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SPORTS
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Thursday. April 21, 1994
11
ACT is last hurdle for new recruit
Coming from small town one challenge
Bv Gerrv Fev
The step from high school to college basketball is a big one for an incoming freshman, but it may be a leap for Kansas recruit Travis Williams.
Kansan sportswriter
Not only did Williams play his high school basketball at Pawnee Heights high School in Rozei, a Class 1A school that has only 37 students move the freshman level, he also is having trouble getting accepted toansas.
Although Williams is 7-foot-2, 265 pounds, experts have questioned his
ability to raise his game to the Division I college level.
Pawnee Heights coach Russell Hake said it would be a challenge to make the lean.
it's hard to say whether he will be able to adjust from high school to Division I talent," Hake said. "I know he has got the talent. It's just a question of whether he can improve his work ethic. But those are things coaches like Roy Williams and assistant coach (Steve) Robinson can teach."
The senior averaged 20 points,11 rebounds and five blocks a game last season, but Hake said things might have been too easy for Travis Williams.
Although doubts remain, Kansas has offered Travis Williams a scholarship for next year.
able to run at a faster-naced game."
But first he must score at least 17 on his ACT.
Travis didn't get the necessary score on the test the first time he took it. He will find out in a week or two whether he scored high enough the second time.
"I'm not really worried," Travis Williams said. "Hopefully, I did pretty well. My uncle from Texas, who is an alumnus, got excited when I told him about the scholarship. He sent me a book to study and that helped a lot."
Whether it be college basketball or studying in college, Kansas' latest recruit said he understood the challenge facing him.
"I thinkit'll be a pretty big change for me going from a small school to college," he said. "They're going to redshirt me my first year, so I can get used to it."
Hake said that not many big name coaches had come to visit the small town in western Kansas but that Robinson had seen things he liked when he watched a game earlier this year.
Because Rozel is such a small town, Robinson's arrival was the talk of the town.
"For his size, he has got a good shooting touch," Hake said. "There had been several jucos down to see him play. But when Kansas came down, they thought they could improve upon some things they saw."
"We were caught by a bit of a surprise," Hake said. "It's a small town, and it doesn't take long for things to get around."
Travis Williams said even he was surprised by how quickly the news had spread.
"My mom told one person in the morning, and by the next day, everyone in the whole town knew," he said. "I don't mind the attention, really, but sometimes I do get tired of it."
There is a chance that Travis Williams soon will be receiving the attention of Kansas basketball fans. But for now, all he can do is wait, wait for a piece of paper to reveal his future for next year.
"We told him not to worry about it because he can always make the grades to get into a juco." Hake said. "And it would be good for him."
The high school senior said that if the test results were not positive, he would consider going to a junior college for a year or two.
"Either way I'd be happy," he said. "I try not to think about it. Junior college is an option, but Kansas is definitely my first choice."
Kansas baseball slides into slump
By Andrew Gilman
Kansan sportswriter
With only eight Big Eight Conference games remaining, the Kansas baseball team has found itself in a slump.
William Alix / KANSAN
11 Yesterday, the Jayhawks lost for the second consecutive time to Nebraska at Hoglund-Maupin Stadium, 5-2. The No. 24 Jayhawks dropped to 27-13 overall and 11-9 in conference play. Nebraska won its 11th consecutive game and moved to 26-16 and 10-7.
Things looked almost the same as they did Tuesday night, when the Cornhuskers won 9-1 and shut down the Jayhawks with solid pitching.
Kansas sophomore second baseman Brian Turney scores past Nebraska junior catcher David Crain.
Again Nebraska received strong pitching, this time from senior Tom Bergan.
Bergan went six and two-thirds innings and gave up two runs, one of them earned, on five hits, and allowed the Cornhuskers to build a solid lead early.
Again, like Tuesday's game, the Cornhuskers instruck first and were never threatened.
This time the damage was done against Kansas senior pitcher David Meyer. Nebraska scored twice in the first inning and three more times in the second when the Jayhawks committed two errors. The big hit was a two-out, two-run triple by Nebraska sophomore first baseman Alvie Shepherd.
