Tuesday, April 27, 1999
The University Daily Kansan
Section B · Page 3
Golf team grabs lead in Big 12 meet
Victory would be first conference title since 1950
By Brad Hallier sports@kansan.com Kansan sportswriter
HUTCHINSON — Kansas men's golf coach Ross Randall said before the Big 12 Conference Championships began that he wanted the Jayhawks to be in a position to win the title after the first 36 holes.
After 36 holes, Kansas' position could hardly be better.
The Jayhawks shattered four tournament records, and they led the pack at the championships, which are played at Prairie Dunes Country Club. Kansas' score of 570 is two strokes better than Nebraska, which is in second. Oklahoma State, who holds 37 of the past 41 conference titles, is third with a score of 578.
The final 18 holes will be played today.
Randall said that he was pleased
wifl Kansas effort yesterday but that there was a lot of golf still to be played.
"I think towards the end, they
started to get tired, but they still played well," he said.
The records that Kansas broke include lowest score for one round (284), a record that Nebraska tied yesterday; the lowest score after two rounds (570); the lowest first-round score (286); and the lowest second-round score, also tied by Nebraska (284).
The Jayhawks had some strong individual efforts yesterday, as well.
Senior Chris Thompson was the only player not to shoot over par, and his score of 139 tied him for the lead with junior teammate Ryan Vermeer.
Vermeer had an opportunity to tie the Big 12 Championship record for the lowest score in a single round, but his birdie putt on hole 18 during the first round missed.
Thompson said that it was one of the few times this season that Kansas had four quality scores.
I think we played pretty good," he said. "If we can keep that up, we have a good chance of winning. I don't think Kansas has won (a conference title) in a while."
It's been 49 years, to be precise.
It's been 49 years, to be precise. Thompson added that he would prefer that Kansas win the team crown rather than that he win the individual title.
Junior Brad Davis and sophomore Conrad Roberts both shot a two-round score of 146 and are currently tied for 16th place.
Roberts said that the course and the greens in particular was still wet from the previous day's rain.
"The ball wasn't going as far off the tees, so that made the course seem a little longer," he said. "But we all played consistent, and I am excited that we are winning."
The Jayhawks have finished second at the Big 12 Championship four times since Randall took over as coach. Randall said that a victory tomorrow would be everything that his team had ever worked for.
"There is another round to be played, and there will be a lot of pressure on us," he said. "But I think that's good. It can give us experience of playing under pressure when we get to regionals."
- Edited by Nathan Willis
Evans' achievements rare in today's sports
Continued from page 1A
play whatever sport was in season — basketball, football or baseball. And that carried over into high school."
A defensive position on the football field isn't the only thing Evans and Erb share.
Evans, who also led Wyandotte High School to the state football championship in 1940, split time on the baseball field. In fact, the New York Yankees once offered to pay his college tuition at Kansas if he would play for one of their minor league teams on the West Coast.
"It never quite panned out like that for me," Erb said with a laugh.
Erb is not the only one
Sports Pavilion.
One of Kansas' current two-sport star is Tywanne Aldridge. The Lawrence, junior transfer from Baker University splits his time between the football field as a cornerback and the Kansas track team. He runs the 100 and 400-meter dashes around Ray Evans Field inside Anschutz
Aldridge already has had to miss several spring football practices while running track.
"There's a few guys doing it like Ricky Williams at Texas and Champ Bailey at Georgia, but it takes so much time," Aldridge said. "I'd say what he (Evans) did is impossible today."
Evans was an All-American guard on Kansas' conference champion basketball teams in 1941-42 and 1942-43. He played on the struggling Jayhawk football team before his college career was interrupted by World War II. He returned from the U.S. Air Force for the 1946 and 1947 football seasons, finishing up his basketball eligibility in the spring of 1948.
"Ray was one of those rare individuals who comes along once in a century," said Otto Schnellbacher, a basketball and football teammate of Evans at Kansas. "Not only was he a great athlete, he was a great person with it. When things got tough, he was somehow right there on the front
"I'd say what he (Evans) did is impossible today."
Tywanne Aldridge current two sport athlete
row to make the play."
Many of those great plays came against the rival Missouri Tigers. In the 1947 game in Lawrence, Evans made a gamesaving tackle late in the fourth quarter, and the Jayhawks won 20-14. The following year in Columbia, he ran for a 52-yard touchdown on the final play of the first half, and Kansas escaped with a 20-19 win.
The Kansas City Star touted the game as Ray Evans 20, Missouri 19. Of his 5-yard run, Evans said, "When you're scared, you run like hell."
Eric Chenowith, Kansas center, said he was impressed with Evan's dedication to two sports.
"He was a born athlete," said Chenowith, who can relate to the
Kansas-Missouri rivalry. "His dedication set a great example for Jayhawk teams of the future."
After one year playing offense and defense in the NFL for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Evans returned to Kansas City and became active in the community. He was part owner of the NBA's Kansas City Kings. He was also the first president of the Kansas City Chiefs Club and a founding member of the Royal Lancers, a group of Kansas City Royals boosters.
Evans was inducted into the National Football Foundation Hall of Fame in 1964 and the Orange Bowl Classic Hall of Fame in 1988.
His ties to the University continued for many years as he served as president of the University of Kansas Alumni Association.
He is survived by his wife, Edith Marie; one son, three daughters and eight grandchildren. Funeral services are scheduled for tomorrow in Fairway, Kan.
— Edited by Darrin Peschka
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