Monday, January 24, 2000
The University Daily Kansan
Section B·Page 3
Pole vaulters finish one-two-three
By Sarah Warren
Jabari Wamble sprints toward the finish line ahead of Southwest Missouri State's Ryan Smith in the 400-yard dash Saturday. Wamble won the race with a time of 48.38 seconds. Photo by Jay Sheperd/KANSAN
Kansan sportswriter
Life's hard when you're a pole vaulter.
No one really pays attention to you unless you take a nose-dive into the mat or leap the height of a small building.
But all eyes were on the polevault pit during the closing jumps of the men's contest at the Tiger Invitational in Columbia, Mo., Saturday night. There, Kansas pole vaulters junior Greg Steele, sophomore Justin Stancil and freshman Vadim Gvozdetskly attempted jump after jump as the final three contestants.
"It's not that hard when five guys out of nine are from KU," said Stancil, who won the event with a vault of 16 feet. "[Missouri] only [has] one pole vaulter."
Steele and Gvozdetskiy placed second and third, respectively, and combined-events athletes sophomore Dorian Jordan and junior Andy Morris also vaulted.
"We compete against each other, so it seems like practice and at the same time it's really exciting." Stancil said. "We really pump each other up when it's just us."
At the meet, which featured Indiana State, Southwest Missouri State and Missouri, Kansas finished strongly in the other field events as well. Senior Chris Dunback captured the 35-pound weight throw with a
heave of 61 1/4 feet. Sophomores Ryan Speers and Jennifer Foster placed first and third in their respective shot-put contests. Speers' winning throw was 56-
feet-8 $ ^{1/2} $
Freshman Benaud Shirley won the triple jump with a leap of 47-feet-8 in his first meet as a Jayhawk. In the high jump,
freshman Sarah Schraeder and junior Tori Holtmeier tied for third place with matching leaps of $5 - 3 / 4$.
On the track, sophomore Jennifer Wonder won the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.81 seconds, while junior Sherre-Khan Blackmon placed second in the 600-yard run, 3 seconds behind All-American Augustina Charles of Southwest Missouri State.
Junior Jabari Wamble won the 400-meter dash by the narrow margin of 16-thousandths of a second with a time of 48.38.
The men's distance medley team of seniors Andy Tate, Kevin McGinn, RJ VonMerveltd and sophomore Pete Prince placed a strong first with a time of 10.26.67.5 seconds faster than Missouri's second place team.
"Some really good stuff happened today," coach Gary Schwartz said of Kansas' seven first-place finishes. "It was a good chance to see where people are at coming off the break."
The Jayhawks will meet Missouri again on Saturday when they play host at the Kansas/K-State/Missouri Triangular at Anschutz Sports Pavilion, and Stancill warns that the pole-vaulters from K-State and Missouri had better watch out.
"We plan on going one, two, three on Saturday, not to make any predictions," Stancil said, glancing at Steele and Gvozdetskiy. "If we jump as we should."
Men
Name Place Time/Mark
60-meter high hurdles
Andy Morris third 8.47
900-meter dash
RESULTS
400-meter dash
Triple jump
Jbari Wamble first 48.38
600-yard run
RJ VonMerveldt second
1:14 66
1000-meter run
Andy Tae bird 2:33.81
Distance medley relay
first 10.26.67
last 10.26.67
High jump
Justin Staniclir first 16-0
Greg Steele second 15-6
Vodim Gvozditskyi third 15-6
Miah Hijjah
Shot put
Levi Powell second 6-6 $ ^{3/4} $
Ryan Speers first 56-8 /12
35-pound weight throw
Chris Dunback first 61-1/2
Name Place Time/Mark
600 sound run
Women
600-yard run
Sherre-Khan Blackmon second
1-26.74
60-meter low hurdles Jennifer Wonder first 8.81 High jump
Tori Haltmeier third 5-5 $^3/4$
Sarah Schraeder fourth 5-5
$^3/4$
Brandi Taylor second 36-0 Ashley Pyle third $ 3 5^{-1} / 4 $
Hiah iumo
lennifer Foster third 40-7 $ ^1/2 $
Triple jump
Shot put
St. Louis, Tennessee clinch Super Bowl berths
Rams rely on defense quarterback's heroics and capture NFC title
The Associated Press
ST. LOUIS — The Midwest Express offense came alive just in time.
The Rams, who struggled all day on offense, rode their unheralded defense and Warner's late heroics to the Super Bowl.
More information
Kurt Warner threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Ricky Proehl with 4:44 remaining yesterday, lifting the mistake-prone St. Louis Rams to an 11-6 victory against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC title game.
