Inside Sports
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Sports
The Men' golf team has a good day on the first day of competition at the Big 12 Championships.
Tuesday
April 27,1999
Section:
B
Page 1
Softball
SEE PAGE 3B
Coming off a winning weekend, the softball team prepares to face Creighton today.
Page 1
Pro Football
The Kansas City Chiefs acquired quarterback Warren Moon.
SEE PAGE 6B
Contact the Kansan
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Remembering Ray Evans
Ray Evans, the only athlete in Kansas history to be a two-sport, All-American, shakes hands with Bob Frederick, athletics director. Evans had his jersey retired on Feb. 27, 1997, during halftime of the Kansas-Kansas State game. Evans and Frederick are joined by Chancellor Robert Hemenway, left, and Evans' son, Ray Darby Evans.
Highlights of Evans' Career
Career
Only Kansas player named first team All-
American in both football and basketball
All-American selection for football in 1947.
All-American selection for basketball
jun 94-3.
Only Kansas athlete to have his jersey retired in two sports.
Member of the College Football Hall of Fame.
Member of the Helms Foundation
Member of the Helms Foundation College Basketball Hall of Fame.
five-time all-ceremony selection.
a one-time college record holder for
A one-time college record holder for most passes thrown without an interception (60).
Member of five Kansas teams that won conference championships.
Evans dies as two-sport legend
Holds the Kansas record for most career interceptions with 17.
Led the nation in competitions in 1942,
completing 101 of 198 passes.
Placed one season professionally for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Evans is congratulated as he walks off the basketball court, following the retiring of his jersey. Evans died at the age of 76 Saturday in his home. Contributed photos
By Matt James
mjames@kansan.com
Kansas scriwriter
Roy Williams probably would have cringed at the sight of former All-American Paul Pierce taking snaps on the football field during the offseason. Though it is doubtful he ever would have needed to worry about it.
And Terry Allen's starting free safety Greg Erb hasn't worked on his batting stance for quite a while. But why would he need to?
The idea of Kansas athletes playing multiple sports isn't as prevalent as it once was in previous eras but was revisited with the passing of former two-sport Kansas athlete Ray Evans. The Kansas City native died at his suburban Kansas City home Saturday
night at the age of 76.
Evans' accomplishments as a Jay hawk are unprecedented. The only Kansas athlete to be named first team All-American in basketball and football and have his jersey retired in both sports. Evans led the nation in pass completions in 1942.
Evans' most impressive achievements may be on the gridiron, where he is still the school record holder with 17 interceptions. While not busy running, passing and catching the Jayhawks to one victory after another, he anchored the Kansas defense as a starting safety — something current safety Erb finds amazing.
"It would be real hard," Erb said of playing "ironman" football. "You've got to be a real special athlete to do something like that. High school is something different, but at the college
level. I can even imagine doing it.
Erb tried his hand at two sports in high school, spitting time between baseball and the football field before concentrating on football at Kansas.
"Unless you're a real special person, it's pretty much improbable these days with all of the time commitments for just one sport, let alone your studies and stuff like that. To be all of that in, is just impossible to do."
In Evans' time, there were fewer distractions, and sports were the main source of entertainment in his youth.
"Now kids have TV and all sorts of things to watch." Evans once said. "We didn't have that in our day. We just went to the school lot across the street. All the neighborhood kids would meet and that's all we did was
See EVANS on page 3B
Changes in offense prove successful for Jayhawks
By Chris Wristen
cwristen@ukans.edu
Kanson sportwriter
In a season full of changes, everything made a change for the better for the Kansas women's soccer team.
Beginning with the addition of coach Mark Francis and following with a newly discovered confidence and a high-powered offense, the Jayhawks adopted the look of a winning program.
"They've come a long way," Francis said. "The biggest thing is they're playing with a lot of confidence right now. They have confidence in what we're trying to do. They see the results of what we are doing on the practice field working in games on the field."
The result of their work was an undefeated season, something no one would have believed possible just a few months ago.
"Who'd have thought. We won five games in the fall, and we already surpassed that in the spring," said Melissa Downing, junior midfielder.
"We're being more offensive than in the past. In the fall, they struggled to score goals. Now we're having success in that area," Francis said.
A major emphasis for the spring was placed on offense, an area in which the team struggled last fall. In the fall, the team notched 19 goals in 19 games. This spring the Jayhawks netted 18 goals in only seven games.
Francis said the undefeated season would give the team confidence next fall.
"I think it's a good stepping stone for us heading into the fall. The fall's when it really all counts," he said.
This success has given the team greater confidence, which the players attribute to their on-floor improvements.
"Our confidence level is a lot higher than it was last fall," junior midfielder Cynthia Dahle said. "We're creating a lot more opportunities, and we're being able to finish off those opportunities which is making our confidence go up."
Even though it is the players who have been making it happen, they look to their coach for the success.
