year for us, and we've got a good group of young kids to build upon."
The school's record books had six new entries as new top-five marks were set.
Junior Carolyn Grevers shattered the 100-meter breaststroke record Friday, finishing second with a time of 1.03.31. Grevers was exhausted and said her
"I did well in the breaststroke, but I didn't know I had gotten the record for the swim," she said.
Senior diving captain Kerri Pribyl's 1-meter preliminary mark of 491.65 set a personal record and was the third-best in school history. Pribyl finished sixth in the 1-meter and seventh in the 3-meter.
body could hardly function after returning home yesterday.
The three Jayhawk freshmen that had helped the team the most throughout the year were key in helping rewrite the record books, as well. Lyndsay DeVaney posted Kansas' third best mark all-time in the 1600-meter freestyle. DeVaney also contributed the most points to the team, with 40 individual points and 30 points from helping the 800-meter freestyle relay
DeVaney and Beth Schyrer set the third, and fourth-best times, respectively, in the preliminaries of the 500-meter freestyle. Schyrer's sixth-place finish was one better than DeVaney in the finals, but both of their times were slower than they were in preliminaries.
Freshman Gwen Haley finished sixth in the 200-meter individual medley with a time of 203.2, the third fastest in school history. Haley, who is provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships in both the 200 and 400-meter individual medley, was more impressed with her team's performance than her own.
"I thought the team did a fantastic job coming together. There were some amazingly fast times from some people. It was fun to watch and fun to be a part of"
team earn fourth.
Softball team logs four shutout wins
By Rebecca Barlow
sports@kanson.com
Kansas sportwriter
Four shutout wins pushed the Kansas softball team's record to 5-7 overall after going 4-3 at the Triangle Classic Tournament in Raleigh, N.C., this weekend.
Kansas started the tournament Friday with victories against Boston and Campbell universities.
Against Boston the Jayhawks scored only one run, but it was enough in a 1-0 victory. Sophomore Shelly Musser's first-inning triple set up an RBI groundout for fellow sophomore Leah Tabb. Senior pitcher Sarah Clopton pitched all seven innings and gave up one hit. She had 10 strikeouts and pitched the first shutout of the tournament.
"Sarah struggled with back problems last weekend," said Kansas coach Tracy Bunge. "We didn't know how much she could give us today, but she pitched great. She really came through big."
Against Campbell, the Jayhawks' pitching and offense helped lead them to an 11-0 run-rule victory. If a team is ahead by more than eight runs, the game is called after five innings.
Senior Melanie DeWinter pitched five shutout innings as Kansas scored four runs in the first inning, four in the third and three in the fourth to clinch the win.
"I am extremely pleased with the job that Melanie did," Bunge said. "She stayed in good rhythm and was within herself the entire game."
Musser went 3-for-3 at the plate, drove in two runs, scored twice, and eventually, earned all-tournament team honors. She said that the Jayhawk offense had improved, but she knew it could be better.
"It is a little bit better." she said. "But there is still a lot more potential we have not brought out yet."
The Jayhawks had hot bats early
against Liberty and captured a 4-0 lead after one run in the first and three in the fourth. Sophomore Kelly Campbell started on the mound for Kansas and pitched the third shutout of the tournament.
Against Maryland, however, it was a different story as Kansas was shut out 2-0. The Terrapins got out to an early 1-0 lead and scored an insurance run in the fifth inning. Clopton pitched all seven innings and struck out five in the losing effort
Despite losing to Maryland, the 'Hawks advanced to the gold medal round of the tournament, with Alabama as their first opponent. The Crimson Tide had a 4-0 lead until the sixth inning, when senior Christy McPhail hit a solo home run. Kansas would not score again and lost 4-1.
In Kansas' last two games Sunday, the Hawks got a 6-0 win against UNC Charlotte, but later lost to Minnesota 2-0 to finish the weekend.
The Jayhawks' next action will be this weekend at the Oklahoma Invitational.
KANSAS SPORTS BRIEFS
Kansas loses to Harvard overpowers Columbia
Kansas men's tennis coach Mark Riley said his team had something to build on after it went 1-1 in Boston this past weekend.
The Jayhawks were defeated 6-2 by No. 25 Harvard on Friday, but Riley said the match was a lot closer than the score indicated. Despite the loss, Kansas was able to fight back on Saturday and beat Columbia 6-1.
"We were disappointed with the Harvard match because we were so close and played such good tennis," Riley said. "I am some-what pleased because we started playing like I knew they were capable of playing."
Kansas, 3-5, was hurt in the Harvard match by a new experimental format developed by the International Tennis Association to speed up the game. The doubles matches were scored using an eight-game pro set, while the singles matches were scored using a 10 point bracket instead of a third set.
Under the new format, if a team sweeps
Sophomore Quentin Blakeney and freshman Eleazar Magallan had the only two victories for the Jayhawks against Harvard.
the doubles matches, it is awarded two points instead of one. This haunted the Jayhawks because they were swept in doubles by Harvard. The Jayhawks won two of their single matches, and took two of their eventual losses into a tie breaker.
The Jayhawks claimed their first road win of the season Saturday, but they again lost doubles, which Riley said was something the team needed to work on.
"We're going to have to go back to basics with our doubles teams," Riley said. "We need to improve on our servers and our returns."
Things looked bleak when the 'Hawks fell behind in four singles matches. But, Kansas batted back, claiming all six matches.
"That was the biggest tumoural I've ever seen as a coach," Riley said. "I think the guys played a gritty match. They had every reason to throw in the towel, but they fought back."
Kansas will have its next team competition on March 4 against nationally ranked Big 12
Conference foe Baylor.
Women's golf team splits with Indiana Hoosiers
Brent Wasko
The Kansas women's golf team split with the Indiana Hoosiers in a match-play format event last weekend at the Orange County National Golf Center in Orlando, Fla.
On Friday, the Jayhawks were led by junior Sarah Mahoney and freshman Kristy Straub, who earned all but one-half point of Kansas' total in a 12.5-point to 7.5-point loss in the first match of the tournament.
The second day was a different story as the Jahhwakes were able to rebound and record a 12-point to 8-point victory against the Hoosiers and earn a split for the event.
Kansas coach Nicole Hollingsworth said that she was pleased with what the team accomplished in Orlando.
The Jahawks next take to the course this weekend at the 2000 Carolinas Collegiate Classic in Pinehurst, N.C.
Michael Terry