PAGE 8
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2013
SOCCER
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Junior midfielder Liana Salazar kicks the ball downfield during the game against Texas on Sept. 30, 2011. Salazar scored the first goal for the Jayhawks in the 33rd minute. It was Salazar's second goal of her freshman season.
From Olympics to bench, Salazar returns to midfield
HEATHER NELSON
hnelson@kansan.com
Liana Salazar trembled as nervous excitement consumed her body. She noticed the physical build of Team USA: Abby Wambach, Alex Morgan and Shannon Boxx warming up on the opposite side of the field. They were much bigger and stronger than the young Colombian team.
Wembley Stadium was filled to capacity — millions of viewers would watch from their televisions. "U-S-A" chants echoed across the arena, but the women's Colombian national team hoped to stun the Americans in the 2012 Olympics.
At that time, Liana believed shed return to the University of Kansas an Olympian well equipped for her sophomore season.
"I remember when I was a child, [my dream was] to be able to play for my national team," Salazar said. "Whether it was the South American National Tournament or whatever."
The Colombian team lost 3-0 to the U.S. women, but Salazar remained optimistic for the team's future. The Colombian women have made consistent progress since Salazar started playing.
Despite her country's minimal success, Salazar said playing on the
world stage created an opportunity for the world to pay attention to her home country.
"The world has all their eyes on you and your team. It was amazing!" Salazar said.
COLUMBIAN COMMITMENT
At the age of 13, Salazar's career jump started. Salazar said a friend, who had a contact for the city team, encouraged her to try out. When Salazar played for her high school team, she practiced twice a week for two hours. The city team demanded more.
She said she became overwhelmed with the commitment; two and a half hours of practice everyday, including the weekends.
"School was my first and my everything," Salazar said. "I went to the practice, and I was like, 'No, I can't do this,' because I had school and then practice and then homework."
Three months after she quit the team, Salazar received a call from the coach. The coach invited her to play in an upcoming tournament against a club team, she said. The same coach later recruited her to play on the Under-17 National team.
FALL OF AN OLYMPIAN Following Salazar's graduation
from high school, she took a year off to focus on playing soccer. At that time, she prepared for the Under-20 Women's World Cup.
Isabella Echeverri, one of Salazar's teammates from the U-20 team, said even though the two weren't friends at first because of a long history of competition, she learned a lot from her style of play.
"She is determined to win all the time, she is a really quick and technical player as well as a good teammate [on and off] the field," Echeverri said.
Salazar is always looking for new ways to learn and improve. She heard that coming to the U.S. could give her that opportunity.
"When I came to visit KU it just felt right. The campus and the town were great and I really like Coach Francis. It was a perfect fit for me," Salazar said.
the Colombian midfielder started all 21 contests her freshman year at the University. She scored goals in decisive matches against top opponents. In a near upset over Texas A&M in the Big 12 Tournament, Salazar scored twice — in regulation and penalty kicks. All these she accomplished as a freshman.
Salazar did not know English. Salazar said almost every class she took her freshman year was English, which caused her to fall behind in other classes for her Marketing major. She planned to take classes the summer between her freshman and scphomore year. But more important things got in the way.
When the opportunity to play for the Olympics arose, Salazar accepted the challenge. This opportunity
promised her from taking summer classes. One week before the University's soccer season started, Salazar found out she was ineligible to play her sophomore season.
"I was like, 'Oh my God.' It was a shock," Salazar said.
her downtime. She tested her teammates physicality at practices.
"She was cheering from outside, which was good. But it was definitely not good for us not having her." Kallmaier said.
Salazar remained positive. Her mother and brother encouraged her. She improved her skills during
She made goals for herself. And she embraced the opportunity to support her teammates in a new, different way.
An athlete primed from competition in the Olympic games would now sit on the bench for the season.
"It was hard at the beginning."
Salazar said. "I was in the Olympic games and I was in really good
now sit on the order for the season. Sophomore defender Hanna Kallmaier, Salazar's teammate and roommate, said the team missed having her on the field.
shape. I
"She is determined to win all the time, she is a really quick and technical player..."
ISABELLA ECHEVERRI U-20 teammate
shape. I thought,
"This year is going to be one of my best years."
But then, it was completely different."
Instead, Salazar focused on
fine-tuning her fundamentals. She also spent time catching up with school.
biggest feat: academics.
BACK ON THE FIELD
Salazar took 51 credits over the fall, spring and summer semesters. In August, Salazar returned to the field with her team. This year she hoped to score more goals than she had her freshman year. She wanted to work on being mentally tough, whether the team was winning or losing.
And Salazar had overcome her
obliges hard to resist. "It feels great to be back," Salazar said. "It's been a process because I didn't play for one year. You have to change your mentality — you have to play quick, you have to move, you have to run, you have to be strong. I'm getting better."
Salazar came back with a vengeance. Salazar scored a game-winning penalty in an exhibition game at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. The redshirt sophomore has three goals and two assists in the eleven games played so far this season. Conference play starts on Oct. 4 at Iowa State.
Salazar said she hoped shed be in better shape to face the conference teams.
The experiences Salazar faced challenged her, and she learned from them. She will never regret her decision to go to the Olympics, regardless of her ineligibility at the University.
"I believe that things happen for a reason. I don't know if for some magic reason?" Salazar said. "So maybe it wasn't my time to play. Maybe next year [isn't] my time to play? It was maybe the opportunity to catch up with school and have a different impact on my team."
Edited by Jessica Mitchell
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