Section:
B
Today in sports history Aug. 28, 1997:Football coach Terry Allen began his Kansas coaching career with a 24-0 victory against Alabama-Birmingham.
Sports
The University Daily Kansan
Inside: Two Missouri football players suspended. For that story and other Big 12 football news,
SEE PAGE 3B
Inside: Kansas softball coach Tracy Bunge hired new assistant coach Aaron Clopton. For full story,
SEE PAGE 4B
For comments, contact Melinda Weaver or Jason Walker at 864-4858 or e-mail sports@kansan.com WWW.KANSAN.COM/SPORTS
Jayhawks 'get ready' for new season
Laura Winsinger, Lenexa sophomore, is one of many Crimson Girls helping out at the Get Ready Rally Saturday at Memorial Stadium. Photo by Brad Dreier/KANSAN
Thousands attend annual rally, get look at new field
vy Jason Franchuk
Kansan sports writer
writers@kansan.com
There were plenty of ways Kansas fans could imitate the football players Saturday.
could immerte the football players Saturday. At the annual Get Ready Rally to celebrate the beginning of the Jayhawks' season, there were games that tested athletic skills. The bungee-cord pull tested agility, "Dart Man" and the dunking booth tested accuracy. The golfing range, to estimate how far one could hit a golf ball, tested strength.
Cheerleaders helped children dress up in shoulder pads and helmets for pictures. A small, Jayhawk decal on the cheek was as close as kids got to having a tattoo like some of the players.
But if fans wanted to see what it felt like to be in the Big 12 Conference, they headed toward the closed end of the horseshoe Memorial Stadium. That's where kids played "king of the mountain" on a gray tower shaped like the Pentagon building in Washington, D.C.
And king of the mountain is exactly what Kansas wants to be this year.
"it's cool to have a lot of fans out here,' senior wide receiver Termaine Fulton said. "We definitely appreciate the support."
Fulton, from Topeka, was one of the more popular Jayhawks. But fans attended the rally for plenty of other reasons. Students also could pick up their football and men's basketball tickets. The football field was swarmed by freshmen, who found the rally a good place to meet new people. Kansas officials estimated the rally to be bigger than last year's crowd of 6,000.
"What a great night, what a great turnout," Bob Frederick, athletics director, said to begin the pep rally that occurred halfway through the evening.
Freshman Melissa Lindsley went to the rally with some friends from Ewellsworth
More information
Additional photos from the Get Ready Rally.
See page 3A
Hall. Although a jayhawk fan before she enrolled at Kansas, Lindsay was caught off- guard by one new renovation to the stadium; the new field.
"I went to a few games here last year," she said. "But I didn't even know about this."
The new AstroPlay field, which bears more resemblance to grass than the typical artificial carpet, had little kids catching passes and diving on the field to test it out.
New college students stood in a long line to retrieve their football and basketball tickets. This year, students who forgot to purchase them could stand in another line to do that. Last year, students had to wait until the Monday after the rally to buy the sports package, but Rick Mullen, director of promotions, figured more students could be attracted to the rally if they were able to buy them then.
See STUDENTS on page 3B
Alumnae get swept but enjoy reunion
By Sarah Warren
By Sarah Warren
sports@kansan.com
Kansas Sportswriter
Freshman Sarah Rome had her first taste of collegiate volleyball action Saturday night with some people who know how the game is played.
Rome, an outside hitter, manned the left side in the first two matches for the Jayhawks as they took on former team members in the annual Alumnae vs. Varsity match.
After a close first game, the 'Hawks dominated, sweeping all four games, 17-15, 15-6, 15-6 and 15-5 against the alumnae team, which included May 2000 graduates Mary Beth Albrecht and Anne Kreimer.
"It was good to get into the gym and play against somebody besides ourselves," Rome said.
For the Jayhawks, senior outside hitters Nancy Bell and Amy Myatt led the team with 12 and 11 kills respectively, while Rome added nine. Junior setter Molly LaMere also contributed offensively with 37 assists.
"We're playing against a team that is a bit unorthodox because they haven't played in a while, and so you see things you don't normally see," Bechard said. "It gives us a chance to tune up for Friday's matches and see what things we still need to improve on."
Coach Ray Bechard agreed, saying that the alumnae team provided a nice practice match to keep his players on their toes for their first season match this weekend at the Purdue Mortar Board Classic in West Lafayette, Ind.
One of the needed improvements that Bechard cited was the total number of digs recorded by his team.
"I don't think that 46 digs is enough for a four-game match," Bechard said.
This season he wants his team to average more digs and become more defensive.
"We're playing against a team that is a bit unorthodox because they haven't played in a while, and so you see things you don't normally see."
KU Volleyball Coach
However, the technical side of the alumnae match was a side note for Bechard.
"tonight was a great way to honor some of our former players and coaches," he said. "It was very enjoyable for our kids to play against such quality people."
Enjoyable was also the key word for the alumnae, many of whom hadn't set a competitive foot on the court for some time.
same time.
"You have a lot of fun," said Leslie Berens, a 1999 graduate and former outside hitter. "But it's serious because you haven't been competitive for a while."
berens, now a volleyball coach at Blue Valley Northwest High School, said the annual alumnae match was a wonderful way to get the current 'Hawks ready for the season as well as a platform for a team reunion.
"It's a good scrimmage forum," she said. "It is good for them to see another team before the season starts. And seeing all the old players is cool too. I mean, I saw girls tonight that I haven't seen in four or five years."
