NSAN
2009
Sports THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KA
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MONDAY, APRIL 20, 2009
HAWKS LOSE LAST TWO MATCHES OF SEASON
Horvath and Svistun honored on senior day Sunday. TENNIS 3B
COMMENTARY
PAGE 1B
Track fans could be ready to love again
HISTORIC MILE
On the outskirts of Memorial Stadium, Alan Webb emerged from the track wearing a bright orange jersey, a baby blue hat and a USA Track & Field backpack.
At an opening in the chain link fence, fans of all ages waited for Webb, the American record holder in the mile, to appear. They held digital cameras, picture phones and even a Polaroid camera. They had him sign t-shirts and sweatshirts, Kansas Relays posters and old race numbers stripped from jerseys.
He threw his arm around their shoulders and cracked sharp one-liners. He had a plane to catch, so he sprinted everywhere after the race. Still, Webb spent 15 minutes entertaining fans until, finally, he had to leave.
Moments before, under a cloudy and dark sky, Webb ran the Glen Cunningham Invitational Mile in 3:58.9 — the first sub-four minute time at the Kansas Relays since 1997
"It's still cool to see that number — three fifty whatever." Webb said. "It was definitely great."
There's little doubt that the popularity and general interest in track and field has been down in recent years, a result of the use of performance-enhancing drugs by the sport's biggest stars.
But at the Kansas Relays, Webb delivered a riveting mile run, and the crowd took notice. Webb and Peter van der Westhuizen battled throughout the race, especially in the final lap. They both clocked in at less than 4 minutes.
"It was good competition the whole way." Webb said.
In 1967, Ryun set the current record for the mile at the Kansas Relays. Ryun is one of the most accomplished and well-known track athletes in Kansas history, and he said he hoped that Webb would topple his time of 3:54.7.
Before the race, Kansas track legend and former Kansas Rep. Jim Ryan triggered the starting gun. And it was all too fitting.
- Edited by Sonya English
Shortly after the race, while Webb sat on the grass inside Memorial Stadium and changed shoes, Ryan made his way across the field and took a picture with the race's top two finishers.
That didn't happen on Saturday, but judging by the excitement in the stands, spectators weren't disappointed. As Webb and van der Westhuizen sprinted for the finish line, nearly everyone stood and cheered.
"I want people to appreciate the sport," Ryun said. "It's a great sport. Middle distance running is a great combination between a distance runner and a sprinter."
Perhaps, as Webb's popularity on Saturday showed, track and field still has a place in American sports.
Photo courtesy of Jim Burns
Photo Courtesy of Jim Burns
Alan Webb, left, pulls ahead of his competition during the Glen Cunningham Invitational Mile at the Kansas Relays on Saturday. Webb won with a race with a time of 3:58.9, marking the first time the four-minute barrier had been broken at the Relays in several years.
Kansas performs well at home
BY JASON BAKER
jbaker@kansan.com
Before fans got to witness Alan Webb make history in the mile-invitational at the 82nd Kansas Relays, they witnessed Lauren Bonds make some history of her own.
"I'm thrilled that it's now out of
In the women's 1,500 meters, Bonds, junior, ran a personal best 4.27.36 in front of her home crowd. The time qualified her for the NCAA Midwest Regionales in May.
Bonds said she owed her performance to junior Kellie Schneider. Schneider, who won the unseeded 1,500 on Thursday, paced the first three laps of Bonds' race like a rabbit before a planned dropout.
the way," Bonds said.
The next historic event featured athletes such as American mile record holder Alan Webb, 2008 Olympian Christian Smith and Peter van der Westhuizen, a former University of Nebraska runner from South Africa.
"I'm really indebted to her." Bonds said.
In the end it came down to Webb and van der Westhuizen with Webb edging out as the winner with a time of 3:58.90. Van der Westhuizen finished right behind him with a time of 3:59.54.
3:54.70 in 1967.
The men's 110-meter hurdles finals was deja vu for freshmen Keith Hayes, Keyen Porter and Lawson Montgomery because last year all three were in the finals at the Relays in the hurdles event in high school with Porter winning out.
