10
University Daily Kansan / Monday, April 27, 1992
SPORTS
Kansas women win Big Eight tennis title
By Lyle Niedens
Kansan sportswriter
Before the Big Eight Conference tournament last week, Kansas women's tennis coach Michael Center said the No. 19 Jayhawks had to prove they were the best team in the conference, even after going 7-0 in their conference schedule.
At this weekend's Big Eight championships in Prairie Village, the Jayhawks did indeed prove they were the class of the conference, winning the title
yesterday with a 5-pounding of Kansas State. With the victory comes an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament May 13-12 in Palo Alto, Calif.
"I'm just really proud of the entire team," Center said. "They capped off their Big Eight season by playing their best match."
After losing only one game in a 6-9 victory against Missouri on Friday, Kansas lost its compose a bit in a 5-2 victory against No. 4 seeded Colorado on Saturday, Center said. But that compose was back yesterday.
"Even when things went against us, we held our heads up today," Center said.
Fittingly, it was three-time All-America series-winning Vinehagen that humbled the nation.
Hamers had split her first two sets against K-State's Michele Rinker, winning the first 6-3 and losing the second 3-6. Between the second and third sets, Center told Hamers that Kansas, which had a 4-1 lead at the time, needed just one more victory to win the match and the tournament.
She responded by blanking Rinker 60 in the final set as the Jayhawks claimed the first conference title by a school other than Oklahoma State since 1980.
Hamers, a three-time conference champion, said the team championship meant more than any previous individual championship.
"It's a great note for the freshman to build on," she said. "They'll be expecting it from now on."
Another Kansas senior, Renee Ray chaudhauti, helped Kansas take control
of the championship match
After losing her No. 4 singles match Saturday against Colorado, Raychaudhuri bounced back yesterday with a 62-40 victory against K-Stale's Neili Wileox.
Like the women's team, the Kansas men's tennis team was the top seed in the tournament. However, the final result was less desirable.
After defeating Colorado 5-4 on Saturday, the Kansas men faced 0.2-seed Oklahoma yesterday. The Jayhawks defeated the Sooners 5-4 during the regular season, but the tables were turned yesterday. Oklahoma won the match and the conference title with a 5-3 victory at Leawood Country Club.
"We just were behind the entire day," Kansas men's coach Scott Perkelman said. "I felt we didn't have enough energy to get over the hump."
The match was tied 3-3 after singles play was completed, but Kansas lost the No.1 and No.3 doubles in three sets. The No.2 and No.3 doubles matches were moved indoors as darkness fell on the six-hour event.
No.1 defense wins it for Blue in Spring Game
By Jerry Schmidt
Kansan sportswriter
When the best meets the best, something has to give. During Saturday's spring football game, Kansas' defense did everything but give.
The Kansas defense, ranked No. 29 in the country last year, dominated the game, which was won by the Blue and 16-3 Saturday at Memorial Stadium.
The Blue squad featured the No.1 defense and the second-team offense and the white squad featured the first-team offense and second-team defense. Some players played for both teams.
"I am real happy with the defense,
and I don't want our attackers," Kansas
coach Gap Hopf said.
"The No. 1 defense is one of the best in the Big Eight," he said. "They do the job on us, and we do the job on them. It makes us a better team."
Senior quarterback Chip Hilleary was equally impressed with the Jayhawk defense. He said he thought facing the first-team defense made the team stronger.
The Blue team, although winners in the game, did not win on the stat sheet. Its offense managed only five first downs and 115 yards. The Blue squad had two yards of total offense in the first half.
Mason said pitting the top squads against each other was a test for his players.
"I'm never completely happy because both can't look good at the same time."
Because an Oregon State coach was at the game, Mason had to keep his offensive show to a minimum. The team won by 35 points the season open Sept. 5 in Corvallis, Ore.
Although the defense dominated, the offense was not without its big plays. Senior tailback Chaka Johnson had a 54-yard junt in the first half, and Hilary hooked up with senior receiver Rob Licurci for a 51-yard play.
"We didn't show everything we have in our offensive package," Mason said. "We let our quarterbacks call a lot of the plays."
The White squad jumped out to a 3-0 lead on a 21-yard field goal by Dan Eichloh in the first quarter. Quarterback Asheki Preston put the Blue team ahead when he scamped eight yards for a touchdown in the third quarter.
"I'm real happy with the defense especially the turnovers."
