Inside Sports
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Sports
The NBA playoffs are right around the corner. Once again, the Chicago Bulls are the favorites but find out about the other contenders.
SEE PAGE 3B
After missing the playoffs, Chris Webber and Juwan Howard may be split up.
Pro Basketball
WIZARDS
Tuesday
April 21, 1998
Section:
B
Page 1
SEE PAGE 3B
Pro Football
The Carolina Panthers sign troubled Washington Redskin defensive tackle Sean Gilbert to an offer sheet.
SEE PAGE 3B
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Player to fight until the last pitch
Senior centerfielder Clint Wyrick swings at the ball. The Joyhawks played Missouri on Saturday. Wyrick leads the team with 35 runs scored and had a 17-game hitting streak earlier this season. He also has a .333 batting average and 19 stolen bases. Photo by Jay Sheepard/KANSAN
By John Blakely Wilson
Kansan sportswriter
As the Kansas baseball team's postseason hopes fade, senior centerfielder Clint Wyrick maintains that it is important for the team to fight until the last pitch of the season.
The Jayhawks (18-22) travel to tradition-rich Austin for a doubleheader today and a single game tomorrow against the Texas Longhorns (16-23).
Wryk said he thought the team would finish the season with a bang. After Texas, the Jayhawks play Texas A&M this weekend and Kansas State next week.
"Texas and Kansas State aren't doing that well, and I think we can sweep them," Wyrick said. "If we can take two of three against Texas A&M, then we have a good chance to make the Big 12 tournament. Anything can happen after that."
Wyrick, who transferred from New Mexico after last season, has become a fixture in the outfield and the second spot in the batting order. He has rebounded from a 1-19 start at the plate this season to a .333 batting average and stole 19 bases.
Wryrick also leads the team with 35 runs scored, and he had a 17-game hitting streak earlier this season, which tied for the third-longest in school history.
"After the rough start, he has been hard for the opposition to get out," coach Bobby Randall said. "We didn't know much about him coming in, but he's found confidence at the plate and in the outfield."
starting every day at a big school like Kansas."
"I called Coach Bard and asked him for a chance," Wryck said. "It's great be
Wyrick played for assistant coach Mike Bard at Howard (Texas) Junior College before moving to New Mexico last season. Problems with coaches ensued, and Wyrick thought it was time for a change.
Bard said the decision was a no-brainer.
"He is pound-for-pound the strongest guy on the team, and I knew he could play," Bard said. "He has been outstanding for us in center field."
If the Jayhawks win seven of their 12 remaining games. Randall's career record would even out at 391-391-1.
- The consensus college top five includes Stanford, Miami, Alabama.
Louisiana State and Florida. Big 12 teams Baylor, Oklahoma, Texas A&M and Texas Tech all are in the top 25. Baylor is ranked as high as fifth in one poll.
Kansas ranks sixth in the 11-team conference with a .309 batting average. Texas Tech leads the conference with a .344 average.
Kansas's earned run average (6.19) is ninth in the conference. Texas A&M leads with a 3.76 team average.
Injured second baseman Andy Juday is 18th in the conference with a .358 bat.
ting average. Willy Hill of Oklahoma leads with a,420 average.
Oklahoma's Casey Bookout leads the conference with 20 home runs, while Texas Tech's Kevin Jordan leads with 64 runs batted in. Catcher Josh Dimmick leads the Jayhawks with six home runs and 42 runs batted in.
Pitcher Les Walrond leads Kansas with an average of 8.05 strike outs per nine innings pitched. He also is 20th in the conference with 50 and one-third innings pitched.
Jayhawks' softball team disappointed with losses
Kansas prepared for doubleheader
Kansas sophomore Christy McPhail takes a swing. The Jayhawks will play Southwest Missouri State at 3 p.m. today at Jayhawk Field. Photo by Steve Puppe/KANSAN
With only six games remaining in the regular season, the 24-31 Kansas softball team looks to pick up some big wins today.
By Laura Bokenkroger Kansan sportswriter
The Jayhawks play Southwest Missouri State today in a doubleheader at 3 and 5 p.m. at Jayhawk Field.
Kansas defeated Southwest Missouri State 6-1 earlier this season at the Capital Classic Tournament in Sacramento. Six Jayhawks collected hits in the victory, led by catcher Kristina Johnson, who went 3-for-4.
After losing all four games last weekend against Iowa State and No. 7 Nebraska, the Jayhawks fell to 6-10 in the Big 12 Conference.
The Jayhawks have struggled this season, falling out of the top 25 after being ranked ninth in the preseason poll. Coach Tracy Bunge said their goals had to change after the disappointing regular season.
This season, the Jayhawks are 5-1 against teams in the Missouri Valley Conference, with their only loss coming from Wichita State.
The Jayhawks have only two more conference games
Kansas will honor its seniors and close out conference play in games against Missouri at 12 and 2 p.m. Saturday at Javahawk Field.
before the Big 12 tournament.
Winning the tournament may be the Jayhawks' best shot at regional play. Bunge said.
games, second baseman Lezli Leathers has been hitting .417, with two doubles, two RBIs and a. 583 slugging percentage. Leathers leads the team with 23 walks.
n Through the last six
The Jayhawks are 4-14 in games decided by one run this season. They have lost 12 of their last 13 one-run contests.
