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SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WWW.KANSAN.COM/SPORTS
10A
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2002
Beckseeking
By John Domoney
jdomoney@kansan.com
Kansan scrippswriter
Short, short and wide left. That's not what any place kicker wants to hear as a description of his field goal attempts.
That's exactly how Saturday night went for Kansas sophomore kicker Johnny Beck. Beck failed to make any of his field goal attempts as he missed from 53, 52 and 32 yards in the Jayhawks' 43-33 win over Tulsa.
Although the 53-yard miss was into the wind on Kansas' first possession, the 52- and 52-yard misses came in the fourth quarter, which allowed Tulsa to creep back to within 10 points after Kansas had built a 43-19 lead in the third quarter.
A look of dejection crossed Beck's face as he walked to the team bus.
Beck said he was happy that his team had won, but he could not help but be down on himself and his kicking so far in the season.
the season. "I'm not playing to my potential right now, and I'm not happy with my performance," Beck said.
All of Beck's struggles have come after a freshman campaign in which he hit 14-of-20 field goal attempts and converted on 16-of-17 extra-point tries.
Beck's 59-yard field goal against Colorado last year was the second-longest in school history, and The Sporting News voted Beck to the Big 12 All-Freshman team and honorable mention all-conference.
Coming into this year, Beck was named a preseason candidate for the Groza Award, given to the nation's top kicker.
Postseason accolades look grim for Beck, who has been inconsistent through the first five games. He converted on only 5 of 9 attempts after making his first seven field goal attempts last year.
Even with the rocky beginning for Beck, Kansas coach Mark Mangino said he had confidence in his kicker.
he had confidence in his luck.
"I'm not worried about Johnny," Mangino said. "I've learned over the years in kicking that's how it goes — some of the best kickers I've been around, things like that happen."
Mangino also said that Beck's three misses against Tulsa cannot be completely blamed on Beck.
Two of the snaps from senior longsnapper Greg Nicks were off-target as junior holder Curtis Ansel was rushed to turn the laces and place the football for Beck to kick.
Still, Beck will not place any of the blame for his kicking woes on anyone but himself, and he's worried that his play is beginning to establish a pattern.
"I always want to say I can't be a streaky kicker, and that's what I think I'm turning into," Beck said. "Hopefully, I will get back on track soon and this all just goes away."
Mangino said he knows that special teams will play a big role in Kansas' success, and he was looking for Beck to break out of his sophomore slump.
Johnny Beck, sophomore place kicker, kicks a field goal in last year's game against the Colorado Buffaloes. Although he was a Big 12 All-Freshman team member last year, Beck has been struggling lately, missing all three field goals he attempted this past Saturday.
"He'll break out here," Mangino said. "He'll bomb a few in the next coufie weeks and everything will be just Edited by Melissa Shuman fine."
Volleyball team ready for UMKC
Jason Hwang
jhwang@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
After two matches as the hunter, the Kansas volleyball squad is now the hunted.
After breaking two losing streaks to Texas Tech and Colorado, Kansas (11-1, 3-1 Big 12) will try to stave off the University of Missouri at Kansas City Kangaroos (8-9) tonight at 7 at the Horejsi Family Athletics Center. Kansas is 21-1 all-time against the Kangaroos.
Kansas is coming off a 3-0 sweep of Texas Tech in Lawrence last Saturday, snapping a four-match losing streak to the Red Raiders. Freshman middle blocker Josiane Lima led the match with 18 kills.
DANID KOBZANTSEV/KANSAN Ashley Michaels, sophomore middle blocker, and Andi Rozum, freshman setter, leap into the air for a block. Rozum earned her second double-double with 10 digs and 47 assists.
"Any team would rather be in our position as the hunted," said freshman setter Andi Rozum, who earned her second double-double of the year with 10 digs and 47 assists.
The Kangaroos were swept by Oral Roberts in three games in their last match on Saturday. They are on a 10-game losing streak against Kansas. In last year's meeting, the Jayhawks won on
"We're a good team when we take care of what we should be doing," coach Ray Bechard said.
the road three games to one.
Team water skis into nationals
Edited by Melissa Shuman
By Daniel Berk
correspondence@kansan.com
Kansan sports correspondent
Members of the KU water skiing team pose for a picture. The team qualified for nationals this past weekend for the first time in its history, defeating conference rival Wisconsin in the Regional Collegiate Championships in Decatur, Ill.
The Kansas water skiing team made the cut this past weekend that it has never made before, it qualified for the National Collegiate Championships.