Glen Mason Kansas football coach
Eichloh added a 40-yard field goal in the fourth quarter and quarterback Kharon Brown throw a 21-yard touchdown for the Cubs. Blue with 48 seconds left in the range.
Junior defensive end Ty Moeder was the defensive star of the game. Moeder had 14 tackles, nine for the Blue team and five for the White.
Sophomore Gerald MCurburs and junior-college transfer Kwamie Lassier were impressive in the defensive play. Each had an interception in the game.
"Ithought McBurrows played well," Mason said. "Lassiter played well, and that is music to my ears because it will fill some voids in the secondary."
Kansas lost five lettermen and three starters from last season's secondary.
Johnson led all rushers in the game with 49 yards on seven carries. Senior Maurice Douglas had 47 yards on 13 carriers for the White team. Douglas said he was not pleased with his performance.
"I felt I wasn't able to make the big plays," he said. "I think the team performance was good enough to take us into next year."
Hilleary was only 20-9, passing for 59 yards and an interception, but said that the offense was in good shape despite its performance.
"Our offense is right where it needs to be," he said. "We got done what we set out to do at the first of spring practice."
White quad quarterback Chip Hillaryleaps over fullback Doug Bowen as blue players Dana Stubblefield and Don Davis, rear, rush to tackle him. The blue squad defeated the white squad 16-3 Saturday at Memorial Stadium during the Kansas football team's Spring Game.
Defensive end shines during Spring Game
Moeder has 14 tackles playing for both
By Jerry Schmidt Kansan sportswinter
Kansan sportswriter
Junior defensive end Ty Moeder understands the importance of the Kansas Spring Game. Playing time next fall could be on the line.
Game."
"The Spring Game is your chance to stand out. he
fighting for a spot. You are judged a lot by the Spring
Moeer, from Campus High School in Wichita, had 14 tackles in the game, 10 unassisted, helping lead the Blue team to a 16-3 victory against the White squad. Moeer played for both squads in the game.
Moeder is small for a defensive-lineman at 6-foot-3 and 320 pounds. He said he used some of his strength in size to carry him on the field.
"If don't know what it is," he said. "More than anything it is determination. I just try to make things happen."
in the first half. Moeder made things happen for the Blue squad as he had nine tackles in the half with two of the tackles behind'the line of scrimmage. In
the second half Moeder had five tackles for the White squad.
TyMoeder
"He was the star of the Spring Game last year," coach Glen Mason said. "He is small for a defensive lineman and not real quick, but he made some plays today."
In last year's game, Moeder forced a fumble to set up a touchdown.
Moeder entered spring drills second on the depth chart behind junior Guy Howard at defensive end. With his performance in the game Moeder could see further success this next fall. He is already looking forward to August.
"You are never totally satisfied," he said. "We have a lot of work to do. We'll go back this summer and start over again."
Golfers face tough competition course in conference tournament
By Cody Holt
Kansan sportswriter
Different time, different place
Sophomore Matt Gogel said he felt no pressure to repeat as champion of the Big Eight Conference golf championships which begin today at Prairie Dunes Country Club in Hutchinson because of that philosophy.
"There is absolutely no pressure at all," he said. "I won last year, and I'd like to be able to win again, but I'm going to play hard and see what happens."
But Gogel said the Big Eight championship meant a little more since he is from Oklahoma and will get a chance to compete against Oklahoma State and Oklahoma for the first time this season. Oklahoma State is the defending champion and has won the tournament 32 of the past 34 years.
Gogel won the tournament as a freshman last year at Hallbrook Country Club in Leawood. The Jayhawks finished third in the tournament.
He said a strong showing at the conference tournament was not as important to the team as a strong regional tournament and sees as a qualifier for the NCAA Basketball Tournament.
Randall said the field of conference teams was strong but that the course in Hutchinson, which he said was in the top 11 or 12 in the world, would also be an obstacle for the Jayhawks. The tournament begins today with 36 holes and concludes tomorrow with the final 18 holes.
Kansas coach Ross Randall said his players are confident and should have a chance to upset Okhaima State, the defending national champions.
"It's not life and death for us," he said. "But I feel confident we can win or at least compete for the title."
that I've ever taken to the Big Eight tournament," he said. "I think we have a good finish if we play like we can."
