Volume 126 Issue 109
kansan.com
Thursday, April 17, 2014
4
COMMENTARY KU sports bucket list before graduation
If you're a senior here at the University, your time is running out like there's 30 minutes till close at the Hawk and you're still flying solo in the Boom Boom Room.
It's time to get spontaneous and soak in your last few days in Lawrence. Fortunately for you, there's still a little bit of time and plenty happening in the sports world to fill in those lazy afternoons of avoiding the inevitable.
Go watch shot put downtown: Every year, downtown Lawrence hosts the shot put during the Kansas relays. You can even go today. It's a spectacle worth watching.
You can fill this time starting today. Here's a list of ways to spend your time until you walk through the Campanile:
Spend an afternoon at Hoglund Ballpark: On a sunny weekend day, go check out the Jayhawks at Hoglund Ballpark. Buy some peanuts or sneak them in, either way you're sure to have a good time watching Kansas baseball.
Grab a Wangburger at the Wheel: It's Friday afternoon and the weekend has arrived. Walk from campus down 14th street where you can grab a Wangburger and beer while soaking in a true KU atmosphere. Look at the famous faces on the walls and put a dollar into the jukebox to pick three songs that were likely made before you were born.
Walk through the Booth Family Hall of Athletics: Take advantage of the fact that the Booth Family Hall of Athletics is open during the day. Walk through its halls and look at a basketball with laces on it. Gaze at the Championship rings and trophies.
It's the perfect place to reflect on your four or five or maybe even six years in Lawrence. Go with your friends and relish in the fact that you've made it. You've made it through the emotions. The bad tests. The stress. The all nighters. They're done.
Visit the graves: Take a short drive to the grave sites commemorating the lives of James Naismith and Phog Allen. Take a moment to look around and realize how big of an impact these Jayhawks had on modern athletics and this world that consumes them.
Now it's time to celebrate.
Edited by Blair Sheade
Try to take a look at Allen Fieldhouse when it's empty:
While you're at the Booth Family Hall of Athletics, see if you can sneak a peek at the empty basketball gym you've come to know and love in your time here. Walk onto the court if you can. Look at the banners and years and names that line the ceiling. Remember all of the fun you had in the student section.
Sit on the top of Mt. Oread and gaze into Memorial Stadium: OK, so you probably didn't spend much time here at all, but that doesn't mean the view isn't nice.
BASEBALL
Hander proves himself against Antelopes
SHANE JACKSON
sports@kansan.com
Jon Hander walked off the mound after seven innings on the mound, eyes glued toward the dugout where he would be greeted with smiles by his teammates. Several Jayhawks lined up to fist bump the right-handed freshman, congratulating him on his first collegiate win, a 7-1 victory against Grand Canyon, to split the midweek series.
"It feels good. I just trusted my defense. I just went out and threw with no fear, and didn't worry about missing one or two spots," Hander said.
As the Jayhawks fifth starter, the freshman out of Sioux Falls, S.D., doesn't see a lot of time as a starter. Hander only starts in two-game midweek sets like the one against Grand Canyon. Because of this, Hander was making just his third start, first in the confines of Hoglund Ballpark, in his young Jayhawk career.
"It was real nice. It's a great mound and great place to be. It feels good to pitch at home," Hander said.
Coming into Wednesday night's contest, Hander had a 0-1 record, tossing just 13 innings in five appearances on the mound.
Shortstop Justin Protocio fields a hard hit ground ball up the middle and throws to first for the out. The Jayhawks defeated the Antelopees 7-1 on Wednesday after a Great Canyon victory of 5-3 on Tuesday.
Making his Hoglund debut, the freshman 6-foot-2 seemed to have more confidence than in his prior two starts.
Hander tossed a total of 78 pitches, going seven innings deep and allowing only one run off five hits.
"He's been really good in his first two starts, but when he runs up to about 60 pitches, he runs into the wall. To see him push it into the seventh tonight, I thought was a huge step for him," Coach Ritch Price said.
"As good as he has thrown the ball, it's a possibility he could move into the Tuesday spot."
RITCH PRICE Basball coach
The lone mistake the freshman made was a leadoff double in the fifth to Grand Canyon freshman catcher Josh Meyer, who would be brought home on a sac飞 to right.