National Collegiate Championships By finishing fourth in the Midwest Regional Collegiate Championships in Decatur, Ill., the team qualified to compete in the National Championships over fall break, Oct. 17 to 19, in Austin, Tex.
The men's team finished second overall and the women's team finished fifth. Combined the team finished fourth behind traditional powerhouse's first-place Purdue, second-place Michigan and third-place Kansas State.
The top five teams from each region advance to nationals, where 20 teams compete in three events for the title of National Champion.
Also, the team defeated conference rival Wisconsin, which finished sixth and did not qualify for the tournament.
"It was really rewarding to beat Wisconsin," women's captain and senior Jegen Mermott said. "They beat us at the conference championships, so we
were real excited and pleased to beat them."
Besides McDermott's 16th-place tie in the jump event, the women's team also got contributions from sisters Amy and Angie Hamilton. Amy, a sophomore and Angie, a freshman, finished high in the slalom and trick events.
Additionally, sophomore Megan Lacroix finished in 14th place in the jump event. McDermott said she was extremely pleased with Lacroix's performance.
"Megan and the rest of the underclassmen really stepped up during regionals." McDermott said. "These girls are extremely dedicated and are out on the lake practicing everyday for about six hours."
On the men's side, the team got contributions from team president and junior Brian Legg, men's captain and senior Dillon Strohm, who placed 10th in the slalom event, and senior Jermey
SEE WATER SKI ON PAGE 7A
Cyclones' win over 'Huskers shakes Big 12 totem pole
Here's hoping the Iowa State Cyclones at least made a respectable gesture and saluted the Nebraska Cornhuskers with a little wave as they shot past them on the Big 12 totem pole. After all, a shake-up of massive proportions occurred Saturday in Ames, Iowa. Iowa State signaled a change of football power in the Big 12 in 60 painstaking and almost unthinkable minutes in a dominating 36-14 victory.
In 60 minutes, the Cyclones dusted away the memory of Nebraska's supremacy—a tradition of two generations—and disregarded the Cornhuskers in the same manner they accepted beatings in the past.
Those 60 minutes were the result of a revival. When Dan McCarney succeeded Jim Walden as coach of a fledgling, rock-bottom football program in 1995, the odds were in favor of McCarney matching former Kansas coach Terry Allen in
terms of rebuilding success.
Most importantly, he earned the trust of the Iowa State athletics department. Five years, 13 wins and limited improvement in fan support usually results in a pink slip. At Kansas, Allen was gone just before the end of his fifth season—and he picked up 20 wins during his tenure.
His persistence allowed him to stay upbeat despite the fact that Iowa State won a mere 13 games in McCarney's first five seasons.
Ryan Malashock rmalashock@kansan.com
SPORTS
But at Iowa State, the wheels were in motion, and the department was too
dedicated to McCarney not to allow him another year's chance.
So in McCarney's sixth season, the Cyclones seemed a step faster and an inch bigger. They defeated Alabama in the Independence Bowl.
And this season, if the Cyclones' near miss against Florida State wasn't proof enough of their improvement, their embarrassment of Nebraska on Saturday surely was.
The breakthrough victory signified McCarney's first conquest of a ranked
But on Saturday, Iowa State passed at will. The Cyclones' offensive line opened holes on cue. The team showed more poise than the 'Huskers, drawing fewer penalties and making fewer mental mistakes.
opponent (0-24 before Saturday's win). In McCarney's six previous battles with Nebraska, Iowa State was on the short end by an average of 51 points.
McCarney's Cyclones made Nebraska look ordinary, bland and completely incapable.
That is a question Nebraska coach Frank Solich must answer. For now, he has to retool his struggling team and salvage the season while explaining to Nebraska's faithful fans why a former
What ever happened to the prototype running backs, athletic quarterbacks and mammoth linemen Nebraska seemed to grow on trees? Now, they're undersized and slow.
Could Mark Mangino mold Kansas into a Big 12 contender? The jury will be out for several years on that, but the shake-up in Ames is a nice blueprint.
Saturday was a reminder that no program is exempt from falling out of dynasty status and no program is too marooned to eventually build a dynasty.
doormat pounded their beloved 'Huskers.
But better yet, could Texas A&M march into Allen Fieldhouse seven years from now, knock off a spiraling Kansas basketball team and jump past the Jayhawks in the polls?
hawks in the park
As McCarney and his upstart Iowa State Cyclones proved Saturday, anything is possible given time, effort and competent personnel.
Malashock is an Omaha, Neb., senior in journalism.
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