THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPORTS
3B
SWIMMING & DIVING
All-American Jayhawk places in top 20 at NCAAs
BY HALLIE MANN hmann@kansan.com
NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships
It took the whole team to get to the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, not just the three athletes, senior Maria Mayrovich, and sophomores Julia Kuzhil and Erin Mertz. The coaches, the trainers and the nutritionists all played their parts in getting the two swimmers and one All-American diver to this point.
NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships
Maria Mayrovich Erin Mertz
200-yard freestyle 21st 1-meter diving 7th
1:46:19 298.40 points
100-yard freestyle 19th 3-meter diving 17th
48:51 306.05 points
50-yard freestyle 20th Platform diving 17th
22.39 229.15 points
lullia Kuzhil
100-yard backstroke 21st
53.06
"It's not just one individual out here by herself competing towards her goal," diving coach Eric Elliott said. "This was about the program and all we've worked towards to make it here."
"To me, the (All-American) thing is just a title." Mertz said. "I was just
Mertz's seventh-place performance on the 1-meter board made her the first All-American diver from the University in 13 years. For divers, the All-American title is given to the top eight in each diving competition. In her first appearance at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, Mertz finished in the top 20 in all three diving events.
maria Mayroich leads the 150-yard freestyle Feb. 6 against Iowa State. Mayroich finished first in her event and went on to break the pool record for 50-yard freestyle with a time of 22.72 seconds.
super excited to be here and compete against girls at this level"
Mertz finished on the 1-meter board with a score of 298.40 points. She finished 17th in the 3-meter and the platform diving competitions. Elliott said Mertz was mentally tough and was able to dive consistently throughout the competition. He said he hoped Mertz's and the other athletes' performances this season would help with recruiting for next season.
Jerry Wang/KANSAN
"Hopefully Erin will build from this experience," Elliott said. "I
think she realized that she has what it takes to come out here and beat these good divers at this level of competition."
Kansas' two swimmers also made impressive performances at the NCAA Championships. Mayrovich swam in the 50-, 100- and 200-yard freestyles and finished 20th, 19th and 21st respectively. On the 200-yard freestyle Mayrovich swam 1:46:19 — beating her seed time of 1:47:22.
"I had a lifetime best on the 200
and I can't really ask for more."
Mavrovich said.
Mayrovich said this tournament gave her a chance to see what she needs to improve on and was a great competition experience. Mayrovich said she and Kuzhil planned to use their experience as a boost for the team and wanted to inspire them to compete even harder next season.
Kuzhil only swam in one race, the 100-yard backstroke. She finished 21st with a time of 53.06 seconds,
beating her seed of 34th with a time of 53.45 seconds. Kuzhil said that this was a hard race for her because it was early in the morning but she said that she was pleased with her finish.
"I did everything I could in my race and I beat my seed time so I was happy," Kuzhil said.
Coach Clark Campbell said he was also pleased with all of the results from this meet. Campbell
said both Kuzhil and Mayrovich finished with, or better than, their seed times.
"This one of our best NCAAs in quite a while," Campbell said. "Fullia and Maria both still have a long ways to go in their potential and I'm looking forward to watching them in the future."
— Edited by Jesse Trimble
SOFTBALL
Jayhawks' offensive shortfalls give Cowgirls victory
BY BEN WARD editor@kansan.com
Just when the Jayhawks appeared to be hitting their stride at the plate, their bats were silenced against Oklahoma State this weekend, as they dropped both games to the Cowgirls to open up Big 12 conference play.
Coming off the KU Invitational two weekends ago, the Jayhawks were knocking the ball around the park, tallying 31 runs in five games. Against Western Illinois
on Tuesday, Kansas continued its torrid pace at the plate, led by home runs from sophomore Allie Clark and junior Sarah Ramirez en route to a 9-4 victory.
The Jayhawks, unable to maintain the momentum, were shut out 2-0 on Saturday night. Cowgirl ace, Anna Whiddon, only gave up two hits and notched her 12 victory of the season. The Cowgirls (25-6) overpowered Kansas on Sunday with a 6-2 win, propelled by three home runs off senior pitcher Valerie George. George
hung tough in what was a busy weekend for her — as she hurled all 12 innings, striking out 15 batters.
Senior outfielder Dougie McCaulley had four hits on the weekend to lead the Jayhawk offense, which just couldn't get in gear against OSU, leaving 16 runners on base and scoring only two runs. Despite the lack of production by Jayhawk hitters, head coach Tracy Bunge said it was all part of the game.
"Sure, leaving runners on base
hurts, and it puts added pressure on our pitchers; but it all balances out," she said. "Oklahoma State just did a better job taking advantage of their scoring opportunities than we did."
At 10-16, the layhawks began collecting victories in order to compete in a crowded Big 12 conference where they're currently in 11th place. Though the outcome of the weekend wasn't positive, Bunge remained confident in her club to get the job done.
energy and enthusiasm; we've got to keep fighting," she said, "We've just got to keep working through it, you've got stay positive and have a short memory in this game."
"We played with tremendous
The Jayhawks will have to regroup in a hurry, as they return home to Arrocha Ballpark to host Missouri State on Tuesday afternoon, followed by a doubleheader against Creighton on Wednesday.
Edited by Realle Roth
Results during spring break
March 17
Kansas 9, Western Illinois 4
March 21
Oklahoma State 2, Kansas 0
March 22
Oklahoma State 6, Kansas 2
Record: 10-16 (0-2)
NCAA TOURNAMENT Pittsburgh's Sam Young lets the music lead to victory DAYTON, Ohio - As his teammates buzzed around him during warmups, Sam Young lost himself in the funky sounds pumping through his headphones.
Young, whose words are his second love after basketball, let
the music carry him far away. And deeper into the NCAA tournament
Young scored 32 points one shy of his career-high as top-seeded Pittsburgh advanced to the round of 16 for the fifth time in eight years with an 84-76 victory over Oklahoma State on Sunday in the East Regional.
Associated Press
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