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University Daily Kansan / Monday, March 30, 1992
SPORTS
Kansas swimmers excel in NCAA relays
By Chris Jenson
Kansan sportswriter
Kansas freshman swimmer Marc Bontrader had the dream of a lifetime come true during the weekend at the NCAA Championships in Indianapolis.
Bontrager and four other members of the Kansas swim team earned All-American honors while helping the team to a 28th place team finish.
"When I first started the season I never thought I'd make All-American," Bontrager said. "It was just exciting to go. But to make All-American while I was there was the chance of a lifetime, especially as a freshman."
Bontrager was joined by senior Tom Rosins-
ki, junior Robert Townsend and sophomores Scott Townsend and Curtis Taylor in earning All-American honors in the 200- and 400-yard freestyle relays.
The top eight places in each race earn All-American honors, while ninth through 16th earn All-American honor mention.
Kansas placed two relays in the top 15 at the meet, scoring 15 total points. The 200-yard freestyle relay was the Jayhawks highest place finish. It placed 11th with a time of 1:20.30.
The Jayhawks also scored points in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Kansas finished 15th with a time of 58.15.
"I thought we did a great job," Kansas coach
Gary Kempf said. "We haven't scored at this meet in three years."
Kansas scored its points using seven swimmers who had never swam in the NCAA meet before. Kempf said that although they lacked experience at that level of competition, they performed well.
"When you take seven guys like we did a lot of the time, they get big-meet jitters and don't swim real well," he said. "These guys didn't do that. They swam really well. They stood up with the best swimmers in the country and didn't fold."
Although it was exciting to make All-American, Bontrager said he was disappointed that the team didn't finish higher in the overall
"We had some really phenomenal swims," he said. "I wish all four of us on the relay could have been on at the same time because we missed the top eight by one hundredth of a second. It's kind of disappointing to come so close and not get it."
standings.
Junior Shawn Stevens was the only Kansas swimmer who had qualified for the meet in individual events. Stevens qualified in the 200- and the 200- and 400-yard individual medleys.
Kempf said Stevens had a good swim in the 400-yard individual medley although he didn't place in the top 16 of any of the events.
"Zhawn just came up a little short," he said.
Although the Kansas team lacked a strong individual performance, the relays picked up the slack.
"The team did real well," Bontrager said. "We didn't necessarily do our best and it's kind of disappointing in that aspect. Overall, though, it was a great experience and a lot of fun."
Of the seven swimmers who competed in the meet, only one is a senior. Bontrager said that gave the team a lot to look forward to in the future.
"All four members of the 200-yard freestyle relay are returning," he said. "Our options are looking very, very good."
The KU Frisbee A Team defends against a University of Wisconsin-Madison team yesterday afternoon at Broken Arrow Park.
Wet weather highlights Frisbee competition
Kansan sportswriter
By Cody Holt
This weekend, for the 11th annual fest, the Frisbees were flying, but not always to the intended target because of the wind and rain.
Last year, Mother Nature let the frisbees fly freely in the Kansas ultimate Frisbee teams' annual "Fool's Fest."
Denise Disney, Prairie Village senior and a member of the women's team, said that last year was the only time they had experienced history that the weather cooperated.
George Cameli, Lawrence sopho
more and member of the men's team, said the cold conditions were not as big of a problem as the wind in this weekend's tournament.
"The wind is the biggest problem," he said. "Once you are warmed up, the rain and cold don't matter, but the rain really makes for some bad throws."
Ironically, a team from Chicago called "Windy City" handled the wind the best en route to the men's title. Windy City, one of the many noncollegiate teams competing in the men's tournament, went undefeated in the two-day event. The St. Louis Tunas placed second.
The Kansas men were eliminated before reaching the championship bracket. Cameli said that the men did not fair well against club teams, but that they played well against teams from other universities.
"It's hard to compare yourself to a club team and know how you're going to do against university teams, one of the best university teams."
The Kansas women made it to the quarterfinals before being eliminated by a team from Madison, Wis. Nemesis, a team from Chicago, captured the women's title by defeating DV8, atem from Colorado.
Gina Cameli, Lawrence senior and treasurer for the Kansas women's team, said Kansas gained confidence this weekend by playing well against rival university teams.
"They're the only ones that really matter to us," she said. "We played real well against them."
