Wednesday, January 19, 2000
The University Daily Kansan
Section B • Page 3
Kansas bowlers eliminated from television tournament
By Chris Wristen
By Chris Wristen
sports@kansas.com
Kansas sportswriter
Kansas coach Mike Fine (rear left to right) Scott Light, Michael Keeler, Tom Partridge, Barri Forkos (front left), Kristina Bohm and Chris Dister recently competed in The Nashville Network's "Rockin' Bowl," in Las Vegas. The tournament, which will air at 7 p.m., Feb. 8., featured 16 of the nation's top bowling teams. contributed photo
The Kansas bowling team did some high rolling in Las Vegas before running into a St. John's team that had the higher hand.
The Jayhawks were competing in The Nashville Network's first ever Rockin' Bowl, a made-for-TV tournament. The competition, which featured 16 of the nation's top programs, paired coed teams in a variety of obscure events as well as traditional-style bowling. This special format provided some obstacles for the Jayhawks.
"It combined traditional bowling with what they call Rockin' Bowl frames. We didn't really know how they were going to be set up until we got out here," coach Michael Fine said.
What the team, consisting of senior Tom Partridge, juniors Scott Light and Barri Forks, sophomore Mike Keeler, and freshmen Kristina Bohm and Christy Distler, discovered were events such as bowling from a chair, glow-in-the-dark frames and shuffleboard-style bowling. While the Jayhawks were concerned that these events might prove difficult, it was in these events that the team consistently excelled.
Kansas opened the tournament on a high note with a first round victory against Purdue (to be aired on TNN at 7 p.m. on Feb. 8), winning some prize money, which will be used to cover travel expenses to future tournaments.
"We beat Purdue in the first round and for that we won 1,000 bucks,"
Fine said.
The team returned to Las Vegas on Friday to compete against second round opponent, Saint John's. The Jayhawks found out why Saint John's is one of the best teams in the country when they outscored Kansas in the traditional-style rounds. Kansas closed the gap by winning the Rockin' Bowl formatted rounds but that wasn't enough to overcome the deficit, and the Jayhawks were eliminated. The loss to St. John's will be aired March 7.
"It was the Rockin' Bowl frames that we did real well in," Light said. "The traditional frames were so
spread apart so we did not do well in them. The Rockin' Bowl frames were a lot of fun though and really kept us going."
Light enjoyed the opportunity the team was given, and he said the program should benefit greatly from the national exposure.
"It will help (our team) become more well known around collegiate bowling and be taken more seriously." Light said.
"Actually it's been a dream trip," Light said. "With the Rockin' Bowl, going to Las Vegas, and the trip being paid for, I couldn't ask for anything more."
Team hopes senior can lead them to tournament finals
Golfers set high hopes for season
By Michael Terry
By Michael Terry sports at kansas.com
kansas sports writer
As the saying goes, better late then never.
For the University of Kansas men's golf team, that's exactly what the feeling was as they were honored during halftime of Saturday's men's basketball game for winning the Big 12 Championship last April.
This was the first Conference Championship won by t h e h e Jayhawks in 49 years, but the team i s n ' t dwelling on its past achievements. Members are preparing to
Vermeer; Ranked the No. 8 individual golfer
defend their title this upcoming spring
Kansas men's golf coach Ross Randall said that he was pleased with how his team played last fall, coming off its Big 12 Championship and berth into the NCAA Finals last spring after losing All-American Chris Thompson to graduation.
The Jayhawks finished the fall season ranked No. 16 in both the MasterCard Collegiate Golf
Rankings and Sagarin Golf Rankings, and they enter the spring season occupying the same position.
The Jayhawks head into the spring with a tough schedule and high expectations.
"We still have a long way to go to repeat as Big 12 Champions and to achieve our goal of returning to the NCAA Finals," Randall said.
Randall said one of the keys to the team's success this spring would be the play of team leader and honorable mention All-American Ryan Vermeer, senior, who comes into the season ranked as the No. 8 individual golfer in the country.
"Ryan has already proved that he can compete winning three of the five tournaments he played in this fall," Randall said. "The spring season, though, is the most important and most recent, and now he must do it again."