Throughout each lap, fans cheered on the runners as they tried to break the four-minute mile.
Shortly afterward both men took a victory lap around as both celebrated running a sub-four minute mile. Webb's time ranks second all-time in Kansas Relays history, behind Kansas' Jim Ryan's.
Hayes took second running a time of 14.05 seconds in the event behind Jeffrey Julmis of Cloud County Community College being edged by .03 seconds. Porter came
SEE RELAYS ON PAGE 6B
SOFTBALL
Hawks feel loss against Texas
BY BEN WARD
bward@kansan.com
The Kansas softball team would have gladly settled for a series split against No.24 Texas over the weekend.
Instead the laywhips, who had split four of their past five series, dropped both contests to the Longhorns in Austin, 5-0 and 3-2, respectively.
"The bottom line is, we didn't do the little things necessary to win ball games," coach Tracy Bunge said. "We gave them extra outs, walked too many batters — the little things really hurt us."
With the two losses, Kansas dropped to 16-25 overall and 4-8 in Big 12 play, leaving them 10th in the conference.
Those little things proved troublesome for Kansas right away. Coming off of two strong outings against UMKC, Sarah Vertelka didn't make it out of the first hurler on Saturday. The junior hurler struggled with her command, allowing four walks and two runs. Freshman Sarah Blair turned in 5 1/3 innings of solid relief, allowing two earned runs. But Kansas couldn't provide any run support for its staff, notching only two hits in the contest.
On Sunday, the Jayhawks found themselves down early, again, as the Longhorns got to senior pitcher Valerie George for two runs in the first inning. George settled down, keeping Kansas in the game as she held the Longhorns to a single run over the final five frames, while striking out four.
Kansas attempted to conjure up another seventh inning rally when sophomore shortstop Kolby Fessire scored on a single from senior third baseman Val Chapple, cutting the deficit to 3-2. But Texas sophomore pitcher Brittany Barnhill closed the door, retiring senior catcher Elle Potton for a fly ball to end a wild weekend for the Jay Hawks. "We hit the ball much better on Sunday," Bunge said. "Lots of loud outs that don't translate to the box score, but we had some chances we didn't take advantage of."
Barnhill was sharp from the
SEE SOFTBALL ON PAGE 8B
BASEBALL
Kansas avoids the sweep at Texas Tech
BY JOSH BOWE
ibowe@kansan.com
Tony Thompson and former Jayhawk great Travis Metcalf may soon have more in common than playing the same position.
Thompson, sophomore third baseman, clubbed two home runs Sunday while No. 24 Kansas rebounded strong and avoided a sweep from Texas Tech, winning 15-6.
Thompson now has 12 home runs on the season, only six shy of tying former fellow third baseman Metcalf's single season home run record of 18, which was set in Metcalf's senior year in 2004.
His three home runs in the three game series unfortunately were not enough as the Jayhawks will more
than likely lose their national ranking after failing to win the series against the Red Raiders.
"Our whole season rode on today's ballgame," Price said. "If we would of got swept on the road by Texas Tech it would of ruined all the positive things we had accomplished in the first part of the Big 12 season."
It wasn't a good weekend for pitching to say the least, Kansas' top two starters, junior Shaeffer Hall and sophomore T.J. Walz, were knocked around on Friday and Saturday as Tech scored 22 runs in those two games.
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While the Red Raiders still scored a decent amount with six on Sunday, freshman starter Lee Ridenhour wasn't accountable for the damage as he pitched six innings and only
allowed one run. He did have to constantly work through tough situations though, as he gave up eight hits and walked three.
Still, it was enough for Ridenhour's first victory since Wichita State back on March 11.
"He grinded that win out today," Price said. "He found a way to get six innings for us."
The first two games of the series saw the Jayhawk's lineup struggle to score runs early before surging late. However, on Sunday Kansas silenced any possible chances for a sweep by Tech. They exploded for 10 runs through the first four innings, including a seven-run first inning.
SEE BASEBALL ON PAGE 7B
"It was pretty nice to get on top
THE DAILY TOREADOR
Freshman Lee Ridenhorn winds up Sunday against Texas Tech. Ridenhorn pitched six innings and only allowed one run.