Section B·Page 8
The University Daily Kansan
Thursday, November 4, 1999
Mike Keeler, St. Charles, Mo., sophomore, works on his stroke during practice. The Jayhawk bowling team is hoping to repeat the success it had last season. Photo by Carrie Julian/ KANSAN
Bowlers on a roll to build on last year's achievements
By Jason Walker sports@kansan.com Kansan sportswriter
The Kansas bowling team wants to repeat the success of last year as it rolls into a new season.
Last year, the men's team qualified for the national tournament in Wichita, where it finished ninth. Although three of the top five bowlers from that team have graduated, this year's team is confident that it can repeat the performance.
Kansas coach Michael Fine said that last year would be hard to follow but that he was happy with this year so far.
"We have got a lot of new interest as a result of last year," he said. "I'm pleased with the interest the program has developed with KU students."
The team, sponsored by Jaybowl, has traveled to two tournaments already this year and has achieved some success. On the weekend of Oct. 16, the bowlers took teams of five men and five women to the Hoosier Classic in Indianapolis for their first tournament of the year. The men finished 11th out of 37 teams, while the women took ninth out of 28. Fine said the tournament was a good way tr
Michael Fine
"We have got a lot of new interest as a result of last year. I'm pleased with the interest the program has developed with KU students."
Kansas bowling coach
start the season.
"Both the men and women had good showings," he said. "We wanted to get our new people out there and really test ourselves."
The next weekend the 'Hawks traveled to Chicago for a larger tournament and fared well. The men took 20th out of 52 teams, and the women finished 11th out of 27. Michael Keller, St. Charles, Mo., sophomore, bowled the tournament's three-game series high, a 726. He also finished third out of 322 bowlers in total pinfall, averaging 219 points for the eight games he bowled. Keller said his performance was important but the team's success came before his own.
"It felt good from an individual standpoint," he said.
"But the team didn't do quite as well as we hoped."
Keller, one of three academic All-Americans on the team last year, said the main focus of this year's team was to return to the national tournament in April.
"That's our main goal," he said. "We have a lot of dedicated players and with hard work we can do it again."
Fine said it was positive that the men had reached nationals last year, but this year it was his goal for the women to qualify as well.
"Both teams grasp that it is a long season, and they have to be dedicated," he said. "We're doing everything we can to be the best that we can in April."
Fine also said he was proud of the bowlers for the effort and commitment they put into the team. He said although almost anyone could bowl, it took special people to be as dedicated as the Javawk bowlers.
"These guys truly are athletes," he said. "With the level of competition and the large amount of stress they face, it's a real testimony to their work ethic. They have the desire to excel and make KU one of the elite bowling programs in the country."
- Edited by Clare McLellan
Small-town Kansas women find big success in rowing
By Shawn Linenberger
Kansas sportswriter
sports@kansas.com
Jayhawk athletes come from across the country, usually from large cities.
Sometimes, stars from small Kansas towns also shine for the 'Hawks. Abby Rosdahl, senior rover, comes from one-traffic-light-in-the-entire-town of Nortonville, population 643.
"My freshman year at KU, I went to Lawrence High's homecoming game," Rosdahl said. "There were more people in the band than in my entire high school."
Rosdahl almost wasn't a Division I athlete. She finished her volleyball and basketball careers at Jefferson County North High School, also Kansas coach Rob Catloth's alma mater, and thought she was headed to Kansas strictly for academics. During her senior year in high school, her best friend, Catloth's cousin, suggested that Rosdahl row for the Jawhacks.
"Ever since junior high, I wanted to go to KU," Rosdahl said. "I didn't think I could go to my favorite school and play varsity athletics."
Rosdahl might not be from the largest city in Kansas, but she helped the Jayhawks win the Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championship in May. The IRA is the rowing equivalent of basketball's National Invitational Tournament. Kansas also was ranked 22nd
But she has.
though she is the first Division I athlete from Troy.
She said rowing was not popular in this part of the country, while football was life in rural Kansas.
"Right now everyone is talking about two players from Troy walking on the football team here," Rosenberger said. "I don't think people realize I'm on the varsity team now."
Richard Bachman / KANSAN
Some people in Lawrence don't realize she is a varsity athlete, either.
"My freshman year at KU, I went to Lawrence High's homecoming game. There were more people in the band than in my entire high school." Abby Rosdahl
in the final NCAA poll in the spring. All rowers in that championship boat were former walk-ons, with junior Heather Muir from Eden Prairie, Minn., being the lone non-Kansas.