Vermeer said that he had high expectations for the team as well as for himself.
"We're looking to continued success building on the fall by being a little more consistent and by everyone to play a better," Vermeer said. "If everyone can click at the right time our goal of repeating as Big 12 Champions and another berth to NCAA finals can be reached."
Vermeer also is looking forward to improving on his honorable mention All-American selection his junior year and hopefully being a first team All-American selection this spring.
In addition to the play of Vermeer, Randall said another key to the team's success would be if senior Brad Davis was able
to play this spring after coming off an injury-plagued fall campaign.
Davis was injured last May when a second-floor balcony railing that he was leanning on collapsed. He suffered a fractured left heel and compressed vertebrae.
"Brad has made a remarkable recovery, but he still suffers from back pain that limited his play during the fall." Randall said. "He's our No. 3 man, and that's always hard to replace."
"I'm just going to go out and push it and see what happens," Davis said. "I have my medication and some special devices that should help me to be able to play, so hopefully it all works out."
Davis said that he planned on participating once the spring season began, but admitted it would be a lot of trial and error.
The Jayhawks hope that mild weather will help give them an advantage at their first tournament at the end of February.
Randall said his teams historically had been slow starters and improved as the season had progressed.
"Over the break, the players were able to go outside and shoot rounds instead of spend a lot of time practicing indoors." Randall said. "This is usually the disadvantage we face when we play a lot of the top teams from the South who can play year round."
With senior Jake Istnick, juniors Andy Stewart and Conrad Roberts, and sophomore Casey Harbour returning, in addition to the senior leadership of Vermeer and Davis, Randall said the team would be steady and shoot low scores.
Iowa State causes whirlwind in women's basketball Big 12 competition
By Melinda Weaver
By Melinda Weaver
sports@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
Anything can happen as the women's Big 12 Conference basketball teams fight for postseason berths.
As expected, Iowa State sits at the top of the conference and Baylor sits at the bottom. But there have been some surprises in the middle, and on any given night, any team can win.
Iowa State (12-2, 4-0)
losses.
No. 8 Iowa State has been unstopable.
"Stacy Frese is the leader of this team as the point guard, but Angie Welle has really emerged and had a great year," said Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly. "We have fantastic balance. This truly has been a team effort."
The Cyclones sit perched at the top of the conference, compiling a 4-0 record in the first two weeks of conference play. A big 62-37 win against Texas Tech started off conference play, then wins against Missouri, Colorado and Nebraska have made the Cyclones the team to beat.
Texas Tech (12-2, 2-2)
It was smooth sailing for No.15 Texas Tech — until Big 12 competition, that is.
The Lady Raiders soared through their non-conference schedule with an undefeated 11-0 record but began their conference season with two
Their first was a 25-point loss to No. 8 Iowa State, and then a week later they suffered an 82-76 loss in Oklahoma.
In their second week, the Lady Raiders got back on track at home with a 75-50 win against Colorado and a 76-51 win against Oklahoma State, placing them second in the conference.
Oklahoma (13-3. 3-0)
No. 25 Oklahoma has finally cracked the top 25.
In the team's first win against No. 15 Texas Tech in 17 years, Phylesha Whaley led all scors with 25 points and nine rebounds.
"Beating Texas Tech was a huge step." Coale said. "It's something that we haven't done, and it was at the start of league play when it was a good time to get that win. You can gain so much confidence from a win like that."
The Sooners beat Texas A&M 87-59 before going on the road Saturday to face Baylor. Led by a season-high 28 points from Whaley, Oklahoma won 87-66.
Missouri (11-3, 1-2)
Like Texas Tech, Missouri opened its season to No. 8 Iowa State and suffered a 79-67 loss in Columbia, breaking a nine-game winning streak.
After racing to a 10-1 record in nonconference play, Missouri has struggled against tough Big 12 competition.
The Tigers bounced back from the loss in a big way with a 78-44 win against Baylor.
However, in the first game of a two-game road trip, Missouri could not continue its tough play and lost to Texas 80-69. The Tigers shot only 26.3 percent from the field in the first half and committed 25 turnovers.
