SPORTS
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Tuesday, May 3, 1994
1.1A
Senior golfer shoots for a future in the pros
Reynolds will be missed by coach and teammates
By Andrew Gilman
Kansan sportswriter
Kansan sportswriter
Kansas women's golf coach Jerry Wang said he would really miss senior golfer Holly Reynolds next season.
In fact, when speaking about her departure, he said that next season would not be the same without her.
"We'll miss her a lot," he said. "We won't be able to match her individual performance next year."
Watth referred to her seven firstplace tournament finishes, her three top-10 performances in the Big Eight Conference tournament and her overall consistent play.
But Reynolds said she wouldn't get that sentimental until after she walked down the hill with her degree in recreation management and after she walked off the golf course for the last time.
"I don't really get emotional until after the fact," Reynolds said. "Nothing like that will be in my mind when I'm on the course."
Reynolds will finish her four-year career with the NCAA regional qualifying tournament May 13-15, and possibly the NCAA championships May 25-28.
"I don't like predictions," she said. But this year, I think I can finish in the top 10."
A top 10 finish would be a long journey from where she began.
Reynolds, from Morrisville, Vt., said she had very little confidence when she came to Kansas four years ago.
"My freshman year wasn't that good," she said. "I competed at the U.S. Open in July and freaked out. I finished dead last, and when I got here, I was still trying to get over it. Plus being away from home compounded the problem."
But she regained her confidence early in the 1992 season when she shot a career-best round of 69 in Wilmington, N.C.
"I didn't realize until the Wilmington tournament that I could be successful," she said. "I haven't lost my confidence since."
Waugh has seen Reynold's confidence improve and said that what was
made her special.
"Holly has been a consistent performer the last three years," Waugh said. "She came to prominence last year when she finished 15th at nationales. She is a very good leader, one that leads by example. She's not very vocal, but she is well received by her teammates and her competitors."
At the 1994 conference tournament April 25-26, she went into the last round trailing by just three strokes.
Reynolds finished this year's regular season on one of her lowest notes, so low that she would prefer not to remember it.
"I started out that day cleaning my hotel room," she said. "I put my seven wood in my bag and after I hit my first shot on the first hole, I realized it was in there."
The result was a two-stroke penalty
for carrying too many clubs in the bag. The penalty put her five behind, and she never recovered.
Reynolds finished 10th.
"I tried as hard as I could the next few holes," she said, "But the harder I tried, the worse it got."
"She didn't finish where I thought she might," Waugh said. "She was in position after the first two rounds, but there were some rain delays and there was some really bad weather."
Happier memories for Reynolds include the team, coaches and the atmosphere of Kansas.
"Ive had a lot of fun here," she said. "The coaching is really positive, and the team has been great."
There are other happenings that she said she would rather remember, like when her ball did not move from a water hazard but a fish did.
"I was in a water hazard last year in a tournament in Georgia," she said. "I decided to play out of it, and I hit a fish that went out on to the course. I picked it up and put it back. Because it wasn't dead, it wasn't a penalty."
Removing a carcass from play, which is considered moving a loose impediment, is a two-stroke penalty.
After she gets her degree this month, Reynolds said she would look to the future.
"I think I've got a good shot of making the LPGA," she said. "Mentally I'm strong enough."
Kansas baseball readies for Big Eight tournament action
Waugh agreed.
"She is one of the most outstanding players we've had here," he said. "She answers challenges. She has the potential to play at the professional level."
Kansas baseball notebook
Pitching: Kansas senior pitcher Chris Corn, who pitched a complete game victory against Kansas State on Friday, needs only two strikeouts to move into first place on the Kansas all-time strikeout list.
Corn, who struck out nine Friday, has 40 Ks this season and has 225 in his career. Jimmy Walker, who played at Kansas from 1990 to 1993, has 226.
Three Kansas starters, Corn, David Meyer and Jamie Splittorff are a combined 23-5 on the season with a combined 3.55 ERA. All three won last weekend during Kansas' sweep of Kansas State.
Another starter: Clay Baird has provided relief as a fourth starter. Baird is 4-2 with a 4.06 ERA. He pitched a complete game victory against Missouri earlier this season and picked up a victory pitching five innings at Nebraska April 23.
Finishes: The Jayhawks finished the Big Eight Conference season at 17-9 for the second consecutive season and still have a chance for the second seed at the conference tournament.
Big Eight baseball standings
Baird will get a shot to improve his record when he starts against Wichita State in Wichita tonight. Kansas has beaten the Shockers three consecutive times including a 6-3 victory April 13 in Lawrence. Yesterday's game against Oral Roberts was canceled because of weather. Kansas is ranked No. 21 by Baseball America. Wichita State is ranked No. 6 in the same poll.
Oklahoma State, which beat the Jayhawkes two out of three games in Stillwater, Okla., have clinched first place with an 18-6 record, the same record it had during the 1993 season.
Weather: Kansas may be a victim
Oklahoma St. 18 6 34 13
Kansas 17 9 34 13
Oklahoma 14 8 32 14
Nebraska 12 10 28 19
Iowa State 9 13 22 25
Missouri 9 14 30 19
Kansas State 3 22 12 37
of circumstances that it can't control — the weather.
Two games against Missouri and a double header against Oklahoma State at Hoglund-Maupin were canceled because of uncooperative weather. Kansas had swept the Tigers in Lawrence, getting complete games from senior David Meyer and sophomores Jamie Splittorff and Clay Baird.
