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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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Commentary
MONDAY,OCTOBER 1,2001
Doug
Pacey
Columnist
sportskansan.com
Enrollment may depend on the football team
A girl, who looked to be 10 or 11 years old, said an interesting thing to her mom in the Dillon's produce section Friday.
"Mom," she said, "I don't want to go to KU because they always lose their homecoming game."
Her comment intrigued me. After sorting through some oranges while eavesdropping, I learned the girl's brother played football for Lawrence High School. Last Friday was the school's homecoming.
What the little girl didn't know is that Kansas has actually won its last four homecoming games (that streak will probably end when the Jayhawks play Oklahoma this year), but I think she has a good point: Does a bad football program affect the University's ability to attract students?
I think it does, and my conclusions might be a reach — but the numbers agree with me.
KU admissions might say the decrease is a product of new state admissions standards, which mandate that incoming instate freshmen must have an ACT score of 21, graduate in the top-third of their class or have C averages in college-level curriculum (out-of-state standards are a little stiffer). Previously, an in-state student had one requirement: graduate from an accredited Kansas high school.
Kansas State has recorded new enrollment highs the last three years, including a 358-student increase at its Manhattan campus this year. Kansas was the only Board of Regents institution to not show a gain in enrollment this year. It showed a loss of 138 students.
LAURIE SISK/KANSAN
If those new guidelines are the reason Kansas' enrollment dropped, what kind of students was the University attracting?
The only new difference between the K-State and Kansas is K-State's football team. Kansas has long had bad football and good basketball. The Wildcats have had bad basketball and, only recently, a top-tier football team.
Driving on Interstate 70, it's pretty obvious which school is more popular. You know the "amber waves of grain" in the song America the Beautiful? West of Lawrence, there might as well be purple waves of grain.
Bill Snyder's football program is K-State's best selling point. It's not hard to sell K-State to high school students. If a student isn't pursuing a major that only one of the two schools offers, attending either is an option. And why not go to K-State?
College football has a way of uniting a campus and creating a buzz that basketball can't. The simple difference is the number of people who can go to the games. An entire student body can fit in K-State's stadium. Only 8,000 KU students can sit in the student section at Allen Fieldhouse.
Students go to college for more than an education. They want to have fun. They want to be proud to tell people where they go to school. As much as presidents and chancellors across the country might hate it, college athletics are a big influence on attracting students.
Even little girls know that
- Pacey is an Issaquah, Wash., senior in journalism
Team spikes a return
By Steve Laurenzo
Kansan sportswriter
Improved hitting efficiency propelled the Kansas volleyball team to a 3-1 win against Colorado on Saturday, snapping the Jayhawks' two-game losing streak.
Sarah Rome, sophomore outside hitter stretches to hit the ball past Colorado defenders. Rome had 16 kills in the match.
Kansas (11-2, 2-2) defeated the Buffaloes (6-4,
2-2) in four games, taking the first two 30-24 and 30-27,
dropping the third 30-21 and coming back from six points behind to capture game four 30-26. Kansas improved its home record to 6-0.
In the team's last two games against Oklahoma and Texas, the Jayhawks hurt themselves with service and hitting errors.
Kansas' hitting efficiency hit a season-low 9.6 percent against Oklahoma, and was just 12.2 percent against Texas. On Saturday, the 'Hawks hitting efficiency jumped to 26.2 percent.
Coach Ray Bechard said last week that Colorado would be the best team Kansas has had to face.
After the game, Bechard said his team might have played their best match so far this season to beat the Buffs.
the way we came back from last week's performance to win tonight's match," Bechard said. "We really grew up tonight, and I am very proud of the way this team played in all facets of the game. It's a big win for us."
"I am extremely proud of"
Two regular contributors, sophomore outside hitter Sarah Rome and junior right side player Molly Scavuzzo, paced the Jayhawks with 16 kills each.
However, it was sophomore outside hitter Abbie Jacobson's career-high 15 kills, eight in the first game alone, that launched the Jayhawks' attack.
Senior setter Molly LaMere chipped in with 48 assists, nine kills and a season-high five block assists.
Kansas forward Monica Brothers battles for control of the ball with a Sooner defender. Kansas defeated Oklahoma 2-0 Friday at SuperTarget Field.
Freshman outside hitter Jill Dorsey added seven digs and a service ace for the Jayhawks.
"It was fun, a big win," Dorsey said. "We came in here and just fought, and it was awesome. It's a big confidence builder."
games in Lawrence and sweeping the Jayhawks in Columbia Mo
The Jahawks will play Missouri (10-2, 2-2) at 7 tonight at the Horejsi Family Athletics Center in a rescheduled contest that originally was to be held on
Sept. 12. Missouri leads the series with Kansas 32-31. Last season, Missouri won both of the border-war matches, winning in four
Contact Laurenzo at 864-4810
Oklahoma schools fall to 'Hawks
By Ryan Wood
Kansan sportswriter
The Jayhawks opened their conference schedule this weekend with two hard-fought victories against Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.