"It was a pressure situation, and I tried too hard," Meyer said of his performance in the third innning.
Kansas coach Dave Bingham was upset with nearly every facet of the Jayhawks' performance yesterday.
Meyer allowed only five hits after the third inning. He went on to pitch seven and one-third innings, giving up 10 hits and four earned runs. The loss dropped Meyer to 5-4.
"Our poise, with pitching and catching, was awful," he said. "Our swings were not fundamental today. There was not a handful of good swings. We've got to go back and look at everything."
Kansas, after sweeping three games from Missouri April 1-3 in Lawrence, has lost six of its last 10 games, including four of five in the conference. The slump has put Kansas four games behind Oklahoma State, in third place. Oklahoma is in second, but Bingham said the team should not be concentrating on the conference race.
"Just showing up at the ballpark is hard for us now," Bingham said. "They seem to be concerned about the race and trying to hold on.
Instead, we need to be improving as a ball club."
Junior third baseman Brent Wilhelm twice left runners on first and third base in the fifth and seventh innings and was just one of many Jayhawks who could not produce the clutch hit.
Kansas continually left men in scoring position yesterday and had a chance to get back into the game.
"Coach told me to get three good hacks in."
Wilhelm said of his at bat in the seventh inning with Kansas trailing 5-2. "But the ball was by me before I was ready to hit."
Wilhelm said he thought that the team was playing differently than it had earlier this season when the Jayhawks won 16 of 17 games.
Wilhelm was 0-for-four and struck out twice. No Kansas player had more than one hit, as the Jayhawks scored single runs in the second and fifth innings.
"We're all having a tough time now," he said. "I think, now, we are playing too much not to lose. We need to gain some confidence and play to have fun."
Kansas will try to break its two-game losing streak when it travels to Lincoln, Neb., tomorrow to take on the Cornhuskers in the first of three games in the series.
Senior right-hander Chris Corn, 8-6, 4.52 ERA,
is expected to start.
Heptathlon, decathlon start Kansas Relays
By Matt Siegel
Kansan sportswriter
A pair of former basketball players stood out in the first half of the hepthathon and decathlon yesterday at the 69th Annual Kansas Relays.
From left, Kery Adamson, Missouri Southern State, Jill Montgomery, unattached, Jennifer Gillepsie, Wichita State, Sandy Wilder, Kansas, Nicole Adams, Augustana, Ohio, run the 200-meter dash. Wilder finished first in her heat and second overall with a time of 26.17 on the first day of the Relays.
The Relays run through Saturday, and 120 high schools and 50 colleges are expected to compete.
At the end of four events, Kansas freshman Amelia Holmes was in fourth place overall. She is in third place among collegiate athletes in the heptathlon, which consists of seven events. The Relays allow unattached athletes to compete, also. Unattached athletes are athletes who have finished their college careers and now compete for a club or professionally
William Alix/ KANSAN
compete for a club or professionaly.
"I was a little bit frustrated with my performance today," said Holmes, who finished first in the shot put and second in her 200-meter heat. "But I was just glad I got through it with my injury. I'm preparing for the Big Eight outdoor competition."
Holmes, a former Kansas women's basketball player, said she had been nursing an ankle that she had injured earlier in the season. She trails Kansas teammate Sandy Wilder, a junior who placed first in the hurdles and is in third place overall.
"In the high jump and shot put I didn't break my personal record,but
I had some good jumps and throws." Wilder said. "The last event is the 800-meters, which is one of my favorite events, so, hopefully, I will get some points back tomorrow."
"I can't afford to run on land everyday." Wilder said. "Whatever I'm doing it seems to be working. I'm pleased with my overall performance today."
One athlete who has had his share of good performances is Steve Fritz, who is shooting for his fourth consecutive decathlon victory at the Relays. At the end of the first day, he was in first place. But most people might know Fritz better for his basketball exploits. He played under Lon Kruger, now the coach at Florida.
Wilder said she also was battling the injury bug. She said that chronic shin problems had forced her to abandon training on land. Instead, she trains for meets in the swimming pool, by bicycle or by using a stair stepper
But for now, Fritz, who has no more college eligibility, is training for the USA Championships in June. Last year he made the World Championship team and finished seventh in the world championships. If he does well at the USA Championships he hopes to qualify for the Goodwill Games this summer.