Both Kansas teams are preparing for Regionals in April in hopes of qualifying for Nationals.
Both of those tournament fields will be composed of only university teams.
Tennis team sweeps weekend competition
Hawks conclude nonconference schedule
By Lyle Niedens
Kansan sportswriter
Despite little cooperation from the weather, the Kansas men's tennis team dominated two home matches this weekend against Southwest Missouri State and Wichita State, winning each 5-1 as the Jayhawks completed their non-conference schedule.
A third match, scheduled for yesterday against Indiana State, was canceled because of rain.
All three matches had originally been scheduled to be played outdoors at the Allen Field House courts, but Friday's match against Southwest Missouri State was the only one that took place there. Saturday's match against the Shockers was moved indoors to Wood Valley Racquet Club in Topeka.
Kansas coach Scott Perelman said he was disappointed about the poor weekend weather. He added that with the advance publicity the tournament had received, he had hoped for tailgating before the match with Wichita State yesterday.
"We have sofew home dates, it's just unfortunate that the weather was bad," Perelman said. "It's unfortunate that more people don't have a chance to watch us play, because I think we're an enjoyable team to watch."
But his team's play tempered Perelman's disappointment with the dreary conditions outdoors.
"I thought everybody played well," he said. "In past years, we've struggled with Southwest Missouri State and Wichita State, but I was pleased with the way we handled them this time around."
Against the Bears Friday, Perel-
man did not play his top two singles players, seniors Rafael Rangel and Paul Garvin, because NCAA rules state that a player may not play in more than 25 regular season matches. As a result, Rangel and Garvin can now play in the rest of Kansas' matches this season.
With Rangel and Garvin on the sideline, senior Patrick Han moved up to No. 1 singles, junior Carlos Fleming played No. 2, sophomore Rhaln Buth played No. 3 and freshman Manny Ortiz played No. 4.
Also, sophomore Ian Goodman and junior Bard Bernthal moved into the lineup and played No. 5 and No. 6, respectively. All but Fleming won, and with the match decided, no doubles were played.
The same thing happened Saturday against the Shockers — this time with Rangel and Garvin back in the lineup. Han, having moved back to No. 3, provided the spark as he came back from being down two match points to win his match 6-3, 7-5, 7-5.
"He's been playing well, with a lot of confidence," Pereal said.
Han, who has won five consecutive matches at singles, said he felt 100 percent after dealing with some minor ankle problems last fall and early this semester.
"I'm in a groove right now," he said. "I feel really good."
Four Jayhawks place first at meet
Han said that the Jayhawks, 13-8 overall, had put themselves in an excellent position for an NCAA tournament berth in May with their strong non-conference play.
"But this next month is going to be the true test for our team," he said, referring to the Big Eight Conference schedule.
By Chris Jenson
Kansan sportswriter
The Kansas track team flew south for the weekend, avoiding the cold wind and rain that enveloped Lawrence. What they got was warm weather and a solid start into the 1992 outdoor track season.
"The weather was overcast and warm," Coach Gary Schwartz said. "It was good for running. We got a lot accomplished."
The Jayhawks used the Tiger Invitational at Louisiana State to help prepare them for a grueling outdoor season schedule that will include participation in the Texas, Kansas and Drake relays during the next four games. The team met more positive results than negative. The meet was not scored.
"A majority of the people had a hard
"he said. And in a couple of cases
sided with him."
had expected. In other cases, we'll be better once we get to better shape."
Kansas had four first-place finishers in the meet, including senior MaryBeth Labosky.
Labosky finished first in the high jump and jumped a personal-best 63/4 feet. The jump was good enough to qualify her provisionally for the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Junior Julia Saul, who was forced to drop out of the 5,000 meter run at the NCAA Indoor Championships because of a respiratory infection, returned to form and won the 3,000 meters with a time of 9:40.90.
Schwartz said sophomore Heather Berlin also had an outstanding meet for
Junior Jon Handy and freshman Nick Johansen sparked the men's team by finishing first in the 1,500 meter run and pole vault. Handy finished with a personal-best time of 3:54.51 and Johansen voulted 14:31/41
Kansas.
