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Sports
Page 12 University Daily Kansan, March 6, 1981
'Hawks seek sure NCAA bid in Big 8 tourney
By KEVIN BERTELS
Sports Editor
KU has a good chance of advancing to the NCAA post-season tournament, but Jayhawks' Coach Ted Owens would rather not have to wait for the invitations.
Tigers say they'll be ready for KU this year
He can avoid that if KU wins the Big Eight post-season tournament. KU can take a step toward that tonight with a victory over Missouri at 7:10 at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Mo.
"However, if we go in and win two games, we
will receive a bill. The only sure thing is if you
win.
Missouri has an extra motive to win "over there" this season. Besides the fact that Coach Norm Stewart and the Tigers would like to take the Big Eight's automatic bid to the NCAA, they would also like to beat KU. The Tigers were 0-2 in second-round tournament games the last season.
"I believe as I look at records, we should get great consideration," Owens said. "I believe that we will. We played a good schedule and got a fine record.
Last season, the Tigers advanced to the tournament as the Big Eight regular season champion with a 22- record and a no. 9 national
ranking. They were virtually assured of an NCAA tournament bid.
"I DIDN'T THINK we responded quite well to the tournament last year." Stewart said. "I think we felt comfortable at having won the championship. We didn't think the tourney could do us much good last year. That's not to take anything away from the teams we played. We just didn't see how it could benefit in any way. This year we think it can help our ball club."
If KU's recent play is any indication, the Jayhawks have a chance to do some damage to Missouri. KU has won its last three games, one of which was Oklahoma Oklahoma State, by an average of 22.7 points.
KU RECEIVED surprising play from several players, especially 6-foot-10 Art House who hit nine of 11 shots, scored 21 points and grabbed 15 points. They were the only team Owens of what he could do, scoring 20 points.
mostly from long range. David Magley had 9 rebounds and 4 assists. Tony Guey had 6 assists.
The point is that KU had solid individual performances and will need them again to beat Missouri, the 20th-ranked team in the country in the latest United Press International poll.
They embarrassed us down there (KU lost 79-64, feel like we have something to establish).
"That's what we want," Guy said. "We want to play the best in the conference. Win or lose, we want to play the best. We're not looking for the easy way out.
At Columbia, the Tigers led by 11 points at tuia and Ricky Frazier scored 22 points as Missouri came up behind was the opposite in Lawrence, when KU was 6-5-5 before the first sellout crowd of the season.
"MU PLAYED well there," Owens said about the loss in Columbia. "We caught them at a bad time. What it comes down to is that we must compete with them on the boards."
Competing with MU on the boards is always
difficult. Coaches have said that the Tigers' front line of 6-11 Steve Pinavonov, 6-8 Curtis Berry and 6-8 Ricky Frazier should move, as a group, to the NBA.
According to Colorado Coach Bill Blair, whose team plays K-State in the second game tonight at 9:10, Missouri is the best team in the tournament because of those three.
"I thought Kansas State was the best when they played us." he said. "But when Berry plays he has been and Fraser plays normal and Mississippi," he said. "Mark Rink Missouri has the best front line in the league."
KU's front line should not be be. Housey played the best game of his Kansas career today. Magley rebounded well and has been especially fancy with his passing the last two games.
John Crawford has filled in well for 8-4 center Victor Mitchell since a knee injury three games ago. He grabbed 12 rebounds against Oklahoma and pitched to Mitchell is completely recovered from his injury.
"Victor has come back, but John has done a good job," Owens said. "We're perfectly in the way Magley has played." Body NBA has done his work. Huskey tweets to improve. We're maturing as a team.
"IM HAPPY FOR the seniors. They started their career with a conference championship and stayed together and it looks like they are going to have a good finish."
JAHYAWK NOTES: Kansas State plays Colorado to determine the other team for Saturday's roleplay relationship tonight at 8:10. The Red Roster Roldan expects it to be a tough game for the Wildcats
"We just have to stick it to everybody we play," he said. "Colorado is a strong, physical team. Rebounding is important. We have to play because I'm sure that Colorado will play hard."
K-State has won the last 10 games between the two teams. Tickets are still available for Saturday's game and can be purchased at ticket outlets in Kansas City. Tickets for tonight's games are sold out, but both games will be televised by Channel 13.
Ricks wants last laugh at NCAA sprint finals
By PAUL D. BOWKER Sports Writer
All season long it was a joke. Teammates kidded and needled KU sprinter Mike Ricks as the season progressed.
Opposing coaches and athletes looked on in amazement as Ricks, a senior, continued to win races but failed in his attempts to qualify for the playoffs. He was the first playoff winner in an event which Ricks is the national champion.
A week ago, in a preliminary race at the Big Eight indoor championships, Ricks finally ended the embarrassment with a first place time of 1:09.87. The mark not only qualified Ricks for the national championships, but was the fastest time in the event this season in the Big Eight.
