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University Daily Kansan / Wednesday, April 15, 1992
SPORTS
Kansas Relays begin 67th year today
By Chris Jenson
Kansan sportswriter
The tradition continues.
The Kansas track team will play host to the 67th annual Kansas Relays which begin today and run through Saturday. Today's competition will include the men's decathlon and the women's heptathlon, both of which will conclude tomorrow. The rest of the meet's events will be Friday and Saturday.
Chris Walters and Chad Johnson
will compete in the decathlon and Sandy Wilder will compete in the heptathlon for the Jayhawks.
"Everyone gets really fired up for the Relays," said sophomore distance-runner Michael Cox. "This is our meet and it is run really well. There is a lot of tradition to it."
Entries have been received from 2,500 individuals, 120 college and club teams and 216 high school teams, said Harry Lehwald, Kansas Relays manager. Lehwald said the meet turnout would be similar to last year's.
"Weare within 50 of what we had last year," he said.
Kansas track coach Gary Schwartz said he wanted the team to have fun and do well in the meet. Schwartz said he expected Kansas teams to be very strong against the high level of competition.
"We want to see improvement from where we have been," he said. "But since it is at home the fun part is to win some things."
Invitational last weekend in Norman, Okla. Kansas captured nine individual titles at the meet despite the fact that several of its top athletes took the weekend off to rest.
The 'Hawks are coming off a solid meet performance at the John Jacobs
Schwartz said the team's performance last weekend would give it confidence for the Relays. Schwartz said he was trying to build a balanced team and that last weekend's all-around effort would help the program in the long run.
Cox said it was nice to see the rest of the team have a strong meet.
"A lol of the top people out and the team went on and ran really well," he said. "It was good to see that we aren't just a five-person team."
Schwartz said that he had discussed the strong tradition of the Kansas track program and the Kansas Relays with the team but that it didn't depend on those speeches as a motivational tool.
"They put enough pressure on themselves so I don't want to beat them over their heads," he said.
Schwartz competed in the Relays as
an athlete in the mid 1960s and said coaching in the Relays was as rewarding as participating.
"I really love the Relays, but it would be more fun to come here than to put it on," he said. "It's very rewarding as a coach. There is a real pride, a real sense of accomplishment."
And although it is always a thrill to see one of his athletes win an event, Schwartz said it was different at the Relays.
"It is extra special when they win at the Relays," he said.
Women's golf thinks 'upset'
By Cody Holt
Kansan sportswriter
With the Big Eight Conference championship fewer than two weeks away, the talk around the practice greens is upset.
The upset-minded Kansas women's golf team is looking to recapture the momentum that carried it to the tournament championship in 1990 by defeating then No. 4 in the nation, Oklahoma State.
This year, Oklahoma State is No. 3 in the nation, and the Jayhawks are coming off of their best tournament in the University's history.
"We're in about the same position as we were in two years ago," said senior Laura Martin. "We could surprise some people."
However, Martin said she wasn't surprised with the Jayhawks' performance last weekend at the 11th annual Azalea / Seahawk Invitational Women's Golf Tournament in Hampstead, N.C.
Kansas shot 920 through 54 holes of golf, defeating the host team, the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, by 35 strokes. Kansas' 920 is a new school record, and it tied a tournament record set by Duke University in 1983. The Jayhawks also broke a school and tournament record with a one-round score of 297.
The Jayhawks had three of the tournaments top four finishers, including the tournament champion, sophomore Holly Reynolds, who captured her first ever tournament title at Kansas.
keywords set school and tournament records with her first-round total of 69, and also for her three-round total of 220.
"We've had it in us for a long time," Martin said. "It's hard to get four golfers playing at the same time. That's what happened last week."
Senior Laura Myers said that Reynolds' performance was a sign of things to come from her.
"Holly has been working hard all year," she said. "She has been ready to play that well — it was just a question of when. Expect that she'll be the No. 1 player next year."
Myers also said there was new attitude on the team since interim coach Jerry Waugh took over coaching duties for Sarah Johnson, who resigned to pursue other interests just before the Jayhawks spring season began.
Myers said Waugh brought stability and discipline to the team. She said he also was easy to get along with and took the time to develop a strong player/coach relationship.
Waugh said his relationships with his players was important to him.
"I see a rapport that has developed between the players and coach," he said. "And that's the kind of thing you work for as a coach."