Texas (11-5,3-1)
The Texas Longhorns are another Big 12 team sitting right in the middle of the pack, but with senior forward Edwina Brown and junior guard JoRuth Woods, the team always must be considered a threat.
Texas opened its Big 12 play with commanding wins against Kansas State 80-58 and Nebraska 72-68. Against Kansas State, Texas continued its nine-game home winning streak. Brown continued her dominance, scoring 26 points and dishing out eight assists.
Texas suffered a tough last-second 71-69 loss at Oklahoma State when sophomore guard Asha Hill missed the shot that would have tied the game.
Texas rebounded with a 80-69 win against Missouri at home and played Oklahoma last week in the midst of a four-game home stretch.
The Cowgirls were picked to finish last in the Big 12, but they reside right in the middle of the pack with
Oklahoma State has been a big surprise this season.
Oklahoma State (10-5, 2-1)
most of the other teams.
A big 61-42 win against Texas A&M in College Station established the Cowgirls, who continued with a big win against Texas at home.
"We definitely played three of the top teams in the league. I'm not too unhappy with a 2-1 record at this point since we were picked to finish last in the league," said coach Dick Halterman.
The Cowgirls' luck ran out against Texas Tech as they lost 76-51. They will continue to play the league's top teams as they played Iowa State at home last night.
Texas A&M (9-4, 1-3)
It has been an average season for Texas A&M.
The team finished 8-2 in non-conference play, but its only Big 12 win has come against the hapless Baylor Bears in its conference opener at Waco.
After defeating Baylor 62-59, the Aggies lost to Oklahoma State 61-42 and to Oklahoma 87-54.
Against Oklahoma State, the Aggies committed a Reed Arena record 34 turnovers and scored their fewest points since February of 1997. Texas A&M lost a close one to Kansas State Saturday 67-62 to move to 1-3 in conference play.
Kansas State (9-8, 2-2)
Kansas State lost its first two conference games, but those losses came from two of the top teams in the conference, providing a light at the end
of the tunnel.
They opened the season in Austin against Texas and suffered a big loss, 80-58. Their next loss came at home in the form of a 70-54 defeat at the hands of the Jayhawks.
However, coach Deb Patterson said that she could not be disappointed in her team's performance.
"I am pleased at this point because I think that the two losses we had were both to opponents that I think can finish in the top four." Patterson said.
The Wildcats rebounded from those two defeats with wins over Baylor and Texas A&M, teams that they have to beat to stay afloat. Kansas State easily beat Baylor 73-58 and, with a second-half 62.5 percent shooting percentage, defeated Texas A&M 67-62.
Nebraska (7-7.1-3)
After being picked to finish the conference in the top three, the Cornhuskers have struggled to stay at a. 500 record.
Nebraska entered conference play with a 6-5 record and dropped their opener to Texas 72-68 despite a 24-point performance by senior guard Nicole Kubik.
A big win for Nebraska came at Allen Fieldhouse when the Cornhuskers upset Kansas 81-69.
The win did not give the Cornhuskers enough momentum to carry them to a victory against Iowa State, and they lost 89-66.
Nebraska has three home games to
look forward to against Missouri,
Texas A&M and Colorado.
Colorado (5-9, 0-3)
It is no wonder that they began the Big 12 schedule at 0-3.
Colorado is the second youngest team in the nation with only one upperclassman and no seniors.
Colorado has suffered three tough losses to the conference's three toughest teams: 83-68 against Iowa State, 75-50 against Texas Tech and 78-56 against Kansas.
"Our youth and depth are no excuse right now," said sophomore guard Candy Nightingale. "There are other young teams in the country who are doing a lot better than we are. We can't make any excuses for ourselves."
Baylor (5-9, 0-4)
The Baylor Bears are another team looking for their first conference win.
"Our season has been like that little guy in a boat, and the boat gets a leak," said Baylor coach Sonja Hogg. "He just keeps trying to bail out the water out of the boat as fast as he can to keep from sinking."
The Bears opened conference play against Texas A&M and lost 62-59. The rest of their losses were not so close. They lost in Missouri 78-44, in Manhattan 73-58 and to Oklahoma 87-66.
Baylor will play Kansas tonight and against Oklahoma State on the road Saturday.1