"THE GUYS ON the team were making little jokes about it, the coaches were making jokes about it." Ricks said. "But to me it was serious, our national champion and not yet qualifying."
When the final race of the 600 rolled around on Saturday, though, Ricks wasn't as lucky. After a slow start, he settled for a sixth-seat finish and a time of 1:19.91.
Ricks fell behind early in the race, a position he is unacustomed to, and could never catch up as KU junior Mark Rau won the race with a time of 1:09.30.
The misery did not end there for Ricks. Although he helped the Jayhawks set a conference record in the mile relay, he pulled a groin muscle in the meet.
The injury was not thought very serious earlier in the week, but after treatments a day, the risk is now about 50%.
"It's a very bad strain," Ricks said. "It's beginning to loosen up. It's very tight."
Ricks said he hopes to run today and start preparations for next week's national meet.
RICKS REALIZES he made some errors in his race at the conference championships.
"I was feeling pretty good." Ricks said. "I ran too不太 Smart of a race. I bead.
"Iused up gill my energy trying to get back up front when I should have stayed back, played it cool, and made my move on the final lap. I am controlling the race. I got behind and panicked."
Rau, who won the race, couldn't believe it
"Shocking," he said. "I expected Mike (Rick) to be right there. I expected to trail Mike all the way and endure. I think it was the meet, just the pressure.
"He's (Rick) ready. He just ran a bad race. He never run from behind before. He made scorers crash."
KU Coach Bob Timmons was also aware of Ricks' mistakes in the race.
"He made a couple of them," Timmons said. "He hopes that he loss his loss as something can be forgiven."
LAST YEAR, after setting a Big Eight record of 1:08.9 in the conference championships, Ricks won the 600 in the nationals with a time of 1:10.06. Times are usually slower at the national meet because it is held on a board track at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.
Ricks, however, does not see the board track as a problem.
"I don't think so," he said. "I think it might be to naught. We've run on the boards a couple of times."
Tennis team to travel to NU
The recent rains have kept people indoors lately and that includes the Kansas men's tennis team.
KU will travel to Nebraska for a match Friday and Saturday with Nebraska, Kansas State and Oak Roberts. This match, like KU's previous two this spring, will be indoor. The Jayhawks were to play Bethany outdoor Wednesday but the rain caused a cancellation.
In the fall, the Jayhawks defeated K-State, 63-3. In the second half, Sakura, 5-4, which was a superior Coach Randy White.
Even though the match will be indoor, KU's players are excited about the chance to compete with Big Eight schools.
"IM LOOKING forward to it," junior Ed Bolen said.
McGrath would not speculate on KU's chances. After this fall's loss to Nebraska, which KU was heavily favored to win, he said that he avoided speculation.
McGrath said the Cornhuskers had the best team they ever had, but Oral Roberts had the best team in the tournament this weekend.
Bolen said that KU did not play as well as it could have at Nebraska last fall and McGrath agreed, saying that the team had improved, with each player improving.
That improvement came despite practicing only four times a week. During the winter the team practices at a local tennis club. Because of this practice, the team can afford to pay for no more than four days.
"We'll show up and see what happens," he said.
Surgery delays tennis player's plans
By BRENDA DURR
Sports Writer
Marci Esry wasn't concerned last November when she entered the hospital for removal of cartilage from both her knees. She never considered cancelling plans to go to a gym, as the sports confident that, in the spring, she would be able to sing one single for the KU women's tennis team.
Instead, Eary spent the next two weeks in length-length braces and is still unable to handle them.
The surgery was necessary not just to play
sims but to be able to walk again without
pain.
"I took some tests, and cartilage in both my knees had been torn and worm away," she said. "As the cartilage tears, the harder it is to kill. If I played, great, but that was extra."
Ersry never expected to need so much time to recuperate.
Marcel Easy, a KU tennis player, works out in her room with a 20-pound weight. Easy lifts the bag 80 times each day as she rehabilitates both her knees after knee surgery in November.
"I THOUGHT that I'd be out and about and be playing again by spring," she said. "We were never prepared for the time and the pain."
The pain after the operation was so intense, Esry said, that she would "cry out if someone touched my hospital bed and then when I was off, it hurt more because it tightened my muscles.
DAVE KRAUS/Kansan staff
"I felt like a big train was sitting across my legs and every once in a while it would move. There was nothing I could do. My mom and dad had to do everything for me.
"Just to move one inch either way, my mom had to pick up my legs to move them and to get out of bed she had to lift my legs. It was a mess."
But with the help of KU trainer Cynthia "Sam" Booth, Esry is undergoing physical therapy to regain the strength in her legs. She works on her legs by jogging, lifting weights and using a whirlpool.
"I HAD TO REBUILD my legs all over
the bones, was nothing but skin and
bones," she said.
The pain was made bearable by knowing that her family and friends cared, she said.
