Section B·Page 10
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The University Daily Kansan
Monday, August 21, 2000
Melanie Schroeder, left, junior forward, zeroes in on the ball in the women's soccer exhibition against Baker University. Schroeder had one goal during the game. Photo by Aaron Lindberg/KANSAN
Soccer team has greater expectations
By Yoshitaka Ebisawa sports@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
The Kansas women's soccer team has two season goals it would like to score - making the Big 12 Conference tournament and finishing the 2000 season with a winning record.
And the goals do not seem unrealistic for this year's team.
The Jayhawks enjoyed the most successful season in the program's history last year with a record of 8-10-1 and a ninth-place finish in the Big 12. But they missed the Big 12 tournament, for which the top eight teams in the conference qualified.
In this year's team, however, coach Mark Francis sees positive changes that may allow it to achieve both goals.
The most notable improvement is the presence of talented newcomers, including three players recruited from abroad who also play with national teams.
"For us to be competitive, I have to get the best players," said Francis, who is from London. "And if I can't get the best players from America, then I need to find them somewhere else."
Maggie Mason, freshman midfielder from Elmira, Canada, was called in for the Canadian national team Thursday and trained with the team for three days. Layla Young, sophomore goalkeeper from Crawley, England, played for the English National Team Tuesday in Paris. And Jennifer Ray, freshman midfielder from Hillington, England, played with England's under-18 national team last week.
"Obviously you want your players
to be exposed to the highest level they can play," said Francis, who led South Alabama to a 31-8-1 record in two seasons before coming to Kansas last year. "It's going to make them better players. Then they're going to bring that back to our team and raise the level of our team also."
The talented new players' presence affects the returning players.
"We have so much more competition for the positions on the team." Francis said. "The players returning from last year, a lot of them have really improved, really pushing a lot more this year than they did last year. We have a lot of good players. We have very good depth in every position."
Senior midfielder Colleen Colvin said the team had improved from last year.
"We have a very good team this year," she said. "I definitely think
we're going to the tournament."
Senior forward Hhia Raftaal,
from Vantaa, Finland, transferred
from South Alabama with Francis
last year. She broke Kansas' single-season scoring record with 16 points, even though she was injured in the first game and missed the next five games.
"I think I've improved," she said.
"I feel like I'm in better shape, not hurting like last year."
Because of those improvements, the Big 12 soccer coaches' preseason poll ranks Kansas No. 6 in the conference. Last year, Kansas was near the bottom of the rankings.
"It's nice to know that they think we're going to be that much better." Francis said. "But because of that, I don't think we're going to surprise anybody."
Edited by Nathan Willis
Rowers confident despite departures
By Shawn Linenberger sports@kansan.com
Kansas sportwriter
This year's Kansas women's rowing team finds itself in what many coaches would call a rebuilding process.
The Jayhawks finished last spring with a No. 20 national ranking — the program's highest in its five-year existence.
But Kansas' first varsity eight boat had eight seniors in its nine-member boat.
Gone are Risa Petty, Tara Lynn, Abby Rosdahl, Sarah Canfield, Laura Hubert, Keesha Cravens, Lettie Ebbs and coxswain Nikia Rosenberger, the team's equivalent of a quarterback the last three years. All seniors were walk-on.
The first varsity boat finished 0.4 seconds behind Iowa
in the Central Regional semifinals in May, just missing the grand finals. Michigan won the other semifinal with the same time as the Jayhawks, and Texas, a team the Jayhawks handled earlier in the season, took second in Michigan's semifinal to advance to the grand finals.
Michigan took fifth place in the
COMING RACES
"We graduated an abundance of seniors,but we have a good development system to fill in spots. We should be as good this year if not a little better."
NCAA Rowing Championships two weeks later.
COMING RACES
Oct. 7 — Head of the Ohio, Pittsburgh, Penn.
Oct. 21-22 — Head of the Charles, Boston, Mass.
Oct. 29 — Head of the Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa
Nov. 4 — Sunflower Showdown Regatta vs. Kansas State at Clinton Lake
Rob Catloth Kansas rowing coach
Gribbin said the
Along with Muir, this year's Kansas team will have six other seniors, including second-varsity eight senior coxswain Jen Page, who led the Jayhawks to the petite finals title at Central Regionals. Other seniors are Ali Brox, Julie Geiger, Shannon Gribbin, Angela Kratochvil and Tiffany Marquart.
"We graduated an abundance of seniors," Catloth said, "but we have a good development system to fill in spots. We should be as good this year if not a little better."
for Muir to be a strong leader because of her first-boat experience.
Heather Muir, an incoming senior, is the lone returner from the first-varsity boat.
Catloth also said he looked
Still, Kansas coach Rob Catloth doesn't perceive the Jayhawk rowing cupboard to be empty.
id the bittersweet end to the spring season would serve as motivation for the coming rowing year. "We kind of had broken dreams," Gribbin said. "We had big expectations and didn't want to finish on a sour note. But we can focus on the 20th ranking. It will play a part this year."
Gribbin also said she wasn't worried about in the first host.
"We need to keep up our work schedule," she said. "We aren't expecting any problems. It should be a big year."
The Jayhawks have two rowing seasons. In the fall, they compete in head races — three to four-mile regattas with numerous teams in a winding course. Sprint races in the spring are 2,000-meter races, usually head-to-head or no more than eight-lane racing.
— Edited by Shawn Hutchinson
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