The freshman did not walk a single Antelope, keeping the base paths clear for a majority of the night. Hander struck out four batters, two in a row to start the game off. Hander showed his ability to handle pressure situations. Time and time again the freshman regained his composure after giving up a base hit.
He allowed his first hit in the second, before getting the next batter to ground out into an inning-ending double play. In the third he allowed a two-out single, but sat down the next guy he saw with a strikeout.
GEORGE MULLINIX/KANSAN
It helped that Hander dealt the entire game with a commanding lead. The Jayhawks scored five runs off just three hits in the first inning after drawing three straight walks to start off the game.
"That's what you have to do, if someone sets the table up for you like that", Price said.
Kansas tacked on two more insurance runs, one in the fifth when junior designated hitter Dakota Smith ripped an RBI single to score sophomore second baseman Colby Wright. Junior left fielder Michael Suiter was brought home after a leadoff double in the sixth, the third of the game, to make it 7-1.
the road against Oklahoma State.
Jayhawks move to 3-6 in midweek matchups, and after the phenomenal start by the freshman, Price may consider pitching more of Hander in those midweek games.
Kansas will look to carry its momentum into a big conference weekend series on
"As good as he has thrown the ball, it's a possibility he could move into the Tuesday spot," Price said.
"We are going to have to continue to swing the bats well if we want to come away with a series win against a pitching staff like Oklahoma
State," said senior catcher Ka'iana Eldredge.
— Edited by Alec Weaver and Paige Lytle
TRACK AND FIELD
Kansas Relays kick off at Rock Chalk Park
BEN BURCH
sports@kansan.com
The Kansas Relays are in full swing and athletes will continue to compete until Saturday, April 19. Events today begin with the decathlon, 110-me-ter hurdles, heptathlon and long jump. The athletes will finish up the day with the 10,000 meters.
The 87th annual Kansas Relays began yesterday at the brand new Rock Chalk Park with the beginning legs of the combined events: the decathlon and heptathlon. The only Jayhawk athlete in action yesterday, sophomore Mercedes Smith, enters today in third place after the first four events of the seven-event heptathlon, with a combined score of 2,778. The leaders of the two events entering today are Nebraska's Guy Fenske, with a 3,666 point total after the first five events of the ten-event decathlon, and Truman's Rebecca Nelson, who leads the heptathlon with 3,042 points.
GEORGE MULLINIX/KANSAN
Smith, in her first career heptathlon, was able to tally personal bests in two of yes;erday's four events to get her into the third place spot. Entering the high jump in third place after the first event, Smith was able to clear the bar set at $5^{\prime}1.25^{\prime}$ for her career-best mark in the high jump, allowing her to remain in third place heading into the final two legs of the heptathlon.
In the final event of the day, the 200 meters, Smith grabbed her second personal record of the meet so far, clocking in at 24.97 to beat the rest of the field by over a second. The 890 points Smith gained from this event contributed greatly to her 2,778 point total, which set her up nicely to make some moves in the final three
events today.
a discus throw of 52.25 meters (1748 "), which made her the No. 4 performer in school history. Today, she will look to have similar success, but this time in the hammer throw competition, which is slotted to begin around 2:45 p.m.
Junior Lindsay Vollmer, the school record-holder in the heptathlon, chose to forgo the heptathlon this week because she already qualified for nationals in the event three weeks ago at the Texas Relays. Instead, Vollmer will look to get in a little extra practice this weekend, as she is slotted to compete in the 1600-meter hurdles and the high jump,
Smith will have 21 other Jayhawk athletes join her in competition today, as 12 additional events will begin. Besides Smith, one athlete to keep an eye on tomorrow will be sophomore thrower Dasha Tsema, who got her outdoor season off to a good start at the Texas Relays, with
Today's competition will start with the day's first leg of the decathlon at 9 a.m., and is expected to finish up with the
and could potentially be a late entry into the 4x400-meter relay.
men's 10,000 meters, which is expected to start around 9:08 p.m. Any fans looking to catch some of today's action and check out the new Rock Chalk Park facility will be able to do so for free, as patrons will be admitted to today's events free of charge.
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Edited by Julie Etzler
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