In that spirit, the alumnae grinned their way through the four tests, laughing off mistakes as well as pain from lack of knee pads.
"Yeah, I need about 20 ice packs right now." Berens said. "I'm definitely going to be sore tomorrow."
—Edited by Erin McDaniel
Sara Rome, freshman outside hitter, blasts a shot over the net in an exhibition match between the Jayhawks and Kansas volleyball alumnae. The 'Hawks won all four games. Photo by Aaron Lindberg/KANSAN
Soccer team splits first two road games in Illinois
'Hawks start with a win against Northwestern; get shutout by Illinois 4-0
sports@kansan.com
Kansan staff report
The first road trip of the Kansas women's soccer team this season began high and ended low.
The Jayhawks kicked off the 2000 season strongly last Friday, beating Northwestern 3-0 in Evanston, Ill., but suffered a 4-0 loss to Illinois Sunday in Champaign, Ill.
"We played very well in the first half and created a lot of chances," coach Mark Francis said after Friday's game against Northwestern. "Our finishing was good compared to the number of shots we took, and the chances we didn't put away didn't"
Junior forward
Natalie Hoegveld scored the first goal off an assist by senior forward Hilla Rantala in the 27th minute, and senior midfielder Meghann Haven put the Jayhawks two goals ahead just before half time.
miss the target by much."
Northwestern came out the second half
Haogveld: scored the first goal of the season Friday.
with increased intensity, but Haven's second goal of the game in the 77th minute gave the Wildcats a finishing blow.
"We came out a little lax in the second half." Francis said. "We picked it up in the last 25 minutes and dominated the game again as we did in the first half. We gave
up only one clear scoring chance and did very well defensively."
Sophomore goalkeeper Layla Young, the current backup goalie for the full English national team, made her first collegiate shutout.
But yesterday's game against Illinois was a whole different story for the Jayhawks.
"We did not play very well at all today," Francis said. "They are a pretty good team, but we made them look a lot better than they are today."
Illinois took 22 shots throughout the game and scored two goals in each half, while Kansas made only nine goal attempts. Hoogveld led the 'Hawks with three shots.
"We never could get anything going today," Francis said. "It's hard to imagine that this was the same Kansas team that
"It's hard to imagine that this was the same Kansas team that was on the field Friday against
KU women's soccer coach
was on the field Friday against Northwestern."
The Jayhawks came close to scoring in the 82nd minute with sophomore midfielder Lindsay Hunting's shot, but an Illinois defender cleared the shot off of the goal line.
Sports Columnist
Kansas' next game will be Friday against St. Louis at Hermann Stadium in St. Louis.
- Edited by J. R. Mendoza
Seth Jones
sports@kansan.com
Freshmen: live college to the fullest
Are you serious? Monday classes? Already? Can someone tell me what happened to the summer?
So freshmen, now that I've confessed that you're all little 18-year-old heroes to me, I want to pass along some wisdom. Humor me, I just complimented you.
Here we go again. Freshmen scurry to classes, searching for unfamiliar buildings. They're such an inspiration to me. They aren't burnt out; they're excited. I need to be more like them.
The University of Kansas will be whatever you make of it. If your only desire is to play computer games, KU will become a thousand dollar experience of you sitting in your cramped room, setting new records for yourself on Madden 2000.
"Hey, I rushed for 352 yards yesterday! Wonder how I can do tonight ..."
But I don't think you want to be the leading rusher of your bedroom football league. And flag football season is right around the corner.
As far as sports go, the potential to be crazy here knows no bounds. Come March Madness, why not throw a blanket, a big bag of Cool Ranch Doritos and all your Pearl Jam Dins in your car, find a buddy, and drive wherever the Jayhawks are playing their first and second round games?
I decided as a freshman in college that every semester here I would try a new adventure, something I'd never done before. Nothing harmful, mind you. But the time I went to Mexico City to watch 14 soccer games in ten days I did think that I was going to die from Montezuma's Revenge.
Why not try a sport you've never played before? Fencing comes to mind. I've always wanted to try it, but I've never done it. But if I wanted to, I could get one of those masks and go down to Robinson and become a fencer, or whatever it is they call people who fence.
This brings up my water polo story. Forgive me if you've heard it before.
My first new adventure as a freshman here at KU was a two-week tour of the KU water polo club team. Back at my high school, all they offered for sports were the basics. No tennis or soccer teams were available at Mulvane High. So I came to KU and thought that maybe water polo was a sport I could excel at.
It was the hardest sport I'd ever played. It was such a hard work out that one night, while sleeping in my bunk bed at Oliver Hall, a body cramp hit me. They're more common now that athletes are using Creatine. Your body is so dehydrated and your muscles are so strained that your body just suddenly curls up like a ball and all you can do is shout expletives. At least, that's what happened to me. They hurt and are rather embarrassing if they strike when you're in a public place.
After the body cramp, and after we started scrimmaging in practice, I decided it was time to quit. Sadly, I never got to scrimmage. When that time came up, I left for the shallow side of the pool and worked with my own coach. He worked with me, trying to teach me the proper way to swim.
If I would have wanted to stay with it, the guys would have been more that happy to help me. But I was out of my league.
Still, at least I tried it.
G crazy while you're here. Get your degree. But get the experience of college as well.
Jona is a Mulvane senior in journalism
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