Kansas freshman Mike Evers, who had personal bests in the long jump
and the seat put yesterday, said that he was pleased with his performance.
"I made a lot of breakthroughs in some events I was having trouble in." Evers said. "Things are going really well, and I'm hoping to break 7,000 points."
Evers was in fifth place after the first day of competition with 3,968 points.
As the end of the day approached, athletes were sprawled all over the stadium, resting under umbrellas they had brought. Some complained about the heat, which was a sharp contrast from the past two years when it had rained. For one former Kansas athlete and now Nebraska track coach, the day couldn't have
"This is magnificent," Rainbolt said. "I love this place. When I was here I felt like I owned the place. It's odd feeling like an outsider a little bit. I like being around, feeling like this is my place. This is my home."
been better. Steve Rainbolt, who still holds the Kansas decathlon record, said the return to Lawrence was nice.
From a sports perspective, Kim Newbern proves the theory of evolution.
Long-sought success suits player to a T
Today, she starts at third base on the Kansas softball team.
She says she has her mom to thank for getting her into sports and out of the house.
Fifteen years ago, Newbern was the typical "close your eyes, say a prayer and swing" t-ball player.
But her success didn't come overnight. It took years of dedication and practice before Newborn reached this point in her athletic career.
"I was a hyper kid. I was always going, going, going," she said. "I was driving my mom crazy, so finally she said, 'Kim, we've got to get you into something!'"
The summer after second-grade. Newborn began to hang out at the ball diamond. She's been a regular at the ballpark ever since.
Newbern was a little league all-star, smacking the ball off the tee and sprinting the length of the bases.
She focused her talents and played on a Wichita city team the next year. The group of girls Newbern met on the field that summer as an 8-year-old managed to remain teammates for seven years, building both friendships and a solid team.
"We played together during grade school, junior high and one year of high school," she said. "We were really close, and we knew how each other played."
A successful high school career, highlighted by two state softball championships, had Kansas interested in her, but only a walk-on.
Newbern was an all-around athlete at Wichita Heights High School, playing varsity basketball, volleyball and softball.
A competitive women's softball team, the Olathe Express, recruited Newbern as its catcher. She recalls doing little more that summer than driving, practicing and playing.
So she and her high school coach developed a plan for her to achieve her goal. She spent her post-graduation summer dedicated to the game.
But Newbern had her mind made up to play Division I softball. Notice, there's a key word there: She wanted to play softball.
She drove to Kansas City from Wichita on Wednesdays for league games. On Thursdays, her team practiced. And on weekends, the team traveled out of-out-town games.
"I would go home for two days, and then it would all start over again," she said. "It was tiring, but it was fun for a summer."
"It took me a whole year to get used to this. It was definitely a transition," she said. "A lot of times I think it was good I had that prior experience. But then again ..."
Newbern decided on Hutchinson Junior College. She played third base, earning two years of college-paid education.
She had met her goal. She was at a Division I school playing softball. But she never imagined what it would be like to go from a junior college to Kansas.
This year is different for Newbern. Most importantly, she said, she established a relationship with her coach.
Her main goal after two years was still Division I softball. She didn't have her heart set on Kansas, but after talking with Coach Kalum Haack, she decided to become a Jayhawk.
"Everything is so much more relaxed with Coach Haack this year," she said. "I know when I can cut up with him, when to be serious, what to say and when to say it. It's a good feeling."
"It was never a set thing that I would end up here," she said. "I talked to Coach one day, and then it was just a bam-bam decision."
Newbern came to Kansas with the attitude that she wanted to play, and she did. She started in all 47 softball games last season at third base.
This year, Newbern is one of only two seniors for Kansas. In addition to being solid and dependable at third base, she has leadership and quiet confidence that show on the field.
Sure, Newborn has reached her career peak and her goals.
But more importantly, Newbern is able to truly enjoy her final year of softball with little pressure. Sort of like that carefree kid who used to slug the ball off the tee, fly around the bases and slide into home plate with a smile on her face.