Waugh is a former Kansas basketball player and assistant coach under Dick Harp. He also coached men's golf in the early '60s.
"Coaching golf is more positive attitude and support for the kids," he said. "You can't call a time out and tell someone what they're doing wrong. They're out there on the course by themselves."
He said his coaching approach was more motivational than mechanical.
Waugh said the athletic department currently was considering a permanent replacement for Johnson. He said he was one of the candidates.
Myers said she would like to see Waugh named the permanent coach.
"I think most of the girls would like to see him take over," she said.
Men's golf
The Kansas men's golf team was in seventh place after two rounds of the All-America Intercollegiate Invitational.
The Jayhawks have a total of 603. The No. 5 Arkansas Razorbacks lead the tournament with a total of 587.
Netting a victory
"om Devil, Omaha senior, stops a shot from a Delta Chi player in a shootout between Phi Kappa Theta and Delta Chi. Devil helped shut out Delta Chi in the match, giving Phi Kappa Theta a 2-1 victory. The two teams played yesterday in the intramural sports tournament."
The quarterfinals of the tournament will be Friday on the fields south of Watkins Memorial Health Center. The teams playing will be Delta Chiis, Phi Kappa Psi, Kappa Sigma vs. Beta Theta Psi, Delta Upsilon vs. Phi Gamma Delta, and Sigma Chi vs. Phi Kappa Theta.
Kansas rallies, wins 10-9
Julie Denesha/KANSAN
By Jerry Schmidt Kansan sportswriter
Freshman third baseman Brent Wilhelm drove in the winning run with a single in the bottom of the eighth inning and gave the Kansas Jayhawks a 10-9 victory against Southwest Missouri State last night at Hoglund-Maupin Stadium.
Wilhelm's single capped a dramatic comeback as Kansas rallied from an 8-1 deficit.
Catcher Jeff Niemeier, left, blocks Southwest Missouri State player Todd DeBrivens as he attempts to slide into home. Kansas won the game 10-9.
The inning started with a long double by junior catcher Jeff Niemeyer. Junior right fielder Jimmy Walker then bunted Niemeyer to third base before junior second baseman David Soult was intentionally walked, setting up the game-winner. Wilhelm finished the game with two hits and two RBI.
"We're getting good at catching up," freshman left fielder Josh Igou said. "What we have to do now is blow them out from the beginning and be the aggressor."
Kansas is now 21-17, and the Bears dropped to 20-12.
Southwest Missouri State scored eight runs in the top of the third inning on eight hits to take the 8-1 lead. Five of the hits were between the first and second baseman. The runs came off sophomore left-hander David Meyer and sophomore right-hander Chris Corn. Bingham was not pleased with the performance of the two pitchers.
"I'm really concerned with the pitching of Meyer and Corn," Bingham said. "They didn't compete well and I disturbed with those two."
Meyer started the game and pitched only two innings, giving up five runs on five hits. Corn relieved him in the third inning and gave up four runs over the next four innings.
A bright shot for the Kansas pitching staff was junior reliever Joel Bacon. Bacon earned the victory for his three innings of work. He allowed no runs and only two hits, while striking out three batters. Bacon retired nine of the 11 batters he faced in the final three innings.
"I knew they were going to be taking," Bacon said. "It just teaches me to throw hard and come at them from the start."
"He has outstanding stuff out of the bullden," Bingham said of Bacon. "He maintained his composure tonight."
Bacon got behind in the count against all three battles he faced in the ninth inning, but he managed to retire the side in order to secure the victory.
Trying to find some offensive productivity, Bingham used seven outfielders in the game. They included juniors Rory Tarquino, Alex King and Jimmy Walker, sophomore Joel Benninghoffer and freshman Jon Steinhauer. The outfield tandem went 0-1.
The Bears' Chann Whiteside was the game's losing pitcher. He worked 3 2/2 innings. Whiteside allowed four hits and three runs to the Jayhawks. He also hit four Kansas batters.
Igou and sophomore centerfielder Darryl Monroe also solidified their spots in the outfield. Monroe was 3-for-14 and recovered and Igou was 2-for-3 with an RBI.
"I'm sick of our guys striking out," Bingham said. "For 27 out I want 27 competitive at-bats. It disturbs me the most." He took a plate. Walker may have won a spot.
for-4 with four strikeouts. Only Waker, who is also in the pitching rotation, contributed with his sacrifice bunt in the eighth inning.
