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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2014
PAGE 9
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"He knows fundamentally there are always things he can fix. Who can say 100 tackles doesn't turn into 115 if you do those little things better? He wants to be the best he can be for our team and for himself."
— Clint Bowen
— espn.com
FACT OF THE DAY
kuathletics.com
TRIVIA OF THE DAY
Q: How many tackles has Ben Heeney averaged per game this season?
A. 12
Ben Heeney making mark on season
kuathletics.com
THE MORNING BREW
Ben Heeney arrived in Lawrence in 2011 as a young,6-foot, 195-pound freshman from
195-pound freshman from Hutchinson. As the No. 12 recruit from the state of Kansas, Heeney left the home of the Salthawks for the land of the Jayhawks having only been offered to play at one other school Colorado State University.
In high school, Heeney stood out on both offense and defense. In addition to his 143 tackles and four interceptions on defense, Heeney rushed for more than 2,000 yards and 39 touchdowns on his way to earning all-state honors as a running back. He transitioned from a standout player in high school to a mostly irrelevant freshman in college former coach Turner Gill. In his first year with the Jayhawks, Heeney played in all 12 regular season games but finished with
only eight tackles.
But after that first year, something clicked. Heeney followed up his eight-tackle season with 112 tackles, 11.5 for losses and a sack in 2012 on his way to being named to the All-Big 12 Second Team.
His standout season as a sophomore resulted in Heeney being named to multiple award watch lists in 2013. During his third season at Kansas, Heeney accumulated 87 tackles, again
11. 5 for losses, two sacks and three interceptions as once again he was named to the All-Big 12 Second Team.
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Now Heeney is in the midst of his final year at Kansas and has been tackling his way toward what could be his best season yet.
Throughout the team's
first seven games, Heeney has collected 84 tackles, only three shy of his total tackle count in 2013. That number puts him on pace for 144 tackles this season. On Saturday against Texas Tech, Heeney recorded a career-best 21 tackles, including 10 tackles in the first quarter alone. He capped off his record day with a 37-yard interception return that set up a Jayhawks' touchdown before the end of the first half.
The cornerstone of the Kansas defense, Ben Heeney should continue to amaze during the Jayhawks' final five games of the season. Heeney is already being projected by most experts to be a fourth round draft pick in the incoming NFL draft. accord.
upcoming NFL draft, according to CBS Sports. His selection would make him only the second linebacker and one of only four other defensive Jayhawks currently in the NFL. Enjoy him while you can, Kansas fans, the diabolical defender won't be around much longer.
This week in athletics
Edited by Drew Parks
Monday No Events
Tuesday
No Events
Wednesday
Women's Volleyball
Iowa State
6 p.m.
Ames, Iowa
Thursday
No Events
Friday
Women's Soccer Iowa State 7 p.m. Lawrence
Saturday
Women's Swimming Denver/Missouri State 5 p.m. Lawrence
Men's Golf
Price's "Give 'Em Five"
Invitational
All Day
El Paso, Texas
Sunday
Women's Golf Palmetto Intercollegiate All Day Kiawah Island, S.C.
Doubles duo heads to ITA Regional semifinals
SKYLAR ROLSTAD
@SkyRolSports
The Jayhawk tennis team has impressed at its second-to-last tournament of the fall season, the ITA Regional Tournament Central Division in Stillwater, Okla.
After defeating a Wichita State duo yesterday, 8-3, senior Maria Belen Ludueña and junior Maria Cardona have advanced to the semifinals of the main doubles draw that will take place today at 10 a.m. With a win, the pair will play in the final later today. Ludueña and Cardona will face Oklahoma State's No. 6-seeded team of Katarina Adamovic and Vladika Babic in the semifinal round.
"I feel like this tournament has been our best this fall," coach Todd Chapman said. "We were able to play a lot of quality matches and our doubles play has come a long way since the start of the year."
Kansas sent 10 players to the regionals. Luduea and Cardona were the only players placed straight into the main singles draw, while the rest had to play through two rounds of qualifying.
Freshmen Madison Harrison, Smith Hinton and Summer Collins each won both of their qualifying matches in the singles draw. Sophomore Jasmine Almaguer and freshman Rachel McNeely both lost in qualifying matches but recorded wins in the consolation bracket. Collins returned from illness to play in her first competition of the year.
"I feel like this tournament has been our best this fall."
TODD CHAPMAN
Tennis coach
Hinton improved her singles record to 6-3 this weekend, while Ludueña advanced to the quarterfinal in the singles draw before losing to Adamovic. Luduená's singles record is currently 6-4. She and Hinton lead the team in singles play.
Chapman was pleased at his
team's performance in doubles matches, which he pointed out as something his team needed to work on earlier in the fall.
"When you have as many young players as we have, a lot of them haven't been taught very many doubles techniques and strategies." he said. "So, we have really worked on basics and situational strategies."
Hinton and Harrison advanced to the round of 16 in the main doubles draw. Neither Kansas doubles pair was seeded in the top eight.
Ludueña was knocked out early in her last tournament. She spoke on Friday about the benefit of playing matches in practice before this weekend's
"I was really close to making the semifinal last year [at Regionals]," she said. "So now, I just want to focus on the process and my tennis. If I bring all these things together I'm sure I can do great things."
tournament.
This is the longest tournament of the year so far for the Jayhawks, spanning over four days.
Kansas will send four players to its next tournament, the Houston Invitational, hosted by the University of Houston. The team will then be finished with the fall half of the season and begin playing its main spring season in January.
Edited by Alex Lamb
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