University Daily Kansan / Wednesday, September 28, 1988 11 Sports Tailback's experience as a father is added inspiration By Jeff Euston Tailback Tony Sands has more inspiration than most Kansas football players. Sands, a freshman from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., became the father of a baby boy two days before he was born. Her mother was who named Macie Anthony Sands IV, is living in Florida with Sands girlfriend and is a month-and-a-half-old. "In my locker I have a picture of my son, Sands said. 'Every time I walk into the room at that picture and he smiles at me. That shows me, 'Hey, I've got to go out and do what I have to do because I'm so sick.' So I get to go out and take care of him." Sands said the thought of his son helped him during practice. "I call him Mr. T," he said, "I call the T. The feeling I got when they wheeled him out — that helped keep me up there and was running every day." "I held him all the way to the airport. Just the feeling of handing him back over to his mom made me feel strange on the inside." Becoming a father has forced Sands to grow up quickly, he said. Senior Arnold Snell, left, will start Saturday's game against New Mexico State at tailback. Freshman Tony Sands, center, and Maurice Douglas, freshman, will share tailbacks with Snell. Jeffrey Johnston/KANSAN "I have a lot of responsibilities now," he said. "I figure there's no looking back. I have a son I have to take care of, and I want to make my father good of me. That's their father's dream — to make his son proud." Mason denies allowing clock to run to shorten Auburn game Bv a Kansan reporter Kansas coach Glen Mason has denied giving referees permission to shorten the second half of the Sept. 17 Kansas-Auburn game. According to articles in the Kansas City Times and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the clock continued to run during dead-ball situations in the second half of a 76-7 victory over the Jawhacks. But they cannot agree to let the clock run during dead-ball situations. The halftime score of the game was 42-0. The game lasted just 2 hours and 17 minutes, much shorter than a normal game. According to the Times, Bobby Gaston, Southeast Conference supervisor of officials, said his crew received approval from Dye to let the clock run before the third quarter. Coaches may agree to take time off the game clock at the start of the quarters under NCAA rules. "Supposedly, I approached the official at halftime and surrendered the game and asked for the clock to be run," Mason told the Times. "I did not do that." He then said he let it clock run. Don’t try to push it all off on me. Don’t get enough problems." If Sands' son could watch his dad play this season, he'd have reason to be proud. The 5-foot-9, 165 pound Sands, shares tears at tailback with senior Arnold Snell and freshman Maurice Warren. He's pitched 72 yards on 15 carries, a 5.4 average. In Saturday's game at California, Sands scored his first college touch down on a 14-yard run in the second quarter. Kansas running backs coach Vic Adamle said he was not surprised by Sands' success as a newcomer. "Tony has done a great job for us," Adamle said. "He's strong and he has incredible quickness. People say he's not durability because of his site. He is durability. He is hit the hole hard and he can make the punishment." Sands said he never had been hindered by his size. As a star running back at St. Thomas High School in Ft. Lauder. dails, Sands was the only player in Broward County history to rush for more than 4,000 yards. As a senior, he gained 449 yards and scored 15 Florida has become a hotbed of college football prospects. Sands said his size made many schools reluctant to recruit him. "Some of them did talk about size," he said. "When you go to choose a player, you shouldn't worry about size. You worry about talent." Given the opportunity to play. Sands has worked hard to improve. "He has great work habits," Adamle said. "He's always looking to improve. The thing he needs to work on is getting better at that, but he's improving on that already." Michael Irvine, Irvine was a wide receiver on Miami's national championship team last year and plays for the Dallas Cowboys. Sands has been taught the importance of hard work by his uncle "My uncle always told me, 'Tony, practice is good. You do off the field all time. You spend that time you spend off the field is going to help just as much as the team." "I stayed after practice every day last week, and I feel my reward was the touchdown." A cross country runner makes his way through Kansas' course at Rim Rock farm. Unique course a challenge to runners Kansan sportswrite Several months after he bought the land, now called Mim Rock Farm, he met a man from him that a unique cross country course could be constructed. But