Even though she is physically better, Eary said she is unable to forget the mental pain from her illness.
she was depressed and upset a lot, "Erys said, 'I don't think we will do this again.'" reason. It was tough on my whole family. If
"the pain in my mind, I haven't forgotten," she said as she still appreciating things people take for granted.
She enjoys simple things, she says, "like just going the bathroom, sleeping on your bed." She's quiet.
anything came out of this it was that I love my family so much more and I appreciate them. Friends showed so much interest and care that it made a big difference in my life.
"I'm PRETTY MUCH a fighter but I was
not a fighter and I needed help from
other people," she said.
But even three months after the operation, Esry said the mental part is difficult. "I'm still fighting with my emotions," she said. "My mind is ready to go but my body is not."
"I have to keep a rein on my training but
I don't need it, go out and meet my knee
up the stairs might never be here."
Esry began playing tennis when she was a freshman in high school in Independence, Mo., fairly late for most players involved in serious competition.
"In my first summer of playing tennis I got the title, 18-year-old. We are now nationally ranked."
beat me, she had been playing twice as long as I had."
But by the time she was a senior in high school, she had won her conference and the Missouri state championship and was headed for Texas Christian University until former KU tennis coach Torn Kivisto persuaded her to attend KU.
EVEN THOUGH she cannot play for KU this spring, Eary said she is hoping to compete.
"Tennis is a big part of my life," she said,
but added that "one was pushing her back in."
"I used to play because I thought my parents wanted me to, but they told me that if I couldn't play, they'd still stand behind me and I wouldn't be letting them down.
"I don't have to be a star to enjoy what I'm doing. The day that I don't enjoy what I'm doing I'll quit and it'll be my own decision."
DAVE KRAUB/Kansen staff
Lynette Woodard, KU's record-setting basketball player accepts a commendation from Gov. John Carlin. Carlin officials, Carlin and the Legislature officially recognized Woodard for her achievements at KU, including being picked three times to the national All-America team.
Woodard's feats get Carlin's approval
By JIM SMALL Sports Writer
TOPEKA-Even though she has received more than 30 awards and titles, including three All-America honors, Lynette Woodard still gets nerves at the mention of the word "award."
Sports Writer
Woodard's modest style was evident yesterday when she received a special commendation for her basketball achievements from Gov. John Carlin at the state house.
"MY VERY NERVOUS," Woodard said after
he spoke. "I am confident it makes me feel
good. This means a lot to me."
The presentation was organized by State Sen. Norma Daniels, D-Valley center, who conceived the idea while watching the KU-Kansas State game that year in game in which Woodward's number was retired.
"WHEN I SAW THEM retiring her jersey and heard her long lists of accomplishments, I thought that something like this would be in line." Daniels said.
The 5-foot-8 Carlin began the ceremony on a flat surface, but the size difference between Woodard and him was
"TD RATHER SIT down and admit it short," he said as the 6-1 Woodard stood next to him at his desk, "than remain standing and remove all doubt."
But Carlin switched to a more serious note later.
"I'd like to present this to you on behalf of a lot of fine Kansas basketball fans," he said. "You're a fine athlete and I'd like to wish the best of luck."
The award came as a big surprise to Woodard, who didn't know about it until minutes before it willed him.
"She (Kansas Coach Marian Washington) never tells me too much," Woodard said. "She told me last night that we would be going to try to win the game. I did not ask any questions until we got here."
WASHINGTON SAID that keeping the secret from Woodard for more than a week was not difficult.
Carlin said that although a ceremony like yesterday's was not a first, it wasn't routine.
"She trusts me," Washington said. "Besides, she is such a shy, modest person that it is easier to hit her with things like these at the last moment."
"This is not a routine thing," he said. "Lynette Woodards don't come along routinely. She's a special person, a great athlete and a great individual."
The Governor's presentation came eight days before Kansas takes on South Dakota in the first round of the basketball championships at Minnesota, Minn. Kansas is the top-trained team in the tournament.
Two other sunflower state teams will also compete for the region crown.
WICHITA STATE, which beat Kansas State last week to become the Region VI southern division runner-up, is seeded seventh in the nation for a tournament host Minnesota in the first round.
Surprisingly, Kansas State, which received an at large berth to the tournament after the loss to Wichita State, is seeded ahead of the Shockers. K-State is the tournament's No. 5 seed.
Fourth-quarter rally lifts Kings, 106-100
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (UOP1)-The Kansas City Kings outsided Portland 10-3 in the final 2:38 last night, and beat the Trail Blazers, 106-100, at Kemper Arena.
The victory was the Kings' second in as many nights and lifted them one full game ahead of third place Houston in the Midwest Division with 13-7. The win broke the Kings' two-game losing streak at home.
TRAILING 97-96, the Kings scored eight consecutive points to take a 7-point lead with 10 seconds remaining. Kansas City's Otis Birdsong led all scores with 26 points.