Tampa's gallant defensive effort wasn't enough against the Rams because backup cornerback Brian Kelly couldn't stay with Proehl down the left sideline on the game-winning score.
They will play Tennessee, which won the AFC crown in Jacksonville 33-14. The Titans beat the Rams in Nashville during the regular season, 24-21, but St. Louis opens as an 8-point favorite in next Sunday's game.
Proehl, the Rams' No. 4 wide receiver, leaped and hauled in his first touchdown of the season. He finished with six catches for 100 yards.
"If you are ever going to bet on someone coming up with a big play, bet on Ricky Proehl," Rams coach
More information Box scores from the Jacksonville-Tennessee and the St. Louis-Tampa Bay games. See Page 4B
Dick Vermeil said.
The winning score was set up when Bucs rookie quarterback Shaun King's pass was intercepted by Rams rookie cornerback Dre' Bly at midfield.
Bly returned the ball to the Tampa Bay 47-yard line and the league's highest-scoring offense (526 points during the season, 49 in last week's playoff victory against Minnesota) finally got into the end zone.
But the Rams had to survive a last-ditch march on which they got two of their five sacks on King, who still managed to lead the Bucs to the St. Louis 22.
A video review that overturned an 11-yard reception by Bert Emanuel with 47 seconds remaining hurt Tampa Bay. King then threw two incomplections, and the sellout crowd reached supersonic noise levels in the Trans World Dome.
"We knew we had to be patient. They have a tendency to force you to do things you don't normally do." said running Marshall Faulk, the NFL's Offensive Player of the Year. "They have a great pass rush and play their safety deep. We had to go underneath and grind it out against them."
Titans beat Jacksonville three times this season win AFC crown 33-14
The Associated Press
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Tennessee Titans found another improbable way to win.
This time it's taking them to their first Super Bowl in the franchise's 40 seasons— 37 of them as the Houston Oilers.
The Titans upset Jacksonville 33-14 yesterday and captured the AFC title, beating the Jaguars for the third time this season.
Steve McNair leed the way, running for 91 yards in nine carries and scoring on two 1-yard quarterback sneaks, despite limping all week because of an injured toe.
"It's about time," said owner Bud Adams, who founded the franchise in Houston in 1960 but had never gotten past the AFC title game. "I'm getting pretty old. I didn't want to go to the Super Bowl in a wheelchair."
Tennessee won as it has all season; a little offense, a lot of defense, and a big contribution from special teams. The Titans defense forced six turnovers.
The Titans trailed 14-10 at the half but began a third-quarter scoring binge with a 76-yard drive on six plays for the go-ahead touchdown on a sneak by McNair.
Two plays later, Jason Fisk and Josh Evans sacked Mark Brunell in the end zone, and the safety made the score 19-14. It
was the sixth safety this season for Tennessee and the second in this season's playoffs, an NFL record.
Jacksonville later recovered a fumble by Titans tight end Frank Wycheck at the 1- yard line.
It also set up seven more points: On the ensuing free kick, Derrick Mason, who earlier set up a score with a 44-yard kickoff return, went 80 yards for a touchdown.
This year, Tennessee went 133, a game behind Jacksonville in the AFC Central even though they had beaten the Jaguars twice.
The win was especially sweet for the Titans' veterans, who had played mediocre football in empty stadiums before apathetic crowds for most of a decade.
"I kind of sold myself on the idea that it wasn't that important," said Bruce Matthews, a 17-year veteran. "To watch other teams playing the championships and going to the Super Bowl every year, you build up a barrier more than anything. But it's nice."
The defeat was a huge disappointment for Jacksonville, which finished the regular season 14-2, the league's best record.
Jacksonville started strong, going 62 yards in five plays and scored on a 7-yard pass from Brunell to Kyle Brady. But the Titans answered back, going 51 yards in nine plays to tie it on a 9-yard pass to Yancey Thippen.
Later, Jacksonville scored with another quick drive that emphasized the 1-2 ground punch.
Al Del Greco capped the first half scoring with a 34-yard field goal that made it 14-10. Then came the delugue.
"They couldn't stop us from marching down the field, which is our bread and butter," Wycheck said. "We set our minds to do it, and we did it."
Tennis team defeats Bears in comeback home opener
By Brent Wasko
by bremi Vesko
sports@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
KANSAS TENNIS
since 1997 and the team's 10th straight win against the Bears.
The Kansas men's tennis team had to make several comebacks against Southwest Missouri State, but still was able to polish off a 5-2 victory Friday night at the Alvamar Racquet Club. The match marked the first home-opening victory for the Jayhawks
"It was a real confidence booster," said sophomore Quentin Blakeney. "Coach was telling us in practice all week that we hadn't won a home opener in
two years, so we came out pumped up and ready to play."