it was too expensive. "On this course you're going up and down and turning all the way, but you can straight away might be in 150 to 200 miles. Since most cross country is on flat ground, that's not a problem." "We had no intention of using the land for cross country purposes," said Timmons, who retired last year after 23 years of coaching at Kansas "But the Lawrentee was running on was becoming difficult to use because it was in such high demand by golfers." when former Kansas cross country coach Bob Timmons purchased 99 acres of land 10 miles northwest of Lawrence a decade ago, he had no idea that he bought the land for the Kansas cross country team. "When I was coaching, I had the team come in a week early before school and hold training camp out with me. My husband stayed in a stabbed at the top of what By Arvin Donley Since most cross country races are run on golf courses, Timmons said Rim Rock prevented runners from getting into the hole, would it encounter on golf courses. we call the dwell's downhill. They helped put the course together by having them choose chores. They would also run twice a day and swim twice a day and go on the bike too. Timmons said he appreciated the squad's help because the course could not have been completed without it. Some of the unusual features along the course include several small ponds and a small cemetery, with many of these being a grave marked as early as 1925. "They moaned and groused about the work they had to do," he said. "But it's been beneficial." there is not going to be timber trails. We have what we call the narrow trails, which make for an interesting run." The narrow trails are on approximately a one-mile uphill stretch, which the athletes routinely did. Jayhawk runners said the that stretch was the most difficult part of the race. "At the two and one-half mile mark, it really gets tough because the narrows are uphill" said Tracy Hodgson. "It "it comes at the wrong time, especially if you've never run the course and aren't expecting it." "If you go out too hard, those hills will get you," he said. "It's going to kill you. I'm from Colorado, so II'm using running hills." Sean Sheridan, Colorado Springs, Colo., sophomore, agreed with Helmer's assessment of the course. go to Oklahoma, which is almost flat, it makes you appreciate how difficult this is. It's the toughest course in the conference." Because of Rim Rock's location and difficulty, Kansas coach Gary Schwartz said his team only practiced at Rim Rock occasionally. "This was the first course that I'd ever run in college. When you "It wouldn't benefit us to train there all the time because most other courses are flatter." Schwartz said. "Also, it would be more convenient if it were closer to Lawrence. It provides a cement for maintenance, and other things to have to travel that far." Schwartz said despite the late problem, he had no immediate plans to find a new course for the Jayhawks. "At this point, I really have no concerns," he said. "If something were to open up, Lawrence or on campus, I would then have to re-verify the situation." BIG EIGHT HONORS: Nebraska taxiim ticket Jackson, who had seven winners in the state's Saturday's victory over Arizona. State, was named the Big Eight Against Texas A&M Saturday, Sanders had 241 yards in all-purpose running, including 157 yards rushing Sports Briefs One of Jackson's interceptions led to a Nebraska score and the other stopped an Arizona State scoring drive. Earlier, Oklahoma State's Barry Sanders, for the second time in the two games, the Cowboys have played, and have offered defensive player of the week. and a 61 yard touchdown pant return. He also had a 54 yard touchdown rush on the third play of the game and caught three passes for 14 yards. The match is Missouri's Big Eight Conference conference. Okanas lost its first conference match at Iowa State Saturday. 3-15, 5-13 and 14-16. The Jayhawks are 1-10 this season. Their only win came against Tulsa at Sanders, a Wichita native, leads the NCAA Division I in laxing, all-purpose running, scoring and kickoff returns. the Shocker Invitational in Wichita Sept. 17. Missouri is 4-7 this season KANSS VOLEBLEY TONIGHT: The Kansas volleyball team will play Missouri at 7:30 tonight in Allen Field House. TAYLOR REINSTATED: All-Pros Lawrence Taylor, Bruce Smith and three other players who were suspended for 30 days when they failed NFL drug tests due to the preseason stint remanded by the league year day. NFL spokesman Joe Browne said that Taylor, the star linebacker of the New York Giants, and Buffalo Bills defensive end Smith were contested along with linebacker Emanuel King of Cincinnati. The Cincinnati Bengals and receiver John Taylor of the San Francisco 49ers. All five players were on their teams' non-football illness list and were