6A
The day in sports
The University Daily Kansan
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Andre Agassi will not represent the United States in the Sydney Olympics, he announced Wednesday. Agassi cited personal reasons as the cause for his decision, as both his mother and sister are fighting breast cancer.
Sports
Inside: The Big 12 Conference North Division teams finish the second weekend of the season with a 4-2 record.
SEE PAGE 5A
Inside: Harrison Hill returns to practice after missing the home opener.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2000 For comments, contact Melinda Weaver or Jason Walker at 864-4858 or e-mail sports@kansan.com WWW.KANSAN.COM/SPORTS
SEE PAGE 4B
Kansas sweeps Shockers
Killing spree puts 'Hawks over the top
By Sarch Warren sports@kanson.com Kanson sportwriter
Last night, the Kansas volleyball team whipped out its claws, defeating Wichita State 3-0 at the Horesei Family Athletic Center in a vicious contest of kills.
Seniors Nancy Bell and Amy Myatt turned in 15 and 14 kills. However, Wichita State proved to have a sole killing machine in Nicole May, who put the Kansas blockers to the test with 13 kills.
Things started out docile enough with the 'Hawks routing the Shockers 15-1 in the first match.
"I was surprised that game one was that easy," said coach Ray Bechard.
But then the fur started to fly.
May scored nine of her 13 kills in the second match, going on a 4-1 run. She tied things up 12-12 before Myatt had back-to-back kills, giving Kansas the advantage. The Shockers never recovered, and the Javahays cinched the game, 15-12.
By the third game, Shocker middle blocker Amy Smith seemed to go up after every set, pumping her fist in sort of a play fake — something Kansas middle blockers Danielle Geronymo and Kylie Thomas rarely do.
However, Wichita's style began to fall apart in the middle of the second game — but to their advantage. Becoming more erratic and unpredictable going into the third game, the Shockers looked like a blitzing defense, which proved to be a bit confusing for the more clean-cut javahawks.
"Their middle blockers are a lot more active than ours," Bell said. "We don't fake much."
The 'Hawks chose to block rather than to
fake as their attack plan for the final contest. The team added four blocks in the final contest, pulling away from a 9-14 deficit and winning it 16-14 on a Bell game. Bell ended up having a marquee game going 15 for 18 in kills, earning her an 83 percent success rate.
Freshman Sarah Rome had a big night with nine kills, finishing third behind Bell, and Myatt and turned in nine digs, placing her first in that category.
"We look at the kills percentage like a batting average: Anything over .300 is good," Bechard said. "And coming back 9-14 — that's big."
"Rome came in and took some hard swings at the end of the third game when Wichita was taking hard swings, too." Bechard said. "She did well for us."
Bechard said he hoped his team, now 40, could keep up the on-the-court killing spree at this weekend's Jayhawk Classic.
"It's a lot more fun going into the weekend with a win." Bechard said, "Hopefully, we can bring it out and win."
— Edited by Warisa Chulindra
Seniors Danielle Geronymy and Amy myatt块 a shot from Witchia State's Tara Vandenberg. The Jayhawks won 3-0. Photo by Aaron Lindbergh/KANSAN
KU water skier excels in sport
Michael Sudhalter
sports @kanson.com
Kanson sportswriter
The events of jump, slalom and trick may not fit into a traditional sport, but that hasn't stopped one Kansas student from excelling in the event that he loves.
All-American water skier Johnny Lohrmann, Elkhorn, Wis., senior, began competing at age 12. He is entering his fourth year with the 20-member Kansas club squad after learning about the sport at a young age from his family.
"My family has influenced me in the sport," Lohmann said. "I began water skiing in the Lauderdale Lakes area of Wisconsin."
Lohrmann, who has competed in basketball and baseball, said water skiing was both a team and individual sport.
"The jump event gives points for distance, while slalom is made up of a course," Lohmann said. "The trick event gives points to how many stunts can be completed in 20 seconds."
The team compiles points based on the three separate events: jump, slalom and trick. Five members of the team compete in each event.
Lohrmann specializes in the trick event and said he had high expectations for the coming season.
He said he would like to see the team make an appearance at the national competition in Louisiana this year.
Kansas, which is in the Midwest Conference with Illinois, Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas State and Michigan, needs to place first or second in the conference to qualify for nationals. Last season, the team placed seventh.
While Lohrmann never has been to the national contest during his three years at Kansas, he has made the All-Star individual squad for three years.
"The first year that I was invited to All-Stars, I was really surprised." Lohrmann said. "After that, I worked really hard to make it again."
While the individual accolades are meaningful to Lohrmann, other experienced water skiers respect his overall leadership skills.
"Johnny cares about this team," said Tony Sebben, Manitou Springs, Colo. senior. "He takes the time to teach others."
As team captain, Lohrmann said he felt obligated to help the younger skiers improve. In return, new members said they respected Lohrmann's guidance.
"This is my first year on the team." said Kelly Weiss, Gardner sophomore. "Johnny has been very helpful to everyone."
While this is his senior year, the coming season will not be his farewell tour. As an architecture student, Lohmann plans on studying at Kansas and competing on the team for two more years.
--- Edited by Clay McCuistion
ABOVE: Johnny Lohrmann, Elkhorn, Wis., senior, completes a flip on his ski board. Lohrmann is one of a few in the area who can successfully complete the stunt.
LEFT: Elkhorn practices his slalom skiing at the Mo-Kan ski lake, just east of Lawrence on K-10.
Lohrmann competes in the three main divisions of water skiing: jump, slalom and trick. Photos by Brad Dreier/KANSAN
Sports Columnist
Seth Jones
sports@kansan.com
Parting coaches leave players, loyalists behind
Coach Williams, please don't go!