Standings: Kansas has not assured itself of second place. Oklahoma, at 14-8, still has five games left against Nebraska, but needs to win four of five from the Cornhuskers to overtake Kansas. Four victories would put the Sooners at 18-9, and give them a winning percentage of .667. The Jayhawk's winning percentage stands at .654.
Big Eight Tournament: The top six teams in the conference make the double-elimination tournament. A second place finish would pit Kansas against the fifth place seed. A third place finish probably would have Kansas facing Nebraska in the first round.
Compiled by Kansan sportswriter Andrew Gilman.
K-State adds two guards to Fall signees
The Associated Press
MANHATTAN — Kansas State has added a point guard and a shooting guard to its list of fall signees, coach Tom Asbury announced Monday.
Elliott Hatcher, 6-0, averaged almost 20 points and seven assists for Grayson County (Texas) Community College, and Reggie McFerren, 6-6, helped lead Los Angeles' Crenshaw High School to a pair of California state championships.
Hatcher averaged 19.8 points, 6.2
hatsches, 4.5 steals and 5.2 rebounds in
leading the Denison, Texas, junior college to a 19-11 record.
"Elliott is a prototype lead guard," said @om Asbury, who left Pepperdine last month to become the Wildcats' head coach. "He's a proven player at the point who is very explosive and can score."
Kansas State's fall recruiting class included Mark Young, Ayome May, Michael Bowens and Aaron Swartzenruber.
McPerren averaged 19.3 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists and made 75.3 point shots last year for Crenshaw.
Kansas junior tennis player Nora Kova puts in some extra practice during a light rain. Koves practiced yesterday at the Allen Field House courts with women's coach Chuck Merzbacher.
Valerie Bontrager / KANSAN
Banquet honors tennis success
By Matt Siegel
Kansansportswriter
Kansas men's tennis coach Michael Center said that having the tennis banquet in the Eldridge Hotel symbolized how far the tennis programs at Kansas have come in the past few years.
"I can remember when the banquet was held on the tennis courts and everyone just ate dinner and went home," Center said Sunday night. "This is a special night for me."
The banquet recognized the men's and women's teams winning the Big Eight Championship crown in the same year. Both teams qualified for the NCAA Tournament.
The crowd of about 130 people was treated to anecdotes from both players and coaches.
"We came back this year with the same team," Kansas coach Chuck Mierzbach said. "I remember telling the players in the hotel after the season was over that the thing we needed to work on this year was being a team. We have T-shirts that read, Toether Everyone Achieves More."
The women's team finished the season 24-3, which is the most victories in Kansas women's tennis history. At one point in the season, the Jayhawks were ranked No. 5 nationally, the highest ranking ever for a Kansas tennis team. Junior Nora Kove, described by players and coaches as a winning machine, finished the regular season with a record of 32-3. Senior Mindy Weiner compiled a 40-8 record at the No. 2 singles spot and was the Big Eight Champion at the No. 2 singles spot.
Merzbacher said that the three seniors, Abby
Woods, Kim Rogers, and Mindy Weiner all contributed to the team's success. Weiner and Koves shared the Catherine Holland Most Valuable Player Award. Rogers received the Coaches Award.
The player who received the most awards for either team was captain Abby Woods. Among her awards was the Lars Harris Most Inspirational Player Award.
"I don't know too many coaches who are willing to wake up at 6 a.m. in the summer to help me improve my game," Coach said. "I just wanted to say thank you, Coach Merz."
Woods thanked Center, who recruited her.
"Like the coach said, it has been like a storybook," Woods said. "Coach Center took a chance on me and I just wanted to say thanks. Coach Merz is not only a good coach, but he has been a friend."
The Kansas men's team also celebrated its season. The Jayhawks finished 22-5 and gained their first conference championship since 1988. The Jayhawks are the top seed at the upcoming NCAA Regional in Wichita.
Center said what made this team special was that a lot of good players pooled their talents together. Sophomore J.P. Vissepo won the teams most improved player, and Victor Fimbres won the Catherine Holland Most Valuable Player. Fimbres finished with a 20-3 overall record and went undefeated during conference play.
"We didn't even have him in the starting line-up at the beginning of the year," Center said. "But he never complained once. He has done everything we have ever asked him to."
Kansas junior Michael Isroff received an ovation, when Center gave him the teams most inspirational athlete award. Isroff defeated Oklahoma's Phillip Farmer to secure the Big Eight Championship for Kansas.
"I never seen anything like that," Center said. "They would go to warm up and it would start raining. He handled that situation with a lot of composure and class."
Now the NCAA Tournament is approaching and both the Kansas men's and women's tennis team have been invited.
The women's team qualified automatically by being the Region Six Champions. Last season the Jayhawks also qualified for the NCAA Tournament—Barely. Kansas coach Chuck Merzbacher said the Jayhawks were the last team to qualify.
"Last year at this time we were really sweating it out." Merzbacher said. "It feels good to be already in."
The No. 8 Jayhawks are yiring for a top 10 seed at the tournament. Merzbacher said the Jayhawks have a legitimate shot at a top 10 seed at the 20 team tournament in Athens, Georgia. The pairings for the tournament will be announced tomorrow.
The Kansas men will be the No. 1 seed at an NCAA regional site that consists of four teams. If the Jayhawks win, they will advance to South Bend, Indiana, where the top 16 teams in the nation will compete.
"It's going to be tough," Center said. "We have the possibility of playing Oklahoma for the fourth time. It's going to be difficult but it's something that we are going to be ready for."
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