PAGE 8
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2012
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WOMEN'S GOLF
Jayhawks persevere in Florida golf challenge
TREVOR VON GRAF
tvongraff@kansan.com
The Kansas women's golf team tied for ninth place at the Sir Pizza Cards Challenge last weekend in Weston, Fla.
Redshirt sophomore,
Thanuttta Boonraksasat finished eighth with a four-over -par score of 220. Senior Katy Nugent also played well, as she tied for 23rd with a total score of 227. The Jayhawkes were nine shots out of fifth place.
"We had a couple of holes where we took some pretty big numbers," coach Erin O'Neil said. "We're kind of a young team, and we didn't manage our decisions and emotions as well as we could have, at times, over the last two days."
The 54-hole tournament presented a challenge in course management.
"The big numbers usually came from one errant iron shot or a shot around the green that just got away from us," O'Neil said. "We ended up having to take penalty shots. It was either the short game or approach shots that got away from us."
The course at Weston Hills Country Club proved challenging, as there was plenty of water and multiple bunkers guarding the approach to greens.
"It's a great course, in great condition," O'Neill said. "It definitely can get in your head if you let it."
Wind made the already
intimidating course a bit tougher over the weekend, as wind gusts increased later in second-round action.
But, Kansas persevered through the difficult course and wind gusts. Boonrakasat finished her strong performance with an eagle, solidifying her eighth-place finish.
"She's been a very good ball striker," O'Neil said. "We've worked a lot on her short game. We got her a new putter right before the holiday break, and I think that's helped her a lot. She only had two three-puts in three rounds, which is huge."
Boonraksasat's exceptional play can be credited to her positive attitude on the course.
"I just keep singing and keep
changing songs," Boonraksasat said. "I don't get mad at my play, because I can't change anything anyway."
Senior Katy Nugent continued her solid play. Nugent's consistency stems from focusing on her short game.
"I like to make sure my short game is always good," Nugent said. "No matter what happens, you always have it there to pick you up if you're struggling."
The Jayhawks will travel to the Rio Verde Collegiate Invitational this weekend in Rio Verde, Ariz.
— Edited by Corinne Westeman
TEAM STANDINGS OUT OF 14 TEAMS
1. North Carolina State, 858 (-6)
2. Texas State, 880 (+16)
3. Miami, 895 (+31)
4. South Florida, 904 (+40)
5. Louisville, 910 (+46)
T9. Kansas, 919 (+55)
Individual results
1. Brittany Marchand, NCSU 210 (-6) — won playoff
2. Augusta James, NCSU 210 (-6)
3. Kelli Pry, USF 216 (E)
T4. Ana Menendez, NCSU 219 (+3)
Ramses Results
8. T. Boonraksasat, 220 (+4)
T23. Katy Nugent, 227 (+11)
T50. Audrey Yowell, 236 (+20)
T54. Meghan Potee, 237 (+21)
T66. Nadia Luttner, 241 (+25)
75. Gabby DiMarco, individual,
244 (28)
WIBW, Topeka
YOGA
Yogis to host first tournament
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Seeking the perfect pose will be the order of the day at the National Yoga Asana Championship, being put on March 2-4 by an organization that wants to see yoga asana, or posture, competition become an Olympic sport.
NEW YORK — The judges will be watching — were the competitor's knees locked? Were the wrists straight? Did the forehead and the knee connect? If not, points are going to be lost.
Wait, competitive yoga? Isn't that counterintuitive to something that's usually presented as a spiritual, meditative discipline? Not according to Rajashree Choudhury, who founded USA Yoga, which is holding the competition.
First of all, she says, the focus is on yoga postures. "I'm not trying to measure anybody's 'eight
states," she said, referring the meditative and spiritual aspect of yoga practice. "The posture can be competitive."
Participants must do a series of seven yoga poses in three minutes. Five are compulsory — standing head-to-knee pose, standing bow-pulling pose, bow pose, rabbit pose, and stretching pose. The participants are allowed to pick the last two poses themselves.