Four students to be Chiefs cheerleaders
By Tommy Gallagher
tgallagher@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
KU students who made the final cut included Elizabeth Burgess, Leavenworth sophomore; Holly Major, Lawrence senior; Stephanie McCarty, Kansas City, Kan., sophomore; and Aisha Steele, Olathe freshman.
More than 250 women have dreamed of becoming cheerleaders for the Kansas City Chiefs since March. Among them, four Kansas students made the 34-member squad Sunday.
They earn $35 per game and receive two season tickets to all home games. They also make money for additional appearances and promotions, such as autograph sessions and sports memorabilia shows, where the cheerleaders can make as much as $75 for an hour or two.
Chiefs cheerleaders enjoy several perks associated with the job.
And in August, the cheerleaders will travel to Tokyo, where the Chiefs will play the Green Bay Packers in a preseason game.
McCarty said she made more than $1,000 last year, her first season as a Chiefs cheerleader.
She said that amount was nothing compared to the money earned by other cheerleaders.
McCarty said she was pleased to return for another season but she would have higher expectations this fall.
"Last year I wasn't expected to make the squad.
so that made it more exciting. "McCarty said. "This year there was more for me to lose. And more will be expected of me this season."
McCarty could help the other three KU students learn what she did last year.
Steele, a first-time selection, said this job could help her in the future.
"I was screaming on the phone when I found out that I had made the team," Steele said. "I was really excited. But later, it really hit me that this was a professional opportunity that could help me down the road."
Steele said she had dreamed of becoming a Crimson Girl at the University since high school. That dream has been put on hold, but she said that she would try to become a Crimson Girl next year.
The search for Chiefs cheerleaders began with workshops held last fall. More than 250 people attended the workshops, though only 51 finalists remained heading into Sunday.
Donna Scott, Chiefs game production manager,made the final cut to 34 women. Squad practices officially will begin in June.
McCarty said the satisfaction was not because of the money.
"I would do this without being paid, without receiving any of the benefits," McCarty said. "For me, just seeing more than 80,000 cheering fans at Arrowhead Stadium — I don't know how I can describe it. It has been an incredible experience."
Commentary
Lack of interest may have made Kansas Relays run last races
The Kansas Relays did not happen this year, and almost no one seemed to miss them. There was not a great protest or rally, a flood of letters to the Athletics Department or an outcry from former track stars that the Relays were not held this year.
Quietly, the Relays didn't happen, and like when they do occur, no one paid attention. But I missed them
But I missed them.
Through the years, I have been to more Kansas Relays than most people. That is easy to say based on past attendance numbers.
And each year, I have taken memories with me:
Spencer Duncan
sports@kansan.com
The return of Jim Rvun. Wes Santee and
These are just a few of the many great moments the Relays have provided. But this year, the only memory will be that there were no Relays.
Glenn Cunningham in 1981. Olympic pole vaulter Joe Dial wowing the crowd in 1987. My high school peer Winston Tidwell being named outstanding performer in 1993. Kansas graduate Sarah Hebe returning last season to participate in the first-ever steeplechase held at the Relays.
Because of renovations under way at Memorial Stadium, this year's Relays were canceled. It is only the second time in the Relays' history that the event has been called off. The last time was from 1943 to 1945 while the country was fighting World War II.
It is a blow, not just to the rich 75 year tradition of the Relays but to the event's future.
The truth is that during the last 10 years, the Relays has lost its luster. Attendance was pathetic, and the level of competition was poor compared to the great athletes who had participated since the Relays beginnings in 1923 through the late 1880s.
The 1909s had not been good to the Relays until last year when the tide turned. Columbia/HCA Healthcare became a sponsor, and it was willing to spend what it took to make the Relays great again.
Columbia poured money into the event, and it paid off. More than 50 universities, 180 high schools and 15 Olympians participated. The result was perhaps the best Relays in at least a decade.
Last year was supposed to be the Relays' new beginning. All the Relays needed, the track office and Athletics Department said, was a jump start to regain the status of being one of the premier track and field events in the country.
There was excitement, hope and renewed energy. Then, there was a cancellation.
Excitement was squashed, hopes were dashed and the renewed energy burned out. The jump start was for nothing.
The cancellation may have killed the Relays. It will be hard to restart the event after a year's delay.
Questions about the status of next year's Relays are making things worse. At the end of the football season, the stadium renovations will continue with the construction of a new and improved press box. Therefore, the stadium may not be available next year.
If the Athletics Department is as smart as it claims to be, then it will not let this happen. Another year of cancellation would kill the Relays for good. It is bad enough people have not paid attention the past few years, but a two-year hiatus would wipe it completely out of people's minds.
The Athletics Department needs to do one of two things: Either make sure Memorial Stadium is in good enough shape to hold the event or start search for somewhere else.
The Relays are a big event, but there are probably some places in Kansas City that could accommodate it.
If the Athletics Department does not do one of those things happen, then last year may have been the Relay's final run.
That's not a memory anyone wants to have.
Or maybe it's good riddance. After all, no one complained this year.
Duncan is a Topeka senior in journalism and English.
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