THURSDAY, MARCH 27, 2003
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN - 9B
Defeat from Notre Dame disappoints Kansas State
The Associated Press
MANHATTAN — It wasn't supposed to end like this.
Cutting down the nets and winning a regional or national championship would have been a proper ending. Even getting beat in a hard-fought game in the Elite Eight or Final Four would have been well received.
But getting upset by unranked and 11-seeded Notre Dame in the second round of the NCAA tournament in front of Kansas State's packed home court was a bitter ending to the Wildcats' other record-breaking season.
"I'm extremely disappointed," sophomore guard Laurie Koehn said. "It's devastating and not a good feeling. It's not a way you want to feel."
Koehn wasn't alone. Coach Deb Patterson and a purple-clad crowd of more than 11,000 were shocked Tuesday after Notre Dame snapped Kansas State's 22-game home winning streak with a 59-53 victory.
It wasn't Notre Dame beating Kansas State that was the hardest to comprehend for the No. 3 seed Wildcats. It's how the Irish did it.
Notre Dame's stingy match-up zone baffled a Kansas State offense that featured two All Big 12 Conference selections — Nicole Ohlle, 18.4 points per game, and Kendra Wecker, 19.2 points, — and Koehn, the best 3-point shooter in the nation last
season.
After leading 31-28 at halftime, Kansas State began the second half 0-of-11 from the field and committed six turnovers in the first eight minutes. At one point, the Wildcats went almost 13 minutes without a field goal.
"A lot of it was not getting to our spots and not doing the things we are capable of." Ohlide said. "But you have to give a lot of credit to Notre Dame. They came out and were fired up."
Koehn, who had 23 points, broke the drought with two straight 3-pointers to cut Notre Dame's lead to 40-35 with 8:17 remaining, but the damage was done.
"For some reason, in the second half we just mentally froze," Patterson said. "We were our own worst enemies on a lot of possessions. I have not seen our team perform at that level at all this year, but it snuck up and got us."
It was a shocking ending to a season that broke school records in wins (29), winning percentage (29-4., 878) and best Big 12 finish (second). Kansas State also had its first perfect regular season at Bramlage Coliseum (18-0).
Ranked in the top-five almost the entire season, Kansas State began the year by winning the preseason WNIT. After losing at then-No. 7 Stanford on Nov. 30, the Wildcats won 13 straight and began the Big 12 season with fivestraight victories, including a 71-
69 victory over eventual Big 12 champion Texas.
Despite losing Koehn, whose 122 3-pointers in 2002 were the second-most in NCAA history, to a foot injury for 10 games, the Wildcats won nine straight conference games.
They had the chance to win the regular season title on the final game of the season, but lost 71-65 at Texas Tech, the first of three losses in five games to end the season.
The Wildcats lost to the Red Raiders again in the semifinals of the Big 12 tournament.
"You look at the 29 games and you hope it will prepare for this moment and you realize that these young people achieved a great deal," Patterson said. "They have a lot to be proud of. At the same time, the disappointment of how you compete like this in the final game is very extreme, particularly at home."
The future, though, still looks promising for the young Wildcats. Kansas State loses no players to graduation. Next year, Ohlde, the Big 12 player of the year, will be the only senior of the starters; Koehn and Wecker will be juniors.
"We didn't want it to end like this." Ohlde said. "We're looking forward to next year. We have everybody coming back and we have lots of good people coming in. We're just going to go get back on the hardwood and keep working."
Virginia Tech hit with injuries
From Staff Reports
The Collegiate Times via U-Wire Virginia Tech
(U-WIRE) BLACKSBURG, Va.-Jim Davis will likely miss all of the upcoming season, and Vegas Robinson has been hampered by an ankle injury
The injury bug has once again struck the Virginia Tech football team during spring practice, this time befalling linebacker Vegas Robinson and defensive end Jim Davis, two key members of the Tech defense.
Robinson, hampered by an ankle injury during a critical stretch of the 2002 season, continues to suffer from soreness in
the same ankle, despite repeated treatment during the three-month off-season.
The only good news -- if Robinson, a redshirt senior, undergoes surgery on his ankle, he should be able to return in time for practice in August.
The outlook on Davis' season does not look as good. He will almost certainly have to undergo season-ending surgery to fix his torn pectoral muscle. If he decides surgery is his best option after meeting with his family, he will most likely be given a medical redshirt, enabling him to have one more year of eligibility for Tech since he played as a true freshman.
Last year, two key starters suffered injuries during the spring as well. Quarterback Grant Noel and cornerback Eric Green both suffered torn ligaments in their knees. Noel managed to return in time to start in the first game, while Green was out for the season.
Both, however, had very capable replacements in Bryan Randall and DeAngelo Hall, respectively.
