8B SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2009
FOOTBALL
Ryan Waggoner/KANSAN
Former Kansas football player James McClinton runs a drill for scouts at Kansas pro day at Anchorage Sports Pavilion on Tuesday morning. The event is organized as an opportunity for KU players with hopes of being drafted to work for pro in a comfortable setting.
Pro day brings opportunity
Former Jayhawks show off for NFL scouts at Anschutz Pavilion
BY STEPHEN MONTEMAYOR
smontemayor@kansan.com
Shut out from this year's NFL combine, 11 former layhawk football players had their opportunity to impress NFC scouts Tuesday with Kansas' annual pro day.
Scouts from eight NFL teams were on hand to observe wide receiver Ray Brown, center Ryan Cantrell, wide receiver Dexton Fields, cornerback Kendrick Harper, wide receiver Marcus Herford, linebacker James Holt, offensive guard Adrian Mayes, linebacker Joe Mortensen, safety Pat Resby, linebacker Mike Rivera and defensive lineman James McClinton.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS
Today: Practice open to public, 3:30 p.m.
March 27: Practice open to public, 3:30 p.m.
April 11: Spring game, 2 p.m.
"It was an awesome day," Rivera said afterward in a released statement. "It was a lot of fun to come
The players were weighed and measured, and then participated in a series of drills — including the 40-yard dash, bench press and vertical leap, among others — before finishing the day with positional drills.
Check the Through the Uprights blog for more on the start of spring practice.
back out here one more time with this group of seniors to see what we can do"
A fixture alongside Rivera at linebacker, Mortensen also participated as a fullback in some drills.
"I was all-state at fullback in California," Mortensen said. "I just love to hit, so it doesn't really matter which side of the ball it is."
For McClinton, pro day was a second chance to land on a pro
roster. A senior in 2007, McClinton missed the East-West Shrine Bowl in 2008 after suffering a seizure prior to that week. He didn't place in the top 10 of any combine tests posted by NFL.com and returned to campus as a student assistant coach for the 2008 season.
This time out, McClinton tied with Mayes to top the bench press with 23 reps of 225 pounds. Each of his 40-yard dash times were unofficially clocked at 5.2 seconds, which — if official — would be an improvement on the 5.47 he was clocked running at the 2008 NFL combine.
This year's NFL hopefuls follow a 2008 draft that saw four layhawks land on NFL rosters: Aqib Talib (Tampa Bay, first round), Anthony Collins (Cincinnati, fourth round) Derek Fine Buffalo, fourth round) and Marcus Henry (New York Jets, sixth round). Fine joined several of his former teammates Tuesday watching the evaluations.
— Edited by Chris Hickerson
TRACK & FIELD
Only one Jayhawk qualifies for indoor national meet
Jordan Scott, Watkinsville, Ga., junior, practices the pole vault in the Anschutz Sports Pavilion in late February. Scott will compete at the Indoor National in College Station, Texas
BY JASON BAKER
jbaker@kansan.com
Jerry Wang/KANSAN
For a trio of Jayhawks, provisional qualifications weren't enough to cement spots at the NCAA Indoor National Championship.
Freshman sprinter Keith Hayes, junior distance runner Lauren Bonds and senior distance runner Colby Wissel had provisionally qualified for the meet last weekend, but they learned Monday night they had not been selected to compete.
Junior pole-vaulter Jordan Scott, who had automatically qualified earlier in the season, will be the lone Jayhawk competing at national, which take place in College Station, Texas, on Friday and Saturday.
Only the top 14 in the country go on to compete at Indoor Nationals, whether they qualify automatically or provisionally for an event.
Of the three, Wissel had the best chance of making it to nationals provisionally. In his final indoor season', Wissel was 16th in the nation in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 13 minutes, 54.95 seconds, at the Washington Husky Classic on Feb. 14.
For Hayes, the news that he had missed the cut wasn't surprising. Hays took third place and also met the provisional time in the 60-meter at the Iowa State Qualifier, running a time of 7.86 seconds.
"I don't know" Hayes said "It's just how things go sometimes."
Hayes said that everything fell into place like it was supposed to and that he got a personal record at the right time.
"In Keith's case, he's one of the top three freshman in the nation," Redwine said. "But unfortunately
Coach Stanley Redwine said that although the news was disappointing, it was also encouraging.
it wasn't enough to make it to the NCAAs. It's just, we have to continue to work harder."
Bonds was more disappointed about not having a good performance in the one-mile run last weekend at the Alex Wilson Invitational not making it to nationals. Bonds finished 11th with a time of 4 minutes, 48.5 seconds.
"It probably would have boosted my chances." Bonds said.
She said it was less than likely that she would have made the cut unless she had an automatic qualifying time. Despite the disappointment, Bonds said this was
her best season so far.
"Looking at the whole season in its entirety, it's been a good year," Bonds said. "But it wasn't a good ending."
While Scott will go on to compete next weekend at the Indoor Championships, the rest of the team will focus on the outdoor season, which begins March 27 at the Missouri Relays.
"It's a work in progress right now." Hayes said. "We got to rebuild, reestablish the foundation and keep putting in work to get to those goals."
Edited by Grant Treaster
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