Kansas defender Natalie Hoogveld drives the ball out of the backfield against Southwest Missouri State midfielder Jenny Albers during the second period of Sunday's game at Anschutz Sports Pavilion. Kansas completed the spring season with a perfect record after finishing 5-13 in the fall. Photo by Jay Shepard / KANSAN
"It's got to be the coaching." Downing said. "Seriously, Coach Francis is a magician. He's totally turned this program around. I'm so happy to be playing for him. He's what's made the difference."
The spring concluded with the team in high spirits and Francis feeling a little damp — the result of a post game drenching by his players.
- Edited by Amanda Hay
Women's row squad drenches competition
By Matt James
By Matt James
mjames@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
After getting off to a slow start in Sacramento, Calif., on Friday, the Kansas women's rowing team found the waters of San Francisco much more
The Jayhawks took a major step toward qualifying for the NCAA Rowing Championships this
to its liking.
weekend when they dominated three of four opponents, defeating California-Davis, Stanford and Santa Clara, after dropping a close race to Sacramento State.
On Saturday, the Jayhawks first and second varsity boats defeated California-Davis. Kansas' first boat, currently ranked 22nd in the US Rowing National Collegiate Coaches Poll, finished with a time of 6:37.5, eight seconds ahead of its closest competitor. The second varsity eight also won its race finishing two seconds ahead of UC-Davis with a time of 6:52.9.
Even a severe headwind couldn't slow the Jayhawks' momentum in their second race on Saturday. Both the first and second varsity eight boats defeated Stanford with
ease. The Jayhawks' first varsity eight finished with a time of 7:59.7, 23 seconds ahead of the Cardinal. The second varsity eight finished with a time of 8:13, 14 seconds ahead of Stanford.
- Edited by Seth Hoffman
"These two races show how far we've come as a team," said coach Rob Catloth. "Our First
their Bay-area dominance, winning both the first and second varsity eight races versus the Santa Clara Broncos. The first varsity eight finished 22 seconds ahead of Santa Clara. In the second varsity eight race, the Jayhaws finished with a time of 7:59.2.
Sacramento State provided the only defeat of the weekend for the Jayhawks Friday in Sacramento.
"I really thought we rowed well this weekend," said junior co-captain Becky Valburg. "Our second boat's times were faster than our best times last year."
The Jayhawks will travel to Madison, Wisc. on May 1 and 2 to compete in the Midwest Association of Rowing College Championships.
Commentary
Aycock, Dixon deserve to join Woodard on honored wall
This column is dedicated to Allen Quakenbush, who passed away during the weekend. For three years he hounded me and helped me in my work at The Topeka Capital-Journal.
But her jersey sits alone. A small dose of estrogen overwhelmed by testosterone.
Dangling from the Allen Fieldhouse rafters are the jerseys of seven great men, each honored as the greatest players in Kansas basketball history.
Among those men's jerseys is that of Lynette Woodard, the greatest woman to ever play college basketball.
It is time for Woodard's jersey to get company.
As good as those players
may be, they are not in the
No two player's since Danny Manning have deserved the honor more than Tamecka Dixon and Angela Avcock.
Not Jacque Vaughn. Not Raef LaFrentz. Not Paul Pierce.
Dixon and Aycock are deserving.
Dixon was, without a doubt, one of the best point guards, male or female, to play at Kansas.
were, they were not in the same category as retires such as Danny Manning and Clive Lovellette.
She is the second player in team history, behind Woodard, to score more than 1,500 points and hand
In 1997 she was an All-American. The year before she was an honorable mention All-American. In 1966 and '97, she was the Big 12 Conference Player of the Year.
The Jayhawks made four NCAA tournament appearances with Dixon and won two conference titles. She finished her Kansas career with 1,689 points, fifth-best among Kansas women
And she took over games.
With less than five minutes to go in a game, Dixon would go on scoring rampages, slicing through defenses for fast layups or stopping short and hitting amazing jump shots.
With her team down by 15 points, I once watched Dixon score 12 points in the final minutes and single-handedly will her team to victory.
Dixon's greatness wasn't just her skills but her ability to lift a team at crucial moments.
Dixon just wrote a book and is a guard for the Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA.
Aycock was as good, if not better, than Dixon. Aycock averaged only one point less her senior season than Danny Manning did his final year.
In 1985, her final season, Aycock was named a Kodak and Associated Press All-American. In 1993 she was an All-American honorable mention
She finished with 1,978 career points, third best in history.
Aycock was magic.
She could cut and fake better than anyone, and she had a powerful baseline drive.
Aycock played professionally in the now defunct ABL.
And it is no coincidence that Aycock and Dixon played two seasons together. Dixon has credited Aycock with teaching her important lessons.
Retiring jerseys is a serious matter. It is a prestigious honor reserved for the best.
There are schools that retire jerseys of athletes that were fan favorites but not truly great players. The Kansas Athletics Department has avoided that and bestowed the honor only on the deserving.
While Woodard is the best women's player to ever wear the crimson and blue, she is not the only Kansas women's basketball player deserving of the honor.
The Kansas women's team has been better than just Woodard, and it is time others get the honor they deserve: their jerseys hanging among the greatest Kansas has to offer.
Duncan is a Topeka senior in journalism and English.
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