"This is the best team depth-wise
The women's tournament also begins today and runs through Tuesday at Manhattan Country Club in New York. It will use the same 54-hole format.
Oklahoma State also is favored in the women's tournament. Kansas finished fourth one year ago.
The Royals, 2-16, ended a nine-game losing streak. Their only other win was 3-1 against Oakland on April 14, when Kansas City not just hit one.
The Kansas City Royals won for the second time this season, beating Toronto 9-0 last night as Blue Jay's first victory was suffered his first loss with the club.
Kansas City pitcher Mark Gubiza,
1-2 allowed three hits in seven innings,
struck out six and walked two. Hipolito
Pichardo and Jeff Montgomery final
SPORTS BRIEFS
Rovals explode for rare win
ished the four-hitter.
Morris, 3-1, allowed five runs and seven hits in six innings, including a two-run homer to Brian McRae in the first. Toronto,15-5, still leads the major leagues in victories.
The Kansas baseball team split a four-game series with Big Eight Conference rival Iowa State this weekend in Ames, Iowa. Kansas' record is now 24-23 overall and 7-13 in the conference. Iowa State is 18-20 and 8-12.
Baseball team splits series
Kansas won yesterday's first game 11-8 after jumping out to a 10-10 lead. Sophomore Chris Corn, 4-3, pitched six innings for the victory.
On Saturday Kansas won the first game 4-0 behind senior Curtis Schmidt, who pitched his fifth complete game of the season to raise his record to 7-4. Iowa State won the nightcap 5-1.
In yesterday's nightcap, the Cyclones' Matt Ruess pitched a complete game for the 3-victory.
Kansas track teams post strong finishes at Drake
From staff and wire reports
By Chris Jenson
Kansan sportswriter
The Kansas senior distance runner missed winning her third consecutive 1,500-meter race and missed the triple crown that would have accompanied it by 1.31 seconds on Saturday. Palacios placed third in the event with a time of 4:24.81 at the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa. She won the event at both the Texas and Kansas relays, the first two legs of the triple crown.
Karen Glerum of Iowa State won the event for the third consecutive year with a time of 4:23.50.
The triple crown did not quite fit Cathy Palacios.
"I was kind of disappointed with the way the race went out," Palacios said. "I got pushed to the back of the pack and expended most of my energy getting back to the front. It made me frustrated."
"I if I could do it all over, I would have gotten out in the front of the pack," she said. "I came up on Glerum's shoulder with 100-meters to go, but I didn't have enough. But I have to keep it in perspective. I still won 'Texas and Kansas.'"
"I got pushed to the back of the pack and expended most of my energy getting back to the front."
Cathy Palacios Kansas distance runner
Palacios said her time was her second best this year, but she would have liked it to have been better.
At the meet, the rest of the Kansas track and field team performed solidly, finishing the meet with three second place and two third place finishes.
Sophomore Heather Berlin finished second in the javelin with a personal best toss distance of 167-4.
"It was good to see Heather rebound after a disappointing performance at the Kansas Relays," said Kansas track coach Gary Schwartz.
Schwartz said he was pleased with the team's overall place but not with their performance in that race.
The men's distance medley relay team also finished strongly at Drake.
"I thought they did a good job, but to be more competitive we needed to run a little faster times," he said. "Placing here is a big deal though."
The team of Lynn Crawford, Teal, Waters and Cox finished second with a time of 9:47.34 and had a chance to win the event. Illinois won the event with a time of 9:44.80.
Schwartz said Cox made the right decision by staying in the lead and not dropping back to let other runners block the wind for him.
Waters turned in a time of 1:51.0 on his 800-meter leg of the relay, putting the Jayhaws in first place. Cox then led the first three laps of his mile leg of the relay before Len Sitko of Illinois passed him with 300 meters to go. Sitko had been running behind Cox to conserve energy.
"Michael was in the position to lead and he did a very good job," he said. "He either had to stay in the lead or try to drop back, but many times you get into more trouble trying that."
Schwartz said Cox was still a young runner with some learning to do.
"He's got to learn to respond more quickly to challenges," he said. "But I thought it was four very good legs on that relay."
On Friday, the women's distance medley relay team of Kristi Kloster, Katrina Lawrence, Amy Rodhaver and Palacios finished second with a time of 11:22.31.
Palacios said the team was extremely pleased with the race.
"We surprised ourselves," she said.
"We didn't think we would finish second. Each girl had really good spits."