The Kansas soccer team is heating up and not a moment too soon.
The wins gave the Jayhawks a 6-2 record overall and an unblemished 2-0 record in conference play.
LAURIE SISK/KANSAN
Kansas, ranked 10th in the central region, opened the weekend with a 2-0 victory against Oklahoma on Friday at SuperTarget Field.
"I was very happy," coach Mark Francis said. "I thought we played very well, coming off a weekend in Florida when we really didn't play well at all."
The Jayhawk defense shut down the Oklahoma attack. As a team, the Sooners managed only five shots, with freshman goalkeeper Meghan Miller saving two of them.
"The defense played awesome today," junior defender and co-captain Brianna Valento said. "It was like everything we've been working on just clicked."
In the 87th minute, junior midfielder Brooke Jones sealed the victory by scoring on a powerful kick from 20 yards out.
Freshman forward Monica Brothers became the first player in Kansas history to score three goals in one game
Records fell yesterday as Kansas beat Oklahoma State, 5-3.
Senior forward Hilla Rantala tallied a record four assists, breaking the mark of three set earlier in the season by senior midfielder Melanie
Kansas tops Oklahoma State 5-3
Schroeder. Rantala's four points gave her 20 points for the season and 37 points for her career to become both the single-season and all-time scoring leader.
Oklahoma State tied the game in the 19th minute on a penalty kick, but freshman forward Rachel Gilliflan put Kansas in front on an unassisted goal at 33:31
Kansas returns to action Friday when they take on Iowa State in Ames, Iowa.
The Jayhawks never lost the lead after that.
Contact Wood at 864-4858
Women place fifth in meet; sophomore leads team
By Matt Norton Kansan sportswriter
The Kansas cross country team continued to show improvement Saturday at the Oklahoma State Cowboy Jamboree in Stillwater, Okla.
The women, led by sophomore Laura Lavioie's 19th-place finish, placed fifth in the 14-team field with 157 points. Georgetown won the meet with 35 points.
meet with 59 points.
Lavioie clocked 18:28 in the 5-kilometer race and was closely followed by junior Katy Eisenmenger, who came in at 25th with a time of 18:38. Freshman Diane Disher finished 31st with a time of 18:47, freshman Megan Manthe finished 38th with 19:03 and senior Courtney Deutsch rounded out the scoring with a 44th place finish, clocking in at 19:10.
Lavioe improved by 34 seconds from her performance in the meet last year. She said she was sick last year and wasn't surprised she fared better this season.
"Katy and I ran for the first mile and half together, encouraging each other, and that made it easier," Lavoie said.
Head coach Stan Redwine said because of illness earlier in the week, he wasn't sure if Disher would run. He said her performance in her first college meet was impressive.
"She definitely made a big contribution to the team," Redwine said.
Lavoe said she was impressed with Disher's race. She said that when the freshman had more race experience, she would be a force for the Jayhawks.
The Jayhawks defeated Big 12 Conference rivals Texas Tech and Oklahoma, as well as Pittsburg State, a team that defeated the Jayhawks last month at the Bob Timmons Invitational. Kansas finished one place behind Kansas State, which finished 10th at the NCAA championships last year.
last year.
On the men's side, the Jayhawks finished sixth out of 17 teams with 190 points. Arkansas took the men's title with 47 points.
Senior Brian Blachly led the Jayhawks in the eight-kilometer race with a time of 25:20 for 26th place. Freshman Chris Jones finished 27th with the same time as Blachly. Senior Brent Behrens, who won the Bob Timmons Invitational, three weeks ago, finished 31st with 25:27. Senior Pete Prince also scored by running a 25:36, which was good enough for 38th and freshman Luke Belford came in at 26:31 for 68th place, rounding out the scorers for the Jayhawks.
Redwine said there was too much of a gap between the fourth and fifth runners, but the fifth man, Belford, ran a good race for the Jayhawks.
"You start to think about that a little bit," Blachly said. "Oklahoma State was ahead of us and we're looking at being ahead of them."
Kansas finished ahead of Big 12 foes K-State, Oklahoma and Texas Tech but was unable to achieve its goal of topping Oklahoma State. Blachly said being ranked ahead of Oklahoma State was a goal for the team.
Contact Norton at 864-4858
NFL
Chiefs 45
NFL
Redskins 13
Rams 42
Dolphins 10
NFL
Ravens 20
Broncos 13
MLB
White Sox 5
Royals 2
MLB
Cardinals 7
7
Pirates 3