"People don't realize what I do," Rosdahl said. "They think rowing is just something I do on the weekends."
Many college athletes are celebrities in their hometowns. Horton now has John Crider Day in honor of the Jayhawk basketball player. There is no Abby Rodsdahl Day in Nortonville, which is 25 miles north of Lawrence.
Senior coxswain Nikia Rosenberger also comes from a small northeast Kansas town, Troy, population 1,073. She doesn't experience hoopla when going back to her hometown, even
"I was in Hy-Wee wearing my letter jacket and someone asked me 'Is that your boyfriend's jacket?' " Rosenberger said.
senior rower
coxswain for the men's and women's club teams her first three semesters at Kansas.
Rosenberger has been important for Kansas rowing, though, navigating the Jayhawks for her third year. She also was
Sports have been in Rosenberger's blood since grade school. In high school, athletics almost consumed her school year, with one-week breaks between volleyball, basketball and track. After track season her senior year, Rosenberger was burned-out. She needed a change.
"Rowing was a new, interesting and exciting sport," Rosenberger said. "What I do here is not a product of what I did in high school." Rosenberger said the younger kids in Troy looked up to her, and people were proud because she is part of a major university.
Ellen Remsing could win a "largest-small town award" among the three rowers. Remsing graduated from Wamego High School, Wamego, near Manhattan, has a population of 3,706. The town sports a Pizza Hut, a McDonald's and a Taco Bell.
Remising originally is from Alaska but moved to Wamego before her junior year in high school. Remsing, like Rosdahl and Rosenberger, began her collegiate career in a new sport.
Walking away from Strong Hall after enrolling her freshman year, Remising was approached by Catloth about rowing.
"Someone was coming behind telling me to stop," Remsung said. "I thought I messed up something with enrolling."
Remising said Catloth told her about the possibility of competing in varsity athletics.
"I was in the right place at the right time," Remsing said.
Sunday at the Head of the Iowa Regatta in Iowa City, Remsung was on the gold medal-winning Open Four boat.
"I never thought I was going to be a college athlete," Remsa said.
Remsing said that while she was at a basketball game at Wamego, a girl asked if she could wear Remming's letter jacket while her father took a picture.
"My biggest fan is my little sister," Remsing said.
Catloth said rowers from across the state were a major component of the team.
"The meat of our sport consists of rowers from all over Kansas," Catloth said. "They're good athletes. They've helped us to be consistently in the top 20 in the nation."
Edited bv Allan Davis
Lady Raiders to adjust to new Big 12 status
By Melinda Weaver sports@kansan.com Kansas writerwriter
Back-to-back Big 12 Conference regular season and tournament champions Texas Tech finds itself in an unfamiliar position this season — that of the underdog.
After losing seniors Rene Hanebutt, Cara Gibbs, Julie Lake and Angie Braziel, who accounted for 48.2 points, 18.1 rebounds and 7.4 assists per game, the Lady Raiders are picked in the preseason coach's poll to finish fifth in the conference.
Last season, the team finished with a 30-4 record, 14-2 in the Big 12, and Coach Marsha Sharp said she hoped that the returning players had gained enough experience to continue the winning tradition.
"We compare well to the other teams in the Big 12, but we don't have a lot of returners," Sharp said. "Our practice and mentality is as good as it has ever been in history, and this is because of the seniors. They know what to do to win even though they haven't been go-to players in the past."
Senior guard Melinda Schmucker-Pharies said that the seniors are prepared for their role change and the responsibility that comes with it.
"We have to work on our offense and contribute more points this season," Schmucker-Pharies said. "We also have to be better leaders. We aren't as vocal, but we are ready to step up and help the teams win. We are the two-time defending champs. We know we have the homecourt advantage, and people come to Lubbock wanting to win. We have the underdog role this season, and that is fine with us."
Texas Tech adds several good recruits this season, including
TEXAS TECH
RED RAIDERS
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Last year: 30-4 overall; 14-2 in B1
12; B12 regular season and tournament champions; lost to Rutgers
53-42 in the Midwest regional semifinal of the NCAA tournament
Coach: Marsha Sharp, 18th season
Key players returning; senior guard Melinda Schmucker-Pharies (led team with 188 assists), senior guard Keitha Dickerson
Key players lost: Angie Braziel, Rene Hanbutt, Cara Gibbs and Julie Lake accounted for 48.2 points, 18.1 rebounds and 7.4 assists per game last season.
two standouts from Kingwood High School in Texas, AllAmerican Plenette Pierson and Texas Player of the Year Courtney Pastner. Also a newcomer, 6-foot-7 center Jamie Nagle will be the tallest player for the Lady Raiders.