Ahem. Sorry. Just wanted to say it one last time. Heb-heb.
But speaking of Roy Williams, can I direct everyone to the nearest magazine stand? Take a look at the Sept. 4 issue of Sports Illustrated — the one with Ryan Leaf on the cover. There's a very interesting story on page 50 titled "Domino Effect." The insightful article by Tim Crothers and Grant Wahl tells about the effect that Bill Guthridge leaving North Carolina has had on the college basketball community.
The article says that since June 30, 21 coaches have changed addresses as a direct effect of Guthridge's departure. It also has a little info about the coach who didn't change addresses our own Coach Williams.
our own Coach Wilkins.
The article also takes time to talk to Notre Dame forward Ryan Humphrey. A former Oklahoma player, Humphrey went to Notre Dame to play for former Kansas assistant Matt Dougherty. Now that Dougherty has gone, Humphrey is looking at the third coach of his collegiate career.
Humphrey said he was OK with Dougherty's decision, but what I want to hear is Troy Murphy's reaction.
Murphy dominated for the Irish and could have gone to the NBA last season. I'm sure that sometime after the season ended, Dougherty sat down and talked to Murphy about loyalty. Murphy stayed, and then a couple weeks later his coach bailed on him. Murphy should be upset that Dougherty talked into sticking around South Bend, Ind., after Dougherty bolted for North Carolina.
Hey, Carl Nesmith, you've got us all hyped up for the "Millennium Butcher Dance," but you get in trouble and make like a Luke Axtell country CD and get pulled. We don't have another game until the 16th. Butch, so you have to stay out of trouble until then, okay? If I wear a blood-splattered Butcher's apron and you're not even playing, I'm gonna send you my dry-cleaning bill.
Have you ever eaten, say, peanut butter crackers for lunch, and then looked at the package to see what's in it? I mean, what the hell did I just put in my body? Riboflavin? Can that kill me?
■ I'm sick of WWF Raw is War getting bumped back two hours these past weeks by U.S. Open Tennis. Don't get me wrong — I love to watch tennis — but until Pete Sampras body slams a chair armure through a table for a bad call, the Williams sisters can use their rackets as weapons during hardcore matches and Anna Kournikova enters the court to rock music and pyrotechnics while wearing a skimpy push-up bra, I want Monday nights reserved for The Rock and Triple H. So, tennis players, shut your mouths and know your roles.
Because I've already directed you to the magazine stand, while you're there, why not pick up an issue of Wizard No. 109 as well? You won't find any stories about Roy Williams, but you will find several articles by me, including a brief story about Shaquille O'Neal's obsession with Superman. Yeah, it's a comic book magazine. After reading the stories, feel free to write the editor and tell them you'd like to see more stories by me in their pages. Come on, it'll be fun!
Am I shameless? Yep. Deal with it
Jones is a Mulvane senior in journalism.
Chenowith works hard preparing to play big-man basketball
By Michael Rigg
sports@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
By Michael Rigg sports@kansan.com
Eric Chenowith wants his senior season to be about punctuation more than anything.
Specifically, he wants to end his Kansas career with an exclamation point instead of a question mark, and his summer workouts already have him thinking big for the upcoming season.
"You can't put a question mark next to my name anymore, considering how hard I've worked this summer and considering that every opportunity I've had I've taken advantage of," said the 7-foot 1 center.
This is directly opposite from last summer, when Kansas coach Roy Williams berated Chenowith for his lack of work. This summer break, Chenowith's life was
packed full of basketball.
Soon after that, he returned to Lawrence for Williams' summer basketball camp, then back to California for some devastating news. Just days after Williams announced he would stay at Kansas, Chenowith learned that his mother, Janey Chenowith, had been diagnosed with breast cancer.
In the spring, Chenowith flew home to Villa Park, Calif., to work out with high school coach Kevin Reynolds and former NBA player Bob Thornton.
Chenwish said the diagnosis put basketball in perspective for him.
"I would much rather have the pain inflicted on me instead of her," Chenwhot said, "because I've been through a lot of things in my life. I've been through a lot of adversity."
While the news of his mother's cancer was
shocking to Chenowith, he said he tried hard to focus on basketball. The NBA's Portland Trailblazers held summer workouts near Chenowith's home, so he was able to scrimmage with the Trailblazers and work out daily with Portland assistant Tim Gurgrich.
Then, Chenowith was off to Las Vegas to work out with NBA scouts and to Hawaii to attend the highly regarded Pete Newell Big Man Camp. Between the trips, Chenowith returned to California to help his mother through her chemotherapy and her August mastectomy.
Fortunately, Chenowith's mother appears to be on the road to recovery. He said that the cancer didn't spread beyond her breast and that she would be able to travel in February to see his games.
As for basketball, Chenowith said this
"It was all just confidence," Chenowith said about last season's troubles. "When you do all this stuff [over the summer], you come out with the mentality that you can do whatever you want on the court." Now, Chenowith's
summer helped his mentality.
"The sky's the limit," he said. "If I come out
Chenowith said the scouts liked a his
he said. "If I come out and have a good year and work hard, I could be a lottery pick. That's just care. There's still a lot of stuff I can do to take care of that."
"People always say Eric Chenowith and potential," Chenowith said. "Seven-one guys are hard to find, and coming from a great program like Kansas helps. One thing souts do like is that I have a good shooting touch. What they want me to do is really take it strong to the basket and not settle for the fade-away jump shot."
potential.
The NBA camps and Chenowith adding 15 pounds of muscle and bumping his bench press up to 285 pounds means that Williams is pleased with Chenowith's summer progress.
“Eric looks good,” Williams said. “He’s light years from last year. From everything I’ve heard, his body looks good, and his attention and effort has been great.”
— Edited by Amy Randolph
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