The poses show "how someone can have perfect strength, balance, flexibility in the body," Choudhury said.
Competitors who have come in first or second in state meets are expected from 32 states. The New York competition is March 2; the national semi-finals on March 3 and the finals on March 4. The winners will take part in an international competition scheduled for June in Los Angeles.
place in India, where yoga originated, and elsewhere around the world. Choudhury took part in them growing up, as did her husband, Bikram Choudhury, founder of the Bikram Yoga form of hot yoga, which consists of a series of 26 poses done in a heated room.
Yoga pose competitions take
She says the competitions can be a way to interest people in yoga who might be put off by the spiritual aspect,by showing them the athletic aspect.
But not all yoga practitioners agree.
"The roots of yoga are based in acceptance and non-violence and compassion toward self and others," said Roseanne Harvey, 35, of Montreal, who's been practicing yoga for 15 years and blogs about it at http://www.itsallyogababy.com.
She pointed out that in most yoga classes, "what we're trying to do is encourage students not to
compete," she said.
While saying that the universe of yoga had "room within it for lots of different approaches," Harvey had some concerns about what yoga pose competitions would be promoting, that people could get hurt if the idea filters down that it's about being able to get into the perfect positions.
She also wondered if that emphasis on the perfect pose would put off people who would look at the competitors as attaining a physical level they can't reach.
"It can deflate people, it can intimidate people from wanting to try it," she said.
Choudhury isn't too concerned about those put off by the idea of competitions.
"Yoga teaches people to be non-judgmental," she said.
TRACK AND FIELD
Women's team No.6 after third-place finish in Big 12 championship
For the third straight week, the women's track and field team is ranked in the top 10, moving to sixth place in the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association poll. The team is coming off a week in which it earned third place in the Big 12 indoor Championship meet and brought home four event titles.
Junior horizontal jumper Andrea Geubelle regained the title of best triple jump in the nation. On her best jump of the day, Geubelle reached the automatic qualification mark for the NCAA Indoor Championships. She is also ranked 19th in the nation in the long jump. She finished second in the Big 12 to her teammate Junior Francine Simpson. It was the first conference title for Simpson, who is ranked ninth in the nation.
The 4-by-400 meter relay team set the fastest time in Kanas history and eighth in the all-time NCAA rankings.
The team of senior Danesha Morris, junior Paris Daniels, junior Taylor Washington and sophomore Diamond Dixon is the fastest 4-by-400 relay team in the NCAA this season and qualified automatically for the national championship meet.
Diamond Dixon also brought the indoor 400 meter Big 12 crown to Lawrence. Her winning race set the second fastest time in the nation and automatically qualified for the national championship. The sophomore spinner is having an All-American caliber season.
The Jayhawks showed more versatility as sophomore Demi Payne and senior Alena Krechyk finished second in the pole vault and weight throw.
Five of the ten Big 12 teams are currently ranked in the track and field coaches' association top 25 poll, including Texas A&M (5), Iowa State (15), Texas (18) and Texas Tech (23).
- Max Goodwin
RUSKO
AFTERPARTY
FEATURING:
ARCHNEMESIS &
NADIS WARRIORS
TONIGHT!
THE FACE BEHIND THE KU/MU POSTER
CONGRATS MELANIE
AGE: 20
MAJOR: Environmental Studies
YEAR: Sophomore
NAME: Melanie Funk
BEHIND THE IDEA: loves the history between both states and schools and thought it would be great to incorporate the John Brown picture
LEAVEaLEGACY
incorporate the John Brown picture
Be Part of the Class Legacy Walk
By Purchasing a Personalized Engraved Brick
*Bricks will be placed in the Rain Garden, located
outside the Ambler Student Recreation Center*
PRICES
$100 4" x 8" - 3 lines with 15 characters
$125 8" x 8" - 6 lines with 15 characters
$135 8" x 8" - 4 lines with 15 characters
with the KU logo
$25 4" x 8" *replica brick
$40 8" x 8" *replica brick
*PAY BY CHECK OR CREDIT CARDI
/