given a one-game season. Taylor's suspension was supposed to end yesterday, and the other four were allowed to return a few weeks after the game, the players and their teams." Browne said. All of them were eligible for the Super Bowl once the players were lifted. All five players face a permanent hanz from the NFL. They violate that policy again. They can, however, petition for reinstatement after one year. Tennis team starts with young squad Bv Ken Winford Kansan sportswriter After more than a month of practice, Kansas women's tennis coach Eric Haines is still trying to figure out his team. On one hand, only three players return from last year's squad, which posted a 204 record and placed third in the Big Eight Conference. The top three players from that team are gone, including Trace Tees, who won the conference No. 1 single tie, and finished second in '188 and 1908. At the same time, the women's team had one of its best recruiting years and has plenty of talented players this season. Hayes said. "We are going to be a young team. Haays said "Four or five of us," he added. He will be tough when we play some of the more experienced teams. We have one." Although the women's team has been practicing since the beginning of the season, stances have the squad from working out together the entire time. "This week is really the first time this year we have had the whole team out here," Hayes said. "Eveline and I were in the alternate in the Olympics for The Netherlands and they were different players fighting illness. Because they haven't played much, these players have to work hard to get match touch." Many of Hayes questions should be answered this weekend when Kansas competes in its first tournament of the season at the Harvard The eight team field has three nationally ranked teams. Kentucky ranks eight in the Vortex Tennis Tour, while Ohio is ranked the tournament. Tennessee and War rank 21st and 24th, respectively. Kentucky also won the tournament and Syracuse are also competing. "This tournament will give me a good chance to see who can play. They'll be tough and we same tough teams, but that's what we need. These girls have to know they can compete at that level with the other girls, and play a tough schedule because to be the best, you have to beat the best." Because his team is young, Hayes said it was important for players like Bergland to assume a leadership role. Kansas players making the trip are senior Sasey Berglund, sophomores Stacy Stotts and Mindy Peel and freshmen Hammers, Reeene Rachaudhuri, Elba Einao, Page Gons and Laura Hagemann. "Susie is take the role as team leader," Hayes said. "She is our team captain. It not easy to take on a big team. I respect her for that." Berglund, a former state tennis champion at Salina Central High School, said she was ready for the season. "I'm excited about getting to play other teams," Berglund said. "Coach Jenkins is so harder than we thought we could go. But so much of tennis is a mind game. If you believe that you can do something, you're already halfway there." "It will be great competition for us," Pez said. "The teams are tough, and it will definitely be a challenge." He noted the vast list of experience from this trip. Pelz, a native of Santa Monica, Calfi, said the team could use the Harvard tournament to improve. "This tournament is going to make us a better team," she said. "It will be hard at first because we have so many new girls. But we also have a lot of talent. We have a lot of room for improvement." We will be practicing against each other or so long, we will be ready to play." Although there are some questions to be answered, Hailees said he was optimistic about his team's chances this season. Stotts, a Ponca City, OKla., native, also said the trip should be beneficial. "We've been working hard this fall, and we've made some progress." Hayes said. "But over the past few months, our another level. We could crack the top 20, but it depends on how badly we want it." Major League Standings American League East W W L Pct Boston 88 69 518 New York 84 72 538 Milwaukee 85 72 538 Milwaukee 85 72 538 Toronto 83 75 525 Baltimore 74 80 415 Baltimore 73 103 341 National League West W 10 L 57 Pct. GB - o-Galley 100 L 67 Pct. - Minnesota 88 69 527 GB - Kansas City 82 79 522 18 - Michigan 75 83 475 18 - Chicago 68 88 436 311 - Texas 68 88 430 314 - Oklahoma 68 91 420 34 East W 97 L 59 Pct. GB - e-New York W 71 L 59 Pct. GB - Pittsburgh 84 72 72 538 13 - Montreal 79 78 78 503 19 - St. Louis 74 74 74 496 18 - Philadelphia 74 63 93 471 23%/ 1% *华盛顿* 74 63 93 471 23%/ 1% West W 92 L 64 Pct. 500 GB —- C-Los Angeles W 92 L 64 Pct. 500 Cincinnati 85 L 71 D455 Houston 81 L 71 D455 71 L 71 11/12% Houston San Diego 78 L 78 500 Atlanta 78 L 78 335 14 % Atlanta 78 L 103 335 14 % c — clinched division title 7