Bingham said the hitting of some of the outfielders must improve if they plan to play.
"Josh did a great job," Bingham said, "a great game and he hit a ball hard."
Niemeyer was also an offensive star for Kansas. He had three hits in four atbats and two RBI. Freshman shortstop Dan Ruhe was 2-for-6 with two doubles and an RBI.
The victory helped to avenge two defeats earlier in the season to the Bears. Southwest Missouri State beat Kansas s 2 on April 17, and 5 on April 18. The two teams will play again at 3 p.m. today.
Royals win their first game
The Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — They're still punchless. They're still worried.
but they parlayed one infield single, two wild pitches, three sacrifices and an error into a 3-4 victory against City Royals are no longer without a victory.
"I don't care how ugly it was, we'll take it," relief pitcher Jeff Montgomery said last night after getting the first save in the Royals' first victory. "The losses were starting to mount up."
The Royals were one-third of the way to Baltimore's record 0-21 start when Ron Darling, the evening's pitcher, held them hitless through seven innings, threatening to heap no hit infamy on the only winneless outfit in the majors.
the hops.
Lance Blankenship's home run off starting pitcher Mark Gubicza had given the A's a 1-0 lead.
But Keith Miller, an old teammate of Darling's from New York Mets days, grounded a sharp bouncer to deep short leading off the eighth and beat Mike Burdick's throw to the bag.
Out came Oakland manager Tony LaRussa. In came left-hand relief
"We'll take the victory. We've given away a few. They gave one back tonight."
Hal McRae Kansas City Royals' manager
pitcher Rick Honeycutt. And then, in a flurry of strange plays and quirky displays, the Royals mounted one of the most quixotic rallies anybody could remember.
"It it strange, but we'll take it," manager Hale McRae said. "Now we won't have people coming in here talkabout how does it feel to be the only team in the major leagues without a victory. It feels terrible."
Facing his first batter, Honeycutt (0-1) fielded Chris Gwynn's sacrifice.
tumbled it around, then threw wildly to first for an error.
Terry Shumptm, second baseman,
then laid down another sacrifice, but
Honeycutt's throw to third was late,
and the bases were loaded for Brian McRae, an outfielder.
M McRae was hitting. 067. But it did not matter because Honeycutt's delivery sailed wildly as Keith Miller speed across the plate with the tying run. Then another pitch went all the way to the top of the screen behind the plate as Gwynn raced home for the goahead run.
Then, finally, the Royals got the ball out of the infield. Gregg Jefferies' sacrifice fly to center brought in Shumpert.
"I thought he got to the point where he was vulnerable." LaRussa said of Darling. "It's tough to see Ron give up the first hit that way. I thought he pitched a great game."
The three-run rally was the biggest inning the Royals have enjoyed this year. Their team batting average stands at .195.
we'll take the victory," McRae said. "We've given away a few. They gave one back tonight."
Women's tennis team to face K-State
Jayhawks hope to keep undefeated conference record
Kansan staff report
The Kansas women's tennis team will try to add to its undefeated Big Eight Conference record today with a match against Kansas State. The match will begin at 2 p.m. at the Allen Field House courts.
Kansas, 12-4 and ranked No. 19 in the country, is leading the conference with a 9-mark. Kansas coach Michael Center said the match with the Jayhawks' cross-state rivals was definitely the toughest one remaining on the team's schedule.
and they're pretty familiar with us." Center said. "Both teams will definitely want to succeed."
"We're pretty familiar with them
Kansas State is 7-8 overall and 3-1 in the conference. The Wildcats are led by freshman Karin Lusnic, from Lubiana, Yugoslavia, who is the No. 81-ranked singles player in the country.
Kansas will counter with three ranked players: senior Eveline Hamers, who is ranked No. 12, freshman Nora Koves, who is ranked No. 39, and freshman Rebecca Jensen, who is ranked No. 48.
"They're playing pretty well." Center said of the Wildcats. "I have a lot of respect for their team. We'll have to be ready to play."
Center also said he hoped for a good fan turnout.
"It's always nice to have fans out," he said. "I think we've played pretty well when we've had a lot of fans at home matches."
However, the KU Weather Service said there was a 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms this afternoon. Center said that if it rained, the match would be moved to Alvamar Racquet Club.