Competing in her first meet of the season, Berlin finished second in the javelin with a throw of 164-11. Her throw was good enough to qualify her provisionally for the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Schwartz said that the team continually would be in a transition phase until the weather warmed up. He said the athletes would continue to make adjustments and learn to do things better, especially in the technical events.
"Some people did very well," she said. "For others it may take one or two meets to get adjusted. But the team atmosphere was great. I think everyone is really excited for this outdoor season."
Labosky said that it was hard to judge the success of the meet because it was not scored and because it was the beginning of the outdoor season.
Nebraska sweeps 'Hawks
The Jayhawks, 15-11 overall, have lost five games in a game and seven of their last eight. Nebraska is 18-7 overall and 3-0 in the conference.
The Kansas baseball team was swept in three games this weekend by the Nebraska Cornhuskers, dropping their Big Eight Conference record to 1-6.
Nebraska won the first of yesterday's games 6-8 behind pitcher Josh Bullock. Bullock went 6 1/3 innings, giving up eight hits and three runs. Kansas pitcher Chris Corn gave up six inning, hitting one. Brent Wilhelm, Rory Tarquino and Darryl Monroe were 2 for-4 at the plate for Kansas.
Nebraska pitchers Craig Sanders and Steve Boyd combined to hold Kansas to three hits in the second game yesterday as the Cornhuskers
SPORTS BRIEFS
beat Kansas 4-3. Kansas' Joel Bacom
pitched only two innings, giving up
three runs and four hits. The defeat
drops Bacom's record to 1-2.
Nebraska won Friday's opener 6-5.
Saturday's doubleheader was rained out,
for forcing the teams to play two
seven-inning games yesterday.
Softball places second
The No. 18 Kansas softball team finished second place in the Sixth Annual National Invitational Softball Tournament this weekend in Sunnyvale, Calif. The tournament field included six Top 20 teams, five of which are ranked higher than the Jahwawks.
Kansas lost to No. 1 UCLA twice in the tournaments, including a 14-2 loss in Miami.
Sophomore pitcher Stephani Williams was the lone Javakh on the
all-tournament team, which included only one player from each team in the 16-team field.
Golf team places tenth
The Kansas golf team finished 10th in the South Carolina Women's Invitational this weekend in Columbia, S.C.
Senior Shelly Trelley finished in a tie for 13th place to lead the Jayhawks. She fired a three-round 234, one stroke ahead of another Jayhawk, senior Laura Myers, who finished in a tie for 18th.
Duke captured the tournament title with a score of 914, two strokes ahead of second place Furman. The Jayhawks' next competition will be on the weekend of April 10-12, when they travel to Wilmington, N.C., for the UNC-Wilmington Seahawk Invitational.
Kansan staff reports
NCAA TOURNAMENTS
Men's Final Four
Cincinnati swept Memphis State, and Michigan avoided a sweep against Ohio State to reach the Final Four yesterday.
Cincinnati and Indiana cruised through their regional finals to make the FInal Four, while Duke and Michigan survived overtimes to advance.
Michigan's "Fab Five" helped the Wolverines avenge two earlier losses to No. 3 Ohio State with a 75-71 overtime victory in the Southeast title game yesterday.
The two teams joined Indiana and defending champion Duke, who both qualified Saturday, at the Big Ten Championship.
Duke's Christian Laetner's buzzer-beating shot lifted the Blue Devils to a 104-103 victory over Kentucky in the East regional on Saturday.
In the Midwest, Cincinnati topped Memphis State for the fourth time this season with a 88-57 victory, and Indiana blew past No. 1 seeded UCLA in the West 106-79 on Saturday.
The Associated Press
Women's Final Four
Southwest Missouri State defeated Mississippi 94-71 to win the Midwest Regional Saturday night.
The Bears eliminated Kansas, No. 1-seeded Iowa and UCLA en route to their spot in the Final Four. The No. 8-seeded Bears boosted their winning streak to 21 and were the first team seeded below No. 4 to ever make it to the national semifinals. On Saturday, the Bears will face Western Kentucky, a 75-70 winner against Maryland in the Mideast Regional.
In the East Regional, top-seeded Virginia downed No.3-seeded Vanderbilt 70-58 to advance to the Final Four, where they will face West Regional champion Stanford.
The Cardinal earned its trip to Los Angeles by defeating Southern Cal 82-62. Stanford had defeated USC twice during the regular season.
The Associated Press