20 • THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY,JULY17,2002
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New coaches, KU welcomes you
The fall semester brings thousands of new faces to the University of Kansas as incoming freshmen, transfer students and new faculty members discover the joys of Mount Oread.
Three of these newcomers to the University will have a little higher profile and a heavier weight on their shoulders than most - Kansas football coach Mark Mangino, baseball coach Ritch Price and women's golf coach Megan Menzel.
COMMENTARY
The Jayhawks' new coach has the right pedigree, though, having spent eight years as an assistant coach at Kansas State University. He also served as Oklahoma's assistant head coach/offensive coordinator as well as offensive line coach for the past three seasons and helped guide the Sooners to the national championship in 2000.
Better offensive production will be a paramount concern for Mangino this season, as the Jayhawks scored just 182 points in last year's 3-8 campaign. The Kansas defense needs to step it up, too, after allowing 398 points and holding just one opponent to fewer than two touchdowns.
women's gon coach Muglan Mangino will have the hardest task, trying to turn around a program that hasn't reached the postseason since the 1996 Aloha Bowl and has yet to win more than three Big 12 Conference games in a season.
With Mangino's impressive resume, the likelihood of the Jayhawks running draw plays on third-and-long or rushing the ball without a fullback is virtually nil, meaning Kansas fans can expect a much more competitive squad within the confines of Memorial Stadium this year.
Even with a new coach, the football team will probably take at least a couple years before showing major improvements, which is about the timetable Price should expect with the baseball team.
Hired because of his Division I coaching experience, Price spent the past eight years at Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo and won 30 games in each of the last three seasons.
He won't be able to pick up that many victories in his first year with the Jayhawks - back-to-back cellar dwellers in the Big
Levi Chronister lchronister@kansan.com
12-but he may bring a new energy to the team just by showing up. That could result in a few extra conference wins and push the Jayhawks into the conference tournament for the first time if everything falls together.
Speaking of last-place finishes, that's what the Kansas women's golf team had in last year's Big 12 Championships. On a positive note, that means there's nowhere for Menzel to take the team but up.
On a realistic note, it will take a lot of work for the Jayhawks to finish much higher this year. Kansas finished 80 strokes behind conference champion Oklahoma State and 20 strokes behind 11th place Colorado.
The good news for Menzel, who led Colorado State to back-to-back regionals the past two years, is there were no seniors on last year's squad. Everyone is back and should be eager to improve the team's conference rank.
The Kansas swimming and diving team will have a new head coach as well, as Cathy Burgess stepped down after two years to take a job in her hometown of Hickory, N.C.
Burgess will be missed, but most of last year's team is returning. Also, with 10 swimmers in town to practice during the summer, the team should be in great shape for Burgess' replacement.
for Burgess replacement.
Whoever that may be, he or she will have plenty of company as a first-year coach at the University, but will be the only one whose team finished last year with a winning record. If Kansas fans are lucky, it won't be that way for long.
Chronister is a Pittsburg senior in journalism.
KU hires new women's golf coach
Matt Norton
Kansan staff writer
The women's golf team has looked to Colorado State University for help with next season.
Megan Menzel was named the University of Kansas women's golf coach on July 5 by athletics director Al Bohl.
Menzel was the golf coach at CSU the last two seasons and led the Rams to consecutive appearances in the NCAA regionals.
"I'm thrilled to be a Jayhawk, and I'm looking forward to becoming a part of Kansas' outstanding tradition," Menzel said.
The team won three invitational tournaments during her tenure and set the school record for scoring average last season with an average of 82.8. Last year, KU's average was 82.57.
"I am confident that Megan Menzel has the experience and leadership skills to move the women's golf program at the University of Kansas forward in a positive fashion." Bohl said.
Menzel replaces Nicole Hollingsworth, who coached the team from 1999 to 2002 but was fired by Bohl at the end of last season. The Jayhawks finished last in the Big 12 Conference Tournament each of the past three years.
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