**Outlook:** Though the back-to-back Big 12 champions lost four key players this season, those remaining still know how to win. Key recruits Courtney Pastner, Plenite Pierson, Jamie Nagle and Nikki Hendrix will add dimension, but the team still will depend on senior leadership to lead it into the NCAA tournament. The Lady Raiders probably will not finish as high as they are accustomed, but they should still make some noise in the Big 12 and finish high enough to make the NCAA tournament.
"We know what it takes to win, and we know how to do what it takes to win." Sharp said. "The conference is pretty rugged, but we can do well if we protect our homecourt advantage and find a way to steal a few on the road."
Though she lost several key players, Sharp is confident that her team will produce the same kind of results Texas Tech has come to expect during the last few years.
Edited by Chris Hutchison
By Brandon Krisztal
Texas Tech boasts experienced players
sports@kansan.com
The Texas Tech Red Raiders and Coach James Dickey plan on turning some heads this year in the Big 12 Conference with a team that returned all but two players.
Kansan sportswriter
The Red Raiders will be led on the court by senior point guard Rayford Young. Young was the team's leading scorer last year, averaging 16.4 points per game. Kansas fans might remember him from last season when he scored a career-high 41 points as Texas Tech upset the Jayhawks 90-84 in Lubbock.
"It was just a game where I caught on fire," Young said. "I'm sure I was shooting a lot of shots Coach Dickey wouldn't have wanted me to, but they kept going in. If you look at the game, as much as I've had, you'll realize how good we could be."
Young will be joined in the backcourt by Big 12 All-Freshman guard Andy Ellis. He averaged nine points and 4.3 rebounds last season, which were both second among conference freshman. Ellis will be asked to pick up the scoring lost by byfall wingman Stanley Bonewitz, who played almost 35 minutes a contest and contributed more than 12 games a game.
The backcourt also will be improved with the addition of sophomore Moses Malone Jr., a transfer from Houston.
Kansas guard Jeff Boschee defends a Texas Tech player during a game last year. The Red Raiders return all but two of their players KANSAN file photo
The leader in the Red Raiders frontcourt will be the senior power forward Cliff Owens, who is injured and will not be ready for competition until the start of conference. Last year, he was named to the Big 12 All-Underrated team with his 10.4 points and a team-high seven rebounds per game.
For the Red Raiders to be successful, they must have solid contributions from the junior college players they brought in last season. Most notably, they are counting on senior small forward Brodney Kenard to stem up.
"We were inconsistent," Dickey said. "When we had brought juco guys in in the past we did it periodically, and last year we did it all at once and we need to be more consistent." "Brodney really improved, but we needed him to knock down the medium range shot. One thing I
Last year: 13-17 overall, 5-11 Big 12, tied for tenth.
TEXAS TECH RED RAIDERS MEN'S BASKETBALL
coach: James Dickey, ninth season.
Couch: James Dickey, mthm season.
Key players returning: Guard Rayford Young (16.1, 3 assists, 3 rebounds) Guard Andy Ellis (9 points, 4.9 rebounds per game) Forward Cliff Owens (10.4 points, 7 rebounds per game)
Key players lost: Guard Stan Bonewitz (12.1 points, 3.3 assists per game)
wanted to give these guys was confidence, and I think we have."
Texas Tech will unveil the newest stadium in the conference when it opens the doors to the United Spirit Arena on Nov. 19 and plays against Indiana.
Outlook: Texas Tech underachieved, by Dickey's standards, the last two seasons. The Red Raiders never recovered from the loss of scoring threat Cory Carr to the NBA. Also, inconsistent play in the frontcourt and poor shot selection forced the Red Raiders out of games down the stretch. They have the core of seniors and enough talent to contend for a tournament berth.
Dickey said he thought that his team.
which finished 13-17 last year overall and 5-11 in conference, had underachieved. But he said he realized that his team had to be more consistent than it was a year ago if it wanted to be more successful in its new home.
Edited by Kelly Clasem