This year there should be a very similar situation for replacing the injured defensive starters. Robinson projects he will return to start the season opener.
CART driver Jourdain Jr. ready to drive at next level
The Associated Press
Michel Jourdain Jr. figures it's time to win.
The Mexican driver, in his eighth year in the CART Champ Car World Series, hasn't found his way to Victory Circle in 122 starts.
"While I am very proud of everything that I have accomplished to this point in my career, to me it has just been preparation for what lies ahead," jourdain said.
"I know I have the team and the support I need to win, and we have proved we can run at the front and be competitive."
In his second year with Team Rahal, Jourdain started the season with consecutive careerbest, second-place finishes, trailing only Paul Tracy in St. Petersburg, Fla., and Monterrev, Mexico.
Now, it's time to take the next step, and that could come as soon as the race in Long Beach, Calif., on April 13, where he goes in second in the standings, trailing Tracy by 11 points.
Even if the first win doesn't come in that event, Jourdain is
confident it will happen this year.
"I can almost taste a win," Jourdain said.
Principal team owner Bobby Rahal, who won 24 races and three CART championships before retiring in 1998, saw the raw ability in Jourdain. The 26-year-old driver spent six seasons learning his craft while driving for the underfunded Team Scandia, Payton-Coyne and Herdez-Bettenhaus teams.
With a last-minute sponsorship deal from Gigante, a leading retailer in Mexico, Rahal was able to hire Jourdain just weeks before the 2002 season.
"I knew there was talent there," Rahal said. "I've had my eye on Michel for a long time."
Jourdain immediately paid dividends to Team Rahal by becoming the most consistent driver in the series, finishing in the points—the top 12—in 17 of 19 races and winding up a career-best 10th in the season points.
"Michel continues to show a great deal of patience on the track, and his ability to avoid costly mistakes shows the maturity he has gained as a driver,"
Rahal said. "It is so easy to forget how young he is because he has been around this series so long. But he is getting better all the time.
"Michel has a great deal of experience and he is using that experience to his advantage."
If there was a weakness for Jourdain in his first year driving for Rahal and team co-owner David Letterman, it has been his qualifying.
His average starting position in 2002 was 14th, and starting that far back can be a real handicap at some of the CART tracks, particularly the tight street courses that make passing difficult.
"Qualifying is a key for us this year," Jourdain said. "We have put a lot of effort into improving our qualifying position."
That would also help Jourdain's chances of finally winning and of running for a championship.
"So far this year, we've started both races fifth and we've finished second," Jourdain said. "Our goal is to start in the top five every race. If we can do that, it's going to be a great season."
Racing manager a multitasker
The Associated Press
He's also the team's "environmentalist," a guy who tries to keep the peace and lends an ear when needed.
CHARLOTTE, N.C.— As team manager for Chip Ganassi Racing, Andy Graves must do it all, from building race cars to balancing the budget.
"It's my job to keep everyone's environment right," Graves said. "I kind of think of it as a part-time baby sitter, part-time bartender. I have to listen to everyone's problems and make sure everyone gets along."
A crew chief used to be able to fill that role. But in the rapidly expanding world of NASCAR, more and more car owners are looking for a detail-oriented expert to lighten the crew chief's load.
With Ganassi based in Pittsburgh, Graves and Tony Glover run his entire three-car operation.
Jimmy Makar moved up to team manager at Joe Gibbs Racing
Todd Parrott is now team manager at Robert Yates Racing, overseeing Dale Jarrett and Elliott Sadler's team instead of just being the crew chief for Jarrett.
after 11 seasons as a crew chief and one Winston Cup championship with Bobby Labonte. Makar now focuses on improving technology and long-term goals.
Just last week, Gil Martin became team manager of Kevin Harvick's No. 29 Chevrolet at Richard Childress Racing after being the crew chief.
"This is a position that you will see a lot more of as the years go on," Makar said. "Right now there's only a handful of us, but that will change because the business is just too big for one person to do it all."
Childress recognized that last week when he moved Martin out of the day-to-day operations and made Todd Berrier Harwick's crew chief, responsible for readying the car for each race weekend.
"We all have the resources and
the equipment to succeed, but it boils down to the people," Childress said. "There's just not enough time for one guy to be in the fab shop, to be working with the crew, to be hiring the right people. So Gil, who is excellent with people and details, is now free to focus just on that and Todd can work on the car."
Everyone's idea of a team manager is different.
Brian Whitesell, longtime manager at Hendrick Motorsports, supports Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson's crews. He briefly tried being a crew chief when Ray Evernham left late in 1999, winning his first two races in that role.
But he was getting lost in the day-to-day details and moved up to manager at the end of that season.
"It was a neat deal. I won a couple of races and proved to myself that I could do it," Whitesell said. "But that's all I needed to do. The greater good of the team was for me to move on."