Kansas, ranked No. 44 nationally, came out cold during its doubles matches.
Blakeney and senior Bryan Maier fell to the Bears' No. 3 doubles squad 8-4. Kansas sophomore Alex Barragan and freshman Eleazar Magallan battled back and forth with Southwest Missouri's Leonardo Perry and Nikola Merkovic, but the Jayhawks won 8-6.
The Kansas No. 1 doubles team of junior Ed Dus and sophomore Rodrigo Echagaray were as far down as 4-1 during their match with brothers Fabio and Marcelo Lyra. Dus and Echargary, the No. 1 doubles team in Region V with a 10-2 record, fought back to tie the match at 5-5 before finally winning 8-6.
"I went out there and asked [Dus and Echargary] if they were a top doubles team or not," said Kansas coach Mark Riley. "They came back and showed some poise out there, but you can't continue to dig yourself into big holes."
Riley said he was not exactly impressed with his doubles teams' performances.
"They were a little sluggish in doubles, but they picked it up a bit," he said. "Sometimes we weren't aggressive enough. We know we need to be more consistent and concentrate better."
Kansas singles players struggled during their matches as well. Freshman Sabastian Libertino and Barragan both lost their singles matches. Southwest Missouri's Ján Vanco defeated Barragan in a close contest 4-6, 7-6 (7-1), 4-6. Libertino, who holds the sixth singles spot for Kansas, was dominated by Merkovic 2-6, 0-6.
"I'm comfortable with most of our lineup, but I'd like to see someone challenge for that sixth singles spot." Riley said. "I want someone to step up and earn that spot between Maier, Dus and Sabastian."
The Jayhawks were able to claim four of their six singles matches, which was more than enough for the team to defeat Southwest Missouri State. The victories didn't always come easy for the Jayhawks. Magallan, the No. 1 ranked singles player in Region V, improved his record to 17-5 with a hard-fought 7-6 (7-0). 6-3 win against Marcelo Lyra. He came back from triple-set point, claimed the first set and eventually won the match.
"I was a little out of shape out there today," Magallan said. "There was a cramp in my leg, but I knew I had to keep playing. It was tough though. I think I was just a little more patient than he was."
In No. 2 singles play, Echagaray rolled by Fabio Lyra 1-6, 1-1. Blakenedy got by Perry 6-3, 6-4 in a close match. Also, Kansas freshman Pete Stroer continued his winning streak, stomping Scott Blackburn 6-2, 6-0.
"Southwest Missouri had some chances to win a few more points," Riley said. "They were pretty solid at times, but I think we showed our depth today. We played well enough to beat the teams we are going to face next week. I'm looking forward to going to Louisville."
Spring Semester Sale Lawrence Athletic Club South
Get A Semester Membership For As Little As $119 A Semester (Price Applies To Membership At South Facility Only)
Check Out Our Web Site www.lawrenceathleticclub.com
All New Equipment All New Facilities Seven Day A Week Membership Use Open Until 1:00 A.M.
Talk To Our Sales Representatives For More Information Some Restrictions Apply
Lawrence Athletic Club South
2108 West 27th Street
Lawrence,KS 66047
(785)331-2288
MUSCLE-TECH
A LEADER IN DISCOUNT SPORT SUPPLEMENTS!
ALL AT DISCOUNTED PRICES!
WE WILL MEET OR BEAT ANY
Catalog OR INTERNET PRICE!
EAS
MET-Rx
GEN-TECH
MUSCLE TECH
GERMAN NUTRITION
...AND MUCH MORE..
WARNING
917 IOWA·LAWRENCE, KS· 785.840.0500
BEDS • DESKS
CHEST OF DRAWERS
BOOK CASES
unclaimed freight &
damaged merchandise
936 Mass.
EVERYTHING BUT ICE
Earn University of Kansas undergraduate and graduate credit through
Independent Study
Select from more than 140 course offerings.
Work in your own space and at your own pace.
Principal courses include ENGL 101 and 102,
ENGL 325 and ENGL 3627, HWC 204 and 205,
BOLI 301, MATH 101, and PHIL 140.
FREE PARKING!
Continuing Education Building
Continuing Education Building
1515 St. Andrews Drive
Lawrence, KS 60547-1625
800/532-6727 or 875/864-4440
Catalogs and enrollment forms available online at www.kumc.edu/kuce/isc
On campus lesson drop-off:
On Campus, Desk, Level 4, Kansas Union
7