Volume 126 Issue 2
Monday, August 25, 2014
kansan.com
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ATHLETICS
ZENGER'S MANTRA: KANSAS ISN'T JUST A BASKETBALL SCHOOL
Recent success shows Kansas Athletics' commitment to improving all sports
WOMEN'S GOLF Advanced to the NCAA Championship after tying for a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Central Regionals
COMMENTARY
You've probably heard a variation of it from someone at least once over the past 15 years. The only sport Kansas is good at men's basketball.
While you may have been frustrated every time you heard it, the statement had unfortunate truth to it. From 2000-2010, aside from men's basketball, every other sport underperformed and lacked consistent results. Reaching the postseason was the exception, not the rule.
But when Athletics Director Sheahon Zenger came to Kansas in 2011, he set a lofty, but obvious, goal: He
was going to shatter that reputation.
"When Dr. Zenger came on board as athletics director, one of the things he said immediately was that we want to be good in every sport," said Jim Marchiony, the associate athletics director for public affairs. "He wanted us to represent the University of Kansas the way the University should be represented."
Before the Zenger era began, the results were underwhelming. The women's soccer team won a co-regular season conference championship in 2004, and the baseball and softball teams won their respective conference tournaments in 2006. These three feats marked the only non-men's basketball conference titles in the first decade of the 21st century.
While other athletics directors may have set the same goal, Zenger took immediate steps to make the goal a reality.
Unlike previous athletics directors, Zenger followed through with his promise to improve the school's jaded facilities. This started with the creation of Rock Chalk Park, the new home to the soccer, softball, and track and field programs.
"Ive been here for a long time, I've had a lot of athletics directors and a lot of them have told me [we'd have] a new facility in two years or three years," soccer Coach Mark Francis said. "Well, this is a lot of 'two or three years' later, but I appreciate Dr. Zenger for making this a reality for our players."
The $39 million complex will provide these teams with "outstanding facilities" Marchiony said, something that will attract more athletes to these programs and ultimately lead to better results on the field.
Last season proved promising across the board. According to Marchiony, 11 sports reached the postseason
last year, something he said hasn't happened in quite some time.
"When Dr. Zenger came on board ... he said ... we want to be good in every sport."
JIM MARCHIONY Associate athletics director for public affairs
"His [Zenger's] mantra is that we're not just a basketball school, that everybody else needs to work hard and get out there and make the NCAA tournament and win games," softball Coach Megan Smith said.
Teams have heard his message loud and clear. The baseball team finished third in the Big 12—the highest the team has finished in the 18-year history of the conference—en route to making the NCAA tournament and
winning a game. The softball team also made the NCAA tournament last season for the first time since 2006.
The women's golf team advanced to the NCAA championship for the second time in school history. The men's and women's track and field teams combined had six entries at the NCAA outdoor championships.
"Every sport is working to become better," said sophomore Tayler Soucie, a volleyball player from Osawatomie. "I think it's definitely not a one-sport school anymore. That reputation is changing."
The volleyball team made back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances in 2012-13, including the program's first trip to the Sweet 16. The women's basketball team also made back-to-back Sweet 16 appearances in 2012-13. Before that, the team hadn't even made the NCAA Tournament since 2000.
Kansas may be ditching its status as a one-sport school, but it isn't an athletics powerhouse — yet. The football team still lies in the trenches of the Big 12. The women's basketball team needs to prove that those two postseason appearances weren't a fluke, especially after a down year last season. Other sports like soccer, tennis and cross-country need to prove themselves on the field.
Soucie also noted the national championship won by the women's track team in 2013, which was the University's first non-basketball national championship since 1970. The season also included the team's first indoor and outdoor conference titles in school history.
But at least now, Kansas fans have something to cheer about when it's not basketball season.
Edited by Yu Kyung Lee
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